Psychology · Unit 11

Social Psychology

How other people shape what we do

The consistent finding of social psychology is that situations explain more behaviour than character does, and that people are extremely reluctant to believe this about themselves.

The unit covers conformity, obedience, groups and roles, attitudes and persuasion, and prejudice and bias.

This unit breaks down into 23 short steps and 120 questions, starting at difficulty 1 and building to 5. Below you can see exactly what it covers, how the path is structured, and worked examples with explanations.

Steps
23
Questions
120
Difficulty
1-5

What this unit covers

  • Conformity
  • Prejudice and Bias
  • Obedience
  • Groups and Roles
  • Attitudes and Persuasion

Where this fits

Follows Thinking and Cognition. Connects to Religion's Sociology and Psychology of Religion.

Where people slip

Several famous studies here have failed to replicate or have serious methodological problems. The findings are taught partly as history of the field, and the caveats are part of the material.

How the unit is structured

Social Psychology runs as 23 short steps that unlock in order. 17 are practice rounds and 6 are challenge rounds that pull together everything before them. Questions start at difficulty 1 and climb to 5 as you progress.

Step 1 · easierStep 23 · harder

Challenge rounds

Example questions

30 real questions from this unit, with the answer and the reason behind it, grouped by what they practise. There are 120 in the unit altogether.

Attitudes and Persuasion

  • Multiple choiceLevel 1

    1. An 'attitude' is mostly about your ____ toward something.

    • feelings and opinionscorrect
    • height
    • hair color
    • shoe size

    An attitude is how you think and feel about something or someone.

  • True or falseLevel 1

    2. An attitude is how you think and feel about something or someone.

    Answer: True

    Yes, your attitude is your view and feelings about a person, thing, or idea.

  • Choose all that applyLevel 2

    3. Which of these can help persuade someone? (choose all that apply)

    • A good reason or argumentcorrect
    • A trusted person's opinioncorrect
    • A friendly, likeable speaker
    • Refusing to talk to them at all

    A good reason, a trusted opinion, and a likeable speaker all help; refusing to talk does not.

  • Fill the blankLevel 2

    4. Trying to change someone's mind or get them to agree with you is called ____.

    • persuasioncorrect
    • memory
    • sleeping
    • counting

    Persuasion is the act of trying to change someone's attitude or opinion.

  • Match the pairsLevel 2

    5. Match each attitude word to its short meaning.

    Answer: Attitude = How you think and feel; Persuasion = Trying to change a mind; Advertisement = A message that persuades

    An attitude is how you think and feel, persuasion tries to change a mind, and an advertisement is a message that persuades.

  • Odd one outLevel 2

    6. Three of these are real persuasion techniques. Which one is NOT?

    • Ignoring the person completelycorrect
    • The foot-in-the-door technique
    • The door-in-the-face technique
    • Using a trusted expert

    Ignoring someone will not persuade them, while the other three are known persuasion methods.

Conformity

  • Fill the blankLevel 1

    7. Going along with a group so you fit in is called ____.

    • conformitycorrect
    • obedience
    • empathy
    • memory

    Conformity is the word for going along with a group to fit in.

  • Multiple choiceLevel 1

    8. What does it mean to 'conform'?

    • Change your behavior to match the people around youcorrect
    • Make everyone else copy you
    • Do the opposite of the group on purpose
    • Forget what you were doing

    Conforming means changing what you do or say so it fits in with the people around you.

  • Choose all that applyLevel 2

    9. Which of these are examples of conforming to a group? (choose all that apply)

    • Wearing the same style as your friendscorrect
    • Clapping because everyone else clapscorrect
    • Agreeing with the group so you fit incorrect
    • Inventing a brand new idea on your own

    Copying styles, clapping along, and agreeing to fit in are all conformity; inventing a new idea alone is not.

  • Match the pairsLevel 2

    10. Match each conformity idea to its short meaning.

    Answer: Conformity = Matching a group to fit in; Asch study = Judging line lengths; Group pressure = Feeling pushed to agree

    Conformity is matching a group, Asch studied it with lines, and group pressure is feeling pushed to agree.

  • Odd one outLevel 2

    11. Which one is NOT an example of conformity?

    • Making your own choice against the groupcorrect
    • Following a fashion trend
    • Copying your friends' choices
    • Agreeing with the group's answer

    Making your own choice against the group is the opposite of conforming.

  • Guess the numberLevel 4

    12. In Asch's line experiment, about what percentage of participants conformed to the wrong answer at least once?

    Answer: 75 percent

    About three quarters of participants went along with the majority at least one time.

Groups and Roles

  • True or falseLevel 1

    13. A 'role' is the part or job a person is expected to play in a group.

    Answer: True

    Yes, a role is the set of behaviors expected from someone in a certain position.

  • Choose all that applyLevel 2

    14. Which of these are 'roles' a person might play? (choose all that apply)

    • Teachercorrect
    • Team captaincorrect
    • Doctorcorrect
    • A rainy day

    Teacher, captain, and doctor are all roles; a rainy day is just weather.

  • Fill the blankLevel 2

    15. Acting one way at school and another way at a party shows you play different ____.

    • rolescorrect
    • brains
    • colors
    • ages

    We each play many roles, changing how we act depending on the situation.

  • Multiple choiceLevel 2

    16. The bystander effect predicts you are MOST likely to get help when ____.

    • only one person sees you need itcorrect
    • a huge crowd is watching
    • everyone nearby is busy
    • no one is around at all

    With just one witness, that person feels full responsibility to help.

  • Sort into groupsLevel 2

    17. Sort each item into 'A group role' or 'Not a role'.

    Answer: Teacher = A group role; Team captain = A group role; A cloud = Not a role; A pizza = Not a role

    A teacher and a captain are roles people play; a cloud and a pizza are not.

  • Put in orderLevel 3

    18. Put the steps of deciding to help in an emergency in the correct order, as described by Latane and Darley.

    Answer: Notice that something is happening -> Interpret it as an emergency -> Take personal responsibility to act -> Decide how to help -> Give the help

    A helper must notice the event, see it as an emergency, feel responsible, know how to help, and then act.

Obedience

  • Fill the blankLevel 1

    19. Doing what a person in charge tells you to do is called ____.

    • obediencecorrect
    • conformity
    • attention
    • empathy

    Obedience is following the orders of someone in charge.

  • Multiple choiceLevel 1

    20. What does it mean to 'obey'?

    • Do what a person in charge tells youcorrect
    • Ignore all the rules
    • Always make your own choice
    • Ask a question instead

    Obeying means doing what a person in authority tells you to do.

  • Choose all that applyLevel 2

    21. Which of these are examples of obedience? (choose all that apply)

    • Stopping at a red light because it is the lawcorrect
    • Doing what your teacher askscorrect
    • Following a boss's instructionscorrect
    • Picking your own favorite color

    Following the law, a teacher, and a boss are all obeying authority; picking your favorite color is your own free choice.

  • Odd one outLevel 2

    22. Which is NOT an example of obeying authority?

    • Choosing a hobby just for funcorrect
    • Following a teacher's rule
    • Doing what a police officer says
    • Completing a task your boss gave you

    Choosing a hobby just for fun is your own free choice, not obeying an order.

  • True or falseLevel 2

    23. In Milgram's study, many people kept obeying even when they felt very upset.

    Answer: True

    True, most people obeyed the experimenter even though they were clearly distressed.

  • Guess the numberLevel 3

    24. In Milgram's first study, about what percentage of participants gave the maximum 450 volt shock?

    Answer: 65 percent

    About 65 percent of participants obeyed right up to the 450 volt level.

Prejudice and Bias

  • Fill the blankLevel 2

    25. An unfair, usually negative opinion about a group before you even know them is called ____.

    • prejudicecorrect
    • praise
    • science
    • memory

    Prejudice is pre-judging a group unfairly before you really know them.

  • Multiple choiceLevel 2

    26. Which is the best way to reduce prejudice between two groups?

    • Getting to know each other as peoplecorrect
    • Staying far apart
    • Competing harder against each other
    • Ignoring everyone

    Friendly contact and getting to know each other helps break down prejudice.

  • Odd one outLevel 2

    27. Three of these mean judging or treating a group unfairly. Which one does NOT belong?

    • Friendshipcorrect
    • Prejudice
    • Stereotype
    • Discrimination

    Friendship is warm and fair; the other three are all about unfair treatment of groups.

  • Sort into groupsLevel 3

    28. Sort each term into whether it is mainly a BELIEF or an ACTION.

    Answer: Stereotype = Belief; Prejudice = Belief; Discrimination = Action; Refusing to hire someone for their group = Action

    Stereotypes and prejudice are beliefs or attitudes, while discrimination is the unfair action.

  • Match the pairsLevel 4

    29. Match each prejudice theory or idea to its short description.

    Answer: Social identity theory = Favoring your own group for self-esteem; Realistic conflict theory = Competing over scarce resources; Authoritarian personality = Rigid, prejudice-prone upbringing; Contact hypothesis = Equal contact lowers prejudice

    These four ideas explain how prejudice forms and, in the last case, how contact can reduce it.

  • Choose all that applyLevel 5

    30. According to Allport's contact hypothesis, contact reduces prejudice best when which conditions are met? (choose all that apply)

    • The groups have equal statuscorrect
    • They cooperate on shared goalscorrect
    • The contact is supported by authorities or lawcorrect
    • The groups compete against each other for a prize

    Equal status, cooperation toward common goals, and institutional support all help contact reduce prejudice.

Where these questions come from. Each unit starts as a plan of the concepts it should cover and the difficulty it should span. Questions are written against that plan with AI assistance, then checked by a validator that rejects anything without a single defensible answer, an explanation, or plausible wrong options. How we write questions sets out the whole process, and corrections are fixed in the bank and reach the site and the app the same day.

How you practise

This unit mixes 10 different question formats, so you are recalling and applying rather than recognising the same layout every time.

  • Choose all that apply
  • Fill the blank
  • Guess the number
  • Match the pairs
  • Multiple choice
  • Odd one out
  • Put in order
  • Sort into groups
  • True or false
  • Type the answer

Practise Social Psychology

120 questions across 23 steps. Start with step one and crawl at your own pace.

Play this unit

Read about Social Psychology

Explainers from our blog on what this unit covers. Each one ends with real questions from the bank.

More units in Psychology

See all 18 units in Psychology