Question 1

When I consider the extent to which this person reacts in the same way to this same stimulus on other occasions,I am basing my attribution on ________.

Accepted Answer

Consistency refers to the extent to which a person reacts to a given stimulus or situation in the same way on other occasions. Therefore, if we are considering this factor in our attribution process, we are basing our attribution on consistency.

Question 2

Mary sees Greta trip while walking down an outside flight of steps,and thinks to herself,"What a clumsy person!" Five minutes later,though,Mary trips on the same flight of steps,and says to an onlooker,"It's very icy today!" This is an illustration of the ________.

Accepted Answer

The scenario demonstrates the actor-observer effect, as Mary attributes Greta's trip to her clumsiness (observer perspective), but attributes her own trip to external factors, such as the weather (actor perspective). This bias happens because people tend to explain others' behaviors based on their internal traits, but their own behaviors based on external circumstances.

Question 3

We might think that a waiter who flirts with a customer does so because he likes to flirt if we notice that other waiters avoid flirting with that customer.This best represents the concept of low________.

Accepted Answer

The concept of low consensus is represented here because it highlights that the behavior (flirting) is unique to the specific waiter compared to others (other waiters avoid flirting), indicating that the behavior is not common among others in the same situation.

Question 4

The "fundamental attribution error" refers to our tendency to ________.

Accepted Answer

The fundamental attribution error refers to the tendency to overemphasize dispositional (internal) explanations for other people's behavior, while underemphasizing situational (external) factors. Therefore, option C is the correct choice as it describes the correct tendency.

Question 5

Chelsea and Anita are both required to give a speech supporting a woman's right to abortion on demand in a public-speaking class.Anita believes that Chelsea gave her speech because she is a strong supporter of the right-to-choose movement.Anita is neutral on the topic and only gave her speech because it was assigned.Anita's belief about Chelsea is probably a result of ________.

Accepted Answer

The actor-observer effect refers to the tendency to attribute one's own actions to external factors while attributing others' actions to internal factors. Anita attributes her own speech to the assignment (external) but assumes Chelsea's speech reflects her personal beliefs (internal).

Question 6

The extent to which a person's reaction to a particular event differs from their reaction to similar other events is an indication of ________.

Accepted Answer

This is an example of the principle of distinctiveness in attribution theory. When a person reacts differently to a particular event compared to their reaction to similar other events, it suggests that the situation has unique qualities that influenced their behavior or emotions. In contrast, consistency refers to the extent to which a person's reaction to a particular event is the same over time, while consensus refers to the extent to which other people would react similarly in the same situation. Self-serving bias is a tendency to attribute positive outcomes to one's own characteristics or actions and negative outcomes to external factors, while noncommon effects refer to the unique consequences of a behavior that are not shared with other similar behaviors.

Question 7

Our tendency to perceive the actions of others as caused by their dispositions or personality rather than perceiving the cause of their actions as the situation they are in is known as ________.

Accepted Answer

Correspondence bias, also known as the fundamental attribution error, refers to the tendency to explain others' behavior based on their personality, rather than situational factors.

Question 8

The concept of complex causality is

Accepted Answer

Complex causality refers to the idea that many causes play a part in an event and no one cause is essential. It is not the idea that everything is caused by fate or that people always have complete control over their own outcomes. While it may not be congruent with some Asian ways of thinking, it is not exclusively a Western way of thinking about causality.

Question 9

We might think that a waiter who flirts with a customer does so because he likes to flirt if we observe this waiter flirting with several different customers while we eat.This best represents the concept of ________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of We might think that a waiter who...

Question 10

We tend to adjust our attributions to take account for situational constraints on our own behavior ________.

Accepted Answer

We tend to adjust our attributions to take account for situational constraints on our own behavior to a greater extent than we do for others, a phenomenon known as the actor-observer bias. This means we're more likely to attribute our own actions to external factors and others' actions to their personal characteristics.

Question 11

Abbie noticed that Kayla spends time talking to almost everyone she meets at work,and believes that this is because Kayla is a friendly,outgoing person.In fact,Kayla is rather shy and withdrawn most of the time,but her job at a local bank requires that she talk with most of the bank's customers periodically.Abbie's perception of Kayla is mistaken because of ________.

Accepted Answer

The correspondence bias (also known as the fundamental attribution error) refers to the tendency for individuals to overemphasize dispositional (internal) explanations for observed behaviors, rather than considering situational (external) factors. In this case, Abbie is assuming that Kayla's behavior is due to her dispositional traits, rather than considering the situational demands of her job.

Question 12

Research has found that the correspondence bias operates more ____ for ________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Research has found that the correspondence bias...

Question 13

Members of collectivistic cultures are more likely to recognize more of the situational determinants of behavior than are members of individualistic cultures.As a result,members of collectivist societies are ________.

Accepted Answer

Members of collectivist cultures are more likely to consider the situational factors that affect behavior, which may lead them to make less of the fundamental attribution error. The fundamental attribution error is the tendency to attribute behavior to dispositional factors (such as personality) rather than situational factors (such as the specific situation the person is in). Therefore, members of collectivist societies are somewhat less likely to make this error.

Question 14

Christine has been charged with murder because,after years of physical and mental abuse,she shot and killed her boyfriend.Her attorney has advised Christine against accepting a plea-bargain deal offered by the prosecution because he thinks Christine's jury will probably include several people who have emigrated from Japan and China - strong collectivist societies.Christine,a student of social psychology,agrees with her attorney because members of ________.

Accepted Answer

Members of collectivist societies tend to give greater weight to situational causes of behavior and less weight to dispositional causes. In this case, members of the jury who come from collectivist societies may be more likely to consider the years of abuse Christine suffered and the situational factors that led to her crime, rather than solely focusing on her individual disposition. Therefore, her attorney advises against accepting a plea-bargain deal.

Question 15

We might think that waiters who all flirt with a particular customer do so because the customer welcomes the attention if we notice that the waiters do not also flirt with other customers while we eat.This best represents the concept of ________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of We might think that waiters who all...

Question 16

The tendency to explain others' actions as stemming from dispositions even in the presence of clear situational causes is called the ________.

Accepted Answer

The tendency to explain others' actions as stemming from dispositions even in the presence of clear situational causes is referred to as the correspondence bias, also known as the fundamental attribution error.

Question 17

Our tendency to believe that our own behavior reflects external causes and that other people's behavior reflects internal causes is known as ________.

Accepted Answer

The actor-observer effect is the tendency to attribute our own actions to external factors while attributing others' actions to internal factors.

Question 18

People from cultures with strong beliefs in causal complexity are more likely to attribute important events to _____.

Accepted Answer

People from cultures with strong beliefs in causal complexity are more likely to attribute important events to fate.

Question 19

We are likely to attribute another person's behavior to internal causes when consensus is ________,consistency is ________,and distinctiveness is ________.

Accepted Answer

When consensus is low, it means that others are not behaving in the same way as the person we are observing. This makes us more likely to attribute their behavior to internal causes (e.g. their personality or character). When consistency is high, it means that the person is always behaving in the same way in the given situation, which further cements our belief that their behavior is due to internal factors. However, if distinctiveness is also low, it means that the person is likely to behave similarly in other situations as well, which weakens our attribution to external factors. Therefore, when consensus is low, consistency is high, and distinctiveness is low, we are likely to attribute behavior to internal causes.

Question 20

According to Kelley's theory,behaviors that arise because of an individual's traits,motives,or intentions are ________ caused,while those behaviors that arise because of some aspect of the social or physical environment are ________ caused.

Accepted Answer

According to Kelley's theory, behaviors that arise from an individual's traits, motives, or intentions are internally caused, while those that arise from the environment are externally caused.

Quiz 3: Social Perception: Perceiving and Understanding Others