A student who has been doing very well in her psychology class receives a minor critical comment on an essay that she wrote as part of an exam. The student thinks, "This is terrible. I'm probably going to fail the course." This type of cognitive error in thinking is called .

Question

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The cognitive error in thinking described in the scenario is overgeneralization, which involves making broad conclusions based on a single event or piece of information. The student in this scenario is assuming that one minor critical comment means that she will fail the entire course, which is an overgeneralization. Arbitrary inference involves making conclusions without evidence, splitting involves seeing things as only good or bad with no middle ground, and dissociating involves mentally separating oneself from an unpleasant situation.

A Student Who Has Been Doing Very Well in Her