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PSYC 331 EXAM 2 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
2024/2025 GRADED A+.
attribution theory( the study of how people understand the causes of events) -
(answers)the theory that we explain someone's behavior by crediting either the
situation or the person's disposition Fritz and Heider-People are Quasi scientist or
lay psychologists they try link events to something about the person
internal (dispositional) attribution - (answers)attributing one's behavior to his or
her personality; for example, attributing a child's hostility to their aggressive
personality ( or that when your friend doesn't hear you in the cafe and ignores
you and you think it's because they are a jerk and that was the cause of their
behavior not the noise of the cafe.)
external (situational) attribution - (answers)attributing cause to something
external to the person or the self for example being in a loud cafeteria and calling
for someone and them not responding and realizing that they're not a jerk but
that it's too loud and they cannot hear you.
causal attribution - (answers)The construal process people use to explain their
own and others behavior ( student gives long winded response and we attribute
the teachers encouragement as trying to get a higher rating or encourage student
participation) linking an event to a cause, such as inferring that a personality trait
is responsible for a behavior
explanatory style - (answers)A person's characteristic way of explaining his
experiences. Consistently attributing bad experiences to internal, global, and
stable causes may increase vulnerability to depression and would be a pessimistic
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and maladaptive style while an adaptive style would would make an external ,
specific and unstable leading them to brush it off and keep moving forward
Explanatory styles (attributions made by happy and unhappy couples) - (answers)
pessimistic explanatory style - (answers)Accounting for negative events or
situations with internal, stable, and global explanations while the opposite for
good situations external, unstable. specific
optimistic explanatory style - (answers)accounting for negative events or
situations with external, unstable, and specific explanations while the opposite for
good situations internal, stable and global
attributions about controllability - (answers)An individual's attributional style has
a powerful effect on that person's long-term outcomes thinking they can succeed
or improve because they didn't try hard enough gives people hope and improves
academic success in the future when a person offers an excuse and it's something
that was out of their control people make external and more sympathetic
attributions
distinctiveness (Kelley's Covariation Model) - (answers)what an individual does
across situations is their behavior distinctive novel or unique or is it the same
across all situations flirty lady at office flirts with every guy at the office low vs she
only flirts with him high (something about him)
PSYC 331 EXAM 2 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
2024/2025 GRADED A+.
attribution theory( the study of how people understand the causes of events) -
(answers)the theory that we explain someone's behavior by crediting either the
situation or the person's disposition Fritz and Heider-People are Quasi scientist or
lay psychologists they try link events to something about the person
internal (dispositional) attribution - (answers)attributing one's behavior to his or
her personality; for example, attributing a child's hostility to their aggressive
personality ( or that when your friend doesn't hear you in the cafe and ignores
you and you think it's because they are a jerk and that was the cause of their
behavior not the noise of the cafe.)
external (situational) attribution - (answers)attributing cause to something
external to the person or the self for example being in a loud cafeteria and calling
for someone and them not responding and realizing that they're not a jerk but
that it's too loud and they cannot hear you.
causal attribution - (answers)The construal process people use to explain their
own and others behavior ( student gives long winded response and we attribute
the teachers encouragement as trying to get a higher rating or encourage student
participation) linking an event to a cause, such as inferring that a personality trait
is responsible for a behavior
explanatory style - (answers)A person's characteristic way of explaining his
experiences. Consistently attributing bad experiences to internal, global, and
stable causes may increase vulnerability to depression and would be a pessimistic
, 2
and maladaptive style while an adaptive style would would make an external ,
specific and unstable leading them to brush it off and keep moving forward
Explanatory styles (attributions made by happy and unhappy couples) - (answers)
pessimistic explanatory style - (answers)Accounting for negative events or
situations with internal, stable, and global explanations while the opposite for
good situations external, unstable. specific
optimistic explanatory style - (answers)accounting for negative events or
situations with external, unstable, and specific explanations while the opposite for
good situations internal, stable and global
attributions about controllability - (answers)An individual's attributional style has
a powerful effect on that person's long-term outcomes thinking they can succeed
or improve because they didn't try hard enough gives people hope and improves
academic success in the future when a person offers an excuse and it's something
that was out of their control people make external and more sympathetic
attributions
distinctiveness (Kelley's Covariation Model) - (answers)what an individual does
across situations is their behavior distinctive novel or unique or is it the same
across all situations flirty lady at office flirts with every guy at the office low vs she
only flirts with him high (something about him)
