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Related Concept Videos

Fundamental Attribution Error01:14

Fundamental Attribution Error

According to some social psychologists, people tend to overemphasize internal factors as explanations—or attributions—for the behavior of other people. They tend to assume that the behavior of another person is a trait of that person, and to underestimate the power of the situation on the behavior of others. They tend to fail to recognize when the behavior of another is due to situational variables, and thus to the person’s state. This erroneous assumption is called the fundamental attribution...
Theory of Attribution I: Correspondent Inference Theory01:15

Theory of Attribution I: Correspondent Inference Theory

Correspondent inference theory, proposed by Jones and Davis in 1965, seeks to explain how individuals infer stable personality traits from observed behaviors. It suggests that people attribute actions to underlying dispositions rather than external circumstances, particularly when the behavior appears intentional and socially significant.Voluntary Behavior and Dispositional AttributionAccording to this theory, individuals are more likely to attribute behavior to personal traits when it appears...
Attribution Theory00:56

Attribution Theory

Behavior is a product of both the situation (e.g., cultural influences, social roles, and the presence of bystanders) and of the person (e.g., personality characteristics). Subfields of psychology tend to focus on one influence or behavior over others. Situationism is the view that our behavior and actions are determined by our immediate environment and surroundings. In contrast, dispositionism holds that our behavior is determined by internal factors (Heider, 1958). An internal factor is an...
Attribution01:26

Attribution

In social interactions, individuals frequently seek to understand the motivations and causes behind others' behaviors. This fundamental aspect of social perception, known as attribution, plays a crucial role in shaping interpersonal relationships and guiding future actions. Attribution refers to the cognitive process through which people infer the reasons behind others' behaviors, allowing them to assess character traits, intentions, and situational influences.Attribution Theory and Its...
Correspondence Bias01:17

Correspondence Bias

Correspondence bias, also referred to as the fundamental attribution error, describes the tendency to attribute another person’s behavior to internal characteristics rather than situational influences. This cognitive bias leads individuals to overlook external factors that may be influencing actions, thereby fostering potentially inaccurate assessments of others’ intentions and dispositions.Empirical Evidence for Correspondence BiasResearch has consistently demonstrated the prevalence of...
Eyewitness Memory01:22

Eyewitness Memory

Eyewitness memory refers to the recollection of events by someone who has directly witnessed them, often serving as critical evidence in legal settings. This type of memory is commonly used in criminal cases where a witness describes details like a suspect's appearance, clothing, or behavior during a crime. However, despite its perceived reliability, eyewitness memory is prone to significant errors.
One such error is memory distortion, which occurs because human memory does not function like a...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Holistic Facial Composite Creation and Subsequent Video Line-up Eyewitness Identification Paradigm
09:49

Holistic Facial Composite Creation and Subsequent Video Line-up Eyewitness Identification Paradigm

Published on: December 24, 2015

Source misattributions may increase the accuracy of source judgments.

Keith B Lyle1, Marcia K Johnson

  • 1Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky 40292, USA. keith.lyle@louisville.edu

Memory & Cognition
|October 4, 2007
PubMed
Summary

Misattribution of memory sources can create false memories and also enhance true memories. This study shows how confusing seen and imagined details, like object shape and location, impacts memory accuracy.

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Holistic Facial Composite Creation and Subsequent Video Line-up Eyewitness Identification Paradigm
09:49

Holistic Facial Composite Creation and Subsequent Video Line-up Eyewitness Identification Paradigm

Published on: December 24, 2015

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Memory Research
  • Source Monitoring

Background:

  • Misattribution of memory sources is a known factor in false memory formation.
  • However, its role in accurate memory recall has been less explored.
  • The source-monitoring framework explains how individuals distinguish between internally generated and externally perceived information.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether misattribution processes influence accurate memories, not just false ones.
  • To examine how feature misattribution (e.g., shape, location) affects both true and false memory recall.
  • To test predictions derived from the source-monitoring framework regarding memory accuracy.

Main Methods:

  • Participants imagined drawings of objects in specific locations.
  • Experimental manipulation involved participants seeing similar objects in the same or different locations, or not seeing them.
  • Memory was tested for object origin (seen vs. imagined) and location accuracy.

Main Results:

  • Imagined objects prompted more false 'seen' responses when a similar object was previously seen in the same location.
  • Crucially, correct location memories for imagined objects also increased under these conditions.
  • This suggests feature misattribution can bolster accurate recall when the misattributed feature matches the target.

Conclusions:

  • Imperfect source-attribution processes contribute to both false and true memories.
  • Misattributing feature information from seen to imagined items can enhance memory accuracy for certain details.
  • Findings support the source-monitoring framework's explanation of memory's reconstructive nature.