Attribution Theory & Person Perception (College Board AP® Psychology): Flashcards
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Define dispositional attribution.
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Cards in this collection (22)
Define dispositional attribution.
A dispositional attribution explains someone's behavior as caused by their internal qualities, such as personality, ability, or effort.
What does the fundamental attribution error lead people to overestimate?
The fundamental attribution error leads people to overestimate dispositional causes and underestimate situational causes of others' behavior.
True or False?
The fundamental attribution error is equally strong across individualistic and collectivist cultures.
False.
The fundamental attribution error is typically stronger in individualistic cultures, such as the US, than in collectivist cultures, such as China.
Define situational attribution.
A situational attribution explains someone's behavior as caused by external circumstances, such as context, luck, or social pressure.
How does the self-serving bias explain personal failures?
The self-serving bias attributes personal failures to external, situational factors rather than to one's own internal qualities.
An external locus of control is linked to greater susceptibility to ______________________________________.
An external locus of control is linked to greater susceptibility to learned helplessness.
Define explanatory style.
Explanatory style is a person's habitual, stable pattern of explaining good and bad events in their own life and others' lives.
What outcomes are associated with an internal locus of control?
An internal locus of control is associated with higher motivation, persistence, and better academic and occupational achievement.
True or False?
The actor-observer bias occurs because people have more awareness of the situational factors affecting other people's behavior than their own.
False.
The actor-observer bias occurs because people have greater awareness of the situational factors affecting their own behavior than those affecting others.
Define external locus of control.
An external locus of control is the belief that outcomes are determined by external forces, such as luck, fate, or the system, rather than one's own actions.
How does an optimistic explanatory style explain bad events?
An optimistic explanatory style attributes bad events to external, unstable, and specific causes rather than to internal, stable traits.
Define mere exposure effect.
The mere exposure effect is the tendency to develop a preference for a stimulus simply because of repeated exposure to it.
What did Rosenthal and Jacobson's study show about teacher expectations?
Rosenthal and Jacobson's study showed that students whom teachers expected to improve made greater academic progress by the end of the year.
True or False?
Self-fulfilling prophecies only produce positive outcomes, never negative ones.
False.
Self-fulfilling prophecies can produce negative outcomes too, since low expectations can lead to less support and worse performance.
Define self-fulfilling prophecy.
A self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when expectations about a person lead to behaviors that cause those expectations to come true.
What effect can upward social comparison have, besides motivating improvement?
Upward social comparison can also produce feelings of inadequacy, envy, or low self-esteem, as well as motivating improvement.
Comparing oneself to someone perceived as worse off typically enhances ____________________.
Comparing oneself to someone perceived as worse off typically enhances self-esteem.
Define relative deprivation.
Relative deprivation is the perception that one is worse off than others, even when one's objective situation is adequate.
Who proposed that people have a natural drive to evaluate themselves through social comparison?
Festinger proposed that people have a natural drive to evaluate their abilities and opinions through social comparison.
True or False?
The mere exposure effect requires people to be consciously aware that familiarity is influencing their judgment.
False.
The mere exposure effect operates largely outside conscious awareness, so people are often unaware that familiarity is influencing their judgment.
Define social comparison.
Social comparison is the process of evaluating oneself by comparing one's abilities or opinions to those of other people.
How can negative self-fulfilling prophecies affect educational outcomes?
Negative self-fulfilling prophecies can worsen educational inequality, as lower teacher expectations lead to less support and poorer outcomes for some students.
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