bias

Fundamental attribution error: overestimation influence of personal factors and underestimating situational factors on behaviours

Ex. meeting new person who acts rude (personal) but they just had a bad day (situational)


Actor observer bias: attribute our behaviours to external or situational causes yest attribute others behaviours to internal causes

Ex. say you failed an english essay because it was hard, but saying julia failed because she didn’t read it properly 




Self serving bias: take credit for our successes and attribute failures to situational factors

Ex. gambler wins believing it’s skill but when they lose they say they've been dealt bad cards

False consensus bias: overestimate degree to which others share the same ideas and attitudes as we do

Ex. believing my sisters favourite fruit is apple because its my favourite fruit


Halo effect: impression formed about one quality of a person influences our beliefs and expectations about other qualities

Ex. someone who is ugly is mean but someone who is pretty is nice


Confirmational bias: only accepting info that supports our prior beliefs or behaviours and ignore our contradictory information

Ex. seeking evidence (even if it’s unreliable) to prove that your belief that music helps you study is right

 Heuristics 

  • Info processing strategies enabling individuals to form decisions, judgements, solve problems effectively


Anchoring: forming judgements based on first info received about an idea

Ex. sale item seems good deal even if the item is still higher than actual value


Availability: forming judgements or decisions based on most accessible information

Ex. recent event, media, past event


Representativeness: categorical judgment about an idea, event or person based on similarity to other item in a category

Ex. not every person driving a ute is a tradie


Affect: emotions to make a judgement or decision

Ex. sales candidate ignored because interviewer is in a bad mood

Group think: people strive for consensus within a group, setting aside personal beliefs and adopting others opinions


Group polarisation: individuals in a group shift held views to more extreme position


Deindividuation: reduced self conscious, inhabitation, feeling of personal responsibility and inner restraint in a group or crowd

Reduced by

  • Anonymity (feel anonymous)

  • Shift in attention (focus entire group)

Addictive behaviour: dependence on stimulus despite negative consequences

  • Negatively impacts functioning


Attentional bias: when attention distracted by the addictive stimulus when present

  • Less ability to pay attention to current tasks


Information access: accessibility of information

  • Fast access to information and help

  • Misinformation can be spread

Self determination theory: people achieve self determination when competence relatedness is met


Autonomy: able to act authentically based on choice or intrinsic motivation

Fulfilled through

  • Freedom

  • Clear achievable goals


Competence: feel like you have skills required

Fulfilled through

  • Develop skills through practice

  • Do something challenging


Relatedness: sense of connection/ attachment

Fulfilled through 

  • Positive relationships

  • Sense of belonging


Types of motivation 


Intrinsic: engaging in activities for internal benefit 

Ex. knowledge, personal growth, independence 


Extrinsic: engaging activities for external benefits

Ex. praise, lollies, money