Psychology A1 - concept six - cognitive

Question 1

what are cognitive biases?

Answer 1

-‘bias’ = leaning in one direction or prejudging a situation
-‘cognitive bias’ = how our thinking can ‘lean’ in one direction

Question 2

negative effects of cognitive biases

Answer 2

-are automatic and affect what we notice, what we remember, how we make decisions and how we interpret others behaviour
-how we process information becomes flawed
-ability to make rational choice is undermined

Question 3

positive effects of cognitive biases

Answer 3

-simplify how we view the world and allow us to make decisions quickly

Question 4

fundamental attribution error (FAE) – attribution

Answer 4

-how we try explain the reasons for other people’s behaviour
-example, why your friend was late? attribute lateness to personal characteristics or to situations

Question 5

fundamental attribution error (FAE) – fundamental error

Answer 5

-most people overemphasise personal characteristics and downplay situations
-bias towards one explanation = FAE, most basic error
-example, student hands in an essay late, the teacher might believe its because of laziness, but there could be situational causes

Question 6

confirmation bias

Answer 6

-favour information that confirms beliefs we already have
-example, support a football team, more sensitive to information that confirms your existing view of the team
-notice confirmatory information quickly, store and recall it
-ignore, downplay or reject examples that challenge our beliefs
-eventually don’t look for contradictory information

Question 7

Hostile attribution bias (HAB)

Answer 7

-special form of bias in explaining the reasons for other people’s behaviour
-someone with HAB:
-wrongly believes somebody else’s behaviour is threatening when it isn’t
-believes other person is being hostile because that is what the other person is like, ignores role of situation

Question 8

evaluation: practical applications (+)

Answer 8

-can be applied to real-world behaviour
-example, can work to overcome confirmation bias by deliberately seeking out information that contradicts our views
-useful as by understanding cognitive biases, we can improve our decision-making and reduce negative effects on behaviour

Question 9

evaluation: research support (+)

Answer 9

-evidence of the link between hostile attribution bias and aggression
-people with a strong HAB behave aggressively, when aggressive they may experience a temporary increase in hostile attributions
-makes further aggression more likely - vicious cycle (Tuente et al., 2019)
-shows the central role of HAB in aggressive behaviour, and a potential way of tackling it

Question 10

evaluation: the FAE isn’t universal (-)

Answer 10

-FAE only exists in some cultures
-individualist cultures (USA) people tend to value individual needs above needs of wider community
-behaviour is usually attributed to individual characteristics - how it is understood in some cultures
-collectivist cultures (China) community is prioritised, often attribute behaviour to situational factors rather than personality
-suggests FAE may not be a ‘fundamental’ feature of human information processing after all