Recall that Taylor and Fiske (1975) conducted a clever experiment in which a group of participants observed a scripted conversation between two male confederates. Some could see both of the men; others could see the face of only one or the other man. When asked questions about the two confederates (e.g., who had taken the lead in the conversation), participants who had a clear view of both men thought they were equally influential, whereas those who faced one or the other thought that the man whose face they saw was more influential. These results demonstrated that __________.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The results of the experiment conducted by Taylor and Fiske (1975) show that the salience of perceptual stimuli, in this case the visibility of a person's face, can influence the extent to which people make the fundamental attribution error. Participants who could only see one of the confederates were more likely to attribute greater influence to that person, suggesting that perceptual salience can explain why people tend to overemphasize dispositional factors when making attributions about others. Therefore, option C is the most appropriate choice.

Recall That Taylor and Fiske (1975) Conducted a Clever Experiment