Decision Making

Question 1

Heuristics

Answer 1

Rules of thumb that are likely to provide the correct answer to a problem but are not foolproof.

Question 2

Availability heuristic

Answer 2

states that events that are more easily remembered are judged as being more probable than events that are less easily remembered (homicide vs. appendicitis deaths)

Question 3

Illusory correlations

Answer 3

occur when a correlation between two events appears to exist, but in reality there is no correlation or it is much weaker than it is assumed to be.

Question 4

Representativeness Heuristic

Answer 4

states that the probability that A is a member of class B can be determined by how well the properties of A resembles the properties we usually associate with class B.

Question 5

Base rate

Answer 5

relative proportion of different classes in the population (librarians vs. farmers)

Question 6

Conjunction rule

Answer 6

states that the probability of a conjunction of two events (A and B) cannot be higher than the probability of the single constituents (A alone or B alone).

Question 7

Law of large numbers

Answer 7

the larger the number of individuals that are randomly drawn from a population, the more representative the resulting group will be of the entire population.

Question 8

Myside bias

Answer 8

Tendency for people to generate and evaluate evidence and test their hypotheses in a way that is biased toward their own opinions and attitudes.

Question 9

Confirmation bias

Answer 9

Selectively looking for information that conforms to a hypothesis and overlooking information that argues against it.

Question 10

Utility

Answer 10

outcomes that achieve a person’s goals.

Question 11

Expected Utility Theory

Answer 11

People are basically rational

Question 12

Expected emotions

Answer 12

Emotions that people predict they will feel for a particular outcome. People believe that a loss will have a greater impact than a gain of the same size.

Question 13

Incidental emotions

Answer 13

Emotions not caused by having to make a decision; related to a person’s general disposition and feelings at the time.

Question 14

Status quo bias

Answer 14

the tendency to do nothing when faced with making a decision.

Question 15

Ultimatum game activates

Answer 15

Anterior insula when rejecting an offer, PFC when accepting or rejecting an offer.

Question 16

Syllogism

Answer 16

Two premises followed by a third statement called the conclusion.

Question 17

Validity

Answer 17

Whether the conclusion logically follows from the premises. Does not have to be true.

Question 18

Belief Bias

Answer 18

The tendency to think a syllogism is valid if its conclusion is believable. “Some students are irritable.”

Question 19

Mental Model

Answer 19

A specific situation represented in a person’s mind that can be used to help determine the validity of syllogisms in deductive reasoning.

Question 20

Modus Ponens

Answer 20

First premise: if p then q
Second premise: p
Conclusion: therefore, q
Valid
"If I study, I'll get a good grade. I studied. Therefore, I'll get a good grade."

Question 21

Modus Tollens

Answer 21

1: If p then q
2: not q
Conclusion: therefore, not p
Valid

Question 22

Falsification principle

Answer 22

To test a rule, it is necessary to look for situations that would falsify the rule.

Question 23

Permission schema

Answer 23

If a person satisfies a specific condition, then he or she gets to carry out an action.

Question 24

Deductive Reasoning

Answer 24

Reasoning that involves syllogisms in which a conclusion logically follows from premises.

Question 25

Inductive Reasoning

Answer 25

Reasoning in which a conclusion follows from a consideration of evidence. Stated as probably true.

Question 26

Dual Systems Theory

Answer 26

Fast system: heuristics, emotions, framing effects

Slow system: deductive and inductive reasoning