Reading assignment for April 10th 2007: "Chapter 04: Causal Attributions in Sport" (Cox, 2007, pp. 3-19)

Lecture Notes: Ch. 04 (Four slides per page, 7 pages)

Lecture Notes: Ch. 04 (Six slides per page, 5 pages)

Study Questions and Activities for Chapter IV

• Why did Fritz Heider describe attribution theory as common sense or "naive psychology?" Discribe an early attribution theory study and its results. What were the results of the short experiment we performed in class?
• Explain and provide an examples of the difference between locus of causality and locus of controlability.
• What important contributions were added by Bernard Weiner to Fritz Heider's basic formulation of the attributional model (be able to present each model and then compare between models).
• Is it possible to shift one's external locus of control to address problems with a more internal orientation? Explain and provide examples of steps to be followed. (hint: address the issue of learned helplessness or egocentrism)