Lecture 11 - Cognitive Bias

Question 1

What is bias?

Answer 1

prejudiced or unsupported judgements in favour of or against one thing, person, or group as compared to another, in a way that is usually considered unfair

Question 2

What are heuristics?

Answer 2

approximate strategies or ‘rules of thumb’ for decision making and problem solving that do not guarantee a correct solution but that typically yield a reasonable solution or bring one closer to hand

Question 3

What are the 3 initial heuristics - Tversky & Kahneman 1973?

Answer 3

1. representativeness = when people make decisions based on categories that are similar to them
2. availability = the ease which an idea can be recalled
3. anchoring & adjustment = when individuals depend too heavily on some initial information (i.e. an anchor) in making decision

Question 4

What is a schema?

Answer 4

a mental framework that bundles knowledge together in an organised way i.e. categories

Question 5

What is an attitude?

Answer 5

• an association between a category and an evaluative valence e.g. a gut feeling
• based on schemas
• can be implicit or explicit
• can be developed through direct interaction or vicarious contact

Question 6

Cognitive biases - fundamental attribution error?

Answer 6

‘The tendency for attributions to underestimate the impact of situational factors and to overestimate the role of dispositional factors in controlling behaviour’ - Ross 1977

Question 7

Cognitive bias - intergroup bias?

Answer 7

• social identity = an individuals self concept derived from perceived membership in relevant social groups
• the status of the group is determined by social comparison with out-groups
• when the in-group has a higher status than the out-group this reflects positively on the group members self concept
• individuals want to feel good about themselves, therefore they tend to favour their in-group and discriminate against their out-group

Question 8

What are some other cognitive biases?

Answer 8

• the halo effect = the tendency for an impression created about one aspect of an individual to influence opinions on other areas
• gamblers fallacy = belief that past results influence future random events
• hot hand fallacy = mistaken belief that a person who experiences success has a greater chance of success in further attempts
• confirmation bias = the tendency to seek, interpret and create information that verifies existing beliefs
• false-uniqueness effect = the tendency to view one’s own qualities, traits and personal attributes as unique

Question 9

What is the Dunning-Kruger effect?

Answer 9

• people are very inclined to view themselves as more competent than they are
• those with the least ability are the most likely to overrate their skills
• poor performers lack the expertise needed to realise how badly they’re doing

Question 10

What is the implicit association test (IAT)?

Answer 10

• it isn’t literally measuring bias, it measures reaction time
• the quicker your able to sort different words/ images the quicker your association is
• has found that 80% of people have a bias for age, 69% have for weight, 68% have for race and 76% have for disability

Question 11

Criticisms of the IAT?

Answer 11

• criticised for being ambiguous over whether it’s measuring state vs trait bias
• can be strongly effected by the environment
  -> low test-retest reliability
• questioned if it is measuring bias or cultural awareness
• no evidence that a high bias score on this test has any impact on real life behaviour in the real world

Question 12

Bias in organisations?

Answer 12

• organisations need to become practical and focus on the things they can control
• they should design procedures and structures to minimize how often biases can affect decision making

Question 13

Kahneman’s dual process theory?

Answer 13

• The brain receives 11,000,000 bits of information per sec but we are only capable of processing 40 bits consciously
• So we rely on heuristics and stereotypes to navigate the world and dominate our social interactions
• System 1 = fast, unconscious, automatic, everyday decisions, error prone
• System 2 = slow, conscious, effortful, complex decisions, reliable

Question 14

Bias and neuropsychology?

Answer 14

• The amygdala is one of the ‘oldest’ parts of the brain, it controls emotion
• Using FMRI we know that it reacts differently when seeing demographically different people
• This isn’t rationale or conscious