Question 1

When members of the personnel department at a company conduct hiring interviews, they listen to applicants' explanations for their performance at previous positions. They make inferences about the reasons applicants did what they did; in other words, the personnel officers are __________.

Accepted Answer

The personnel officers are making attributions, which refers to the process of explaining the causes of people's behavior. They are inferring the reasons for applicants' past behaviors based on their explanations during the interview.

Question 2

Mukul grew up in India, which is a very collectivist society, whereas Mary grew up in the United States, which is very individualist. We can assume that, compared to Mary, Mukul will demonstrate much more __________.

Accepted Answer

Mukul's upbringing in India's collectivist society would likely result in a greater tendency towards interdependence, or reliance on others and recognition of the value of group harmony, compared to Mary's individualistic upbringing in the US. Mukul would be more likely to value family and community ties and prioritize relationships over independence. Therefore, option A is the best choice.

Question 3

When wives make attributions about their husbands, they are drawing conclusions about questions such as __________.

Accepted Answer

When wives make attributions about their husbands, they are specifically trying to understand why their husband did something in a particular way, which is answered by option C, "Why did he do that?" The other options (A, B, and D) are not related to the act of attribution making by wives.

Question 4

People tend to describe a person who is unemployed as "lazy" or a "loser." Ascribing people's behavior to their nature rather than to their situation is called __________.

Accepted Answer

The fundamental attribution error is the tendency to attribute a person's behavior to their personal traits or characteristics rather than to their situation or environment. In this case, people are assuming that the unemployed person is lazy or a loser, rather than considering factors such as the state of the job market or the available opportunities in the person's field.

Question 5

In the quizmaster study, __________.

Accepted Answer

The quizmaster study found that people who asked questions were perceived as more knowledgeable than those answering, illustrating the fundamental attribution error by attributing knowledge to the role rather than the situation.

Question 6

Two research participants read a story about a waiter who maintains his cool in the face of a very rude customer. Asked to explain the waiter's behavior, person A says that a crucial part of the waiter's job is to accept mistreatment from customers. Person B says that the waiter is a very secure, unflappable person. Most likely __________.

Accepted Answer

Person A's explanation focuses on the role and social norms (a collectivist perspective), while Person B's explanation focuses on personal traits (an individualist perspective).

Question 7

After failing an exam, Timmy exclaims that the questions were too difficult and that his professor is terrible. What type of attribution is Timmy making for his failure?

Accepted Answer

Timmy is attributing his failure to external factors, such as the difficulty level of the questions and the quality of his professor, which are situational factors outside of his control.

Question 8

A study made use of a vignette describing a motorcycle accident in which a driver did less than he might have to help another person. How did European Americans participating in the study tend to explain the driver's behavior?

Accepted Answer

European Americans tended to explain the driver's behavior by describing him as "obviously irresponsible."

Question 9

When given a series of vignettes and asked to explain the behavior of the individuals described in the vignettes, Rena, a woman from India, is found not to display the fundamental attribution error. She most likely lacks this bias because __________.

Accepted Answer

The fundamental attribution error is the tendency to explain someone's behavior based on internal factors rather than external factors. Being from a collectivistic culture, Rena may be more likely to consider external factors such as social norms and contextual influences when explaining behavior, rather than assuming it is solely a result of personal disposition.

Question 10

Kevin is attempting to decide whether his brother impulsively spent his entire paycheck on a wild night on the town because he had been under a lot of stress at work or because he was irresponsible. In other words, Kevin was deciding whether to make a __________ or __________ attribution

Accepted Answer

Making a dispositional attribution would mean assuming that Kevin's brother spent his entire paycheck because he is inherently irresponsible, while making a situational attribution would mean assuming that external circumstances or stressors influenced his behavior. In this scenario, Kevin is considering both possibilities and trying to determine which is more likely, so he is making a choice between situational and dispositional attributions. Therefore, the best choice is B.

Question 11

Wei is from China and Peter is from the United States. Regarding their decisions about where to go to college, which of the following is true?

Accepted Answer

CCultural norms in China often place a high value on filial piety and collective decision-making within families, which means Wei is likely to give more weight to his parents' advice compared to Peter, who is from the United States where individualism and personal choice are more emphasized. Additionally, both students, regardless of their cultural backgrounds, are likely to prioritize their academic interests and the quality of the programs offered by the schools they are considering, as these factors are universally important in making college decisions.

Question 12

A study made use of a vignette describing a motorcycle accident in which a driver did less than he might have to help another person. How did Hindu Indians tend to explain the driver's behavior?

Accepted Answer

The answer of A study made use of a vignette...

Question 13

The fundamental attribution error is __________.

Accepted Answer

The fundamental attribution error refers to the tendency for individuals to overemphasize internal factors and downplay situational factors when explaining someone else's behavior. This means that individuals are more likely to assume that a person's behavior is indicative of their internal disposition rather than considering the situational factors that may have influenced their behavior. Option A accurately describes this phenomenon.

Question 14

Because of the fundamental attribution error, when David attempts to determine why Matt behaved as he did, David tends to __________.

Accepted Answer

The fundamental attribution error refers to the tendency to overemphasize dispositional (personal) explanations for behavior and overlook situational (external) factors. Therefore, David is more likely to infer dispositional causes for Matt's behavior rather than situational causes.

Question 15

Regina lives in a __________ culture, and so she strives to stand out by achieving personal goals. She also regularly neglects social obligations in order to pursue her own path in life.

Accepted Answer

Regina's behavior of striving to stand out by achieving personal goals and neglecting social obligations indicates that she belongs to an individualistic culture, which values individual achievement and autonomy over group harmony and interdependence.

Question 16

Assume Mark never does what he says he's going to do, and you explain that by calling him "undependable." In this case, you have made a(n) __________.

Accepted Answer

By labeling Mark as "undependable," you are attributing his behavior to a dispositional or internal characteristic, rather than considering situational factors that may be contributing to his unreliability.

Question 17

Mark has made the fundamental attribution error in trying to explain why Julie was angry with him earlier in the day. This means that he __________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Mark has made the fundamental attribution error...

Question 18

Historians often question whether historical events were determined primarily by a confluence of circumstances or by the leadership of particular individuals. These questions are analogous to issues of __________ in social psychology.

Accepted Answer

The question of whether historical events were determined by circumstances or individuals is a question of attribution in social psychology, which focuses on how people explain the causes of behavior or events.

Question 19

Tucker is defending a client wrongly accused of theft and is deciding whether the jury should see a tape showing the client confessing under extreme duress. Tucker's knowledge of the fundamental attribution error leads him to the conclusion that the jury would probably __________.

Accepted Answer

The fundamental attribution error is the tendency for observers to underestimate situational influences and overestimate dispositional influences on others' behavior. Thus, even if the jury deplores the police brutality, they might still believe the confession was sincere because they attribute the confession more to the person's character than to the extreme duress under which it was made.

Question 20

According to Kelley, one of the first psychologists to investigate the question of how people interpret the behavior of others, people tend to make attributions by making use of __________.

Accepted Answer

Kelley's covariation principle states that people make attributions by considering three types of information: consistency, distinctiveness, and consensus. This principle involves looking at patterns of behavior over time and across different situations to determine the cause of the behavior, rather than relying on heuristics, unconscious processes, or syllogistic reasoning.

Quiz 13: Social Psychology