Dissonance theorists might assert that just as we suffer for the things we like, we also convince ourselves that we like the things for which we suffer. Use concepts related to the justification of effort to explain this statement
What will be an ideal response?
Answer: It is threatening to our self-concepts as reasonable people to work hard in pursuit of a worthless goal. To invest effort for naught arouses dissonance, and we reduce our dissonance by convincing ourselves that our goal was worthwhile. We have no external justification for our effort, so we construct an internal justification by convincing ourselves that our effort was worth it. Thus, although sometimes we invest a considerable amount of effort in pursuit of things that are important to us, other times we convince ourselves—in the interest of reducing dissonance through self-justification—that things for which we have suffered are important—after the fact.
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In the opening of this chapter, two men's reactions to spam e-mail were described. The fact that neither of the men was able to shrug off their annoyance to the spam illustrates the fact that ____
a. emotion is largely consciously controlled b. emotion is largely outside conscious awareness c. emotion is a positive coping skill d. emotion is a negative coping skill
According to the three stages model of memory, the explanation for the primacy effect in the serial position curve is that ____
a. ?the last items are still in short-term memory b. ?the middle items are still in sensory memory c. ?both the first and the last items have been transferred to long-term memory d. ?the first items have been transferred to long-term memory
Which of the following best describes the similarities between concepts and theories?
A. They both exist in isolation from other memories. B. They both guide thinking and help us interpret new, incoming information. C. They are both only useful for interpreting old information. D. They cannot predict phenomena but can be used to retrospectively interpret phenomena.
With respect to gray matter in the brain, the period of adolescence is best characterized by the word(s):
a. growth in number of cells b. pruning c. enlargement of cells d. increase in complexity of cell connections