Social Cognition Test Questions
Course Introduction
Social Cognition explores how people perceive, interpret, and respond to the social world, focusing on the mental processes underlying social interactions. This course examines key topics such as person perception, stereotyping, attribution, social inference, attitudes, and the role of emotion in understanding others. Students will learn how cognitive processes shape our understanding of social information, the biases that can influence social judgments, and the neural and developmental foundations of social cognition. By integrating research from psychology, neuroscience, and related disciplines, the course offers insights into how individuals navigate complex social environments and how these processes impact behavior in everyday life.
Recommended Textbook
Social Psychology 5th Edition by Tom Gilovich
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1135 Verified Questions
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Chapter 1: An Invitation to Social Psychology
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Sample Questions
Q1) Define social psychology and explain how this field differs from the fields of personality psychology and sociology.
Answer: Social psychology is the scientific study of the feelings,thoughts,and behaviors of individuals in social situations.Social psychology emphasizes the power of the situation to extract behavior in consistent ways across different people.In contrast,personality psychology emphasizes the consistency of a person's personality or behavior across different situations.Social psychologists focus on individual behavior,whereas sociologists emphasize the behavior of people in the aggregate.
Q2) The president of a fraternity wants to increase the number of fraternity members who volunteer for nonprofit organizations in the community.Which of the following strategies would BEST fit with Kurt Lewin's concept of channel factors?
A) induce guilt among members who are not currently volunteering
B) leave information about when and how members might volunteer on the counter
C) offer a prize to the member who volunteers the most hours
D) ask members to publicly commit to a particular volunteer opportunity
Answer: B
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Chapter 2: The Methods of Social Psychology
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Sample Questions
Q1) A social psychologist finds a relationship between socioeconomic status and relationship satisfaction in married couples.This study most likely describes which type of research method?
A) observational
B) archival
C) experimental
D) correlational
Answer: D
Q2) Describe the necessary components of a true experiment.
Answer: Several answers are acceptable,including the following: A true experiment involves randomly assigning participants to experimental and control conditions.The only difference between these conditions must be the level of the independent variable.
Q3) When random sampling is used,it means that
A) participants are equally likely to be assigned to one condition or another.
B) every member of a population has an equal chance of being selected.
C) some members of a population are more likely than others to be selected.
D) participants are assigned to different conditions based on a particular trait or variable.
Answer: B
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Page 4
Chapter 3: The Social Self
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Sample Questions
Q1) Challenge the idea that one's level of self-esteem (high versus low)is the only aspect of self-esteem that relates to well-being or outcomes.
Answer: Other aspects of self-esteem besides the level (high versus low)have been linked to important outcomes.For example,individuals who have inflated high self-esteem (i.e.,high self-esteem that is not supported by outstanding abilities or accomplishments)have been shown to react in a volatile and even violent fashion to perceived criticisms.In addition,the stability of one's self-esteem is related to outcomes,particularly for people high in self-esteem.Those with unstable high self-esteem are more reactive to feedback than people with stable high self-esteem (and even people with low self-esteem).
Q2) Frank Sulloway's (1996,2001)research on the relationship between birth order and personality shows that
A) younger siblings tend to be more agreeable than older siblings.
B) older siblings tend to be less honest than younger siblings.
C) younger and older siblings are equally open to novel ideas and experiences.
D) older siblings tend to be less achievement oriented than younger siblings.
Answer: A
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Social Cognition: Thinking About
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Q1) Describe the factors that determine whether a schema is accessible (activated)and whether it is applied.
Q2) Construal level theory predicts that we think about events distant in time or space in ________ terms,and that we think about events nearer in time or space in ________ terms.
A) abstract; concrete
B) concrete; abstract
C) negative; positive
D) positive; negative
Q3) Primacy effects often result from
A) a tendency for information presented early on to strongly influence a final decision. B) strong emotions that disrupt the memory of information presented early on.
C) the belief that information encountered early on is particularly accurate.
D) a failure to engage in schematic processing.
Q4) Explain how schemas can influence: (a)attention; (b)inferences about other people; and (c)behavior.
Q5) Explain illusory correlation and show how the availability and representativeness heuristics are relevant to this phenomenon.
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Chapter 5: Social Attribution: Explaining Behavior
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Q1) Recall that Dan Gilbert studied why people tend to attribute others' behaviors to dispositional factors.According to his theoretical framework,this pattern of attribution occurs because people tend to
A) consider a person's behavior and the situation simultaneously.
B) be emotionally invested in explaining others' behaviors in terms of stable personal characteristics.
C) make initial dispositional inferences without later adjusting them on the basis of situational information.
D) have difficulty identifying what other people's behaviors signify.
Q2) Reem's attention was captured by a new student,Matt,who yelled angrily as he walked past her in the hallway at school.Reem thought to herself,"Jeez,he must be a really angry person." Given her focus on Matt and his outburst,Reem failed to notice the group of guys in the background by the lockers who were subtly taunting him.This example illustrates how ________ influences causal attributions.
A) perceptual salience
B) belief in a just world
C) threat reduction
D) motivational bias
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Chapter 6: Emotion
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Sample Questions
Q1) Research on affective forecasting suggests that people tend to
A) overestimate the emotional impact of negative life events.
B) underestimate the emotional impact of negative life events.
C) be accurate at predicting the emotional impact of negative life events.
D) be overly optimistic about their abilities to cope with negative life events.
Q2) Someone cut Neha off while she was trying to find a parking spot at the movie theater,and she is mad.After a few more minutes,Neha finds another spot and heads inside.When buying popcorn,the attendant spills a bit of it and then moves on to the next person in line.How is Neha likely to interpret the attendant's behavior?
A) The attendant is rude and aggressive.
B) The attendant did not notice he spilled her popcorn.
C) The attendant is absentminded.
D) The attendant is tired.
Q3) Recall that Isen studied how emotions might influence cognitive processes.She found that ________ emotions led participants to ________.
A) negative; use stereotypes when forming judgments
B) positive; categorize objects in more inclusive ways
C) negative; produce more unique responses to a word association task
D) positive; behave more selfishly
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Page 8
Chapter 7: Attitudes, Behavior, and Rationalization
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Q1) Let's say a company that makes a consumer product such as laundry detergent asks customers to write a testimonial about the product in exchange for a small chance of winning a small prize.What does cognitive dissonance theory predict will happen to consumers who participate and write the testimonial?
A) They will feel positive emotions.
B) They will feel negative emotions.
C) They will come to hold more positive attitudes toward the product.
D) They will come to hold more negative attitudes toward the product.
Q2) Jeff believes in saving the environment but finds himself throwing away aluminum cans because his college campus does not recycle.________ would predict that he may experience an aversive emotional state due to the inconsistency between his attitudes and his behavior.
A) The elaboration likelihood model
B) Induced compliance theory
C) Self-affirmation theory
D) Cognitive dissonance theory
Q3) Describe three ways in which researchers measure attitudes.
Q4) Describe the conditions under which attitude-behavior inconsistency is most likely to produce dissonance.
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Chapter 8: Persuasion
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Sample Questions
Q1) Research on mood and persuasion suggests that people may be persuaded differently depending on their mood.Explain how a positive or a negative mood can influence persuasion and why.Give an example demonstrating how a politician might alter audience members' moods in order to make them more susceptible to persuasion.
Q2) Jennifer smokes cigarettes.Describe how selective attention and selective evaluation may make Jennifer resistant to anti-smoking messages.
Q3) Imagine that your local campus police officers need help solving a crime.They have two witnesses whose accounts of the event are inconsistent,and they suspect that at least one of these witnesses might be lying.Whom should the local police call to best assist them in detecting whether either witness has lied?
A) a local attorney
B) They do not need help: most people are good at detecting lies.
C) a Secret Service agent
D) a clinical psychology professor on campus
Q4) Explain the phenomenon of agenda control.How is the amount of television a person watches each day relevant to the concept of agenda control?
Q5) Define metacognition and describe how it influences persuasion.
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Page 10
Chapter 9: Social Influence
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Q1) Emilio wants his friend to participate in a 5k race with him,but he's worried his friend might say no.In order to increase the chances that his friend will say yes,Emilio first agrees to do a favor for his friend.This example demonstrates A) the norm of reciprocity.
B) reactance theory.
C) the negative state relief hypothesis.
D) descriptive norms.
Q2) Minorities influence majority opinion primarily through A) normative social influence.
B) informational social influence.
C) descriptive norms.
D) prescriptive norms.
Q3) How have norm-based approaches been used to curb binge drinking on college campuses? What explains the effectiveness of these approaches?
Q4) ________ is the first step in the foot-in-the-door technique.
A) Giving people a small gift
B) Giving people a large gift
C) Making a small request
D) Making a large request
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Chapter 10: Relationships and Attraction
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Q1) Vivica finds Dion physically attractive.Judging from his appearance,she assumes that he is also outgoing and honest.Vivica is displaying the A) complementarity hypothesis.
B) mere exposure effect.
C) halo effect.
D) counterbalancing principle.
Q2) Susie is participating in research that assesses the strength of her bond with her partner.As part of this research,she is asked,"All things considered,how attractive are the people other than your partner with whom you could become involved?" Which element of the commitment model of relationships is this question measuring?
A) rewards
B) alternative partners
C) investments
D) satisfaction
Q3) Using Rusbult's investment model of commitment,describe a hypothetical situation in which someone might stay committed to a romantic partner even though he or she is not very satisfied with the relationship.In your answer,address the role of alternative partners and investments.
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Chapter 11: Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Discrimination
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Q1) Which of the following real-world examples is most consistent with the predictions of realistic group conflict theory?
A) Working-class Americans exhibited the most anti-black prejudice in the wake of the civil rights movement because their jobs were most at risk.
B) Members of the Nazi Party in World War II Germany believed that they belonged to a superior race.
C) After the San Francisco Giants beat the Kansas City Royals in the 2014 World Series, Giants fans set fires, shattered windows, and committed other violent acts.
D) Millions of people have fled Darfur, Sudan, since 2003 because of the ongoing civil war.
Q2) Evaluate the claim that racial diversity is sufficient to create positive intergroup relations.What conditions are necessary for contact between diverse groups to be beneficial?
Q3) Give an example of the outgroup homogeneity effect and explain why it occurs.
Q4) Evaluate the claim that positive stereotypes such as "Asians are good at math" are not harmful.Describe research presented in the textbook to support your arguments.
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Page 13
Chapter 12: Groups
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Q1) Define the phenomenon of social facilitation and explain Zajonc's three-component theory of when and why it occurs.
Q2) Research on social facilitation warrants some practical advice.All of the following recommendations are supported by this research EXCEPT when
A) students want to memorize unfamiliar information, they should do it alone.
B) students want to review material they have already learned, they should not do it in a study group.
C) supervisors want their employees to do simple tasks well, they should have the employees do them in the presence of others.
D) supervisors want their employees to complete challenging tasks, they should give employees some privacy.
Q3) Define group polarization and describe how modern forms of communication might increase its prevalence.
Q4) Describe a real-world event that illustrates the phenomenon of groupthink.In addition,explain how its occurrence could have been avoided.
Q5) Describe the spotlight effect.Then describe an experiment you could conduct that could demonstrate this effect.
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Page 14
Chapter 13: Aggression
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Q1) Often during times of war,war propaganda and rhetoric will reinforce misconceptions about the opposing side.These misconceptions manifest in different ways of construing the opposing side's position and the conflict overall.All of the following are different construals that can occur from misconceptions EXCEPT
A) seeing their conflict as a fight between good and evil.
B) seeing their own group as the moral and good side and the opposition as the immoral and evil side.
C) assuming their opponent's interests are the opposite of their own.
D) seeing both sides as humans and assuming they are both moral and well-intentioned people.
Q2) Haslam and Loughnan (2014)distinguished between two forms of dehumanization.Denial of human ________ occurs when targets are viewed as animals or savages,whereas denial of human ________ occurs when targets are viewed as inanimate entities,such as computers or robots.
A) nature; uniqueness
B) uniqueness; nature
C) superiority; goodness
D) goodness; superiority
Q3) Describe two characteristics of rape-prone cultures.
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Page 15
Chapter 14: Altruism and Cooperation
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Q1) You volunteer to participate in a game in which you are told that you and another participant,whom you will never meet but is playing nearby,must each make a decision: either you cooperate and benefit both of you,or you defect and benefit only yourself.Depending on what you and the other person choose,you stand to receive a certain amount of money.You are participating in the ________ game.
A) cooperation
B) prisoner's dilemma
C) ultimatum
D) decision
Q2) Give an example of how construal processes can influence cooperation.
Q3) Stephen notices that Jenny is sitting by herself in the cafeteria,crying.Watching her cry makes Stephen feel upset,so he goes over to try to comfort her.Stephen's behavior is likely motivated by the ________ motive for helping others.
A) affiliative
B) personal distress
C) empathic concern
D) reciprocity
Q4) What is kin selection,and how is it relevant to explaining and predicting altruism?
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Page 16
Chapter 15: Application Module 1 : Social Psychology and Health
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Q1) Richard is a fairly wealthy man.As part of a research study,Richard is asked to indicate which rung of a ladder best represents his socioeconomic rank.How is Richard most likely to respond?
A) He will select one of the highest rungs.
B) He will select one of the middle rungs.
C) He will select one of the lowest rungs.
D) His response will depend on his subjective construal of his relative rank.
Q2) Which of the following pieces of advice is likely to be most helpful for reducing stress and improving health outcomes?
A) "Your good health is in your hands."
B) "Just let go and leave your health up to fate."
C) "Think positive."
D) Both "Your good health is in your hands" and "think positive" are likely to be helpful.
Q3) Explain how rumination may contribute to chronic stress and then describe one way that rumination can be reduced.
Q4) Describe research that supports the role of perceived control in promoting good physical health.
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Chapter 16: Application Module 2 : Social Psychology and Educatio
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Q1) How do incremental and entity theories of intelligence differ? How can a person's theory of intelligence impact his or her behavior?
Q2) In research conducted by Cohen and colleagues (2006),minority students were asked to write about their most important values at the beginning of middle school.What was the result of this intervention?
A) The students began to show an entity theory of intelligence.
B) The students whose values were unrelated to academics saw their grades decline.
C) The students' grades improved over two years.
D) The students reported better social relationships but not improved grades.
Q3) A radio soap opera in Tanzania is designed to combat the spread of HIV.This is an example of
A) incremental intelligence.
B) entertainment-education.
C) value-based education.
D) teaching principles.
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Chapter 17: Application Module 3 :social Psychology and the Law
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Q1) The social psychologist Tom Tyler identified three factors that shape our sense of procedural justice.Which of the following is NOT one of those three factors?
A) the neutrality of the authority figure
B) trust in the system
C) being treated with respect
D) the magnitude of the punishment
Q2) Explain how stereotypes can lead to biases in our criminal justice system.
Q3) Which of the following is true concerning eyewitness testimony?
A) The more confident an eyewitness is, the more accurate he or she will tend to be.
B) People are more accurate at identifying perpetrators of their own race.
C) Increased stress does not affect eyewitness accuracy.
D) Verbally describing a perpetrator makes it more difficult to identify the perpetrator in a photo lineup.
Q4) Are there problems with the procedures used by police interrogators to obtain confessions,and if so,how might these problems negatively impact defendants?
Q5) Describe the three components that contribute to one's sense of procedural justice and provide an example of each.
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