1. Define social psychology. What is “person perception”? Summarize the research on whether physical appearance influences perceptions of others’ personal qualities.
2. What are stereotypes? What are some examples of gender, age, ethnic, and occupational stereotypes?
3. What is illusory correlation? Summarize the evolutionary perspective on bias in person perception. Distinguish between ingroups and outgroups.
4. Define attributions. Distinguish between internal and external attributions. Summarize Weiner’s model of attributions for success and failure.
5. What is the fundamental attribution error? Summarize how actors and observers attribute behavior. What is “defensive attribution”?
6. Distinguish between collectivism and individualism with regards to attributional tendencies.
7. What is interpersonal attraction? Summarize key factors in attraction, including physical attraction and similarity effects. What is the matching hypothesis?
8. Distinguish between passionate and companionate love. Summarize adult attachment styles of secure, avoidant, and anxious/ambivalent.
9. Summarize how culture influences close relationships. How does the internet influence close relationships?
10. Summarize the evolutionary perspective on attraction. (Be sure to address facial symmetry and waist-to-hip ratio in your answer. Also, how does a woman’s menstrual cycle influence attraction?)
11. What are attitudes? Distinguish between the cognitive, affective, and behavioral components of attitudes. Also, distinguish between the strength, accessibility, and ambivalence dimensions of attitudes.
12. Summarize the LaPiere study conducted in the 1930’s. Are attitude-behavior relations consistent? Why or why not?
13. Distinguish between explicit and implicit attitudes. Is there a relationship between prejudice and implicit attitudes? How are implicit attitudes measures by social psychologist?
14. Summarize the four basic elements of persuasion: source, receiver, message, and channel.
15. Summarize source, message, and receiver factors of persuasion. What is the “mere exposure effect”?
16. Summarize how learning theory, dissonance theory, and the elaboration likelihood model can cause attitude change. What is “evaluative conditioning”? Define cognitive dissonance. What is “effort justification”? Distinguish between “central” and “peripheral” routes.
17. What is conformity? Summarize Solomon Asch’s study on conformity involving visual perception. What did Asch conclude were key determinants in conformity? Distinguish between “normative influence” and “informational influence”. Summarize the study on obedience conducted by Stanley Milgram (be sure to address the results of his study in detail). Summarize the controversies surrounding the studies on obedience, and how Milgram countered them. Also, summarize the obedience study conducted by Burger (2009).
18. Summarize differences in conformity between cultures.
19. Summarize the Stanford Prison study conducted by Philip Zimbardo. What are “social roles”?
20. What is a group? What is the “bystander effect”, and what accounts for it? (Be sure to address the phenomenon of diffusion of responsibility).
21. List two factors that contribute to reduced individual productivity in large groups. What is “social loafing”? Is social loafing inevitable” Why or why not?
22. Distinguish between the following group decision making tendencies: group polarization and groupthink. What is a “risky shift”? Define group cohesiveness.
23. Distinguish between prejudice and discrimination. Summarize how stereotyping and subjectivity in person perception can contribute to prejudice.
24. Summarize the following: (a) how biases in attribution can contribute to prejudice, (b) how prejudicial attitudes are formed and preserved, and (c) how competition between groups contributes to prejudice. How do people often view individuals within “outgroups”?
25. What is “social identity”? What is the social identity perspective? Summarize how threats to social identity may fuel prejudice. What is “outgroup derogation”?
26. Summarize useful criteria for evaluating credibility. Also, summarize the following social influence strategies: (a) foot-in-the-door technique, (b) reciprocity norm, and (c) lowball technique.