11: During class, a debate was held regarding the ethics of
  the Stanford Prison Study.  Results of the demonstration generally
  showed that

   A: observers successfully identified the debaters' true attitudes every
    time

    Incorrect.
In section, group 1 was assigned to argue that the prison study was ethical, group 2 was assigned to argue that the prison study was unethical, and the rest of the class was given the task of observing the debate to ascertain the true attitude of the members of groups 1 and 2.  The class did not successfully identify the debater's attitudes every time.  In fact, they believed that the debaters actually believed the positions they were arguing.  They believed this, even though the members were assigned to the groups randomly (e.g. equal chance of being chosen for groups 1 and 2), and in doing so, committed the fundamental attribution error, which is overestimating dispositional causes (e.g., person in group 1 believes the Stanford Prison Study was ethical)  of a behavior, and underestimating situational causes (e.g., person in group 1 was assigned to argue that the Stanford Prison Study was ethical).  Since members of the observer group (the class) did commit this error, answer A is not correct.
 
 

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