AP Psychology: Attribution Theory and Person Perception — Drill 19

About This Drill

AP Psychology: Attribution Theory and Person Perception — Drill 19 is a Multiple Choice practice drill covering Unit 4: Social Psychology and Personality. It contains 5 original questions created by Brian Stewart, a Barron's test prep author with over 20 years of tutoring experience.

AP Psychology practice questions on attribution theory and person perception — test your AP exam prep on dispositional and situational attributions, the fundamental attribution error, actor-observer bias, self-serving bias, the just-world hypothesis, explanatory style, and stereotypes.

Questions in This Drill

1. Marcus is driving to work when another car cuts sharply in front of him. He immediately thinks, "What a jerk — that driver must be selfish and aggressive." That afternoon, Marcus himself cuts in front of another driver because he is running late for a meeting. When he gets home, he explains that he "had no choice" because of traffic and his schedule. Which pattern of attribution best describes Marcus's thinking across the two events?
2. A student receives an A on a chemistry exam and thinks, "I worked really hard and I'm good at this subject." The following week she receives a D on a different chemistry exam and thinks, "That test was unfair — the questions covered material we barely discussed." Which attribution pattern does her thinking illustrate?
3. A psychologist surveys 300 adults about a news story describing a person who lost their home in a natural disaster. Participants are asked to rate their agreement with statements like "People usually end up in situations they have helped create." Those who scored high in religiosity and belief in fate showed significantly higher agreement with these statements than those who scored low. Which of the following does this finding most directly support?
4. A researcher wants to test whether people commit the fundamental attribution error when evaluating a stranger's behavior. She shows participants a video of a student giving a speech that strongly endorses a controversial policy, while clearly telling participants beforehand that the student was assigned the topic and required to argue for that position. Participants are then asked to rate how much the speaker personally agrees with the policy. Which result would most strongly support the fundamental attribution error?
5. A college student who has just failed a job interview explains the outcome by thinking, "I always mess things up; I'm just not the kind of person who succeeds at anything." A psychologist would likely classify this thinking style as an example of: