Social Cognition and Attributions Quiz

26 Questions

Which of the following best describes social cognition?

The process of analyzing and interpreting events, people, oneself, and the world, playing a crucial role in social interactions and behaviors

What is the function of attributions according to the text?

Help predict and control the environment, determine thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of self and others, and influence expectations for the future

According to Friz Heider, what are the two types of attributions identified for explaining the causes of events?

Internal and External attributions

Which theory emphasizes the importance of integrity, credibility, and trustworthiness in persuasion?

Yale Attitude Change Approach

What determines the openness to attitude change according to the text?

Age, education, and relationship with persuader

Which route of persuasion involves logical, convincing messages resulting in attitude change?

Central Route

What type of behavior includes helping, sharing, cooperating, and volunteering for others or society?

Prosocial Behavior

Which phenomenon refers to the presence of others improving or inhibiting performance?

Social Facilitation

What did Milgram's experiments demonstrate regarding obedience to authority figures?

People are highly obedient to authority figures

What did Batson's forces for prosocial behavior include?

Altruism and Egoism

What does the Bystander Effect refer to?

The diffusion of responsibility among a group of witnesses in an emergency situation

What is the primary factor influencing social loafing according to the text?

Group size

What technique involves manipulating compliance through initially small requests followed by larger requests?

Foot-in-the-door technique

What is a key feature of groupthink as described in the text?

Exaggerating attitudes and behaviors within a group

What was one ethical implication discussed regarding Milgram's obedience studies?

Debriefing participants about the true nature of the studies

What is the term for attributing others' behavior to internal factors while disregarding external factors?

Fundamental Attribution Error

Which model in attribution theory considers consensus, consistency, and distinctiveness when determining causes for behavior?

Covariation Model

What does the Actor-Observer Bias refer to?

Attributing one's own behavior to external factors and others' behavior to internal factors

Which theory proposes that people infer their attitudes and emotional states from their behavior?

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

What is the term for psychological discomfort resulting from inconsistency between cognitions?

Cognitive Dissonance

What does the Covariation Model consider when determining causes for behavior?

Consensus, consistency, and distinctiveness

What is the term for the tendency to attribute positive outcomes to internal factors and negative outcomes to external factors?

Self-Serving Bias

What are the three types of attributions proposed by Harold Kelley?

Dispositional, situational, errors in attribution attributions

What does the Self-Serving Bias protect according to attribution theory?

Protecting self-esteem from both negative and positive outcomes

What does Bem's self-perception theory propose people infer their attitudes from?

Their own behavior

According to attribution theory, what causes situational attributions?

Internal, external, and situational factors

Study Notes

Carl Hovland's theory of persuasion: Integrity, Credibility, Trustworthiness are essential.
Medium of communication is important.
Openness to attitude change depends on age, education, and relationship with persuader.
Central Route of persuasion: logical, convincing messages result in attitude change.
Peripheral Route of persuasion: unconvincing messages delivered by attractive or expert sources result in attitude change.
Prosocial Behaviour: helping, sharing, cooperating, and volunteering for others or society.
Batson's forces for prosocial behavior: Altruism, Egoism, Collectivism, and Principle.
Altruism: helping with no discernible reward, evolutionary perspective links it to self-interest.
Bystander Effect: 38 witnesses to Kitty Genovese's murder did not call police, leading to research on the phenomenon.
Social facilitation: presence of others can improve or inhibit performance.
Social Loafing: group work decreases individual effort.
Group Decision Making: Groupthink, conformity, and compliance techniques.
Groupthink: group members reinforce shared beliefs and exaggerate attitudes and behaviors.
Obedience to Authority: Milgram's experiments showed that people can be highly obedient to authority figures.
Social influence: reasons for obedience include volunteers, cultural background, and age.
Foot-in-the-door and door-in-the-face techniques: manipulation tactics for compliance.
Milgram's obedience studies: participants administered electric shocks to a confederate based on authority instructions.
Ethical implications: debriefing participants about the studies' true nature.
No long-term negative effects reported from participation.
Attribution Theory: explains how people determine causes for others' behavior, proposes Harold Kelley
Three types of attributions: internal (dispositional), external (situational), and errors in attribution
Dispositional attributions: behavior caused by the person's traits, mood, ability, effort, or wishes
Situational attributions: behavior caused by external events or circumstances
Covariation Model: Kelley's main contribution to attribution theory, considers three factors:
- Consensus: degree to which others would behave the same way in similar situations
- Consistency: person's behavior in the same situation
- Distinctiveness: person's behavior in different situations
Errors in attribution: biases in attributing causes for behavior, such as self-serving bias and fundamental attribution error
Self-Serving Bias: tendency to attribute positive outcomes to internal factors and negative outcomes to external factors to protect self-esteem
Fundamental Attribution Error: attributing others' behavior to internal factors while disregarding external factors
Actor-Observer Bias: attributing one's own behavior to external factors and others' behavior to internal factors
Attitudes: evaluation of people, objects, and ideas, composed of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral dimensions
Dimensions of Attitudes:
- Cognitive Dimension: mental processes related to thinking, perceiving, reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making
- Emotional Dimension: emotion, emotional states, emotional regulation, empathy, and mood
- Behavioural Dimension: observable actions, verbal communication, social interactions, motor skills, and responses
Behaviour determines Attitudes (according to Bem's self-perception theory): people infer their attitudes and emotional states from their behavior
Two views of Attitudes: 1) attitudes shape behavior, and 2) behaviors are observed and interpreted, then attitudes are formed
Cognitive Dissonance: psychological discomfort resulting from inconsistency between cognitions, developed by Leon Festinger
Cognitive Dissonance: individuals strive for internal consistency and harmony in their cognitive emotional states and engage in behaviors to reduce discomfort
Attitudes change: individuals change their attitudes to reduce cognitive dissonance and achieve consistency between their beliefs, thoughts, and actions.

Test your knowledge of social cognition and the process of making attributions to understand behaviors and events in social interactions. Understand the crucial role of social cognition in shaping behaviors and interactions.

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