Attribution Flashcards

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1
Q

What is an internal (dispositional) attribution?

A

Attributing the behaviour to personal factors.

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2
Q

What is an external (situational) attribution?

A

Attributing a behaviour to environmental factors.

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3
Q

Describe the three principles underlying Heider’s (1958) theory of naïve psychology.

A

Principle 1 = we feel our behaviour is motivated, not random, so look for causes in others behaviour to discover motives.
Principle 2 = looking for stable properties to discover causes of behaviour.
Principle 3 = distinguishing between personal and environmental factors when attributing cause for behaviour.

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4
Q

What are the three causes of behaviour that people use to make an internal or external attribution?

A
  • Consistency
  • Distinctiveness
  • Consensus
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5
Q

What three factors (consistency, distinctiveness, consensus) define an internal attribution?

A

High consistency, high distinctiveness and low consensus.

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6
Q

What three factors (consistency, distinctiveness, consensus) define an external attribution?

A

High consistency, high distinctiveness and high consensus.

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7
Q

State one limitation of the covariation model.

A

People tend to under use consensus information.

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8
Q

Describe the 3 dimensions of Weiner’s model?

A
  • Locus of causality (internal or external).
  • Stability of the causal factor (stable or unstable).
  • Controllability of the causal factor (under the control of the individual or not).
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9
Q

Which dimension determines your future expectations for success or failure?

A

Expectations related to stable-unstable dimension.

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10
Q

What is the fundamental attribution error?

A

The tendency to make internal attributions for others behaviour, and attach too little weight to external causes.

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11
Q

What is focus of attention?

A

Focusing attention away from actor and onto situation which increases tendency to make external attributions. Explanation of fundamental attribution error.

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12
Q

What is differential forgetting?

A

Some studies show that people tend to forget external causes more readily that they do internal causes (Petersom, 1980). Explanation of fundamental attribution error.

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13
Q

What is the actor-observer effect?

A

The tendency to make internal attributions for others behaviour (observer effect) and external attributions for own behaviour (actor effect).

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14
Q

What are the two main explanations for the actor-observer effect?

A
  • Informational differences between actors and observers.
  • Perceptual salience (actor and observer have different perspectives).
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15
Q

What is the false consensus effect?

A

Assuming own behaviour typical and that others would behave the same in similar circumstances.

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16
Q

What is a self-serving bias?

A

Attributional distortions that enhance/protect self-esteem. Tend to make internal attributions for successes and external attributions for failures.