Heuristics and biases

Question 1

Planning fallacy

Answer 1

a phenomenon in which predictions about how much time will be needed to complete a future task display an optimism bias (underestimate the time needed).

Question 2

Fundamental cognitive error

Answer 2

People tend to underestimate the contribution of their beliefs and theories to observation and judgement, and fail to realise how many other ways that they could have been interpreted

Question 3

Above average effect

Answer 3

the tendency for people to rate themselves as above the average on most positive social attributes

Question 4

Priming effect

Answer 4

Phenomenon wherein giving a participant advance knowledge about or exposure to a stimulus can increase the ease of its subsequent recall or recognition.
Example : If you have recently seen or heard the word eat, you are temporarily more likely to fill in so_p as soup rather than soap.”
In this case, the word eat primes the word or idea of soup

Question 5

Confirmation bias

Answer 5

A tendency to search for information that confirms one’s preconceptions

Question 6

Hindsight bias

Answer 6

the tendency of people to overestimate their ability to have predicted an outcome that could not possibly have been predicted.

Question 7

Illusory correlation

Answer 7

the phenomenon of perceiving arelationshipbetween variables (typically people, events, or behaviors) even when no such relationship exists

Question 8

Gambler’s fallacy

Answer 8

the phenomenon where one predicts the probability of an event on the basis of how many times this event happened before

Question 9

Regression toward the mean

Answer 9

is the phenomenon that if a variable is extreme on its first measurement, it will tend to be closer to the average on its second measurement—and if it is extreme on its second measurement, it will tend to have been closer to the average on its first

Question 10

Barnum effect

Answer 10

is the observation that individuals will give high accuracy ratings to descriptions of their personality that supposedly are tailored specifically for them but are, in fact, vague and general enough to apply to a wide range of people. This effect can provide a partial explanation for the widespread acceptance of some beliefs and practices, such as astrology, fortune telling, graphology, aura reading and some types of personality tests

Question 11

Cognitive dissonance

Answer 11

themental stressor discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time; performs an action that is contradictory to one or more beliefs, ideas, or values; or is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values.

Question 12

Experiment Expectancy Effect (Observer effect)

Answer 12

a form of reactivity in which a researcher’s cognitive bias causes them to subconsciously influence the participants of an experiment. Confirmation bias can lead to the experimenter interpreting results incorrectly because of the tendency to look for information that conforms to their hypothesis, and overlook information that argues against it

Question 13

False consensus effect

Answer 13

a tendency to overestimate the degree to which other people agree with our beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviors.

Question 14

Fundamental attribution error

Answer 14

the tendency to place a significant amount of blame on a persons personality or characteristics rather than situational factors

Question 15

Bystander effect

Answer 15

a phenomenon that refers to cases in which individuals do not offer any means of help to a victim when other people are present. The probability of help is inversely related to the number of bystanders. In other words, the greater the number of bystanders, the less likely it is that any one of them will help

Question 16

Channel factors

Answer 16

small situational factors can have large influences on behavior by guiding behavior in a particular direction

Question 17

Anchoring

Answer 17

Common tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information offered (the “anchor”) when making decisions

Question 18

Availability heuristic

Answer 18

A mental shortcut that occurs when people make judgments about the probability of events by the ease with which examples come to mind

Question 19

Representativeness heuristic

Answer 19

A mental shortcut used when making judgments about the probability of an event under uncertainty. Or, judging a situation based on how similar the prospects are to the prototypes the person holds in his or her mind.

Question 20

What are the 6 ways of opinion change?

Answer 20

1. What do you really believe anyway?
2. How well based is the opinion you already hold?
3. How good is the evidence?
4. Does the current evidence really contradicts what you already believe?
5. If the current evidence is insufficient to make you change your mind, what evidence would be sufficient?
6. Is it worth finding out about, or is it a case of “Why not”?

Question 21

What is a heuristic?

Answer 21

a mental shortcut used to solve a particular problem; it is a quick, informal, and intuitive algorithm your brain uses to generate an approximate answer to a reasoning question

Question 22

What is a bias?

Answer 22

a systematic error in thinking that affects the decisions and judgments that people make.

Question 23

What is a logical fallacy?

Answer 23

A logical fallacy stems from and error in a logical argument

Question 24

a phenomenon in which predictions about how much time will be needed to complete a future task display an optimism bias (underestimate the time needed).

Answer 24

Planning fallacy

Question 25

People tend to underestimate the contribution of their beliefs and theories to observation and judgement, and fail to realise how many other ways that they could have been interpreted

Answer 25

Fundamental cognitive error

Question 26

the tendency for people to rate themselves as above the average on most positive social attributes

Answer 26

Above average effect

Question 27

If you have recently seen or heard the word eat, you are temporarily more likely to fill in so_p as soup rather than soap.”
In this case, the word eat primes the word or idea of soup

What’s this effect called?

Answer 27

Priming effect

Question 28

imagine that a person holds a belief that left-handed people are more creative than right-handed people. Whenever this person encounters a person that is both left-handed and creative, they place greater importance on this “evidence” supporting their already existing belief. This individual might even seek “proof” that further backs up this belief while discounting examples that do not support this idea.

Answer 28

Confirmation bias

Question 29

Example : On the evening of an important World Series game, your friend predicts that the Red Sox are going to win by a large margin. In fact, the Red Sox do end up winning the game, causing your friend to boast “I predicted it!”

Answer 29

Hindsight bias

Question 30

A man holds the belief that people in urban environments tend to be rude. Therefore, when he meets someone who is rude he assumes that the person lives in a city, rather than a rural area

Answer 30

Illusory correlation

Question 31

I have flipped heads five times in a row. As a result, the next flip will probably be tails.

Answer 31

Gambler’s fallacy

Question 32

the phenomenon that if a variable is extreme on its first measurement, it will tend to be closer to the average on its second measurement—and if it is extreme on its second measurement, it will tend to have been closer to the average on its first

Answer 32

Regression toward the mean

Question 33

the observation that individuals will give high accuracy ratings to descriptions of their personality that supposedly are tailored specifically for them but are, in fact, vague and general enough to apply to a wide range of people

Answer 33

Barnum effect

Question 34

consider a situation in which a man who places a value on being environmentally responsible just purchased a new car that he later discovers does not get great gas mileage.

The conflict:

It is important for the man to take care of the environment.
He is driving a car that is not environmentally-friendly.

Answer 34

Cognitive dissonance

Question 35

a form of reactivity in which a researcher’s cognitive bias causes them to subconsciously influence the participants of an experiment. Confirmation bias can lead to the experimenter interpreting results incorrectly because of the tendency to look for information that conforms to their hypothesis, and overlook information that argues against it

Answer 35

Experiment expectancy effect

Question 36

a phenomenon that refers to cases in which individuals do not offer any means of help to a victim when other people are present. The probability of help is inversely related to the number of bystanders. In other words, the greater the number of bystanders, the less likely it is that any one of them will help

Answer 36

Bystander effect

Question 37

small situational factors can have large influences on behavior by guiding behavior in a particular direction

Answer 37

Channel factor

Question 38

If your same-sex parent died at age 52, living to 82 will feel like a real bonus to you. But if your parent died at 82 and you’re diagnosed with a fatal disease at 52, boy, will you feel let down

Answer 38

Anchoring

Question 39

After seeing several television programs on shark attacks, you start to think that such incidences are relatively common. When you go on vacation, you refuse to swim in the ocean because you believe the probability of a shark attack is high.

Answer 39

Availability heuristic

Question 40

If you meet someone who is into yoga, spiritual healing and aromatherapy you might immediately assume that she works as a holistic healer rather than something like a school teacher or nurse

Answer 40

Representativeness heuristic