As Nina and Erin were eating lunch in the Central High School student cafeteria, they were discussing the news coverage about the girls' athletic coach being arrested for selling steroids to student athletes. "I think the guy just did it because they don't pay teachers enough money," Nina suggested. "I bet the guy had some other kind of drug addiction he was trying to pay for," Erin countered. Nina and Erin's ideas about the cause of the coach's drug-selling behavior are examples of:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Nina and Erin are making attributions, or explanations for the coach's behavior. They are speculating about underlying causes that may have motivated him to sell steroids, such as financial need or drug addiction. The other answer choices do not accurately describe Nina and Erin's thought processes in this scenario. The hindsight bias refers to the tendency to overestimate one's ability to have predicted an event after it has occurred, so it does not apply here. Stereotype threat refers to the experience of anxiety or apprehension due to the expectation of being judged or treated unfairly based on a group stereotype, which is not relevant to this conversation. Implicit cognitions refer to attitudes or beliefs that are automatically activated and influence behavior without conscious awareness, which is not reflected in Nina and Erin's discussion.

As Nina and Erin Were Eating Lunch in the Central