Cognitive Approach

Question 1

Outline one or more cognitive biases.

Answer 1

Prompts:
Anchoring bias
Framing effect and loss aversion

Question 2

Discuss how Tversky and Kahneman (1974) explains a bias in thinking and decision-making.

Answer 2

Prompt: to demonstrate how anchoring bias influences estimates to a mathematical problem.

Question 3

Discuss how Englich and Mussweiler (2001) explains a bias in thinking and decision-making.

Answer 3

Prompt: to demonstrate how a prosecutor’s recommended sentence influences a judge’s decision.

Question 4

Discuss how Tversky and Kahneman (1986) explains a bias in thinking and decision-making.

Answer 4

Prompt: to investigate how the presentation of information influences decision-making.

Question 5

Holistically evaluate the notion that there are biases in thinking and decision making.

Answer 5

Implication: understanding that thinking is flawed by systematic errors.
Application: being aware that marketing strategies may exploit cognitive biases to incentivise purchases in the economy
Criticality: Difficult to verify cognitive biases, Internal vs external validity, Individual and cultural differences

Question 6

Evaluate studies of cognitive biases.

Answer 6

Researcher bias due to abstract nature,
Internal vs external validity,
Accounting for participant variability and cultural replications

Question 7

Discuss ethical issues in the study of the reliability of cognitive processes.

Answer 7

Loftus and Palmer: debriefing and deception

Question 8

Evaluate the methods used to research the reliability of cognitive processes.

Answer 8

Tversky and Kahneman (1974): true experiment
Englich and Mussweiler (2001); field experiment