You hear that your neighbor's eight-year old son, Billy, was involved in a fight at recess. You don't know Billy very well, and, as you try to explain his behavior, you commit the Fundamental Attribution Error when you say __________________________________.

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Question restatement: You hear that your neighbor's eight-year-old son, Billy, was involved in a fight at recess. You don't know Billy very well, and, as you try to explain his behavior, you commit the Fundamental Attribution Error when you say __________________________________.

Option 1: "I wonder if he is being bullied by some of the other children?" This response shifts the explanation to a situational factor (bullying by others) and does not attribute Billy's behavior to his own character. It does not illustrate the fundamental attribution error.

Option 2: "Boys! Why are little boys so aggressive!" This choice attributes Billy’s aggression to an inherent trait of all boys or to Billy's own character, which is the essence of the fundamental attribution error: blaming the person rather than the situation.

Option 3: "That school has become very unsafe for children." This statement points to a systemic or environmental factor (school safety) as the cause, which is a situational explanation rather than an internal attribution about Billy.

Option 4: "The teacher must not have been supervising the class closely enough." This also emphasizes a situational cause (teacher supervision) rather than Billy’s personal disposition, so it does not reflect the fundamental attribution error.

Summary: The fundamental attribution error involves overemphasizing internal traits or dispositions as the cause of someone’s behavior while underestimating situational factors. Among the options, only option 2 makes an internal, trait-based attribution about Billy, whereas the others propose external or situational explanations. Therefore, Option 2 is the one that demonstrates the Fundamental Attribution Error.

PSY 1001 (001) Final Exam/Exam 4

You hear that your neighbor's eight-year old son, Billy, was involved in a fight at recess. You don't know Billy very well, and, as you try to explain his behavior, you commit the Fundamental Attribution Error when you say __________________________________.

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PSY 1001 (001) Final Exam/Exam 4

You hear that your neighbor's eight-year old son, Billy, was involved in a fight at recess. You don't know Billy very well, and, as you try to explain his behavior, you commit the Fundamental Attribution Error when you say __________________________________.

View Explanation

Log in for full answers

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When people commit the Fundamental Attribution Error when judging the behavior of others, they tend to overemphasize ____ and underemphasize ___.

Luke sees Gary sleeping at his desk in their 8am class and immediately thinks, "That guy must be lazy." Assuming that Luke is mistaken and doesn't realize that Gary has noisy neighbors keeping him awake all night, which bias is Luke most likely showing here?

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