Question 1

Meeus amd Raaijmakers found that subjects were more likely to make negative remarks about a job applicant's performance if:

Accepted Answer

The study found that subjects were more likely to make negative remarks if they believed the applicant would not be receiving the remarks until some later time. This suggests that the subjects were more willing to be honest about their true opinions when they did not perceive any immediate consequences for their actions.

Question 2

Research conducted by Darley, Latane, and their colleagues on bystander intervention has revealed that:

Accepted Answer

The research conducted by Darley, Latane, and their colleagues on bystander intervention revealed that the more witnesses there are to an emergency, the less likely it is that an individual will decide to help. This phenomenon is known as the bystander effect. The presence of others can create a diffusion of responsibility where individuals believe someone else will take action, leading to a decrease in individual action.

Question 3

Explain the concept of "diffusion of responsibility" as it applies to helping behavior and then design a study to test this concept. You can use the studies discussed in class or in the book as a guide. Be sure to explain your hypothesis, independent variable(s), dependent variable(s), control variable(s), and explain how subjects will be selected and assigned to conditions in your experiment. This should be a realistic experiment that could actually be conducted.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Explain the concept of "diffusion of responsibility"...

Question 4

The Social Animal describes instances of bystander nonintervention, where people failed to help victims of crimes or accidents. Suppose you were to fall from your bicycle and break your leg. How would you arrange things (theoretically) so that people would be more likely to help you?

Accepted Answer

The answer of The Social Animal describes instances of bystander...

Question 5

If we think our actions will reduce the pain of someone in need, we are likely to:

Accepted Answer

When we believe that our actions can alleviate the pain of someone in need, we are likely to respond quickly to reduce our own discomfort caused by our feelings of empathy. This can lead to faster and more effective action in reducing the person's pain.

Question 6

Studies involving the "costs and benefits" of helping indicate that:

Accepted Answer

Studies show that as the costs of helping increase, people are less likely to help. This is known as the "cost-benefit analysis" of helping behavior. People weigh the costs (such as time, effort, and potential risk) against the benefits (such as feeling good about oneself, avoiding punishment, or gaining social approval) before deciding whether to help. Therefore, the higher the costs, the less likely people are to help.

Question 7

Many colleges and universities encourage first year students to do a "service project" at the start of every school year. In fact, these projects may have become part of the social norms of the school. Consider the concepts and issues discussed in Chapter 2 on conformity and then address the following issues: Are the projects presented as voluntary? If the projects have become a social norm for the school culture, what type of social pressure would the first year students experience and how would noncompliance be met? Discuss the difficulty of noncompliance from the perspective of a new student.
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Accepted Answer

The answer of Many colleges and universities encourage first year...

Question 8

"When physical reality is unclear, other people become a major source of information." Is this statement supported by research? How might the Schachter-Singer experiment (in which subjects were injected with a stimulant or a placebo) or the Latane-Rodin bystander intervention experiment (in which subjects, alone or in pairs, heard a confederate "fall off a ladder") be used to support or disconfirm this statement?

Accepted Answer

The answer of "When physical reality is unclear, other people...

Question 9

Although conformity processes are often a mundane part of daily life, they may also be implicated in more serious matters-some involving life and death itself. Describe Haney's research on the "death qualification procedure" and explain how it illustrates this point.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Although conformity processes are often a mundane...

Question 10

The event that is thought to have motivated social psychologists to begin studying helping behavior and other forms of prosocial behavior was:

Accepted Answer

The murder of Kitty Genovese in 1964, which was initially reported as witnessed by 38 people who did not intervene or call for help, is thought to have motivated social psychologists to begin studying helping behavior and other forms of prosocial behavior. This event led to the development of the bystander effect theory, which suggests that people are less likely to intervene in emergencies when others are present.

Question 11

In a series of studies on bystander intervention, conducted on the New York subway system, an accomplice of the experimenters staggered and collapsed on the floor of the train. Overall, these studies found that:

Accepted Answer

The answer of In a series of studies on bystander...

Question 12

Define and give examples of compliance, identification, and internalization. Which of these has the most permanent influence on an individual's behavior? What are the social-psychological processes or components underlying the effects of each of them? Under what circumstances might compliance or identification lead to internalization?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Define and give examples of compliance, identification,...

Question 13

The chapter on conformity reviews several variables that serve to either increase or decrease the degree to which people will exhibit conformity. Briefly discuss FOUR of these factors and how they affect conformity.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The chapter on conformity reviews several variables...

Question 14

According to research on bystander intervention, an individual is more likely to be helped when potential helpers:

Accepted Answer

According to research on bystander intervention, individuals are more likely to intervene and help when they assume personal responsibility for the situation. When people feel a sense of responsibility or obligation to help, they are more likely to take action and offer assistance. This is in contrast to diffusion of responsibility, where individuals may be less likely to help if there are many others present who could potentially help, as each person's sense of responsibility is decreased. Additionally, being similar or different to the person in need of help or difficulty determining if the situation is an emergency may not necessarily impact an individual's likelihood to intervene.

Question 15

In the "lady in distress" study, in which subjects waiting for an experiment were led to believe that a female experimenter in the next room had fallen and hurt herself, subjects were more likely to come to her assistance when:

Accepted Answer

Subjects were more likely to assist when they were alone, as the presence of others can lead to diffusion of responsibility, where individuals feel less compelled to act because they believe someone else will.

Question 16

In a study of bystander intervention, Darely and Lantane had participants take part in a discussion via an intercom system. The participants were alone in a room and could only communicate with others through the intercom system. The experimenters manipulated the number of people the participants thought were a part of the discussion. During the discussion,,one of the participants (a recording) had an epileptic seizure. Those participants who thought there were three other people as part of the group were:

Accepted Answer

Participants were less likely to help when they believed more people were present due to the diffusion of responsibility, a phenomenon where individuals are less likely to take action when others are present.

Question 17

Define "groupthink" and the social-psychological processes that underlie it. Imagine you were a member of a group that might be subject to "groupthink" processes. Based on your understanding of group conformity, what steps might you take to minimize the problem?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Define "groupthink" and the social-psychological processes that...

Quiz 2: Social Cognition and Emotion