MCAT Psychological Social Foundations Flashcards: 7b Social Facilitation Loafing Deindividuation

What this deck covers

This deck focuses on 7b Social Facilitation Loafing Deindividuation, giving you a quick way to review the definitions, rules, and examples that matter most for MCAT Psychological Social Foundations.

How to use these flashcards

Work through these flashcards in short sessions. Try to answer each prompt before flipping the card, then revisit any cards you miss until the explanation feels automatic.

Flashcard 1: Which task type is most likely to worsen with observers present: simple or complex?

Answer: Complex or unfamiliar tasks. Arousal disrupts learning by strengthening incorrect dominant responses.

Flashcard 2: Identify the phenomenon: group members pull less hard on a rope when in a larger team.

Answer: Social loafing (Ringelmann effect). Individual effort decreases as group size increases.

Flashcard 3: Which type of task is most likely to worsen with an audience: simple/well-learned or complex/novel?

Answer: Complex or novel tasks. Dominant responses are incorrect for new tasks, so arousal hurts performance.

Flashcard 4: Identify the best prediction: audience present during a practiced skill performance; effect on output?

Answer: Performance tends to improve (social facilitation). Well-practiced skills have correct dominant responses, enhanced by audience presence.

Flashcard 5: What is deindividuation in social psychology?

Answer: Reduced self-awareness and restraint due to anonymity in a group. Loss of individual identity weakens internal behavioral controls.

Flashcard 6: Which concept best explains why crowds can increase impulsive or norm-violating behavior?

Answer: Deindividuation. Loss of individual identity reduces inhibitions against antisocial acts.

Flashcard 7: What is the free-rider problem as it relates to social loafing?

Answer: Withholding effort while benefiting from others' work. Individuals exploit collective effort without contributing.

Flashcard 8: Which option best describes a dominant response in social facilitation theory?

Answer: The most likely or habitual response in a given situation. The automatic, well-practiced response that occurs without conscious thought.

Flashcard 9: Which condition most strongly promotes deindividuation: anonymity or identifiability?

Answer: Anonymity. Being unidentifiable removes personal accountability for behavior.

Flashcard 10: What is evaluation apprehension as a mechanism for social facilitation?

Answer: Arousal from concern about being judged by others. Fear of negative evaluation by observers increases physiological arousal.

Flashcard 11: Which condition increases social loafing more: additive tasks or disjunctive tasks?

Answer: Additive tasks. Individual contributions blend together, making it easier to hide reduced effort.

Flashcard 12: What is social inhibition as the complement of social facilitation?

Answer: Worsened performance on difficult or novel tasks due to others' presence. Arousal from others enhances dominant responses, which are incorrect for unfamiliar tasks.

Flashcard 13: Identify the concept: masked crowd members vandalize property with reduced personal restraint.

Answer: Deindividuation. Anonymity in groups reduces self-restraint.

Flashcard 14: What is the dominant response in social facilitation theory?

Answer: The most likely or well-learned response in a given situation. The automatic response that becomes stronger under arousal.

Flashcard 15: Which concept best explains why a skilled pianist may play better in a recital than alone?

Answer: Social facilitation. Well-practiced skills improve with audience-induced arousal.

Flashcard 16: Identify the predicted effect of masks and darkness on antisocial behavior in a crowd.

Answer: Increased deindividuation and greater likelihood of disinhibited behavior. Physical anonymity reduces self-awareness and social inhibitions.

Flashcard 17: Identify the performance outcome when others are present and the task is simple and well-practiced.

Answer: Performance increases (social facilitation). Simple tasks have correct dominant responses, so arousal helps performance.

Flashcard 18: Identify the condition: others are present but do not evaluate; performance still changes.

Answer: Mere presence effect. Performance changes occur even without evaluation, supporting Zajonc's arousal theory.

Flashcard 19: What is the Ringelmann effect?

Answer: Average individual performance decreases as group size increases. Coordination loss and motivation loss both contribute to this effect.

Flashcard 20: What is evaluation apprehension as a mechanism for social facilitation effects?

Answer: Arousal from concern about being judged by others. Fear of negative evaluation drives performance changes in social settings.

Flashcard 21: What is social inhibition as it relates to being observed by others?

Answer: Worsened performance on complex/novel tasks in others' presence. Arousal from observers impairs performance on unfamiliar tasks requiring concentration.

Flashcard 22: What is the typical behavioral consequence of deindividuation in a crowd?

Answer: Increased impulsive behavior and conformity to situational norms. Anonymity fosters disinhibition, amplifying reactions to immediate cues over personal norms.

Flashcard 23: Which factor most directly promotes deindividuation: anonymity or identifiability?

Answer: Anonymity. Being unidentifiable reduces self-awareness and personal accountability.

Flashcard 24: What is the typical effect of deindividuation on adherence to social norms?

Answer: Greater conformity to salient group norms (prosocial or antisocial). People follow whatever norms are most prominent in that context.

Flashcard 25: What is the sucker effect in group work contexts?

Answer: Reducing effort to avoid being exploited by free riders. People reduce effort to avoid doing more than their share for free riders.

Flashcard 26: Choose the correct label: masked crowd member vandalizes property with little fear of being identified.

Answer: Deindividuation. Anonymity from masking reduces self-awareness, enabling antisocial behavior.

Flashcard 27: What is the mere presence effect in social facilitation?

Answer: Others being present increases arousal even without explicit evaluation. Physical presence alone can trigger arousal responses.

Flashcard 28: What is the free-rider effect as it relates to social loafing?

Answer: Withholding effort because others will do the work. Expecting others to carry the load reduces personal effort.

Flashcard 29: Which option best distinguishes social loafing from diffusion of responsibility?

Answer: Loafing is reduced effort; diffusion is reduced felt accountability. Both involve groups, but target different aspects of performance.

Flashcard 30: What is the key difference between deindividuation and social loafing?

Answer: Deindividuation reduces restraint; loafing reduces effort. Deindividuation affects behavior control; loafing affects motivation to contribute effort.

Flashcard 31: Identify the phenomenon: people in costumes act more aggressively because they feel anonymous.

Answer: Deindividuation. Masks reduce personal accountability, enabling antisocial acts.

Flashcard 32: What is social loafing in group performance situations?

Answer: Reduced individual effort when contributions are pooled. People exert less effort in groups when individual contributions cannot be identified.

Flashcard 33: What does the Yerkes–Dodson law predict about arousal and task performance difficulty?

Answer: Arousal helps simple tasks but harms complex tasks. Moderate arousal optimizes performance; too much or too little impairs it.

Flashcard 34: Identify the concept: a crowd member feels unaccountable and acts aggressively due to anonymity.

Answer: Deindividuation. Anonymity in crowds reduces self-awareness and accountability.

Flashcard 35: What is the sucker effect in group tasks?

Answer: Reducing effort to avoid being exploited by free riders. People reduce effort to avoid doing more than their fair share when others slack off.

Flashcard 36: Identify the effect: a team project leads each member to contribute less than when solo.

Answer: Social loafing. Group contexts diffuse responsibility, leading to lower per-person input on shared goals.

Flashcard 37: What is diffusion of responsibility as a mechanism contributing to social loafing?

Answer: Perceived responsibility is shared, so each person feels less accountable. In groups, blame or credit disperses, diminishing personal obligation and encouraging loafing.

Flashcard 38: Which term describes worse performance on complex or novel tasks when observed?

Answer: Social inhibition. Audience presence impairs performance when task requires new learning.

Flashcard 39: Identify the phenomenon: a novice gives a worse speech when peers watch closely.

Answer: Social inhibition. Complex tasks suffer when arousal interferes with processing.

Flashcard 40: What does the Yerkes–Dodson law state about arousal and performance?

Answer: Performance is best at moderate arousal; too low or too high worsens it. Inverted U-shape relationship between arousal and performance.

Flashcard 41: What is evaluation apprehension as a mechanism affecting performance in groups?

Answer: Arousal from concern about being judged by others. Fear of negative evaluation increases physiological arousal.

Flashcard 42: Which condition most increases social loafing: high or low identifiability of individual effort?

Answer: Low identifiability of individual effort. Anonymity allows individuals to hide in the group and slack off.

Flashcard 43: What is evaluation apprehension as an explanation for social facilitation effects?

Answer: Arousal from concern about being judged, which alters performance. Cottrell's theory attributes effects to anxiety over potential criticism, modulating task execution.

Flashcard 44: What is the typical effect of deindividuation on adherence to social norms?

Answer: Greater conformity to salient group norms, not necessarily antisocial behavior. Deindividuation amplifies whatever norms are present.

Flashcard 45: What is the Yerkes–Dodson law relationship between arousal and performance?

Answer: Inverted U: performance rises then falls as arousal increases. Optimal performance occurs at moderate arousal levels.

Flashcard 46: Which effect is most likely: a skilled typist types faster when coworkers are present?

Answer: Social facilitation improvement due to a well-learned simple task. Well-practiced tasks benefit from arousal caused by others' presence.

Flashcard 47: What is the typical effect of deindividuation on adherence to social norms?

Answer: Greater conformity to salient group norms. People follow group behavior more when individual identity is lost.

Flashcard 48: Identify the effect: masked crowd members vandalize property more than unmasked individuals.

Answer: Deindividuation. Masks provide anonymity, reducing self-awareness and promoting antinormative actions in mobs.

Flashcard 49: What is deindividuation in social psychology?

Answer: Loss of self-awareness and restraint due to anonymity in a group. Group settings erode personal identity, lowering inhibitions and self-regulation.

Flashcard 50: Which factor most directly promotes deindividuation: anonymity or high self-awareness?

Answer: Anonymity. Concealed identity removes accountability barriers.

Flashcard 51: What is the dominant response explanation for social facilitation effects?

Answer: Arousal increases the most likely response; helps easy tasks, harms hard tasks. Arousal amplifies habitual responses.

Flashcard 52: Identify the term for performance improvement caused by the mere presence of others.

Answer: Social facilitation. Others' presence enhances performance on simple/well-learned tasks.

Flashcard 53: What is distraction-conflict theory as an explanation for audience effects on performance?

Answer: Attention conflict between task and audience increases arousal. Divided attention between task and observers creates arousal.

Flashcard 54: What is the key difference between deindividuation and social loafing?

Answer: Deindividuation is disinhibition; social loafing is reduced task effort. Both involve groups but target different behaviors entirely.

Flashcard 55: Identify the phenomenon: a well-practiced musician plays better with an audience than alone.

Answer: Social facilitation. Expertise makes performance robust to audience-induced arousal.

Flashcard 56: Identify the effect: a skilled pianist plays better when watched by an audience.

Answer: Social facilitation. For experts, audience arousal strengthens well-rehearsed responses, improving execution.

Flashcard 57: Identify the condition under which an audience impairs performance according to social facilitation.

Answer: When the task is complex or novel (dominant response is incorrect). Novel tasks require non-dominant responses, which arousal suppresses, causing errors under scrutiny.

Flashcard 58: What is the free-rider problem in the context of social loafing?

Answer: Withholding effort because one can benefit from others' work. Taking advantage of group effort without contributing equally.

Flashcard 59: Identify whether this scenario shows facilitation or loafing: a runner trains harder in a group workout.

Answer: Social facilitation. Others' presence enhances well-learned running behavior.

Flashcard 60: Which factor typically reduces social loafing: meaningful task or trivial task?

Answer: Meaningful task. Personal investment in outcomes counteracts loafing tendencies.

Flashcard 61: Identify the phenomenon: in a group project, one member contributes less because effort is hidden.

Answer: Social loafing. Anonymity enables free-riding when individual output isn't tracked.

Flashcard 62: Identify the concept: group members work harder when their effort is indispensable to success.

Answer: Task importance or indispensability reduces loafing. When success depends on everyone's contribution, social loafing decreases significantly.

Flashcard 63: Which condition most promotes deindividuation: accountability or anonymity?

Answer: Anonymity. Being unidentifiable reduces fear of consequences for actions.

Flashcard 64: What is a key intervention that reduces social loafing in groups?

Answer: Make individual contributions identifiable and evaluated. Accountability prevents hiding in the group.

Flashcard 65: What is the free-rider effect in group tasks?

Answer: Withholding effort because others will carry the task. Individuals reduce effort expecting others to compensate for their lack of contribution.

Flashcard 66: Which type of task is most likely to worsen with an audience: simple or complex?

Answer: Complex, difficult, or novel tasks. Unfamiliar tasks require focus that arousal disrupts.

Flashcard 67: What is deindividuation in social psychology?

Answer: Reduced self-awareness and restraint due to anonymity in a group. Group anonymity weakens personal identity and normal inhibitions.

Flashcard 68: What does social facilitation predict for complex or novel tasks when others are watching?

Answer: Decreased performance due to increased arousal and errors. Arousal interferes with non-dominant responses.

Flashcard 69: Identify the term for improved performance when working near others doing the same task.

Answer: Coaction effect. Simultaneous task performance creates motivating social comparison.

Flashcard 70: What is a disjunctive task in group performance research?

Answer: Group performance depends on the best member's performance. Like problem-solving where only the smartest member needs to find the solution.

Flashcard 71: What is deindividuation in social psychology?

Answer: Reduced self-awareness and restraint, increasing impulsive behavior. Loss of individual identity in groups reduces self-regulation.

Flashcard 72: Identify the key condition that increases social loafing: individual contributions are identifiable or anonymous?

Answer: Anonymous or unidentifiable individual contributions. Lack of accountability removes motivation to exert full effort.

Flashcard 73: What is deindividuation in social psychology?

Answer: Loss of self-awareness and reduced restraint in a group. Group immersion diminishes individual identity.

Flashcard 74: Which option best describes groupthink as a decision-making outcome in cohesive groups?

Answer: Pressure for consensus reduces critical evaluation of alternatives. Desire for harmony overrides realistic appraisal of options.

Flashcard 75: Which mechanism explains social facilitation by increased arousal in the presence of others?

Answer: Zajonc: presence of others increases arousal, strengthening the dominant response. Arousal amplifies whatever response is most practiced or natural.

Flashcard 76: What is the key behavioral consequence of deindividuation?

Answer: Increased impulsive and norm-driven behavior. Reduced self-focus allows situational cues to guide behavior.

Flashcard 77: Which type of task is most likely to improve with an audience: simple/well-learned or complex/novel?

Answer: Simple or well-learned tasks. Dominant responses are correct for well-practiced tasks, so arousal helps.

Flashcard 78: Which two situational factors most commonly promote deindividuation?

Answer: Anonymity and high arousal (often within a large group). Feeling unidentifiable plus excitement weakens self-control.

Flashcard 79: Which condition most promotes deindividuation: anonymity or identifiability?

Answer: Anonymity. Being unidentifiable reduces accountability and self-regulation.

Flashcard 80: Identify the phenomenon: masked crowd members vandalize property more than unmasked individuals.

Answer: Deindividuation. Anonymity reduces self-awareness, enabling antisocial behavior.

Flashcard 81: What is the mere presence effect in the context of social facilitation theories?

Answer: Others' presence alone can increase arousal even without explicit evaluation. Zajonc emphasized innate physiological activation from any co-actors, independent of judgment fears.

Flashcard 82: Identify whether this scenario shows facilitation or loafing: group members slack when effort is pooled.

Answer: Social loafing. Pooled effort allows individuals to reduce contribution.

Flashcard 83: Which factor most directly promotes deindividuation: anonymity or high accountability?

Answer: Anonymity. Being unidentifiable reduces personal accountability.

Flashcard 84: What is social facilitation in terms of performance when others are present?

Answer: Improved performance on simple or well-learned tasks in others' presence. Arousal from others' presence enhances dominant responses.

Flashcard 85: Identify the key condition for social facilitation in the mere presence effect.

Answer: Presence of others increases physiological arousal. Physical presence alone triggers arousal, regardless of interaction.

Flashcard 86: Which term names the most likely response in a given situation, central to Zajonc's model?

Answer: Dominant response. In Zajonc's model, arousal amplifies this habitual or prepotent action, explaining facilitation effects.

Flashcard 87: What is the dominant response in social facilitation theory?

Answer: The most likely or habitual response in a given situation. Well-practiced behaviors emerge under arousal.

Flashcard 88: What is social inhibition as predicted by the social facilitation framework?

Answer: Worsened performance on complex or novel tasks in others' presence. Arousal from observers hinders learning or executing non-dominant responses required for difficult tasks.

Flashcard 89: What is evaluation apprehension as a mechanism for social facilitation effects?

Answer: Arousal from concern about being judged by others. Fear of negative evaluation drives performance changes.

Flashcard 90: What is evaluation apprehension in the context of performance in front of others?

Answer: Arousal from fear of being judged that alters performance. Concern about others' judgments creates arousal affecting performance.

Flashcard 91: What is the Ringelmann effect in group tasks?

Answer: Average individual productivity decreases as group size increases. Named after researcher who found rope-pulling effort decreased in groups.

Flashcard 92: Identify the predicted outcome: experts doing a routine skill in front of a crowd.

Answer: Performance improves (social facilitation on well-learned tasks). Experts' dominant responses are correct, so arousal helps.

Flashcard 93: What is evaluation apprehension as it relates to social facilitation?

Answer: Arousal from concern about being judged by others. Fear of negative evaluation by observers increases arousal and affects performance.

Flashcard 94: Which factor in deindividuation most directly reduces self-monitoring: self-awareness or arousal?

Answer: Reduced self-awareness. Loss of self-focus prevents normal behavioral monitoring.

Flashcard 95: Identify the predicted outcome: a novice learning a new skill while being watched.

Answer: Performance worsens (social inhibition on novel/complex tasks). Novices' dominant responses are often errors, so arousal hurts.

Flashcard 96: What is social inhibition as the counterpart to social facilitation?

Answer: Worsened performance on complex or novel tasks in others' presence. Arousal from others disrupts performance on difficult, unfamiliar tasks.

Flashcard 97: Which option best reduces social loafing: shared grade or individually tracked contributions?

Answer: Individually tracked contributions. Accountability prevents free-riding and increases individual effort.

Flashcard 98: Which change most directly reduces social loafing during a group task?

Answer: Make individual contributions identifiable and evaluated. Accountability prevents free-riding on others' efforts.

Flashcard 99: What is evaluation apprehension as a mechanism for audience effects?

Answer: Arousal from concern about being judged by others. Fear of negative evaluation creates the arousal that drives audience effects.

Flashcard 100: What is social facilitation in terms of how an audience affects task performance?

Answer: Improved performance on simple/well-learned tasks in others' presence. Arousal from others' presence enhances dominant (well-practiced) responses.