Causal attribution

Question 1

what is causal attribution?

Answer 1

ways in which people explain their own/others behaviour.
work our why smt happened, why somebody behave as they did
how people understand the world or fail to understand it.

Question 2

Heider, F (1958)

assumption 1

Answer 2

people are naive scientists who try to use naive versions of scientific methods to explain behaviour.

Question 3

Heider, F (1958)

asssumption 2

Answer 3

fundamental distinction is the person/situation or internal/ external distinction
=whether a behaviour was due to smt about the person or the situation they were in.

Question 4

Kelley’s causal attribution model

Answer 4

based on covariation principle: the thing you identify as the cause of an effect, will covary over time. The cause is present when the effect occurs and absent when the effect does not occur.
possible cause: actor, target and circumstance
dimensions we use:
consensus- how others behave w same target ( behave same way: high consensus, behave diff: low consensus)
distinctiveness- how same actor behave w other target (behave diff: high distinctiveness, behave same: low distinctiveness)
consistency - how same actor behave w same target in diff occasion ( same behaviour: high consistency, different behaviour: low consistency)

Question 5

problems with Kelley’s model

Answer 5

1) people make attributions quickly, without waiting

2) person/situation distinction not fundamental. non-intentional/ intentional behaviour. -> beliefs and desires

Question 6

fundamental attribution error

Answer 6

overestimate that behaviour is due yo personal characteristics and underestimate the influence of situational factor

Question 7

Gilbert et al., automatic characteristic model

Answer 7

step 1: behaviour identification
step 2: automatic characterisation
step 3: adjustment for situation (not automatic)

–>if cognitively demanding load in step 2 it disrupts step 3
won’t have enough cognitive resources left to adjust for situation (vice versa)

!! does not explain fundamental attribution error!!

Question 8

Krull and Erickson (1995)

Answer 8

–> task that is set determines the order of the step
(ask judgment about person: step 2- step 3
ask judgment about situation: step 3 -step 2)
–> automatic judgment comes first then adjust effortful way for other info

Question 9

what does attribution depend on

Answer 9

the attitude u attribute depends relationship between what you see and what you expect
expectations important for the kind of judgment you make

Question 10

salience

Answer 10

some things capture ur attention in certain situations
-high in salience: tendency /capacity to grab ur attention
-low in salience: tend not to attract ur attention
making causal attribution-> fixate on salient things as the cause of what ur explaining + ignore things low in salience