Question 1

The idea that at least some of our activities must be motivated by their inner drives and choices, rather than by external factors, reflects ____.
A) entity theory
B) self-determination theory
C) action identification theory
D) the status quo bias

Accepted Answer

The idea that at least some of our activities must be motivated by their inner drives and choices, rather than by external factors, reflects self-determination theory. Entity theory emphasizes the fixed nature of abilities and attributes, while action identification theory focuses on how individuals interpret and label their actions. The status quo bias refers to a preference for keeping things the way they are and avoiding change.

Question 2

Among humans, greater freedom is associated with ____.
A) simple decision-making
B) greater behavioral flexibility
C) automatic processing
D) lower self-regulation

Accepted Answer

Greater freedom is associated with greater behavioral flexibility because when people have more freedom, they are able to make more choices and adjust their behavior accordingly. This requires a level of cognitive flexibility and adaptation that is not present in situations with less freedom. Simple decision-making (A) and automatic processing (C) are not necessarily associated with greater freedom, and lower self-regulation (D) is actually associated with less freedom as individuals have less control over their own actions.

Question 3

When experimental manipulations have induced people to reject their free will, they tend to ____.
A) behave in a prosocial manner
B) become more cooperative and helpful
C) behave as if they are mentally ill
D) be more willing to cheat on a test or steal money

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that when people reject their free will, they are more likely to engage in unethical behavior such as cheating or stealing. This is because they feel less responsible for their actions, and thus, more willing to engage in immoral behavior without feeling guilty.

Question 4

Which of the following statements about free will is BEST supported by your text?
A) Absolute free will is important to social behavior.
B) Relative free will is important to social behavior.
C) Absolute free will is not important to social behavior.
D) Relative free will is not important to social behavior.

Accepted Answer

The text discusses how the concept of free will is important to understanding social behavior, but emphasizes that it is not absolute and can be influenced by various factors such as biology, environment, and culture. Therefore, the statement that relative free will is important to social behavior is the best supported by the text.

Question 5

Rachel has taken French for years and is very good at it. Nonetheless, she just enrolled in Intermediate French (which will be easy for her) rather than Advanced French (which will be slightly challenging but not impossible). It is probably safe to assume that Rachel ____.
A) is an incremental theorist
B) is an entity theorist
C) is focused on low levels of meaning in identifying this action
D) is focused on high levels of meaning in identifying this action

Accepted Answer

The answer of Rachel has taken French for years and...

Question 6

Maureen thinks that her abilities are fluid and capable of changing and developing over time. She decides to try to learn to garden. Her first year of planting is a complete failure--nearly every plant dies. She only harvests a few tomatoes. Given what you know about Maureen, what can you predict about her interest in gardening?
A) She will try again the next year and plan to learn from her mistakes.
B) She will probably experience learned helplessness and lose interest in gardening.
C) She will probably be risk averse and not want to garden next year.
D) She will probably plant only the tomatoes because those are what she had success with this year.

Accepted Answer

Maureen's belief that her abilities can change and develop over time suggests that she has a growth mindset. With this mindset, she is likely to view her failure in gardening not as a reflection of her abilities, but rather as a learning opportunity. She is likely to try again the next year and plan to learn from her mistakes.

Question 7

Failure will most likely produce learned helplessness for ____.
A) entity theorists
B) incremental theorists
C) people engaged in self-regulation
D) people who have high capacity to delay gratification

Accepted Answer

Entity theorists believe that personal qualities, including intelligence, are fixed and cannot be changed. Therefore, a failure may lead them to believe that they lack the ability to succeed, which can produce learned helplessness. Incremental theorists, on the other hand, believe that personal qualities can be developed through effort and learning. People engaged in self-regulation and those with a high capacity to delay gratification are not necessarily tied to one specific belief system and may have varying responses to failure.

Question 8

The experience of learned helplessness is ____.
A) more likely to occur for an entity theorist than an incremental theorist
B) more likely to occur for an incremental theorist than an entity theorist
C) pleasant for an entity theorist, but unpleasant for an incremental theorist
D) unpleasant for an entity theorist, but pleasant for an incremental theorist

Accepted Answer

The answer of The experience of learned helplessness is ____.
A)...

Question 9

Research findings suggesting that people become less prosocial when induced to reject their belief in free will most likely indicate that ____.
A) free will really does exist
B) absolute free will does exist, but relative free will does not
C) relative free will does exist, but absolute free will does not
D) the belief in free will affects people's willingness to behave prosocially

Accepted Answer

The research findings suggest that the belief in free will affects people's willingness to behave prosocially. This means that when people reject the belief in free will, they become less prosocial. Therefore, option D is the correct answer. The other options do not explain the findings in the research.

Question 10

In social psychology, people who regard traits and abilities as fixed and stable are known as ____, while people who believe that it is possible to change and improve traits and abilities are known as ____.
A) entity theorists; incremental theorists
B) incremental theorists; entity theorists
C) individualists; collectivists
D) collectivists; individualists

Accepted Answer

Entity theorists believe that traits and abilities are fixed and stable, while incremental theorists believe that they can be changed and improved. The other options (C and D) refer to cultural orientations rather than beliefs about traits and abilities.

Question 11

Research on entity and incremental theorists has shown that, compared to Japanese athletes, American athletes are more likely to be ____ theorists, and thus more likely to view their athletic skills as ____.
A) incremental; inborn and fixed
B) incremental; flexible and changeable
C) entity; inborn and fixed
D) entity; flexible and changeable

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that American athletes are more likely to be entity theorists, meaning they view their athletic skills as innate and fixed, while Japanese athletes are more likely to be incremental theorists, viewing their skills as flexible and changeable with effort and practice.

Question 12

According to the text, do most psychologists today believe that people have free will?
A) Yes.
B) No.
C) Psychologists are currently divided on the issue.
D) In the past, most psychologists believed that people had free will. At present, however, virtually all psychologists agree that people do not truly have free will.

Accepted Answer

The text states that there is a "dramatic split" among psychologists regarding the topic of free will. This suggests that currently there is no widespread consensus among psychologists regarding whether or not people have free will.

Question 13

Jonah is in his psychology class and has just gotten his third exam score back. It's an "F" again! He hasn't passed one single exam this semester. He decides to quit studying for that class at all since it hasn't seemed to help much. Jonah is exhibiting ____.
A) risk aversion
B) temporal discounting
C) the certainty effect
D) learned helplessness

Accepted Answer

Jonah is exhibiting learned helplessness, which is a phenomenon where a person learns to feel helpless and gives up trying to improve their situation after repeated failures. This behavior can occur even when there are opportunities for success, as in Jonah's case where he could still try to pass future exams.

Question 14

____ occurs when people think they will fail so they quit trying to succeed.
A) Risk aversion
B) Error management
C) Learned helplessness
D) Goal shielding

Accepted Answer

Learned helplessness occurs when people feel like they have no control over their environment and can lead to a decreased willingness to try and succeed. Risk aversion refers to a person's preference for avoiding risk, error management refers to strategies used to minimize errors, and goal shielding refers to the process of protecting a goal from interference.

Question 15

Ursula believes that traits and abilities as fixed at birth and remain the same no matter what. By contrast, Yuri believes that people develop their traits and abilities across time, and that they can become better and better with practice. Social psychologists would say that Ursula is a(n) ____ while Yuri is a(n) ____.
A) collectivist; individualist
B) individualist; collectivist
C) incremental theorist; entity theorist
D) entity theorist; incremental theorist

Accepted Answer

Ursula, who sees traits as fixed, aligns with the definition of an entity theorist. Yuri, who believes in development and improvement through practice, matches the description of an incremental theorist. Entity theorists think traits are innate and unchangeable, while incremental theorists believe in the potential for growth and change.

Question 16

When human animals rely on meaning to make their choices, they are able to look at meaning ____.
A) with clarity, leading to one decision path
B) as multiple ways of understanding a situation
C) in purely contractual terms
D) based purely on moral principles

Accepted Answer

When individuals rely on meaning to make choices, they often consider multiple perspectives and interpretations of a situation. Meaning is subjective and open to interpretation, so it is rare for one clear decision path to emerge.

Question 17

Self-determination theory states that people have an innate need ____.
A) to set life goals
B) to achieve their goals
C) to feel that they are better than other people
D) to feel at least some degree of autonomy and internal motivation

Accepted Answer

Self-determination theory proposes that humans have an innate psychological need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Autonomy refers to feeling like we have control over our own lives and choices, and internal motivation is a key aspect of autonomy. Thus, the most accurate answer is D, to feel at least some degree of autonomy and internal motivation. The other answer choices are not supported by self-determination theory.

Question 18

One advantage of being an incremental theorist rather than an entity theorist is that ____.
A) you are more likely to believe that you are good at everything
B) you are more likely to persist in the face of challenges and setbacks
C) you are more likely to believe that you are better at things than other people
D) you are more likely to be immediately successful at things when you choose to try them

Accepted Answer

Incremental theorists believe that abilities can be developed and improved through effort and experience, while entity theorists believe that abilities are fixed and unchangeable. Therefore, incremental theorists are more likely to persist in the face of challenges and setbacks because they view them as opportunities for growth and improvement, rather than as indications of their fixed limitations.

Question 19

Compared to incremental theorists, entity theorists show a ____.
A) stronger preference for doing things at which they are good
B) greater interest in receiving feedback from others (regardless of whether it is positive or negative)
C) greater interest in practicing things that they are not so good at
D) tendency to prefer hard, challenging tasks to easy tasks

Accepted Answer

Entity theorists believe that abilities are fixed and cannot be changed, so they tend to focus on doing things at which they are already good in order to demonstrate their abilities rather than risk failure by trying something new.

Question 20

Research on entity and incremental theorists has shown that they tend to make different kinds of attributions for other people's behaviors. Specifically, compared to entity theorists, incremental theorists tend to make more ____, for example suggesting that others' behaviors are the result of ____.
A) internal attributions; their circumstances
B) internal attributions; their personalities
C) external attributions; their circumstances
D) external attributions; their personalities

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that incremental theorists tend to make more external attributions for other people's behaviors, suggesting that their circumstances and environmental factors are playing a significant role. In contrast, entity theorists tend to make more internal attributions, suggesting that a person's personality or innate characteristics are the primary cause of their behavior.

Quiz 4: Choices and Actions: The Self in Control

The idea that at least some of our activities must be motivated by their inner drives and choices, rather than by external factors, reflects ____.

Among humans, greater freedom is associated with ____.

When experimental manipulations have induced people to reject their free will, they tend to ____.

Which of the following statements about free will is BEST supported by your text?

Rachel has taken French for years and is very good at it. Nonetheless, she just enrolled in Intermediate French (which will be easy for her) rather than Advanced French (which will be slightly challenging but not impossible) . It is probably safe to assume that Rachel ____.

Failure will most likely produce learned helplessness for ____.

The experience of learned helplessness is ____.

Research findings suggesting that people become less prosocial when induced to reject their belief in free will most likely indicate that ____.

In social psychology, people who regard traits and abilities as fixed and stable are known as , while people who believe that it is possible to change and improve traits and abilities are known as .

Research on entity and incremental theorists has shown that, compared to Japanese athletes, American athletes are more likely to be theorists, and thus more likely to view their athletic skills as .

According to the text, do most psychologists today believe that people have free will?

Jonah is in his psychology class and has just gotten his third exam score back. It's an "F" again! He hasn't passed one single exam this semester. He decides to quit studying for that class at all since it hasn't seemed to help much. Jonah is exhibiting ____.

____ occurs when people think they will fail so they quit trying to succeed.

When human animals rely on meaning to make their choices, they are able to look at meaning ____.

Self-determination theory states that people have an innate need ____.

One advantage of being an incremental theorist rather than an entity theorist is that ____.

Compared to incremental theorists, entity theorists show a ____.

Research on entity and incremental theorists has shown that they tend to make different kinds of attributions for other people's behaviors. Specifically, compared to entity theorists, incremental theorists tend to make more , for example suggesting that others' behaviors are the result of .