AP Psychology Practice Quiz: Psychology of Social Situations

Correct Answer: B

Groupthink occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives. The board's focus on agreement over critical evaluation is a classic example of this phenomenon.

Correct Answer: C

Social facilitation is the tendency for people to perform differently when in the presence of others than when alone. For well-learned or simple tasks, performance tends to be enhanced, as described in the scenario.

Correct Answer: C

The foot-in-the-door phenomenon is a compliance tactic that aims at getting a person to agree to a large request by having them agree to a modest request first. Signing the petition (small request) makes the homeowner more likely to agree to the donation (larger request).

Correct Answer: A

Research on obedience, such as Milgram's experiments, clarifies that compliance with authority is strengthened under specific conditions, including the perceived legitimacy and proximity of the authority figure.

Correct Answer: D

The bystander effect is explained by diffusion of responsibility, a phenomenon where a person is less likely to take responsibility for action or inaction when others are present. Each individual feels that someone else will or should intervene.

Correct Answer: C

The elaboration likelihood model's central route to persuasion occurs when a person is persuaded by the content of the message itself, involving careful consideration of facts and arguments. Researching a college's merits is a clear example of this.

Correct Answer: C

Collectivism is a cultural phenomenon that emphasizes the goals and well-being of the group over the individual. Therefore, self-perception in such cultures is heavily influenced by one's role and identity within the group.

Correct Answer: B

Social loafing is the phenomenon of a person exerting less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when working alone. It is a direct result of being in a group where individual contributions are not always clear.

Correct Answer: C

Social norms are the unwritten rules of beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that are considered acceptable in a particular social group or culture. They define societal expectations and roles, such as how to behave in a library.

Correct Answer: A

The social responsibility norm is a societal rule that tells people they should help others who need help, even if doing so is costly. This norm explains altruistic behavior driven by a sense of duty to the community.

Correct Answer: D

Group polarization refers to the tendency for a group to make decisions that are more extreme than the initial inclination of its members. Discussion within a like-minded group tends to strengthen pre-existing attitudes.

Correct Answer: B

Normative social influence is pressure to conform to the positive expectations of others to gain social approval and avoid rejection. The student is conforming to fit in, not because they believe the group's behavior is necessarily correct (which would be informational influence).

Correct Answer: B

Superordinate goals are shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation. They are effective in uniting groups, as seen when the rival campers must work together on a common problem.

Correct Answer: A

The false consensus effect is a cognitive bias whereby a person tends to overestimate the extent to which their beliefs or opinions are typical of those of others. John is assuming his opinion is more widely shared than it actually is.

Correct Answer: C

Deindividuation is the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity. The large, anonymous crowd allows individuals to feel less accountable for their actions.

Correct Answer: D

Industrial-organizational (I/O) psychologists specialize in studying how people perform in the workplace. Their work includes topics like employee morale, productivity, and organizational structure.