Key Concepts in Social Psychology for EPPP
Exam UPDATED ACTUAL Questions and
CORRECT Answers
What did Solomon Asch's research on impression formation reveal about certain traits? -
CORRECT ANSWER - Some characteristics have a greater impact on impression
formation than others; central traits are highly associated with other characteristics and strongly
influence impressions.
What are the six types of social power identified by French and Raven? - CORRECT
ANSWER - Coercive, reward, expert, referent, informational, and legitimate.
How does legitimate power function in social interactions? - CORRECT ANSWER - It
relies on an individual's position of authority and the obligation of others to comply.
What is the overjustification hypothesis? - CORRECT ANSWER - It predicts that a
person's internal motivation to perform a behavior will weaken when they receive external
reinforcement for that behavior.
What is the sleeper effect in social psychology? - CORRECT ANSWER - It describes the
tendency to remember a message over time but to forget its source, leading to increased attitude
change from low-credible communicators over time.
According to Allport, what are folkways and stateways? - CORRECT ANSWER -
Folkways are personal attitudes and beliefs, while stateways are laws.
How can stateways influence folkways according to Allport? - CORRECT ANSWER -
Stateways can precede folkways, meaning laws prohibiting discrimination can be effective even
without public consensus.
What is the availability heuristic? - CORRECT ANSWER - It refers to the tendency to
judge the frequency of an event based on how easily examples come to mind.
,What is the dilution effect in social psychology? - CORRECT ANSWER - It refers to the
weakening of an inference about someone due to the presence of irrelevant information.
What is reactance in the context of social psychology? - CORRECT ANSWER - It occurs
when a person does not comply with a request because they feel it violates their sense of
personal freedom.
What is coercive power? - CORRECT ANSWER - It influences behavior through the
control of punishments.
What is referent power? - CORRECT ANSWER - It is the ability to control behavior
based on the desire of others to identify with an individual or group.
What is expert power? - CORRECT ANSWER - It emphasizes superior knowledge or
expertise to influence others.
What is reward power? - CORRECT ANSWER - It involves influencing others through
the promise of rewards.
What is the primacy effect? - CORRECT ANSWER - It refers to the tendency to
remember stimuli that occurred first better than those that occurred last.
What is deindividuation? - CORRECT ANSWER - It is the tendency for individuals to act
in antisocial ways when they can do so anonymously.
What is correspondence bias? - CORRECT ANSWER - It is another name for the
fundamental attribution error, which is not relevant to the phenomena discussed in the notes.
What is the significance of high-credible versus low-credible communicators in attitude change?
- CORRECT ANSWER - High-credible communicators tend to produce attitude change
, that decreases over time, while low-credible communicators produce change that increases over
time.
What is the role of central traits in Asch's impression formation studies? - CORRECT
ANSWER - Central traits are influential characteristics that significantly impact how
individuals form impressions of others.
What does the term 'social power' refer to in the context of French and Raven's work? -
CORRECT ANSWER - It refers to the different ways individuals can influence the
behavior of others.
How does the concept of stateways challenge the idea of public consensus in social norms? -
CORRECT ANSWER - It suggests that laws can be effective in shaping behavior even if
they do not reflect the majority's beliefs.
What does the term 'coercive power' imply about the nature of influence? - CORRECT
ANSWER - It implies that influence is exerted through the threat of punishment.
How does the concept of 'folkways' relate to personal beliefs? - CORRECT ANSWER -
Folkways are shaped by individual attitudes and beliefs, reflecting personal norms.
What was the main finding of Zimbardo's (1972) prison study? - CORRECT ANSWER -
People often alter their behaviors to align with assigned roles, as demonstrated by students
quickly adopting behaviors consistent with being a prisoner or a guard.
What is confirmation bias? - CORRECT ANSWER - A cognitive bias that involves
focusing on and seeking out information that confirms our preconceptions.
What does the hindsight bias refer to? - CORRECT ANSWER - The tendency to believe
that one could have predicted an outcome after it has occurred.
Exam UPDATED ACTUAL Questions and
CORRECT Answers
What did Solomon Asch's research on impression formation reveal about certain traits? -
CORRECT ANSWER - Some characteristics have a greater impact on impression
formation than others; central traits are highly associated with other characteristics and strongly
influence impressions.
What are the six types of social power identified by French and Raven? - CORRECT
ANSWER - Coercive, reward, expert, referent, informational, and legitimate.
How does legitimate power function in social interactions? - CORRECT ANSWER - It
relies on an individual's position of authority and the obligation of others to comply.
What is the overjustification hypothesis? - CORRECT ANSWER - It predicts that a
person's internal motivation to perform a behavior will weaken when they receive external
reinforcement for that behavior.
What is the sleeper effect in social psychology? - CORRECT ANSWER - It describes the
tendency to remember a message over time but to forget its source, leading to increased attitude
change from low-credible communicators over time.
According to Allport, what are folkways and stateways? - CORRECT ANSWER -
Folkways are personal attitudes and beliefs, while stateways are laws.
How can stateways influence folkways according to Allport? - CORRECT ANSWER -
Stateways can precede folkways, meaning laws prohibiting discrimination can be effective even
without public consensus.
What is the availability heuristic? - CORRECT ANSWER - It refers to the tendency to
judge the frequency of an event based on how easily examples come to mind.
,What is the dilution effect in social psychology? - CORRECT ANSWER - It refers to the
weakening of an inference about someone due to the presence of irrelevant information.
What is reactance in the context of social psychology? - CORRECT ANSWER - It occurs
when a person does not comply with a request because they feel it violates their sense of
personal freedom.
What is coercive power? - CORRECT ANSWER - It influences behavior through the
control of punishments.
What is referent power? - CORRECT ANSWER - It is the ability to control behavior
based on the desire of others to identify with an individual or group.
What is expert power? - CORRECT ANSWER - It emphasizes superior knowledge or
expertise to influence others.
What is reward power? - CORRECT ANSWER - It involves influencing others through
the promise of rewards.
What is the primacy effect? - CORRECT ANSWER - It refers to the tendency to
remember stimuli that occurred first better than those that occurred last.
What is deindividuation? - CORRECT ANSWER - It is the tendency for individuals to act
in antisocial ways when they can do so anonymously.
What is correspondence bias? - CORRECT ANSWER - It is another name for the
fundamental attribution error, which is not relevant to the phenomena discussed in the notes.
What is the significance of high-credible versus low-credible communicators in attitude change?
- CORRECT ANSWER - High-credible communicators tend to produce attitude change
, that decreases over time, while low-credible communicators produce change that increases over
time.
What is the role of central traits in Asch's impression formation studies? - CORRECT
ANSWER - Central traits are influential characteristics that significantly impact how
individuals form impressions of others.
What does the term 'social power' refer to in the context of French and Raven's work? -
CORRECT ANSWER - It refers to the different ways individuals can influence the
behavior of others.
How does the concept of stateways challenge the idea of public consensus in social norms? -
CORRECT ANSWER - It suggests that laws can be effective in shaping behavior even if
they do not reflect the majority's beliefs.
What does the term 'coercive power' imply about the nature of influence? - CORRECT
ANSWER - It implies that influence is exerted through the threat of punishment.
How does the concept of 'folkways' relate to personal beliefs? - CORRECT ANSWER -
Folkways are shaped by individual attitudes and beliefs, reflecting personal norms.
What was the main finding of Zimbardo's (1972) prison study? - CORRECT ANSWER -
People often alter their behaviors to align with assigned roles, as demonstrated by students
quickly adopting behaviors consistent with being a prisoner or a guard.
What is confirmation bias? - CORRECT ANSWER - A cognitive bias that involves
focusing on and seeking out information that confirms our preconceptions.
What does the hindsight bias refer to? - CORRECT ANSWER - The tendency to believe
that one could have predicted an outcome after it has occurred.
