Chapter 6 Vocab

Question 1

Perception

Answer 1

A process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment.

Question 2

Attribution Theory

Answer 2

An attempt to determine whether an individual’s behavior is internally or externally caused.

Question 3

Fundamental Attribution Error

Answer 3

The tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors when making judgments about the behavior of others.

Question 4

Self-serving Bias

Answer 4

The tendency for individuals to attribute their own successes to internal factors and put the blame for failures on external factors.

Question 5

Selective Perception

Answer 5

The tendency to selectively interpret what one sees on the basis of one’s interests, background, experience, and attitudes.

Question 6

Halo Effect

Answer 6

The tendency to draw a general impression about an individual on the basis of a single characteristic.

Question 7

Contrast Effect

Answer 7

Evaluation of a person’s characteristics that is affected by comparisons with other people recently encountered who rank higher or lower on the same characteristics.

Question 8

Stereotyping

Answer 8

Judging someone on the basis of one’s perception of the group to which that person belongs.

Question 9

Self-fulfilling Prophecy

Answer 9

A situation in which a person inaccurately perceives a second person, and the resulting expectations cause the second person to behave in ways consistent with the original perception.

Question 10

Decisions

Answer 10

Choices made from among two or more alternatives.

Question 11

Problem

Answer 11

A discrepancy between the current state of affairs and some desired state.

Question 12

Rational

Answer 12

Characterized by making consistent, value-maximizing choices within specified constraints.

Question 13

Rational Decision-making Model

Answer 13

A decision-making model that describes how individuals should behave in order to maximize some outcome.

Question 14

Bounded Rationality

Answer 14

A process of making decisions by constructing simplified models that extract the essential features from problems without capturing all their complexity.

Question 15

Intuitive Decision Making

Answer 15

An unconscious process created out of distilled experience.

Question 16

Anchoring Bias

Answer 16

A tendency to fixate on initial information, from which one then fails to adequately adjust for subsequent information.

Question 17

Confirmation Bias

Answer 17

The tendency to seek out information that reaffirms past choices and discount information that contradicts past judgments.

Question 18

Availability Bias

Answer 18

The tendency for people to base their judgments on information that is readily available to them.

Question 19

Escalation of Commitment

Answer 19

An increased commitment to a previous decision in spite of negative information.

Question 20

Randomness Error

Answer 20

The tendency of individuals to believe that they can predict the outcome of random events.

Question 21

Risk Aversion

Answer 21

The tendency to prefer a sure gain of a moderate amount over a riskier outcome, even if the riskier outcome might have a higher expected payoff.

Question 22

Hindsight Bias

Answer 22

The tendency to believe falsely, after an outcome of an event is actually known, that one would have accurately predicted that outcome.

Question 23

Utilitarianism

Answer 23

A system in which decisions are made to provide the greatest good for the greatest number.

Question 24

Whistle-Blowers

Answer 24

Individuals who report unethical practices by their employer to outsiders.

Question 25

Behavioral Ethics

Answer 25

Analyzing how people actually behave when confronted with ethical dilemmas.

Question 26

Creativity

Answer 26

The ability to produce novel and useful ideas.

Question 27

Three-stage Model of Creativity

Answer 27

The proposition that creativity involves three stages: causes (creative potential and creative environment), creative behavior, and creative outcomes (innovation).

Question 28

Problem Formulation

Answer 28

The stage of creative behavior which involved identifying problem or opportunity that requires a solution that is as yet unknown.

Question 29

Information Gathering

Answer 29

The stage of creative behavior when possible solutions to a problem incubate in individual’s mind.

Question 30

Idea Generation

Answer 30

The process of creative behavior that involves developing possible solutions to a problem from relevant information and knowledge.

Question 31

Idea Evaluation

Answer 31

The process of creative behavior involving the evaluation of potential solutions to problems to identify the best one.

Question 32

What is perception, and what factors influence our perception?

Answer 32

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Question 33

What is attribution theory? What are the three determinants of attribution? What are the implications of attribution theory for explaining organizational behavior?

Answer 33

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Question 34

What shortcuts do people frequently use in making judgments about others?

Answer 34

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Question 35

What is the link between perception and decision making? How does one affect the other?

Answer 35

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Question 36

What is the rational model of decision making? How is it different from bounded rationality and intuition?

Answer 36

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Question 37

What are some common decision biases or errors people make?

Answer 37

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Question 38

How do individual differences and organizational constraints influence decision making?

Answer 38

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Question 39

What are the three ethical decision criteria, and how do they differ?

Answer 39

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Question 40

What is creativity, and what is the three-stage model of creativity?

Answer 40

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