Social Psych Exam 3 – Spring 2002

4/15/02

 

Your ID #: ________________________           

 

 

Part 1: Multiple Choice Questions.  Each question is worth 2 points.

Please select the BEST choice for each item and put the letter in the blank space.

 

 

_____ 1. If an individual has been told by his therapist to stop thinking about the pleasures of smoking but still thinks about these pleasures, the individual, because of __________ , may actually  smoke more.

 

a)      the law of contagion

b)      the law of similarity

c)      failed thought suppression

d)      the ultimate attribution error 

 

 

_____ 2. You are a member of a sorority.  When you are asked to describe a rival sorority, you say that they are all spoiled rich brats (and they say the same about your sorority).  However, when you are asked to describe your own sorority, you talk about your fellow sorority sisters in very positive terms and you talk about how diverse the members of your sorority are. Which of the following items have NOT been illustrated by this example?

 

a)      In-group differentiation

b)      Out-group homogeneity

c)      Thought suppression

d)      The ultimate attribution error

 

 

_____ 3. Imagine that you are very tired this morning because you were up until 4 am studying for a psychology exam.  You started studying last night at 8 pm thinking that it would take you two hours to study for the exam, but it ended up taking you eight hours.  You are a victim of the _____

 

a)      Planning Fallacy

b)      Perseverance effect

c)      False-consensus effect

d)      Affect infusion model

 

 

 


_____ 4. As reported in your textbook on pg 91, recent research indicates that airbags and anti-lock brakes do not lead to significantly fewer injuries or repairs, yet, (as the cognitive-experiential self-theory would predict), because of _____  these items have been installed on millions of vehicles.

 

a)      the planning fallacy

b)      priming

c)      the affect infusion model

d)      intuitive thinking

 

 

_____  5. One reason that stereotypes are linked to prejudice is because of _____, which involves the tendency to perceive a stronger relationship between two variables than actually exists (such as believing that there is a stronger link between race and crime than there actually is)

 

a)      the ultimate attribution error

b)      tokenism

c)      an illusory correlation

d)      the common in-group identity model

 

 

 


Part 2: Definitions (5 pts each)

Choose 2 out of the 4 terms below. Define each of the chosen terms, and provide a

REAL WORLD or EMPIRICAL example that illustrates it.

Then, explain how each of the chosen terms illustrates that human judgment/decision making

 is relative/inconsistent.

 

Framing Effect

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Representativeness Heuristic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Halo Effect

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Endowment Effect

 


Part 3: Study Details. Each study is worth 15 points.

ONLY Choose 2 out of the 4 studies listed below.

For the two you choose, describe the set-up or the methods of the study (including the different conditions present), report the key findings from the study, & tell me the main conclusion drawn.

 

A) Langer’s Lottery Ticket Study               B) Hovland & Sear’s Lynching Study

C) Stone’s Golfing Study                            D) Rosenthal’s Pygmalion in the Classroom Study:

(note: for this study focus only on grades 1 and 2)

 

Choice #1 ______

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Choice #2 ______

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part 4: Short Answer part A (be brief!): 5 pts

Answer 1 of the 2 questions below.

 

1) Tell me a) what counterfactual thinking is, b) what Gilovich’s research on Olympic medallists found with regard to counterfactual thinking and c) when counterfactual thinking is most likely to happen.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2) Tell me what the “hot hand” phenomenom is and whether it exists. Be sure to tell me what the two statistical techniques used to test the “hot hand” were and how the results from those tests showed that it either does or does NOT exist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Part 4: Short Answer part B: 20 pts

Answer 1 of the 2 questions below.

 

1) First, define prejudice, stereotype, and discrimination. Second, tell me what Patricia Devine’s four major assumptions are that are the driving force behind her research on the prejudice.  Finally, tell me how her research findings support these assumptions.

 

OR

 

2) First, explain to me the basic concept of stereotype threat and  tell me how Claude Steele has demonstrated its impact on the academic performance of African-American students. Second, tell me whether stereotype threat has a greater impact on stronger or weaker students and why. Finally, identify  two effects (other than having a deleterious effect on test performance) that Steele found to be associated with African-Americans taking a test under stereotype threat conditions.   

 

 

Your Choice:  #_____

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Part 5. The Essay.  Worth 25 points.

 

Much of this most recent section of the course dealt with prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination. For this essay, first take me through Muzafer Sherif’s Classic study on the Robber’s Cave Summer Camp. Be sure to explain what Sherif’s first attempt at reducing prejudice was and why it failed as well as what his second attempt was and why it succeed. Finally, explain to me how this study illustrates one of the primary motives behind stereotypes and prejudice that we discussed in class.