fundamental attribution error - 2025 ACF Regionals

Tossup

Philip E. Tetlock authored a “social check” on this phenomenon, which was eliminated in an experiment centering on affirmative action. Thomas Pettigrew extended this phenomenon to an “ultimate” type for in- and out-groups. (10[1]-5[1])In an experiment demonstrating this phenomenon, students (-5[1])rated a quizmaster’s knowledge (-5[1])as “above average” despite being selected randomly. (-5[3])Lee Ross coined this phenomenon’s (10[2])name in an essay discussing how people believed individuals assigned (-5[1])to write pro-Castro essays (-5[1])were actually pro-Castro. (10[3]-5[2])This (10[2])cognitive bias (10[1]-5[1])under-emphasizes (10[1]-5[1])situational explanations (10[3]-5[1])and overemphasizes trait-based explanations (10[1]-5[1])for an actor’s behavior. (10[1])For 10 points, (-5[1])identify (-5[1])this “error” named (10[1])in part for (-5[1])the process (10[1])in which people infer causes (-5[1])for behaviors. ■END■ (10[7]0[16])

ANSWER: fundamental attribution error [or FAE; accept correspondence bias; prompt on attribution]

= Average correct buzz position

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Buzzes

Player	Team	Opponent	Position	Value
Michał Gerasimiuk	Stanford B	Purdue	32	10
Shiv Seshan	Cambridge B	Manchester	32	-5
Albert Nyang	LSE	Cambridge A	39	-5
Nathan Sheffield	MIT A	Harvard A	43	-5
Alex Akridge	Indiana A	Chicago A	50	-5
Russell Nip	UBC	UW B	50	-5
Eshan Pant	NYU A	Penn B	50	-5
Joseph Chambers	Virginia A	UNC B	55	10
Michael Hunding	Illinois A	Illinois B	55	10
Liam Starnes	Chicago B	WashU B	65	-5
Noah Chen	Columbia B	Maryland B	69	-5
Trenton Burgess	Indiana B	Missouri S&T	72	10
Christopher Sims	Northwestern A	Iowa	72	10
Ben Horning	Georgetown B	Notre Dame B	72	-5
Yaj Jhajhria	UW B	UBC	72	10
William Orr	Yale A	Cornell B	72	-5
Charles Hang	WashU A	Missouri	73	10
Eugenia Tong	Imperial B	NYU C	73	10
Eveline Ong	Oxford A	Imperial A	75	10
Sam Macchi	Vassar A	NYU B	75	-5
Jacob Puthipiroj	Northwestern B	Notre Dame A	76	-5
Cormac Stephenson	Southampton A	Oxford B	76	10
Alice Ton Nu	UW A	Alberta	78	-5
Sinecio Morales	Johns Hopkins A	Haverford A	78	10
Isaac Mammel	Maryland A	Penn A	78	10
Derek Chen	Columbia C	Rutgers A	78	10
Braeden LaRoche	South Carolina	William & Mary	82	-5
Michael Wu	Southampton B	Bristol	82	10
Linus Luu	Cambridge D	Warwick A	86	10
Koji Bilbao	Duke	Liberty C	89	-5
James McCurley	Harvard B	Tufts A	90	-5
Philip Yao	Brown A	Brandeis B	93	10
Sriram Koritala	Illinois C	Chicago D	96	-5
Orion Keller	Virginia Tech A	Wake Forest	98	10
Eren Michelet	BU	UMass Boston	103	-5
Caleb Hines	Liberty A	UNC C	106	0
Miller Doerr	Liberty B	UNC D	106	0
Chris Yoo	William & Mary	South Carolina	106	10
Neal Joshi	WashU B	Chicago B	106	10
Ned Tagtmeier	Chicago A	Indiana A	106	10
Joy An	Harvard A	MIT A	106	10
Ethan Siskel	Tufts A	Harvard B	106	0
Jacob Finley	Notre Dame A	Northwestern B	106	0
Noah McRedmond	Notre Dame B	Georgetown B	106	0
Kai Madgwick	Manchester	Cambridge B	106	0
Tobin Payne	Warwick B	Cambridge E	106	0
Louis Cameron	Cambridge E	Warwick B	106	0
Agnijo Banerjee	Cambridge A	LSE	106	10
Benjamin Watson	Oxford C	Durham	106	0
Adam Iqbal	Durham	Oxford C	106	0
Freddy Potts	Sheffield	Cambridge C	106	0
Arvin Boraghi	Cambridge C	Sheffield	106	0
Kevin Liu	Maryland B	Columbia B	106	0
Nathan Zhang	Cornell B	Yale A	106	10
Peter Lutz	George Washington B	Haverford B	106	0
Sasha Wertime	Haverford B	George Washington B	106	0
Zaid Asif	NYU B	Vassar A	106	10
Zachary Leblang	Penn B	NYU A	106	0

Summary

Tournament	Edition	TUH	Conv. %	Neg %	Average Buzz
Lower Mid-Atlantic	2025-02-01	6	50%	33%	86.33
Midwest	2025-02-01	6	83%	50%	82.40
Northeast	2025-02-01	4	50%	75%	99.50
Overflow	2025-02-01	4	50%	50%	52.00
Pacific Northwest	2025-02-01	2	50%	100%	72.00
UK	2025-02-01	10	60%	20%	83.00
Upper Mid-Atlantic	2025-02-01	8	63%	50%	89.20