Perception, prejudice, and bias

Give the correct answer for each situation below.

1. A person cuts in line at the movie theater. We observe this action, and believe that the
person cut in line because he or she is rude, disrespectful, and selfish. This is an example of:

A. Internal Attribution

B. Cultural Attribution

C. Cultural Attribution

D. Attribution Bias

2. John’s car breaks down in the middle of the highway. He believes that the breakdown of
his car can be explained by the fact that his car is old. This is an example of:

A. Cultural Attribution

B. External Attribution

C. Dispositional Attribution

D. Internal Attribution

3. In one study, researchers compared attributions made by students from an individualist

society (valuing individual achievement) and students from a collectivist society (valuing
group welfare over individual interests). The researchers hypothesized that individualist
cultures focus on the individual, and thus its members are predisposed to use dispositional
attribution to explain behavior. The students were asked to assign responsibility for the
outcomes of 8 different situations. If the findings were consistent with the hypothesis, which
of the following study result is accurate?

A. The results showed that across the eight situations, students from the individualist society
assigned the same amount of responsibility to internal dispositional factors as students from a
collectivist society.

B. The results showed that across the eight situations, students from the individualist society
assigned less responsibility to internal dispositional factors than did students from a collectivist
society.

C. The results showed that across the eight situations, students from the individualist society
assigned greater responsibility to internal dispositional factors than did students from a collectivist
society.

D. The results showed that across the eight situations, students from the individualist society
assigned greater responsibility to external situational factors than did students from a collectivist
society.
4. At work, you witness an employee getting yelled at by the boss. In your mind you come up
with at least three potential causes for the yelling: the boss’ (actor) bad temper, the laziness
of the employee (object), and the especially hot and humid day (context or setting). This
judgment process is referred to as:

A. Stereotyping

B. Covariation model

C. Attribution Error

D. Cultural Attribution

5. An NBA basketball coach expects his rookie players to be unprepared for professional
ball, so he does not play them often. When he does they are rusty and do not perform well.
This is an example of:

A. Attribution Theory

B. Stereotyping

C. Self-fulfilling Prophecy

D. Biased Judgement

6. Which of the following demonstrates a self-fulfilling prophecy?

A. Andy went to see a fortune teller, who told him that he might be involved in an automobile
accident this month. Andy did not tell anyone, but is worried. A few months later, Andy got into a car
accident because he was not paying attention on the street.

B. A baseball coach believes that John is a better player than his teammate Tim. John is praised
more, and more time is spent with John during practice. At the end of the season, other teammates
noticed that John has become a better player than Tim.

C. You believe Sarah is an introvert. You ask Sarah whether she has ever felt uncomfortable in big
groups. Sarah said “yes”. You therefore conclude that she is indeed an introvert.

D. Simon wants to improve his grades this semester. He posts inspirational posters in his dorm room
and downloads a work productivity app. He ends up getting straight As.

7. “The labels we learn affect the ways we perceive people”. Such a statement is stressed by
the following sociological approach:

A. Functionalism

B. Conflict Theory

C. Symbolic Interactionism

D. Attribution Theory
8. In a survey of 1,500 adults, researchers found that the most commonly held belief was that
people with mental health problems were dangerous. They also found that people believed
that some mental health problems were self inflicted, and they found people with mental
health problems hard to talk to. Such prejudiced attitudes are demonstrations of:

A. Perception Error

B. Social Stigma

C. Differential Association

D. Self-fulfilling Prophecy

9. “What is beautiful is good”. This tendency for our liking of a beautiful person to influence
our subsequent assessment of that person--therefore he/she must be good!--is called:

A. Halo Effect

B. Stereotyping

C. Stigmatization

D. Attribution Error

10. Two stories are told to an audience about an interaction between a man and woman. Both
stories were exactly the same, except for the final outcome. In Story A, the woman is dumped
by the man, and in Story B, the man proposes marriage. In Stories A and B, the audience
directly linked the two different outcomes to the woman's good or bad actions. This is an
example of:

A. Attribution Theory

B. Halo Effect

C. Stereotyping

D. Just-world Hypothesis

https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat/individuals-and-society/perception-prejudice-and-
bias/e/perception--prejudice--and-bias-questions
Answer Key

1. A

2. B

3. C

4. B

5. B

6. B

7. C

8. B

9. A

10. D