Sarah has been a faithful member of your study group all semester.But tonight,she not only didn't show up,but she couldn't be reached on her cell phone.You remembered that her father has been seriously ill and inferred that Sarah probably had to rush home to tend to him.Which process of perceptual organization and interpretation did you use in arriving at this conclusion?

A) impression formation
B) implicit personality theory
C) attribution theory
D) use of personal constructs

Attribution theory involves making inferences about the causes of other people's behavior, so it is the most relevant process used in this scenario. The fact that Sarah's father has been seriously ill is a potential cause for her absence, and you inferred that this cause may have been responsible for her behavior. Implicit personality theory involves making assumptions about someone's traits based on limited information, impression formation involves forming an overall impression of a person based on a variety of characteristics, and use of personal constructs involves individualized categories used to make sense of the world. While these processes may also be used in some capacity to understand Sarah's behavior, they are not as directly applicable as attribution theory.