Multiple Choice
1. Social facilitation refers to an increase in dominant responses in the presence of others of the same species, leading to:
2. According to Zajonc’s social facilitation model, what factor facilitates the expression or inhibition of dominant responses?
3. The widely reported murder of Kitty Genovese in New York in 1964, in which 38 people admitted witnessing the murder but not a single person went to her aid, was an example of which social-psychological phenomenon?
4. According to research by Latane and Darley, why did witnesses fail to intervene and help Kitty Genovese before she was murdered?
5. Which of the following is true of Milgram’s (1963) study of obedience? The study found that:
6. What were the conclusions drawn about ordinary people based on Milgram’s famous study of obedience?
7. Which one of the following statements about social support is true?
8. According to Rusbult’s investment model for relationships, which factor is most significant for maintaining successful intimate relationships?
9. Which of the following are characteristics of an unhappy couple?
10. Why did Zimbardo and his collaborators (1982) have to terminate their Stanford Prison Study?
11. In centralized networks:
12. Sherif’s autokinetic experiments and Asch’s line studies demonstrated the power of which social psychological factor on the degree to which people conform?
13. In the 1957 Sidney Lumet film Twelve Angry Men, 12 jurors have to decide over the guilt or innocence of a young man charged with the murder of his father. At the outset, all but one of the jurors are convinced of the youth’s guilt. The lone juror (played by Henry Fonda) actively attempts to change their minds, standing firm, committed, self-confident and unwavering. One by one the other jurors change sides, until in the end they all agree that the accused is not guilty. Which form of social influence is this an example of?
14. In 1986, the decision of NASA officials to go forward with the launch of the space shuttle Challenger despite warnings from engineers to delay the launch is an example of the dangerous consequences of which social psychological process?
15. Stroebe and Diehl (1994) conducted a clever piece of research into why brainstorming does not appear to enhance individual creativity. They hypothesized that, during a brainstorming session, because only one group member may speak at a time, other group members have to keep silent, and may be distracted by the content of the group discussion or forget their own ideas. Stroebe and Diehl termed this phenomenon ‘production blocking’, because the waiting time before speaking and the distracting influence of others’ ideas could potentially block individuals from coming up with their own ideas. The results of their subsequent study were clear-cut: participants generated approximately twice as many ideas when they were allowed to express their ideas as they occurred than when they had to wait their turn. But which TWO of the following can we infer from these results?
16. Which of the following are NOT necessarily characteristics of an authoritarian personality? People with authoritarian personalities tend to:
17. Viewing people from different groups as individuals and viewing people from different subgroups (such as Scots and English) as members of a single superordinate group represent which two types of prejudice reduction strategies?
18. According to social identity theory, from what do we derive a large part of our identity and feelings about ourselves?
19. Research suggests that we seek out the company of others because of which motives?
20. According to Tuckman’s five stage model of group development, which stage refers to the period of development when people struggle with each other over leadership and group definition?