Assignment: Attribution Errors

Wherever you go, you will be observing human behavior, and it is difficult not to make a judgment about people after observing how they behave. You might consider three people on a crowded bus to be kind if you see them give up their seats so a mother can sit down with her two young children. You might consider a grocery store employee to be rude if you asked him where to find the milk and he rolled his eyes and sighed heavily before directing you to its location. These two judgments would be logical—kind in the first case and rude in the second—because that is the type of people they appeared to be.

However, social psychologists are more concerned with the external social conditions that influence behavior. Maybe only one of the people on the bus acted kindly and the other two gave up their seats because they did not want to be perceived as unkind by others on the bus. Perhaps the grocery store employee is usually kind, but he behaved rudely because he has been told to work an extra shift at the last minute and it means he will likely miss a friend’s birthday party. If you attribute someone’s behavior to her or his personality, your judgment may underestimate the social conditions that influenced the behavior. When explaining the causes of someone’s behavior, underestimating or discounting the social situation results in what social psychologists call an attribution error.

For your assignment this week, you will look at a scenario and consider how the cause of a person’s behavior may be explained better by situational influences than one’s personality or internal disposition.

To Prepare

• Review the Learning Resources for this week and consider how the causes of a person’s behavior may be explained by situational factors.
• Consider the following scenario for this Assignment:                                                                                              Imagine that you have been summoned for jury duty in the United States. If you are selected to be on the jury,     you will be hearing a rape case where a 23-year-old female alleges sexual assault. In order to select the jury (a     process known by the Latin term voir dire), both the prosecutor and defense attorney question the jury pool to     identify and dismiss for cause people who have strong opinions about the subject matter, who already know     about the case, or who may be biased for or against either party to the trial. Attorneys may also dismiss     members of the jury pool who they think will not be favorable to their case. These types of dismissals are called     peremptory challenges and the attorneys have a limited number of them.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  During the process of jury selection, you notice the prosecutors are using their limited peremptory challenges to     dismiss most of the young women from the jury pool. You find this peculiar, given that young women would seem     to be most favorable to the prosecution’s case.

Assignment: 

Submit 1–2 pages, not including title page and reference page:

• Informed by social psychology theory, explain why the prosecutor was reluctant to seat young women on the jury. Please provide a detailed explanation for this seemingly odd behavior.

In addition to the Learning Resources, search the Walden Library and/or Internet for peer-reviewed articles to support your Assignment. Use proper APA format and citations, including those in the Learning Resources.

By Day 7

Resources : 

Aronson, E., Wilson, T. D., Akert, R. M., & Sommers, S. R. (Eds.). (2019). Social psychology (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson. & peer reviewed literature 

• Chapter 4, “Social Perception: How We Come to Understand Other People”

Submit your Attribution Errors Assignment.

Purpose: This assignment aims to expose students to well-written news stories by established journalists on a wide range of topics. Through this assignment, students will learn to:

• Understand the range and scope of Pulitzer Prizes in connection to different genres in news writing;
• Conduct research on news stories;
• Evaluate and appraise good/ bad journalism writing;
• Archive and present learning outcomes and lead class discussions collaboratively.

 Instructions: Choose one article from a collection of Pulitzer Prize-winning stories for an in-depth reading, evaluation, critique and reflection on the reporting, interviewing and writing of the story. A discussion session on the stories will follow upon students’ completion of this small writing assignment. The writing portion is about 2-page long and includes an overview of the publisher and the author(s), a summary of the story, a critique of the writing, and a question you’d like to discuss with the class.   

: Write a 2-page reflection on what you have learned from the reading that includes: 

• Brief introduction (half-page): What is the background on the publication of the article? Where and when was it published? Who are the authors of the article and what are their background? What is the story about? Can you use the 5Ws to explain the main storyline? (Why) is it a significant and/or interesting story? Does it touch upon any important social/ political/ economic issues at the time of its publication?
• Elaboration and appraisal (one-page): What do you think of the article? What are 2-3 specific aspects you think the articles did well (such as interviewing, investigating, writing, etc) that deserve a Pulitzer Prize? How did the reporters cover the story? Is there any interviewing/ investigating skill/ strategy that we could learn from? How was the story written? Identify at least 2 examples (such as well-written sentences/ paragraphs) for appraisal and learning.
• Discussion (half-page): Why, in your opinion, does the article deserve a Pulitzer Prize (or not)? Is there anything you would do differently if you were the reporter? Include one question you have about the article that you’d like to discuss with the class.

https://www.latimes.com/nation/immigration/la-fg-enriques-journey-chapter-one-mainbar-story.html

(Reading) 

1. Sue says, “Descartes fails to prove that the mind is, in its essential nature, entirely distinct from the body since he claims that the immaterial mind interacts the physical body.”

Explain Sue’s criticism and discuss critically your position of this issue.

2. Gilbert Ryle says, “Talking of the mind as a separate realm existing alongside the bodily realm is a categorical mistake.”

Smart says, “Sensation (a mental state) is nothing over and above brain processes (physical states).”

Explain the dialogue between Ryle and Smart, and discuss your position of this issue critically.

3. Scientists approach the heroic Jane to go on a secret mission to disarm a nuclear device named ANIA. The mission could be highly dangerous to Jane’s brain (though not her body), so the scientists have figured out a way to send Jane’s body (let’s call it Lotte) on the mission while leaving behind her brain (let’s call it Tess) in the lab. Heroic Jane agrees to go. Her brain is surgically removed from her body and placed in a vat. Her brain still controls her body via implants and transmitters and antennae. Jane finally goes to disarm the ANIA. Unfortunately, Lotte is destroyed in the process. Tess lives on in the vat, but is now deprived of all sensory input, and goes to sleep for a year. Then the scientists establish a connection between Tess and a new body Veatrice. (Reference: Dennett’s “Where Am I?”)

Is Jane dead? Where is she? Is Jane wherever Lotte is? Is Jane wherever Tess is? Or, is Jane wherever she thinks she is? Carefully provide your reasoning and argument. Your discussion needs your rational and philosophical justification of why you think so. Also, introduce your understanding of one of philosophers’ theories, such as Descartes, Locke or Parfit, and utilize it as a justification of your claim.

4. Ted says, “I agree on Locke’s memory criterion of personal identity.”

Sonya says, “Well, I think Butler clearly undermines Locke’s thesis by criticizing Locke’s thesis is circular.”

Explain the conversation between Ted and Sonya and discuss critically your position of this issue.

5. “Paul is having a toothache.”

Considering the sentence regarding Paul, explain the behaviorist interpretation of the sentence.

he practice of health care providers at all levels brings you into contact with people from a variety of faiths. This calls for knowledge and understanding of a diversity of faith expressions; for the purpose of this course, the focus will be on the Christian worldview.

Based on “Case Study: End of Life Decisions,” the Christian worldview, and the worldview questions presented in the required topic study materials you will complete an ethical analysis of George’s situation and his decision from the perspective of the Christian worldview.

Provide a 1,500-2,000-word ethical analysis while answering the following questions:

1. How would George interpret his suffering in light of the Christian narrative, with an emphasis on the fallenness of the world?
2. How would George interpret his suffering in light of the Christian narrative, with an emphasis on the hope of resurrection?
3. As George contemplates life with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), how would the Christian worldview inform his view about the value of his life as a person?
4. What sorts of values and considerations would the Christian worldview focus on in deliberating about whether or not George should opt for euthanasia?
5. Given the above, what options would be morally justified in the Christian worldview for George and why?
6. Based on your worldview, what decision would you make if you were in George’s situation?

Remember to support your responses with the topic study materials.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is required.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.