Dr. Tajuddeen A. Williams

Teaching Portfolio Assignment: Effective Exam Development

· Personal Essays

Social and group influence

How others influence our behavior is a staple in social psychology research and is the topic of Chapter 9 of Griggs’ Psychology: A Concise Introduction. This chapter covers many of the fundamental studies to the field of social psychology such as the bystander effect, which explains the phenomena where individuals are less likely to assist someone when there are others present and Milgram’s obedience study, which has been replicated in television shows and movies and shows the length people will go through and the request of authority. How we influence and are influenced by groups and individuals is key to understanding principles such as groupthink, deindividuation, group polarization, and diffusion of responsibility.

Multiple Choice

Each answer is worth 20 points each, for a total of 100 points. Therefore, each answer represents 20% of the total 100% of the grade.

  1. ________ describes a change in behavior as a result of imagined or real pressure.

 

  1. conformity

  2. compliance

  3. reactance

  4. acceptance

  5. obedience

 

  1. If a group is strongly cohesive and their members have a shared desire for agreement, what should the members be alert to the dangers of in their decision-making?

 

  1. self-serving bias

  2. group polarization

  3. groupthink

  4. social influence

  5. altruism

 

  1. Joe was on his way to class and he notices someone with lock picking tools attempting to gain access to a vehicle. Joe notices that others in the area did not seem concerned and he continued to class. What principle did Joe display?

 

  1. ethnocentrism

  2. diffusion of responsibility

  3. bystander effect

  4. in-group bias

  5. mere-exposure effect

 

  1. While riding a city bus, an old woman is being abused by teens and she is calling out for help. There are about 10 people on the bus, and none of them come forward to help. The lack of help illustrated in this scenario is:

 

  1. social influence

  2. groupthink

  3. bystander effect

  4. group polarization

  5. *diffusion of responsibility*

 

  1. __________ explains when members of a group will do things that they would normally not do as individuals.

 

  1. conformity

  2. unamity of the group

  3. compliance

  4. deindividuation

  5. false-consensus effect

Fill in the blank

Each answer is worth 20 points each, for a total of 100 points. Therefore, each answer represents 20% of the total 100% of the grade.

  1. A _________ is two or more people who influence and interact with one another. group

  2. The three types of social influence are _________, which involves changing a person’s attitude by pressure from others, _________, which involves giving into authority, and _________, which involves going along with requests made by others. conformity; obedience; compliance

  3. __________ is an example of standing up for the national anthem. compliance

Essay question
How are individuals influenced by social groups and what role do groups play in that influence? Give an example of a social group which influences members to their cause. Support your answer with relevant references from your text book. I will be looking for at least one references to classical social psychology studies found in this week’s readings, usage and correct punctuation and grammar with minimal, and proper APA formatting.

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