HW-1038 Psychology MCQ

Part 1 of 1 -

Question 1 of 20 5.0 Points
Omar is walking through the shopping mall with three of his buddies, when all of the sudden they come across a curious scene. Four girls are verbally abusing a fifth girl, and it is clear that a physical altercation is about to occur. Omar stands quietly watching the scene, until two of his friends step in to try to break up the fracas. When they intervene, Omar steps in as well, providing greater assurance that a fight is not going to take place. In this case, Omar’s group of friends served as a __________ group for Omar’s behavior.


A. pressure

B. conformity

C. normative

D. reference



Question 2 of 20 5.0 Points
__________ are considered to be lasting, while __________ are more transient, or temporary.


A. Idiographic traits; nomothetic states

B. States; traits

C. Traits; states

D. Nomothetic states; idiographic traits


Question 3 of 20 5.0 Points
Raymond Cattell, attempting to transform the first published list of personality descriptors, used a statistical technique called __________, which identifies correlations and common clusters in a larger group. These clusters were used to define Cattell’s theory of sixteen personality traits.


A. structural equation modeling

B. factor analysis

C. binomial linear regression

D. canonical correlations


Question 4 of 20 5.0 Points
Research into the mere exposure phenomenon finds that simple exposure between two groups of people is not enough to reduce prejudice, but rather __________.


A. groups exposed to each other will be able to reduce prejudice as long as the reasons for their feelings are not actively discussed, thus preventing arguments that can lead to violence

B. groups will only reduce prejudice if they interact in a setting where negativity and prejudice are overtly and covertly discouraged, like in a church or temple

C. groups being exposed to those about whom they hold prejudice only serves to increase those tensions

D. groups working together in a cooperative manner helps reduce prejudice




Question 5 of 20 5.0 Points
What is the purpose of a defense mechanism from the psychodynamic perspective?


A. make sure that we make rational decisions that are based on reason and logic

B. make sure that people who are negative and can have a negative effect on our lives are kept outside of our consciousness

C. keep unpleasant thoughts and motivations in our unconscious mind

D. keep us from developing psychological pathologies that can cause problems in our lives


Question 6 of 20 5.0 Points
Which of the following factors is not related to an increased tendency to cooperate with others?


A. having no concern about damage to your own reputation

B. experiencing norms of fairness

C. feeling a high level of personal accountability

D. experiencing a shared identity with a group




Question 7 of 20 5.0 Points
What has research found about the nearly universal human desire to be accepted and well-liked by others?


A. Wanting to be well-liked by others is an entirely psychological phenomenon that has nothing to do with our physical well-being.

B. Society is becoming more and more tolerant of people who are on the “fringe” of normal and accepted behavior because the desire to be well-liked overwhelms the desire to judge others.

C. Those who are isolated from society but who are happy in their isolation are as healthy as others, suggesting that the approval motive is not, in fact, universal.

D. Wanting to be well-liked by others helps us survive by boosting health and reducing vulnerability to illness.

Question 8 of 20 5.0 Points
People who are highly motivated and very able to understand a persuasive message are likely to be persuaded through the central route, while people who are not tend to be persuaded through the peripheral route. This is the main concept of the __________ model.


A. Pygmalion

B. foot-in-the-door

C. persuasion paradigm

D. elaboration likelihood


Question 9 of 20 5.0 Points
Which of the following is not one of the conditions that influenced obedience in the Stanley Milgram experiment?


A. An intermediary bystander is present.

B. The participant is affected by normative and informational influence.

C. The victim is kept at a distance and is depersonalized.

D. the promise of an increased reward or incentive for increased obedience





Question 10 of 20 5.0 Points
In terms of the five-factor model of personality, an individual who is grouchy and difficult to get along with, and who is also stubborn and refuses to try new things, would be described as __________.


A. low on extraversion and high on emotional instability

B. low on agreeableness and low on extraversion

C. low on conscientiousness and low on emotional instability

D. low on openness to experience and low on agreeableness


Question 11 of 20 5.0 Points
Behavior that is carried out with the goal of helping others is called __________ behavior.


A. cooperative

B. altruistic

C. prosocial

D. reciprocal

Question 12 of 20 5.0 Points
A __________ attribution looks at __________ factors, while a __________ attribution looks at __________ factors.


A. situational; external; dispositional; internal

B. biased; influenced; unbiased; genuine

C. dispositional; external; situational; internal

D. biased: genuine; unbiased; influenced


Question 13 of 20 5.0 Points
Which of the following is an accurate limitation of all personality questionnaires?


A. The questions are more difficult for children to answer, and thus they cause us to over-pathologize kids.

B. The questions tend to be racially biased in favor of white individuals.

C. The questions tend to be transparent, so it is possible to present yourself differently than you actually are.

D. The questions favor male respondents and handicap female respondents.


Question 14 of 20 5.0 Points
According to Heider’s attribution theory, when we come across a behavior we don’t immediately understand, either in others or in ourselves, how do we seek to understand or explain the behavior?




A. We try to decide how best to change the behavior so that it is consistent with our current understanding.

B. We try to figure out how the behavior was influenced by a person’s cultural background.

C. We try to figure out if the behavior was caused by internal dispositions or external situations.

D. We try to figure out if the person doing the behavior had favorable or malicious intents.


Question 15 of 20 5.0 Points
Annabelle was driving along when the car in front of her stopped suddenly. She stomped on the brake and avoided a collision by just a few inches. “Wow, it’s a good thing I’m such a good driver,” Annabelle thought. Sometime later, Annabelle was in an accident where she rear-ended a different vehicle. She told the officer, “Well, you see, it was dark and the road was wet. It was not possible for me to stop in time!” Annabelle’s different responses to her successful or failed attempt to avoid an accident demonstrates the __________.


A. self-serving bias

B. attractiveness bias

C. availability heuristic

D. fundamental attribution error



Question 16 of 20 5.0 Points
The __________ approach to studying personality is a method of interpreting personality data that is variable-centered and focuses on finding consistent patterns of relationships among individuals’ traits.


A. idiographic

B. nomothetic

C. collectivist

D. individualistic


Question 17 of 20 5.0 Points
The fact that many American citizens don’t vote in the presidential election is often explained by the fact that individuals do not believe that their vote matters. They think that being just one vote in a nation of millions makes them unimportant. In a general way, this is an example of social __________.


A. loafing

B. deindividuation

C. diffusion

D. anomie


Question 18 of 20 5.0 Points
What is the basic underlying reason why we tend to make attributional mistakes?


A. We generally do not pay enough attention to our surroundings, and thus miss essential information that would help us avoid attributional mistakes.

B. We generally are quick to assume the worst of intents in other people, so this leads us to attributional mistakes.

C. We are more concerned with getting an attribution made quickly than getting it made correctly, and this causes us to make mistakes.

D. We don’t have enough information to know why a person behaved as they did, so we make rapid assumptions.


Question 19 of 20 5.0 Points
Wendy is walking down the street when she suddenly falls down and lands squarely on her backside. A group of girls standing about fifty feet away start laughing hysterically, telling each other what a klutz that Wendy is. The unsympathetic girls in this group are making a(n. __________ attribution to explain why Wendy fell down.


A. situational

B. negative

C. positive

D. dispositional


Question 20 of 20 5.0 Points
The __________ approach to studying personality is a method of interpreting data that is person-oriented and focuses on how the unique parts of a person’s personality form a consistent whole.


A. individualistic

B. nomothetic

C. idiosyncratic

D. idiographic

Answer will be sent by email as attachment.