Deck 6: Explaining and Understanding Human Behavior

Question 1

After watching Jackie show up 20 minutes late to each class, Jordan concludes that Jackie is lazy and irresponsible. According to attribution theory, Jordan is guilty of:

A) An over attribution
B) The fundamental attribution error
C) The self-serving bias
D) The self-reference bias
E) An expectancy violation

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Maria's husband was especially rude to her at lunch. In an effort to make sense of her husband's rudeness, Maria concludes that "the medication he takes to control his heart condition makes him impatient." In this instance, Maria has crafted an attribution that is:

A) Internal, stable, and controllable
B) External, unstable, and uncontrollable
C) External, stable, and controllable
D) Internal, unstable, and uncontrollable
E) External, stable, and uncontrollable

Answer 2

E

Question 3

Attribution theory assumes all of the following, EXCEPT:

A) People engage the attribution process as a part of normal, everyday interactions.
B) Common-sense psychology is valuable because it contains truths about human behavior.
C) An approach to human behavior that relies on intuitive knowledge and everyday experience should be divided from the language of the common person.
D) The words we use affect the attributions we make about human interaction.
E) People's observable behaviors are linked to unobservable causes.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

According to attribution theory, the question of how normal someone else's behavior is in a particular situation refers to:

A) Consensus
B) Consistency
C) The covariation principle
D) Distinctiveness
E) Egocentric bias

Question 5

Jackson's roommate goes out and parties every Friday night. According to attribution theory, Jackson's attributions for his roommate's behavior best reflects which principle?

A) The person-situation principle
B) The covariation principle
C) The discounting principle
D) The argumentation principle
E) The correspondence principle

Question 6

Which of the following scholars contributed to the intellectual tradition of attribution theory?

A) Fritz Heider
B) Judee Burgoon
C) Edward Jones
D) All of the above
E) A and C only

Question 7

Eliese and Jordyn were having a conversation when all of a sudden, Jordyn abruptly turned around and walked away from Eliese in the middle of her sentence. Eliese interpreted Jordyn's behavior as an intentional act that was meant to hurt her, when in reality, Jordyn had just realized that she had left her purse in class. Eliese's reaction to Jordyn's behavor reflects which attributional bias?

A) Hedonic relevance
B) Self-serving bias
C) Fundamental attribution error
D) Situational contingencies
E) Egocentric bias

Question 8

Researchers using attribution theory have found support for all of the following claims, EXCEPT:

A) Individuals generally attribute their successes to their own abilities and efforts.
B) Individuals usually explain their failures as the result of task difficulty or bad luck.
C) The more you believe in free will, the less likely you are to take responsibility for your successes and failures.
D) Action is typically viewed as purposeful, intentional, and under our control.
E) Emotion is typically see as reactive, biological, and less subject to willful control.

Question 9

Fritz Heider based attribution theory on which of the following premises?

A) We are quite competent at understanding our interactions with other people.
B) We have relatively sophisticated cognitive explanations for human behavior.
C) We struggle to explain why others do what they do.
D) All of the above.
E) A and B only.

Question 10

Stephen had plans to see a movie with his best friend Luke. When the time came for the movie to start, however, Luke never showed up. When making sense of his best friend's behavior, Stephen suspects that Luke was called in to work unexpectedly. In this instance, Stephen is relying on what type of attribution?

A) A person attribution
B) An internal attribution
C) A linguistic attribution
D) An external attribution
E) An augmentation attribution

Question 11

Which of the following biases clouds our judgments about other people's behaviors?

A) Egocentric bias
B) Fundamental attribution error
C) Self-referencing bias
D) Self-serving bias
E) External attribution bias

Question 12

Expectancy violations theory assumes all of the following, EXCEPT:

A) The natural state of the person is one of anticipation.
B) When people act as we expect them to, we do not pay much attention to their behavior.
C) It is always best to behave in expected ways.
D) Most of the time, people behave in expected and socially appropriate ways.
E) Motivation is an inner characteristic that applies to all individuals.

Question 13

Whether or not a behavior is viewed as an expectancy violation depends on:

A) The nature of the behavior itself.
B) Our feelings about the communicator or person enacting the behavior.
C) Our evaluations of the situation in which the behavior occurred.
D) All of the above.
E) A and C only.

Question 14

According to EVT, when a violation occurs, individuals engage in a two-step process of ______ the meaning of the violation and ______ its desirability.

A) Interpreting; evaluating
B) Evaluating; interpreting
C) Negotiating; evaluating
D) Comprehending; discussing
E) Discussing; creating

Question 15

Which of the following scholars contributed to the intellectual tradition of expectancy violations theory?

A) Judee Burgoon
B) Irving Goffman
C) Kenneth Burke
D) All of the above
E) A and B only

Question 16

When the meaning of a violation is not immediately clear, EVT predicts that we consider the ________ of the person who committed it.

A) Arousal
B) General expectations
C) Violation valence
D) Reward valence
E) Specific expectations

Question 17

When studying expectancy violations on Facebook, researchers have found that for negatively valanced individuals, the victim of the violation either ignores the violator or removes that person from his or her account. This finding supports which of the following claims of EVT?

A) Violations result in arousal that distracts us from our normal routines.
B) Most of us prefer intermediate levels of conversational distance and involvement.
C) How we think about others influences the way we feel when they violate our expectations.
D) When someone we like violates our personal space, we often prefer the violation.
E) Communicator behaviors that contribute to interpersonal rewards mediate communication outcomes.

Question 18

Instead of turning around and facing forward as he entered the elevator, Ben faced each of the individuals who were already on the elevator, looked them in the eyes, and said "I suppose you all are wondering why I called this meeting." Ben's behavior best illustrates:

A) The covariation principle
B) Specific expectancies
C) An expectancy violation
D) Communicator reward valence
E) The self-serving bias

Question 19

According to Judee Burgoon, noticing a violation produces _______, an increase in physical energy and attention.

A) Arousal
B) Euphoria
C) Stress
D) Confusion
E) Clarity

Question 20

EVT advances all of the following claims, EXCEPT:

A) We generally dislike it when people violate our expectations for personal space.
B) When someone we like or value violates our personal space, we prefer the violation.
C) When interacting with others, most of us prefer intermediate levels of conversational distance and eye gaze.
D) Non-rewarding communicators are judged less positively when they conform to expectations for personal space.
E) Violations results in arousal that distracts us from our normal routines.

Question 21

Attribution theory was developed as a common-sense approach to the social psychology of human interaction.

Question 22

According to attribution theory, proximal stimuli are properties of the environment that everyone can generally agree exist.

Question 23

When there are multiple ways to explain a specific behavior, we are less confident that the behavior is due to any single cause, be it internal or external.

Question 24

When interacting with others, most people prefer high levels of conversational distance, eye gaze, and sensory involvement.

Question 25

According to expectancy violations theory, when people act as we expect them to, we pay much less attention to their behavior.

Question 26

According to attribution theory, _____ stimuli are properties of the environment that everyone can generally agree exist.

Question 27

When we explain people's behavior as a product of their personality, disposition, or other personal characteristics, we are using a(n) _______.

Question 28

In social interaction, the idea that we make attributions at successive points in time reflects the ____________.

Question 29

The degree to which we perceive an unexpected behavior to be positive or negative is referred to as the ____________.

Question 30

An enduring or regularized pattern of behavior is called a(n) ___________.