Question 1

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 hold entity theories, which attribute success or failure to innate abilities that are fixed and unchangeable.

Question 2

Research on entity and incremental theorists has shown that they tend to make different kinds of attributions for other people's behaviours.Specifically, compared to entity theorists, incremental theorists tend to make more ____, for example suggesting that others' behaviours 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 found that incremental theorists tend to make more external attributions for other people's behaviors, suggesting that their circumstances or situational factors are more likely to be the cause of the behavior rather than their internal dispositions or personalities. Entity theorists, on the other hand, tend to make more internal attributions and see the behavior as coming from the individual's inherent characteristics.

Question 3

Cheryl doesn't use online automated bill payment because she wants to have control over when she pays her bills.Even when she has enough money in her account to pay her bills, though, Cheryl still spends her weekend afternoons watching television rather than paying her bills.This is consistent with the idea of ____.
A)status quo bias
B)omission bias
C)reactance
D)temporal gain

Accepted Answer

Cheryl's behavior is consistent with omission bias, which refers to the tendency to avoid taking action or making a decision, even when it may be in one's best interest, because doing nothing feels safer or easier than taking action. Cheryl avoids using online bill payment because she wants control, but then she procrastinates paying her bills even when she has the money, indicating a preference for inaction (omission) over action.

Question 4

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 article mentions that psychologists are currently divided on the issue of whether people have free will. Therefore, option C is the correct choice.

Question 5

Rosie has just been told she has a serious illness and visited with a specialist who has outlined a number of treatment options.If she is like most people, her next step will be to ____.
A)Google her disease to find more treatment options
B)eliminate some choices to focus on a select few
C)rank order all of the options and make a choice
D)select a few at random to research further

Accepted Answer

Eliminating some treatment options will help Rosie focus on the viable ones and make a decision more efficiently. Googling the disease or selecting at random may not be the most productive next steps, and ranking all options may be overwhelming and time-consuming.

Question 6

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

Miranda's choice to enroll in an easier course despite her proficiency suggests she may be an entity theorist, who believes abilities are fixed and prefers tasks that affirm her current skills rather than challenge them.

Question 7

Lareesha 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 Lareesha, 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

Lareesha believes that her abilities can develop over time, so she is likely to view her first year's failure as a learning opportunity rather than feeling helpless or risk-averse. She may try again next year with a plan to improve and learn from her mistakes.

Question 8

Nnyiko has the opportunity to start his own business doing what he loves.However, to do this, he would have to liquidate all of his resources, including selling his car and emptying out his savings.In the end, however, he decides that he has too much to lose and sticks with his day job, which is less fulfilling but offers a sure thing.Nnyiko is making his decision based on ____.
A)temporal discounting
B)fear of success
C)learned helplessness
D)risk aversion

Accepted Answer

Nnyiko's decision to stick with his day job rather than starting his own business shows that he is risk-averse. He is hesitant to put all of his resources into something where there is uncertainty and potential for loss.

Question 9

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 cannot be changed, while incremental theorists believe that traits and abilities can be changed and improved with effort and practice.

Question 10

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

Studies have shown that when people are induced to reject their free will, they become more willing to engage in unethical behaviors such as cheating on a test or stealing money. It is believed that the rejection of free will reduces people's sense of personal responsibility for their actions.

Question 11

Gift 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.Gift is exhibiting ____.
A)risk aversion
B)temporal discounting
C)the certainty effect
D)learned helplessness

Accepted Answer

Gift is exhibiting learned helplessness, which is the belief that one's actions have no effect on the outcome of a situation. By giving up on studying for the class, Gift is displaying a sense of hopelessness and a lack of motivation to improve his performance.

Question 12

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

Accepted Answer

Greater freedom allows humans to have more options and choices, which requires greater behavioural flexibility to adapt to different situations and make decisions accordingly. Simple decision-making (choice A) would actually be associated with less freedom, as it implies limited options. Automatic processing (choice C) and lower self-regulation (choice D) are not necessarily associated with freedom.

Question 13

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 practising things that they are not so good at
D)tendency to prefer hard, challenging tasks to easy tasks

Accepted Answer

Entity theorists believe that traits are fixed and cannot be changed, so they tend to prefer doing things at which they are already good to maintain their sense of competence. Incremental theorists, on the other hand, believe that traits can be developed and improved through effort, so they tend to be more interested in practising things they are not good at to achieve growth and development.

Question 14

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 intelligence and abilities are fixed traits, so failure can lead to learned helplessness where they believe they cannot improve or change. Incremental theorists believe that intelligence and abilities can be developed through effort, so failure is seen as a temporary setback to be overcome with continued effort. Self-regulation and capacity to delay gratification are not directly related to the concept of learned helplessness.

Question 15

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 their abilities can be developed through hard work and persistence, whereas entity theorists believe that their abilities are fixed traits. This means that incremental theorists are more likely to persist in the face of challenges and setbacks because they see them as opportunities to learn and improve, rather than as evidence of their inherent limitations.

Question 16

____ 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 is a phenomenon where people believe that they cannot control their environment or outcomes, leading them to give up and stop trying even when success is possible. This can be caused by repeated failure or a perceived lack of control, leading to a sense of hopelessness and giving up. Option A, risk aversion, is the avoidance of risk, which may or may not be related to a belief in one's ability to succeed. Option B, error management, involves identifying and mitigating errors that may occur in a system or process. Option D, goal shielding, refers to protecting one's goals from interference or distractions. None of these options are directly related to the phenomenon described in the question stem.

Question 17

Four-year-old Faith does not like to get dressed early in the morning to go to day care, so rather than simply telling her to put on the clothes he laid out the night before, her father has begun to lay out several outfits and, in the morning, asking her which outfit she wants to wear that day.Faith's father is making use of the idea of ____.
A)the status quo
B)omission bias
C)reactance
D)dissonance

Accepted Answer

The father is using the technique of reactance, which involves giving someone a sense of control or choice in order to increase their cooperation and reduce resistance. By offering Faith different options for her outfit, he is giving her a sense of control over the situation and reducing her resistance to getting dressed.

Question 18

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)more...

Question 19

Andile and his wife are making some important financial decisions and cannot seem to agree on what they should or should not do.The preference for avoiding certain types of risks is consistent with ____ theory.
A)error management
B)Freudian 'death wish'
C)learned helplessness
D)reactance

Accepted Answer

Error management theory suggests that individuals tend to avoid risks that could lead to costly mistakes or errors. Andile and his wife may be exhibiting this preference as they are being cautious about their financial decisions and not wanting to make any costly mistakes. The other three options do not fully explain why Andile and his wife are struggling to make financial decisions.

Question 20

Nirosha believes that traits and abilities as fixed at birth and remain the same no matter what.By contrast, Tumi 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 Nirosha is a(n) ____ while Tumi is a(n) ____.
A)collectivist; individualist
B)individualist; collectivist
C)incremental theorist; entity theorist
D)entity theorist; incremental theorist

Accepted Answer

Nirosha's belief aligns with an entity theorist, who sees traits as fixed, while Tumi's belief aligns with an incremental theorist, who sees traits as developable.

Quiz 4: Choices and Actions: the Self in Control

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 .

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

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

Rosie has just been told she has a serious illness and visited with a specialist who has outlined a number of treatment options.If she is like most people, her next step will be to ____.

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

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 .

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

Gift 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.Gift is exhibiting ____.

Among humans, greater freedom is associated with ____.

Compared to incremental theorists, entity theorists show a ____.

Failure will most likely produce learned helplessness for ____.

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

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

The experience of learned helplessness is ____.

Andile and his wife are making some important financial decisions and cannot seem to agree on what they should or should not do.The preference for avoiding certain types of risks is consistent with ____ theory.