Self Test for the Social Beliefs and Judgments
Note: These questions are part of a larger data base of questions on Chapter 3 The
Questions are selected to represent the type of question you should expect on unit exam one. You
can, in fact, expect to see many of these very same questions on that exam. Exam questions, however,
may deal with topics not covered in the self tests or in lectures but are discussed in your textbook. You
are responsible for the content of your text book plus the content of lectures, interactive activities,
& material on the web site.
1. Which of the following refers to a increased sensitivity to certain stimuli due to prior experience?
• priming
• activation
• sensitization
• transduction
2. The sense that one is competent to do something constitutes one’s
• self-esteem.
• self-efficacy.
• independent self.
• learned helpfulness.
3. The tendency to perceive oneself favorably is
self-efficacy.
self-serving bias.
locus of control.
the self-reference effect.
4. For qualities that are both subjective & socially desirable, most people consider themselves to be
about average.
better than average.
worse than average.
too unique for comparison.
5. Self-serving bias is strongest for qualities that are
unique.
objective.
subjective.
unambiguous.
6. People would be least likely to rate themselves as better than average in
being ethical.
being punctual.
being disciplined.
being high in interpersonal relationship skills.
7. The tendency to overestimate the commonality of one’s opinions & undesirable behaviors is known as the
self-reference effect.
false consensus effect.
false uniqueness effect.
self-handicapping syndrome.
8. The tendency to underestimate the commonality of one’s abilities & desirable behaviors is known as
self-reference effect.
false consensus effect.
false uniqueness effect.
self-handicapping syndrome.
9. In experiments, people whose self-esteem is temporarily bruised are more likely to
act altruistically.
disparage others.
retreat into social isolation.
seek to develop an interdependent self.
10. Which of the following is true of self-serving bias?
It can protect people from depression.
It can lead to more accurate self-appraisals.
It can make people more vulnerable to depression.
It is necessary for long term mental health.
11. Which theory argues that positive self-esteem may be adaptive because it buffers us from anxiety related to our own mortality?
mortality salience theory.
self-serving bias theory.
terror management theory.
self-esteem maintenance theory.
12. True humility is more like _____ than false modesty.
self-denial
self-contempt
self-forgetfulness
self-handicapping
13. When groups are comparable, most people consider their own group to be
below average.
about average.
above average.
unclassifiable.
14. A person’s overall sense of self-worth constitutes his or her
self-esteem.
self-efficacy.
possible self.
self-awareness.
15. People with strong feelings of self-efficacy are likely to be more
• anxious.
• persistent.
• socially sensitive.
• prone to stress.
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6. The extent to which people perceive their lives as internally controllable by their own efforts & actions or as externally controlled by chance
or outside forces constitutes their
locus of control.
controllability quotient.
intrinsic-extrinsic motivation.
interdependent-independent self.
17. The experience of repeated uncontrollable bad events contributes to
self-efficacy.
learned helplessness.
an interdependent self.
an internal locus of control.
18. Individualistic cultures marked by __________ tend to cause decreased life satisfaction & increased clinical depression.
high self-efficacy
“an excess of freedom”
low learned helplessness
primarily external locus of control
19. Bandura emphasizes that self-efficacy improves as a result of
self-persuasion.
the experience of success.
the compliments of others.
the power of positive thinking.
20. People express greater satisfaction with their decisions when their choices are ________.
reversible.
irrevocable.
emotional.
moral.
21. A classic study found that people living in trailers in Alabama were more likely to die from tornadoes than people living in trailers in far
more tornado-prone areas. Researchers found that the difference between that group of Alabamans and their counterparts in other states
was that people in the tornado-prone states actively prepared for the likelihood of tornadoes (e.g., they purchased weather radios). The
passivity of the Alabamans in this study represents an
Internal locus of control.
external locus of control.
ambiguous locus of control.
interdependent locus of control.
22. Because she gets poor grades no matter how hard she studies, Rose has decided not to study at all. This behavior most
clearly demonstrates
self-monitoring.
learned helplessness.
an interdependent self.
an internal locus of control.
23. The fundamental attribution error involves the tendency to
overestimate situational causes of behavior.
underestimate dispositional causes of behavior.
underestimate situational causes of behavior.
discount dispositional causes of behavior.
24. Internal is to dispositional as external is to
reaction.
situational.
overstatement.
correspondence.
25. Situational is to sympathetic as dispositional is to
benefit.
internal.
attribution.
unfavorable.
26. Individualistic is to situational as collectivist is to
sympathetic.
dispositional.
eastern civilization.
western civilization.
27. We are less likely to commit the fundamental attribution error when explaining _____ behavior.
friendly
our own
aggressive
other people’s
28. People who are perceived as being physically attractive are also often viewed as more intelligent, more kind, & more successful.
This is called:
conformity.
social comparison.
the halo effect.
cognitive dissonance.
29. We tend to automatically believe that the scripted behavior of an actor reflects
inner dispositions.
audience pressures.
powerful environmental forces.
a carefully prepared social script.
30. The fundamental attribution error is reduced when
the actor & observer switch perspectives with each other.
more than one observer accounts for the actor’s behavior.
the observer does not know the personal identity of the actor.
the actor’s behavior is not personally relevant to the observer.
31. As time goes by an observer tends to give more credit for the cause of behavior to the
person.
situation.
original attribution.
opposite of the original attribution.
32. Another term for the fundamental attribution error that many social psychologists prefer is
dispositional error.
actor-observer bias.
correspondence bias.
correspondence inference.
33. Investment experts’ belief that their own expertise will enable them to select stocks that will outperform the market average
best illustrates
• priming.
• the availability heuristic.
• the misinformation effect.
• the overconfidence phenomenon.
34. Immediately “knowing” something without reasoning or analysis refers to the concept of
• intuition.
• deduction.
• pragmatism.
• dialectic thinking.
35. Automatic thinking & perception include
blindsight.
prosopagnosia.
implicit memory.
all of these.
36. “Mental templates” that automatically guide our perceptions & interpretations of our experience are called
mnemonics.
algorithm.
schemas.
scaffolds.
37. One reason people are overconfident is they tend
to recall their mistaken judgments as times when they were almost right.
to recall their mistaken judgments as correct judgments.
not recall ever having made a mistaken judgment.
none of these.
38. One reason people are overconfident is that they are not inclined to seek out information
from experts.
that is objective & factual.
that might disprove what they believe.
that involves judging estimates & comparisons.
39. One way to reduce the overconfidence bias is to
put people in a bad mood.
get people to think of a good reason why their judgments might be wrong.
give delayed feedback regarding the accuracy of their judgments.
get people to think of a good reason why their judgments might be accurate.
40. People tend not to seek information that might disprove what they believe, this is known as
confirmation bias.
self-serving bias.
illusion of control.
the overconfidence phenomenon.
41. The tendency to rate past events more positively than we had actually rated them when the event occurred is called
false memory.
wishful thinking.
rosy retrospection.
delusions of grandeur.
42. Which of the following statements is false?
We often construct memories at the time of recall.
Memory involves backward reasoning.
Current feeling does not guide our recall.
Memory construction enables us to revise our own histories.
43. When baseball’s rookie-of-the-year has a more ordinary second year, we shouldn’t be surprised. This fact is easily explained by
• illusory correlations.
• the base-rate fallacy.
• the illusion of control.
• regression toward the average.
44. A major reason for learning about social thinking & examining our errors & biases is to
develop more realistic self-esteem.
develop our capacity for critical thinking.
become more effective in influencing others.
develop more positive interpersonal relationships.
45. Which of the following is a reason for unreason?
Our preconceptions control our interpretations. (Kulechov effect).
Our beliefs can generate their own conclusions (self-fulfilling prophecies).
We misperceive correlation & control (illusory correlation & Illusion of control).
We are more swayed by memorable events than by facts (availability heuristic).
We are often swayed more by anecdotes than by statistical facts (base-rate fallacy).
All of the above are reasons for unreason.
46. The fact that a neutral-faced actor can seem sad, thoughtful, or happy depending on whether a dead woman, a dish of soup, or a girl
playing were seen just prior to the actor’s face is known as the
Kulechov effect.
base rate fallacy.
availability heuristic.
hostile media phenomenon.
47. To judge the likelihood of an event on the basis of how readily we can remember instances of its occurrence is called the
confirmation bias.
availability heuristic.
"rule of thumb" heuristic.
belief perseverance phenomenon.
48. The perception of a relationship where none exists is called
base rate fallacy.
illusory correlation.
counterfactual thinking.
regression toward the average.
49. The idea that chance events are subject to our influence is known as
illusory correlation.
the illusion of control.
counterfactual thinking.
behavioral confirmation.
50. The illusion of control may arise because we fail to recognize
our susceptibility to base-rate fallacy.
our tendency to counterfactual thinking.
the operation of the availability heuristic.
the statistical phenomenon of regression toward the average.
51. The tendency for one’s expectations to evoke behavior that confirms the expectations is called
belief confirmation.
cognitive perseverance.
self-confirming validity.
self-fulfilling prophecy.
52. When our expectations lead us to act in ways that induce others to confirm those expectations, it's called
illusion of control.
illusory correlation.
behavioral confirmation.
counter intuitive thinking.
53. Which of the following is also know as the Anecdotal Fallacy?
illusory correlation
illusion of control
behavioral confirmation
availability heuristic
54. Which of the following is the label for the belief that probability rates are false?
Base Rate Fallacy
Regression towards the average (mean)
Availability Heuristic
Pygmalion effect
55. Which of the following involves the idea that chance events are subject to our influence, e.g. when gambling.
illusory correlation
illusion of control
behavioral confirmation
availability heuristic
56. A special type of self-fulfilling prophecy that has engendered particular interest among social psychologists is
illusory correlation.
the Pygmalion effect.
behavioral confirmation.
availability heuristic.
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Social Psychology
Robert C. Gates