PSYCHOLOGY 2070B-001 Midterm Practice Test (Winter 2015)
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Winter 2015
Instructor: Sarah Stanton
This practice test covers material that will be tested on the midterm (i.e., Chapters 1-6 and lecture material
from January 8-February 5). The practice test includes 30 questions and begins on the next page.
To best simulate the exam environment, I recommend writing the practice test in one sitting, in a quiet
place, without consulting any notes. I also suggest you give yourself no more than 1 hour (60 minutes) to
write the practice test, to approximate the amount of time allotted for the midterm exam on February 12.
The answer key for this practice test can be found in the “Resources” tab in Sakai.
I wish you much success!

PSYCHOLOGY 2070B-001 Midterm Practice Test (Winter 2015)
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1. Why are people often wrong in asserting that social psychology findings reflect only common sense?
a. Common sense and people’s inferences are rarely correct.
b. Common sense findings may make more sense in retrospect than in advance.
c. People assume that social psychology is not an empirical science.
d. People dismiss counterintuitive findings and just pay attention to findings that support common
sense.
e. People assume that common sense notions cannot be examined scientifically.
2. High interrater reliability is important because
a. independent agreement on observations reduces bias and increases trustworthiness of findings.
b. independent agreement on observations makes causal explanations possible.
c. independent agreement on observations helps researchers determine associations between
variables.
d. independent agreement on observations keeps coding criteria objective.
e. independent agreement on observations promotes external validity.
3. Your friend Tony finds a correlation between ice cream purchases and aggressive behavior on the beach.
He is excited by this finding, but you point out that hot weather is a third variable that could better
explain the effect. In other words, his correlation is
a. HARKed.
b. spurious.
c. questionable.
d. cherry-picked.
e. p-hacked.
4. Which of the following is a benefit of debriefing?
a. Researchers have the opportunity to compensate their participants.
b. Researchers have the opportunity to correct any misconceptions that participants may have.
c. Participants have the opportunity to discover if any participants figured out the study
hypotheses.
d. B and C
e. A, B, and C
5. According to lecture, in order for a theory to be a good theory, it must be
a. thorough.
b. never proven wrong.
c. falsifiable.
d. testable in easy ways.
e. None of the above
PSYCHOLOGY 2070B-001 Midterm Practice Test (Winter 2015)
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6. How are spontaneous trait inferences distinct from implicit personality theories?
a. Spontaneous trait inferences involve making judgments about someone’s personality based on
what is already known about some other characteristics.
b. Spontaneous trait inferences occur unintentionally.
c. Spontaneous trait inferences cannot “fill in the blanks” when information is ambiguous.
d. Spontaneous trait inferences involve high levels of awareness.
e. Spontaneous trait inferences and implicit personality theories are interchangeable terms (i.e., they
are the same thing).
7. Hannah usually doesn’t like movies with violent scenes, but she saw Pulp Fiction (a violent movie) five
times and loved it. Everyone else, including critics, also really liked Pulp Fiction. In this example,
distinctiveness is ______ and consensus is ______.
a. low; high
b. low; low
c. high; high
d. high; low
e. low only; high or low
8. Why doesn’t the actor/observer pattern of attributions manifest itself when actors explain their own
successes?
a. Actors are often motivated to maintain or restore their self-esteem.
b. Actors are often socially motivated to appear humble and self-deprecating.
c. Actors are most concerned about the feelings of other people.
d. B and C
e. A, B, and C
9. Annie doesn’t talk much on her first date with Xavier. Xavier assumes that it’s because she’s shy.
However, Annie isn’t shy; she is quiet because she recently had a root canal and it still hurts to move her
mouth. This example best illustrates that differential ______ can be a source of actor/observer
differences in attributions.
a. expectations
b. consensus
c. perceptual biases
d. distinctiveness
e. information availability
10. According to a video shown in lecture, how much of human communication is nonverbal?
a. 50%
b. 60%
c. 70%
d. 80%
e. 90%
PSYCHOLOGY 2070B-001 Midterm Practice Test (Winter 2015)
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11. Jeremy is in love with Carol and views her temper as an endearing example of her passion for things.
Carol’s coworkers, on the other hand, interpret her temper as rude and insensitive. This illustrates how
love might influence
a. personality.
b. construals.
c. social influence.
d. behaviors.
e. emotions.
12. One application of naïve realism is to assist the negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis. How
would understanding naïve realism potentially help these parties negotiate more successfully?
a. Both sides would understand the historical perspective, and negotiate more openly.
b. Both sides would understand the subjective aspects of negotiations, and discuss issues more
thoroughly.
c. Both sides would understand the role of culture in forming construals, and use conflict
resolution skills more appropriately.
d. Both sides would understand their religious differences, and be able to communicate more
effectively.
e. Both sides would understand that their perceptions are biased, and try to be more objective.
13. The need to survive is the basis of which approach to social psychology?
a. Evolutionary
b. Gestalt
c. Self-esteem
d. Social cognition
e. Biological
14. What sets social psychology apart from sociology?
a. The level of analysis
b. The focus on construal
c. What it aims to explain
d. A and B
e. A and C
15. In trying to make sense of the mass murder-suicide of the members of the Order of the Solar Temple, a
Gestalt psychologist would probably
a. examine the external rewards and punishments used by the leaders.
b. ask about the childhood of the Temple followers.
c. ponder the subjective meaning of the act to Temple followers.
d. ask about the traumatic events in the lives of Temple followers.
e. consult a social psychologist.
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16. In a study described in the text, Baldwin et al. (1990) found that graduate students rated their own work
more negatively if they were first exposed to a picture of the scowling face of the program director than
if they were first exposed to a picture of a smiling colleague. According to the researchers, this occurred
because the picture students were exposed to
a. distracted the students during the rating task.
b. increased physiological arousal that was interpreted as fear or anxiety.
c. determined whether they engaged in downward or upward social comparison.
d. made them more self-aware.
e. primed a certain internal audience.
17. Brad’s ideal self includes being sociable and funny. If his romantic partner Liz disaffirms this ideal
quality, what behaviors might she enact?
a. Liz could affirm a different quality that Brad doesn’t really care much about, like his computer
programming skills.
b. Liz could tell Brad his jokes are stupid and that he should stop trying to be funny.
c. Liz could consciously or unconsciously create situations in which Brad acts shy and aloof.
d. A and B
e. B and C
18. When asked to finish a sentence beginning “I am…,” respondents from Asian countries are more likely
to mention ______, because they have a(n) ______ view of the self.
a. the ideal self; independent
b. group membership; independent
c. the ideal self; interdependent
d. group membership; interdependent
e. None of the above
19. People strive to uphold their negative self-beliefs only when they
a. are highly certain of those beliefs.
b. are uncertain of those beliefs.
c. have low self-esteem.
d. become self-protective.
e. cannot engage in self-justification.
20. Wood, Taylor, and Lichtman (1985) found that in order to feel more optimistic about their own futures,
cancer patients engage in
a. introspection.
b. impression management.
c. upward social comparison.
d. downward social comparison.
e. self-perception.
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21. You are more likely to go to law school if the people you care about most think that you should. This is
an example of
a. the influence of subjective norms on behavioral intentions.
b. the influence of subjective norms on attitude strength.
c. the influence of perceived behavioral control on behavioral intentions.
d. the influence of perceived behavioral control on attitude strength.
e. the influence of subjective norms AND perceived behavioral control on attitude strength.
22. Clara just learned that her younger brother has begun having sex. She is concerned about his health and
the health of his partner and she has decided to have a serious talk with him. What is the best thing for
Clara to do?
a. Describe in vivid detail the ravages of AIDS and other sexually-transmitted infections to scare
him into safe sex practices.
b. Instill enough fear in him to get his attention and then talk to him about the odds that he will
contract AIDS using national statistics.
c. Instill enough fear in him to get his attention and then explain where to get condoms and how
to use them.
d. Buy him a book about responsible sex at the local bookstore and mark the appropriate pages
with a condom.
e. Instill enough fear in him to get his attention and then give him a condom.
23. Yenting has just purchased a rather expensive wristwatch. She had debated for weeks about the merits
of two different styles before making her decision. According to cognitive dissonance theory, it’s now
likely that Yenting will
a. wish that she had purchased the other watch.
b. ruminate on the positive aspects of the other watch.
c. emphasize all of the positive aspects of the chosen watch.
d. return to the store and also purchase the other watch.
e. None of the above
24. Attitude inoculation is the process of making people immune to persuasion attempts by
a. exposing them to arguments in support of their position.
b. exposing them to arguments against their position.
c. encouraging them to feel positive about the position they hold.
d. encouraging them to pay attention to the quality of arguments used to try and persuade them.
e. alerting them to the possibility that others will try to persuade them.
25. According to cognitive dissonance theory, soldiers may reduce their guilt about killing innocent civilians
during wartime by
a. telling themselves the war is almost over.
b. introspecting on what they have done.
c. dehumanizing their victims.
d. All of the above
e. None of the above
PSYCHOLOGY 2070B-001 Midterm Practice Test (Winter 2015)
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26. Why do people often rely on mental shortcuts?
a. People are inherently flawed in their ability to reason.
b. When people reason, they are more interested in speed than in accuracy.
c. People are not interested in much of the information they take in.
d. People are confronted with an overwhelming amount of social information.
e. People are motivated to enhance their self-esteem.
27. Reflecting on a recent fight with his mother, Jacob thinks to himself, “If only I hadn’t yelled at her, and
had instead just spoken calmly about what was upsetting me, that fight would have been less negative.”
Jacob has engaged in a(n)
a. additive counterfactual.
b. subtractive counterfactual.
c. downward counterfactual.
d. A and B
e. B and C
28. What do people use when they base their judgments and decisions around an initial piece of information
they receive?
a. Representativeness heuristic
b. Planning fallacy
c. Availability heuristic
d. Anchoring heuristic
e. Mental practice
29. Celia has worked on a psychiatric unit for three years. On the way home from work one day, she
encounters a man who gestures wildly and talks to himself while he stands at the bus stop. Celia thinks
to herself, “That poor guy must be psychotic. He should be on medication.” This example illustrates
that ______ can increase the accessibility of traits.
a. past experience
b. implicit personality theories
c. current goals
d. All of the above
e. None of the above
30. When watching a movie, which aspects is someone from Australia (vs. Korea) likely to notice?
a. Background interaction between extras in the movie
b. Specific details of the protagonist’s appearance
c. The scenery through which the protagonist is traveling
d. A and C
e. B and C