Year 1 EPPP Practice Exam - Social Psych

Question ID #11860: During a family therapy session, the therapist tells the 8-year-old son that he should keep annoying his sister, even though it makes her very mad. The boy says, "I don't have to if I don't want to." The boy's response to the therapist's request is best described as a manifestation of which of the following?

A.

Paradox

B.

Double-bind

C.

Source derogation

D.

Psychological reactance

D.

Psychological reactance

Question ID #11856: In a research study on bystander intervention, a participant hears someone fall and cry out in pain in an adjacent room. In this situation, the participant is most likely to respond to this apparent need for help when he/she is:

A.

alone

B.

with a friend

C.

with a stranger

D.

with three or more other people

A.

alone

Question ID #11861: A father is quite upset about his 11-year-old son's recent unwillingness to do as he is told, and he tells his son, "I'm the boss around here and you must do as I say." The father is relying on which type of social power to control his son's behavior?

A.

Expert

B.

Referent

C.

Legitimate

D.

Coercive

C.

Legitimate

Question ID #11871: Moscovici (1985) found that individuals with a minority opinion are most likely to change the minds of those holding the majority opinion when those with the minority opinion:

A.

express their opinion as consistently as possible.

B.

use ingratiation techniques to gain the acceptance of members of the majority.

C.

initially agree with the majority position and gradually introduce their own opinion.

D.

point out the ways in which they agree with the majority.

A.

express their opinion as consistently as possible.

Question ID #11855: Mary thinks her teacher is a real jerk for always assigning weekend homework. Mary's belief about her teacher is best explained by which of the following?

A.

Overjustification hypothesis

B.

Self-serving bias

C.

Fundamental attribution error

D.

Self-verification theory

C.

Fundamental attribution error

Question ID #10002: According to research on fear arousal and attitude change, it has been found that greater attitude change occurs under the following conditions:

A.

lower levels of fear arousal are associated with the greatest amount of opinion change

B.

the greater the amount of fear aroused, the greater the opinion change

C.

high levels of fear arousal are associated with the greatest amount of opinion change as long as certain conditions are met

D.

fear arousal is not a good method for inducing opinion change

C.

high levels of fear arousal are associated with the greatest amount of opinion change as long as certain conditions are met

Question ID #10003: From the perspective of attribution theory, one's "attributional style" is a mediator between events and depression. Depression might result when negative events are attributed to:

A.

external, stable, and global factors

B.

external, unstable, and specific factors

C.

internal, stable, and global factors

D.

internal, unstable, and specific factors

C.

internal, stable, and global factors

Question ID #10115: Advocates for prayer in school hope to persuade other members of the community to support their position. According to "social judgment theory," other community members are most likely to be convinced if the discrepancy between their initial position on this issue and the position of the advocates of school prayer is:

A.

is low

B.

is moderate

C.

is high

D.

varies from person to person

B.

is moderate

Question ID #10116: The tendency to seek or pay attention only to information that confirms our beliefs is referred to as:

A.

functional fixedness

B.

belief perseverance

C.

the self-serving bias

D.

the confirmation bias

D.

the confirmation bias

Question ID #10147: Which of the following outcomes is not predicted by cognitive dissonance theory:

A.

A college student who is subjected to a difficult and painful initiation into a fraternity is likely to resent the other members.

B.

A gambler who loses all his money will say he gambles for the fun of it.

C.

A person who breaks his arm playing football will say that broken bones are not that painful.

D.

A person paid $2.50 an hour for stuffing envelopes will rate the task as more pleasant than a person paid $10.00 an hour for doing the same task.

A.

A college student who is subjected to a difficult and painful initiation into a fraternity is likely to resent the other members.

Question ID #10152: You are a community psychologist working with two rival gangs. Which of the following represents the intervention that is most likely to decrease the hostility between members of the groups:

A.

talk to them about the different theories of aggression so that they understand the processes behind their actions.

B.

have the gangs work toward the common goal of organizing a protest against police brutality in their neighborhood.

C.

give each group false information about the other group.

D.

give each group no information about the other group.

B.

have the gangs work toward the common goal of organizing a protest against police brutality in their neighborhood.

Question ID #10153: In a study examining affiliation, experimental subjects (introductory psychology students) are told that they will be receiving a series of electric shocks. Subjects are then given the opportunity to either wait alone, wait with other students who will be participating in the same experiment, or wait with other students who are merely waiting to see their faculty advisors. Results of the study will most likely confirm the hypothesis that:

A.

misery loves company

B.

misery loves miserable company

C.

misery loves unmiserable company

D.

misery loves no company

B.

misery loves miserable company

Question ID #10277: The Barnum effect has been attributed to which of the following:

A.

self-verification

B.

overjustification

C.

selective memory

D.

self-monitoring 

C.

selective memory

Question ID #10421: The ___________ refers to the tendency to rely on case-specific information and ignore or underuse certain data when estimating the likelihood of an event or characteristic.

A.

Von Restorff effect

B.

Forer effect

C.

availability heuristic

D.

base rate fallacy

D.

base rate fallacy

Question ID #10422: Research has confirmed that, when making attributions about our own behavior, we ordinarily attribute behaviors that have positive outcomes to dispositional factors but behaviors that have negative outcomes to situational factors. This tendency is referred to as the:

A.

self-verification theory

B.

self-serving bias

C.

confirmation bias

D.

self-fulfilling prophecy

B.

self-serving bias

Question ID #10600: Cognitive dissonance theory and ________ share in common the assumption that an uncomfortable experience or sensation is the primary cause of attitude change.

A.

the sleeper effect

B.

attitude inoculation

C.

balance theory

D.

the elaboration likelihood model

C.

balance theory

Question ID #12860: The actor-observer effect is a cognitive bias which attempts to explain:

A.

the behavior of movie stars

B.

one's own behavior, but not the behavior of others

C.

the behavior of others but not one's own behavior

D.

the attributions people make regarding their own behavior and the behavior of others

D.

the attributions people make regarding their own behavior and the behavior of others

Question ID #12862: The expectation that people will help, as opposed to hurt, others who have helped them is known as the:

A.

the Good Samaritan phenomenon

B.

the moral high road

C.

norm of reciprocity 

D.

the mutual exchange norm

C.

norm of reciprocity 

Question ID #12863: Research has found that self-image remains relatively stable, due, in part, to the fact that we seek out and remember information that confirms our beliefs about ourselves. Which of the following makes this prediction:

A.

constancy bias

B.

self-serving bias

C.

false consensus bias

D.

confirmation bias

D.

confirmation bias

Question ID #12756: According to the "Elaboration Likelihood model":

A.

persuasion via the peripheral route is more likely when the listener is uninvolved with the message and the communicator is appealing.

B.

persuasion via the peripheral route is more likely when multiple sources present the persuasive message.

C.

a minority group has the greatest persuasive influence when members have high status, are close to the majority in space and time, and are large in number.

D.

a minority group has the greatest persuasive influence when it is consistent, somewhat rigid, but fair.

A.

persuasion via the peripheral route is more likely when the listener is uninvolved with the message and the communicator is appealing.

Question ID #12864: In a research study, participants were given vague descriptions of themselves that were supposedly based on their handwriting analysis. Actually, all participants had received the same randomly derived description. When asked about the accuracy of the description, most participants agreed that it was "highly accurate." These results support the predictions of which of the following:

A.

self-serving bias

B.

looking-glass self

C.

Barnum effect

D.

Zeigarnik effect

The "Barnum effect" predicts that people tend to accept vague or general descriptions of themselves as accurate descriptions. It has been used to explain why people believe that astrological predictions or descriptions are accurate.

Question ID #13137: Elaine considers her friend, Tom, to be quiet and reserved. She says that when she is alone with Tom or when they are in a small group, Tom listens more than he talks and is never one to "make a scene." One day, however, Elaine observes Tom in a large crowd that is waiting for the arrival of a "special celebrity guest" at the opening of a new shopping mall. The guest is nearly 30 minutes late, and the crowd is beginning to show signs of impatience. Elaine is surprised when she sees Tom initiate loud "booing" and other derogatory comments while waving his clenched fist in the air in anger. Which of the following best explains Tom's unusual behavior?

A.

Deindividuation

B.

Social facilitation

C.

Catharsis

D.

Paradoxical intention

A.

Deindividuation

Question ID #13038: Social psychologists define __________ as knowledge about particular situations and how events in those situations ordinarily unfold.

A.

prototype

B.

script

C.

heuristic

D.

propositional network

B.

script

Question ID #13222: Byrne's "law of attraction" emphasizes the role of _________ as an essential determinant of our attraction to others.

A.

physical attractiveness

B.

reciprocal liking

C.

propinquity

D.

attitude similarity

D.

attitude similarity

Question ID #12856: Leon Festinger's (1954) social comparison theory centers on the idea that there is a need among people to establish:

A.

accurate self-evaluations

B.

enlightenment

C.

self-actualization

D.

social connection

A.

accurate self-evaluations