The Role of the Fundamental Attribution Error on the Judgement of IQ.

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Title: The Role of the Fundamental Attribution Error on the Judgement of IQ.

Abstract:

                The aim of this study is to investigate the theory of the fundamental attribution error on a sample of Middlesex University undergraduate psychology students.

Introduction   

Fundamental attribution error is part of social psychology which was developed out of the theoretical models of Fritz Heider, Edward E. Jones, Lee Ross and Harold Kelly. Attribution theory is concerned with the ways in which people explain or attribute the behavior of others. It explores how individuals "attribute" causes to events and how this cognitive perception affects their motivation.

Heider proposed that what people perceived and believed about what they saw dictated how they would act, even if their beliefs about what they perceived were invalid. Underestimating the influence of situational factors on people’s behaviour is known as the fundamental attribution error.

Based on an earlier theory developed by Edward E. Jones and Keith Davis, Jones and Victor Harris hypothesized that when people saw others behave according to free will, they would attribute the behaviour to disposition. When they could tell that others behaved according to the circumstances of chance, however, observers would attribute the behaviour to the situation.

Jones and Harris (1967) conducted an experiment, which aimed to illustrate the fundamental attribution error. The participants listened to pro- and anti- Fidel Castro speeches. Then they were asked to rate the pro-Castro attitudes of both. When the participants believed that the speech makers freely chose which position to take (for or against Castro), they naturally rated the people who gave the pro-Castro speeches as having a more positive attitude toward Castro. However Jones and Harris' hypothesis, when the participants were specifically told that the speech makers gave either a pro- or an anti-Castro speech randomly, however the participants still rated the people who gave the pro-Castro speeches as having, on average, a more positive attitude towards Castro than those giving anti-Castro speeches.

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Method: 

170 participants were recruited. These were undergraduate Middlesex University psychology students. They were randomly picked

Materials: 

The materials used were paper and pens. Also, participants were required to write ten general knowledge questions.

Design: 

The independent variable is the role of the participants in the quiz game, there for it was a repeated measures design. The dependent variable is intelligence rating. It is measured on a 1-100 scale, considering that the average Middlesex University psychology student has an intelligence rate of 50.

Procedures: 

    170 undergraduate psychology students ...

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