Bias Flashcards
What is the connection between CAI and bias?
- important to have a transparent and logical process for bother assessment and interpretation
- we need info to determine LR and need info to ascend hierarchy of propositions
- information conveyed incorrectly may bias opinion
- CAI requires choices in both components and if conducted incorrectly then these choices may introduce bias
What is a key requirement of the forensic science regulators codes of practice and conduct for forensic science providers and practitioners (the codes) ?
- is that they act with honesty, integrity, objectivity, impartiality
What are seven types of categories of cognitive bias
1 - expectation bias
2 - confirmation bias
3 - anchoring effects
4 - contextual bias
5 - role effects
6 - motivational bias
7 - reconstructive effects
expectation bias
- experimenters bias
- where expectation of what an individual will find affects what is actually found
confirmation bias
- closely related to expectation bias
- whereby people test hypotheses by looking for confirming evidence rather than for potentially conflicting evidence
anchoring effects
- focalism
- occurs when an individual relies too heavily on an initial piece of information when making subsequent judgements, which are then interpreted on the basis of the anchor
contextual bias
- where someone has other information aside from that being considered, which influences (either consciously or subconsciously) the outcome of the consideration
role effects
- where scientists identify themselves within adversarial judicial systems as part of either prosecution/defence teams
- this may introduce subconscious bias that can influence decisions, especially where some ambiguity exists
motivational bias
- occurs where for example motivational influence on decision making results in information consistent with a favoured conclusion tending to be subject to a lower level of scrutiny than information that may support a less favoured outcome
reconstructive effects
- can occur when people rely on memory rather than taking contemporaneous notes
- in this case people tend subsequently to fill in gaps with what they believe should have happened
- so may be influenced by protocol requirements when recalling events some time later from memory
What are 14 other types of bias?
1 - overconfidence
2 - recency
3 - salience
4 - availability heuristic
5 - bandwagon effect (groupthink)
6 - blind spot bias
7 - choice supportive bias
8 - clustering illusion
9 - conservatism bias
10 - information bias
11 - ostrich effect
12 - outcome bias
13 - selective perception
14 - survivorship bias
overconfidence
- some of us are too confident about our abilities and this causes us to take greater risks
- experts are more prone to this bias than laypeople since they are more convinced that they are right
recency
- tendency to weigh the latest information more heavily than older data
salience
- tendency to focus on easily recognisable features of the situation or concept
availability bias
- people who overestimate the important of information available to them
bandwagon effect (groupthink)
- probability of one person adopting a belief increases based on number of people who hold that belief
blind spot bias
- failing to recognise your own cognitive biases is a bias in itself
choice supportive bias
- when one chooses something which we tend to feel positive about
clustering illusion
- tendency to see patterns in random events
conservativism bias
- where people favour prior evidence over new evidence or information that has emerged
information bias
- tendency to seek information when it does not affect action
- more information is not always better
ostrich effect
- decision to ignore a dangerous or negative information by burying ones head in the sand
outcome bias
- judging decisions are based on the outcome rather than exactly how the decision was made
selective perception
- allowing out expectations to influence how we perceive events