Question 1

The tendency to attribute behavior to internal qualities of an actor and to underestimate situational factors is referred to as:

Accepted Answer

The tendency to attribute behavior to internal qualities of an actor and to underestimate situational factors is known as the fundamental attribution error. It is a common cognitive bias in which people tend to overemphasize dispositional or personality-based explanations for others' behavior and underestimate situational explanations.

Question 2

When an event is likely to reoccur,and will be under our control in the future,what is the most helpful response to a current negative outcome?

Accepted Answer

Contemplating an upward counterfactual, which focuses on what could have been done better to achieve a better outcome, can help in improving the outcome in the future when the event occurs again and is under our control. It encourages constructive thinking and problem-solving instead of dwelling on the negative outcome.

Question 3

Research suggests that girls in school tend to attribute their poor performance in math to _____ factors.

Accepted Answer

Research indicates that girls often attribute poor performance in math to stable internal factors, such as a lack of inherent ability, which can negatively impact their confidence and motivation in the subject.

Question 4

An _____ mind-set sees a particular attribute as something malleable that can increase or decrease.

Accepted Answer

An incremental mindset sees qualities as something that can be developed and improved upon over time. This mindset is the opposite of a fixed mindset, which sees qualities as innate and unchangeable. Choices A, C, and D do not accurately describe this mindset.

Question 5

If Jorge believes he performed poorly on a test because he is unintelligent,he is making a(n)_____ attribution about his behavior.

Accepted Answer

Jorge is attributing his poor performance to a stable internal factor, namely his intelligence, rather than an external or unstable factor.

Question 6

Gita hears a description of a person who sounds very much like an engineer.Even if Gita knows that the person goes to a college where engineering is a very unpopular degree,he is still likely to believe that the person is an engineer.This is an example of the:

Accepted Answer

This scenario is an example of the representativeness heuristic, where Gita is making judgments or assumptions based on how similar the person's description is to her prototype or stereotype of an engineer, regardless of the actual likelihood of the person being an engineer.

Question 7

"If only I had studied harder for this exam!" is an example of:

Accepted Answer

An upward counterfactual involves imagining a better outcome than what actually happened, which is what the statement reflects by wishing for a higher level of effort that could have led to a better exam result.

Question 8

The _____ effect refers to how information that is presented first usually has the most influence.

Accepted Answer

The primacy effect is the phenomenon where the information that is presented first has the most impact on people's judgments and attitudes. This effect is most likely to occur when there is a delay between the presentation of the information and the judgment or decision-making process.

Question 9

According to Kelley's covariation model of attributions,if we know that someone's opinion has high distinctiveness,we can typically conclude:

Accepted Answer

According to Kelley's covariation model, distinctiveness refers to whether the behavior being observed is unique to a particular situation or occurs in many situations. High distinctiveness means that the behavior is not likely caused by an internal factor, but rather by external factors specific to the situation. Therefore, the best choice is B, that it is caused by an external factor.

Question 10

If people are given the opportunity to choose a lottery ticket,they often believe they have a greater chance of winning compared with people who were handed a lottery ticket and not allowed to choose.This illustrates the:

Accepted Answer

This situation illustrates the illusion of control, which is the belief that one has more control over a situation than they actually do. People who are allowed to choose their lottery ticket may feel that they have some control over the outcome and therefore a greater chance of winning. This is a cognitive bias that can lead people to make decisions based on false beliefs about their ability to influence events.

Question 11

Which of the following cultural variables is LESS likely to influence people to commit the fundamental attribution error?

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that lower socioeconomic status is associated with a greater tendency to make dispositional attributions and commit the fundamental attribution error. Individualism and Protestantism are cultural factors that have been associated with greater individualistic thinking and therefore a greater likelihood of committing the fundamental attribution error. Higher socioeconomic status is also associated with more individualistic thinking and therefore a greater likelihood of committing the fundamental attribution error.

Question 12

The tendency to see a causal relationship between an event and an outcome when they happen at the same time is referred to as:

Accepted Answer

The tendency to see a causal relationship between an event and an outcome when they happen at the same time is known as the covariation principle. This principle suggests that people infer causality by looking at the relationship between the presence or absence of potential causal factors and whether or not the event or outcome occurs. Thus, when events and outcomes are seen to co-occur, people are more likely to infer causality, even if there may be alternative explanations for this co-occurrence.

Question 13

The tendency to make internal attributions for the behavior of others and external attributions for our own behavior is referred to as:

Accepted Answer

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

Question 14

Olympic bronze medalists often express more happiness than silver medal winners.Which of the following is the BEST explanation for this?

Accepted Answer

This phenomenon can be explained by counterfactual thinking, which is the mental process of imagining alternative outcomes to events that have already occurred. Silver medalists are more likely to engage in upward counterfactual thinking, such as "If only I had done this one thing better, I could have won gold." On the other hand, bronze medalists are more likely to engage in downward counterfactual thinking, such as "If only I had made one mistake, I wouldn't have won a medal at all." This can lead to greater satisfaction and happiness for bronze medalists, as their performance exceeded their expectations.

Question 15

Ayana is struggling with her laptop in her office.The technology response team asks her if she usually encounters difficulty when she uses her laptop.The way Ayana answers the question provides information about:

Accepted Answer

The way Ayana answers the question provides information about consistency, which refers to whether Ayana experiences similar difficulties with her laptop on multiple occasions or whether this is an isolated incident.

Question 16

Shalom sees a man helping another man carry his groceries across the street.Shalom decides that the first man must be generous.Shalom has just made a(n):

Accepted Answer

Shalom has inferred a dispositional attribution (generosity) based on the person's behavior of helping someone carry groceries, which is a correspondent inference.

Question 17

According to the three-stage model of dispositional attribution,under which circumstances is a person LEAST likely to commit the fundamental attribution error?

Accepted Answer

According to the three-stage model of dispositional attribution, when a person is highly motivated to make an accurate attribution, they are more likely to be aware of situational factors and less likely to commit the fundamental attribution error. This is because they will take the time to gather more information and consider alternative explanations before making an attribution judgment. Choices A, B, and C are all situations that can increase the likelihood of committing the fundamental attribution error due to cognitive biases and limited attentional resources.

Question 18

People often experience the phenomenon of false consensus in part because:

Accepted Answer

People tend to associate with others who share their opinions and lifestyle, which can give them the false impression that their beliefs are more widely held than they actually are. This is known as the "false consensus effect."

Question 19

Locus of causality refers to:

Accepted Answer

Locus of causality refers to the attribution of a behavior to either an aspect of the actor (internal) or the situation (external). It is a fundamental attribution error that occurs when people tend to overemphasize internal factors and underestimate external factors when explaining someone else's behavior.

Quiz 4: Thinking About People and Events