2 - Errors and Biases Flashcards
Define fundamental attribution bias
Tendency to overestimate importance of dispositional factors, and underestimating/ignoring situational factors
Define correspondent inference theory
Where actions are freely chosen, we infer info about dispositional factors
Results from a study researching the correspondent inference theory?
Pro-Castro own will condition, inferred more than author was pro-Castro relative to PC instruction and anti-Castro own choice
Define the actor-observer effect
Actor of behaviour attributes cause to situation, observers attribute to dispositional
In the A-O effect, how does the actor see their behaviour
Actors don’t have self awareness, but look from own perspective at stimulus
In the A-O effect, what do observers do
Focus more on actor than the environment
What are actors more likely to do in the A-O effect
Describe bhvr through reasons/desires/beliefs which motivated the bhvr
In the A-O effect, who’s more like to make the FAE?
Observers
Why is FAE not an error? (-)
No objective criteria so don’t know what’s accurate or the true cause of bhvr from one ob
What part of the FAE is interdependent (-)
Internal and external causalities - can’t be separated
What don’t we know about the actor in FAE (-)
How they’re interacting w the environment
After taking all the criticisms into account, what should the FAE actually be called?
Correspondence bias
3 Cs of the FAE model
Categorisation (nc)
Characterisation (nc)
Correction (c)
Define categorisation
Notice action by actor and give meaning
Define characterisation
What the action implies about actor
Define correction
Notice and acknowledge situational constraints
Why do we automatically attribute causality to the actor?
Categorisation and characterisation are non conscious and don’t need conscious cog effort
What do we need for correction?
Motivation and cog resources
Limited cog resources does what
Reduces capacity to correct
What did the abortion study find?
Being given a cog load meant causality was attributed to speech writer’s views
Less able to correct
Define correspondence bias
General tendency for observers socialised into western cultures to automatically attribute causality to dispositional factors due to limitation of cog resources/motivation to correct attribution and acknowledge situational factors
What are those in individualistic cultures more likely to do
Attribute cause to dispositional factors, self-define by internal attributes and separate self from context
What are those in collectivistic cultures more likely to do
Attribute cause to situational factors, self-define by costal rltps and integrate self into social context
What did a study about culture and attributions find
USA adults and 15 y/o attributed dispositional factors more than India
