Psychology I / Attribution Theory and the Fundamental Attribution Error
Practice question · Select all that apply

Select every statement that is TRUE of the attribution biases as this lesson describes them.

Hints
  1. Two options are false: one over-generalises the fundamental attribution error, and one simply reverses a definition.
  2. Check the fifth option against what the word 'situational' has to mean.
Show the answer
  • A. For our own behaviour the tendency reverses toward situations.
  • B. Self-serving bias splits our outcomes: success ours, failure circumstantial.
  • D. The attribution error concerns how we explain OTHER people.
Why

The fundamental attribution error is about others, the actor-observer bias reverses it for the self, and the self-serving bias splits our own outcomes by valence. Option 3 is the named pitfall of over-generalising, and option 5 inverts the definition - a situational attribution points at the circumstances, not the character.

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