attribution
Let an agent explain attribution as a cognitive and social process, relay attribution theory and biases from psychological sources, describe blame dynamics in organisations, and distinguish psychological attribution from scientific attribution such as climate attribution.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
Understand What attribution is.
Definition
Definition and theory.
Definition
Definition.
- What is attribution, and what do Heider, Kelley and Weiner theories say about how people explain behaviour? definition
- Is the question about psychological attribution, blame in practice or scientific attribution? boundary
Biases
Biases.
Biases
Biases.
- What are the fundamental attribution error, actor-observer difference and self-serving bias, with evidence attributed? provenance
- Which entry fits the specific bias? action
Blame Blame and responsibility.
Organisations
Blame in organisations.
Organisations
Organisations.
- How do blame cultures and just culture approaches affect safety and learning in organisations? provenance
- Which references are standard? provenance
Self
Self-blame.
Self
Self.
- What does research say about self-blame and its effects on wellbeing, in general terms? provenance
- Is the user describing distress, which may need support services? boundary
Science Scientific attribution.
Climate
Climate attribution.
Climate
Climate.
- How do scientists attribute observed warming and extreme events to causes, as the IPCC describes? provenance
- Which entry fits climate change attribution? action
Methods
Causal methods.
Methods
Methods.
- How does formal causal inference differ from everyday attribution? provenance
- Which sources are cited? provenance
Context Culture and law.
Culture
Cultural variation.
Culture
Culture.
- How does attribution vary across cultures, as research shows? provenance
- Which entry fits cross-cultural psychology? action
Law
Law and responsibility.
Law
Law.
- How do legal systems assign responsibility, and how does that relate to attribution? provenance
- Which entry fits legal responsibility? action
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Activities and processes
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- ACT
- Domain
- ACT.PRC
- Other names and narrower kinds
- blame, blame in organizations, self-blame, reprimand, causes of climate change
What it is Filled
The cognitive process of explaining the causes of events and behaviour, studied in social psychology as attribution theory, which describes how people infer dispositional or situational causes and fall into biases such as the fundamental attribution error and self-serving bias, and in practice as the assignment of responsibility, credit or blame, including blame in organisations, self-blame and reprimand; in science the term also names formal attribution of effects to causes, such as attributing observed climate change to human activity.
Why it exists Filled
Let an agent explain attribution as a cognitive and social process, relay attribution theory and biases from psychological sources, describe blame dynamics in organisations, and distinguish psychological attribution from scientific attribution such as climate attribution.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Causal explanation
- Dispositional versus situational
- Systematic biases
- Responsibility assignment
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Diagnose a person's character or motives from their behaviour in a single situation.
- Present attribution research findings as reliable predictions about an individual.
- Use attribution framing to blame victims for what happened to them.
- Apply attribution models to profile employees or customers without their knowledge.
Only with a human decision
- Using attribution analysis in hiring, discipline or clinical assessment of a person.
May
- Explain attribution theory and the documented biases such as the fundamental attribution error.
- Help a user examine how they are explaining an event, with the theory's limits stated.
Moral aspects Filled
- Explaining behaviour by character rather than circumstance is how blame falls on the vulnerable.
- Much of the research comes from narrow samples and does not generalise across cultures.
Who is affected
- People whose motives are judged
- Victims blamed for their situation
- Employees and students assessed
Owners Filled
Steward
Nobody owns the concept; psychology research bodies maintain the evidence base.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q781413 - registry parent class
related
- cognitive process - in registry terms
- attribution theory - within social psychology
- blame - when responsibility is assigned
- climate change attribution - in science
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.attribution
- Wikidata: Q900584 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q900584)
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
Plane ACT: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- Explaining causes of events and behaviour
- Dispositional and situational attribution, blame, self-blame, reprimand, climate attribution
- Causal inference in statistics is formal; authorship attribution identifies authors
- Not a visible object; judgements about causes.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- explain attribution theory
- relay biases
- describe blame in organisations
- distinguish scientific attribution
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Attribution biases leading to unfair blame
- Blame cultures suppressing error reporting
- Confusing psychological and scientific senses
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- No regulation of the process
- Just culture and disciplinary policies in organisations
- IPCC frameworks for detection and attribution
Context of use required Filled
- Not applicable; a cognitive process.
- dispositional and situational attribution
- attribution biases such as the fundamental attribution error, actor-observer and self-serving biases
- blame and credit assignment
- blame in organisations and just culture
- self-blame
- reprimand as a formal response
- scientific attribution such as detection and attribution of climate change
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q900584: attribution - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Attribution (psychology) - general description of the item
Open questions
- Should attribution theory and blame be separate primary entries?
- How should psychological references be linked?
- The registry entry has merged aliases including climate attribution; should it be split off?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q900584/spec.json