Summarize the process of making attributions, including the types ...

[jilianpiloj]

Summarize the process of making attributions, including the types of biases that influence attributions.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Which student is taking a test that is a recognition task?
 
  a. Elaine, who takes an exam in her Spanish class in which she is presented with a word in English and then must write the Spanish equivalent.
  b. Erin, who takes an oral exam in her astronomy class in which she must list the planets in order.
  c. Melissa, who takes a multiple-choice exam in her sociology class in which she must identify key events and founders in the history of sociology from a list of choices.
  d. Sharon, who takes an essay exam in her history class in which she must list key events and dates during theVietnam War.
 e. Jordan, who takes an essay exam in her film studies class in which she must discuss two philosophical positions presented in The Matrix.

[TheDev123]

Answer to Question 1

The process of making attributions refers to the manner in which people explain the causes of behaviors. There are two basic types of attributions. A dispositional attribution explains behaviors in terms of internal factors such as someone's personality, while a situational attribution explains behaviors in terms of external causes. Saying that someone who stole something is a dishonest person is a dispositional attribution. Saying that someone stole something to help someone in need is a situational attribution. There are three general types of cognitive biases that influence attributions. The fundamental attribution error is the tendency to overlook situational explanations for the behavior of others. Instead, people tend to attribute the behavior of others to dispositional factors. Interestingly, this tendency is most
prevalent in individualistic cultures like the United States, where individuality and autonomy are emphasized. It is less prevalent in collectivist cultures such as Japan and China. The actor-observer effect is the tendency to commit the fundamental
attribution error and to rely on situational attributions to explain one's own behavior. A person may say that someone else is having a problem with a relationship because he or she is difficult. But the person's own relationship is in danger because his or her partner does not understand. Self-serving bias refers to the tendency to make attributions that are favorable to one's selfimage. So, successes are attributed to internal causes and failures are blamed on external causes. As with the fundamental attribution error, this tendency is more prevalent in Western cultures.

Answer to Question 2

c