Deck 2: Attribution

Question 1

A(n) ______ attribution is one which locates the cause of some behaviour as being within the perceiver, i.e., due to personality, mood, attributes, or abilities.

A) external
B) situational
C) internal
D) outward

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Attributions are often distinguished on the basis of whether they are perceived to be caused by internal or external factors. As well as internal versus external attributions, attributions can also be subdivided in terms of ______.

A) stability and controllability
B) forward and backward
C) retrospective and prospective
D) stability and ability

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The fundamental attribution error suggests that people tend to make ______ attributions over ______ attributions.

A) internal; stable
B) external; stable
C) external; internal
D) internal; external

Answer 3

D

Question 4

It is thought that perceptual salience may provide an explanation for the actor-bias, because Storms (1973) demonstrated that there was reversal in the effect (perceivers became more likely to make internal attribution about themselves and external attributions about others) when they were ______.

A) shown videotapes of the opposite perspective before making their attributions
B) made to do task with their eyes closed
C) given chocolate as a reward for the task
D) asked to wear ear-plugs during the task

Question 5

Correspondent inference theory suggests that people assess which of the following factors when making a dispositional attribution?

A) consistency, consensus, distinctiveness
B) consistency, social desirability, distinctiveness
C) uniqueness of effects, social desirability, choice
D) social desirability, consistency, uniqueness of effects

Question 6

Which of the following models details the processes that result in external as well as internal attributions?

A) covariation model
B) correspondent inference theory
C) both covariation model and correspondent inference theory
D) neither of these

Question 7

The covariation model suggests that when there are multiple potential causes for an act, we ascribe causality to ______.

A) the most distinctive cause
B) the one that co-varies with the behaviour to the greatest extent
C) the most representative cause
D) the most available cause

Question 8

Correspondent inference theory suggests that when we assess whether there is a correspondence between behaviour and personality, we process three types of information. Which of the following was NOT one of these factors that Jones and Davis note?

A) uniqueness of effects
B) social desirability
C) consistency
D) choice

Question 9

Within the covariation model, the extent to which the target behaves in the same way in different social contexts is known as ______.

A) consensus information
B) consistency information
C) distinctiveness information
D) non-common effects

Question 10

When individuals are reluctant to expend cognitive resources and look for any opportunity to avoid engaging in effortful thought, they can be described as ______.

A) naive scientists
B) cognitive misers
C) motivated tacticians
D) none of these

Question 11

Heider and Simmel (1944) asked participants to describe the movement of abstract geometric shapes. They found ______.

A) individuals estimates converged to a group average
B) individuals described the movement in ways indicative of human intentions and motives
C) individuals tended to over-estimate movements
D) all of these

Question 12

Research suggests that anger emerges from ______ attributions for negative events while guilt emerges from the ______ attributions for negative events.

A) actor; observer
B) observer; actor
C) internal; external
D) external; internal

Question 13

An external attribution assigns cause to ______.

A) the actions of others
B) social pressures
C) luck
D) any of these

Question 14

Correspondent inference theory suggests that when making social inferences, people ______.

A) prefer to make situational attributions
B) assess consensus, consistency, and distinctiveness information
C) prefer to make internal attributions
D) ascribe causality to the factor that co-varies with the behaviour to the greatest extent

Question 15

You stop someone in the street and ask for directions to the train station. The man that you stop sighs and continues to walk without helping you. You decide that the man behaved like this because they are a rude person. What kind of attribution is this?

A) internal
B) external
C) self-serving
D) situational

Question 16

Which attribution model suggests that we arrive at a dispositional attribution by assessing whether the behaviour in question is socially desirable, chosen or non-chosen and has a unique effect?

A) the covariation model
B) the fundamental attribution error
C) correspondent inference theory
D) the covariation model and correspondent inference theory

Question 17

According to correspondent inference theory, which of the following is most likely to lead to a dispositional attribution?

A) behaviour that produces a range of possible consequences
B) a socially desirable behaviour
C) behaviour as a result of coercion
D) a behaviour that has non-common effects

Question 18

While correspondent inference theory can account for when people will make ______ attributions, covariation model can account for when people make ______ attributions.

A) internal; external
B) external; internal
C) internal and external; internal
D) internal; internal and external

Question 19

The ______ suggests that people try to infer a dispositional cause for behaviour because such attributions are most valuable for making predictions.

A) covariation model
B) actor-observer bias
C) self-serving biases
D) correspondent inference model

Question 20

Within Kelly's co-variation model, the extent to which other people in the scene react in the same way as the target person is known as ______.

A) consensus information
B) consistency information
C) distinctiveness information
D) non-common effects

Question 21

The general tendency for people to make internal rather than external attributions, even when there are clear potential situational causes, is known as ______.

A) the representative heuristic
B) the actor-observer bias
C) the self-serving attribution bias
D) the fundamental attribution error

Question 22

The fundamental attribution error is thought to occur because of ______.

A) the false-consensus effect
B) perceptual salience
C) the representative heuristic
D) familiarity

Question 23

According to Weiner (1986) anger emerges from ______ attributions for negative events while guilt emerges from ______ attributions for negative events.

A) single; multiple
B) multiple; single
C) internal; external
D) external; internal

Question 24

Within Mosocovici's theory, shared beliefs and understandings between broad groups of people are known as ______.

A) cultural worldviews
B) social representations
C) groups rules
D) archetypes

Question 25

Actor-observer and self-serving are both ______.

A) attribution models
B) attribution biases
C) social representations
D) internal attributions