Psyc 260 Test 3 Questions and Verified Answers
Social influence Correct Answer: the influence of others in our everyday thought, feelings and behavior
Why do we conform? Correct Answer: we have no idea what to do in social situations so we look to
others. Asking others what they think or watching what they do helps define the situation
Conformity Correct Answer: a change in behavior or belief as the result of real or imagined group
pressure, negative connotations in western cultures, use others to guide our behavior, because we believe
others' interpretation of he ambiguous situation is more correct than ours and will help us choose an
appropriate course of action
Informational conformity Correct Answer: is the change in opinions or behavior that occurs when we
conform to people whom we believe have accurate information, result- real change in opinions on part
of the individual
Normative conformity Correct Answer: when we express opinions of behave in way that help us to be
accepted or that keep us from being isolated or rejected by others
Public conformity Correct Answer: superficial change in behavior that is not accompanied by an actual
change in one's private opinion
Passive conformity Correct Answer: learn to like jazz or rap because your roommate played it a lot of it,
you didn't really want to like the music and your roommate didn't push it on you, you preferences
changed in a passive way
Conformity Study Correct Answer: first- participant would mimic the confederate face touching and foot
bouncing, second- confederate would purposely mimic the participant, the participants would think the
experiment was smooth and liked it
Normative conformity Correct Answer: when we express opinions or behave in ways that help us to be
accepted or that keep us from being isolated or rejected by other, we conform to social norms
Majority group conformity Correct Answer: beliefs held by the larger number of individuals in the
current social group prevail
Minority group conformity Correct Answer: the beliefs held by the smaller number of number of
individual in the current social group prevail
Sherif Autokinetic studies Correct Answer: study outcomes of conformity on the development of group
norms, majority- out eyes are constantly moving outside of our awareness, put participants in a dark
, room with a light on the wall, and ask participants how much the light moved (it didn't move), together-
their answers got closer together, more similar; "private acceptance" after study had them split back up,
used the guesses from the group answers, people were unaware their answers where influenced by the
others
Asch studies of conformity Correct Answer: collected young men, put in a semi circle with 5
confederates and 1 real participants, confederates gave wrong answer of the length of the lines, but the
participants would also give the wrong answer, people went along with other for different reasons-
thinks others are right or wants to avoid discomfort
Why conformity? Correct Answer: uncertainty, behavior of other serve as cue, desire to avoid rejection
or ridicule
Minority influence study Correct Answer: Serge Moscovici, similar to Asch' study but had more real
participants (4) and less confederates (2), perception of color- did the two people going first and saying
the wrong color change the participants answers, conditions- inconsistent 67% say the wrong answer or
consistent and say wrong answer every time, consistency had more of an influence
Unanimity Correct Answer: consistency of group members
Importance of task Correct Answer: Sherif, Asch, Moscovici were told that their studies weren't great
because the decisions were trivial and people think that important tasks equals decreased conformity
Authority Correct Answer: come from a person's perceived position in a social structure, plays a big role
in persuasion because people have a natural tendency to obey authority (ex- traffic lights and milgram
studies)
Milgram Shock studies Correct Answer: participants said they would be testing punishment and
teaching, two participants (1 is a confederate) participants give shocks, confederates play prerecorded
shout, 62% of people went to the fatal shock, just because the doctors said so
Milgram Shock studies replications Correct Answer: experiment #1- initial study, Yale university men
and women, #10- the study is conducted off campus, #3- the teacher is in the same room as the learner,
#4- the participant must hold the learner's hand on the shock pad, #7- the experimenter communicates
by phone from another room, #13- an ordinary man give orders #17- the other research participants
refuse to shock #11- the teacher chooses his own preferred shock level, #15- one experimenter indicates
that the participants should not shock
Abu Ghraib Correct Answer: American soldiers making prisoners do terrible things, like walking around
naked, why? Sanford prison experiment
Sanford prison experiment Correct Answer: mock prison, randomly assigned people to prisoners or
guards, got way out of hand really quickly, supposed to last 2 weeks but ended the 5th night, they
starved, beat and psychologically harmed the prisoners, why? Deindividualization
Social influence Correct Answer: the influence of others in our everyday thought, feelings and behavior
Why do we conform? Correct Answer: we have no idea what to do in social situations so we look to
others. Asking others what they think or watching what they do helps define the situation
Conformity Correct Answer: a change in behavior or belief as the result of real or imagined group
pressure, negative connotations in western cultures, use others to guide our behavior, because we believe
others' interpretation of he ambiguous situation is more correct than ours and will help us choose an
appropriate course of action
Informational conformity Correct Answer: is the change in opinions or behavior that occurs when we
conform to people whom we believe have accurate information, result- real change in opinions on part
of the individual
Normative conformity Correct Answer: when we express opinions of behave in way that help us to be
accepted or that keep us from being isolated or rejected by others
Public conformity Correct Answer: superficial change in behavior that is not accompanied by an actual
change in one's private opinion
Passive conformity Correct Answer: learn to like jazz or rap because your roommate played it a lot of it,
you didn't really want to like the music and your roommate didn't push it on you, you preferences
changed in a passive way
Conformity Study Correct Answer: first- participant would mimic the confederate face touching and foot
bouncing, second- confederate would purposely mimic the participant, the participants would think the
experiment was smooth and liked it
Normative conformity Correct Answer: when we express opinions or behave in ways that help us to be
accepted or that keep us from being isolated or rejected by other, we conform to social norms
Majority group conformity Correct Answer: beliefs held by the larger number of individuals in the
current social group prevail
Minority group conformity Correct Answer: the beliefs held by the smaller number of number of
individual in the current social group prevail
Sherif Autokinetic studies Correct Answer: study outcomes of conformity on the development of group
norms, majority- out eyes are constantly moving outside of our awareness, put participants in a dark
, room with a light on the wall, and ask participants how much the light moved (it didn't move), together-
their answers got closer together, more similar; "private acceptance" after study had them split back up,
used the guesses from the group answers, people were unaware their answers where influenced by the
others
Asch studies of conformity Correct Answer: collected young men, put in a semi circle with 5
confederates and 1 real participants, confederates gave wrong answer of the length of the lines, but the
participants would also give the wrong answer, people went along with other for different reasons-
thinks others are right or wants to avoid discomfort
Why conformity? Correct Answer: uncertainty, behavior of other serve as cue, desire to avoid rejection
or ridicule
Minority influence study Correct Answer: Serge Moscovici, similar to Asch' study but had more real
participants (4) and less confederates (2), perception of color- did the two people going first and saying
the wrong color change the participants answers, conditions- inconsistent 67% say the wrong answer or
consistent and say wrong answer every time, consistency had more of an influence
Unanimity Correct Answer: consistency of group members
Importance of task Correct Answer: Sherif, Asch, Moscovici were told that their studies weren't great
because the decisions were trivial and people think that important tasks equals decreased conformity
Authority Correct Answer: come from a person's perceived position in a social structure, plays a big role
in persuasion because people have a natural tendency to obey authority (ex- traffic lights and milgram
studies)
Milgram Shock studies Correct Answer: participants said they would be testing punishment and
teaching, two participants (1 is a confederate) participants give shocks, confederates play prerecorded
shout, 62% of people went to the fatal shock, just because the doctors said so
Milgram Shock studies replications Correct Answer: experiment #1- initial study, Yale university men
and women, #10- the study is conducted off campus, #3- the teacher is in the same room as the learner,
#4- the participant must hold the learner's hand on the shock pad, #7- the experimenter communicates
by phone from another room, #13- an ordinary man give orders #17- the other research participants
refuse to shock #11- the teacher chooses his own preferred shock level, #15- one experimenter indicates
that the participants should not shock
Abu Ghraib Correct Answer: American soldiers making prisoners do terrible things, like walking around
naked, why? Sanford prison experiment
Sanford prison experiment Correct Answer: mock prison, randomly assigned people to prisoners or
guards, got way out of hand really quickly, supposed to last 2 weeks but ended the 5th night, they
starved, beat and psychologically harmed the prisoners, why? Deindividualization
