Social Interactions
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AP Psychology › Social Interactions
Which of the following best illustrates the door in the face effect?
A salesperson tries to sell a car to a customer for $100,000. The customer resists and the salesperson drops the price to $40,000.
A non-profit company calls you to ask for a $10 donation. You agree, and then the following month, the company calls again asking for a $20 donation.
An advertisement indicates that anyone who buys two shirts at $20 will be given a third shirt free.
An antique salesperson tells a customer that if she does not buy a ring on that particular day, somebody else probably will.
Explanation
The door in the face effect refers to a tendency in which people who refuse a large initial request will be more likely to agree to a later smaller request. By dropping the price from $100,000 to $40,000, the customer might believe he/she is getting a good deal even if the car should be priced lower. The non-profit call answer was an example of the foot in the door effect. The other two examples were sales techniques, but not examples of the door in the face effect because there is not a sequence of a large request followed by a smaller one.
A choir is headed for a state competition to perform 5 pieces of music. The choir is very strong on some songs (i.e. performs well) and weaker on some songs (i.e. performs less well). If the director wants to order the songs in a strategic way, what might you suggest?
Placing the strongest songs as the first and last pieces
Placing the strongest songs in the middle
Alternating between stronger songs and weaker songs
Using random assignment for the songs
Explanation
The primacy and recency effects refer to the tendency for our first impressions and most recent impressions to be most important in forming an opinion of groups and individuals. By placing the strongest songs as the first and last pieces, the director would strategically make it more likely that the impressions formed by the judges would be most influenced by the strongest pieces.
It has been observed that, over time, the persuasive power of a highly credible source (i.e. a physicist) decreases, while the persuasive power of a low-credibility source (i.e. a supermarket tabloid) increases. Which of the following identifies the term used by social psychologists to describe this odd phenomenon?
Sleeper effect
Delayed-persuasion effect
Low credibility effect
Social learning
Social loafing
Explanation
The sleeper effect is a term coined by Hovland and Weiss (1952), two psychologists who prepared several articles on controversial topics, such as the feasibility of an atomic-powered submarine. American subjects read the articles, and Hovland and Weiss measured their opinions on the subject. They found that communications by high-credibility sources (such as the acclaimed physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer) were more persuasive, but over time its power decreased while the persuasive power of the low-credibility source increased.
A choir is headed for a state competition to perform 5 pieces of music. The choir is very strong on some songs (i.e. performs well) and weaker on some songs (i.e. performs less well). If the director wants to order the songs in a strategic way, what might you suggest?
Placing the strongest songs as the first and last pieces
Placing the strongest songs in the middle
Alternating between stronger songs and weaker songs
Using random assignment for the songs
Explanation
The primacy and recency effects refer to the tendency for our first impressions and most recent impressions to be most important in forming an opinion of groups and individuals. By placing the strongest songs as the first and last pieces, the director would strategically make it more likely that the impressions formed by the judges would be most influenced by the strongest pieces.
It has been observed that, over time, the persuasive power of a highly credible source (i.e. a physicist) decreases, while the persuasive power of a low-credibility source (i.e. a supermarket tabloid) increases. Which of the following identifies the term used by social psychologists to describe this odd phenomenon?
Sleeper effect
Delayed-persuasion effect
Low credibility effect
Social learning
Social loafing
Explanation
The sleeper effect is a term coined by Hovland and Weiss (1952), two psychologists who prepared several articles on controversial topics, such as the feasibility of an atomic-powered submarine. American subjects read the articles, and Hovland and Weiss measured their opinions on the subject. They found that communications by high-credibility sources (such as the acclaimed physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer) were more persuasive, but over time its power decreased while the persuasive power of the low-credibility source increased.
Which of the following best illustrates the door in the face effect?
A salesperson tries to sell a car to a customer for $100,000. The customer resists and the salesperson drops the price to $40,000.
A non-profit company calls you to ask for a $10 donation. You agree, and then the following month, the company calls again asking for a $20 donation.
An advertisement indicates that anyone who buys two shirts at $20 will be given a third shirt free.
An antique salesperson tells a customer that if she does not buy a ring on that particular day, somebody else probably will.
Explanation
The door in the face effect refers to a tendency in which people who refuse a large initial request will be more likely to agree to a later smaller request. By dropping the price from $100,000 to $40,000, the customer might believe he/she is getting a good deal even if the car should be priced lower. The non-profit call answer was an example of the foot in the door effect. The other two examples were sales techniques, but not examples of the door in the face effect because there is not a sequence of a large request followed by a smaller one.
Consider the following scenario: Heidi is walking down the street when she sees a man on the street covered in blood yelling, "help me!"
According to Darley and Latane's bystander intervention research, then under which of the following circumstances would Heidi be most likely to demonstrate helping behavior?
Heidi is walking down a street with no one else around
Heidi is walking down the street with a group of her friends
Heidi is walking down the street by herself, but there are a few other people on the street
Heidi is walking down the street and it is very crowded with many people around
Explanation
Darley and Latane's bystander intervention research suggests that responsibility to help gets diffused (or divided) among the observers. When there are no others around, the responsibility is not diffused with anyone else and Heidi would be most likely to help.
Which of the following best illustrates the foot in the door effect?
A non-profit company calls you to ask for a $10 donation. You agree, and then the following month, the company calls again asking for a $20 donation.
A salesperson tries to sell a car to a customer for $100,000. The customer resists and the salesperson drops the price to $40,000.
An advertisement indicates that anyone who buys two shirts at $20 will be given a third shirt free.
An antique salesperson tells a customer that if she does not buy a ring on that particular day, somebody else probably will.
Explanation
The foot in the door effect refers to a tendency in which after agreeing to an initial small request, people will be more likely to agree to subsequent larger requests. By asking for a small initial donation of $10, the donor would be more likely to give $20 the following month than if the donor had been asked for $20 to begin with. The price drop on the car answer was an example of the door in the face effect. The other two examples were sales techniques, but not examples of the door in the face effect because there is not a sequence of a large request followed by a smaller one.
Which of the following best illustrates the foot in the door effect?
A non-profit company calls you to ask for a $10 donation. You agree, and then the following month, the company calls again asking for a $20 donation.
A salesperson tries to sell a car to a customer for $100,000. The customer resists and the salesperson drops the price to $40,000.
An advertisement indicates that anyone who buys two shirts at $20 will be given a third shirt free.
An antique salesperson tells a customer that if she does not buy a ring on that particular day, somebody else probably will.
Explanation
The foot in the door effect refers to a tendency in which after agreeing to an initial small request, people will be more likely to agree to subsequent larger requests. By asking for a small initial donation of $10, the donor would be more likely to give $20 the following month than if the donor had been asked for $20 to begin with. The price drop on the car answer was an example of the door in the face effect. The other two examples were sales techniques, but not examples of the door in the face effect because there is not a sequence of a large request followed by a smaller one.
Consider the following scenario: Heidi is walking down the street when she sees a man on the street covered in blood yelling, "help me!"
According to Darley and Latane's bystander intervention research, then under which of the following circumstances would Heidi be most likely to demonstrate helping behavior?
Heidi is walking down a street with no one else around
Heidi is walking down the street with a group of her friends
Heidi is walking down the street by herself, but there are a few other people on the street
Heidi is walking down the street and it is very crowded with many people around
Explanation
Darley and Latane's bystander intervention research suggests that responsibility to help gets diffused (or divided) among the observers. When there are no others around, the responsibility is not diffused with anyone else and Heidi would be most likely to help.