Test: Theories of Attitude and Behavior Change - MCAT MCQ

In a 1930s study on the relationship between attitudes and behavior, a researcher traveled with a Chinese couple to 251 hotels and restaurants. At the time of the study, it was thought that there was heavy prejudice towards Asians, and there were no laws against racial discrimination. After their travels, the researcher sent letters to all of the businesses and asked whether they would accept Chinese guests in their establishments. During their travels, only 1 establishment had refused to serve them. However, in the 128 letter responses received, 92% of the establishments said that they would not want to accept Chinese guests.

Q. According to the information offered in this study, which of the following is false?

A salesperson often gets a customer to agree first to a small request, such as a home-visit appointment, an application form, or a trial period. After this initial small compliance, the salesperson will then ask the customer to do bigger things, such as actual purchases. Based on past small-scale compliance, the customer would be expected to experience cognitive dissonance if he/she switched to non-compliant behavior.

Q. This is most accurately an example of:

In a study on observational learning, three groups of nursery children were shown three different video clips. The first showed an adult person punching a blowup clown and being rewarded, the second showed a person punching a blowup clown and being punished, and the last showed a person punching a blowup clown with no rewards or punishment. When left alone with blowup clown later on, the children who had watched the version in which the person received punishment were much less likely to punch the clown compared to children in other groups.

Q. According to this passage, which of the following is most accurate?

In an experimental study, a group of people were given information on an individual’s performance on Task A (success or failure). The group was also given information regarding the individual’s past performances on the same task and other similar tasks. Success rates of other individuals performing the same task were also provided. The group was then asked to judge the impact of internal and external factors in influencing the individual’s Task A performance outcomes.

Q. Which of the following statement is false?

In a research experiment, shocks were administered to two groups of dogs in barriers. In Group I, there was a button that would deactivate the shock that the dogs could press. In Group II, there was no button. The two groups of dogs were then placed together and shocks were administered with no deactivation button. The dogs from Group I actively looked for ways to escape the shock situation, some by jumping over the barrier blocks. However, the dogs from Group II remained in place without looking for a solution and whimpered.

Q. This is an example of:

In a consumer research study, two groups were asked to make product selections. In Group A, consumers were asked to choose 1 product out of 5. In Group B, consumers were asked to choose 1 product out of 25. The results showed that those in Group A were more satisfied with their choices compared to those in Group B who were presented with more choices.

Q. Which of the following is true regarding the study results?

In a study, a researcher divided participants into three groups. In Group A, participants were asked to resist pieces of chocolate in a bowl. In Group B, participants were asked to resist pieces of radishes in a bowl. In Group C, participants were given nothing to resist. Afterwards, all of the participants were asked to solve a difficult math problem. The results showed that those who had to resist chocolate were more likely to give up sooner on the problem.

Q. This is an example of: