Class 13: High Stakes Decision Making Flashcards
What is our impression of the world a result of?
Our impression of the world results from an interpretive process and depends on our attention, prior beliefs, expectations, experience and knowledge.
How can cognitive biases affect forensic analysis?
Cognitive biases can affect forensic analysis by influencing the interpretation of evidence and leading to errors or inaccuracies in forensic conclusions. Biases such as confirmation bias and contextual bias can impact decision-making and the evaluation of evidence.
fill in the blank: ______ can lead forensic practitioners to make mistakes and even reverse decisions.
contextual information
True or False: Anchoring bias is a cognitive bias where an individual relies too heavily on the initial piece of information (anchor) presented to them when making judgments or decisions. This bias tends to influence subsequent assessments, even when additional data may be available.
TRUE
What type of thinking is at high risk of introducing bias and resulting in incorrect conclusions?
Type 1 thinking.
How can cognitive science contribute to the evaluation of eyewitness testimony in forensic investigations?
Cognitive science contributes to the evaluation of eyewitness testimony by providing insights into the factors that can influence memory recall and the presence of cognitive biases. By understanding these influences, forensic practitioners can assess the reliability of eyewitness accounts more effectively and account for potential inaccuracies or distortions.
How does Edmond et al. (2017) propose group decision-making can be improved in the forensic sciences?
Group decision-making in forensic sciences can be improved by designing intelligent processes for collective decisions. This includes aggregating the independent responses of many individuals to produce a more accurate decision, a phenomenon known as the Wisdom of Crowds. They also suggest that technological advances can facilitate the aggregation of individual examiner responses, thereby improving accuracy.
What cognitive error do jurors tend to make?
The is evidence to suggest that jurors will fail to consider alternative explanations for events unless they are made explicit. People tend to seek evidence that supports their working hypothesis, and neglect information that is inconsistent with it
True or False: Understanding human memory processes is essential for forensic practitioners to assess the reliability of eyewitness testimonies.
TRUE
According to Edmond et al. (2017), what is one potential cognitive bias that forensic practitioners may face in their work? A) Confirmation bias. B) Sampling bias. C) Observer bias. D) Survivorship bias.
A) Confirmation bias.
What is an attentional cognitive bias
Paying greater attention to behaviors that evoke an emotional response
True or false: Anchoring bias refers to the tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information encountered when making decisions.
TRUE
Judging true or false: Confirmation bias, availability bias and anchoring bias affect forensic practitioners’ decision-making
TRUE
Since the release of the Institute of Medicine report ‘‘To Err is Human’’ in 1999.Patient safety has been focused, which includes the contributes of _____ and resultant cognitive errors on patient safety.
cognitive bias
True or false? Our impression of the world is the result of an interpretive process, and depends on our attention, prior beliefs, expectations, experiences and knowledge
TRUE
True or False - providing the same scenarios and then asking novices and experts to rate their courses of action and why has dramatically helped novices in trying to understand how an expert does the task.
TRUE
Can we trust our long term memory?
No, Memories decay over time according to a logarithmic function, and they are frequently updated, altered and reconstructed based on new experiences, information and beliefs.
What does Naturalistic Decision Making (NDM) refer to?
Naturalistic Decision Making refers to the process of decision-making in real-world, complex, and dynamic situations where individuals rely on their expertise and intuition to make judgments and choices.
What are three things that scientists have recommended for the forensic sciences?
- The need to engage in formal evaluation 2. to attend to human factors and 3. present written and verbal evidence in ways that both fairly represent the results and facilitate comprehension
In the article by Hughes et al, one proposed strategy to mitigate cognitive biases is to implement mindfulness practice among multidisciplinary teams. In particular, this strategy targets the ____ bias.
correspondence
What are the first three mentioned strategies that Croskerry et al. proposed to implement that are specific to the workplace to balance out fast and automatic thinking?
Structured data acquisition, deliberate decoupling, and reflection on initial assessment.
How can surgeons recognize and mitigate cognitive bias in their decision-making?
Surgeons can recognize cognitive bias by being aware of the common types of bias that affect their reasoning, by seeking feedback from peers and patients, by using checklists and algorithms to guide their decisions, and by engaging in reflective practice and debriefing. Surgeons can mitigate cognitive bias by slowing down their thinking when possible, by considering alternative hypotheses and explanations, by seeking more information and evidence, by involving multidisciplinary teams and shared decision-making, and by fostering a culture of safety and learning .
How can recognizing heuristics and biases in clinical decision-making contribute to patient care?
Recognizing heuristics and biases can lead to more accurate diagnoses, better treatment decisions, and improved patient outcomes.
True or False: Incorporating knowledge from psychology and cognitive science into forensic practices can help practitioners improve their performance, mitigate risks, and reduce errors.
TRUE
True or false – In a study by Dror, Charlton and Peron, fingerprint examiners unwittingly found fingerprints did not match that they themselves had found did match on a prior occasion
True – the authors presented the fingerprints in a way that suggested they did not match, and four out of the five fingerprint experts contradicted previous decisions they made that the fingerprints actually did match
Define anchoring bias
Where reasoning and ultimate decisions are based on the first piece of information we are given disregarding subsequent information.
Is type 1 or type 2 thinking the most susceptible to reliance on heuristics and introduction of cognitive bias?
Type 1
True of False: When type 1 reasoning leads to an incorrect conclusion, it is unlikely to be identified and corrected.
TRUE
T/F: Courts maintain a strong confidence in trial safeguards operated by lawyers and judges.
TRUE
How does ShadowBox work?
It helps people to see the world through the eyes of experts. It does this by placing trainees in complex scenarios where decicion points are inserted throughout and the the trainee has to make a choice. They are then later able to compare their answers with the answers of masters of that chosen domain so they can see where they went wrong and how to improve based on what experts in the field do.
What are some examples of professions that might require workers to make high-stakes decisions?
The practice of medicine, air traffic control, and managing nuclear power stations are examples of activities confronted with serious risks that have benefitted from the integration of cognitive science (knowledge and studies) into standard organisation, procedures, and practice.
The legacy of engaging with the insights of experimental psychology is to enhance the ability to provide __________ evidence that is demonstrably reliable.
Answer: impartial
What is the relationship between feedback and perceptual learning?
Feedback plays a crucial role in perceptual learning, which involves improving an individual’s sensitivity to stimuli. In the context of forensic science, feedback training has been shown to increase accuracy in tasks such as unfamiliar face matching. Generalisation of learning is more likely when the training set includes high variability.
What cognitive bias does Hughes et al describe here: “When we base our reasoning and ultimate decisions on the first piece of information that we are offered, irrespective of subsequent data that may be presented.”
Anchoring
How can contextual bias be reduced in the context of the forensics example?
sequential unmasking, blind analytic procedures.
True or False: Availability Bias and Availability Heuristic are the same.
False: Availability Bias refers to using recent or similar experiences to explain a current experience, while Availability Heuristic refers to judging the frequency or probability of something based on the ease in which examples come to mind.
What is Confidence Hardening?
When after a period of time, eyewitnesses become more confident and certain in their judgments.
True or False: Once something has been encoded to long-term memory, it stays there forever.
False. Memories decay over time by a logarithmic function and they are fre- quently updated, altered and reconstructed based on new experiences, information and beliefs.
What is confidence hardening?
Confidence hardening is where confidence in a decision tends to increase over time, especially if the person who made the decision receives some sort of confirmation.
What is the issue mentioned in Endmond et al., (2017) when experts provide reasons for the decision they made.
Experts are very likely to provide those reasons retrospectively (retrospective rationalizations), meaning that they are in fact still unaware of how they actually made the decision.
How can cognitive science help improve the accuracy and reliability of forensic analysis?
Cognitive science helps improve forensic analysis by providing insights into perception, attention, and memory processes, reducing errors in evidence interpretation, assessing eyewitness testimony, and mitigating cognitive biases.
What is the significance of naturalistic decision making in decision processes?
Naturalistic decision making focuses on understanding how decisions are made in complex and dynamic real-world situations.
True/False Forensic scientists should rely on memory and impressions rather than documentation and empirical information.
FALSE
Heuristics and bias in clinical decision-making refer to what?
Heuristics and bias in clinical decision-making refer to the cognitive shortcuts and unconscious biases that healthcare professionals may employ, sometimes leading to errors or suboptimal outcomes in patient care. It is important for clinicians to recognize and mitigate these biases to enhance decision-making quality.
Confidende Heuristic Model
When evaluating experts, jurors tend to believe that confidence is a reliable indicator of an expert’s accuracy and credibility, and confidence acts as heuristic cue that an expert is knowledgeable and believable
Fill in the blanks : expertise is generally considered ______- and ____-specific.
domain ; task
What is verisimilitude
the appearance of being true or real.
Our impression of the world is the result of an interpretive process, and depends on:_________
our attention, prior beliefs, expectations, experiences and knowledge
Why do surgeons mostly use type 1 thinking during their work.
Their work is often too fast paced for slow and deliberate thought.
what can the confirmation bias be heightened by
individuals cannot consider alternative if they do not know they exist
How do experts and novices differ in decision-making processes?
Experts often make decisions automatically and without conscious effort. They may not possess insight into the underlying reasons for their interpretations and may provide retrospective rationalisations that do not align with the actual decision-making process. Asking experts to explain their decision-making can even reduce their performance.
What can been described within potential contamination which may trigger certain heuristics in an information list? A,Extraneous data B,Redundant emphasis C,Both of these
C,Both of these
What is the purpose of using cognitive science in forensic practice?
To improve decision-making processes and reduce cognitive biases.
The study “Thinking Forensics: Cognitive Science for Forensic Practitioners” explores the application of cognitive science in the field of clinical psychology.
Answer: False
True or False: At least 1 cognitive type error was found to be associated with diagnostic errors in 47% of cases.
False: 74% of cases
What is a strategy for reducing cognitive bias in the workplace (according to Croskerry et al (2019)) as mentioned in Hughes et al (2020)? a) structured data acquisition; b)reflection on initial impressions; c) slowing down strategies; or d) all of the above
d) all of the above
When do courts traditionally use experience as a proxy to determine expertise within specific domains or “fields?
Although courts are reluctant in requiring information about experience, it generally occurs when there is an absence of empirical evidence of an individual’s claimed skill.
Define Heuristics
Reasoning that is based on previous experiences and defined by pattern recognition irrespective of the data and facts
What are some mentioned factors of contextual information that can alter and/or improve decision-making?
Mood, prior experiences, and peripheral information.
What is naturalistic decision-making according to Gary Klein in the video “Naturalistic Decision Making Intro”
It is essentially a study of how we make decisions.
Since the release of the Institute of Medicine report ‘‘To Err is Human’’ in 1999.People has focus on patient safety which includes the contribution of _____and resultant cognitive errors.
Cognitive bias
Error can occur in every stage of memory, what are there stages and a brief explanation?
Encoding (memory is affected by many factors and our perception is not exactly as they occur, this can lead to longer remembrance of unpleasant events and specific details of similar events), storage (memories decay logarithmically over time and can be altered by newer experiences, information and beliefs), retrieval (can be affected by current knowledge and feelings, other peoples account or even the way asked).
_________ is a term which suggests that we have no direct access to the cognitive process that determine the choices that we make, even though it feels as if we have understanding of why we ended up with those choices.
Introspection illusion
what stages of memory can errors occur
encoding, storage, retrieval
Fill out the blanks: “Surgery requires __ reasoning to rapidly synthesize a large volume of data to provide high impact and time-sensitive care, but the consequent negative implications of this type of reasoning are not often considered.”
Type 1
According to Gary Klein, the shadowbox technique can be described as? a) seeing through the eyes of experts while working alongside them; b) seeing through the eyes of experts without the experts being there; c) seeing the world through the eyes of novices; d) fighting fire with fire
b) seeing through the eyes of experts without the experts being there
True or False. The human brain produces memory through three different stages, which are encoding, receiving, and retrieval.
False. The right stages are encoding, storage, and retrieval.
Explain in brief the term “introspection illusion”
“Introspection illusion” refers to the tendency to believe that we have direct access into our own cognitive processes, even though evidences have suggested otherwise. In this case, people may not have access to the actual basis for their decision making.
What is the purpose of Shadowbox?
To place non-experts in the role of an expert to train their expertise.
Will artificial intelligence have an impact on privacy?
Artificial intelligence requires a lot of data support, so it may have an impact on the privacy of users. However, privacy protection is an important issue. Scientists need to formulate corresponding privacy protection policies to ensure the privacy and security of users.
true or false: We cannot trust our memories. They are, at best, impoverished in- terpretations of reality.
TRUE
How does naturalistic decision making differ from traditional decision-making models?
Naturalistic decision making takes into account the context, experience, and intuition of decision-makers, whereas traditional decision-making models often rely on rational and logical approaches.
What is the introspective illusion?
Usually we do not have access to or know about the cognitive processes that determine the choices we make, even though it often feels like we do.
What does the work of Edmond et al. (2017) suggest about the relationship between extensive experience and superior performance in a task?
Edmond et al. (2017) suggest that extensive experience in a task does not necessarily translate into superior performance. They note that although courts have traditionally used experience as a measure of expertise, several studies across various fields have indicated that mere exposure to a task does not equate to expertise. In some cases, novices may even outperform experienced professionals in certain aspects of their tasks.
Fill in the blank: Having non-experts and experts look at a difficult scenario with several decision points and compare rationales is a technique known as ________
Shadowbox
Cognitive Science for Forensic Practitioners involves what?
Cognitive Science for Forensic Practitioners involves the application of knowledge and research from cognitive science to improve the investigative processes and decision-making abilities of forensic practitioners. By understanding how the mind works and utilizing cognitive techniques, forensic practitioners can enhance their expertise and contribute to more effective and accurate forensic investigations.
What is the main focus of the study “Recognizing Heuristics and Bias in Clinical Decision-Making”?
The study aims to understand the role of heuristics and bias in clinical decision-making.
What are the two cognitive biases or heuristics in surgical decision-making, and how do they impact clinical reasoning.
The first is the anchoring heuristic, which occurs when reasoning and decisions are based on the first piece of information received, regardless of subsequent data. The second is Availability heuristic, which refers to using the most recent, or vivid experience to define a current situation. These biases impact clinical reasoning because they influence how information is interpreted, potentially leading to incorrect conclusions.
It’s tempting to think the comparing unfamiliar images which involves an explicit and deliberative perceptual process.For example finger prints and impressions,is that true or false?
TRUE
True or False? Simply knowing about the existence of perceptual distortions in everyday life prevents the perceiver from experiencing them.
False. It does not prevent the perceiver from experiencing them.
Why can’t we always trust memories?
Memories are prone to errors at various stages. For example, mistakes can happen when the information is initially processed as we do not perceive things exactly as they occur.
What are some examples of heuristics and bias that can affect surgical decision-making?
Heuristics are mental shortcuts based on past experiences that help us make quick decisions. Bias are errors in judgment that result from heuristics. Some common heuristics and bias in surgical decision-making are overconfidence, confirmation bias, anchoring bias, availability bias, and framing effects.
