AP Psychology · Topic 4.3
Psychology of Social Situations: Conformity, Obedience, and Group Influence Practice
Part of Social Psychology and Personality.
Practice questions
46
Sample questions
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Sample 1difficulty 2/5
In a Darley and Latane-style study, participants discuss college life through an intercom. During the discussion, a peer appears to have a seizure. When participants believed they were alone with the victim, 85% sought help. When they believed four others were also present, only 31% did so, and they took longer to act.
The reduction in helping when others are believed to be present best illustrates:
- Acheck_circle
The bystander effect through diffusion of responsibility
- B
Pluralistic conformity to group norms
- C
Cognitive dissonance reduction
- D
Self-serving attribution
Why
The bystander effect occurs when the presence of others reduces individual likelihood of helping, partly because responsibility for action is diffused across the group.
- A
Sample 2difficulty 2/5
Researchers reproduce Sherif's Robbers Cave study. At a summer camp, 22 boys are divided into two groups that bond independently for a week. After they meet in tournaments with prizes for only one team, hostility, name-calling, and raids escalate quickly. Counselors then arrange for both groups to push a stuck water-supply truck together.
The cooperative water-truck task is intended to function as:
- A
A demonstration of social loafing
- B
A test of group polarization
- C
An example of deindividuation
- Dcheck_circle
A superordinate goal that reduces intergroup hostility
Why
Sherif found that goals requiring cooperation between groups (superordinate goals) reduced prejudice more effectively than mere contact.
- A
Sample 3difficulty 2/5
A researcher replicates Asch's line-judgment task. Confederates unanimously give an obviously wrong answer before the real participant responds. Across 18 trials, the participant conforms on 9 of them. In a second condition, one confederate gives the correct answer; conformity drops sharply.
The drop in conformity when one confederate dissents most directly demonstrates the power of:
- A
Diffusion of responsibility
- B
Self-serving bias
- Ccheck_circle
Social support reducing normative pressure
- D
Cognitive dissonance reduction
Why
Asch found that even a single ally dramatically reduces conformity by breaking the unanimity that drives normative social influence. The participant no longer fears being the lone deviant.
- A
Sample 4difficulty 2/5
Replicating Latané's classic experiment, students are asked to clap and shout as loudly as possible. Half perform alone; half in groups of six, believing the group's combined output is measured. Per-person sound output drops by roughly 30% in the group condition, even though all participants insist they exerted full effort.
The drop in per-person output most clearly illustrates:
- A
Conformity to group norms
- B
Social facilitation
- Ccheck_circle
Social loafing
- D
Bystander effect
Why
When individuals' contributions cannot be evaluated, they reduce effort on additive tasks—the textbook definition of social loafing.
- A
Sample 5difficulty 2/5
Researchers reproduce Sherif's Robbers Cave study. At a summer camp, 22 boys are divided into two groups that bond independently for a week. After they meet in tournaments with prizes for only one team, hostility, name-calling, and raids escalate quickly. Counselors then arrange for both groups to push a stuck water-supply truck together.
The intergroup hostility that emerged is best explained by:
- A
Cognitive dissonance reduction
- B
Bystander diffusion of responsibility
- C
Mere exposure effect
- Dcheck_circle
Realistic conflict theory—competition for limited resources fosters out-group prejudice
Why
Sherif's classic interpretation: zero-sum competition over scarce rewards produces in-group cohesion and out-group hostility, the core of realistic conflict theory.
- A