MIND GAMES (Schemas, heuristics, thinking)
A teacher believes boys are naturally more disruptive than girls. Over time, she gives boys fewer chances to speak, and they eventually act out. What happened?
✅ Self-fulfilling prophecy
👉 Her expectations shaped her behavior, which led the boys to meet her expectations.
After publicly defending an opinion you barely believe, you begin to believe it more. What concept explains this change?
✅ Cognitive dissonance reduction
👉 You change your attitude to match your behavior to reduce discomfort.
In a Zoom meeting, no one speaks up about a bad idea. You agree with it even though you know it’s wrong. What’s happening?
✅ Normative social influence
👉 You’re conforming to fit in and avoid standing out.
You perform worse on a complex math problem when others are watching. What effect explains this?
✅ Social inhibition
👉 Having an audience worsens performance on hard or unfamiliar tasks.
You believe “all engineers are introverted and bad at communication.” What is this?
✅ Stereotyping
👉 Oversimplified belief about a group, applied to all its members.
Despite all the data, Raj continues to buy lottery tickets because he remembers one time someone in his city won big. What heuristic is he using?
✅ Availability heuristic
👉 He’s relying on what comes to mind quickly, not what’s actually likely.
Karim always studies hard to avoid feeling like a failure. His motivation is most likely driven by:
✅ Prevention focus
👉 He’s avoiding negative outcomes rather than seeking rewards
You’re in a new class where everyone claps after every answer. You start doing it too, even though it feels strange. Why?
✅ Informational social influence
👉 You assume they know something you don’t, so you follow.
In a group, no one picks up the spilled coffee in the hallway because “someone else will do it.” What is this?
✅ Diffusion of responsibility
👉 In groups, we think others will take action, so we don’t.
A hiring manager chooses someone who "feels like a better fit" over a more qualified candidate from a minority group. What bias might this reflect?
✅ Modern (subtle) prejudice
👉 Prejudice that’s hidden under the surface of “neutral” decisions
You’re deciding between two laptops. One has better specs, but you pick the one from a brand you trust. What type of thinking guided your choice?
✅ Heuristic-based decision making
👉 You used a shortcut (brand familiarity), not deep analysis.
You’re persuaded to buy a $100 serum after watching a 10-minute breakdown on its science. Which route to persuasion did the ad use?
✅ Central route
👉 You were influenced by logic and deep thinking, not just surface cues.
A nurse follows a doctor's orders that she feels are unsafe because “he’s the authority.” What classic study does this reflect?
✅ Milgram’s obedience study
👉 People obey authority figures, even when it violates their values
In a team, your performance improves just from knowing others are depending on you. What effect might this be reversing?
✅ Social loafing (being reduced)
👉 Social loafing decreases when individual accountability is added.
You assume someone failed a test because they’re lazy—but ignore the fact that their internet was down. What error is this?
✅ Fundamental attribution error
👉 You blame their personality, not the situation.
A professor assumes her female student is more emotional and less logical in debates. Which cognitive bias is influencing this assumption
✅ Implicit personality theory
👉 She links traits based on gender stereotypes, not evidence.
You realize you’ve been talking about yourself for 5 minutes after seeing your reflection in a Zoom window. What theory applies?
✅ Self-awareness theory
👉 You noticed yourself and started evaluating your behavior against internal standards.
You play the role of "strict supervisor" in a class activity and begin yelling at people—even though it’s not like you. What explains this?
✅ Social roles (Zimbardo study)
👉 When you adopt a role, your behavior aligns with its expectations.
After joining an online community that shares your views, your beliefs become more extreme. What’s this?
✅ Group polarization
👉 Talking with like-minded people strengthens your original beliefs.
You score poorly on a test after being reminded that your group “typically underperforms” in this subject. What happened?
✅ Stereotype threat
👉 Anxiety about confirming a stereotype makes performance worse.
You’re trying to be objective, but you keep focusing only on evidence that supports your initial view and ignore contradictory info. What’s this called?
✅ Confirmation bias
👉 You seek evidence that supports your beliefs and ignore the rest—like wearing biased mental goggles.
After failing an exam, you blame the unfair wording. But when your friend fails, you think she just didn’t study hard enough. What bias is at play?
✅ Actor-observer difference
👉 You blame the situation for yourself, but personal traits for others.
In a group decision-making task, no one disagrees out loud, even when someone suggests a clearly unethical solution. What’s happening?
✅ Groupthink
👉 Everyone suppresses objections to maintain harmony, even when the idea is flawed.
You choose not to help a collapsed stranger in public because you don’t want to “look weird” if you’re wrong. What concept is at work?
✅ Evaluation apprehension in bystander effect
👉 You fear being judged, so you freeze or wait for someone else to act.
You say, “I don’t see color,” but feel nervous around people from different ethnic groups. What bias does this reflect?
✅ Implicit bias
👉 Unconscious prejudice that affects how you feel or act, even when you believe you’re fair.