Exam 4: Social Perception: How We Come to Understand Other People

In Heider's attribution theory, attributions are dichotomous-that is, there are two possible attributions a person can make about another's behavior. Describe both of these types of attributions, and then provide an example of each type of attribution one could make about why someone is running late for a meeting.

During spring term of her senior year, Linda feels overwhelmed with personal problems that she keeps to herself. She stops attending any extracurricular events and starts missing classes. Who is making the fundamental attribution error about Linda's behavior?

Talia and Jermaine are in an unhappy marriage. When Jermaine brings home chocolates for Talia, she assumes that they must be a re-gift of something he received that day. Her attribution reflects a __________ behavior to an __________ cause.

Recall that Roesch and Amirkhan (1997) studied attributions for success and failure in athletes. Based on their findings, which of the following athletes would be most likely to make an external attribution for losing?

The authors of your text present a study by Masuda and his colleagues (2008) that examined cultural differences in social perception. They compared how participants perceived a central character when the surrounding characters in a picture either matched or mismatched the central character's facial expression. What implications does this study have for the idea of analytic and holistic thinking styles?

According to research presented in this chapter, we typically use two steps in making attributions. The first step involves __________, and the second step involves __________.

What things contribute to a first impression and how quickly are first impressions formed?

In honor of Rosa Parks's contribution to the civil rights movement, the seat behind the driver on buses in major cities was reserved for one day, and people were asked not to sit there. Some people actually did sit in this seat. When a reporter asked these "sitters" to explain their behavior, he found that __________.

Lars has been blind since birth. Which negative emotion is he unlikely to be able to express on his face?

Harold Kelley's covariation model is one __________ theory presented in your text.

Contemporary researchers have collected evidence that naturalist Charles Darwin (1872) was correct when he asserted that facial expressions are __________ specific.

If people do not have all three types of information necessary (according to the covariation model), what do they do in order to make attributions?

The tendency to stick with an initial judgment even in the face of new information that should prompt us to reconsider is __________.

The authors of your text present a study by Masuda and his colleagues (2008) that examined cultural differences in social perception. They compared how participants perceived a central character when the surrounding characters in a picture either matched or mismatched the central character's facial expression. What concept were they examining in this study?

If an American and a Chinese person are both given feedback that they have done poorly at a task, who would be more likely to blame him- or herself for the failure?

Who displays fewer emotions in general?

In a study by Hedden and his colleagues (2008) examining brain activity, East Asians and European Americans underwent an fMRI while focusing on either a target or the context of a picture. When asked to focus on the context of a picture, European Americans'__________ region(s) of the brain were more active.

Imagine traveling to a country where you don't speak the native language. You just had a great meal. You don't want to be misunderstood, so how can you communicate to your host that the meal was great, and that you're happy?

Larry sees a group of people weeping, with frowns on their faces and their eyes turned down. Larry __________ their expressions to understand that they are feeling sadness.

From the point of view of Heider's (1958) "naïve," or "commonsense," psychology, people are much like __________ in trying to understand others' behaviors.