PSY1001 WEEK 3

Question 1

define attribution

Answer 1

the process of assigning a cause to our own behaviour, and that of others - constructing adequate explanations of behaviour

Question 2

what do causal explanations allow us to do

Answer 2

predictions and control

Question 3

give some examples of attribution theories

Answer 3

Heider - naive psychology
Jones & Davis - correspondent inference
Kelley - covariation
Schachter - emotional lability
Bem - self-perception
Weiner - attriubtion

Question 4

define locus of causality

Answer 4

behaviours attributed internally to a dispositional attribution or externally to a situational attribution

Question 5

explain stability and controlability in attributions

Answer 5

we attribute behaviours to stable/unstable and controllable/uncontrollable causes

Question 6

briefly state what Heider’s attribution theory is

Answer 6

humans act as naive scientists and form coherent views of the world in order to maintain control of our environments. we create simple rational explanations for behaviours and events to understand world, attributions allow us to predict these events and behaviours

Question 7

what are Heider’s main 3 principles

Answer 7

1. we believe our own behaviour is motivated not random, seek causes for others behaviour to find their motive
2. we construct causal theories in order to predict and control environment. look for stable and enduring properties in world
3. when attributing causes, distinguish between dispositional and situational factors

Question 8

briefly explain what Correspondent Inference Theory is

Answer 8

people infer that a person’s behaviour corresponds to underlying disposition

Question 9

what 5 factors in Correspondent inference theory influence whether we make dispositional and not situational attribution

Answer 9

1. choice - freely choose to perform behaviour
2. non-common effects - behaviour specific vs common to many behaviours
3. social desirability
4. hedonistic relevance - personal consequences
5. personalism - intended to affect us

Question 10

give some research support for correspondent inference theory

Answer 10

1. American students make more correspondent inferences for freely chosen socially unpopular speeches
2. ppts make for correspondent inferences for out-of-role behaviours eg: extrovert astronaut, who are introvert

Question 11

give some limitations of correspondent inference theory

Answer 11

1. declined in importance - holds that correspondent inferences depend significantly on attribution of intentionality however unintentional behaviour (carelessness) can be a strong basis of disposition
2. non-common effects have been shown to not be paid attention to, so not always noticevd

Question 12

briefly explain covariation model (most popular model)

Answer 12

accounts for both external and internal attributions (unlike CIT) by looking at multiple behaviours, and argues attributions based on closest co-occuring factors leading to assigning of causal roles to factors in scientific method

Question 13

define covariation principle

Answer 13

tendency to see causal relationship between event and outcome when they happen at same time

Question 14

in covariation model, what 3 pieces of info about covariation between behaviour, person, stimulus and occasion do we use? (as ‘naive scientists’)

Answer 14

consensus - does everyone behave this way to stimuli
consistency - does person behave same way with stimuli on other occasion
distinctiveness - does this person behave same way to different stimulus

Question 15

what does low and high consensus (covariation model) mean

Answer 15

low = dispositional
high = situational

Question 16

what does low and high consistency (covariation model) mean

Answer 16

low = situational
high = dispositional

Question 17

what does low and high distinctiveness (covariation model) mean

Answer 17

low = dispositional
high = situational

Question 18

give general limitations of covariation model

Answer 18

1. we dont always have the info for all dimensions but still make attribution
2. we can technically make an informed attribution, but less likely as requires more effort

Question 19

give some research limitations of covariation model

Answer 19

1. ppts made internal/external attributions for range of behaviour and found consesnsu is underused

Question 20

what concept did Kelley introduce to combat limitations of covariation model

Answer 20

casual schemata - beliefs acquired from experience about interactions of certain causes producing specific effects
eg: specific schema - drunk-driving conviction needs 2 causes of alcohol and driving

Question 21

define fundamental attribution error/correspondence bias

Answer 21

tendency to over-attribute to person rather than situation (dispositional over situational)

Question 22

what can FAE cause (outcome bias and essentialism)

Answer 22

outcome bias - we assume that person behaving in a particular way intended all outcomes of that behaviour
essentialism - behaviour is considered to reflect underlying and innate properties of people/groups which can lead to negative stereotypes

Question 23

roughly explain Castro study (FAE)

Answer 23

when a non-socially desirable position taken, wa seen as being more pro-Castro than when socially desirable position seen as anti-Castro, regardless of if ppt had choice

Question 24

give 3 explanations of correspondence bias

Answer 24

focus of attention, differential forgetting, lingustic facilitation

Question 25

explain the 3 explanations of correspondence bias (focus of attention, differential forgetting, linguistic facilitation)

Answer 25

1. focus of attention - focus more on individual over background, is disproportionally salient in cognition
2. differential forgetting - forget situational cause quicker than internal, producing gradually dispositional shift (however research shows direction of shift depends on focus of info processing)
3. linguistic facilitation - construction of English language makes it easy to describe action and actor but harder to describe situation in same way, so easier to talk about kind person but not situation

Question 26

give 2 weaknesses of FAE/correspondence bias

Answer 26

1. cultural differences - younger American ppts made more internal attributions than Chinese showing culture and age impacts attributions
2. is it an error? dispositional judgement may be more accurate in many situations so being biased toward internal attributions isn’t an error (led to FAE being called CB)

Question 27

what is the actor-observer effect

Answer 27

extension of correspondence bias, tendency to attribute others behaviour to dispositional factors and our own to situational factors

Question 28

explain the false consensus effect (Kelley)

Answer 28

consensus info is 1/3 info types used to make attribution about others behaviour
in self, it is not ignored but we provide own consensus info meaining we see our own behaviour as typical and assume others will act the same

Question 29

explain the 2 explanations for actor-observer effect (perceptual focus, informational differences)

Answer 29

1. perceptual focus - when observing another’s behaviour, they themselves draw our attention, not their background/situation however when observing self behaviour we only see background, not ourselves
2. informational differences - we have more info on our behaviour in different situations than others behaviour

Question 30

explain self-serving attribution error

Answer 30

people are more likely to attribute positive events to themselves but dismiss negative events as attributable to other causes - self-enhancement and self-protection biases

Question 31

how does self-serving attribution error protect us

Answer 31

adaptive and maintains our self-esteem, contributing to good mental health

Question 32

how universal is self-serving attribution bias?

Answer 32

meta-analysis found overall internal stable global attributions for positive than negative events
however bias is also attenuated in
children vs older adults
non-western culture
samples with mental health issues

Question 33

give some research into attributional individual differences

Answer 33

1. research with a sample with depression showed we have particular trait tendencies to explain behaviour in different ways (attributional styles)
2. Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ) categorised attributional styles into internal/external, stable/unstable, global/specific

Question 34

what is the proposed cognitive element of sef-serving attribution bias

Answer 34

people expect to succeed so accept responsibility for success, if they try hard then associate sucess with effort so exaggerate amount of control they have over performance

Question 35

what is ultimate attribution error

Answer 35

FAE emerges in difference form intergroup context where groups make attribution about ingroup/outgroup behaviour

Question 36

what are some cultural and developmental factor that can influence FAE

Answer 36

western children explain action in concrete situational terms, learn to make dispositional attributions in later childhood but Indian children don’t use dispositional, instead situational
reflects cultural norms for social expectations in conceptions of self, autonomy, and independent self

Question 37

define intergroup attribution

Answer 37

process of assigning causes of behaviour to group membership

Question 38

what type of bias can ethnocentrism be viewed as

Answer 38

as an ingroup serving bias with socially desirable positive behaviours
socially undesirable negative behaviours attributed situationally
more prevalent in Western cultures, in team sport success

Question 39

explain the 2 processes responsible for ethnocentric intergroup attributions (cognitive process, self-esteem process)

Answer 39

1. cognitive process: group prototype or stereotype and behaviour consistent with stereotype is internally stably attributed, but expectancy-inconsistent behaviour is attributed unstably situationally
2. self-esteem process: making self-favouring comparisons between ingroup and relevant outgroups raises individuals self-esteem as derive social identity from group they belong to so have priority to maintain positive profile of that specific group

Question 40

give an example of how attribution theories can be applied to real world

Answer 40

more likely to attribute road accident to the driver, not road condition

Question 41

what is Moscovici’s theory of social reprensentations

Answer 41

understandings shared among group members emerging through informal everyday communications and transforming unfamiliar and complex into familiar and straighforward to provide simple framework to interpret environment.
leads from non-obvious explanation becoming unquestioned norm

Question 42

what are criticisms for social representation

Answer 42

difficult to quantify and analyse (solve using interview analysis and questionnaire)

tend to be associated with groups, which lead to clashes. Western cultures promoting healthy lifestyles are associated with higher social status meaning message is ineffective for lower class as inconsistent with wider representational frameworks

Question 43

define conspiracy theories

Answer 43

simplistic and exhaustive causal theories attributing natural social calamities to international and organisation activities of certian social groups to ruin and dominate humanity

Question 44

how can socioeconomic status and political ideology influence attribution

Answer 44

rich and poor explain poverty in different terms: poor behaviour or situational factor
wealth depends on political view
unemployment is attributed to make us feel better
depends on political standpoint