Researchers showed different groups of people identical videotape footage of Hannah, a girl who was said to come either from an impoverished background or from a wealthy background. They found that people stereotyped the girl as intellectually inferior when they were led to believe that she came from an impoverished background. However, this stereotype emerged only when participants saw footage of Hannah performing ambiguously on an oral exam. This finding is BEST explained by the concept of ____.
A)stigma by association
B)confirmation bias
C)the fundamental attribution error
D)scapegoat theory

Question

Researchers showed different groups of people identical videotape footage of Hannah, a girl who was said to come either from an impoverished background or from a wealthy background. They found that people stereotyped the girl as intellectually inferior when they were led to believe that she came from an impoverished background. However, this stereotype emerged only when participants saw footage of Hannah performing ambiguously on an oral exam. This finding is BEST  explained by the concept of ____.
A)stigma by association
B)confirmation bias
C)the fundamental attribution error
D)scapegoat theory

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Confirmation bias explains this finding best because it describes the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions or hypotheses, leading to statistical errors. In this case, participants' stereotypes about Hannah's background influenced how they interpreted her ambiguous performance, confirming their preexisting beliefs about her intellectual abilities based on her socioeconomic status.

Researchers Showed Different Groups of People Identical Videotape Footage of Hannah