Which statement is the best description of the fundamental attribution error?
a) We attribute most of what people do to the influence of situations.
b) We rely on the first information we receive to make internal attributions.
c) We are more likely to attribute another's behavior to internal rather than to external causes.
d) We tend to attribute our successes to our own efforts and failures to the shortcomings of others.
ANS: C, A fundamental attribution error is what occurs when people overestimate the influence of another person's internal characteristics on behavior and underestimate the influence of the person's situation.
You might also like to view...
The reticular formation does NOT regulate:
A) hunger B) wakefulness. C) arousal. D) sleep.
Areas in the penis that fill with blood during erection are known as ____
a. corona c. corpora cavernosa b. glans penis d. corpus spongiosum
Denise wants her grade school students to not develop stereotypes. She decides to emphasize that every person is very complex and that grouping people into categories is illogical. Why is this likely to be a difficult tactic to use?
A. Once human complexity is embraced, the students will cease using stereotypes in the conditions where they are useful. B. Students will find it impossible to see complexity in themselves or others. C. Students will turn the information on the teachers, finding examples of prejudice among the faculty. D. Humans are cognitive misers, and automatically simplify and group things in their environment, including humans.
Consider the transcript below of a therapy session with a therapist (T) and a 14-year-old
client (C) who was diagnosed with depression. C: "My father hates the way I dress. He thinks that I wear stupid clothes". T: "Did he tell you that?" C: "No" T: "Then why do you think that?" C: "Because yesterday he told me to change my sweater before I went to school." T: "Did he give you a reason for his request?" C: "Yes, he said that it was wrinkled." T: "Did he sayanythingelse?" C: "He asked me to put myblue sweater on. He really likes that one." T: "So he had a good reason to ask you to change your sweater." The therapist in this example ismost likely using a form of a. Beck's cognitive therapy for depression. b. client-centered therapy. c. covert sensitization. d. rational-emotive therapy. e. Gestalt therapy.