When Ainslie did poorly on the physics midterm exam, she blamed her low score on the unfair exam and the lousy professor. But when the final grades in the course were curved and she received an A-, she concluded that she had a real talent and mental capacity for logical scientific thinking. This example illustrates the

Self-serving bias

Explanation:

In psychology, the self-serving bias refers to the tendency people have to attribute positive events to their own character (internal factor) but attribute negative events to external factors.

In this example, Ainslie did poorly on the physics exam (negative event) and she blamed her score on the unfair exam and the professor (external factors).

However, when she received an A - (positive event) she concluded that she had a real talent and mental capacity for logical thinking (internal factors).

Thus, this example is illustrating the self-serving bias.