Self Test for Group Influence
Note: These questions are part of a larger data base of questions on Chapter 8. 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 get ready for the unit test.
1. A co-actor is someone who
imitates you.
helps & cooperates with you.
competes with you on a single task.
does the same task at the same time as you.
1. Who among the following would be considered coactors?
10 people doing pushups in an exercise class
2 people playing monopoly against each other
20 competitors running in a 100 yard dash
four friends chatting before class starts
3. The mere presence of others has been found to boost peoples performance when
they are
completing a complex maze.
memorizing nonsense syllables.
crossing out designated letters on printed pages.
performing complex multiplication problems.
4. The strengthening of dominant responses in the persence of other people is called the
social-facilitation effect.
co-actor influence phenomenon.
evaluation apprehension effect.
Yerkes-Dodson Law.
5. The presence of others is likely to lead to better performance in _____________ & to worse performance in ______________.
playing golf; raking leaves
solving a puzzle; sweeping a sidewalk
raking leaves; solving complex problems
solving complex problems; solving a puzzle
6. The primary effect of a crowd is that it
enhances social responsibility.
enhances performance.
enhances arousal.
hurts performance.
7. Social psychologists refer to our concern for how others are evaluating us as
social fear.
co-actor anxiety.
evaluation phobia.
evaluation apprehension.
8. Sanders & his colleagues have suggested that we are aroused in the presence
of others, not only because of evaluation apprehension, but also because we
get distracted.
need to belong.
become deindividuated.
engage in social comparison.
9. Research on social facilitation suggests that the design of new office buildings in which private offices are replaced with
large, open areas may
invade privacy & disrupt worker morale.
disrupt creative thinking on complex tasks.
disrupt performance of routine clerical tasks.
improve communication & build employee morale.
10. Nearly 300 studies confirm that social arousal _______ performance on easy tasks & _______ performance
on difficult tasks.
boosts; hurts
hurts; boosts
hurts; facilitates
facilitates; boosts
11. It has been found that long-distance runners have faster running times when they run with another person than
when they run by themselves. This shows the effects of
social masking.
social conformity.
social facilitation.
social conformity.
12. Kim has found that she is able to study longer when she is in a room with other people than when she is alone.
This shows the effects of
social conformity.
social obedience.
social facilitation.
social role-playing.
13. It has been proposed that in humans, the presence of others may increase arousal as a result of:
evaluation anxiety.
self-consciousness.
diffusion of responsibility.
both a. & b.
14. If you rearrange the letters LNGEDNA you have the name of a/an
city.
ocean.
person.
country.
15. Social loafing would be most likely to occur in
factory workers who are each paid according to how many lamps they assemble.
college students working on a group project for which they will all receive the same grade.
a group of golfers competing for first place in a tournament.
political candidates who hope to win a seat on the city council.
16. When people cooperate on additive tasks, contributing their efforts toward a common goal,
they may be less motivated to perform well.
individual effort is facilitated by social arousal.
their efforts are usually boosted by a social bonding.
the presence of others stimulates them to work harder.
17. Social loafing refers to the tendency for people to
be insensitive to the needs of others.
violate social norms when no one is paying attention.
perform an unfamiliar task more poorly when others are around.
exert less effort when they put their efforts toward a common goal.
18. People who benefit from the group but give little in return are referred to as
ferrets.
free-riders.
free-loafers.
deindividualized.
19. Making group members performance individually identifiable seems to be one
effective strategy for reducing
social loafing.
minority influence.
social facilitation.
group polarization.
20. Which of the following is true about social loafing?
social loafers don't ride free.
The group situation decreases evaluation apprehension.
Individual members feel responsible for group performance & outcomes.
When people know they are being individually monitored, they are tempted to free-ride.
21. When groups are given challenging objectives, when they are rewarded for group success,
& when there is a spirit of commitment to the team, group members
tend to free-ride.
experience social facilitation.
work hard & make their best effort.
tend to become deindividualized.
22. People in groups loaf less when
the task is aversive.
they work on a simple task with strangers.
the group is made up of a small number of friends.
all group members have comparable levels of self-esteem.
23. Social loafing would be least likely to occur in
a work crew building a new bridge.
Club Scouts who must gather wood for a campfire.
Girl Scouts who hold a bake sale to raise money.
production workers paid on the basis of individual performance.
24. Research suggests that social loafing occurs
less in collectivist cultures.
less in individualist cultures.
at equal levels in both collectivist & individualist cultures.
at elevated levels in both collectivist & individualist cultures.
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25. A loss of self-awareness & evaluation apprehension can lead to
coactor effects.
deindividuation.
social facilitation.
minority influence effects.
26. People who are made self-aware, e.g. by acting in front of a mirror or TV camera, have been found to
show increased self-confidence.
behave more consistently with their attitudes.
be less thoughtful in analyzing complex social issues.
be more vulnerable to persuasive appeals that run counter to social norms.
27. ______ is the other side of the coin from self-awareness.
Deindividuation.
Group immersion.
Social facilitation.
Physical anonymity.
28. Which of the following pairs are most clearly opposites?
minority influence & leadership
group polarization & group consensus
deindividuation & self-awareness
groupthink & the accentuation phenomenon
29. Compared to self-aware people, deindividuated people are
more restrained.
less self-regulated.
less responsive to the situation
less likely to act without thinking about their own values.
30. On Halloween night, Diener et. al. conducted a study of trick-or-treat theft. Given a
chance to steal candy, the children who were ______________ were most likely steal.
frustrated & alone
anonymous & alone
frustrated & in a group
anonymous & in a group
31. People are more likely to verbally push a person to jump off a bridge when it is dark &
the crowd is large.
the crowd is small.
the crowd is frustrated.
the crowd is predominantly female.
32. Based on research, who is most likely to honk aggressively at someone stopped at a
green light?
A male driver of a convertible.
A female driver of a convertible.
Any driver of a car with the top up.
A male driver of a red sport utility vehicle.
33. Which of the following circumstances contributes to people becoming deindividuated?
When they are physically anonymous.
When they are immersed in a large group.
When they are involved in arousing, distracting activities.
All of these contribute to people becoming deindividuated.
34. Given the relationship between self-awareness & deindividuation, the parting advice of
a parent to a teenager going to a party might well be, have fun, and ______.
stay with the group
remember who you are
relax as much as you can
dont worry about being popular
35. Investigations of the risky shift phenomenon eventually led to the conclusion that this group
phenomenon was really a tendency for group discussion to
reverse the groups original leanings.
accentuate group members initial leanings.
favor illusory thinking in supporting the groups leader.
arouse & distract members so their self-awareness is reduced.
36. Group polarization has been found to occur in real life. During community conflicts, people
who are ______ will increasingly associate with one another.
like-minded
on opposite sides
normally opponents at other times
less intelligent than the community average
37. Group polarization occurs when group discussion _____ group members first inclinations.
reverses
neutralizes
challenges
strengthens
38. The fact that people associate mostly with others whose attitudes are similar to their own
suggests the prevalence of naturally occurring
groupthink.
minority influence.
social facilitation.
group polarization.
40. What underlying processes help explain the occurrence of group polarization?
social comparison & self-censorship
minority influence & social facilitation
psychological reactance & deindividuation
informational influence & normative influence
41. The best-supported explanation of group polarization is based on
cognitive miser theory.
normative influence processes.
informational influence processes.
an expansion of groupthink theory.
42. Research on the underlying processes producing group polarization indicates that persuasive
arguments predominate on issues having a(n) _________ basis & social comparison predominates
on issues having a _________ basis.
personal; social
emotional; factual
factual; value-laden
economic; psychological
43. Groupthink can be defined as
- a tendency to suppress dissent in the interests of group harmony.
- reduced self-awareness as a result of group immersion & social anonymity.
- a tendency to sacrifice group cohesiveness in favor of task orientation & problem focus.
- enhancement of problem-solving capacity as a result of several persons joining together to
work on the same problem.
44. Which of the following is not one of the symptoms of groupthink?
self-censorship
pressure to conform
the illusion of vulnerability
unquestioned belief in the groups morality
45. Rationalization & a stereotyped view of the opponent are two symptoms of groupthink
that have in common their effect on
making group members closed-minded.
overestimating the groups might & right.
pressuring the group members toward uniformity.
long term polarization of the groups minority members.
46. Once a group decides that an idea is bad, it should never revisit the idea.
True
False
47. Groupthink occurs in groups that have a history of conflict & disagreement.
True
False
48. Each of the following are negative outcomes of groupthink except:
Seeking expert opinion
Being highly selective
Not being critical
Few alternatives
49. It is a good idea to have the group leader offer his or her opinion during group arguments.
True
False
15. Group think results in impulsive decisions & the failure to look at all sides of an issue.
True
False
50. Group polarization refers to a groups tendency to split into opposite sides or poles & therefore fail to make a decision.
True
False
51. The term "groupthink" refers to the observation that
groups sometimes make bad decisions because they fail to challenge one another's decisions.
people who belong to any group tend to develop prejudices against all nonmembers of the group.
a group of people working together generates more ideas than the same number of peopleworking independently.
people are likely to explain their own behavior in situational terms & other people's behavior in dispositional terms.
52. People sometimes conform to normative social influence, because they
are moral beings.
fear social rejection.
are high self-monitors.
believe that others have information that they lack.
53. People sometimes conform to informational social influence, because
past experience has shown them that nonconformity will be punished.
past experience has shown them that their own ideas are inaccurate.
they believe that they can change the opinions of group members later.
of the persuasiveness of an arguments pros & cons.
54. The "risky shift" refers to
attitudes becoming polarized during a group discussion.
people undergoing deindividuation when they are members of a mob.
people behaving recklessly when ordered about by an authority figure.
the finding that group decisions are often riskier than individual decisions.
55. In groupthink, members of the group
have an illusion of invulnerability.
like to "rock the boat" ocassionally.
sometimes question the ethics of the group.
avoid stereotyping those who hold opposing viewpoints.
56. To prevent groupthink, members of a group should do all but which of the following?
Use secret ballots.
Seek outside opinions.
Discourage questions & alternate solutions.
Have the leader of the group remain impartial.
57. A minoritys following the majority usually reflects __________ and a majoritys following a minority
usually reflects __________.
public compliance; genuine acceptance
genuine acceptance; public compliance
public compliance; public compliance
genuine acceptance; genuine acceptance
58. What can we conclude about the relationship between persons & situations?
People often create their social situations.
People choose many of the situations that influence them.
Individuals vary in how they interpret & react to a given situation.
People do all of the above things.
59. When social pressure threatens a persons sense of __________, he or she is likely to rebel.
freedom
belonging
achievement
purpose in life
60. Attempting to restrict a persons freedom often produces an anti-conformity ________.
boomerang effect
intimidation pattern
consensus principle
foot-in-the-door phenomenon
61. Knowing that someone is trying to coerce you may prompt you to do the opposite of
that persons wishes. This response is predicted by
social norms theory.
psychological reactance theory.
Milgrams theory of obedience.
the fundamental attribution error.
62. Confident minorities are most likely to influence the majority on matters of _______ than
on matters of _______.
law; fashion
opinion; fact
gender bias; racial bias
political importance; social importance
63. Bob is excellent at organizing his employees, setting goals, & focusing on achieving
those goals for the company. Bob excels in
task leadership.
social leadership.
masculine leadership.
laissez-faire leadership.
64. Research on leadership indicates that
all great leaders share certain traits.
effective supervisors tend to score high on both task & social leadership
the most effective leaders typically deviate significantly from a groups standards.
social leaders consistently outperform task leaders regardless of organizational goals.
65. The degree of influence of any position depends on the strength, immediacy, & number
of those who support that position according to
Moscovici.
reactance theory.
social impact theory.
minority influence theory.
66. Research reveals that a minority person who had defected from the majority is
not at all persuasive.
more persuasive than a consistent minority voice.
ridiculed by the majority and rejected by the existing minority.
persuasive, but not as persuasive than a consistent minority voice.
67. Kim is moderately attracted to Rick. When her parents forbid her to date Rick because of his age, Kim
becomes very attracted to Rick. Kim's increased attraction to Rick is most likely due to
mere exposure.
social exchange theory.
psychological reactance.
the complementarily hypothesis.
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Social Psychology
Robert C. Gates
Civilization began the first time an angry person cast a word instead of a rock. - Sigmund Freud