When Ainslie did poorly on the physics midterm exam, she blamed her low score on the unfairness of the exam and the lousy professor. But when the final grades in the course were curved and she received an A minus, she concluded that she had a real talent and mental capacity for logical, scientific thinking. This example illustrates:

Question

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The self-serving bias refers to the tendency to attribute one's successes to personal factors (such as ability or effort) and failures to external factors (such as luck or unfairness). In this example, Ainslie initially blamed her poor performance on external factors but attributed her success to her own ability, indicating the presence of the self-serving bias.

When Ainslie Did Poorly on the Physics Midterm Exam, She