Motivation and Individual Differences Flashcards
What is the difference between an external locus of control and an internal locus of control?
A person with an external locus of control tends to believe that they have little control over what happens to them.
A person with an internal locus of control tends to believe that they have a lot of control of their lives and their circumstances.
For example, a person with an external locus of control might believe that they were late because of traffic and there isn’t much that they can do about being on time in the future. A person with an external locus of control believes that they were late because they didn’t leave soon enough or take into account traffic and can control the situation better next time.
People with an internal locus of control are generally more positive and do better in life.
What is learned helplessness?
When students come to believe that they cannot control or improve their own learning.
What is a good way to remember what attribution theory means?
When you see the term, “attribution,” you should think of the term, “explanation,” as a synonym.
What two types of explanations are there in the attribution theory?
External or Internal attribution.
For example, an external attribution would be “because there was traffic” while an internal attribution explanation would be “because I didn’t lave on time”.
What is the fundamental attribution error?
The fundamental attribution error means that people almost always attribute someone else’s circumstances to internal factors (they never try to be on time to work) and their own circumstances to external factors (“I always run into bad traffic, or “I would have been on time but my car wouldn’t start”)
In summary, people have a tendency to explain their situations in terms of situational factors but are not as understanding with other people and tend to explain their circumstances in terms of the type of person that they are.
What is it called when someone is aware of their own cognitive thought processes?
Metacognition.
What is the nature vs. nurture debate?
The debate about if children are the way they are in their gender preferences because of genetics or upbringing?
For example are little girls drawn to pink because of genetics? Or because they have always had a pink room and been taught that pink is a girl color?
Typically scientists agree that the answer to this debate is usually “a little of both”.
What does IQ stand for?
Intelligence Quotient
How is mental retardation typically defined?
As a below average level of mental functioning usually with an IQ level of below 70 or 75.
Who rejected the idea of IQ and instead believed that there are multiple intelligences?
Howard Gardner.
He rejected the idea of a single IQ score as an adequate measure of human intelligence.
