PSYCH 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Fundamental Attribution Error, Stanford Prison Experiment
Document Summary
Social psychology: how ppl think about, influence, and relate to other ppl. Social thinking: we constantly try to explain other ppl"s motives, traits, and preferences. Attribution theory: causal explanations for why events or actions occur. Internal: refer to things w/in ppl such as dispositions, abilities, moods, or efforts. External: refers to outside events or situations, such as luck, accidents, or the actions of other ppl. Fundamental attribution error: occurs when we try to explain someone else"s behaviors. Diff rules apply when we explain our own behavior. Self-serving bias: use internal attributions to explain successes, but external attributes for failure. Power of the situation: ideas that behavior is influenced by environment more than personal traits. Zimbardo stanford prison study: used to measure environmental vs personal factors. Risky shift/polarization--1 guard is more extreme towards prisoners other guards start to become more intense. No--3 types of guards (harsh, nice, in-between) and 3 types of prisoners (passive, rebellious, neutral)