Situational

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Situational Dispositional Factors
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Sociocultural cognition

• IB Syllabus Says Describe the role of
  situational and dispositional factors in
  explaining behavior.
• Principles Demonstrated
• Human beings are social animals and we want
  connectedness with, and a sense of belonging to
  others
• The social and cultural environment influences
  the individuals behavior
• Humans are social animals and we construct our
  conceptions of the individual and social self

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Attributions

• Imagine you are sitting in a restaurant, waiting
  for your date to show up. He or she is late.
• Most people would look for explanations of why he
  or she has not arrived yet.. What would these
  be?......
• Make a comprehensive list of reasons whyin a
  realistic way!

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Attribution Theory
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Attribution Theory

• Social Cognition how we think and understand
  social situations
• Definition Attribution How people interpret and
  explain causal relationships in the world. The
  process of deciding what caused behavior
• Heider (1958) was one of the first people to
  study attribution theory. He concluded that when
  people are trying to understand behavior, they
  are acting like naive psychologists.
• We dont simply passively observe our own and
  others actions, but actively seek to explain
  them. From observing peoples actions people make
  inferences about intentions and responsibility

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Situational Dispositional Factors

• People tend to make an attribution about behavior
  depending on whether they are performing it
  themselves or observing somebody else doing it.
  This is known as the actor-observer effect.
• When people discuss their own behavior they tend
  to attribute it to situational factors that is,
  something to do with external factors The
  social situation/ circumstances they were
  experiencing were responsible, the cause seems to
  be due to some external influence i.e.
  environmental factors, other people, chance
• When people observe someone else's behavior, they
  are more likely to attribute it to with
  dispositional factors that is, something to do
  with personal (internal factors) The person
  performing the actions was responsible - The
  causes of the action are due to some aspect of
  the individual - i.e. their personality,
  ability, mood

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Attributions in the restaurant

1. Look at the list of reasons you made earlier
2. Put a D next to the reason if it is
   dispositional and put a S next to the reason if
   it is situational
3. Which one do you have more of? Any cross cultural
   differences?
4. Review Using a real life example explain the
   difference between situational and dispositional
   attributions

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Attribution Zimbardos et al. (1973) Stanford
Prison Experiment (SPE)

• This is a classic study which is still relevant
  today.
• In 2004 U.S. Military personnel committed
  numerous abuses against prisoner held and the Abu
  Ghraib.
• How could the prison guards act in such a way
  even when they say they would never do anything
  to harm another person.
• He argues that belonging needs (A key principle
  of the LOA) of the guards quickly turns into
  conformity to the social norm of the group they
  were in
• In his book The Lucifer Effect (2007) Zimbardo
  revisits the SPE in to examine the power of the
  situation.

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Attribution Zimbardos et al (1973) Stanford
Prison Experiment (SPE)

• Zimbardo believes that most people underestimate
  the influence of the situational factors on
  behavior.
• There is a tendency for western (individualist)
  (Eastern collectivist- situational more
  important) societies to attribute behavior to
  dispositional factors, and in everyday life it
  appears as if unacceptable behavior must come
  from something inside the person.
• Zimbardo believes that people have a good/evil
  dichotomy which emphasizes fixed dispositional
  factors in explaining behavior
• Rather than viewing our personal attributes as
  fixed, Zimbardo believes that it is more
  realistic to think of our attributes in degrees,
  such as the degree of evil or honest the we show
  in different situations
• According to Zimbardo (2007) people and
  situations are usually in a state of dynamic
  tension. Although you probably think of yourself
  as having a consistent personality across time
  and space that is likely not be true

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Attribution Zimbardos (1971) Stanford Prison
Experiment (SPE)

• Activity
• Read about the SPE and complete the key study
  sheet on the topic
• Pay particular attention to the Essential
  Question What does the study tell us about the
  role of situational and dispositional factors?
  (make reference to the results from the Comrey
  Personality Scales and Mood Adjective
  Self-Report)
• We will then discuss this as a class

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SAQ

• (Define/Describe/Explain/Outline/State/Analyze/
  Distinguish between) the role of situational and
  dispositional factors in explaining behavior.

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Sociocultural cognition3 SAQs (Major)
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3 SAQs

• As the major assignment for this section on
  sociocultural cognition, you will complete 3 SAQs
  on Monday and Tuesday next week
• 2 SAQs in Mondays class and 1 in Tuesdays class
  (because they are short lessons)
• 20 minutes per SAQ, but some of these will
  include the evaluation command terms (usually in
  the LAQ) however, they should all be the length
  of SAQs
• Activity You should work together in groups or
  on your own to prepare model answers to all these
  questions, so that you can review for the Major
  Assessment next week

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Possible exam questions( 3 from these)
Textbook pages 101 to 110

• (Explain/ Describe/ Outline/ Analyze/distinguish
  between) the role of situational and
  dispositional factors in explaining behaviour.
• (Discuss/ Examine/ Evaluate/Compare/Contrast/Com
  pare contrast) two errors in attributions.
• (Discuss/ Examine/ Evaluate) social identity
  theory, making reference to relevant studies.
• (Explain/ Describe/ Outline/ Analyze) the
  formation of stereotypes and their effect on
  behaviour.

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Command terms
SAQ command terms
Require Evaluation -usually LAQ
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Links to resources
Textbook pages 101 to 110

• (Explain/ Describe/ Outline/ Analyze/distinguish
  between) the role of situational and
  dispositional factors in explaining behaviour.
  http//ibpsychology.wetpaint.com/page/Attribution
  Theory3ASituational26DispositionalFactors
• (Discuss/ Examine/ Evaluate/Compare/Contrast/Compa
  re contrast) two errors in attributions.
• http//ibpsychology.wetpaint.com/page/ErrorsinAt
  tribution
• (Discuss/ Examine/ Evaluate) social identity
  theory, making reference to relevant studies.
• http//ibpsychology.wetpaint.com/page/SocialIdent
  ityTheory
• (Explain/ Describe/ Outline/ Analyze) the
  formation of stereotypes and their effect on
  behaviour.
• http//ibpsychology.wetpaint.com/page/Stereotypes

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Rubric for regular SAQ command terms (Explain/
Describe/ Outline/ Analyze/Distinguish)
Rubric for command terms requiring evaluation
(Discuss/ Examine/ Evaluate/Compare/Contrast/Compa
re contrast)
Four marks will also be awarded for overall
organization of the three essays
Total Marks 8884 28
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Possible exam questions( 3 from these)
Textbook pages 101 to 110

• (Explain/ Describe/ Outline/ Analyze/distinguish
  between) the role of situational and
  dispositional factors in explaining behaviour.
• Definition/ Explanation use Zimbardo as example
  to demonstrate
• (Discuss/ Examine/ Evaluate/Compare/Contrast/Com
  pare contrast) two errors in attributions.
• SSB Research FAE Research (importance of
  culture)
• (Discuss/ Examine/ Evaluate) social identity
  theory, making reference to relevant studies.
• SIT evaluation of supporting research theory
  itself
• (Explain/ Describe/ Outline/ Analyze) the
  formation of stereotypes and their effect on
  behaviour.
• Formation of stereotypes research effect on
  behaviour research

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SAQ 1 feedback

• Outline/ Explain the role of situational and
  dispositional factors in explaining behavior.
• Connect to the concept of attribution when
  explaining situational and dispositional factors
• Keep the definition short and to the point
• Present the SPE and use it to explain the
  importance of situational factors
• The SPE demonstrates the role of the situation,
  rather than dispositions in determining behavior!
  but the comery scales offer some interesting
  findings
• Dispositional factors Lau Russell, even
  Bowlbys work on social releasers was used
  effectively here
• Dont confuse the terms situational and
  dispositional
• Dont forget paragraphs and referring back to
  the question if your present a study for
  example what relevance does this have to the
  question make sure this is clear in your answer
• ANSWER THE QUESTION!

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SAQ 2 feedback

• Compare contrast two errors in attributions.
• FAE SSB get the definitions right
• Make sure you clearly address the command term
  and answer the question
• Use the language of comparing and contrasting,
  in comparison, however, on the other hand,
  similar to, different from
• Get the details of the studies right! Dont make
  things up
• Similarities (compare) Differences (contrast)
  you must refer to these in your answer!

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SAQ 2 feedback -play

• Discuss two errors in attributions.
• FAE SSB get the definitions right
• Discuss requires some evaluation
• Get the details of the studies right! Dont make
  things up
• Use culture in evaluation

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SAQ 3 feedback

• Evaluate social identity theory, making reference
  to relevant studies.
• Use several studies!
• The command term says evaluate so you must do
  that! strengths and limitations of the theory
• Zimbardo can also be used here

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2 SAQs..
1 SAQ.

• Evaluate social identity theory, making reference
  to relevant studies.

• Outline the role of situational and dispositional
  factors in explaining behavior.
• Compare and contrast two errors in attributions.

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1 SAQ.

• Evaluate social identity theory, making reference
  to relevant studies.

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3 SAQs

1. Explain the role of situational and
   dispositional factors in explaining behaviour.
2. Discuss two errors in attributions.
3. Evaluate social identity theory, making
   reference to relevant studies.

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3 SAQs

1. Explain the role of situational and
   dispositional factors in explaining behaviour.
2. Discuss two errors in attributions.
3. Evaluate social identity theory, making
   reference to relevant studies.