PSYCH253 Lecture Notes - Causal Inference
1 Oct 2013
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Document Summary
How we select/interpret/remember info about ourselves and our social world. Gestalt impressions: whole is greater than sum of its parts. Thin-slice accuracy: snap judgments we make based off first impressions are usually accurate. Attribution: process of explaining why people do what they do. People often infer that behaviors correspond to traits of the people (ex. If you see someone engage in cruel behavior, you tend to think they"re a cruel person) We use different dimensions to determine which behavior is caused by a person"s traits or from external sources. Attributions based on 3 aspects of the event: Typical behavior does not become an attribution to their personality (attributions to external stimulus) External attribution to situation when low consensus/high distinctiveness/ low consistency. To overestimate that people"s behavior are caused by internal factors and underestimate the role of situational factors. If a behavior is high in consensus (everyone would act this way) then attribution should be to situation (external)
