PSYC 2310 Lecture Notes - Helping Behavior, John Steinbeck, Fundamental Attribution Error
11 Jul 2014
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Attribution: attribution is answering the why question; why you and i engage in certain behaviors. Answering the why question: the difficult case of tania patricia hearst, two viable interpretations, her behavior is primarily a function of the situation. She wouldn"t have robbed the bank if she wasn"t abducted: her behavior is primarily a function of personal disposition. No man really knows about other human beings. The best he can do is suppose that they are like himself john steinbeck: we don"t know what other people think or who they are. Decision rule: discounting principle, the observer should never conclude that a person has a unique disposition to behave when the person does exactly what the situation pushes him or her to do. The person does the opposite of what the situation pushes him or her to do. Jones & harris (1967) experiment: estimated pro-castro attitudes, results: free choice = they expected that the writes attitudes to match their essay.
