Chapter 2: Sources of Information

Question 1

Research vs Experience example

Answer 1

• Her sister told her “Listening is the same as reading and speaking is the same as writing.”- experience
• However, according to research, it is more effortful to read and write than to speak. Also, each uses different areas of the brain. Plus, 1/3 of languages don’t even have writing

Question 2

What are characteristics of research vs experience

Answer 2

• research is the best thing for determing fact from fiction
• but, experience is more memorable than research results

Question 3

Research vs experience example (systematic comparison)

Answer 3

• research allows for systematic comparison- allows to test cause and effect of a specific claim
• For example, there is a claim that it’s good to hit a pillow when you are angry. This may match your experience, but actually proven wrong by Bushman (2002)

Question 4

Bushman 2002

Answer 4

• Question: Does hitting something/venting after being angered reduce anger?
• Methods: 600 participants wrote an essay. Confederate (secret reserach assistant working for lab) tells them its no good. Then participants assigned to 3 groups
• Groups: 1. Sit quietly for 2 minutes. 2. Punch a punching bag “for exercise” for 2 minutes 3. Punch a punching bag while imagining the confederate’s face for 2 minutes
• Results: Everyone was then given a chance to get back at the confederate- group 3 was most aggressive

Question 5

Intuition is often biased

Answer 5

• Humans are very good at some things and very bad at others, such as:
• probability/frequency
• we remember certain types of things better than others-memory is not very accurate
• more likely to remember things that confirm our beliefs

Question 6

Availability heuristic

Answer 6

• things that pop to mind tend to guide our thinking
• vivid/emotionally laden experiences come to mind more and influence thinking and behavior
• ex. Purdue football

Question 7

Experience is often confounded

Answer 7

• Joining a weight loss study/program is the best way to lose weight bc we change our behavior when we are being watched (reactivity)
• You will lose weight for awhile, but there are confounding variables

Question 8

What are confounding variables

Answer 8

other factors that influence results/experience

Question 9

Research results are probabilistic

Answer 9

• when you have an experience that contradicts the data, you are an outlier
• research is based on the rules of probability (Ask: If we ran this experiment 100x, what are the odds we would get this same result? Usually at least 95%.)
• We usually include several Ss in our sample

Consider best used car example: If something bad happened to ur car u aren’t going to use it even if its ranked high

Question 10

Scientists are people…

Answer 10

• people are biased about all kinds of things
• scientists are biased
• humans (including scientists) are not naturally scientific thinkers- subject to biased thinking and heuristics

Question 11

A good story…

Answer 11

• we tend to remember: exceptional things and emotionally salient things
• Scared straight programs: at risk youth spend time w/ incarcerated people. Is not particularly effective and in some instances crime increased.
• Shows that stories can be compelling but are not representative of usual experience

Question 12

Availability heuristic

Answer 12

• thoughts that come to mind easily often guide our thinking
• Americans are just as likely to die of heart disease as cancer, but we search for cancer 18x more frequently. It lives in consciousness more than heart disease.
• Stereotypes often reflect an assumption about frequency-“percieved statistic.” These are easily influenced by media and can lead you to be wrong often.

Question 13

Availability heuristic examples

Answer 13

• cops show on TV- disproportionately showed POC
• Beach attendance goes down following a shark attack (even on another coast/beach)
• More likely to buy a lottery ticket if you just read a story about it
• We know people are similarly biased after social media

Question 14

Present bias

Answer 14

• closely related to availability heuristic
• we tend to not think about/notice what is not present
• consider someone using a new treatment for depressio. Bias is to notice how many people using your treatment got better. But, will you notice how many people NOT using your treatment get better?

Question 15

Confirmation bias

Answer 15

• we tend to remember and seek out information that agrees with what we already think
• If you think your team has the best chance this season, you will listen to broadcasters/podcasters that support that view
• If you think your chosen politician should do better in the election, you ignore polls telling you they are behind and the people that disagree w your politics
• If you think your hypothesis is correct- you often don’t look for other explanations

Question 16

Bias blind spot

Answer 16

• “I’m not biased- you are!”
• We tend to believe that we are special and impervious to bias- even though everyoneelse is susceptible
• We believe WE can be objective