Question 1

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 ____.

Accepted Answer

Erica's conclusions illustrate confirmation bias, which is the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one's existing beliefs or theories, while ignoring evidence that contradicts them.

Question 2

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 ____.

Accepted Answer

The phenomenon described in the question is known as one-shot illusory correlation, which refers to the tendency to perceive a relationship between variables based on a single observation or experience, even when the relationship may not exist. Option A, illusory correlation, is a related but broader concept that can occur over multiple instances of observation. Options C and D are not directly related to the phenomenon described in the question.

Question 3

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 ____.

Accepted Answer

People are generally more influenced by case history information, as personal stories and anecdotes tend to have a stronger impact on decision-making than abstract statistical data.

Question 4

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 ____.

Accepted Answer

Illusory correlation is the perception of a relationship between two variables when none exists. In this case, Letha might incorrectly associate the missionary's rare book collecting with being a common trait among Mormons.

Question 5

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 ____.

Accepted Answer

The probability of flipping a coin and getting heads is always 50/50, regardless of previous flips. The outcome of the previous ten flips does not influence the probability of the eleventh flip. Thus, the answer is A, heads.

Question 6

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 ____.

Accepted Answer

Elenita's reaction illustrates the one-shot illusory correlation, where a single encounter leads her to form a generalized belief about a group based on limited experience.

Question 7

The tendency for people to overestimate the link between variables that are related only slightly or not at all is known as the ____.

Accepted Answer

The tendency to overestimate the link between variables that are related only slightly or not at all is known as the illusory correlation. This can often lead people to draw incorrect conclusions or make poor decisions based on inaccurate beliefs. The other answer options are related to different types of cognitive biases and decision-making errors.

Question 8

The so-called illusory correlation can most directly help explain ____.

Accepted Answer

Illusory correlation refers to the perception of a relationship between two variables when no such relationship actually exists (or is weaker than perceived). One common example is the tendency to overestimate the association between minority group membership and negative behaviors (such as criminal activity). This bias can lead to prejudice and discrimination against minority groups.

Question 9

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 ____.

Accepted Answer

This study is an example of the confirmation bias, where people tend to favor information that confirms their preconceptions or hypotheses, regardless of whether the information is true. In this case, fans' biases towards their own team influenced how they interpreted the events of the game.

Question 10

The state of having too much information to make a decision or remain informed about a topic is known as ____.

Accepted Answer

Information overload is the condition of receiving or processing too much information, making it difficult to make decisions or stay informed about anything. Statistical regression refers to the tendency of extreme values to move toward the average in subsequent measurements. The gambler's fallacy is the belief that previous events influence future outcomes in a game of chance. Moreover, the conjunction fallacy occurs when people believe that multiple specific events are more likely than general ones, even though specific events are included in the general ones.

Question 11

People who think they have a "hot hand" after winning five poker hands in a row tend to think that ____.

Accepted Answer

This scenario is an example of the Gambler's Fallacy, which is the belief that previous random events can affect the outcome of future events. In reality, each poker hand is an independent event and the probability of winning or losing is not affected by previous outcomes. Therefore, someone who thinks they have a "hot hand" is more likely to overestimate their chances of winning the next hand.

Question 12

The simulation heuristic tends to invoke ____ thinking.

Accepted Answer

The simulation heuristic involves imagining different scenarios and outcomes, especially when making decisions. This often involves counterfactual thinking, imagining what would have happened if different choices had been made.

Question 13

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 ____.

Accepted Answer

The scenario described involves the use of the anchoring and adjustment heuristic, which involves starting with an initial estimate (or anchor) and then adjusting it based on additional information. In this case, the initial estimate is the age of the person's grandfather, and the adjustment is made based on the observation that the person they are trying to guess the age of seems to be a little older.

Question 14

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 ____.

Accepted Answer

This assumption reflects illusory correlation, where people perceive a relationship between two events (the Supreme Court decision and the bill's passage) that are not necessarily related.

Question 15

Research on the anchoring and adjustment heuristic indicates that ____.

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that people tend to rely too heavily on their initial anchor and do not adjust enough away from it when making decisions using the anchoring and adjustment heuristic.

Question 16

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?

Accepted Answer

The simulation heuristic suggests that people tend to focus on the outcomes that almost happened and imagine what could have been, leading to increased disappointment. In this case, Marsha being the first runner up likely makes her imagine what could have been and therefore leads to greater disappointment. The confirmation bias does not apply in this scenario as both individuals received different levels of rejection, making any bias towards their expectation unlikely.

Question 17

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 ____.

Accepted Answer

Jules and Jim are interpreting the book review in a way that confirms their preexisting opinions about the book. Jules is likely focusing on negative aspects of the review that match his negative feelings about the book, while Jim is likely focusing on positive aspects of the review that match his positive feelings about the book. This is an example of confirmation bias, where individuals seek out information that confirms their preexisting beliefs or opinions.

Question 18

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 ____.

Accepted Answer

The scenario describes the base rate fallacy, where one ignores statistical information (the rarity of astronauts) in favor of stereotypical information (the person's characteristics). This is an example of the representativeness heuristic, where judgments are made based on how much something fits a prototype.

Question 19

The so-called "gambler's fallacy" refers to the ____.

Accepted Answer

The gambler's fallacy is the false belief that chance events are affected by previous events and that chance events will "even out" over a short period of time.

Question 20

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 ____.

Accepted Answer

The phenomenon described in the scenario is an example of the illusory correlation, which refers to the tendency to perceive a relationship between two variables that does not actually exist, or to overestimate the strength of a relationship. In this case, people are perceiving a relationship between being a lesbian and having AIDS, even though there is no actual correlation between the two.

Quiz 5: Social Cognition