How the mind explains behavior : folk explanations, meaning, and social interaction / Bertram F. Malle.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Malle, Bertram F., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Attribution (Social psychology).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (viii, 314 pages)

Other Title:

MIT Press CogNet.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts : The MIT Press, [2004]

System Details:

text file

Summary:

In this provocative monograph, Bertram Malle describes behavior explanations as having a dual nature-as being both cognitive and social acts-and proposes a comprehensive theoretical model that integrates the two aspects. When people try to understand puzzling human behavior, they construct behavior explanations, which are a fundamental tool of social cognition. But, Malle argues, behavior explanations exist not only in the mind; they are also overt verbal actions used for social purposes. When people explain their own behavior or the behavior of others, they are using the explanation to manage a social interaction-by offering clarification, trying to save face, or casting blame. Malle's account makes clear why these two aspects of behavior explanation exist and why they are closely linked; along the way, he illustrates the astonishingly sophisticated and subtle patterns of folk behavior explanations.

Malle reviews traditional attribution theories and their simplified portrayal of behavior explanation and argues that a more realistic portrayal must be grounded in the nature, function, and origins of the folk theory of mind-the conceptual framework underlying people's grasp of human behavior and its connection to the mind. Malle presents a theory of behavior explanations and applies this folk-conceptual theory to a number of questions. Finally, he highlights the strengths of the folk-conceptual theory of explanation over traditional attribution theory and points to future research applications.

Contents:

1 History: Past Research on Attribution and Behavior Explanation 5

1.1 Attribution as Perception: Heider 6

1.2 Attribution as Trait Inference: Jones and Davis 12

1.3 Attribution as Causal Judgment: Kelley 15

1.4 Subsequent Attribution Research 20

1.5 Desiderata for a Theory of Behavior Explanation 26

2 Foundation: The Folk Theory of Mind and Behavior 29

2.1 What a Folk Theory Is (and Is Not) 30

2.2 Function and Dysfunction of Theory of Mind 36

2.3 The Developing Framework of Mind and Behavior 42

2.4 Evolutionary Origins 47

2.6 Precis: Behavior Explanations within a Theory of Mind 60

3 Origins: Why and When People Explain Behavior 63

3.1 Finding Meaning 64

3.2 Managing Interactions 69

3.3 When Do People Explain Behavior? A Theory of Wondering Why 72

3.4 Which Behavioral Events People Explain 75

4 Conceptual Structure: A Theory of Behavior Explanations I 83

4.1 Three Layers of Theory 85

4.2 Conceptual Structure 85

4.3 Comparison and Integration with Other Theories 112

4.4 Meaning Reconsidered 116

5 Psychological Construction: A Theory of Behavior Explanations II 117

5.1 Explanations as Shopping: An Analogy 118

5.2 Psychological Determinants of Explanatory Choices 121

5.3 Cognitive Processes Involved in Selecting Specific Explanations 126

6 Behavior Explanations in Language and Communication 147

6.1 Explanations and "Implicit Verb Causality" 148

6.2 Explanations as Communicative Acts 153

6.3 Impression Management 155

7 Explaining Behavior of Self and Other 173

7.1 Actor-Observer Asymmetries in How Behaviors Are Explained 175

7.2 Intentional or Unintentional? 176

7.3 Reasons or Causal Histories of Reasons? 177

7.4 What Type of Reason? 181

7.5 Add a Mental State Marker? 183

7.6 Trait or Not? 185

7.7 Person Cause or Situation Cause? 188

8 Explaining Behavior of Individuals and Groups 193

8.1 Social Perception of Groups 195

8.2 Aggregate and Jointly Acting Groups 198

8.3 Differences between Individual and Group Behavior Explanations 201

8.4 The Social Function of Group Behavior Explanations 208

9 Looking Back and Ahead 219

9.1 Functions of Explanations: Meaning and Interaction Management 219

9.2 The Magic of a Theory of Mind 222

9.3 The Folk-Conceptual Theory of Explanation and Attribution Theory 225

9.4 Open Theoretical Questions 229

9.5 Research Applications 232.

Notes:

"A Bradford book."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 265-305) and index.

Description based on print version record.

Other Format:

Print version: Malle, Bertram F. How the mind explains behavior.

ISBN:

9780262278935

0262278936

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.