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CHAPTER 5—Social Cognition
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. 2. 3. 4. Social cognition refers to a movement within social psychology that focuses on ____.
a. b. c. d. how individuals think about social relationships and about other people
group thinking and group decision-making
cross-cultural differences in how people think and problem-solve
conformity, obedience, and crowd mentalities
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Understand cognition.
The text introduces revolutionary research in social cognition by Mercier and Sperber (2011), who
studied ____.
a. the tendency for people to argue, in the sense of trying to influence others to their point of
view
b. the tendency for people to comply with authority figures even when they know that what
they are doing is wrong
c. d. the tendency for people to feel anonymous when they participate in large, tight-knit groups
male-female differences in the content of same-gender relationships
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.
The false consensus effect, the illusory correlation, and the first instinct fallacy are all examples of topics
in ____ research.
a. attribution theory
b. social cognition
c. motivation
d. prejudice
ANS: B DIF: Easy REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in
Remember thinking.
The field of social cognition first emerged in the ____ as ____.
a. 1920s; a discipline that predated and helped to spur the development of cognitive
psychology
b. c. d. 1920s; a discipline that predated and helped to spur the development of, social psychology
1970s; a movement within social psychology
1970s; a discipline that is replacing social psychology
ANS: C DIF: Easy REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Remember cognition.
1595. 6. 7. 8. 9. Social Psychology & Human Nature, 4th Edition
Before the rise of social cognition, the field of social psychology was dominated by ____.
a. the doctrine of behaviorism
b. the doctrine of humanism
c. Freudian theory
d. neo-Freudian theory
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Remember cognition.
Research indicates that the topic people think about most is ____.
a. other people
b. sex
c. work
d. money
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Remember cognition.
Current theory and research suggests that the power and size of the human cerebral cortex may have
evolved largely in order to ____.
a. dominate other species
b. influence other people
c. obtain food
d. fend off predators
ANS: B DIF: Easy REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Remember cognition.
The term “cognitive miser” was coined to refer to ____.
a. b. c. d. people’s general reluctance to do much extra thinking
people’s general reluctance to share their ideas with other people
people’s tendency to give themselves the benefit of the doubt in ambiguous situations
people’s tendency to blame negative experiences on other people (or on other external
circumstances)
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Understand cognition.
People generally prefer to conserve effort by relying on automatic modes of thought (rather than
conscious modes of thought) whenever they can. That is, people tend to ____.
a. rely on base rates
b. avoid using scripts
c. make upward comparisons rather than downward comparisons
d. be cognitive misers
ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
Understand OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social10. 11. 12. 13. Chapter 5—Social Cognition
cognition.
Researchers have found that people tend to ____ as little as possible.
a. make use of schemas
b. make use of knowledge structures
c. engage in conscious processing
d. engage in automatic, nonconscious processing
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Understand cognition.
The opposite of a cognitive miser would be someone who ____.
a. b. c. d. does not care what other people think
tends to share his or her ideas freely with others
carefully and rationally thinks about each and every decision
rarely compares himself or herself with peers
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Understand cognition.
Otilia is furious when she gets back an exam that she thought she should have aced. Instead, she receives
a low C, and attributes it to a water main repair involving heavy construction equipment going on less
than 10 yards from the open classroom windows. Otilia’s explanation relies on ____ factors.
a. internal, stable
b. external, stable
c. internal, unstable
d. external, unstable
ANS: D DIF: Moderate
REF: Attributions and Explanations KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.06: Explain why the shortcuts and styles of thinking are called biases and errors.
NOTES: New
Claudio is not especially surprised when he gets a low grade on a research paper since he and his partner
are going through a particular difficult period in their relationship and he did not work on it as diligently
as he would have otherwise. Claudio is attributing his grade to ____ factors.
a. internal, stable
b. external, stable
c. internal, unstable
d. external, unstable
ANS: C DIF: Moderate
REF: Attributions and Explanations KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.06: Explain why the shortcuts and styles of thinking are called biases and errors.
NOTES: New14. 15. 16. 17. Social Psychology & Human Nature, 4th Edition
Eleven-year-old Summer has an autism spectrum disorder. To help her prepare for new experiences, her
family relies on specially developed stories about the situations. For example, when Summer has an
upcoming appointment with the dentist, her family reads her books about a girl who visits the dentist. The
stories help Summer know what to expect and how she should behave. These stories are often referred to
as social ____.
a. cognitions
b. attributions
c. schemas
d. scripts
ANS: D DIF: Moderate
REF: What Is Social Cognition? Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition. KEY: Bloom’s: Apply OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01:
NOTES: New
Rosaura has a definite idea of what an apartment is like. It is a small walk-up on the fifth floor, the
kitchen is better suited to take-out meals than dinner parties, and the views are limited to alleys and the
windows of other apartments. As a result, when she moves to a small city and is apartment hunting, she
shocks the rental agent by repeatedly commenting about how big the rooms are, how spacious and well-
equipped the kitchens are, how nice the views are, and how convenient the elevators are in getting to a
third floor apartment. Rosaura’s apartment ____ has been violated by the apartments she is viewing.
a. cognition
b. attribution
c. schema
d. script
ANS: C DIF: Moderate
REF: What Is Social Cognition? Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition. KEY: Bloom’s: Apply OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01:
NOTES: New
Jarvis very much wants to convince his friends that it would be good to take the day off studying and go
to a concert in a nearby city. He points out the importance of taking occasional breaks from studying and
recharging. He also notes that he has a friend who can get them good tickets at a reduced price. By
spinning his argument and focusing on positives, Jarvis is relying on ____ to make his friends more likely
to agree.
a. priming
b. framing
c. suppression
d. heuristics
ANS: B DIF: Moderate
REF: What Is Social Cognition? Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition. KEY: Bloom’s: Apply OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01:
NOTES: New
Jackson has a lot to do this weekend, but as he is getting started, an old friend contacted him. They get
together for what turns out to be a two-hour breakfast. When talk turns to seeing an early movie, Jackson
figured he might as well since he had already blown most of the morning. Jackson is experiencing the
____ effect.
a. counterfactual
b. self-servingChapter 5—Social Cognition
18. 19. 20. 21. c. counterregulation
d. actor/observer
ANS: C DIF: Moderate
REF: What Is Social Cognition? Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition. KEY: Bloom’s: Apply OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01:
NOTES: New
A well-known test used in psychological research plays on the distinction between automatic and
controlled processing. The test requires people to look at the written names of several colors (“green,”
“red,” “blue,” etc.)—names which are in all cases written in “non-matching” colors of ink (e.g., the word
“green” might be written in red ink, while the word “red” might be written in yellow ink)—and to
identify, as quickly as possible, the color in which each word is written. This test is known as the ____.
a. Stroop test
b. Myers-Briggs test
c. Rorschach Inkblots
d. Implicit Association Test (IAT)
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s: Remember
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.02: Describe the five elements that distinguish automatic from
deliberate processes.
The Stroop test is a psychological test that highlights the ____.
a. b. c. d. distinction between automatic thinking and deliberate thinking
tendency for ironic processes to occur in the wake of attempted thought suppressions
fact that thinking is guided by three different types of goals
tendency for people to make the fundamental attribution error
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.02: Describe the five elements that distinguish automatic
Understand from deliberate processes.
Three-year-old children tend to think that the Stroop test is really easy, as compared to six-year-old
children, 12-year-old children, or adults. This is because, in general, three-year-olds ____.
a. b. c. d. do not have fully formed schemas
do not know how to read
have not made lasting associations between colors and particular objects
are less likely to rely on automatic processing
ANS: B DIF: Difficult REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.02: Describe the five elements that distinguish automatic
Understand from deliberate processes.
The Stroop test can be thought of as a demonstration of ____.
a. the duplex mind
b. c. d. the tendency for nature to say “go” and culture to say “stop”
the tendency for people to “put people first”
the idea that the human brain evolved to effectively relate to other people
ANS: A DIF: Difficult REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.02: Describe the five elements that distinguish automatic
Understand from deliberate processes.Social Psychology & Human Nature, 4th Edition
22. 23. 24. 25. 26. The unconscious mind would struggle most with the meaning of which of the following?
a. dead enemy
b. happy children
c. sad tears
d. loving home
ANS: A DIF: Difficult REF: What Is Social Cognition KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.02: Describe the five elements that distinguish automatic from
deliberate processes.
Compared to deliberate thinking, automatic thinking involves a greater level of ____.
a. effort
b. efficiency
c. control
d. intention
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.02: Describe the five elements that distinguish automatic
Remember from deliberate processes.
Schemas and scripts are both examples of ____.
a. intentions
b. knowledge structures
c. heuristics
d. counterfactuals
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Remember cognition.
A knowledge structure that contains information about a concept and its relationship to other concepts
(e.g., a structure that contains information about judges and how judges relate to lawyers, criminals, the
general public, and so forth) is known as a ____.
a. script
b. schema
c. heuristic
d. map
ANS: B DIF: Easy REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Understand cognition.
Suppose that you have a certain idea about what a tropical island should be like: It should be a tourist
destination, have palm trees, enjoy a warm climate, and contain plenty of bars that serve cocktails with
paper umbrellas. Your general understanding of what a tropical island is all about is most clearly an
example of a____.
a. script
b. schema
c. heuristic
d. counterfactual
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply27. 28. 29. 30. 31. Chapter 5—Social Cognition
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.
Which of the following is the best example of a schema?
a. You tend to assume that just because someone is Asian, that person must be good at
mathematics.
b. c. d. You believe that it is bad luck to step on the cracks when walking on the sidewalk.
You know how to behave when you go out to dinner with your friend and her parents.
You have a general sense of what cats are like, how they behave, and how they are
different from other animals.
ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.
If you have a schema about graduate students, then ____.
a. b. you probably tend to think about graduate students much more than the average person
you have a general sense of what they are like, what they do, and how they are different
from other people
c. you probably have a tendency to separate the world into “graduate students” and “non-
graduate students”
d. you are very likely to become a graduate student in the future
ANS: B DIF: Easy REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.
Polina is three years old. She is just beginning to understand concepts such as “dog,” “cat,” “chair,” and
“sofa,” and to understand how these concepts differ from one another. In other words, she is just
beginning ____.
a. to employ framing
b. to use heuristics
c. to develop schemas
d. to develop scripts
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.
People who have severe brain damage sometimes approach objects in the world as if they are seeing them
for the first time. That is, instead of seeing a “chair,” for example, these people see “a wooden object with
four legs.” Similarly, instead of seeing two dogs, such people might see “a small tan animal with fur and a
large brown object with its tongue hanging out.” One might conclude that people with this kind of brain
damage ____.
a. do not have schemas
b. have inaccurate schemas
c. do not use heuristics
d. have inaccurate heuristics
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.
When you go to a restaurant, you know that there is a certain sequence of things that you need to do: (a)
wait to be seated, (b) order, (c) eat, and then (d) pay. In other words, you have a ____ for what needs to
be done at restaurants.Social Psychology & Human Nature, 4th Edition
32. 33. 34. 35. 36. a. frame
b. heuristic
c. schema
d. script
ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.
What will people most likely do when they encounter information that is at odds with an existing schema?
a. b. c. d. They will simply rely on the information (and ignore their schema).
They will automatically incorporate that information into their existing schema.
They will tend to engage in more deliberate thought about the topic at hand.
They will automatically create a new schema altogether.
ANS: C DIF: Difficult REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Understand cognition.
Within the field of social cognition, scripts can be thought of as ____.
a. more elaborate, or complex, versions of schemas
b. schemas about events
c. preliminary versions of schemas
d. finalized versions of schemas
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Understand cognition.
In theory, it would be possible for a child to have a script of ____.
a. one of his or her parents
b. himself or herself
c. what is involved in going to a restaurant
d. the advantages of cell phones over land lines
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Understand cognition.
Within the field of social cognition, the term “priming” refers to ____.
a. modeling a behavior for someone else
b. activating a concept in the mind
c. imitating a behavior
d. engaging in a behavior without conscious awareness
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Remember cognition.
Social psychologists use the term ____ to refer to a process by which a given stimulus activates mental
pathways, thereby enhancing their accessibility.
a. priming
b. framing
c. schematizingChapter 5—Social Cognition
37. 38. 39. 40. 41. d. attribution
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Remember cognition.
When most people think of the concept “sleeping,” they also tend to think about concepts like
“dreaming,” “being tired,” and “yawning.” That is, when they think about “sleeping,” related concepts are
____.
a. framed
b. scripted
c. counterregulated
d. primed
ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.
Whenever you smell coconut oil, you tend to think about your recent vacation in the Bahamas (where you
and your friends used lots of coconut suntan oil). This also makes you think about all of the fun and crazy
things you did on your trip. That is, the smell of coconut oil ____ memories of your trip.
a. frames
b. primes
c. contaminates
d. simulates
ANS: B DIF: Easy REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.
When William James spoke of “wakening the associations,” he was referring to ____.
a. knowledge structures
b. priming
c. framing
d. simulation
ANS: B DIF: Difficult REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Remember cognition.
People are faster to classify the target word “flower” when it is preceded by the word “plant” than when it
is preceded by the word “elephant.” This effect is due to ____.
a. attribution
b. priming
c. simulation
d. counterregulation
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Understand cognition.
A prime is a ____.
a. stimulus that activates further processing of the same or related stimuliSocial Psychology & Human Nature, 4th Edition
42. 43. b. c. d. way in which an argument is positioned
causal explanation for your own behavior
causal explanation for someone else’s behavior
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Remember cognition.
You have just spent the afternoon volunteering in the post-anesthesia recovery unit at the local hospital,
helping patients with a variety of ailments. Even though you are not actually ill, as you walk home from
the hospital you do so with a slight limp, and begin coughing lightly. What phenomenon is most likely to
be responsible for this?
a. attribution
b. priming
c. framing
d. scripting
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.
As discussed in the textbook, research participants who read a story about a character named “Donald”—a
character who engages in skydiving, demolition derby driving, and other similar activities—tend to think
that Donald is especially reckless when they have been ____.
a. b. c. d. primed with words like “dangerous” and “risky”
primed with words like “fun” and “adventurous”
asked to avoid the fundamental attribution error
asked to avoid the ultimate attribution error
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.Chapter 5—Social Cognition
44. 45. 46. 47. 48. In Bargh, Chen, and Burrows (1996), participants who were in the “rude” priming condition were more
likely to ____.
a. b. c. d. wait patiently for the experimenter to speak to them
interrupt the experimenter to get instructions
view the experimenter as conceited and aloof
view the experimenter as modest and warm
ANS: B DIF: Difficult REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Remember cognition.
Yogurt that is “low fat” can be described as “95% fat free” or as “5% fatty.” That is, it can be ____ in
different ways.
a. framed
b. primed
c. scripted
d. simulated
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.
A gain-framed appeal focuses on framing something in ____ terms.
a. negative
b. positive
c. neutral
d. truthful
ANS: B DIF: Easy REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Remember cognition.
Which statement best illustrates a gain-framed appeal?
a. b. c. d. Working out daily will help you maintain good health.
Failure to work out daily will risk health consequences.
People who don’t work out enough tend to struggle with their weight.
If you don’t work out, you might lose muscle mass.
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.
A loss-framed appeal focuses on the ____.
a. b. c. upside of a behavior’s consequences
downside of a behavior’s consequences
most accurate portrayal of a behavior’s consequences
d. priming of thoughts
ANS: B DIF: Easy REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Remember cognition.49. 50. 51. 52. 53. Social Psychology & Human Nature, 4th Edition
Dr. Canne wants to encourage Kirk to lose weight. He tells Kirk, “If you don’t start working out soon,
you are going to die young and leave your children without a father!” Dr. Canne is using a(n) ____.
a. prime
b. script
c. gain-framed appeal
d. loss-framed appeal
ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.
When people want to suppress a thought, the automatic mind works to ____.
a. b. c. d. keep a lookout for anything that might remind them of the unwanted thought
redirect attention away from the unpleasant thought
“numb” the mind so that people do not think any thoughts
“cover up” the unwanted thought with other, competing thoughts
ANS: A DIF: Difficult REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Remember cognition.
When people want to suppress a thought, the deliberate mind works to ____.
a. b. c. d. keep a lookout for anything that might remind them of the unwanted thought
redirect attention away from the unpleasant thought
“numb” the mind so that people do not think any thoughts
“cover up” the unwanted thought with other, competing thoughts
ANS: B DIF: Difficult REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Remember cognition.
As a child, the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy was once challenged by his older brother to remain standing in
a corner until he could stop thinking of a white bear. That is, he was challenged to engage in ____.
a. ironic processing
b. thought suppression
c. the confirmation bias
d. magical thinking
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.
The paradoxical effects of thought suppression have been linked to psychological disorders, especially
____.
a. schizophrenia and schizoaffective personality disorder
b. phobias, panic disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder
c. bipolar disorder and hypomania
d. histrionic personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, and borderline personality
disorder
ANS: B DIF: Difficult REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Remember cognition.54. 55. 56. 57. 58. Chapter 5—Social Cognition
Hilda is on a low carbohydrate diet, which restricts her from eating foods such as white bread, potato
chips, and pretzels. The more Hilda thinks about the fact that she cannot eat such foods, however, the
more desperately she begins to crave them. Social psychologists refer to this kind of pattern as a(n) ____.
a. oxymoronic attribution
b. ironic process
c. false activation
d. mental paradox
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.
Yesi and her boyfriend have just broken up, and Yesi has been deeply upset about the breakup for several
days. She is trying to take her mind off of her ex-boyfriend, though, and to focus her attention on other
things instead. However, if this attempted thought suppression results in ironic processing, then Yesi will
most likely end up ____.
a. wanting to get back together with her boyfriend
b. being more angry with her boyfriend than she was before
c. thinking about her boyfriend even more than she was before
d. dating someone she doesn’t really like that much “on the rebound”
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.
Which of the following is the best example of ironic processing interfering with attempted thought
suppression?
a. You are trying not to think about the fact that you made a fool of yourself at a party last
weekend, but the thought pops into your head every few hours.
b. You are trying not to think about the fact that you made a fool of yourself at a party last
weekend, but the more you try not to think about it, the more the thought keeps popping
into your head.
c. The more you think about the fact that you made a fool of yourself at a party last weekend,
the more mortifying and embarrassing the event seems.
d. The more you think about the fact that you made a fool of yourself at a party last weekend,
the less embarrassing it seems.
ANS: B DIF: Difficult REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.
Counterregulation is best described as the ____ effect.
a. “what the heck”
b. d. “I am monitoring myself better than you are”
c. “monkey says monkey do”
“I knew it all along”
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Understand cognition.
Suppose that Dorothy and Tim are out to lunch together, and both are on restricted-calorie diets. Which of
the following would be the best example of counterregulation?
a. Dorothy notices that Tim has ordered a cheeseburger (and broken his diet), and thereforeSocial Psychology & Human Nature, 4th Edition
59. 60. 61. 62. b. c. d. she feels that she has “permission” to break her diet too. She then goes ahead and orders a
cheeseburger for herself.
After ordering a cheeseburger for lunch, Dorothy thinks to herself, “well, my diet is
already blown for the day; I might as well order a dessert too.” She then goes ahead and
orders a deluxe chocolate milkshake.
Dorothy orders a cheeseburger and milkshake for lunch, and thus blows her diet for the
day. When Tim starts to order a similar lunch, though, Dorothy chastises him and tells him
that he should try to eat a less fattening lunch.
After ordering a cheeseburger and milkshake for lunch, and thus blowing her diet for the
day, Dorothy feels remorseful and decides to go to the gym and skip dinner that night.
ANS: B DIF: Difficult REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.
Kelly runs by the bank to check her balance and get cash before visiting her grandparents. Normally when
she visits her grandparents, she walks with them slowly, at their pace. Today, though, after her earlier
visit to the bank, she finds herself walking faster than them. This is because the visit to the bank probably
produced a(n) ____.
a. dissimilarity mindset
b. availability bias
c. anchoring bias
d. similarity mindset
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: What is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.
Priming people with money can ____.
a. b. c. d. make people focus on similarities instead of differences
make people mimic the people with which they interact
make people focus on differences instead of similarities
makes people conform to stereotypes
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: What is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Remember cognition.
An attribution is a(n) ____.
a. knowledge structure
b. causal explanation
c. type of heuristic
d. expectation
ANS: B DIF: Easy
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Remember OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.03: Explain how attributes affect our thinking and our behavior.
Attribution theory is most concerned with how people ____.
a. make decisions among a set of choices
b. form scripts and schemas
c. explain the events in their lives
d. make predictions about future events
ANS: C DIF: Moderate63. 64. 65. 66. 67. Chapter 5—Social Cognition
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.03: Explain how attributes affect our thinking and our behavior.
Research on ____ is concerned with the causal explanations people give for their own and others’
behaviors, and for events in general.
a. heuristics
b. schemas
c. attribution
d. self-regulation
ANS: C DIF: Easy
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Remember OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.03: Explain how attributes affect our thinking and our behavior.
Fritz Heider analyzed what he called “common sense psychology”—the ways in which people explain
everyday events. He suggested that most people explain everyday events in terms of either ____ factors.
a. stable or unstable
b. internal or external
c. global or specific
d. convergent or divergent
ANS: B DIF: Difficult
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Remember OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.03: Explain how attributes affect our thinking and our behavior.
Confucius just fell down a flight of stairs. One of his disciples makes an internal attribution for the fall.
What might this disciple be thinking?
a. “Someone probably pushed Confucius!”
b. “The stairs were probably very slippery!”
c. “Confucius is so clumsy!”
d. “I would have fallen if I were in his position!”
ANS: C DIF: Easy
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.03: Explain how attributes affect our thinking and our behavior.
Why did the clown park his car in a red zone, where he might get a ticket? If you assume it is because his
car happened to break down right then and there, in the red zone, then you have made a(n) ____.
a. internal attribution
b. external attribution
c. common sense assumption
d. correspondence bias assumption
ANS: B DIF: Easy
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.03: Explain how attributes affect our thinking and our behavior.
Jorge just received an A+ on a physics exam. If you make an external attribution for this event, what
might you thinking?
a. b. “So what! The exam was really easy. I would have gotten an A+ too.”
“Well, I’m still not that impressed. All Jorge ever does is study. If I studied all the time ISocial Psychology & Human Nature, 4th Edition
68. 69. 70. 71. c. d. would get grades like that too.”
“Jorge must have some sort of natural gift for physics; he is really smart!”
“Jorge is probably really good at physics, but I bet he does really badly in all of his other
classes.”
ANS: A DIF: Moderate
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.03: Explain how attributes affect our thinking and our behavior.
Mr. X thinks that Barack Obama became president of the U.S. because—even though he is not that
brilliant or talented—he made a real effort to campaign well in 2008. But Mr. Y thinks that Barack
Obama only became president because he was “in the right place at the right time,” and had good luck.
Social psychologists would say that Mr. X is making ____ attributions for Obama’s success, while Mr. Y
is making ____ attributions.
a. internal and unstable; external and unstable
b. external and unstable; external and stable
c. internal and stable; external and unstable
d. external and unstable; external and stable
ANS: A DIF: Difficult
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.03: Explain how attributes affect our thinking and our behavior.
Your friend Roger has recently been promoted at work to senior vice president. If you made an internal,
unstable attribution for Roger’s promotion, what might you be thinking?
a. b. c. “Roger probably worked really hard to get that promotion!”
“Roger is just brilliant; everything he touches turns to gold!”
“Well, there is nothing that special about Roger; anyone with his background could have
gotten that position.”
d. “There is nothing that special about Roger at all; I think the promotion was a fluke; he
seems to have gotten plain lucky!”
ANS: A DIF: Moderate
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.03: Explain how attributes affect our thinking and our behavior.
One of your professors has apparently just lost his job. Suppose that the campus newspaper publishes an
article about it, invoking external, stable attributions. Which of the following might be the headline of the
article?
a. b. c. d. “Unlucky Series of Misunderstandings Leads to Professor Being Fired”
“Another Great Professor Let Go as a Result of Budget Cuts”
“Inappropriate Conduct Causes Professor’s Demise”
“When Professors Get Lazy, Consequences Can Be Extreme”
ANS: B DIF: Moderate
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.03: Explain how attributes affect our thinking and our behavior.
When people make external, unstable attributions for others’ successes or failures, these attributions tend
to concern questions of ____.
a. ability or talent
b. effort or hard workChapter 5—Social Cognition
72. 73. 74. c. ease or difficulty of the task
d. luck or chance
ANS: D DIF: Moderate
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Remember OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.03: Explain how attributes affect our thinking and our behavior.
When people make internal, stable attributions for others’ successes or failures, these attributions tend to
concern questions of ____.
a. ability or talent
b. effort or hard work
c. ease or difficulty of the task
d. luck or chance
ANS: A DIF: Moderate
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Remember OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.03: Explain how attributes affect our thinking and our behavior.
Raquel buys stock in two different companies. She makes $2000 from one of these investments, but loses
$3000 on the other one. If you ask Raquel about her stocks, she makes self-serving attributions, saying, “I
was very clever to invest in that first company, but I just had bad luck losing so much money with the
other one.” In other words, ____.
a. she makes internal attributions in both cases
b. she makes external attributions in both cases
c. she makes an internal attribution for the $2000 earnings, but an external attribution for the
$3000 loss
d. she makes an internal attribution for the $3000 loss, but an external attribution for the
$2000 earnings
ANS: C DIF: Easy
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
Richard is a piano major and enters two music competitions in the same month. He places first in one of
the competitions, but doesn’t place at all in the other. If Richard is like most people, he will probably
____.
a. make internal attributions in both cases
b. make external attributions in both cases
c. make an internal attribution for placing first, but an external attribution for not placing at
all
d. make an internal attribution for not placing at all, but an external attribution for placing
first
ANS: C DIF: Moderate
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
75. The so-called “self-serving bias” refers to the tendency for people to ____.
a. b. c. take credit for their successes but deny blame for their failures
remember cases in which they succeeded but forget cases in which they failed
notice when they are better than others at things, but fail to notice when they are worseSocial Psychology & Human Nature, 4th Edition
76. 77. 78. 79. 80. d. than others at things
think that their personal skills, traits, and characteristics are more valuable and desirable
than they really are
ANS: A DIF: Moderate
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
Across many different contexts and settings, people prefer to attribute their successes to ability and effort
but tend to attribute their failures to bad luck or task difficulty. This is known as ____.
a. the self-serving bias
b. correspondence bias
c. a fundamental attribution
d. the heuristic effect
ANS: A DIF: Easy
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
Research indicates that ____ and ____ are two main motivations underlying the self-serving bias.
a. self-enhancement; self-presentation
b. self-enhancement; consistency
c. self-presentation; social comparison
d. consistency; social comparison
ANS: A DIF: Difficult
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
People tend to attribute their own behaviors to situational factors, but to attribute others’ behaviors to
dispositional factors. This pattern is known as the ____.
a. fundamental attribution error
b. heuristic effect
c. self-serving bias
d. actor-observer effect
ANS: D DIF: Moderate
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Remember OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
According to research on the actor-observer effect, people have a tendency to make relatively more ____
for their own behaviors but relatively more ____ for others’ behaviors.
a. internal attributions; external attributions
b. external attributions; internal attributions
c. stable attributions; unstable attributions
d. unstable attributions; stable attributions
ANS: A DIF: Moderate
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Remember OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
How does the fundamental attribution error (FAE) differ from the actor-observer effect (AOE)?
a. They make opposite predictions.81. 82. 83. 84. Chapter 5—Social Cognition
b. c. d. They make similar predictions, but the FAE focuses on attributions that we make about
others, while the AOE concerns attributions that we make about ourselves.
They make similar predictions, but the FAE focuses on attributions that we make about
ourselves, while the AOE concerns attributions that we make about others.
They make similar predictions, but the FAE focuses on attributions that we make about
others, while the AOE concerns attributions that we make about others AND attributions
that we make about ourselves.
ANS: D DIF: Moderate
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
The fundamental attribution error is sometimes also known as the ____.
a. correspondence bias
b. ultimate attribution error
c. self-serving error
d. covariation principle
ANS: A DIF: Moderate
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
The “correspondence bias” is another term that is used to refer to the ____.
a. ultimate attribution error
b. self-serving error
c. covariation principle
d. fundamental attribution error
ANS: D DIF: Moderate
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
Recall the “Castro study” conducted by Jones and Harris. In this study, participants were asked to read an
essay that was supposedly written by another student. The essay was always about Castro, but it was
either pro-Castro or anti-Castro. Also, participants were told either (a) that the essay-writer got to choose
which side to take (pro- or anti-), or (b) that the essay-writer was ASSIGNED to one side or the other.
The researchers found that ____.
a. participants made the fundamental attribution error—but only for the pro-Castro essays
b. participants made the fundamental attribution error—but only for the anti-Castro essays
c. participants made the fundamental attribution error for both types of essays
d. participants only made the fundamental attribution error when they themselves had strong
views about Castro
ANS: C DIF: Difficult
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Remember OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
Which of the following is the weakest explanation for the fundamental attribution error?
a. b. c. Behavior is more noticeable than situational factors.
People are cognitive misers and internal attributions are easier.
Situational factors are not reliable indicators.Social Psychology & Human Nature, 4th Edition
85. 86. 87. 88. 89. d. People assign insufficient weight to situational causes even when they are aware of them.
ANS: C DIF: Difficult
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
In his research, Malle concluded that there is ____.
a. b. c. d. no consistent tendency for observers to make stronger dispositional attributions than actors
strong evidence for the actor-observer bias
no such thing as social cognition, and psychology should return to its behaviorist roots
no need to distinguish between drawing conclusions about self versus others
ANS: A DIF: Moderate
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Remember OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
People tend to judge others by ____, and people tend to judge themselves by ____.
a. intentions; actions
b. actions; intentions
c. actions; actions
d. intentions; intentions
ANS: B DIF: Difficult
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Remember OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.03: Explain how attributes affect our thinking and our behavior.
Jason is buying a new iPhone this semester, as are most of his friends. According to Malle’s work on
attribution, what will Jason most likely think when he sees his friends buying an iPhone?
a. b. c. d. “Maybe I won’t buy the iPhone.”
“I want to be just like them!”
“What a bunch of conformists!”
“My friends have done their research.”
ANS: C DIF: Difficult
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.03: Explain how attributes affect our thinking and our behavior.
Research on conformity and attribution reveals that people are ____.
a. b. c. d. largely aware that they conform, and feel dissonance about this
largely aware that they conform, and are comfortable with this
largely unaware that they conform
more likely to conform if they make internal attributions for the rest of the group
ANS: C DIF: Difficult
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.03: Explain how attributes affect our thinking and our behavior.
Research suggests that the basic distinction people make in attributions is between ____.
a. intentional and unintentional behavior
b. internal and external motives
c. kind and unkind acts
d. intelligent and unintelligent behavior90. 91. 92. 93. 94. Chapter 5—Social Cognition
ANS: A DIF: Moderate
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Remember OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.03: Explain how attributes affect our thinking and our behavior.
Actors are also more likely than observers to explain their acts by ____.
a. sharing their desires
b. citing their beliefs
c. analyzing their perceptions
d. taking responsibility for any issues
ANS: B DIF: Difficult
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Remember OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.03: Explain how attributes affect our thinking and our behavior.
Isabelle is exhausted from staying up too late and doesn’t perform very well at her swim meet as a result.
Isabelle will probably describe her poor performance as ____.
a. b. c. d. unintentional and due to exhaustion
unintentional and due to staying up too late
intentional and due to exhaustion
intentional and due to staying up too late
ANS: A DIF: Difficult
REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.03: Explain how attributes affect our thinking and our behavior.
“Heuristic” is another word for ____.
a. causation
b. network
c. pathway
d. shortcut
ANS: D Remember we think.
DIF: Easy REF: Heuristics: Mental Shortcuts KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.04: Describe how the four main heuristics affect the way
The automatic system of the duplex mind makes use of a series of mental shortcuts in order to obtain
quick information about the likelihood of different outcomes. These are known as ____.
a. heuristics
b. scripts
c. attributions
d. schemas
ANS: A Remember we think.
DIF: Easy REF: Heuristics: Mental Shortcuts KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.04: Describe how the four main heuristics affect the way
You and a friend are visiting a new city and would like to splurge and go out for a fine meal. You look at
the restaurant listings in the newspaper and find one that is very expensive. Your friend says: “Let’s go for
it. With prices like that, we’re bound to have a delicious meal!” In making this statement, your friend was
most likely guided by the ____.
a. vacation effect95. 96. 97. 98. Social Psychology & Human Nature, 4th Edition
b. representativeness heuristic
c. contrast effect
d. primacy effect
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: Heuristics: Mental Shortcuts KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.04: Describe how the four main heuristics affect the way we think.
Montana and Sarah are playing cards. Montana has a great hand—four aces—while Sarah’s hand is just
average—a 2 of hearts, a 3 of spades, a 5 of spades, and a 7 of clubs. Even though the statistical
probability of both hands is the same, many people (incorrectly) assume that Montana’s exact hand is
rarer than Sarah’s exact hand. This common misconception stems most directly from the ____.
a. base rate fallacy
b. representativeness heuristic
c. availability heuristic
d. false consensus effect
ANS: B DIF: Difficult REF: Heuristics: Mental Shortcuts KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.04: Describe how the four main heuristics affect the way we think.
Even though Vlad never actually exercises, you have always assumed that he is an athlete because he
hangs around at the gym (like other athletes), drinks bottled water nonstop, and wears sweat suits
everywhere. Your (false) assumption that Vlad is an athlete is most clearly an example of the ____.
a. availability heuristic
b. actor-observer bias
c. representativeness heuristic
d. anchoring and adjustment heuristic
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: Heuristics: Mental Shortcuts KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.04: Describe how the four main heuristics affect the way we think.
Even though stomach cancer kills more people than plane crashes do, most people tend to assume that
plane crashes cause more deaths. This misconception seems to arise from ____, since plane crash
fatalities tend to be widely publicized and are therefore relatively easy for people to recall.
a. the representativeness heuristic
b. the availability heuristic
c. the anchoring and adjustment heuristic
d. information overload
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: Heuristics: Mental Shortcuts KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.04: Describe how the four main heuristics affect the way we think.
People might very well overestimate the likelihood for celebrity marriages to end in divorce, since
celebrity divorces tend to be highly publicized (while happy celebrity marriages do not make front page
news as easily). The overestimation could be explained in terms of ____.
a. the representativeness heuristic
b. the availability heuristic
c. the anchoring and adjustment heuristic
d. information overload
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: Heuristics: Mental Shortcuts KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.04: Describe how the four main heuristics affect the way we think.Chapter 5—Social Cognition
99. 100. 101. 102. 103. Quite understandably, students are often more upset about missing an exam question when they had
previously circled the correct answer—and then changed it to an incorrect answer—as opposed to when
they had chosen an incorrect answer all along. This is most directly related to the ____.
a. representativeness heuristic
b. anchoring and adjustment heuristic
c. simulation heuristic
d. confirmation bias
ANS: C DIF: Difficult REF: Heuristics: Mental Shortcuts KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.04: Describe how the four main heuristics affect the way we think.
The tendency for people to judge the frequency or likelihood of an event by the ease with which they can
imagine or mentally visualize it is known as the ____.
a. representativeness heuristic
b. anchoring and adjustment heuristic
c. simulation heuristic
d. confirmation bias
ANS: C Remember we think.
DIF: Moderate REF: Heuristics: Mental Shortcuts KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.04: Describe how the four main heuristics affect the way
Suppose that Greg and Marsha both apply for a prestigious scholarship program, and both get rejected.
Greg finds out that his application was flat out rejected (he never had a chance), while Marsha finds out
that she was the first runner up (she nearly won). Who is likely to be more disappointed? Why?
a. b. c. d. Greg—because of the simulation heuristic
Greg—because of the confirmation bias
Marsha—because of the simulation heuristic
Marsha—because of the confirmation bias
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: Heuristics: Mental Shortcuts KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.04: Describe how the four main heuristics affect the way we think.
The simulation heuristic tends to invoke ____ thinking.
a. debiasing
b. magical
c. counterregulatory
d. counterfactual
ANS: D Understand we think.
DIF: Moderate REF: Heuristics: Mental Shortcuts KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.04: Describe how the four main heuristics affect the way
Suppose that you meet an old man named Al. You have no idea how old he is. To try to guess his age you
start with your grandfather’s age (80), and then add on a few years since Al seems to be a little older. That
is, you make use of ____.
a. priming
b. counterfactual thinking
c. the anchoring and adjustment heuristic
d. the simulation heuristic
ANS: C DIF: Easy REF: Heuristics: Mental Shortcuts KEY: Bloom’s: Apply104. 105. 106. 107. Social Psychology & Human Nature, 4th Edition
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.04: Describe how the four main heuristics affect the way we think.
Research on the anchoring and adjustment heuristic indicates that ____.
a. b. c. d. people usually do not “adjust” enough away from their anchors
people usually “adjust” too much away from their anchors
people will not engage in this heuristic if they know that the anchors are arbitrary
people will not engage in this heuristic if they know that it can lead to faulty decisions
ANS: A Understand we think.
DIF: Easy REF: Heuristics: Mental Shortcuts KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.04: Describe how the four main heuristics affect the way
The state of having too much information to make a decision or remain informed about a topic is known
as ____.
a. statistical regression
b. the gambler’s fallacy
c. the conjunction fallacy
d. information overload
ANS: D Remember thinking.
DIF: Easy REF: (So-Called) Errors and BiasesKEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in
Erica intensely dislikes a particular coworker and seems only to notice her negative qualities. For
example, when the coworker is late for work but happens to bring in donuts, Erica assumes that the
coworker brought donuts because he knew he was going to be late and is trying to deflect attention his
lateness. It does not occur to her that her coworker is late because he stopped to buy donuts. Erica’s
conclusions illustrate ____.
a. confirmation bias
b. the gambler’s fallacy
c. the conjunction fallacy
d. illusory correlation
ANS: A DIF: Difficult REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
Remember OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in
thinking. NOTES: New
The day after the Supreme Court issued a decision on a particular divisive issue, the Senate and House
pass a bill that is unpopular with the same segment of the population that was unhappy with the Supreme
Court decision. The disgruntled segment of the population then claims that the decision was issued at this
particular time to distract people from the bill’s passage. This assumption reflects ____.
a. confirmation bias
b. the gambler’s fallacy
c. the conjunction fallacy
d. illusory correlation
ANS: D DIF: Difficult REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
Remember
NOTES: New
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.108. 109. 110. 111. Chapter 5—Social Cognition
When buying a new car, people tend to look at statistical information and case history information.
Research shows that they tend to be more influenced by ____.
a. case history information—regardless of whether or not it is the first time they have
purchased a car
b. statistical information—regardless of whether or not it is the first time they have
purchased a car
c. case history information if it is the first time they have purchased a car, but statistical
information if they have purchased cars in the past
d. statistical information if it is the first time they have purchased a car, but case history
information if they have purchased cars in the past
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in
Remember thinking.
Jules and Jim are reading a book review about a book that both of them have read. Jules hated the book,
and seems to feel that the reviewer also hated it. Meanwhile, Jim thought the book was witty and
provocative, and he seems to think that the reviewer shares HIS views. It seems as though both Jules and
Jim are “seeing” different things when reading the book review. That is, both of them seem to be
engaging in the ____.
a. confirmation bias
b. self-fulfilling prophecy
c. false consensus effect
d. illusory correlation
ANS: A DIF: Difficult REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
Apply OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
In a famous early study in social psychology, fans of two rival football teams were asked to watch footage
of an actual game that was very close. Researchers found that fans of the two teams literally “saw”
different games; things that were deemed “out” by fans of one team, for example, were deemed “in” by
fans of the other. This was early evidence of the phenomenon known as ____.
a. counterfactual thinking
b. the illusory correlation
c. the confirmation bias
d. the simulation heuristic
ANS: C DIF: Difficult REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
Apply OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
The so-called illusory correlation can most directly help explain ____.
a. b. why people tend to think that they are “better than average” on most traits and abilities
why people tend to overestimate the degree to which members of minority groups engage
in criminal behaviors
c. d. why people tend to continue to gamble even when they have hit an “unlucky streak”
why people tend to assume that it is more common for people to die from plane crashes
than from lung cancer
ANS: B DIF: Difficult REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
Apply OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.Social Psychology & Human Nature, 4th Edition
112. 113. 114. 115. 116. The tendency for people to overestimate the link between variables that are related only slightly or not at
all is known as the ____.
a. conjunction fallacy
b. illusory correlation
c. representativeness heuristic
d. base rate fallacy
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in
Remember thinking.
In informal surveys, people always overestimate the number of lesbians who have AIDS. Lesbians
actually have extremely low rates of AIDS, but people tend to associate lesbians with gay men (who have
relatively high rates). Thus, people tend to think that they see a lesbian-AIDS relationship when in fact
there is no such relationship. This is a good example of the ____.
a. false consensus effect
b. illusory correlation
c. belief in a just world hypothesis
d. contrast effect
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in
Remember thinking.
Elenita is from a relatively sheltered background. When she goes to college, she meets a Hispanic student.
This student is the only Hispanic person she has ever known. The student is very independent and
outspoken on their first meeting. After that meeting, Elenita decides that Hispanics in general must be
independent and outspoken. Elenita’s reaction illustrates the ____.
a. base-rate fallacy
b. false consensus effect
c. illusory correlation
d. one-shot illusory correlation
ANS: D DIF: Difficult REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
Apply OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
The tendency to overestimate the link between variables that are related only slightly or not at all after
just one exposure to a group member performing a behavior illustrates the ____.
a. illusory correlation
b. one-shot illusory correlation
c. hot hand
d. magical thinking
ANS: B DIF: Difficult REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in
Remember thinking.
Letha has just met her first Mormon missionary. In conversation, she finds out that he is a collector of
rare books. If Letha commits the one-shot illusory correlation, she will ____.
a. b. c. think that the missionary believes he is better than her because of his hobby
believe she can persuade the missionary that her religion is the better world view
believe many Mormons collect rare books117. 118. 119. 120. Chapter 5—Social Cognition
d. attribute his collection behavior to his scholarly character
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
Apply OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
Suppose that you meet someone who is smart, adventurous, and highly knowledgeable about rockets and
outer space. Even though there are not many astronauts in the world, you might immediately assume that
this person is an astronaut just because he or she fits your image of what an astronaut is like. That is, you
might ____ and rely on the ____.
a. commit the base rate fallacy; representativeness heuristic
b. commit the conjunction fallacy; representativeness heuristic
c. engage in the confirmation bias; availability heuristic
d. engage in the false consensus effect; availability heuristic
ANS: A DIF: Difficult REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
Apply OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
People who think they have a “hot hand” after winning five poker hands in a row tend to think that ____.
a. b. c. d. it is more likely they will win the next hand than is actually the case
it is more likely they will lose the next hand than is actually the case
they are equally likely to win versus lose the next hand
their winning is due to having better traits than the other players
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases
KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause
errors in thinking.
You flip a coin ten times in a row. Every single time it comes up heads. On the eleventh flip, is it more
likely to be heads, tails, or are heads and tails equally likely? If you are a hot hand player, you will answer
____.
a. heads
b. tails
c. heads and tails are equally likely
d. that you need time to think it over
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases
KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause
errors in thinking.
The so-called “gambler’s fallacy” refers to the ____.
a. (false) belief that chance events are affected by previous events, and that chance events
will “even out” across a relatively short period of time
b. c. (false) belief that one is far more skilled or gifted than are others
(false) belief that one can control or change situations that are completely (or almost
completely) due to chance
d. tendency to compare oneself to people who are far, far worse off in order to feel better
about oneself
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases
KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause
errors in thinking.Social Psychology & Human Nature, 4th Edition
121. 122. 123. 124. 125. Suppose that a coin is flipped 20 times. The first 19 flips are all heads. Is the last flip more likely to be
heads, more likely to be tails, or equally likely to be heads or tails? When people engage in the gambler’s
fallacy, they ____.
a. b. c. say that the last flip is more likely to be heads
say that the last flip is more likely to be tails
say that the last flip is more likely to be heads OR say that the last flip is more likely to be
tails
d. say that the last flip is equally likely to be heads or tails
ANS: C DIF: Difficult REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
Apply OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
The false consensus effect refers to the tendency for people to ____.
a. b. c. d. overestimate the number of people who agree with them
underestimate the number of people who agree with them
rely too heavily on the primacy effect
not rely heavily enough on the primacy effect
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause
Remember errors in thinking.
According to the false consensus effect, most people ____.
a. overestimate the proportion of people who would respond the same way as them in a
situation
b. c. d. hide the way they truly feel about an issue in order to reach a consensus
lean toward the most popular opinion of a group regardless of how they feel
assume that they will be in the minority because they are nonconformist
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause
Remember errors in thinking.
People apply the ____ exclusively to their own desirable behaviors.
a. gain-loss effect
b. fundamental attribution error
c. false uniqueness effect
d. self-fulfilling prophecy
ANS: C DIF: Easy REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause
Remember errors in thinking.
Research indicates that people are especially likely to engage in the false consensus effect when it comes
to ____, and especially likely to engage in the false uniqueness effect when it comes to ____.
a. b. c. d. their undesirable characteristics; their desirable characteristics
their desirable characteristics; their undesirable characteristics
their unusual characteristics; their more common characteristics
their more common characteristics; their unusual characteristics
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases126. 127. 128. 129. Chapter 5—Social Cognition
KEY: Bloom’s: Understand errors in thinking.
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause
Which of the following is an explanation for the false consensus effect, but not an explanation for the
false uniqueness effect?
a. b. c. d. People use themselves as an “anchor” when judging others.
People want to feel good about themselves.
People want to feel that they are consistent across time.
People tend to ignore base rate information when making probability estimates.
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases
KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause
errors in thinking.
When engaged in debate over especially contentious issues such as racism, religious bias, or marriage
equality, people who have polar opposite views often believe that their own views of those the majority.
This illustrates the ____ effect.
a. external attribution
b. illusory correlation
c. false uniqueness
d. false consensus
ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
Remember OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in
thinking. NOTES: New
Tom believes that he is exceptionally insightful when it comes to understanding and helping others. In
fact, he brags that he is probably one in a million when it comes to insight. Assuming Tom is not quite as
special as he thinks he is, Tom’s perception of himself most likely reflects the ____ effect.
a. external attribution
b. illusory correlation
c. false uniqueness
d. false consensus
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
Apply OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
NOTES: New
Theory perseverance is the idea that ____.
a. once the mind draws a conclusion, it tends to stick with it, even if evidence points to the
need for a change
b. c. d. theories in science will only persevere as long as evidence supports them
social conformity plays the biggest role in the success of a theory
the most consistent theory will naturally weed out weaker theories
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases
KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and
fallacies that cause errors in thinking.Social Psychology & Human Nature, 4th Edition
130. 131. 132. 133. 134. Joe takes on his sister’s view that all people from “up north” are snobs. Later, Joe learns that his sister’s
opinion was based on the fact that her boyfriend from “up north” recently dumped her. Yet Joe persists in
his belief that people from “up north” are snobby. This best illustrates the ____ effect.
a. theory perseverance
b. availability heuristic
c. false consensus
d. false uniqueness
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
Apply OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
The so-called “Sports Illustrated jinx”—the tendency for athletes to experience a dip in performance
directly after appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated—can be best explained by ____.
a. statistical regression
b. magical thinking
c. illusory correlation
d. the base rate fallacy
ANS: A DIF: Difficult REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases
KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and
fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
Suppose that Mr. Yipol gives 100 students a reading exam. He then selects the five students with the
highest scores for a special reading program. At the end of the reading program, he administers the same
reading exam again. To Mr. Yipol’s astonishment, though, the students actually perform worse this time.
While it might well be the case that the reading program actually negatively impacted the students’
reading ability, Mr. Yipol would be wise to consider that the decrease could be due to ____.
a. false consensus
b. false uniqueness
c. statistical regression
d. illusion of control
ANS: C DIF: Difficult REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
Apply OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
Sometimes people blow on dice when playing a board game to make sure they get the numbers they need
to advance in the game. When people believe they can affect the dice by blowing on them they are
experiencing the ____.
a. gambler’s fallacy
b. illusory correlation
c. conjunction fallacy
d. illusion of control
ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
Apply OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
The belief that people can control totally chance situations is the ____.
a. illusion of control
b. fundamental attribution error
c. availability heuristic
d. first instinct fallacy
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:135. 136. 137. 138. 139. Chapter 5—Social Cognition
Remember errors in thinking.
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause
The illusion of control tends to produce ____.
a. more risky behavior
b. more conservative behavior
c. covariation
d. distinctiveness
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases
KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and
fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
“If only I had decided to take a different route home, I wouldn’t have hit that stupid tree and ended up
getting this huge ticket! Argh!” This thought is an example of ____.
a. the false uniqueness effect
b. illusory correlation
c. magical thinking
d. counterfactual thinking
ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
Apply OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
The belief that one should not change an answer on a test, even if additional consideration has led one to
believe another answer might be the correct one, is called the ____.
a. false consensus effect
b. magical thinking
c. contamination
d. first instinct fallacy
ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in
Remember thinking.
Jacob is taking his economics final exam. He answers question #31 with “D” but isn’t sure about it.
After answering all the other questions, he goes back to 31 and starts to believe that perhaps “C” was the
right answer. He decides to stick with “D,” most likely because of ____.
a. downward counterfactual thinking
b. upward counterfactual thinking
c. debiasing
d. the first instinct fallacy
ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
Apply OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
Which of the following kinds of thinking can help explain the first instinct fallacy?
a. ironic processing
b. counterfactual thinking
c. illusion of control
d. automatic processing
ANS: B DIF: Difficult REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:140. 141. 142. 143. Social Psychology & Human Nature, 4th Edition
Understand errors in thinking.
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause
Research demonstrates that, in counterfactual thinking, people engage in far more ____ than ____.
a. b. c. d. upward counterfactual thinking; downward counterfactual thinking
downward counterfactual thinking; upward counterfactual thinking
counterfactual thinking about past events; counterfactual thinking about future events
counterfactual thinking about future events; counterfactual thinking about past events
ANS: A DIF: Difficult REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause
Remember errors in thinking.
Feeling sorry for misfortunes, limitations, losses, transgressions, shortcomings, or mistakes is called
____.
a. counterfactual thinking
b. counterproductive thinking
c. regret
d. optimism
ANS: C DIF: Easy REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause
Understand errors in thinking.
Given the research on cognitive errors and biases, it can be concluded that ____.
a. b. people are not nearly as smart as they are usually given credit for
people can be extremely unpredictable in terms of when and why they will engage in
rational versus irrational decision-making styles
c. people rely on irrational thinking much of the time, but are still capable of engaging in
careful, conscious thought when they need to make important decisions
d. these errors are extremely serious, and tend to have cumulatively biasing effects across
time
ANS: C Bloom’s: Understand thinking are called biases and errors.
DIF: Moderate REF: Are Most People Really Just Kind of Stupid? KEY:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.06: Explain why the shortcuts and styles of
Research shows that people tend to engage in fewer cognitive errors and biases in everyday thinking
____.
a. b. c. d. as a result of having had graduate training involving statistical reasoning, but not when
they are simply encouraged to carefully consider different alternatives
when they are encouraged to carefully consider different alternatives, but not as a result of
having had graduate training involving statistical reasoning
both as a result of graduate training involving statistical reasoning, and when they are
encouraged to carefully consider different alternatives
neither as a result of having had graduate training involving statistical reasoning, nor when
they are encouraged to carefully consider different alternatives
ANS: C Bloom’s: Remember thinking are called biases and errors.
DIF: Moderate REF: Are Most People Really Just Kind of Stupid? KEY:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.06: Explain why the shortcuts and styles of144. 145. 146. 147. 148. Chapter 5—Social Cognition
Reducing errors and biasing by getting people to use deliberate rather than automatic processing is called
____.
a. debiasing
b. meta-cognition
c. ironic processing
d. anchoring
ANS: A DIF: Easy Bloom’s: Remember thinking are called biases and errors.
REF: Are Most People Really Just Kind of Stupid? KEY:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.06: Explain why the shortcuts and styles of
Which of the following would be least helpful in debiasing your thinking?
a. Take a statistical reasoning class.
b. Think reflectively on your problem-solving strategies.
c. Use explicit decision rules.
d. Rely more on your memories.
ANS: D Bloom’s: Understand thinking are called biases and errors.
DIF: Difficult REF: Are Most People Really Just Kind of Stupid? KEY:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.06: Explain why the shortcuts and styles of
Madison’s is taking a freshman seminar at her university. In that class, the teacher works with students to
help them identify the criteria they use to make decisions, and points out how some of the criteria might
not produce the desired outcomes. The teacher is probably trying to ____.
a. develop a script
b. prime the students for success
c. promote heuristic processing
d. debias the students’ thinking
ANS: D Bloom’s: Apply called biases and errors.
DIF: Moderate REF: Are Most People Really Just Kind of Stupid? KEY:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.06: Explain why the shortcuts and styles of thinking are
Thinking about thinking is called ____.
a. magical thinking
b. meta-cognition
c. counterregulation
d. information overload
ANS: B DIF: Easy Bloom’s: Remember thinking are called biases and errors.
REF: Are Most People Really Just Kind of Stupid? KEY:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.06: Explain why the shortcuts and styles of
Wing Tung is reading his textbook for history class. At the end of each paragraph, he stops and asks
himself what the paragraph was about. Once he feels like he knows that, he goes on. Wing Tung is using
____ to improve his thinking.
a. meta-cognition
b. contamination
c. conjunction
d. attributionSocial Psychology & Human Nature, 4th Edition
ANS: A Bloom’s: Apply called biases and errors.
DIF: Moderate REF: Are Most People Really Just Kind of Stupid? KEY:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.06: Explain why the shortcuts and styles of thinking are
149. Research indicates that ____ engage in counterfactual thinking; and that ____ engage in meta-cognition.
a. b. c. both humans and other animals; both humans and other animals
both humans and other animals; only humans
only humans; both humans and other animals
d. only humans; only humans
ANS: D DIF: Moderate
REF: Are Most People Really Just Kind of Stupid? KEY: Bloom’s: Remember OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.06: Explain why the shortcuts and styles of thinking are called biases and errors.
TRUE/FALSE
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. People tend to want to explore most issues thoroughly before making decisions.
ANS: F DIF: Easy REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Understand cognition.
Counterregulation occurs when people indulge in a behavior they are trying to regulate after an initial
regulation failure.
ANS: T DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social
Remember cognition.
The self-serving bias refers to people’s tendency to think that others are more similar to them than they
really are when it comes to their faults and weaknesses.
ANS: F DIF: Moderate REF: Attributions and Explanations KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.03: Explain how attributes affect our thinking
Understand and our behavior.
Malle’s research has supported the traditional notion of the actor-observer bias.
ANS: F DIF: Moderate REF: Attributions and Explanations KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.03: Explain how attributes affect our thinking and our
Remember behavior.
Jack read about the swine flu in the papers for the past two weeks. When he comes down with fever,
chills, and a bad cough, he is absolutely certain that he has the swine flu because of all the media
coverage it has received. Jack is illustrating the simulation heuristic.
ANS: F DIF: Moderate REF: Heuristics: Mental Shortcuts KEY: Bloom’s:
Apply OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.04: Describe how the four main heuristics affect the way we think.
The fact that men and women report having had very different numbers of sex partners can be almost
completely explained by the fact that men have engaged in more homosexual sex.Chapter 5—Social Cognition
7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. ANS: F DIF: Difficult REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause
Remember errors in thinking.
The tendency to think that all African Americans are likely to be great athletes because LeBron James
(2008-09 NBA League MVP) is such a great athlete illustrates the illusory correlation.
ANS: T DIF: Difficult REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
Apply OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
One explanation for the false consensus effect is that people use their own attitudes and behaviors as
“anchors” for predicting others’ attitudes and behaviors.
ANS: T DIF: Difficult REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases
KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and
fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
If a moderately liberal person watches a lot of liberal news media television and listens to liberal news
radio programs, her viewpoints will probably become more liberal.
ANS: T DIF: Easy REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in
Remember thinking.
People who receive extremely low scores on IQ tests almost always perform better the second time
around. This pattern can be attributed to statistical regression.
ANS: T DIF: Difficult REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases
KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and
fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
The older students get, the more variance there is in their reading test scores. This pattern can be
attributed to statistical regression.
ANS: F DIF: Difficult REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases
KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and
fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
The first instinct fallacy refers to the false belief that it is better not to change one’s first answer even if
one starts to think that a different answer is correct.
ANS: T DIF: Easy REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause
Remember errors in thinking.
COMPLETIONSocial Psychology & Human Nature, 4th Edition
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The term ________________ was coined to refer to people’s general unwillingness to do much extra
conscious thinking (i.e., people’s mental “laziness”).
ANS: cognitive miser
DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.
Polina is three years old. She is just beginning to understand concepts such as “dog,” “cat,” “chair,” and
“sofa,” and to understand how these concepts differ from one another. In other words, she is just
beginning to develop ________________.
ANS: schemas
DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.
KEY: Bloom’s: Apply OBJ:
Within the field of social cognition, the term ________________ essentially refers to schemas that are
about events.
ANS: scripts
DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s: Remember OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.
Social psychologists call how information is presented to others ________________, while politicians
call it ________________.
ANS: framing spin
spin framing
DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.
Hilda is on a low carbohydrate diet, which restricts her from eating foods such as white bread, potato
chips, and pretzels. The more Hilda thinks about the fact that she cannot eat such foods, however, the
more desperately she begins to crave them. Social psychologists refer to this kind of pattern as a(n)
__________________.
ANS: ironic process
DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.
KEY: Bloom’s: Apply OBJ:
Once a dieter has slipped up and indulged at the Dairy Queen, he or she is likely to engage in
________________.
ANS: counterregulation
DIF: Easy REF: What Is Social Cognition? SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.
KEY: Bloom’s: Apply OBJ:Chapter 5—Social Cognition
7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. The actor-observer bias holds that actors tend to make _________________ attributions.
ANS: external
DIF: Moderate REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen?
KEY: Bloom’s: Remember OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.03: Explain how attributes affect our thinking
and our behavior.
Recent research suggests that the basic distinction people make in attribution processes is between
_________________ and _________________ behavior.
ANS: intentional unintentional
unintentional intentional
DIF: Difficult REF: Attributions and Explanations: Why Did that Happen?
KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.03: Explain how attributes affect
our thinking and our behavior.
The tendency to judge the frequency or likelihood of an event by the ease with which relevant instances
come to mind is called the ________________ heuristic.
ANS: availability
DIF: Easy REF: Heuristics: Mental Shortcuts KEY: Bloom’s: Remember OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.04: Describe how the four main heuristics affect the way we think.
Suppose that you are trying to guess how much money a co-worker of yours makes. You have no idea
how much she makes off-hand. To try to guess, you start with your own salary and then add on a few
dollars since she has been at your workplace longer than you have. That is, you make use of the
________________ heuristic.
ANS: anchoring and adjustment
DIF: Moderate REF: Heuristics: Mental Shortcuts KEY: Bloom’s: Apply OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.04: Describe how the four main heuristics affect the way we think.
The state of having too much information to make a decision or remain informed about a topic is known
as ________________.
ANS: information overload
DIF: Easy REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s: Remember OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
When the illusory correlation occurs after only one exposure to a behavior performed by a member of an
unfamiliar group, the ________________ has occurred.
ANS: one-shot illusory correlation
one shot illusory correlationSocial Psychology & Human Nature, 4th Edition
13. 14. 15. DIF: Easy REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s: Remember OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
Monique tends to spend more money than she should on shoes. However, she makes the mistake of
thinking that most people spend lots of money on shoes. This makes her feel better about the fact that she
herself overspends. It appears that Monique is engaging in the cognitive bias known as the
________________ effect.
ANS: false consensus
DIF: Moderate REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s: Apply OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
People who receive extremely low scores on IQ tests almost always perform better the second time
around. This pattern can be attributed to ________________.
ANS: statistical regression
regression to the mean
DIF: Difficult REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
The ________________ fallacy refers to the false belief that it is better not to change one’s first answer
even if one starts to think that a different answer is correct.
ANS: first instinct
DIF: Moderate REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s: Remember OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
ESSAY
1. Define scripts and schemas, explain how they enable us to better process information, and give an
example of each.
ANS:
a. b. c. Scripts are knowledge structures that represent substantial information about a concept, its
attributes, and its relationships to other concepts.
Scripts are knowledge structures that define situations and guide behavior. They can be thought
of as schemas for behavioral sequences or events.
Both operate according to the automatic system. They allow us to more easily categorize
incoming information, to more readily access relevant memories and other data, and to better
remember schema-consistent information. As a result, schemas and scripts both guide behavior
and decision-making. Without schemas and scripts we would need to “re-learn” what a car or a
dog or a restaurant, for example, is all about each and every time we encountered them.
DIF: Difficult REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s: Apply
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.Chapter 5—Social Cognition
2. 3. 4. Describe the ironic consequences of thought suppression, and what strategies might work better to
accomplish that same goal.
ANS:
a. b. There are two main consequences to thought suppression.
i. Automatic processes keep a look out for anything that might remind one of the
unwanted thought.
ii. iii. Deliberate processes redirect attention away from the undesirable thought.
Ironically, though, when the deliberate system relaxes, the automatic system
continues its vigilance, leading people to actually think more about the thought they
intended to suppress.
Distraction and rumination are better at suppressing thoughts than directly trying to suppress
them. People will actually think less about it if they distract themselves or if they allow
themselves to think about it in a ruminative fashion.
DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Social Cognition? KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.01: Summarize the unique perspective of social cognition.
Define and give an example of three heuristics that are discussed in the textbook.
ANS:
a. b. c. d. The representativeness heuristic: The tendency to judge the frequency or likelihood of an event
by the extent to which it resembles the typical case.
The availability heuristic: The tendency to judge the frequency or likelihood of an event by the
ease with which relevant instances come to mind.
The simulation heuristic: The tendency to judge the frequency or likelihood of an event by the
ease with which you can imagine or visualize it.
The anchoring and adjustment heuristic: The tendency to judge the frequency or likelihood of
an event by using a starting point (anchor) and then making upward or downward adjustments.
DIF: Easy REF: Heuristics: Mental Shortcuts KEY: Bloom’s: Apply OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.04: Describe how the four main heuristics affect the way we think.
What sorts of cognitive biases do people engage in that help them to feel better about themselves (i.e.,
what cognitive biases work to satisfy the motivation for self-enhancement)?
ANS:
a. b. c. d. Confirmation bias: Helps people to feel that their ideas and beliefs are the correct ones.
False consensus effect: People tend to show this effect for opinions and attitudes, as well as for
their weaknesses and faults; helps them to feel that their views are the correct ones and that
their weaknesses and faults are relatively forgivable.
False uniqueness effect: People tend to show this effect for their strengths; helps them to feel
that their strengths are even more impressive than they really are.
Illusion of control: Helps people to feel that they have more power over things than they really
do.
DIF: Difficult REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s: Remember OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.Social Psychology & Human Nature, 4th Edition
5. 6. 7. There are a number of heuristics, errors, and biases upon which people routinely rely that suggest that
they are not naturally skilled at making estimates of statistical probabilities. Identify and discuss at least
three of these.
ANS:
a. The base rate fallacy
b. The conjunction fallacy
c. The availability heuristic
d. Etc.
DIF: Moderate REF: (So-Called) Errors and Biases KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
Although some social psychologists might argue that the cognitive errors discussed in this chapter stem
from laziness and motivational biases, there is another perspective that puts a more positive spin on this.
Articulate the two main parts of this other, more positive, perspective.
ANS:
a. b. The first part of the more positive view of cognitive errors is that people evolved the ability
to think to promote the ability to argue with and influence others.
The second prong of this view is that heuristics actually work quite well. Much of the time
in the real world, we do not have access to full information required for purely logical
processing. Heuristics and intuition help us make good decisions in these sorts of
circumstances.
DIF: Moderate REF: Flawed or Clever Thinking? KEY: Bloom’s: Understand OBJ:
SOCP.BAUM.17.05.05: Identify the biases and fallacies that cause errors in thinking.
Describe how one might reduce cognitive errors in processing social information.
ANS:
a. The general notion of how to reduce errors, or debias thinking, is to reduce dependency on
automatic processing and increase the deliberate processing of information. Several
strategies are available for doing so.
i. ii. iii. v. Try to think of multiple alternatives.
Try to rely less on memory.
Try to use explicit decision rules.
iv. Search for disconfirmatory information.
Use meta-cognition to reflectively evaluate thought processes and strategies.
DIF: Difficult REF: Are Most People Really Just Kind of Stupid? KEY: Bloom’s:
OBJ: SOCP.BAUM.17.05.06: Explain why the shortcuts and styles of thinking are
Understand called biases and errors.
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