Social Cognition and Attributions

Question 1

Heider (1958)’s 2 primary needs people are motivated by

Answer 1

• Form a coherent view of the world
• Gain control over the environment

Question 2

Social cognition definition (Fiske & Taylor, 1991)

Answer 2

The process by which people think about and make sense of other people, themselves, and social situations

Question 3

Social cognition definition (Beer & Ochsner, 2006)

Answer 3

The perception of others, the perception of self, and interpersonal knowledge

Question 4

What is an internal/dispositional locus of control?

Answer 4

Any explanation that locates the cause as being internal to the person (eg. “I didn’t revise enough, so failed the test”)

Question 5

What is an external/situational locus of control?

Answer 5

Any explanation that locates the cause as being external to the person (eg. “I failed the test because the questions were too hard”)

Question 6

Kelley’s covariation theory

Answer 6

Causality is ascribed to the cause that covaries with the behaviour

Question 7

3 types of information used to decide whether internal or external attribution

Answer 7

• Consensus (do other people do the same in the situation)
• Consistency (does the behaviour occur in the same way on different occasions)
• Distinctiveness (does the behaviour occur in the same way in other situations)

Question 8

What is fundamental attribution error?

Answer 8

Tendency to attribute behaviours to a person’s internal qualities while underestimating situational influences

Question 9

What is actor-observer bias?

Answer 9

Tendency to attribute other people’s behaviour to internal causes and our behaviour to external causes (eg. “people are so inconsiderate” when others litter, but “there is no dustbin” when you litter)

Question 10

What is self-serving bias/hedonically-biased attributions?

Answer 10

Tendency to deny responsibility to failures (situational attribution) but take credit for successes (dispositional attribution) (eg. “I am clever” if you pass, but “questions were stupid” if you fail)

Question 11

Types of heuristics

Answer 11

• Representative heuristic
• Availability heuristic
• False consensus heuristic
• Anchoring heuristic

Question 12

What is a representative heuristic?

Answer 12

Tendency to allocate a set of attributions to someone if they match the prototype of a given category

Question 13

What is an availability heuristic?

Answer 13

Tendency to judge the frequency of probability of an event based on how easily examples come to mind

Question 14

What is false consensus effect?

Answer 14

Tendency to see one’s own behaviour as typical to assume that under the same circumstances others would react the same way as oneself

Question 15

What is an anchoring heuristic?

Answer 15

Tendency to be biased towards the starting value in making quantitative judgements

Question 16

How do attributions of a patient affect recovery?

Answer 16

• External LoC = lower rehab attendance
• Behavioural cause = increased perceived control over preventing reoccurrence
• Internal + controllable LoC = faster return to work, decreased depression/anxiety, improved lifestyle choices