Question 1

According to correspondent inference theory, in which of the following situations would a personal attribution be most appropriate?

Accepted Answer

In option D, Steve's decision to join a monastery and take a vow of celibacy is a personal attribution because it is a voluntary action that reflects his personal disposition or character. In the other options, the behaviors described are more likely to be situational attributions - behaviors that are influenced by external factors such as job requirements or legal orders.

Question 2

According to the covariation principle, a personal attribution is most likely to result when consistency is _____, consensus is _____, and distinctiveness is _____.

Accepted Answer

According to the covariation principle, personal attribution (i.e. attributing behavior to internal characteristics) is most likely when consistency is high (behavior consistently occurs in the same situation), consensus is low (others do not behave in the same way), and distinctiveness is low (the behavior is not unique to a specific situation). Therefore, option C (high consistency, low consensus, low distinctiveness) is the correct choice.

Question 3

Kelley's theory of attribution suggests that, in trying to discern personal characteristics from behavioral evidence, people

Accepted Answer

The answer of Kelley's theory of attribution suggests that, in...

Question 4

George is leaving his job at Vandalay Industries, a latex manufacturer. According to correspondent inference theory, in which of the following scenarios would you learn the most about George?

Accepted Answer

According to correspondent inference theory, we learn the most about a person's disposition when their behavior is unexpected or non-normative. In scenario B, George's decision to leave despite favorable conditions (expansion and increased compensation) is unexpected, providing more insight into his personal motives or characteristics.

Question 5

According to the covariation principle, consistent behaviors are attributed to the stimulus when

Accepted Answer

According to the covariation principle, behaviors are attributed to the stimulus when both consensus (others behave similarly in the same situation) and distinctiveness (the behavior is unique to the situation) are high.

Question 6

According to correspondent inference theory, correspondent inferences are most likely to occur when a person's behavior is

Accepted Answer

The answer of According to correspondent inference theory, correspondent inferences...

Question 7

Sophia voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 U.S. Presidential election. She believes that approximately 90% of college students also voted for Obama, when in reality that number is much lower. Sophia's overestimation is consistent with

Accepted Answer

The false-consensus effect is a cognitive bias in which people overestimate the extent to which their beliefs and attitudes are shared by others. In this case, Sophia is overestimating the number of college students who voted for Obama, which is consistent with the false-consensus effect. The other options are not relevant to Sophia's situation.

Question 8

Although he professes to hate sports, Andy never fails to watch the finals of the America's Cup yachting race. Andy's behavior is

Accepted Answer

Andy's behavior is high in distinctiveness because it is not common for people who profess to hate sports to watch the finals of a major sporting event.

Question 9

You are asked what percentage of psychology majors at your school are female. If you answer this question by thinking of how many female psychology majors come to mind quickly, you are relying on the

Accepted Answer

Reliance on quickly recalled information is consistent with the availability heuristic, which involves making judgments based on the ease with which specific examples or instances come to mind. The other options (hindsight bias, fundamental attribution error, false consensus bias) do not fit this scenario.

Question 10

Monica uses the availability heuristic much more frequently than does Ross. Therefore, Monica is more likely than Ross to

Accepted Answer

The availability heuristic refers to the tendency to estimate the likelihood of an event based on how easily instances of it come to mind. Therefore, if Monica uses this heuristic more frequently than Ross, she is more likely to rely on this kind of mental shortcut when making judgments and decisions.

Question 11

According to the covariation principle, a situational attribution is most likely to result when consistency is _____, consensus is _____, and distinctiveness is _____.

Accepted Answer

The answer of According to the covariation principle, a situational...

Question 12

Abigail loves her social psychology class and thinks that most of the other students in the class love it as well. Lily is in the same class and absolutely hates it. Lily is thoroughly convinced that most of the other students also dislike it. These distorted perceptions are an example of

Accepted Answer

The false-consensus effect refers to the tendency for individuals to overestimate the extent to which others share their beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. This is exactly what is occurring with Abigail and Lily's perceptions of their social psychology class - Abigail overestimates how many people enjoy the class, while Lily overestimates how many people dislike it. The other options do not accurately describe this phenomenon.

Question 13

Estimates of the probability that an event will happen based on the ease with which one can recall previous instances of this event reflect the

Accepted Answer

This is describing the availability heuristic, which is when people estimate the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples come to mind or are "available" to them.

Question 14

Which of the following reflects the primary question underlying Jones's correspondent inference theory?

Accepted Answer

Jones's correspondent inference theory is based on the idea that individuals make inferences about the underlying personality traits of an actor based on their behaviors. Therefore, the primary question underlying the theory is whether an observer infers that an actor's behavior corresponds with their personality, or whether the behavior is simply a situational response. Option A is not the primary question, as it focuses on how pre-existing beliefs may affect attributions. Option B is not the primary question, as it focuses on the relationship between beliefs and behavior, rather than the relationship between behavior and personality. Option D is not the primary question, as it focuses on whether the observer's behavior corresponds with the actor's behavior, rather than the underlying personality traits.

Question 15

Everyone you know seems to love the TV show The Apprentice . You're a huge fan of reality TV as well, as you never miss an episode of The Amazing Race , American Idol , or Project Runway . But every time you watch The Apprentice , you have the same reaction: you hate it with a passion. According to Kelley's (1967) covariation theory of attribution, your dislike of this show would be

Accepted Answer

According to Kelley's covariation theory of attribution, dislike for The Apprentice would be low in consensus because not everyone dislikes the show, high in distinctiveness because it's only The Apprentice that generates this reaction, and high in consistency because the reaction is always the same.

Question 16

When _____ is low, it is difficult for the perceiver to attribute behavior to either the person or the stimulus; instead, the best that can be said is that the behavior was caused by transient circumstances.

Accepted Answer

The answer of When _____ is low, it is difficult...

Question 17

Carol is asked to rate her husband in terms of how helpful he is with the household chores. Because she cannot think of a single instance of helpful behavior, she gives him a very low rating. Carol relied on _____ to make her judgment.

Accepted Answer

Carol relied on the availability heuristic, which involves making judgments based on the ease with which examples come to mind. Because she couldn't easily recall instances of her husband being helpful, she gave him a low rating.

Question 18

In Jones and Davis's correspondent inference theory, observers trying to infer whether a particular behavior corresponds to an enduring personal characteristic of the actor would ask all of the following questions except

Accepted Answer

The answer of In Jones and Davis's correspondent inference theory,...

Question 19

According to Kelley's covariation principle

Accepted Answer

Kelley's covariation principle states that people infer that something is the cause of a behavior if it is present when the behavior occurs and absent when it does not occur. This involves looking at three types of information: consistency (does the behavior always occur in a certain situation?), distinctiveness (does the behavior only occur in this situation or in other situations too?), and consensus (do other people behave similarly in this situation?). By considering these factors, people can make accurate judgments about the cause of a behavior.

Question 20

Among your group of friends, Chandler is the only one who is ever late for your weekly game of tiddlywinks. You've noticed that he is late every week and that he is also late for class, parties, movies, weddings, sporting events, and dental appointments. According to Kelley's covariation model of attribution, Chandler's behavior would be described as

Accepted Answer

According to Kelley's covariation model, for an observer to make an attribution, they consider consensus, consistency, and distinctiveness information. Here, the behavior (lateness) is consistently displayed by Chandler across situations (he is late for multiple events), but not displayed by others at the same event (low consensus). Additionally, Chandler is consistently displaying this behavior (high consistency) and this behavior is not unique to a single situation (low distinctiveness). Therefore, Chandler's behavior is low in consensus, high in consistency, and low in distinctiveness, which is described by choice A.

Quiz 4: Perceiving Persons