Introducing Social Psychology
Note: These questions are part of a larger data base of questions on Modules 1 & 2. The
Questions are selected to represent the type of question you should expect on unit exam one. You
can, in fact, expect to see many of these very same questions on that exam. Exam questions, however,
may deal with topics not covered in the self tests or in lectures but are discussed in your textbook. You
are responsible for the content of your text book plus the content of lectures, interactive activities,
& material on the web site.
---- Use these sample questions to test yourself & to practice for the test. ----
1. Which of the following terms implies testable predictions?
• Theory
• Hypotheses
• Realism
• Dogma
2. A "good" theory makes clear predictions, that we can use to
• generate new exploration.
• confirm or modify the theory.
• suggest practical applications.
• all of the above
3. If you found a perfect positive correlation between a predictor variable (A) & an outcome variable (Y),
which of the following conclusions would be appropriate?
• either A causes Y, or Y causes A
• A causes Y
• Y causes A
• none of the above
4. You conduct a study investigating the relationship between hours of physical exercise per week (A)
and hours of television watched per week (B). You find a general trend in your results: people who
watch less TV tend to spend more time exercising. This is an example of a _____ relationship between
variables A & B.
- lack of
- positive
- negative
- case where the direction of the relationship depends on whether A or B is plotted on the x-axis. The
direction fixes the
5. You conduct a investigation into the relationship between study time and performance on a
statistics exam. You find that, as study time increases, performance on the exam also tends to
increase. A possible value for your correlation coefficient in this case would be:
- 1.00
- 0.50
0.00
0.50
6. Asks whether two or more factors are naturally associated.
• naturalistic research
• quantitative research
• correlational research
• experimental research
7. The degree to which an experiment absorbs & involves its participants is called
• field realism.
• mundane realism.
• everyday realism.
• experimental realism.
8. The degree to which an experiment is superficially similar to everyday situations
is called
• field realism.
• mundane realism.
• everyday realism.
• experimental realism.
9. Which of the following ethical principles dealing with research has an exception not noted?
- Protect people from harm & significant discomfort.
- Fully explain the experiment afterward, including any deception.
- Provide enough information for the participant to make informed consent.
- Be truthful. Use deception only if essential & justified by a significant purpose & not about
aspects that would affect their willingness to participate.
10. Hindsight bias
is not known as the I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon.
is never conductive to arrogance.
comes after learning an outcome.
is the same thing as common sense.
11. Research on hindsight bias indicates that:
- people are very good at making predictions about events that have not yet occurred.
- people who do not know the outcome of an event will wait until it occurs before making a prediction.
- people who already know the outcome of an event tend to overestimate the predictability of that event.
- people who already know the outcome of an event tend to underestimate the predictability of that event.
12. When a laboratory experiment is superficially similar to everyday situations, the experiment has
quality control.
mundane realism.
situational validity.
experimental realism.
13. The conclusion to be drawn from research on "hindsight bias" is that our common sense is usually
right.
wrong.
right after the fact.
wrong after the fact.
14. Two contradictory criticisms faced by social psychology are that its findings are
obvious & that its findings
are trivial.
are untrue.
are contradictory.
could be used to manipulate people.
15. Only when experimental participants were informed that a woman was raped did they
perceive the woman's behavior as inviting rape. This best illustrates that victim-blaming
is fueled by:
social gravity.
hindsight bias.
self-fulfilling prophecies.
the mere exposure effect.
the foot-in-the door phenomenon.
16. An experimenter has one group of participants eat fried chicken that was packaged in a blue carton, while a
second group of participants ate the same brand of fried chicken packaged in a yellow carton. Participants then
indicated how much they liked the fried chicken. The independent variable was:
• color of the carton
• brand of fried chicken
• gender of the participant
• degree to which they liked the fried chicken
17. In the previous question, the dependent variable was:
• color of the carton
• brand of fried chicken
• gender of the participant
• degree to which they liked the fried chicken
18. The most important assumption of social psychologists that is listed below is
• social situations determine mental events & behavior.
• the situation is the primary determinant of much of our behavior.
• individual differences in behavior are much more common than similarities.
• all the above
19. In order for a theory of a phenomenon (such as the theory of evolution by natural
selection) to be considered to be a "fact" (a true theory), researchers testing that
theory must have
• convinced everyone that the theory is a fact.
• reached a consensus that the theory probably is correct.
• measured the important concepts with numerical techniques.
• ruled out all plausible alternative explanations of the phenomenon.
20. The use of chance procedures used in a psychology experiment to ensure that each
participant has the same opportunity to be assigned to any given group is called
• random sampling.
• random assignment.
• creating un-equivalent groups.
• insuring the dependent experimental value is constant.
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Social Psychology
Robert C. Gates