Attribution Flashcards
What is attribution?
A way to identify and explain the source causing behaviour, cognition and events we encounter in the environment.
Humans like to provide causes at all different times, what are the two variations?
Situational attribution; environmental factors are to blame. homeless man is homeless due to things out of his control.
Dispositional attribution; we are in control of our own destinies.
Humans can link causes to a universal tendency, explain
Dockins proposed the god delusion. religion can explain the unexplainable. Media focused on the strength and rationality of religion.
Science is taking over religion.
What did Wilson propose?
Being a member of a groups extremely important for the development and evolution of the human species.
Humans look for reasons and these reasons can be ascribed to science or god.
Who are the three main theorists of Attribution?
- Fritz Heider
- Harold Kelley
- Jones and Davis
What did Fritz Heider focus on?
Naive Psychology
How does naive psychology describe humans?
Humans are naive scientists looking for causes to explain events and behaviours. Humans are always looking for cause and effect (using examples).
Why do humans look for cause and effect?
To understand the world around them and to make predictions and build expectations.
They use consequences and can predict with relative accuracy.
Explain what it means for a human to construct a causal theory.
Humans have the propensity to seek meaning in the world around them.
They can look at meaningless things and see meaning such as cloud watching
Explain how human prediction is adaptive.
Humans produces fast and accurate responses to increase chances of survival and thrive in a given ecological niche.
Prime example is predicting the speed of a car and crossing a road.
How do we make predictions?
We obtain information and understand physical properties or we can be told information and then we develop logical thinking to make a prediction.
How is knowledge acquired?
By direct experience or by culture.
Knowledge changes your view of the world around you.
Since prediction is adaptive what innate responses do we have?
Greater signal in the amygdala occurs to fearful eye whites. Eye whites detect danger int he environment.
There is also predictive coding in the lower brain regions.
If something is truly adaptive it must have an innate quality.
What is Lewin’s equations and describe it’ use.
Behaviour is a function of the person and the environment.
It expresses how nature within nurture is important.
Genes can predispose you to certain behaviour but they will only be used in certain environments.
What is the locus of causality?
The explanation of what causes events.
Either situational attribution or dispositional attribution.
Explain situational causation.
Cause are due to culture+environment and others. We have little control over such causes. It was out of our hands. Examples include, easiness of tasks, luck, other peoples influence and the environments influence.
Explain dispositional causation.
Causes are due to the self and others. Mainly seen in western cultures. The agent is in control of situation. Examples include, personality traits, mood, ability and effort or attitude.
What are the three main aspects of Heiders theory?
- Causal attribution is obligatory
- Dispositional attribution is strong
- Situational or dispositional causes.
All the above depend on culture, many studies are performed only in western cultures.
What experiments highlight Heiders theory?
Moving objects: we see meaning everywhere.
What was Kelley’s theory?
Co-variation model
Explain the covariation model
Naive scientist used co-variation principle or a statistical approach. They look for factors occurring regularly given certain events.
Explain how the co-variation model explain behaviour.
Attributes behaviour and events to factors that are present.
What are the assumptions in the co-variation model?
Assumes rational and logical cognition. Humans are rational however they have adapted biases such as FAE and SSB.
What three types of information are used in the Co-variation model?
- Consistency
- Distinctiveness
- Consensus
Explain the different types of information from the co-variation model. (consistency, distinctiveness and consensus)
Consistency: Property of the actor, same person different situations.
Distinctiveness: Property of the stimuli, same person different stimuli.
Consensus: Property of situation, different people, same situation.
What three aspects of the co-variation model are attributes made to?
- Stimulus
- Person
- Situation
Who studied the aspects of the co-variation model in more detail?
McArthur
Explain McArthurs study
Judgement of a painting under varying degrees of consistency, distinctiveness and consensus.
What is the main attribution of the consistency aspect?
High stability in attributional style, always expressing the same opinion.
what is a limitation of the co-variation model?
We do not always pay attention to all variables in the environment
What three subsidiary principles were introduced to account for the shortcomings of the co-variation model?
- Augmentation
- Discounting principle
- Causal schemas
Explain the augmentation subsidiary principle.
The role of a given cause is increase if it is in the presence of an inhibitory cause
Explain the discounting subsidiary principle.
The role of a given cause is discounted if other possible causes are present.
Explain the causal schema subsidiary principle.
Mental representations link causes with consequences. These can be distorted or biased by experiences. There is a conceptual knowledge require for interaction with the environment.
What was Jones and Davis’s theory?
Correspondent inference theory
Explain the correspondence inference theory
Based on a dispositional inference.
Studies if behaviour reflects personality.
Links behaviour to a corresponding disposition.
Claims that culture alters traits or state-ness of personality therefore attribution.
Focusses on what motivates an individual to perform an action.
In western societies dispositional inference is strong, personality is always determined by the environment.
What are the 6 main factors that decisions are based on according the the Correspondent inference?
- Behaviour that has been freely chosen
- Non-common effects
- Social undesirability
- Hedonic relevance
- Indulgence vs. restraint
- High personalism
Explain freely chosen behaviour.
Behaviour that is not confined but he situation, it responds to no social pressure and is the individuals choice.
Explain non-common effects dimension.
Distinctiveness in comparison with possible alternatives. , it is easy to identify the source of motivation. Whereas common behaviour it is difficult to identify.
Explain the socially undesirable behaviour dimension
Usually intended rather than accidental, can be unintended if social rules are not known. It accurately reflects intentions and disposition. ‘Deviant’ behaviour reflects desire. Socially desirable acts are not informative, they are just normal conforming tot he rules.
Explain the hedonistic behaviour dimension.
There is a high vested interest, we get something good out of doing good. We help others to win favours and receive reward.
Explain the indulgent behaviour dimension.
High indulgence leads to hedonists that view pleasure as good.
Low indulgence leads to ascetic people that view pleasure as sin.
Culturally, geographic culture or sub culturally dependent.
Explain the ‘high in personalism’ dimension.
Related to hedonism, social desires, reflects western influence on the modern. It is pleasant to be a member of a group. Shows personal interest.
Who is the final theorist of attribution?
Weiner
Explain Weiner’s theory.
Cultural conceptual framework.
Studies emotions and motivations in academic success and failure.
What 6 aspects are there of he cultural lens Weiner says we look through?
- Knowledge
- Attitudes
- Beliefs
- Pre-conceptions
- Prejudices
- Biases
According to Weiner’s models how do collectivists vs. individualists view personality
Collectivist cultures view personality as context variant.
Indiviudlaist cultures view personality as context stable traits.
