单选题 Listening 2 "Sociology Class"


单选题 What is the main topic of the lecture?
  • A. The problems inherent in group decisions
  • B. Ways that individuals become popular in groups
  • C. The influence of groups on individual behavior
  • D. The differences in social influence across cultures
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 6-11 Narrator: listen to part of a lecture in a sociology class. Professor: {{U}}Social influence involves the changes in behavior influenced by the actions of other people. Social{{/U}} Q6 {{U}}influence can come about for a variety of reasons, on a continuum from mere suggestion to, in the more{{/U}} {{U}}severe form, well, to torture.{{/U}} How does social influence work? Well, first we must become aware of a difference between ourselves and the values or behaviors of other people. There are a great many studies of social influence that demonstrate how the presence of others can cause us to change our attitudes or actions. Studies show that people eat more when dining with others than, and I'm talking about dining out here, so they eat more in the company of others than they do when they're alone. They also run faster when others are running with them. There's even some interesting research on social influence among animals with similar results to... to those of human studies. Probably one of the most interesting aspects of social influence is the pressure for conformity. Conformity is a process by which an individual's opinion or behavior moves toward the norms of the group. In a classic study by Solomon Asch, seven people were shown cards with three lines drawn on them. Here's an example: So, they were shown the lines, and then they were asked to select the line among the three that matched the, uh... the... standard line. Here's the standard.{{U}} So there's no question as to the{{/U}} {{U}}comparison. {{/U}}This has to be easy, right? Wrong. You see, {{U}}Asch enlisted the cooperation of six of the seven{{/U}} Q10 {{U}}participants in the experiment.{{/U}} On the first card, the six respond correctly—they... they identify the lines of the same length—so the seventh person, who is the only real subject in the experiment, well, the seventh person answers correctly, in agreement with the others. But on the next card, four of the cooperating participants choose an incorrect answer, but they're in agreement, so the problem for the subject is whether to conform to the opinion of the peer group, even though the answer, uh, is in conflict with the answer that the subject knows to be correct. So what do you think happened? Well, subjects who were tested alone made errors in answers fewer than 1 percent of the time. This was the control group. But of those tested in groups of seven, let's see, uh, 75 percent yielded at least once to conform to a group answer that was clearly incorrect, and {{U}}on average,{{/U}} Q7 {{U}}subjects conformed to the group in about 37 percent of the critical trials.{{/U}} This means that they were bringing their behavior into agreement with group norms in... in spite of what they were seeing. {{U}}Later Asch manipulated the size of the control group... I'm sorry, the experimental group... to see{{/U}} Q8 {{U}}whether group size would affect pressure, and it did, but probably less than you might expect.{{/U}} Um... groups of four demonstrated about the same results as groups of eight. Interestingly enough, a unanimous agreement by the group was more important than the number. In other words, a unanimous opinion by three exerted more pressure to conform than a majority of seven with a dissenting opinion in a group of eight. Similar experiments have been performed in various countries, among diverse cultural groups, with, urn, comparable results. Of course, people in cultures that emphasize group cooperation tended to be more willing to conform, but remember that many of the original studies were done in the United States where there's a high value placed on individualism. In an interesting variation on the study, {{U}}Abrams found{{/U}} Q7 that conformity is especially strong when the group is selected from among those people that the subject {{U}}clearly identifies with, either because, um... they have characteristics in common or...or they know{{/U}} {{U}}each other and interact in a peer group outside of the experimental situation.{{/U}} So what does all of this mean in the real world? Well, since group members can influence one another to conform to the opinion of the group, the group.., decisions of a group, uh, may be called into question. What about decisions by political committees or parliaments? What about juries who are charged with convicting or acquitting an accused defendant? Clearly, social influence will play a part in these critical group decisions. {{U}}Also interesting is the fact that after a decision is made by a group, there's a tendency to solidify,{{/U}} Q9 {{U}}and by that I mean that the group becomes even more convinced of the validity of the group opinion.{{/U}} Q11 Um... this may happen because individual group members who strongly support the group tend to be more popular with the group members. The influence of groups on individual behavior
多选题 According to the professor, what two results were reported in the Asch and Abrams studies?
Click on 2 answer choices.
  • A. A larger group exerts significantly more pressure than a smaller group.
  • B. Subjects conformed to group opinion in more than one-third of the trials.
  • C. When the subject knows the group socially, there is greater pressure to conform.
  • D. A majority opinion has as much influence as a unanimous opinion.
【正确答案】 B、C
【答案解析】Subjects conformed to group opinion in more than one-third of the trials. When the subject knows the group socially, there is greater pressure to conform.
单选题 Why does the professor say this:
  • A. She regretted the result of the experiment.
  • B. She knew that the students would not like the information.
  • C. She needed to correct what she had said in a previous statement.
  • D. She neglected to mention important facts.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] Listen again to part of the lecture and then answer the following question. "Later Asch manipulated the size of the control group... I'm sorry, the experimental group... to see whether group size would affect pressure, and it did, but probably less than you might expect." Why does the professor say this: "I'm sorry, the experimental group..." She needed to correct what she had said in a previous statement. Professors occasionally misspeak, apologize briefly, and provide the correct information.
单选题 What generally happens after a group makes a decision?
  • A. Some group members regret their decision.
  • B. At least one group member presents a new idea.
  • C. As a whole, the group is even more united in its judgment.
  • D. The popular group members compete for leadership.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】As a whole, the group is even more united in its judgment.
填空题 Based on information in the lecture, indicate whether the statements describe the Asch study.
For each sentence, click in the Yes or No column.

Yes

No

A  Only one subject is being tested.

B  The cards can be interpreted several ways.

C  Some of the group collaborate with the experimenter.

单选题 What is the professor's attitude about the studies on social influence?
  • A. She seems surprised by the results.
  • B. She appears to be very interested in them.
  • C. She needs more information about them.
  • D. She doubts that there is practical application.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】She appears to be very interested in them. Her tone indicates interest and she cites some of the facts as "interesting."