Question 1

If everyone who is faced with a similar situation responds in the same way,attribution theory states that the behaviour shows:
A)reliability
B)consensus
C)similarity
D)consistency

Accepted Answer

Consensus refers to the extent to which other people in the same situation tend to respond in the same way. Therefore, if everyone who is faced with a similar situation responds in the same way, it demonstrates high consensus.

Question 2

Which of the following is an example of externally caused behaviour?
A)An employee was late because he was partying late and then overslept.
B)An employee was promoted because he was intelligent.
C)An employee was fired because he did not possess the necessary skills.
D)An employee was late because of a major accident that tied up traffic.

Accepted Answer

External causes are those that are beyond an individual's control. In this case, the employee was late due to a major accident that caused traffic, which is beyond the control of the employee.

Question 3

Janice is late for work each day by about 10 minutes.This behaviour exhibits:
A)consistency
B)consensus
C)reliability
D)similarity

Accepted Answer

Janice's behavior of being late for work by about 10 minutes each day shows consistency, as her actions are uniform over time.

Question 4

When investors bragged about their investing expertise during the stock market rally between 1996 and early-2000,then blamed analysts,brokers,and the Federal Reserve when the market imploded in 2000,they were guilty of:
A)fundamental attribution error
B)consensus
C)self-serving bias
D)distinctiveness

Accepted Answer

The investors were exhibiting a self-serving bias by taking credit for their successes during the market rally but blaming external factors for the market crash. They were attributing their successes to their own abilities but attributing their failures to factors outside of their control.

Question 5

Which of the following is not true about attribution theory?
A)Behaviour can be attributed to one's heredity.
B)The cause of behaviour may be internal.
C)The cause of behaviour may be external.
D)It tries to attribute causes to specific behaviours.

Accepted Answer

Attribution theory focuses on the causes of behavior that are within the control of the individual, such as internal factors like personality traits or external factors like situational circumstances. Heredity, which refers to genetic inheritance and is not within an individual's control, is not a factor addressed by attribution theory.

Question 6

Whether an individual displays different behaviours in different situations is referred to as:
A)distinctiveness
B)integrity
C)continuity
D)flexibility

Accepted Answer

Distinctiveness refers to the extent to which a person's behavior differs from one situation to another. It is a measure of how unique a person's behavior is in a particular situation. This means that if someone behaves differently in different situations, they have a high level of distinctiveness.

Question 7

Giving an attribution an external causation means you assume that the individual is responsible for his or her own behaviour.

Accepted Answer

Giving an attribution of external causation means that the individual's behavior is attributed to factors beyond their control, such as the situation or other people's actions. This does not assume that the individual is fully responsible for their behavior.

Question 8

Internally caused behaviours are those:
A)that are believed to be under the personal control of the individual
B)resulting from outside causes
C)forced upon a person by the situation
D)resulting from personality traits

Accepted Answer

Internally caused behaviours are those that are believed to be under the personal control of the individual. This means that the individual believes they have agency in their behaviour and can choose to act or not act in a certain way.

Question 9

In attribution theory,"consensus" refers to whether an individual responds the same way over time.

Accepted Answer

In attribution theory, "consensus" refers to whether others behave similarly in the same situation, not whether an individual responds the same way over time.

Question 10

Jane is difficult to work with.Whenever she is successful she takes full credit for what has happened,but whenever she is unsuccessful she attributes her failure to bad luck or to one of her fellow employees.She is guilty of:
A)consensus
B)fundamental attribution error
C)self-serving bias
D)distinctiveness

Accepted Answer

Jane is exhibiting self-serving bias by taking credit for success and attributing failure to external factors. This bias allows her to protect her self-esteem and maintain a positive self-image.

Question 11

The tendency of an individual to attribute his own successes to internal factors while putting the blame for failures on external factors is:
A)selective perception
B)self-serving bias
C)fundamental attribution error
D)consistency

Accepted Answer

The tendency of attributing one's own success to internal factors while blaming external factors for one's failures is known as self-serving bias. It is a cognitive bias that protects an individual's self-esteem and self-worth. This bias can influence an individual's decisions and behavior in various areas such as work, relationships, and personal growth.

Question 12

The more consistent the behaviour,the more the observer is inclined to attribute it to internal causes.

Accepted Answer

This is known as the fundamental attribution error and reflects our tendency to overemphasize dispositional/internal factors when explaining someone else's behavior.

Question 13

In attribution theory,"distinctiveness" refers to whether an individual displays different behaviours in different situations.

Accepted Answer

Distinctiveness refers to whether an individual displays different behaviors in different situations. This is one of the three factors that influence attribution, along with consensus and consistency.

Question 14

Internally caused behaviours are those that are believed to be under the personal control of the individual.

Accepted Answer

Internally caused behaviours are believed to be within the personal control of an individual. These include beliefs, attitudes, emotions, and traits.

Question 15

Attribution theory looks at the internal or external causes of behaviour.

Accepted Answer

Attribution theory is the study of how people explain the causes of behavior. It looks at whether people attribute behavior to internal factors, such as personality traits or abilities, or external factors, such as situational factors or environmental variables.

Question 16

The more consistent a behaviour,the more the observer is inclined to:
A)attribute it to internal causes
B)attribute it to external causes
C)attribute it to consensus
D)depend on the behaviour

Accepted Answer

This is known as the fundamental attribution error. When behavior is consistent, we are more likely to assume that it is due to internal factors (such as personality or character traits) rather than external factors (such as situational or environmental factors).

Question 17

The tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors when making judgments about the behaviour of others is termed:
A)self-serving bias
B)selective perception
C)consistency
D)fundamental attribution error

Accepted Answer

The definition matches that of the fundamental attribution error, which is the tendency to attribute someone's behavior to their internal characteristics (personality, disposition, etc.) while underestimating the effect of external factors such as the situation or context. It is a common cognitive bias that affects our social judgments and perceptions of others.

Question 18

If a person responds the same way over time,attribution theory states that the behaviour shows:
A)continuity
B)consistency
C)distinctiveness
D)consensus

Accepted Answer

Consistency refers to the extent to which a person's behavior is consistent over time, and therefore the most appropriate choice for this scenario. Continuity, on the other hand, refers to the idea that behavior will continue unless acted upon by an outside force. Distinctiveness refers to the extent to which a person's behavior is different from their behavior in other situations, and consensus refers to the extent to which other people exhibit the same behavior in the same situation.

Question 19

Your boss never gives you the benefit of the doubt.When you were late this morning,he assumed that you had overslept.He never considered that there might have been a delay on the freeway.He is guilty of:
A)inconsistency
B)selective perception
C)fundamental attribution error
D)self-serving bias

Accepted Answer

The boss is making the fundamental attribution error, which is the tendency to overemphasize dispositional or personality-based explanations for other people's behavior, rather than considering situational factors. In this case, the boss assumes the lateness is due to the employee's oversleeping (a dispositional explanation), rather than considering that there might have been a delay on the freeway (a situational explanation).

Question 20

Perception varies by culture.Which of the following is a FALSE statement on this issue?
A)Asians are more likely to commit fundamental attribution error.
B)Asians appear to focus more on the context and environment that the person.
C)Culture affects what we remember.
D)None of the above.

Accepted Answer

The statement that Asians are more likely to commit fundamental attribution error is false. Research has actually found that people from individualistic cultures (such as the United States) are more likely to make this error, while people from collectivistic cultures (such as Japan and China) are more likely to consider situational factors when making attributions. Therefore, statement A is false. Statements B and C are true.

Quiz 6: Perception and Individual Decision Making

If everyone who is faced with a similar situation responds in the same way,attribution theory states that the behaviour shows:

Which of the following is an example of externally caused behaviour?

Janice is late for work each day by about 10 minutes.This behaviour exhibits:

When investors bragged about their investing expertise during the stock market rally between 1996 and early-2000,then blamed analysts,brokers,and the Federal Reserve when the market imploded in 2000,they were guilty of:

Which of the following is not true about attribution theory?

Whether an individual displays different behaviours in different situations is referred to as:

Giving an attribution an external causation means you assume that the individual is responsible for his or her own behaviour.

Internally caused behaviours are those:

In attribution theory,"consensus" refers to whether an individual responds the same way over time.

Jane is difficult to work with.Whenever she is successful she takes full credit for what has happened,but whenever she is unsuccessful she attributes her failure to bad luck or to one of her fellow employees.She is guilty of:

The tendency of an individual to attribute his own successes to internal factors while putting the blame for failures on external factors is:

The more consistent the behaviour,the more the observer is inclined to attribute it to internal causes.

In attribution theory,"distinctiveness" refers to whether an individual displays different behaviours in different situations.

Internally caused behaviours are those that are believed to be under the personal control of the individual.

Attribution theory looks at the internal or external causes of behaviour.

The more consistent a behaviour,the more the observer is inclined to:

The tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors when making judgments about the behaviour of others is termed:

If a person responds the same way over time,attribution theory states that the behaviour shows:

Your boss never gives you the benefit of the doubt.When you were late this morning,he assumed that you had overslept.He never considered that there might have been a delay on the freeway.He is guilty of:

Perception varies by culture.Which of the following is a FALSE statement on this issue?