Name: __________________________  Date: _____________

1.	What is social psychology?	
A)	the study of society as a psychological entity (i.e., society as a motivated agent)	
B)	the study of how individual differences in social-emotional functioning drive a person's behavior across a variety of situations	
C)	the study of the causes and consequences of people's thoughts, feelings, and actions regarding themselves and other people	
D)	the study of the relationships between and development of different societies	

2.	The earliest treatments of social psychology (such as the theories of Spencer and McDougal) tended to emphasize:	
A)	a view of humans as driven by unconscious motivation.	
B)	an instinct-based view of human behavior.	
C)	a view of humans as machinelike information processors.	
D)	a reinforcement-centered view of humans as learning from experience.	

3.	The notion that much of human social behavior is driven by the need to keep disturbing and antisocial bodily drives out of conscious awareness is critical to which perspective?	
A)	psychoanalysis	
B)	behaviorism	
C)	the social cognition perspective	
D)	the evolutionary perspective	

4.	Which of the following is true of the earliest versions of social psychology (the instinct-based and psychoanalytic approaches)?	
A)	They were inspired by Darwin's ideas.	
B)	They were not inspired by Darwin's ideas.	
C)	They were pioneered by Wilhelm Wundt.	
D)	They were pioneered by William James.	

5.	Behaviorists emphasized that human behavior is driven primarily by:	
A)	unconscious motivation.	
B)	instinct.	
C)	cognitive processes.	
D)	learning from past experiences.	

6.	What phenomena were behaviorists primarily interested in measuring?	
A)	mental states	
B)	observable behaviors	
C)	neurological pathways	
D)	unconscious drives	

7.	While social psychology in the first half of the 20th century tended to stress _____, social psychology from the second half of the 20th Century on stresses ______.	
A)	an instinct-based approach; a behaviorist approach	
B)	a behaviorist approach; an instinct-based approach	
C)	specific, topic-based theories; broad views of human sociality	
D)	broad views of human social behavior; specific, topic-based theories	

8.	Which of the following events had a major influence on the history of social psychology?	
A)	the economic crisis of the 1970s	
B)	World War II	
C)	the Cold War	
D)	the development of institutional care for people with severe personality disorders	

9.	What is the primary metaphor for the person in the social cognitive perspective?	
A)	a tumultuous storm of conflicting drives	
B)	a blank slate	
C)	an information processor	
D)	a social animal	

10.	What is the term for the way an individual understands his or her social world?	
A)	social cognition	
B)	existential perspective	
C)	embodied cognition	
D)	a priori causal theory	

11.	Which of the following is NOT one of the following is NOT one of the  major perspectives that provide an integrated view of human social behavior in contemporary social psychology?	
A)	the existential perspective	
B)	the evolutionary perspective	
C)	the instinct-based perspective	
D)	the social cognitive perspective	

12.	The concept of adaptation is most central for which influential perspective in contemporary social psychology?	
A)	the existential perspective	
B)	the evolutionary perspective	
C)	the neuroscience perspective	
D)	the cultural perspective	

13.	What does it mean to say that humans are cultural animals?	
A)	Humans create their own symbolic conception of reality.	
B)	Humans tend to live socially in groups.	
C)	Humans in different groups around the world are hostile towards members of other groups.	
D)	Humans are actually driven by instincts.	

14.	Jeremiah has become deeply depressed because he feels like his life has no meaning. Which of the perspectives in contemporary social psychology is BEST suited to help us understand Jeremiah's experience?	
A)	the existential perspective	
B)	the evolutionary perspective	
C)	the social cognitive perspective	
D)	the neuroscience perspective	

15.	Which of the following techniques of measurement is NOT considered a key part of the neuroscience perspective in social psychology?	
A)	brain imaging	
B)	assessing cardiovascular functioning	
C)	assessing self-reported mental states	
D)	measuring brain waves	

16.	Which of the following occurrences is the best example of the “power of the situation”?	
A)	U.S. citizens vary in the extent to which they conform to the norms of their culture.	
B)	Everyone in a library tends to be quiet.	
C)	More extraverted people are more likely than introverted people to talk at a party.	
D)	A person tends to have a stable identity that is constant through different environments.	

17.	Which of the foundational thinkers of social psychology argued that behavior is a function of the person and the situation?	
A)	John Dewey	
B)	Floyd Allport	
C)	Sigmund Freud	
D)	Kurt Lewin	

18.	Consistent preferences, ways of thinking, and behavioral tendencies that manifest across different situations and over time are referred to as:	
A)	dispositions.	
B)	situational influences.	
C)	selves.	
D)	core attitudes.	

19.	Carlos is a deeply introverted person. However, at a party with several of his friends he ends up talking more than he normally would. Nevertheless, he still talks less than most of his friends. What is the primary determinant of Carlos's behavior in this case?	
A)	his genetic make-up	
B)	the situation that he is in	
C)	his dispositions	
D)	the interaction of the situation and his dispositions	

20.	Which of the following assumptions is NOT one of the four core assumptions of social psychology?	
A)	Behavior is determined exclusively by situations.	
B)	All human thought is inherently social.	
C)	Social cognition has a strong influence on social behavior.	
D)	The scientific method is essential for understanding the roots of social behavior.	

21.	Which of the following instances is an example of the way we use social comparisons to self-evaluate?	
A)	An instructor provides personal feedback on a test.	
B)	A person shooting rolled-up paper balls into a wastebasket is able to make three baskets.	
C)	A child thinks about how tall she is by looking around at the other children in her classroom.	
D)	A mother decides that her son is her favorite person in the world.	

22.	Akira got in a car accident recently. After assessing the situation, he believes that the accident was his fault. This is causing him to be constantly on the lookout for situations in which he might make a mistake, making him feel continually nervous. What does this example BEST demonstrate?	
A)	the importance of an evolutionary perspective	
B)	our reliance on social comparison	
C)	the power of the situation	
D)	the powerful influence of social cognition	

23.	What aspect of social psychology MOST distinguishes it from many other ways of understanding the causes and consequences of people's social behavior, such as philosophy or general cultural knowledge?	
A)	the idea that humans are inherently social	
B)	an emphasis on the scientific method	
C)	a sense that people's dispositions play a major role in determining their behavior	
D)	the use of observations from the real world to form assumptions	

24.	Which theory suggests that people are like “intuitive scientists,” using reasoning and observation to understand the nature of the social world?	
A)	social cognition theory	
B)	social comparison theory	
C)	behaviorism	
D)	attribution theory	

25.	Leleti believes that her friend spilled soda all over her backpack in order to get revenge for a remark Leleti made a few days ago, even though her friend claims that the incident was an accident. Leleti is making a:	
A)	dispositional assumption.	
B)	causal attribution.	
C)	third variable assumption.	
D)	social comparison.	

26.	What is the definition of cultural knowledge?	
A)	a store of information accumulated in a culture about how the world works	
B)	our understanding of a given culture using the scientific method	
C)	the way in which people understand themselves through comparison with others	
D)	people's consistent preferences and ways of thinking that are consistent across situations and time	

27.	Mbongeni has never seen a “germ,” and he also hasn't read any of the medical research supporting germ theory. Since he doesn't have any medical education, he likely wouldn't be able to make sense of the literature if he read it. However, Mbongeni believes that if he catches a cold, it is because of a germ. Mbongeni is relying on _____ to understand how colds happen.	
A)	an existential perspective	
B)	confirmation bias	
C)	cultural knowledge	
D)	the scientific method	

28.	A priori causal theories are:	
A)	theories for explaining behavior acquired from culture or situationally salient factors.	
B)	explanations for behavior constructed from scientific data.	
C)	correlational associations between two kinds of events.	
D)	views of life and the universe that imbue them with ultimate meaning.	

29.	Which of the following is NOT a reason why people are often limited in their ability to explain their own behavior?	
A)	People often don't tell the truth.	
B)	People sometimes repress unpleasant information.	
C)	People rely on a priori causal theories to explain their behavior.	
D)	People have private access to their own memories and thoughts.	

30.	Researchers Nisbett and Wilson found that when shoppers were asked to choose between different silk stockings, the primary factor influencing their decision was the positioning of the stockings on the table. However, when asked why they chose the stockings they chose, the shoppers generated a variety of different reasons. This finding is evidence that:	
A)	a behaviorist perspective provides the most insight into psychology.	
B)	people rely on a priori causal theories to explain their behavior.	
C)	people are the best sources of information about their own behavior.	
D)	cultural knowledge is generally accurate.	

31.	What is one of the ultimate conclusions to be drawn from Nisbett and Wilson's research demonstrating people's reliance on a priori causal theories to explain their own behavior?	
A)	While people have access to the products of their thought processes, they have little access to those processes themselves.	
B)	Dispositional factors are more important than situational factors in determining how people behave.	
C)	Situational factors are more important than dispositional factors in determining the explanations people give for their own behavior.	
D)	People have exceptional powers of introspection.	

32.	The fact that people tend to seize onto quick and easy answers to questions, rather than expending cognitive effort, has led researchers to conclude that people are:	
A)	social cognizers.	
B)	introspective.	
C)	cognitive misers.	
D)	intuitive scientists.	

33.	Confirmation bias is:	
A)	the tendency to be more positive than negative when processing social input.	
B)	the tendency to process information to conform to what we desire and expect.	
C)	a form of prejudice based on familiarity with outgroup members.	
D)	an automatically higher level of agreement with everything that is being said to one at the moment.	

34.	Lord and colleagues found that, after reading articles with research that both supported and undermined the value of capital punishment, people with initially favorable attitudes believed capital punishment to be more effective, while those with initially negative attitudes believed it to be less so. This finding is evidence of:	
A)	social comparison.	
B)	confirmation bias.	
C)	causal attribution.	
D)	hypocrisy.	

35.	Emiliano believes that dogs are better than cats. He decides to search the Internet one day to see if his opinion is rooted in fact. He reads several articles that consider all sides of the matter, presenting a rather blurry picture of whether humans should prefer the company of dogs or cats. What does research suggest Emiliano is most likely to conclude based on reading all this new information?	
A)	Dogs are better than cats.	
B)	Cats are better than dogs.	
C)	Both animals should be loved equally.	
D)	There is no way to answer the question definitively.	

36.	In a famous study, participants were told they were “teachers” in an experiment who were going to give instructions to a “learner.” When the learner failed to do well, the participants were ordered to give the learner electric shocks. The learner was actually an actor working for the study, and not a real participant. The learner in this study was what is called:	
A)	a confederate.	
B)	a research assistant.	
C)	an experimenter.	
D)	an ersatz-participant.	

37.	Which of the following reasons is NOT a reason why people are often limited in their ability to explain the causes of others' behavior?	
A)	The act of observing the behavior might change it.	
B)	People are biased to try to confirm what they already believe and expect.	
C)	People's observations come from a limited, idiosyncratic perspective.	
D)	People spend as much cognitive energy as possible trying to uncover why a given situation happened.	

38.	A study demonstrated that if a participant is being interviewed by a person who taps her feet, the participant is also more likely to tap his feet; and if he is being interviewed by a person who scratches her head, the participant is also more likely to scratch his head. Which principle does this finding BEST demonstrate?	
A)	People are biased to confirm what they already know.	
B)	The act of observing behavior can change that behavior.	
C)	People develop a priori causal theories to explain their behavior.	
D)	People are cognitive misers.	

39.	The process whereby scientists observe events, look for patterns, and evaluate theories proposed to explain those patterns is referred to as:	
A)	research.	
B)	a priori causal theory.	
C)	intuitive knowledge.	
D)	causal attribution.	

40.	Within the scientific method, a theory is:	
A)	a narrative about the origin of some psychological trait.	
B)	an explanation (potentially false) that people give for their own behavior.	
C)	an explanation for how and why variables are related to each other.	
D)	a prediction about what will occur given certain specified conditions.	

41.	In the scientific method, _____ are derived from _____ in order to test the accuracy of the latter.	
A)	hypotheses; theories	
B)	theories; hypotheses	
C)	experiments; hypotheses	
D)	hypotheses; experiments	

42.	Scientists propose that the evolution of species occurs through the process of natural selection. If this is correct, then it should follow that members of a particular species of fruit fly will tend to differ genetically across generations from other members of that species if the two sets are kept in radically different environments. In this example, the statement about how members of the fruit fly species will begin to differ can be referred to as:	
A)	a theory.	
B)	an a priori causal theory.	
C)	a hypothesis.	
D)	research.	

43.	An if-then statement which specifies what the relationships between variables should be like if a theory is correct is called a _____.	
A)	correlation coefficient	
B)	hypothesis	
C)	research question	
D)	causal attribution	

44.	Which of the following sequences BEST demonstrates the cycle of theory and research in science?	
A)	Research Outcome ® Hypothesis ® Theory ® Research Outcome	
B)	Theory ® Hypothesis ® Research Outcome	
C)	Hypothesis ® Theory ® Research Outcome	
D)	Theory ® Hypothesis ® Research Outcome ® Theory	

45.	Which of the following statements is most accurate?	
A)	A given theory should generate multiple hypotheses.	
B)	A given hypothesis should only generate one theory.	
C)	If a hypothesis derived from a theory is disproven, then the theory itself should be discarded.	
D)	Theories cannot be revised once they have been used.	

46.	In science, _____ are the content of the observations that have been made and replicated by scientists, while _____ are the explanations given by scientists for that content.	
A)	studies; hypotheses	
B)	hypotheses; studies	
C)	facts; theories	
D)	theories; facts	

47.	According to stereotype threat theory, why will a member of a group that is negatively stereotyped for performance on a task feel threatened when he or she is performing that task?	
A)	The group member will feel like their performance might reflect on the whole group.	
B)	The group member will be desirous of confirming the stereotype.	
C)	The group member will encounter direct stereotypes from members of other groups while performing the task.	
D)	It is objectively more difficult for members of that group to perform well on such a task.	

48.	Jacob is a male blue collar worker attending a group therapy session. He knows that people from his background are thought of as not being in touch with their feelings and having quick tempers. During the session, he worries about how he will appear, and ends up getting angry and losing his temper as a result of this anxiety. Jacob's case is an example of:	
A)	a cognitive miser.	
B)	stereotype threat.	
C)	demand characteristics.	
D)	confirmation bias.	

49.	What is a reason posited by stereotype threat theory for gaps in performance among members of stigmatized groups?	
A)	Members of stigmatized groups are threatening to members of majority groups, who then stereotype the stigmatized group members.	
B)	Because of constant exposure to stereotypes, members of stigmatized groups have stopped caring about their performance.	
C)	Members of stigmatized groups experience more threats on a day-to-day basis.	
D)	Situations that remind stigmatized group members of negative stereotypes about their group causes them anxiety.	

50.	A researcher believes that the more neurotic a person is, the more that person will tend to experience negative emotion. This is an example of a:	
A)	third variable problem.	
B)	experimental/causal hypothesis.	
C)	correlational hypothesis.	
D)	theory.	

51.	What is the most general term for the type of research in which two or more variables are measured and compared to determine the extent to which they are associated?	
A)	experimental approach	
B)	correlational approach	
C)	quasi-experimental design	
D)	random assignment	

52.	A researcher finds a substantial negative correlation between a measure of anxiety and a measure of life satisfaction. How should we interpret the relationship between these variables?	
A)	There is no relationship between anxiety and life satisfaction.	
B)	The higher a person scores on anxiety, the higher they score on life satisfaction.	
C)	The higher a person scores on anxiety, the lower they score on life satisfaction.	
D)	Anxiety and life satisfaction are probably the same variable.	

53.	A positive or negative value that shows the strength and direction of the association between two variables is referred to as:	
A)	a point estimate.	
B)	a dependent variable.	
C)	a conceptual replication.	
D)	a correlation coefficient.	

54.	If two psychological variables are correlated at r = +1.0, this probably means that:	
A)	the two variables are measuring the same underlying construct.	
B)	the two variables are completely independent of one another.	
C)	the two variables are moderately related.	
D)	the higher you score on one variable, the lower you score on the other.	

55.	In their research on stereotype threat, Pinel and colleagues found a negative correlation among stigmatized group members between stigma consciousness and GPA. This study was designed as a test of which of the following hypotheses?	
A)	The more a person is conscious of the negative stereotype of his or her group, the worse that person will perform in areas related to the stereotype.	
B)	Situations that make a negative stereotype of a person's group prominent in the person's mind will lead to worse performance than situations that do not.	
C)	People who belong to a stereotyped group will be more likely than those who don't to have a low GPA.	
D)	Being aware of stigmatization of one's group generally leads to an inflated sense of GPA.	

56.	Which of the following statements is true regarding the finding that there is a negative correlation among stigmatized group members between stigma consciousness and GPA?	
A)	It allows us to conclude that stigma consciousness and GPA are completely unrelated variables.	
B)	It is consistent with a hypothesis that can be derived from the theory of stereotype threat.	
C)	It strongly suggests that a person's level of stigma consciousness causally determines their GPA.	
D)	It suggests that if we know a person's level of stigma consciousness, we can predict with near-perfect accuracy what their GPA will be.	

57.	Which one of the following statements is FALSE?	
A)	Some hypotheses can be effectively tested using a correlational approach.	
B)	A correlation between two variables may be primarily driven by a third variable that is associated with both.	
C)	Correlation does not imply causation.	
D)	Two variables do not need to be correlated with each other for one to have a causal influence on the other.	

58.	The reverse causality problem refers to what phenomenon?	
A)	The fact that, when a correlation is found between two variables, it is impossible to determine which variable causes the other.	
B)	People's thoughts about the future can influence their present behaviors.	
C)	The fact that people will explain their own behavior by relying on culturally common theories or factors that happen to be salient at the moment.	
D)	There are many situations in which variables influence each other in a reciprocal fashion.	

59.	A researcher finds that self-esteem is positively correlated with academic performance. What can the researcher conclude from these data about the causal relationship between these variables?	
A)	High self-esteem causes people to perform better academically.	
B)	People who perform better academically have higher self-esteem as a result.	
C)	High self-esteem and academic performance both have causal influence on each other.	
D)	It is impossible to conclude anything about the causal relationship between these variables based on these data.	

60.	The third variable problem refers to the fact that:	
A)	experiments allow researchers to assess relationships between independent variables, dependent variables, and third variables.	
B)	almost all phenomena in social psychology are driven by the interaction between three identifiable variables.	
C)	a correlation between two variables may be driven by their mutual association with another variable.	
D)	researchers in social psychology tend to statistically investigate the relationships between only three variables at a time.	

61.	A researcher finds that the number of murders committed during a summer is correlated with the number of ice cream cones consumed. However, they realize that there is a third variable problem related to this finding. What might this problem be?	
A)	It's possible that people eat more ice cream to console themselves about news that murder is being committed, rather than murder being committed as a result of ice cream sales.	
B)	High temperatures might be causing both greater ice cream sales and more aggressive acts of violence.	
C)	Victims of murder cannot be randomly assigned to a condition.	
D)	The number of murders committed in an area might not only be causing more ice cream sales, but also more toy sales.	

62.	A researcher finds that attendance at horror movies is associated with neuroticism. They believe that attending horror movies causes people to be more neurotic. Which of the following statements does NOT describe a problem with the researcher's claim?	
A)	It's possible that more neurotic people prefer to go to horror movies.	
B)	Because horror movie attendance and neuroticism are correlated, it's possible that one of these variables causes the other.	
C)	People who are lonely may be both more neurotic and more likely to attend horror movies.	
D)	Horror movies may be marketed in ways that are more appealing for neurotic individuals, causing them to attend such movies at a higher rate.	

63.	A study was conducted showing that the amount of violent television watched in childhood positively predicted the number of aggressive acts committed in adulthood. This study is BEST considered an example of a:	
A)	longitudinal design.	
B)	correlational study.	
C)	experimental design.	
D)	quasi-experiment.	

64.	A study in which a researcher takes active control of an independent variable, manipulates it, and observes its effect on a dependent variable is called a(n):	
A)	correlational study.	
B)	longitudinal study.	
C)	experiment.	
D)	quasi-experiment.	

65.	In experimental research, the _____ is what we believe is being affected by the _____, which we believe to be the “cause.”	
A)	interaction; correlation coefficient	
B)	correlation coefficient; interaction	
C)	independent variable; dependent variable	
D)	dependent variable; independent variable	

66.	Which of the following conditions does NOT need to be met to test the hypothesis that situations that activate a negative stereotype of a person's group will lead to worse performance than situations that do not?	
A)	Participants' performance must be assessed on a test that is relevant to the negative stereotype.	
B)	Performance on a stereotype-relevant test must be assessed before participant awareness of the negative stereotype is manipulated.	
C)	Participants' awareness of the negative stereotype of their group must be manipulated, or caused to vary across two or more conditions.	
D)	All other factors besides participants' awareness of the negative stereotype of their group must be held constant.	

67.	When we manipulate, or assign participants to different conditions of, a variable, what are we manipulating?	
A)	the independent variable	
B)	the dependent variable	
C)	both the independent and the dependent variable	
D)	the correlation coefficient	

68.	_____ refers to the judgment that an experimental finding can be generalized across people, time, and settings, while _____ refers to the judgment that an independent variable caused a change in a dependent variable within an experiment.	
A)	Internal validity; external validity	
B)	Operationalization; construct validity	
C)	Construct validity; operationalization	
D)	External validity; internal validity	

69.	Research demonstrates that when Black and White students are reminded of their race (or not) before taking a test, Black students show lowered performance in the condition where they are reminded of their race. This result is MOST accurately interpreted as:	
A)	an effect of race on test performance.	
B)	an effect of the extent to which people are thinking about their race on test performance.	
C)	an interaction between race and the extent to which people are thinking about their race before a test.	
D)	a correlation between racial identity and the extent to which one is thinking about their race prior to a test.	

70.	A pattern of results in which the effect of one independent variable on a dependent variable depends on the level of another independent variable is referred to as:	
A)	a main effect.	
B)	a correlation.	
C)	a correlation coefficient.	
D)	an interaction.	

71.	What is the best research method for determining whether one variable has a causal influence on another?	
A)	a longitudinal study	
B)	an experiment	
C)	a correlational study	
D)	a quasi-experiment	

72.	Which of the following is NOT a reason why experiments help researchers determine causality?	
A)	In an experiment, the researcher can control the causal sequence of two variables.	
B)	Because they take place in a controlled laboratory setting, experiments have greater external validity.	
C)	Participants can be randomly assigned to different conditions of the independent variable.	
D)	The experimenter can hold everything constant except for the variable being manipulated.	

73.	A researcher randomly assigns a group of male and female college students to either gossip about their friends or to play a game of basketball. Afterwards, they administer the students a measure of happiness. They find that students who played basketball are happier than those who gossiped. What is the MOST likely cause of this outcome?	
A)	Men were happier overall than women.	
B)	Students who like to play sports were happier than students who don't like to play sports.	
C)	Playing basketball made students happier compared to gossiping.	
D)	The people in the basketball-playing condition were already happier to begin with.	

74.	Random assignment refers to a procedure through which:	
A)	participants are assigned to experimental conditions in such a way that they have an equal chance of being in any condition.	
B)	participants are recruited from a broader population such that any member of the population has an equal chance of being in the study.	
C)	participants are kept unaware of the purpose of the study until they are suddenly made aware of it after the independent variable has been administered.	
D)	quasi-experiments can be made to approximate true experiments.	

75.	Which of the following problems is not primarily solved by random assignment to a condition?	
A)	the third variable problem	
B)	the causal sequence problem	
C)	the fact that participants might differ in their level of the dependent variable prior to the study	
D)	the fact that random factors experienced by different participants the day of the study might contribute to their scores on the dependent variable	

76.	In an experiment, participants are randomly assigned to levels of the:	
A)	independent variable.	
B)	dependent variable.	
C)	independent and dependent variables.	
D)	third variable.	

77.	_____ methods are preferable for determining causal relationships between variables, but _____ methods are preferable for determining the influence of personality or dispositional variables.	
A)	Correlational; longitudinal	
B)	Longitudinal; correlational	
C)	Correlational; experimental	
D)	Experimental; correlational	

78.	A researcher counts the number of people wearing football team T-shirts on a college campus in years when the team is having a good versus a bad season. He finds that more people wear the shirts in years when the team is doing well. This is best conceptualized as an example of:	
A)	experimental research.	
B)	field research.	
C)	longitudinal research.	
D)	pilot research.	

79.	A quasi-experiment is:	
A)	a study in which naturally occurring groups of participants are compared on a dependent variable without random assignment.	
B)	a study in which only half of the participants can be randomly assigned to a condition.	
C)	a set of studies that include both experimental and correlational components.	
D)	a study in which two independent variables interact to produce changes in the dependent variable.	

80.	A researcher conducts a study in which men and women are asked to rate their level of self-esteem with reference to both appearance and intellectual ability. The researcher predicts that there will be differences between men and women on these variables. This study is best characterized as:	
A)	a correlational design.	
B)	an experiment.	
C)	a quasi-experiment.	
D)	field research.	

81.	Walton and Cohen conducted a study in which they intervened in freshman college students' experience by having them read either an essay about how stress is a normal part of the college transition, or a control essay. What did the researchers find when they tracked the students' GPAs over the course of the next three years?	
A)	The treatment had no effect.	
B)	All students who read an essay about stress being normal had higher GPAs than those who did not.	
C)	Black students who read an essay about stress being normal had higher GPAs than Black students who did not.	
D)	White students who read an essay about stress being normal had higher GPAs than Black students who read the same essay.	

82.	Which of the following is NOT something that a good theory in social psychology should be required to do?	
A)	generate new questions	
B)	provide direction for research	
C)	show how a correlation explains causation	
D)	explain observations	

83.	What does it mean to say that a theory is parsimonious?	
A)	it is good at parsing large observations into sets of smaller observations	
B)	it explains a large number of diverse observations with many and complex principles	
C)	it generates a very large number of hypotheses	
D)	it explains a large number of diverse observations with relatively few and simple principles	

84.	Which of the following statements is MOST true regarding scientific theories?	
A)	If the methods do not exist to test hypotheses derived from the theory, the theory is useless.	
B)	A scientific theory should be designed to match the methods and techniques currently available for scientific testing.	
C)	Even if the methods do not currently exist for fully testing its hypotheses, a theory may still ultimately be shown to be an accurate representation of reality.	
D)	A theory should be able to show how the methods that have been used to test previous theories are inadequate and out of date.	

85.	A researcher assesses anxiety by measuring heart rate. In this study, anxiety is the _____ and rapid heart rate is the _____.	
A)	abstract conceptual variable; operational definition	
B)	operational definition; abstract conceptual variable	
C)	independent variable; dependent variable	
D)	dependent variable; independent variable	

86.	A specific, concrete method of measuring or manipulating a conceptual variable is referred to as a(n):	
A)	operational definition.	
B)	independent variable.	
C)	dependent variable.	
D)	correlation coefficient.	

87.	What is the definition of a confound?	
A)	an individual difference between participants that may be contributing to their scores in an experiment	
B)	a problem with the temporal order of a study which leaves open the question of reverse causality	
C)	a variable other than the variable intended to be manipulated that may be responsible for an observed effect	
D)	any source of random error contributing to the outcome of a study	

88.	If in an experiment the independent variable is in fact a manipulation of what was intended, and the dependent variable is in fact a measure of what was intended, then the experiment can be said to be high in:	
A)	construct validity.	
B)	external validity.	
C)	significance.	
D)	practical value.	

89.	A researcher believes that thinking about clowns will make people more aggressive. He randomly assigns some people to see pictures of clowns, and other people to read a description of a calm forest. He finds that people who looked at pictures of clowns behave more aggressively. However, there is at least one confound in this study. What is that confound?	
A)	The researcher has no theoretical basis for this effect.	
B)	Not all people will become aggressive when they think about clowns.	
C)	Some people looked at pictures, while others just read text.	
D)	Looking at pictures of clowns may not have been a good operational definition of thinking about clowns.	

90.	Which of the following is NOT a form of validity which social psychologists are interested in obtaining?	
A)	construct	
B)	reverse causality	
C)	external	
D)	internal	

91.	Which of the following tactics does NOT help eliminate confounds from research?	
A)	random assignment to condition	
B)	measuring the dependent variable as accurately as possible	
C)	anticipating alternate explanations and including variables relevant to these explanations as control conditions	
D)	performing conceptual replications	

92.	A researcher is able to replicate her study results using the same operational definitions in three countries other than the country where she originally conducted the research. By doing so, she has primarily increased the _____ of her finding.	
A)	conceptual replicability	
B)	construct validity	
C)	internal validity	
D)	external validity	

93.	Which of these statements does NOT capture a limitation of science?	
A)	Through competition between scientists, many hypotheses are disproven and theories eventually discarded.	
B)	There are aspects of reality that humans cannot know.	
C)	Human values exert an influence on the way science is conducted.	
D)	Because scientists are human, they often apply the scientific method in a biased way.	

94.	Which of the following potential problems with research on human subjects is NOT considered a major ethical issue?	
A)	The fact that participants might experience more stress during a study than they would in their everyday life.	
B)	The use of deception in experiments.	
C)	The fact that college students often participate in studies as part of their education.	
D)	The possibility of long-term physical or psychological damage from a study.	

95.	A researcher believes that receiving a self-esteem threat will make participants more depressed. So she conducts a study in which participants are randomly assigned to receive negative feedback on a personality test, and then measures their level of depression. She tells participants that the study is about “validation of personality measures.” In this example, “validation of personality measures” is:	
A)	an operational definition.	
B)	a cover story.	
C)	a conceptual variable.	
D)	internal validity.	

96.	A researcher believes that people who have thought about times when others helped them in the past will be more likely to help someone else. To test this, she brings participants to the lab for what they are told is a study on “Being Good Citizens.” Participants are randomly assigned to think about a time when someone helped them or to think about a different topic; then they are given the opportunity to donate money to a charity. In this example, the study title “Being Good Citizens” is likely an example of a:	
A)	cover story.	
B)	demand characteristic.	
C)	confound.	
D)	debriefing.	

97.	Keeping researchers blind to a condition primarily deals with what problem?	
A)	experimenter bias	
B)	external validity	
C)	the third variable problem	
D)	random error	

98.	Which of these is NOT a reason why deception is commonly used in social psychological experiments?	
A)	to determine if participants can “guess” how they are being deceived	
B)	to reduce the potential influence of demand characteristics	
C)	to create the conditions necessary to test a hypothesis	
D)	to create an artificial situation that is psychologically involving and convincing for the participant	

99.	Which of the following is NOT an official ethical requirement for research with human subjects?	
A)	Participants must be given the chance for informed consent, and be free to withdraw at any time.	
B)	Projects must be approved by an institutional review board.	
C)	The full purpose of a study must be explained to participants before they begin.	
D)	Participants should be assured that efforts will be taken to protect the confidentiality and anonymity of their data.	

100.	Which of the following procedures is a major ethical safeguard against any negative feelings that might be induced by deception in a study?	
A)	informed consent	
B)	a thorough debriefing	
C)	a guarantee of anonymity	
D)	payment of participants	

101.	Describe the three major perspectives on human behavior that were prominent prior to the rise of social psychology. What did each of these perspectives primarily emphasize as the explanatory force driving social behavior?	

102.	List and briefly characterize three of the five perspectives that have emerged in the last few decades of social psychology to contribute to a more integrative perspective on human behavior.	

103.	List and briefly explain the four core assumptions of social psychology. What does each assumption explain about human behavior?	

104.	What is the essence of attribution theory? What are causal attributions, and what is one of their primary sources?	

105.	Summarize some of the research suggesting that people aren't really able to accurately describe the causes of much of their own behavior. Why do people have difficulty with this kind of understanding?	

106.	Discuss at least two reasons why people often have difficulty explaining the behavior of others, and provide supporting examples from research findings. What aspects of psychology make us poor judges of the causes of others' behavior?	

107.	Clarify the difference between theories, facts, and hypotheses. What role does each of these play in the scientific method?	

108.	What is the essence of stereotype threat theory? What are two hypotheses that can be derived from this theory?	

109.	What is the correlational method, and what is a correlation coefficient? What information does a correlation coefficient give us?	

110.	Explain the two primary reasons why a correlation between two variables does not confirm that one variable causes the other.	

111.	How do true experimental designs eliminate the reverse causality and third variable problems?	

112.	Identify and briefly discuss three conditions that must be satisfied in order for a study to be a true experiment. What are the variables involved in an experiment? How are they administered?	

113.	Define an interaction between two variables. Give an example of an interaction, one that is either hypothetical or taken from research.	

114.	Define and discuss the concepts of internal validity and confounds. How are these two concepts related to each other?	

115.	Give an example of a study design that would have to be a quasi-experiment, rather than a true experiment.	

116.	List and briefly discuss the four of the five functions that a good theory in social psychology should be able to serve.	

117.	Define and discuss the concepts of an operational definition and construct validity. How are these concepts related to one another?	

118.	Define external validity. Why is this form of validity important? What might be a threat to this form of validity in standard social psychological research?	

119.	In an experimental study, what are demand characteristics, and what is one way in which they might arise?	

120.	What is a debriefing, and why is it important?	

121.	Briefly define the major new perspectives that have emerged in social psychology in the past few decades to form an integrative perspective on human behavior. Do you believe that any one of these perspectives is more valuable or accurate than the others? Or do you see them as complementary? How so?	

122.	What are the four core assumptions of social psychology? Apply at least three of these assumptions to illuminate a recent social event, such as a conflict between two groups, a famous individual's achievement, or a popular television show.	

123.	Discuss some of the reasons why people are not very accurate when it comes to explaining their own behavior, and the behaviors of others, in their day-to-day lives. Include reference to the ideas of a priori causal theories and confirmation bias. What are some examples from your own life that support the idea that people often don't understand the true causes of their behavior?	

124.	Summarize two studies from the literature on stereotype threat that employed different methodologies (e.g., correlational, experimental, field research, etc.). What were the findings of these studies and how did they support stereotype threat theory?	

125.	Consider the abstract conceptual variable of romantic love. Discuss two ways in which this conceptual variable could be operationally defined in a study. Then, for one of the two ways described, indicate a possible confound that might problematize that particular operational definition.	

126.	Define and discuss the concepts of internal and external validity. How are we best able to determine if a study has either or both of these two types of validity? Is there a trade-off in studies between internal and external validity, or can a study achieve equal levels of both? Which form of validity do you think is most important?	

127.	Discuss at least two of the four limitations of science. Do you agree that science truly has these limits? What is an example of an important phenomenon that science may not be able to address? Why is science important in spite of these limits?	

128.	Do you believe that the use of deception is justified in social psychological experiments? Or do you think that deception is never necessary or justified? Provide supporting arguments for your position.	

129.	Social psychology is defined as _____.	
A)	the study of the causes and consequences of people's thoughts, feelings, and actions regarding themselves and other people	
B)	the study of the interaction between culture and biology in determining human patterns of cognition	
C)	the study of how people relate to romantic partners and to the societies they live in	
D)	the study of cultural differences in psychology across a variety of groups of people	

130.	Compared to other early approaches to human behavior in psychology, social psychology has always tended to emphasize _____.	
A)	the motivational force of unconscious drives that are repressed by the individual because they threaten social functioning	
B)	the role of instincts in human behavior	
C)	the interaction between situational forces and an individual's understanding of those forces based on personal characteristics	
D)	the role of learning experience over the life span in determining all forms of behavior	

131.	Which of the following is NOT one of the major perspectives that provide an integrated view of human social behavior in contemporary social psychology?	
A)	the social neuroscience perspective	
B)	the cognitive-behavioral perspective	
C)	the cultural perspective	
D)	the existential perspective	

132.	Humans interpret events and experiences through a lens of symbols (e.g., language) that are largely inherited from the prior generations that created and built upon them. For this reason, humans can be uniquely referred to as:	
A)	political animals.	
B)	cultural animals.	
C)	social animals.	
D)	individualist animals.	

133.	Dispositions are defined as:	
A)	preferences that people have for certain political points of view, i.e., party preferences.	
B)	statements that scientists make about the relationship between two variables which should be observable if a theory is true.	
C)	moods that the individual enters into in certain situations.	
D)	consistent preferences, ways of thinking, and behavioral tendencies that manifest across different situations and over time.	

134.	Which of the following assumptions is one of the four core assumptions of social psychology?	
A)	Behavior is determined exclusively by situations.	
B)	Social interaction is the result of people's dispositional patterns of social-emotional functioning.	
C)	The scientific method is only one way of understanding human behavior; other approaches, such people's cultural knowledge, are equally valid.	
D)	All human thought is inherently social.	

135.	Explanations that people give for their behavior, acquired from culture or situationally salient factors, are referred to as:	
A)	folk wisdoms.	
B)	operational definitions.	
C)	a priori causal theories.	
D)	hypotheses.	

136.	The tendency to process information to conform to what we desire and expect is referred to as:	
A)	confirmation bias.	
B)	causal attribution.	
C)	demand characteristics.	
D)	an interaction.	

137.	In the scientific method, _____ generate _____ which are proposed relationships between variables that should be observable.	
A)	hypotheses; theories	
B)	theories; hypotheses	
C)	experiments; hypotheses	
D)	hypotheses; experiments	

138.	A researcher finds a positive correlation between a measure of community involvement and a measure of life satisfaction. How should we interpret the relationship between these variables?	
A)	There is no relationship between involvement and life satisfaction.	
B)	The higher a person scores on involvement, the higher they tend to score on life satisfaction.	
C)	The higher a person scores on involvement, the lower they tend to score on life satisfaction.	
D)	Involvement and life satisfaction are probably the same variable.	

139.	_____ refers to the possibility that the association between two variables is driven by their mutual association with another variable, whereas _____ refers to the difficulty in determining which variable influences the other in a correlation.	
A)	Reverse causality; third variable	
B)	Third variable; reverse causality	
C)	Confirmation bias; a priori causal theory	
D)	A priori causal theory; confirmation bias	

140.	An experiment is specifically a study in which a researcher:	
A)	records dependent measures among members of naturally occurring groups (e.g., gender) and looks for systematic differences.	
B)	observes the development of one or more variables in a group of individuals over time at regular intervals.	
C)	measures the degree and direction of association between two variables.	
D)	takes active control of an independent variable, manipulates it, and observes its effect on a dependent variable.	

141.	Internal validity refers to _____, whereas external validity refers to _____.	
A)	whether the findings of a study match the beliefs of the participants; whether the findings of a study match the theories of scientists	
B)	whether the findings of a study match the theories of scientists; whether the findings of a study match the beliefs of the participants	
C)	whether an independent variable actually caused changes in a dependent variable; whether a study will replicate across times and settings	
D)	whether a study will replicate across times and settings; whether an independent variable actually caused changes in a dependent variable	

142.	In an experiment, an interaction is defined as:	
A)	a pattern of results in which the effect of one independent variable on a dependent variable depends on the level of another independent variable.	
B)	a statistically significant relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable.	
C)	the mean difference between three or more variables.	
D)	the way in which an experimenter unconsciously biases the results of the experiment by behaving in a certain way towards the participants.	

143.	When participants are assigned to experimental conditions in such a way that they have an equal chance of being in any condition, this is called _____.	
A)	experimental control	
B)	quasi-experimental design	
C)	random assignment	
D)	random sampling	

144.	Researchers observe the number of people who go to a bar alone on the days before and after Valentine's Day. They find that the number of people increases leading up to Valentine's Day, drops significantly on Valentine's Day, and then rises quickly back up again on the day afterwards. This is best conceptualized as an example of:	
A)	pilot research.	
B)	experimental research.	
C)	longitudinal research.	
D)	field research.	

145.	A researcher conducts a study in which students in Germany and in the United States are asked to rate the extent to which they would be disappointed if they weren't accepted into the college of their choice. The researcher predicts that there will be differences between the two groups of students on these variables. This study is best characterized as:	
A)	a correlational design.	
B)	a quasi-experiment.	
C)	an experiment.	
D)	longitudinal research.	

146.	A researcher manipulates a person's level of death anxiety by showing some participants footage of a gruesome car accident. In this study, footage of the car wreck is the _____ and death anxiety is the _____.	
A)	independent variable; dependent variable	
B)	dependent variable; independent variable	
C)	abstract conceptual variable; operational definition	
D)	operational definition; abstract conceptual variable	

147.	A variable other than the variable intended to be manipulated that may be responsible for an observed effect is called a(n) _____.	
A)	independent variable	
B)	confound	
C)	reverse causal variable	
D)	artifact	

148.	Which of the following is NOT an official ethical requirement for research with human subjects?	
A)	Efforts should be taken to protect the confidentiality of participants' data.	
B)	Projects must be approved by an institutional review board.	
C)	Participants must be given the chance for informed consent.	
D)	Participant should have a chance to give their opinion on the design of the study, and these opinions should be incorporated into future research.	

Answer Key

1.	C	
2.	B	
3.	A	
4.	A	
5.	D	
6.	B	
7.	D	
8.	B	
9.	C	
10.	A	
11.	C	
12.	B	
13.	A	
14.	A	
15.	C	
16.	B	
17.	D	
18.	A	
19.	D	
20.	A	
21.	C	
22.	D	
23.	B	
24.	D	
25.	B	
26.	A	
27.	C	
28.	A	
29.	D	
30.	B	
31.	A	
32.	C	
33.	B	
34.	B	
35.	A	
36.	A	
37.	D	
38.	B	
39.	A	
40.	C	
41.	A	
42.	C	
43.	B	
44.	D	
45.	A	
46.	C	
47.	A	
48.	B	
49.	D	
50.	C	
51.	B	
52.	C	
53.	D	
54.	A	
55.	A	
56.	B	
57.	D	
58.	A	
59.	D	
60.	C	
61.	B	
62.	B	
63.	A	
64.	C	
65.	D	
66.	B	
67.	A	
68.	D	
69.	C	
70.	D	
71.	B	
72.	B	
73.	C	
74.	A	
75.	B	
76.	A	
77.	D	
78.	B	
79.	A	
80.	C	
81.	C	
82.	C	
83.	D	
84.	C	
85.	A	
86.	A	
87.	C	
88.	A	
89.	C	
90.	B	
91.	B	
92.	D	
93.	A	
94.	C	
95.	B	
96.	B	
97.	A	
98.	A	
99.	C	
100.	B	
101.	The instinct-based view of behavior, as espoused by Spencer and McDougall, suggested that all of human behavior was the result of evolutionarily acquired, specific instincts. Psychoanalytic theory, created by Freud, suggested that human behavior is driven by unconscious desires for sex and aggression. Behaviorism, championed by John Watson, claimed that behavior was learned over time and was solely the result of experiences of punishment and reward.	
102.	The social cognition perspective focuses on how people perceive, remember, and interpret events and individuals, including themselves, in their social world. The evolutionary perspective tries to understand humans as animals and social behavior as a consequence of particular evolved adaptations. The cultural perspective focuses on the influence of culture on thought, feeling, and behavior. The existential perspective attempts to answer basic questions about existence and human nature, including how humans understand themselves, their quests for meaning, and their struggle to cope with suffering and mortality. The social neuroscience perspective is the study of the neural processes that occur during social judgment and behavior.	
103.	Behavior is a joint product of the person and the situation: situations exert a strong influence on behavior, but people also bring their own dispositions to bear on situations. Behavior depends on a socially constructed view of reality: people compare themselves to others, and constantly think about the beliefs, attitudes, and actions of others as they move about in the world. Behavior is strongly influenced by our social cognition: our understanding of others, and our explanations for their behavior, strongly influence our own. The best way to understand social behavior is to use the scientific method: people's explanations for their own behavior can be fallible, and empirical testing is more rigorous and accurate.	
104.	Attribution theory posits that people try to understand the social world by acting like intuitive scientists, observing others' behavior and inferring explanations. In order to do so, people make causal attributions: explanations for why an individual engages in a particular action. A common source of causal attributions is our cultural knowledge—a store of knowledge accumulated from our culture about how the world works and why people act the way they do.	
105.	Research by Nisbett and Wilson suggests that people have difficulty identifying the causes even of day-to-day fluctuations in their mood. Their work shows that people often generate a priori causal theories to explain their behavior—rather than identifying the correct cause, people simply draw on factors that are in their minds at the moment, or that are culturally common explanations for behavior. These researchers posit that although people can introspect about their behaviors, they typically have very little mental access to the processes which lead to behavior.	
106.	People are cognitive misers—they look for the simplest explanations, which are not always the most accurate. People's reasoning processes are biased by what they want to find out is true—a phenomenon referred to as confirmation bias. For instance, a study showed that people opposed to and supporting capital punishment read the same information about capital punishment and both found that it supported their view more heavily! There is also evidence that the very act of observing social behavior has the potential to change that behavior; for example, studies suggest that people who are interacting with others are very likely to unconsciously mimic the behavior of the other person.	
107.	Facts are the content of observations made and replicated by scientists. Theories provide explanations for facts that have been observed. Once a theory has been formulated to explain certain facts, it can be verified through the testing of hypotheses: if-then statements about the relationships between variables which should hold if the theory is true.	
108.	Stereotype threat theory posits that, for members of a group negatively stereotyped on a given domain, performance in that domain is difficult because they are concerned about possibly confirming the stereotype of their group. One hypothesis that follows is that the more a person is conscious of the negative stereotype of his or her group, the worse that person will perform in areas related to the stereotype. Another hypothesis is that situations that make a negative stereotype of a person's group prominent in the person's mind will lead to worse performance than situations that do not.	
109.	In the correlational method, two or more variables are measured to determine the extent to which they are associated. A correlation coefficient is a numerical value that assesses the relationship between two variables. The coefficient tells us the direction of the relationship between two variables (if positive, higher scores on one variable are associated with higher scores on the other; if negative, higher scores on one variable are associated with lower scores on the other). It also tells us the strength of the relationship; higher values indicate a stronger relationship.	
110.	The first reason is the reverse causality problem: since variables are assessed simultaneously in a correlational study, it is impossible to determine if one variable precedes the other in a sequence, which is necessary to determine causation. The second reason is the third variable problem—even if two variables are related to each other, it's possible that this relationship is due to the mutual impact of an unmeasured variable on both of the measured variables.	
111.	Experiments eliminate the reverse causality problem because the experimenter administers the independent variable prior to the dependent variable in a temporal sequence; therefore, the former must have a causal effect on the latter (and it can't be the other way around). Experiments address the third variable problem because (a) the experimenter can try to hold all variables besides the independent variable constant, and (b) through random assignment to a condition, the experimenter randomly distributes all sources of variation between participants across conditions of the independent variable, meaning no unmeasured variables can account for systematic differences between conditions.	
112.	The experimenters must manipulate the level of exposure of participants to the independent variable, or the variable that they think is having some kind of causal impact. Participants should be randomly assigned to conditions or levels of the independent variable. The experimenters must then measure scores on a variable which they believe will be affected by the independent variable (the dependent variable). Finally, the experimenters must hold everything constant in the situation, other than the independent variable.	
113.	An interaction is a pattern of results in which the effect of one independent variable on the dependent variable depends on the level of another independent variable. An example of an interaction comes from stereotype threat research: Black students primed with their race prior to a test do poorly compared to Black students not primed with their race, but race priming has no effect on White students.	
114.	Internal validity is the judgment that for a particular experiment it is possible to conclude that the manipulated independent variable caused the change observed in the measured dependent variable. A confound is any variable that is systematically varying in the study besides the intended independent variable, and which could have caused an observed change in the dependent variable. So, a confound is a major threat to internal validity.	
115.	A quasi-experiment is any study in which participants are divided into naturally occurring groups, and they cannot be randomly assigned to conditions of an independent variable. Examples of quasi-experiments would include any study in which the hypothesis involves differences between genders, ethnic groups, age groups, or cultural groups on a dependent variable. For instance, most stereotype threat studies have quasi-experimental elements, since they compare the experience of minority, stereotyped groups to that of majority, non-stereotyped groups.	
116.	A theory should organize the disparate facts that are revealed by research. A theory should be logically consistent in explaining how different variables are related to each other. A good theory should provide direction and insight for research, including the development of novel research methods and technologies. A theory should be generative, leading to new questions about phenomena that go beyond what the theory was originally designed to explain. A theory should also have practical applications, helping to solve social problems and improve quality of life.	
117.	An operational definition is a specific, concrete method of measuring or manipulating a conceptual variable. Construct validity refers to the confidence a researcher can have that they successfully measured or manipulated the variables they intended to. Construct validity is essentially the extent to which an operational definition has been successful.	
118.	External validity is the researcher's confidence that their findings would generalize across different settings and different groups of people at different times. External validity is important in order to determine the applicability of experimental findings to real-world situations. External validity may be threatened in much of social psychological research because it is primarily conducted with convenience samples of college students, which have certain unique characteristics.	
119.	Demand characteristics are aspects of a study that give away its purpose or communicate expectations about how the participant is likely to behave. One way in which demand characteristics can arise is through experimenter bias. When the experimenter is aware of the hypothesis and the conditions to which participants have been assigned, they may (even unconsciously) influence the participants to behave in ways that are suggested by the hypothesis.	
120.	A debriefing is a procedure that occurs at the end of a study, during which the true nature of the study is explained to participants in a manner that counteracts any negative effects of the study experience. Debriefings are especially important if participants have been deceived during the study, in order to make sure they understand the reasons for this deception, and that they do not have any negative feelings about participating in the study.	
121.		
122.		
123.		
124.		
125.		
126.		
127.		
128.		
129.	A	
130.	C	
131.	B	
132.	B	
133.	D	
134.	D	
135.	C	
136.	A	
137.	B	
138.	B	
139.	B	
140.	D	
141.	C	
142.	A	
143.	C	
144.	D	
145.	B	
146.	D	
147.	B	
148.	D