Psychology 260 Exam One Questions and
Verified Answers
Social Psychology Correct Answer: scientific study of the ways in which people's thoughts, feelings, and
behaviors are influenced by the actual imagined or implied presence of others. (Affect, Behavior,
Cognition)
Lewin 1936 Correct Answer: Behavior is a function of person times environment (B = f(P*E)), behavior of
a given person at any given time is a function of both the characteristics of the person an the influence of
the social situation.
Three Research Designs Correct Answer: Experiment, correlation, and descriptive/observational
Social Psychology Goals Correct Answer: describe, predict, and explain why
Basic Elements of Experiments Correct Answer: Hypothesize, Operationalize, Measure, Evaluate,
Revise/Replicate
Hypothesize Correct Answer: collections of variable organized into a testable statement of prediction;
need at least two variables to relate, some statement of the relationship between them (negative,
positive, not at all)
Operationalizing Correct Answer: turning theoretical variables into things that can be measured
Conceptual Variable Correct Answer: the general concept in which you are interest in; ex- texting in
class
Operational Variable Correct Answer: how you actually 'get at' that concept; ex- #of texts, amount of
time texting
Correlational Correct Answer: the technique whereby two or more variables are systematically Pearson's
r correlation coefficient = statistical measure of the strength and direction of the relationship.
Advantages-assess relationship between two variables naturally and assess variables that would be
unethical to manipulate. Disadvantages- 3rd variable problem and reserve causality problem.
Experimental Correct Answer: researchers assign people to condition randomly and the conditions are
identical except for one variable, allows for causal explanations.
Conceptual variables Correct Answer: characteristic that we are trying to measure
, Self Report Correct Answer: Likert
Internal Validity Correct Answer: nothing besides the independent variable can affect the dependent
variable, a valid experiment
External Validity Correct Answer: the extent to which results of a study can be generalized across other
situations and to other people, generalizability across situations and people.
Social Cognition Correct Answer: an understanding of how our knowledge about our social worlds
develops through experience and the influence of these knowledge structures on memory, information
processing, attitudes, and judgments.
Types of social cognition Correct Answer: automatic and controlled
Automatic Correct Answer: thinking that occurs out of our awareness, quickly, and without taking much
effort; quick and without control, an immediate first impression
Controlled Correct Answer: when we deliberately size up and think about something; effortful and
deliberate, important life decisions
Situation Correct Answer: the people whom we interact with everyday
Evolutionary adaptation Correct Answer: the assumption that human nature, including much of our
social behavior is determined largely by our evolutionary past.
Fitness Correct Answer: the extent to which having a given characteristic helps the individual organism
to survive and to reproduce at a higher rate than other members of the species
Self-concern Correct Answer: the most basic tendency is the desire to protect and enhance one's own life
and the lives of the people who are close to us
Other concern Correct Answer: although we are primarily concern with the survival of ourselves, our
kin, and those who we feel are similar and important to us, we also desire to connect with and be
accepted by other people more generally, we do not always put ourselves first.
Social Support Correct Answer: refers to the comfort that we receive from the people around us, people
with social support are less depressed, recover faster, and less likely to commit suicide
Social norms Correct Answer: the ways of thinking, feeling or behaving that are shared by group
members and perceived by them as appropriate
Verified Answers
Social Psychology Correct Answer: scientific study of the ways in which people's thoughts, feelings, and
behaviors are influenced by the actual imagined or implied presence of others. (Affect, Behavior,
Cognition)
Lewin 1936 Correct Answer: Behavior is a function of person times environment (B = f(P*E)), behavior of
a given person at any given time is a function of both the characteristics of the person an the influence of
the social situation.
Three Research Designs Correct Answer: Experiment, correlation, and descriptive/observational
Social Psychology Goals Correct Answer: describe, predict, and explain why
Basic Elements of Experiments Correct Answer: Hypothesize, Operationalize, Measure, Evaluate,
Revise/Replicate
Hypothesize Correct Answer: collections of variable organized into a testable statement of prediction;
need at least two variables to relate, some statement of the relationship between them (negative,
positive, not at all)
Operationalizing Correct Answer: turning theoretical variables into things that can be measured
Conceptual Variable Correct Answer: the general concept in which you are interest in; ex- texting in
class
Operational Variable Correct Answer: how you actually 'get at' that concept; ex- #of texts, amount of
time texting
Correlational Correct Answer: the technique whereby two or more variables are systematically Pearson's
r correlation coefficient = statistical measure of the strength and direction of the relationship.
Advantages-assess relationship between two variables naturally and assess variables that would be
unethical to manipulate. Disadvantages- 3rd variable problem and reserve causality problem.
Experimental Correct Answer: researchers assign people to condition randomly and the conditions are
identical except for one variable, allows for causal explanations.
Conceptual variables Correct Answer: characteristic that we are trying to measure
, Self Report Correct Answer: Likert
Internal Validity Correct Answer: nothing besides the independent variable can affect the dependent
variable, a valid experiment
External Validity Correct Answer: the extent to which results of a study can be generalized across other
situations and to other people, generalizability across situations and people.
Social Cognition Correct Answer: an understanding of how our knowledge about our social worlds
develops through experience and the influence of these knowledge structures on memory, information
processing, attitudes, and judgments.
Types of social cognition Correct Answer: automatic and controlled
Automatic Correct Answer: thinking that occurs out of our awareness, quickly, and without taking much
effort; quick and without control, an immediate first impression
Controlled Correct Answer: when we deliberately size up and think about something; effortful and
deliberate, important life decisions
Situation Correct Answer: the people whom we interact with everyday
Evolutionary adaptation Correct Answer: the assumption that human nature, including much of our
social behavior is determined largely by our evolutionary past.
Fitness Correct Answer: the extent to which having a given characteristic helps the individual organism
to survive and to reproduce at a higher rate than other members of the species
Self-concern Correct Answer: the most basic tendency is the desire to protect and enhance one's own life
and the lives of the people who are close to us
Other concern Correct Answer: although we are primarily concern with the survival of ourselves, our
kin, and those who we feel are similar and important to us, we also desire to connect with and be
accepted by other people more generally, we do not always put ourselves first.
Social Support Correct Answer: refers to the comfort that we receive from the people around us, people
with social support are less depressed, recover faster, and less likely to commit suicide
Social norms Correct Answer: the ways of thinking, feeling or behaving that are shared by group
members and perceived by them as appropriate
