43 exam-style questions on Sociocultural approach to behaviour — topic CON.3 of Content: Approaches to understanding behaviour in the IB Psychology syllabus — with answers and explanations. Samples below; the full set is free with an account.
Tajfel et al.'s (1971) minimal group studies showed that boys allocated more rewards to their own group even when groups were:
Answer: Assigned on trivial criteria
Tajfel et al. (1971) assigned boys to groups on trivial or random criteria (such as a stated preference for one painter). Even with no contact, competition or prior relationship, participants favoured their in-group when distributing points, demonstrating that mere categorisation produces discrimination.
In Bandura, Ross & Ross's (1961) Bobo doll study, children who watched an aggressive adult model were most likely to:
Answer: Imitate the aggressive acts
Bandura, Ross & Ross (1961) found that children who observed an adult behave aggressively toward a Bobo doll later reproduced those specific physical and verbal aggressive acts, supporting social cognitive theory's claim that behaviour can be learned through observation and imitation of models.
Steele & Aronson (1995) found that African American students underperformed on a test when it was described as:
Answer: Diagnostic of intellectual ability
Steele & Aronson (1995) demonstrated stereotype threat: African American students scored lower when a test was framed as measuring intellectual ability (activating a negative stereotype) than when it was described as non-diagnostic, showing that awareness of a stereotype can impair performance.
Which of the following is one of Hofstede's original cultural dimensions?
Answer: Power distance
Hofstede's dimensions include power distance (acceptance of unequal power distribution), individualism-collectivism, masculinity-femininity, and uncertainty avoidance. Power distance describes how much less powerful members accept hierarchical inequality as normal.
Berry (1967) compared conformity in the Temne (a collectivist farming society) and the Inuit (a more individualist hunting society). What did he find?
Answer: The Temne conformed more than the Inuit
Berry (1967) used an Asch-style task and found the collectivist Temne showed higher conformity than the more individualist Inuit, whose subsistence economy rewarded independence. This supports links between cultural dimensions and social behaviour.
In Berry's model of acculturation, the strategy of maintaining one's heritage culture while also engaging with the new culture is called:
Answer: Integration
Berry's acculturation model identifies four strategies based on two questions (maintain heritage? engage with host?). Integration means keeping one's original culture while participating in the new one; it is generally associated with the best psychological outcomes. Assimilation, separation and marginalisation are the other three.
That was 6 of 43 Sociocultural approach to behaviour questions.
Practise all 43 freeOutlineAO1 · 1–9 marks
A brief account or summary: the main points in two or three sentences, no evaluation.
ExplainAO2 · 3–9 marks
Give reasons or causes: say what happens AND why, linking each step with 'because' or 'so that'.
StateAO1 · 1–9 marks
One word or one short sentence. No explanation, no working: the mark is for the fact itself.
43 Sociocultural approach to behaviour questions — free with an account. Spaced repetition, streaks and full exam simulations included.
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