Question 1

Jamal watches how his friends react to a performer at a comedy club.If he is particularly concerned with whether few or many of them laugh, he is focusing on ____________ information.
A) consistency
B) distinctiveness
C) consensus
D) shared

Accepted Answer

Jamal is concerned with consensus information, which refers to the extent to which people's reactions to a situation are similar. In this case, he is interested in whether many or few of his friends laugh at the comedian, which would give him an idea of how the group as a whole is reacting to the performance.

Question 2

Ashley looks back on her marriage and thinks, "If only I had put more effort into the relationship, Lew and I would still be together." This self-reflection exemplifies
A) counterfactual thinking.
B) the actor-observer effect.
C) emotional intensification.
D) the self-serving bias.

Accepted Answer

Ashley's statement about putting more effort into the relationship implies that she is engaging in counterfactual thinking, which involves imagining alternative scenarios and outcomes. In this case, Ashley is imagining that if she had acted differently, the outcome of her marriage would have been different.

Question 3

Michelle notices her brother Mark eating a second piece of chocolate from a box of candy.Because he rarely eats candy of any kind, Michelle concludes that Mark must really like the chocolate.In this instance, Michelle is relying on ____________ information to explain her brother's behavior.
A) distinctiveness
B) consistency
C) consensus
D) individuating

Accepted Answer

Michelle is making an inference based on Mark's behavior being distinct from his usual behavior of not eating candy. This is an example of distinctiveness information, which refers to how someone's behavior differs from their norm.

Question 4

Kyle, a male student, and Gail, a female student, both failed their geography exam.According to research by Dweck and colleagues, Kyle is likely to attribute his failure to his ____________, whereas Gail is likely to attribute her failure to her ____________.
A) parents; teachers.
B) teachers; parents.
C) lack of ability; lack of effort.
D) lack of effort; lack of ability.

Accepted Answer

Research by Dweck and colleagues suggests that males are more likely to attribute failure to a lack of effort, while females are more likely to attribute failure to a lack of ability.

Question 5

Hector plays golf every Saturday.His wife Alicia notices that after a winning round, Hector tends to play with the kids.After a losing round, he tends to watch television by himself.According to ____________, over time, Alicia is likely to conclude that Hector's golf games can exert a causal effect on his behavior at home.
A) emotional amplification theory
B) the covariation principle
C) the augmentation principle
D) fundamental attribution theory

Accepted Answer

The covariation principle states that people are more likely to attribute a causal relationship between two events if the events occur together consistently. In this scenario, if Alicia consistently observes the pattern of Hector's behavior at home being influenced by his golf game outcomes, this would support her conclusion that there is a causal relationship between the two. The other options - emotional amplification theory, the augmentation principle, and fundamental attribution theory - do not apply to this scenario.

Question 6

Rhonda tells you that she hates her new apartment.According to the covariation principle, what type(s)of questions would you ask to explain why she feels this way?
A) Do her roommates also hate the apartment?
B) Did Rhonda like her previous apartment?
C) Would Rhonda prefer to own her own home rather than rent?
D) All of the above are applicable.

Accepted Answer

The covariation principle suggests that people form their opinions and judgments based on the patterns of events that co-occur with the situation, and they rely on three types of information to make such judgments, which are consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency. Therefore, to understand why Rhonda hates her new apartment, we need to ask questions that will help us determine whether the negative feelings she has are due to factors specific to the apartment or factors related to other external or internal factors that might be affecting her judgment. Thus, asking about her roommates' feelings (consensus), her previous apartment (distinctiveness), and her long-term housing preferences (consistency) can help us identify the source of her dissatisfaction with her new apartment.

Question 7

Darby consistently attributes her failures to stable, global, and internal causes.Briana accounts for her failures by citing unstable, specific, external causes.According to research on explanatory style, Darby is likely to
A) earn higher grades than Briana.
B) earn lower grades than Briana.
C) persevere longer on difficult tasks than Briana.
D) give up sooner on difficult tasks than Briana.

Accepted Answer

Research on explanatory style suggests that individuals who attribute their failures to stable, global, and internal causes are more likely to experience learned helplessness and have poorer outcomes compared to individuals who attribute failures to unstable, specific, and external causes. Therefore, Darby is more likely to earn lower grades than Briana.

Question 8

Which of the following questions reflects what attribution theories seek to explain?
A) How often does Tina engage in binge drinking?
B) Why did Julie break up with Tom?
C) What did Bob say in response to Jim's insult?
D) Where is Justin most likely to find a date for the dance?

Accepted Answer

Attribution theories seek to explain why people behave in certain ways and what factors influence their behavior. Option B reflects a question about why someone made a particular decision, which is in line with the goals of attribution theory. The other options do not reflect this focus on understanding the causes of behavior.

Question 9

Jim meets Tina for coffee and asks, "Would you be my date for the Sigma Chi formal dance?" She smiles and says, "That's so nice of you, but I've already got plans." Jim then thinks to himself, "I'll never find a date for this formal." Given this information, you can conclude that Jim's response reflects a(n)____________ explanatory style.
A) stable
B) global
C) external
D) transient

Accepted Answer

Jim's response reflects a stable explanatory style because he believes that his inability to find a date is a permanent situation, rather than a temporary or changeable one.

Question 10

____________ refers to a person's habitual way of explaining many different types of events.
A) Causative thinking
B) Dispositional attribution
C) The correspondence bias
D) Explanatory style

Accepted Answer

Explanatory style refers to a person's habitual way of explaining many different types of events, whether they are positive or negative, temporary or permanent, and specific or global.

Question 11

Christine decided, at the last minute, to try a new route to work.On her drive in, she hit a deep pothole, causing one of her car tires to go flat.According to research on counterfactual reasoning, her decision to try a new route ____________ the likelihood that she engaged in counterfactual reasoning.
A) increased
B) decreased
C) had no effect on
D) eliminated

Accepted Answer

Counterfactual reasoning is the tendency for people to imagine alternative outcomes or scenarios to a situation, especially when that situation did not end well. In this case, Christine's decision to try a new route resulted in a negative outcome (a flat tire). Therefore, it is more likely that she will engage in counterfactual reasoning and imagine what could have happened if she had taken her usual route instead. Hence, her decision to try a new route increased the likelihood that she engaged in counterfactual reasoning.

Question 12

Recall that Peterson and his colleagues examined whether young adults' explanatory style could predict physical health later in life.Results of their study showed that explanatory style during young adulthood
A) predicted health at age 30.
B) predicted health later in life.
C) predicted health at age 40.
D) did not predict health at any age.

Accepted Answer

The results of the study showed that explanatory style during young adulthood predicted physical health later in life, indicating that choice B is correct. The study did not specifically examine health outcomes at age 30 or 40, so choices A and C are not supported. Additionally, the study did find a significant association between explanatory style during young adulthood and later physical health outcomes, so choice D is incorrect.

Question 13

____________ theory deals with how people assign causes to the events around them and the effects that these explanations have.
A) Explanatory
B) Attribution
C) Covariation
D) Situational

Accepted Answer

Attribution theory deals with how people assign causes to the events around them and the effects that these explanations have.

Question 14

Psychologists who want to measure a person's explanatory style assess each of the following attribution dimensions EXCEPT
A) rational/affective.
B) internal/external.
C) stability/instability.
D) global/specific.

Accepted Answer

Psychologists who want to measure a person's explanatory style assess internal/external, stability/instability, and global/specific attribution dimensions. The rational/affective dimension is not typically included in this assessment.

Question 15

Recall that Dweck and her colleagues aimed to understand why boys and girls tend to explain their failures differently.To this end, they conducted an experiment that manipulated ____________.Results showed that ____________.
A) the type of feedback that students received in class; comments teachers typically give to girls led to internal attributions for failure.
B) the type of feedback that students received in class; comments teachers typically give to boys led to internal attributions for failure.
C) success and failure on various assignments; after a success, girls felt happier than boys.
D) success and failure on various assignments; after a failure, girls felt sadder then boys.

Accepted Answer

Dweck and her colleagues manipulated the type of feedback students received and found that comments typically given to girls led them to make internal attributions for failure, affecting their mindset and motivation.

Question 16

Recall that Wells and Ganvaski (1989)asked study participants to read a story about a woman who went to lunch with her boss to celebrate a promotion.According to the story, the boss ordered for the woman a dish that contained wine.Unfortunately, the woman was so allergic to wine that she died.The researchers were interested in how participants would respond to additional information about the boss's behavior.Results of this study showed that participants who thought the
A) boss's behavior was situationally caused were more likely to blame him for the woman's death.
B) boss's behavior was dispositionally caused were more upset by the woman's death.
C) boss almost ordered a different dish that contained wine viewed him more negatively.
D) boss almost ordered a different dish that did not contain wine viewed his choice of meals as more causally significant.

Accepted Answer

Participants who learned that the boss almost ordered a different dish that did not contain wine viewed his choice of meals as more causally significant, as it highlighted the avoidability of the outcome.

Question 17

According to ____________, our confidence that a particular cause is responsible for a given outcome is reduced if there are other plausible causes that might have produced it.
A) plausibility theory
B) the principle of refutation
C) the discounting principle
D) the augmentation principle

Accepted Answer

The discounting principle states that our confidence in a particular cause being responsible for an outcome is reduced if there are other plausible causes that could have produced the outcome. This means that we discount the probability of a particular cause being the sole or primary explanation for an event if there are other possible explanations that could account for it.

Question 18

Flora will most likely attribute Jeremy's quiet, shy behavior to his introverted personality when____________.
A) consistency is high, and consensus and distinctiveness are low.
B) consensus and consistency are high, but distinctiveness is low.
C) consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency are all low.
D) consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency are all high.

Accepted Answer

According to the attribution theory, when consistency is high and both consensus and distinctiveness are low, the behavior is most likely due to the person's internal, stable traits (such as introversion in Jeremy's case). Therefore, Flora is most likely to attribute Jeremy's behavior to his introverted personality when consistency is high, and consensus and distinctiveness are low.

Question 19

____________ theory focuses on the ways in which we answer such questions as "Why does my roommate always play his music loudly?"
A) Explanatory
B) Covariation
C) Attribution
D) Situational

Accepted Answer

Attribution theory focuses on explaining the causes of people's behavior, including our own. It seeks to answer questions such as "Why did someone do that?" or "Why did that event occur?" by examining the attributions people make about themselves and others.

Question 20

Sean has tried repeatedly to find a job.After each unsuccessful attempt, he concludes that there is just something about him that will always get in the way of success in his life.Sean is displaying a ____________ explanatory style.
A) self-defensive
B) maladaptive
C) pessimistic
D) self-derogating

Accepted Answer

Sean's belief that he will always fail is a clear example of a pessimistic explanatory style, where he interprets negative events as being due to stable, global, and internal factors that are beyond his control. This type of thinking can lead to feelings of helplessness and depression, making it harder for individuals to overcome obstacles and achieve their goals.

Quiz 5: Social Attribution: Explaining Behavior

Jamal watches how his friends react to a performer at a comedy club.If he is particularly concerned with whether few or many of them laugh, he is focusing on ____________ information.

Ashley looks back on her marriage and thinks, "If only I had put more effort into the relationship, Lew and I would still be together." This self-reflection exemplifies

Michelle notices her brother Mark eating a second piece of chocolate from a box of candy.Because he rarely eats candy of any kind, Michelle concludes that Mark must really like the chocolate.In this instance, Michelle is relying on ____________ information to explain her brother's behavior.

Kyle, a male student, and Gail, a female student, both failed their geography exam.According to research by Dweck and colleagues, Kyle is likely to attribute his failure to his , whereas Gail is likely to attribute her failure to her .

Rhonda tells you that she hates her new apartment.According to the covariation principle, what type(s) of questions would you ask to explain why she feels this way?

Darby consistently attributes her failures to stable, global, and internal causes.Briana accounts for her failures by citing unstable, specific, external causes.According to research on explanatory style, Darby is likely to

Which of the following questions reflects what attribution theories seek to explain?

____________ refers to a person's habitual way of explaining many different types of events.

Recall that Peterson and his colleagues examined whether young adults' explanatory style could predict physical health later in life.Results of their study showed that explanatory style during young adulthood

____________ theory deals with how people assign causes to the events around them and the effects that these explanations have.

Psychologists who want to measure a person's explanatory style assess each of the following attribution dimensions EXCEPT

Recall that Dweck and her colleagues aimed to understand why boys and girls tend to explain their failures differently.To this end, they conducted an experiment that manipulated .Results showed that .

According to ____________, our confidence that a particular cause is responsible for a given outcome is reduced if there are other plausible causes that might have produced it.

Flora will most likely attribute Jeremy's quiet, shy behavior to his introverted personality when____________.

____________ theory focuses on the ways in which we answer such questions as "Why does my roommate always play his music loudly?"

Sean has tried repeatedly to find a job.After each unsuccessful attempt, he concludes that there is just something about him that will always get in the way of success in his life.Sean is displaying a ____________ explanatory style.