01b_Heuristics & Cognitive Errors and Biases

Question 1

Heuristics

Overview

Answer 1

Mental shortcuts / Rules-of-thumb

Speed of judgment decreases accuracy

Question 2

Representativeness Heuristic

Answer 2

Categorizing someone based on how representative or similar they are to that category

Ignores base rate data

Question 3

Availability Heuristic

Answer 3

Belief in increased likelihood of event when information about the event is easier to remember
(how available the info is in memory)

Increased by number and salience of examples recalled from LTM

Question 4

Simulation Heuristic

Answer 4

The easier something is to envision (mental simulation), the more one believes it is likely to happen

Question 5

Olympic athletes who win the silver medal appear to be less happy about their win than those win the bronze medal.

Which heuristic is linked to this phenomenon?

Answer 5

Simulation Heuristic

i.e., It is easier for silver medalists to imagine winning the gold (compared to bronze medalists)

Question 6

Anchoring and Adjustment Heuristic

Answer 6

An initial value (anchor) is used as the basis is is used as the basis for making a judgment or estimate

Subsequent adjustments up or down are made using that starting value (anchor)

Question 7

Cognitive Errors and Biases:

Base Rate Fallacy

Answer 7

Reliance on case-specific information instead of base rate data when estimating the likelihood of an event or characteristic

Question 8

Considerations/ Research that raises doubts about

Base Rate Fallacy

Answer 8

People do not ignore base rates as often as research suggests

BRF is a combo of representativeness or availability heuristic, not it’s own phenomenon

Question 9

Confirmation Bias

Answer 9

Attentional bias toward info that confirms one’s beliefs
+
Ignoring/invalidating info that does not

Question 10

Confirmation bias:

Related phenomena

Answer 10

Paranormal beliefs

Hypochondriasis

Paranoia

Persistence of stereotypes

Question 11

Illusory Correlation

Answer 11

Belief in a connection between 2 unrelated variables

Question 12

Possible explanations of Illusory Correlation

Answer 12

Result of schema that links the two variables

Evolutionary survival value of identifying causal patterns

Question 13

False Consensus Effect

Answer 13

Overestimation of the degree to which the views, opinions, and behaviors of others are similar to our own

Question 14

Gamblers’s Fallacy

Answer 14

Belief that likelihood of a particular chance event is affected by the occurrence of previous events

*There is actually no relationship between the events

e. g. a gambler who hasn’t won in awhile and thinks “I’m due for a win” even though the odds are exactly the same