PSYCO241 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Fundamental Attribution Error
5 Feb 2017
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Document Summary
Heider"s theory of na ve psychology: we have a need to understand others and to understand what"s going on around us. Internal attributions are dispositional, and external attributions are situational. Correspondent inference theory: people makes inferences on the basis of 3 factors; person"s degree of choice, typicality of the behaviour, and intended effects or consequences of someone"s behaviour. The theory is based on how people tend to judge people based on their behaviour instead of on factors they cannot control. Kelly"s covariation theory: people attribute behaviour to factors that are present when a behaviour occurs and absent when it does not. There are 3 kinds of covariation that are useful: consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency. Consensus: how other people are reacting to the same situation or stimulus. These theories assume that people are logical and rational. Fundamental attribution error: when we explain other people"s behaviour, we tend to overestimate the role of personal factors, and underestimate the impact of situations.
