MCAT Behavioral Sciences Question 210: Answer and Explanation

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Question: 210

8. Suppose that a study demonstrates that kindergarteners who are asked to pretend that they are first-graders are less disruptive in class and more likely to follow directions than their peers (who are not told to pretend anything). These results demonstrate the influence of:

  • A. role-playing.
  • B. the foot-in-the-door phenomenon.
  • C. a justification of effort.
  • D. public declarations.

Correct Answer: A

Explanation:

If kindergarteners are asked to play the role of an older student (by pretending to be first graders) and their behavior changed accordingly (they acted more like older students by being less disruptive and following directions), this effect demonstrates the influence of role-playing (choice A is correct). The foot-in-the-door phenomenon is a tactic whereby first an individual is asked to do something small/easy, and then a subsequent request is a littler bigger/harder, and so on. The question stem does not mention subsequent requests of the kindergartners, nor does the foot-in-the-door phenomenon explain their change in behavior (choice B is wrong). A justification of effort occurs when the amount of effort necessary to complete a task is higher than the reward and people then over-inflate the significance or the value of the reward to better match the effort invested; this scenario does not discuss effort or reward (choice C is wrong). Public declarations include making statements about attitudes in a public way, such that the attitude is more likely to become entrenched because of the public declaration to others; this is not described in the question stem (choice D is wrong).

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