Download Social Psych Questions

Social Psychology There will be two written response items on the test. One will come from the
first group of questions (1-6) and the second will come from the second group of questions (A-G).
1. Who was the lead researcher in the “Stanford Prison Study”? Based on the results, is behavior more
likely to be effected by ones’ personality traits or the “power of the situation” that a person is in?
Did the study last as long as the researcher intended it to? Why?
2. Identify Festinger’s concept of “Cognitive Dissonance”. Briefly describe the original research, as
discussed in class, upon which Festinger based the concept.
3. Briefly describe Milgram’s Original Obedience experiment in terms of the experimental design, the
results and any ethical issues which may have been raised by this study.
4. Who was the lead researcher in the famous obedience experiment that was described in class and in
the reading? Describe two aspects of the original experiment that the researcher believed
contributed to the high rate of obedience as well as why they did so.
5. Briefly describe the experiment design of the “Fried Grasshopper Experiment” that was recounted
in your reading assignment on the effect of attitudes on behavior. Which concept of social
psychology do the results tend to support?
6. Milgram’s controversial research that was described in class would be considered unethical by
today’s standards. Briefly describe the experimental design of his original obedience experiment
along with the results and explain why a replication would be considered unethical today.
A. Describe the difference between the “foot in the door effect” and the “door in the face effect” and
give one example of each.
B. Briefly describe the difference between prejudice and discrimination as well as some effective
means of reducing prejudice.
C. Briefly describe the classic study of conformity that was discussed in class. Who conducted the
study? What were the results?
D. How do social psychologists define an attitude? Briefly describe each of the three components of
an attitude.
E. Briefly explain how “risky shift” and the “bystander effect” are related to the concept of Diffusion
of Responsibility.
F. Provide a brief description of each of the following terms: Fundamental Attribution Error and Just
World Bias
G. What is the difference between the central and peripheral routes to persuasion?