AP Psychology Unit 4.1 - Attribution Theory

Person Perception

The mental processes we use to form judgments and draw conclusions about the characteristics and motives of other people.

Subjectivity

If a person's behavior is ambiguous, people are likely to see it in a way that's consistent with their expectations or stereotypes.

Illusory Correlation

perception of a relationship where none exists, or perception of a stronger relationship than actually exists

Evolutionary Bias

Need to categorize

Attribution Theory

the theory that we explain someone's behavior by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition

dispositional attribution

assuming that another's behavior is due to personality factors, not situational ones

situational attribution

attributing behavior to the environment

explanitory style

the way a person explains the events in their lives

Optimistic style of thinking

Pattern of thinking that interprets stressors as external in origin, temporary, and good things as internal

Pessimistic style of thinking

Interpreting stressors and internal in origin, and positive tings as external or luck.

Fundamental Attribution Error

the tendency for observers, when analyzing another's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition

actor-observer bias

the tendency to blame our bad actions on the situation and blame the actions of others on their personalities

Self-serving bias

Attributing our successes to internal factors, and our failures to external factors.

internal locus of control

the perception that you control your own fate

external locus of control

the perception that chance or outside forces beyond your personal control determine your fate.

mere exposure effect

the phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them

self-fufilling prophecy effect

Expectation held by a person that alters his or her behavior in a way that tends to make it true

Social comparison

evaluating one's abilities and opinions by comparing oneself with others

Upward Comparison

comparing oneself with those who are better off

Downward Comparison

the act of comparing oneself to people who are worse off

Relative Deprivation

the perception that we are worse off relative to those with whom we compare ourselves. you got a used car and were happy, but turned sad when your friends got a new car