AP Psych Unit 8 FA Dummy 2

What is the main focus of attribution theory?

• How people learn from their experiences

• How people explain behavior and mental processes

• The role of reinforcement in shaping behavior

• How intelligence affects personality

Which type of attribution explains behavior based on internal characteristics like personality?

• Situational attribution

• Environmental attribution

• Dispositional attribution

• Contextual attribution

If a student fails a test and blames their lack of studying, they are making a(n) ____.

• Internal attribution

• Situational attribution

• External attribution

• Cognitive attribution

The tendency to attribute others’ behavior to internal traits while attributing our own actions to external factors is called ____.

• Self-serving bias

• Actor-observer bias

• Relative deprivation

• Social comparison

The fundamental attribution error occurs when people ____.

• Overemphasize situational factors in explaining their own behavior

• Overemphasize dispositional factors in explaining others’ behavior

• Attribute success to external factors

• Ignore the effects of social comparison

A person who attributes their successes to their abilities but blames failures on bad luck is demonstrating ____.

• Actor-observer bias

• Self-serving bias

• Optimistic explanatory style

• Social comparison

What is explanatory style?

• A predictable pattern of how people explain life events

• The way people compare themselves to others

• A method for reducing cognitive dissonance

• The ability to recognize emotional expressions

A person with an optimistic explanatory style is likely to ____.

• Attribute positive events to internal factors and negative events to external factors

• Attribute failures to personal shortcomings

• Always assume the worst outcomes

• Avoid making attributions

The mere exposure effect occurs when ____.

• A person encounters new information that challenges their beliefs

• Repeated exposure to a stimulus increases liking for it

• A person attributes their behavior to external factors

• Observing others leads to behavior imitation

If someone believes they are going to fail a test and, as a result, does not study, ultimately failing the test, this is an example of ____.

• Relative deprivation

• Self-fulfilling prophecy

• Social comparison

• The mere exposure effect