Fundamental Attribution Error

When we see someone doing something, we tend to think it relates to

theirpersonality rather than the situation the person might be in. For example, if
someone cuts in front of you in line, your immediate reaction is, "This person is a
complete jerk!" But in reality, maybe he never cuts into lines and is doing it this
time only because he is about to miss his plane, the one hes taking to be with his
great aunt, who is on the verge of death.
Self-serving bias refers to a bias that exists when positive outcomes are seen as a
function of personal characteristics while negative outcomes are attributed to
external circumstances. In a classroom setting, a student who received a good
grade in a class might be tempted to attribute this outcome to his or her own
intelligence or exceptional work ethic. On the other hand, a poor-performing student
might blame course testing procedures or the quality of education provided by the
instructor.
Anchoring and adjustment bias refers to the tendency for individuals to rely too
heavily on arbitrary numbers, irrelevant traits, or facts when making decisions. Job
seekers often fall into this trap by focusing on a desired salary while ignoring other
aspects of the job offer, such as additional benefits, fit with the job, and working
environment. Similarly, but more dramatically, lives were lost in the Great Bear
Wilderness disaster when the coroner declared all five passengers of a small plane
dead within five minutes of arriving at the accident scene. This halted the search
effort for potential survivors when, in fact, two survivors walked out of the forest the
next day. How could a mistake like this have been made? One theory is that
decision biases played a large role in this serious error; anchoring on the fact that
the plane had been consumed by flames led the coroner to call off the search for
any possible survivors. [1]
Need for closure refers to a motivated need for certainty. Jumping-to-conclusions
bias refers to the gathering of minimal data when making overconfident
probabilistic judgments. . Artifi- cially declaring a decision, such as the end date of a
project, doesnt remove the inherent uncertainty; it just masks it.
Confirmation bias
The confirmation bias refers to the tendency to selectively search for and
consider information that confirms one's beliefs. An employer who believes
that a job applicant is highly intelligent may pay attention to only information that is
consistent with the belief that the job applicant is highly intelligent.
Exposure effect
We tend to prefer things just because they are familiar. This includes tools,
techniques, or methods that arent working well anymore or that are even actively
causing harm. ajonc conducted four experiments, each of which provided
overwhelming to strong support for the hypothesis that mere repeated exposure of
an individual to a stimulus object enhances his or her attitude toward it. For
example, in experiment #3, subjects were shown nonsense symbols that resembled
Chinese characters. Each character was shown from 025 times. The subjects were

then asked to rate how they felt about each character. Eleven out of twelve times,
the character was liked better when it was in the high frequency category
Hawthorne effect
Researchers have noticed that people have a tendency to change their behaviors
when they know they are being studied. Youll see this when you introduce a new
practice or a new tool on a team. At first, while everyone is watchingand everyone
knows they are being watchedresults look great. Discipline is high, and the
excitement of something new fuels the effort. But then the novelty wears off, the
spotlight moves away, and everyone slides inexorably back to previous behaviors.
False memory Its actually pretty easy for your brain to confuse imagined events
with real memories. Were susceptible to the power of suggestion; as we saw
earlier, memory isnt written to some static store in the brain. Instead, its an active
processso much so that every read is a write. Your memories are constantly
rewritten in light of your current context: age, experience, worldview, focus, and so
on. That incident at your sixth birthday party? It probably didnt happen that way,
and it may not have happened at all.
Symbolic reduction fallacy As we saw earlier, L-mode is anxious to provide a
quick symbol to represent a complex object or system, which loses at least the
nuances and sometimes even the truth of the matter. Nominal fallacy A kind of
symbolic reduction problem; this is the idea that labeling a thing means you can
explain it or understand it. But a label is just that; and naming alone does not offer
any useful understanding. Oh, hes ADHD doesnt enhance understanding any
more than Shes a Republican or Theyre from Elbonia.
Emotional intelligence is the something in each of us that is a bit intangible. It
affects how we manage behavior, navigate social complexities, and make personal
decisions that achieve positive results. Emotional intelligence is made up of four
core skills that pair up under two primary competencies: personal competence and
social competence
ersonal competence is made up of your self-awareness and
self-management skills, which focus more on you individually
than on your interactions with other people. Personal
competence is your ability to stay aware of your emotions and

manage your behavior and

tendencies.
Self-Awareness is your ability to accurately perceive
your emotions and stay aware of them as they happen.
Self-Management is your ability to use awareness of
your emotions to stay flexible and positively direct your
behavior.
Social competence is made up of your social awareness and
relationship management skills; social competence is your
ability to understand other peoples moods, behavior, and
motives in order to improve the quality of your relationships.
Social Awareness is your ability to accurately pick up on
emotions in other people and understand what is really
going on.
Relationship Management is your ability to use
awareness of your emotions and the others emotions
to manage interactions successfully.
Personality Types
Extrovert
Act first, think/reflect later
Feel deprived when cutoff from interaction with
the outside world
Usually open to and motivated by outside world
of people and things
Enjoy wide variety and change in people and
relationships
Introvert
Think/reflect first, then Act
Regularly require an amount of private time to
recharge batteries

Motivated internally, mind is sometimes so active

it is closed to the outside world
Prefer one-to-one communication and
relationships
Sensing
Mentally live in the Now, attending to present
opportunities
Use common sense and creating practical
solutions is automatic-instinctual
Best improvise from past experience
Like clear and concrete information; dislike
guessing when facts are fuzzy

Ntuitive

Mentally live in the Future; attending to future

possibilities
Using imagination and creating/inventing new
possibilities is automatic-instinctual
Best improvise from theoretical understanding
Comfortable with ambiguous, fuzzy data and with
guessing its meaning
Thinking
Instinctively search for facts and logic in a
decision situation
Naturally notices tasks and work to be
accomplished
Easily able to provide an objective and critical
analysis
Accept conflict as a natural, normal part of
relationships with people
Feeling
Instinctively employ personal feelings and impact
on people in decision situations
Naturally sensitive to people needs and reactions
Naturally seek consensus and popular opinions
Unsettled by conflict; have almost a toxic
reaction to disharmony
Judging
Plan many of the details in advance before
moving into action
Focus on task-related action; complete
meaningful segments before moving on

Work best and avoid stress when able to keep

ahead of deadlines
Naturally use targets, dates, and standard
routines to manage life
Perceiving
Comfortable moving into action without a plan;
plan on-the-go
Like to multitask, have a variety, mix work and
play
Naturally tolerant of time pressure; work best
close to deadlines
Instinctively avoid commitments which interfere
with flexibility, freedom, and variety

piritual Intelligence (SQ)

SQ may be defined as: The ability to behave with wisdom and compassion, while
maintaining inner and outer peace, regardless of the situation. Wisdom and
compassion being the pillars of SQ.

Deeper understanding of ones own world view, life purpose, value hierarchy
and controlling personal ego to consider the higher self.

Self-mastery of ones spiritual growth, living your purpose, values and vision,
sustaining faith in and seeking guidance from a higher power.

Universal awareness of world view of others, limitations and power of human

perception, awareness of spiritual laws and transcendental oneness

Social Mastery/Spiritual Presence: wise and effective mentor of spiritual

principles; leadership change agent; making wise and compassionate
decisions; and being aligned with the ebb and flow of life.

Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

Daniel Goleman, writing in What Makes A Leader, says that his findings have shown
that the most effective leaders all have a high degree of Emotional Intelligence (EQ).
The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) says EQ is associated with better
performance in nine different areas of leadership and management. Golemans
research clearly shows that EQ is the sine qua non absolute requirement of
leadership.

Learn principles and practices for improvements in Self-Awareness and SelfManagement: self-confidence; self-control; adaptability; initiative.

Becoming more socially: empathetic; service orientation to others and the

organization.

Relationship Management: inspirational leadership practices; change

management; conflict resolution skills; teamwork building techniques.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

Life-long learning is widely regarded as the increase in the intellectual level IQ of
everyone wishing to improve ones mind, professional expertise, and position in life. IQ
contributes significantly to the personal wisdom one attains throughout the maturing
process.
Henri Bergson, in his book Creative Evolution reminds us: To exist is to change, to
change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly. Continuing
education is a never-ending process in raising ones intellectual level, i.e. IQ.
Life-long learning is widely regarded as the increase in the intellectual level IQ of
everyone wishing to improve ones mind, professional expertise, and position in life. IQ
contributes significantly to the personal wisdom one attains throughout the maturing
process.

Enrolling in classes of higher learning, obtaining a second degree, technical

expertise improvement classes.

Research intellectual topics such as philosophy, religion, symbolism,

leadership, psychology.

Surrounding yourself with people or organizations where life-long learning

exists.

This has been regarded as the key building clock in learning over a number of years but
the importance of both EQ and at the moment to a lesser extent SQ and PQ have had
lower profiles. This is however changing quickly in order to meet changing needs in
succeeding generations and their needs and desires.

Physical Intelligence (PQ)

Ability to listen, identify and respond to internal messages about ones

physical self. Pain, hunger, depression, fatigue and frustration are examples.

Learn about and understand the mind body connection. For instance:
stomach telling mind it is time to stop eating; understanding the difference
between the internal voice of wants vs. needs; the bodies need for exercise
when we want to be lethargic.

Determining our bodys perfect weight, fitness level and perfect diet.

All children have unique learning styles. Students gain strong benefits when their teachers and Learning
Coaches recognize their strengths and weaknesses as learners. Howard Gardner, a psychologist and professor of
neuroscience at Harvard, developed one theory in 1983. Gardner defines intelligence not as an IQ but, rather, as
the skills that enable anyone to gain new knowledge and solve problems.

Gardner proposed that there are several different types of intelligences, or learning styles.
1.

Verbal-Linguistic (Word Smart) People who possess this learning style learn best through reading,
writing, listening, and speaking. Verbal students absorb information by engaging with reading materials and by
discussing and debating ideas.

2.

Logical-Mathematical (Logic Smart) Those who exhibit this type of intelligence learn by classifying,
categorizing, and thinking abstractly about patterns, relationships, and numbers.

3.

Visual-Spatial (Picture Smart) These people learn best by drawing or visualizing things using the minds
eye. Visual people learn the most from pictures, diagrams, and other visual aids.

4.

Auditory-Musical (Music Smart) Students who are music smart learn using rhythm or melody, especially
by singing or listening to music.

5.

Bodily-Kinesthetic (Body Smart) Body-smart individuals learn best through touch and movement. These
people are best at processing information through the body. Sometimes kinesthetic learners work best
standing up and moving rather than sitting still.

6.

Interpersonal (People Smart) Those who are people smart learn through relating to others by sharing,
comparing, and cooperating. Interpersonal learners can make excellent group leaders and team players.

7.

Intrapersonal (Self Smart) Intrapersonal-intelligent people learn best by working alone and setting
individual goals. Intrapersonal learners are not necessarily shy; they are independent and organized.

8.

Naturalistic (Nature Smart) Naturalistics learn by working with nature. Naturalistic students enjoy learning
about living things and natural events. They may excel in the sciences and be very passionate about
environmental issues.

Combinations of the different types of intelligence abound. A hiker fascinated by birdsongs might have strong
auditory-musical and naturalistic intelligences, supplemented by bodily-kinesthetic intelligence. The neighbor skilled
in solving puzzles and discerning patterns may combine logical-mathematical intelligence with visual-spatial
intelligence.
All of these learning styles indicate different ways of interacting with the world. Everyone has some degree of each,
but each person favors certain learning styles. This is significant because when your child prefers one learning style
over another, it affects his or her success.
Imagine that your child is tackling a written essay or report. Have him or her consider different methods by taking
advantage of his or her strongest learning style:
Logical-Mathematical Use a graphic organizer such as a web or story map to categorize and organize thoughts
before writing. An outline is a written version of a graphic organizer.
Visual-Spatial Draw or design the subject of the piece, and then write or create the written draft. Details in the
drawing will lead to details in the writing.
Auditory-Musical Listen to background music to block out other, distracting sounds. Hum. Chant. I have a
sneaking suspicion that Dr. Seuss, with his talent for rhythm and meter and rhyme, was an auditory learner.
Finding, recognizing, and valuing different combinations of multiple intelligences is a key to applying these skills
effectively. Sometimes an intrapersonal learner and an interpersonal learner working together will be in conflict. But
when both step back and consider their differing outlooks, they may find that theyre both headed for the same result;
theyre just taking different paths to arrive at the goal. After graduation, professionals such as these two learners
might team up to create or advance a new, successful idea!

If you want to learn more about your childs learning preferences, have him or her take this online learning style test.
Armed with the results of the test, sit down with your student and discuss some new study tactics that take advantage
of his or her strengths. Note, however, that scores in multiple intelligences are fluid; they change and grow over a
lifetime of living and learning. None are carved in stone.
What are some good tips for making the most of your students or your own learning style? Share your ideas in the
comments below