Deck 10: Cognitive Motivation: Attribution Approaches

Question 1

Nonconforming (non-normative) behavior is likely to be attributed to which type of characteristics?

A) socially desirable
B) situational
C) dispositional
D) social

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following is NOT one of Jones and Davis (1965) influences on making a dispositional attribution?

A) behavior must reflect choice
B) behavior should have low social desirability
C) behavior should be not common or unique
D) behavior is forced in the particular environment

Answer 2

D

Question 3

In Kelley's attribution theory, high distinctiveness, high consensus, and high consistency is likely to result in _____ attribution.

A) temporary
B) situational
C) internal
D) dispositional

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The tendency to attribute behavior to stable, internal characteristics has been called:

A) situational attribution
B) fundamental attributional error
C) personal preference thinking
D) naïve psychology

Question 5

Which of the following is NOT a dimension in Kelley's covariation attribution theory?

A) distinctiveness
B) permanence
C) consensus
D) consistency

Question 6

The study of how we make decisions about the events that we experience is called:

A) attribution theory
B) decision making theory
C) hypothesis testing
D) attribution style hypothesis

Question 7

For Heider, _____ include abilities and motivation, whereas _____ include task difficulty and luck.

A) individual beliefs; social beliefs
B) intelligence strengths; effort strengths
C) dispositional attributions; situational attributions
D) environmental attributions; personal attributions

Question 8

Which of the following terms is associated with situational influences rather than dispositional influences?

A) ability
B) task difficulty
C) intention
D) locus

Question 9

Dispositional attributions include all of the following EXCEPT:

A) luck
B) abilities
C) intent
D) exertion

Question 10

Heider developed a _____ psychology to investigate how the average person decides on the causes of behavior.

A) decision-making
B) behavioral
C) naïve
D) causation

Question 11

Which of the following is NOT one of the basic assumptions of attribution theory?

A) all behavior is dispositional
B) people attempt to determine the causes of their own behavior and that of others
C) rules exist which can explain how people attribute behavior
D) the causes attributed to particular behaviors will influence subsequent behaviors

Question 12

Kelly's attribution theory proposes that people choose the "best fit" explanation for:

A) other's behavior, but not their own
B) their own behavior, but not that of others
C) both their own behavior and that of others
D) only situations they don't understand

Question 13

People tend to attribute behavior to consistent personality characteristics, or _____, or to the social _____ of the persons involved.

A) individual situation; environmental situation modification
B) abilities; status
C) dispositions; situation
D) situations; disposition

Question 14

In Kelley's attribution theory, _____ is the degree to which the behavior is unique, and _____ is the frequency with which the actor engages in the specific behavior.

A) distinctiveness; consistency
B) consistency; consensus
C) consensus; distinctiveness
D) consistency; distinctiveness

Question 15

In Kelley's covariation attribution theory, behaviors low in distinctiveness tend more to lead to _____ attribution.

A) situational
B) conformity
C) external
D) dispositional

Question 16

According to Jones and Davis, attributions usually are formed by observing:

A) neutral behaviors
B) behaviors most important to us
C) the common aspects of behaviors
D) the unique components of behavior

Question 17

All of the following principles of attribution have been proposed by Kelly except:

A) covariation
B) hedonic relevance
C) distinctiveness
D) consensus

Question 18

The student next to you does well on a test. You might attribute it to the person being smart. This would be:

A) dispositional attribution
B) luck of the draw
C) situation attribution
D) task difficulty

Question 19

Heider stated that a person could attribute behaviors to forces within an individual, called _____, or to forces external to an individual, called _____.

A) helpful forces; lucky forces
B) dispositional factors; situational factors
C) individual; social
D) situational factors; dispositional factors

Question 20

Which of the following is a basic assumption of attribution theory?

A) most causes of behavior are dispositional in nature
B) people try to determine causes of the behavior of themselves and others
C) people tend to behave randomly much of the time
D) people are only interested in the causes of their own behavior

Question 21

Weiner found that we perceive that we have expended more effort on a task when:

A) we have extra time to reflect
B) the task is very difficult
C) we are frustrated
D) we are successful

Question 22

In attribution, the tendency to take credit for success and to avoid responsibility for failure is called the:

A) attribution style
B) fundamental attribution error
C) self-serving bias
D) success-failure ratio

Question 23

Weiner argued that inferences we make about our abilities result primarily from:

A) our past experiences
B) what our parents tell us
C) information about how well others did on a task
D) our innate sense of what our abilities are

Question 24

Task difficulty may be judged primarily by:

A) social norms
B) comparison with other cultures
C) how well we did on the task
D) what we have been told about the task.

Question 25

In one study, teachers whose students performed well attributed the outcome to their teaching ability and teachers whose students performed poorly attributed the outcome to student inability. This represents the:

A) self-serving bias
B) attribution style
C) situational attribution
D) locus of control

Question 26

In Weiner's attribution theory, ability and effort are _____ characteristics, and task difficulty and luck are _____ factors.

A) internal; external
B) stability; controllability
C) unstable; stable
D) situational; dispositional

Question 27

Tom had an argument with his instructor. He has had arguments with other instructors in the past. No one else argues with this instructor. And he has argued with this instructor in the past. According to Kelley's attribution theory, this suggests a _____ attribution.

A) dispositional
B) aggressive
C) situational
D) temporary

Question 28

In attribution, the tendency to believe that most other people think and act the same way that we do is called the:

A) self-serving bias
B) false consensus effect
C) misinterpret tendency
D) locus of control bias

Question 29

In Weiner's attribution theory, achievement-related results initially produce the _____ effect, in which the outcome itself triggers happiness or sadness, depending on success or failure.

A) attribution independent
B) uncontrollable attribution
C) task difficulty
D) achievement recognition

Question 30

According to Weiner, people tend to judge task difficulty by:

A) time to completion
B) frustration level
C) social comparison
D) prior personal experience

Question 31

In Weiner's attribution theory, ability and task difficulty are _____ factors, and effort and luck are _____ factors.

A) external; internal
B) situational; dispositional
C) stable; unstable
D) locus; controllable

Question 32

One explanation for the self-serving bias is the motive to maintain a positive self-image, called the motive for:

A) grandiosity
B) self-controllability
C) self-enhancement
D) positive emotional bias

Question 33

In Weiner's attribution theory, ability and luck are _____ factors, and task difficulty and effort are _____ factors.

A) external; internal
B) locus; stability
C) situational; dispositional
D) uncontrollable; controllable

Question 34

If another student drops his books, we perceive him to be clumsy, but if we drop our books, we perceive something in the environment caused us to do so. This is referred to as:

A) self-serving bias
B) locus of control effect
C) actor-observer bias
D) false consensus hypothesis

Question 35

In attribution theory, the tendency to infer dispositional attributions of other's behavior but situational attributions of our own behavior is called the:

A) actor-observer bias
B) selective exposure effect
C) locus of control tendency
D) self-serving bias

Question 36

Which of the following is NOT one of Weiner's causal dimensions?

A) locus
B) effort
C) stability
D) controllability

Question 37

Which of the following is not one of Weiner's elements that is important relative to attributions applied to achievement motivation?

A) ability
B) effort
C) personalism
D) luck

Question 38

Which of the following is NOT one of the elements in Weiner's theory of an achievement oriented event?

A) age
B) ability
C) effort
D) luck

Question 39

According to Weiner, which factor is NOT important in our interpretation of an achievement-related event?

A) ability
B) effort
C) luck
D) intention

Question 40

Research on attribution theory suggests that:

A) actors tend to make dispositional attributions for their own behavior
B) actors tend to attribute their own behavior to situational factors
C) observers tend to attribute the behavior of an actor to situational factors
D) observers tend to focus on internal rather than external factors

Question 41

In achievement attribution studies, Diener and Dweck (1978) suggest that individuals with a _____ orientation set challenging goals, and individuals with a _____ orientation avoid challenging goals.

A) challenging; withdrawing
B) positive; negative
C) mastery; helpless
D) social; individual

Question 42

The _____ model of learned helplessness relies on the type of attribution the person makes to overcome problems.

A) old
B) social conformity
C) reformulated
D) individual

Question 43

Dweck and colleagues (1993) suggest that some people are _____ theorists and view themselves and others as acting on the basis of fixed traits, and other people are _____ theorists and view themselves and others as acting on basis of malleable traits.

A) environmental; hereditary
B) entity; incremental
C) internal; external
D) incremental; global

Question 44

Seligman suggests that helplessness that is perceived as the result of _____ factors will greatly extend the time course of the helplessness.

A) objective
B) stable
C) personal
D) temporary

Question 45

A man robbed a liquor store. If we say he did it because he is a bad person or a criminal type person, we are making a _____ attribution.

A) dispositional
B) situational
C) mistaken
D) personal

Question 46

The tendency to attribute behavior to internal, stable characteristics is called:

A) naive psychology
B) nonnormative attribution
C) the fundamental attribution error
D) psychological error attribution

Question 47

Mikulincer, based on his study of the conditions under which learned helplessness or reactance occurs, has found that:

A) only reactance occurs
B) only learned helplessness occurs
C) neither reactance nor learned helplessness occurred under the conditions he studied
D) both reactance and learned helplessness occurred depending upon conditions

Question 48

Which of the following is NOT one of the steps in attribution suggested by Gilbert and Malone (1995)?

A) retrospective memory
B) situation perception
C) behavioral expectation
D) attribution

Question 49

According to Dweck's research on helpless versus mastery oriented individuals:

A) mastery oriented individuals seek learning goals
B) mastery oriented individuals seek performance goals
C) helpless individuals seeks learning goals
D) mastery oriented individuals believe that their intelligence is unchangeable

Question 50

If we observe someone donating to a charity during the holiday season, we probably assume she is a generous person. This is called the:

A) false consensus hypothesis
B) actor-observer bias
C) self-serving bias
D) locus of control effect

Question 51

Sabini and colleagues (2001) suggest the reason for fundamental attribution error is a tendency to underestimate the power of motives (such as motive to 'save face') called:

A) self-serving attributional motives
B) channel factors
C) global recognition
D) locus of control motives

Question 52

Wortman and Brehm (1975) proposed that the initial reaction to a loss of control is a resistance to the loss of control with subsequent increased effort, which they called:

A) depression
B) anger
C) reactance
D) resolve

Question 53

Fixed traits are to _____ theorists as malleable traits are to _____ theorists.

A) entity; incremental
B) incremental; entity
C) dispositional; situational
D) situational; dispositional

Question 54

The "fundamental attribution error" refers to:

A) the fact that attributions are biased toward dispositional explanations
B) the fact that attributions are biased toward situational explanations
C) the fact that most attributions are wrong
D) the fact that attribution theory is based on fundamental errors in reasoning

Question 55

The reformulated learned helplessness model states that:

A) lowered self-worth results from attributions of universal helplessness
B) attributions of "unstable helplessness" lead to a longer duration of depression
C) lowered self-worth results from attributions of personal helplessness
D) "specific" attributions of helplessness lead to general depression

Question 56

The tendency to attribute the behavior of others to stable, internal characteristics and underestimate the influence of situational factors, is called the:

A) locus of control hypothesis
B) self-serving bias
C) fundamental attribution error
D) false consensus effect

Question 57

A student fails a test. If we say the reason the student failed was that the test was unfair, we are making a _____ attribution.

A) dispositional
B) personal
C) situational
D) stable

Question 58

Which of the following describe the properties of both ability and task difficulty?

A) stable
B) unstable
C) internal
D) external

Question 59

Dweck (1986) suggested that helpless individuals seek _____ goals and mastery-oriented individuals seek _____ goals.

A) performance; learning
B) failure; success
C) helpful; helper
D) global; individual

Question 60

According to reformulated learned helplessness theory, if we believe we lack characteristics possessed by others that allow them to control their situations, this _____ of personal helplessness will lead to lower self-esteem.

A) attribution
B) observation
C) globalization
D) experience