PHIL 210 Study Guide - Final Guide: Fundamental Attribution Error, Sharpening, Social Cognition

• School: Concordia University
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHIL 210
• Professor: Meghant Sudan

Document Summary

Bandwagon effect: joining in with popular beliefs, opinions or attitudes; the tendency for our beliefs to shift toward the beliefs we take to be widely held by those around us. False consensus effect: the tendency to incorrectly assume that other people are in agreement with one"s own opinions and beliefs, or at least to pay little notice to the discrepancies between their viewpoints and one"s own. Fundamental attribution error: a bias in favour of explaining someone"s situation or behaviour in terms of that individual"s personality, character or disposition while overlooking explanations in terms of context, accidents or the environment more generally. Leveling: the process through which the elements of a story that are perceived as minor or less central tend to get minimized or omitted over successive retellings. Sharpening: enhancing certain details in a story, or changing the significance or connotation of aspects of it, with the result that the story becomes exaggerated and less accurate over successive retellings.