🧠 TOPIC 1 — ATTRIBUTION & SOCIAL COGNITION

What is attribution?

The process of inferring the causes of behaviour.

Why do people make attributions?

To understand and predict the social world and maintain a sense of control.

What is an internal attribution?

Explaining behaviour as caused by personality, traits, or disposition.

What is an external attribution?

Explaining behaviour as caused by situational factors.

Which type of attribution is more stable?

Internal

Which type of attribution is more changeable?

External

What is Heider’s naïve scientist theory?

The idea that people act like scientists, seeking cause–effect explanations for behaviour.

What motivates naïve scientific reasoning?

The need to understand and control the environment.

What is Kelley’s covariation model?

A theory stating that behaviour is attributed using consensus, consistency, and distinctiveness.

What is consensus?

The extent to which other people behave in the same way.

What is consistency?

The extent to which a person behaves the same way over time.

What is distinctiveness?

The extent to which a person behaves similarly across different situations.

High consensus, high consistency, high distinctiveness leads to what attribution?

External attribution.

Low consensus, high consistency, low distinctiveness leads to what attribution?

Internal attribution.

What is the fundamental attribution error?

The tendency to overestimate internal causes and underestimate situational causes of others’ behaviour.

Who does the fundamental attribution error apply to?

Judgements of other people’s behaviour.

Why does the fundamental attribution error occur?

Because attention is focused on the actor rather than the situation.

What is the actor–observer bias?

Attributing our own behaviour to situational factors and others’ behaviour to dispositional factors.

What is the self-serving bias?

Attributing success internally and failure externally.

Which attribution bias protects self-esteem?

Self-serving bias.

What are schemas?

Cognitive frameworks that organise knowledge about the world.

What is the function of schemas?

To reduce cognitive load and simplify information processing.

What is a disadvantage of schemas?

They can distort perception and produce bias.

What is assimilation?

Interpreting new information in line with existing schemas.

What is accommodation?

Modifying schemas to incorporate new information.

What is a heuristic?

A mental shortcut used to make judgements quickly.

What is the availability heuristic?

Judging likelihood based on how easily examples come to mind.

What is the representativeness heuristic?

Judging probability based on similarity to a prototype or stereotype.

What is regression in social cognition?

Making judgements only after repeated observations over time.

Which is an example of regression?

Deciding a restaurant is bad only after multiple visits.

Which is NOT an example of regression?

Judging someone after a single interaction.