AP®︎ Psychology: Topic 4.1 Flashcards
Master key terms and definitions for Topic 4.1 of AP Psychology – Attribution Theory and Person Perception to help you prep for quizzes and the AP exam.
Attribution Theory
The study of how people explain the causes of their own and others’ behavior and mental processes
The study of how people explain the causes of their own and others’ behavior and mental processes
An explanation for why a behavior, outcome, or mental process occurred
An explanation that attributes behavior or a mental process to qualities within the person, such as personality, ability, motives, or effort
An explanation that attributes behavior or a mental process to circumstances outside the person
A person’s recurring pattern of explaining good and bad events, including whether causes seem internal or external, stable or unstable, and global or specific
A pattern that treats negative events as temporary, limited, and changeable while connecting positive events to more enduring strengths or conditions
A pattern that treats negative events as internal, stable, and global while dismissing positive events as external, temporary, or specific
The tendency to overemphasize dispositional causes and underestimate situational causes when explaining another person’s behavior
The tendency to explain one’s own behavior situationally but another person’s similar behavior dispositionally
The tendency to attribute personal successes to internal causes and personal failures to external causes
A generalized belief about whether life outcomes are controlled mainly by one’s own actions or by outside forces
The belief that outcomes are substantially influenced by one’s own actions, decisions, skills, and effort
The belief that outcomes are mainly determined by luck, fate, powerful others, institutions, or circumstances beyond personal control
The process of forming impressions and judgments about oneself and other people
The tendency for repeated exposure to a stimulus to increase liking for it
An expectation that changes behavior in ways that help produce and confirm the expected outcome
Evaluating oneself by comparing one’s abilities, achievements, opinions, appearance, possessions, or circumstances with those of others
Comparing oneself with someone perceived as better off, more successful, more skilled, or otherwise superior
Comparing oneself with someone perceived as worse off, less successful, or less skilled
The perception that one is deprived or disadvantaged compared with a relevant person or group
