PSYCH 421 Exam 1 Question and
answers verified to pass 2025/2026
social psychology - correct answer ✔understand the social nature of human beings
Social cognition - correct answer ✔understand how humans come to understand the world and their
place in it (the way we think about ourselves and others)
naive realism - correct answer ✔the idea that senses provide us with direct awareness of the external
world
social context - correct answer ✔our norms, goals, stereotypes, expectancies, culture, prior knowledge,
mood, affect, needs, etc. which influences our perceptions (and subsequent behaviors)
consequences of naive realism - correct answer ✔1. believing that everyone thinks like us
2. seeing information in the opposite way from a competitor's view
3. believe that others are biased against us
4. the perceptual divide
5.the bias blind spot
perceptual divide - correct answer ✔- when perceiving members of an opposing group, the others are
seen as not only biased but deliberately and potentially maliciously biased
-leads to an overestimation of the gap between the two groups
the bias blind spot - correct answer ✔-even though we don't realize how subjective our own
perceptions are, we are very aware of the subjective biases of others
-people tend to see themselves as less likely to fall prey to biases in judgement than others
,- most people rate themselves as higher than average on positive traits
introspection - correct answer ✔(early 1900s)
one's own examination of their conscious thoughts and feelings
intuitive... falsifiable? observable?
information processing model - correct answer ✔people process information like a computer
naive scientist - correct answer ✔-people attempt to understand the world the same way scientists do
- come up with hypotheses (explanations for scenarios) and test it
cognitive miser - correct answer ✔there's way too much information on a daily basis to pay attention
to it all; people ignore some information, use categories and cognitive shortcuts to process information
motivated tactician - correct answer ✔can invest considerable cognitive resources in a situation, but
only do so when motivated
activated actor - correct answer ✔- social environment cues certain concepts without awareness,
which then cues associated cognitions, affect, motivation, etc.
- leads to a lot of questions about if we are actually in control of how we feel or what we think
How is social cognition different from cognitive psychology? - correct answer ✔Focusing on people
instead of objects:
People intentionally influence their environment
People, as objects of perception, perceive back ("mutual cognition")
Social cognition implicates the self as subject as well as object
, Social objects may change upon being the target of cognition
The accuracy, or veracity, of cognitions about people is harder, or impossible, to assess than for non-
social objects
Social cognition involves social explanation
experimentation - correct answer ✔- from techniques used in traditional cognitive psychology
- presented stimuli on the computer (consciously or unconsciously)
- focus on time to respond, effect on judgements of another stimulus, later recall
constructivism - correct answer ✔people actively construct their own subjective representation of
objective reality (I am actively constructing their own reality, based on their own expectations, schemas,
etc.)
mental representations - correct answer ✔schemas, categories, stereotypes, identity, attitudes,
attributions
- the way we store and code information
unconscious operations - correct answer ✔Automatic cognitive processes: do not require conscious
intention, attention or effort, must be resistant to intentional manipulation, or must happen beyond any
awareness
^ otherwise, called controlled processes
medial frontal cortex - correct answer ✔activated during tasks that require self-knowledge and
reflection, person perception, and attributions of intentions
automatic process - correct answer ✔triggered directly and immediately by stimuli in the environment,
outside of awareness
answers verified to pass 2025/2026
social psychology - correct answer ✔understand the social nature of human beings
Social cognition - correct answer ✔understand how humans come to understand the world and their
place in it (the way we think about ourselves and others)
naive realism - correct answer ✔the idea that senses provide us with direct awareness of the external
world
social context - correct answer ✔our norms, goals, stereotypes, expectancies, culture, prior knowledge,
mood, affect, needs, etc. which influences our perceptions (and subsequent behaviors)
consequences of naive realism - correct answer ✔1. believing that everyone thinks like us
2. seeing information in the opposite way from a competitor's view
3. believe that others are biased against us
4. the perceptual divide
5.the bias blind spot
perceptual divide - correct answer ✔- when perceiving members of an opposing group, the others are
seen as not only biased but deliberately and potentially maliciously biased
-leads to an overestimation of the gap between the two groups
the bias blind spot - correct answer ✔-even though we don't realize how subjective our own
perceptions are, we are very aware of the subjective biases of others
-people tend to see themselves as less likely to fall prey to biases in judgement than others
,- most people rate themselves as higher than average on positive traits
introspection - correct answer ✔(early 1900s)
one's own examination of their conscious thoughts and feelings
intuitive... falsifiable? observable?
information processing model - correct answer ✔people process information like a computer
naive scientist - correct answer ✔-people attempt to understand the world the same way scientists do
- come up with hypotheses (explanations for scenarios) and test it
cognitive miser - correct answer ✔there's way too much information on a daily basis to pay attention
to it all; people ignore some information, use categories and cognitive shortcuts to process information
motivated tactician - correct answer ✔can invest considerable cognitive resources in a situation, but
only do so when motivated
activated actor - correct answer ✔- social environment cues certain concepts without awareness,
which then cues associated cognitions, affect, motivation, etc.
- leads to a lot of questions about if we are actually in control of how we feel or what we think
How is social cognition different from cognitive psychology? - correct answer ✔Focusing on people
instead of objects:
People intentionally influence their environment
People, as objects of perception, perceive back ("mutual cognition")
Social cognition implicates the self as subject as well as object
, Social objects may change upon being the target of cognition
The accuracy, or veracity, of cognitions about people is harder, or impossible, to assess than for non-
social objects
Social cognition involves social explanation
experimentation - correct answer ✔- from techniques used in traditional cognitive psychology
- presented stimuli on the computer (consciously or unconsciously)
- focus on time to respond, effect on judgements of another stimulus, later recall
constructivism - correct answer ✔people actively construct their own subjective representation of
objective reality (I am actively constructing their own reality, based on their own expectations, schemas,
etc.)
mental representations - correct answer ✔schemas, categories, stereotypes, identity, attitudes,
attributions
- the way we store and code information
unconscious operations - correct answer ✔Automatic cognitive processes: do not require conscious
intention, attention or effort, must be resistant to intentional manipulation, or must happen beyond any
awareness
^ otherwise, called controlled processes
medial frontal cortex - correct answer ✔activated during tasks that require self-knowledge and
reflection, person perception, and attributions of intentions
automatic process - correct answer ✔triggered directly and immediately by stimuli in the environment,
outside of awareness
