Penn foster exam: 050204rr – psychology for two or more

Questions 1 to 25: Select the best answer to each question. Note that a question and its answers may be split across a page 
break, so be sure that you have seen the entire question and all the answers before choosing an answer.

1. According to your text, whether you’re persuaded by a message will primarily depend on which factor?
A. Your characteristics, including your personality and intelligence
B. The nature of the message as it relates to your temperament
C. Whether you receive the message while at work or at home
D. Your perception or understanding of the recipient of the message

2. Jason and Julia are preparing for a quiz in Psychology 101. Jason recites four reasons for seeking out a 
social support network. Julia, who has top grades in the class, gives her nod of approval to all but one of 
Jason’s list. Which one is she most likely to reject?
A. Being in a social support network helps a person learn how to win arguments.
B. Being a member of a social support network can help reduce a person’s stress levels.
C. Group members can help a participant with practical things like finding a new job.
D. Support group membership can help a participant feel valued by others.

3. According to Sternberg, intimacy plus decision/commitment identifies
A. fatuous love.
B. liking.
C. true friendship.
D. companionate love.

4. In the context of social cognition, what is the primary importance of schemas?
A. They provide accurate and truthful information about social situations and other people.
B. They help us organize, store, and recall information about other people.
C. They allow us to correctly identify the central traits of other people.
D. They help us differentiate good people from bad people.

5. In hearing a persuasive message, some people will evaluate it in terms of factors that have nothing to do 
with the content of the message. When this happens, psychologists speak of _______ route processing.
A. central
B. inductive
C. peripheral
D. incidental

6. With respect to the theory of cognitive dissonance, people can hold contradictory ideas in their minds. If 
you become aware of the dissonance between two ideas, you could pursue which of the following 
strategies to reduce the dissonance?
A. You can tell yourself that the contradictory ideas are contradictory.
B. You can modify your views of the two contradictory ideas.
C. You can repress one of the cognitions into your unconscious mind and go about your day.
D. You can change the way you perceive the ideas by decreasing the importance of one of them.

7. Sternberg’s model of the kinds of love identifies which of the following basic components?
A. Sexuality
B. Spirituality
C. Consummate attraction
D. Commitment/decision

8. The first stage in the GAS model of stress is
A. analyzing a stressor.
B. resistance.
C. adaptation.
D. alarm and mobilization.

9. Aggressiveness builds up in people because of human nature. It can be safely expressed before it reaches 
a “boiling point” through the catharsis offered by aggressive sports and games. These kinds of ideas are 
associated with
A. social learning theories.
B. instinct approaches to aggression.
C. frustration-aggression theory.
D. observational learning theories.

10. On first meeting Ian Campbell from Edinburgh, Clark Mason, a native of Seattle, immediately decides 
that he and Ian have similar attitudes, feelings, and worldviews. Psychologists say this sort of thing 
illustrates the
A. “birds of a feather” error.
B. fundamental attribution error.
C. self-serving bias.
D. assumed-similarity bias.

11. Mandy has decided that she has no control over the aversive stimuli she encounters at work and at 
home day by day. Thus, she has given up trying to make her life better. Psychologists would say Mandy’s 
worldview illustrates
A. learned avoidant coping.
B. problem-focused coping.
C. emotion-focused coping.
D. learned helplessness.

12. The foot-in-the-door technique and the that’s-not-all technique are persuasive tactics for gaining
A. reciprocity.
B. obedience.
C. conformity.
D. compliance.

13. The concept of aggression cues is associated with
A. social learning theories.
B. observational learning theories.
C. the work of animal behaviorist Konrad Lorenz.
D. frustration-aggression theory.

14. Which of the following statements best illustrates the concept of the halo effect?
A. On first meeting Sally, Harry recognized that he and Sally were like two peas in a pod.
B. Observing that Lois is argumentative and abrasive, Leopold assumes she is a skilled liar.
C. Grenville maintains that Hannibal’s faults lie not with the stars but within his character.
D. After Clark missed the foul shot, Coach Smart told him to try practicing for a change.

15. Particular factors encourage people to be drawn into liking one another. In this context, the reciprocity 
of liking effect is primarily associated with
A. physical attractiveness.
B. similarity.
C. propinquity.
D. exposure.

16. Four steps are involved in a person’s decision to offer assistance in an emergency situation. The third 
step is
A. assuming responsibility for rendering assistance.
B. interpreting the event as requiring someone to offer assistance.
C. appraisal of one’s skills and experience in dealing with emergencies.
D. deciding how to help.

17. With respect to the fundamental attribution error, it turns out that in other cultures, like those of Asia, 
there’s a/an _______ orientation to others that emphasizes interdependence.
A. individualistic
B. intrapersonal
C. collectivist
D. philosophical

18. Which statement best expresses the concept of the self-serving bias?
A. We tend to think other people are similar to us, even when we first meet them.
B. We attribute our successes to our skills and abilities and our failures to external factors.

C. We assume that situational causes are brought about by the environment.
D. We nearly always assume that other people’s failures are due to their personal characteristics.

19. The more people there are at the scene of an accident, the less likely it is that individuals will step up to 
lend a hand. This phenomenon is referred to as
A. diffusion of interest.
B. antisocial behavior.
C. crowd apathy.
D. diffusion of responsibility.

20. In respect to the foundations of prejudice, social identity theory is associated with the concept of
A. self-fulfilling prophecy.
B. modern racism.
C. stereotypical discrimination.
D. ethnocentrism.

21. As discussed in your textbook, the Implicit Association Test (IAT)
A. requires subjects to react to a series of black and white faces.
B. requires people to openly express and reveal their latent prejudices.
C. has revealed that most people aren’t prejudiced.
D. is based on a culture-free questionnaire.

22. Which of the following statements regarding stereotypes and prejudice is true?
A. Discrimination is to action as prejudice is to attitudes.
B. A self-fulfilling prophecy always precedes prejudice.
C. Where there are stereotypes we always find prejudice.
D. Stereotypes may be positive or negative.

23. In the context of stress, the flip side of an uplift is
A. any cataclysmic event.
B. a hassle.
C. a personal stressor.
D. background chaos.

24. Two psychology students are in a heated discussion about the nature of prejudice. Mavis insists that 
that when people get their identity from membership in a political action group, they will generally express 
ethnocentrism. Martin argues that with or without ethnocentrism, social identity based in group membership 
is inevitably associated with the demonization of minority groups. Who is correct?
A. Both Mavis and Martin are correct.
B. Martin is correct.
C. Neither Mavis nor Martin is correct.
D. Mavis is correct.

25. Which of the following statements regarding the nature of stress is true?
A. Psychophysiological disorders are primarily mental disorders.
B. Cataclysmic events such as earthquakes are, inevitably, the most devastating stressors for most people.
C. Continued exposure to stress is associated with the secretion of stress-related hormones.
D. Accumulating hassles may well lead to a sudden onset of PTSD.