Answer questions in complete sentences.

1.Give an example of a behavior you observed in another person. When you looked at their

behavior, did you decide their action was more a result of circumstances, or their personality?

What information did you use to make your judgment? (6 points)

I remember a time someone said that someone else didn't agree with and this guy started

getting really offended and he acted out and was being very irritable and in a way acting like a

child. I think that the reason he reacted that way was because of his personality because no one

else who didn't agree acted this way. If everyone acted the way he did it would have been a

matter of circumstance but he was the only person who reacted that way and that's why I think

it's a matter of personality.

2. Define each of the following: consensus, consistency, distinctiveness. Then, write about how

one of these relate to your judgement of the behavior you described above.(8 points)

● Consensus: a general agreement. If other people would typically show the same behavior, we

tend to interpret the behavior as being less indicative of someones characteristics.

● Consistency: the achievement of a level of performance that does not vary greatly in quality

over time. If someone’s behavior in a situation is inconsistent from one time to the next, their

behavior becomes more difficult to attribute.

● Distinctiveness: the quality of being individual or easily distinguishable. If a person only acts a

certain way in one situation, the behavior can probably be attributed to the situation rather than

the person.

3. Define each of the following. Then, choose one and give an example of a time when you or

someone you know has used the error of attribution. (8 points)

● fundamental attribution error: the tendency people have to overemphasize personal

characteristics and ignore situational factors in judging others' behavior.

● representativeness heuristic: a decision-making shortcut that employs the use of past

experiences to guide the decision-making process.

● base rate fallacy: the tendency for people to erroneously judge the likelihood of a situation by

not taking into account all relevant data.

● confirmation bias: the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one's existing

beliefs or theories. I think that my friends and I use confirmation bias a lot. For example, a girl

got engaged recently and we were all thinking it was gonna happen and when it did happen we

were all like we knew it.

4. Explain cognitive dissonance, and give an example from your life that applies to it. (8 points)

Cognitive dissonance is the state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes,

especially as relating to behavioral decisions and attitude change. An example of cognitive

dissonance from my life is when I was inconsistent with my choice to choose online school or

stay in public school.