Quiz 3 - Cognitive Biases

Question 1

What is Bias?

Answer 1

Bias is a way of thinking that is not accurate

Question 2

What is Heuristics?

Answer 2

Heuristics is a rule of thumb - true but not always

Question 3

What is Anchoring?

Answer 3

The anchor is what you compare to when you evaluate something - ie a restaurant puts at least one expensive item on the menu to make the other items look reasonable

Question 4

What is contrast effect/context effect?

Answer 4

Observing two things at the same time - will focus more on the differences
Distinction bias - things appear more different when viewed simultaneously

Question 5

What is band wagon effect and herd instinct?

Answer 5

Band wagon effect - you believe things everyone else does ie cults try to keep you from talking to others not in cult so you believe the things cult is teaching
Herd instinct - believing what everyone else does to avoid social conflict - ie someone is vegan because friend is

Question 6

What is hostile media effect?

Answer 6

When watching news you feel it is hostile to your views

Question 7

What is endowment effect/loss aversion?

Answer 7

People will demand more to give up an object than they were willing to pay for it
Once you own something, you find it more valuable

Question 8

What is temporal discounting?

Answer 8

Based on something irrational. We value things in the future less than things now.
Asking for favours.
Empirical studies show people are more hyperbolic - hyperbolic discounting is psychological bias where people prioritize immediate rewards over future rewards
Exponential discounting - marginal rate of substitution between consumption at any pair of points in time depending on how far apart points in time are - something doubles every hour = exponential growth -

Question 9

What is moral credential effect?

Answer 9

Moral credential effect - thinking you did something morally good can make you allow yourself to behave badly - people will compensate to reach an equilibrium

Question 10

What is to imagine you are good?

Answer 10

If you imagine you are good you are more likely to be good

Question 11

What is risk compensation?

Answer 11

Seatbelt use - drivers are a bit safer, but deaths passed onto others
Bike helmets - people bike more dangerously when wearing one
Dietary supplements - make people eat more poorly and exercise less

Question 12

What is omission bias?

Answer 12

Choosing harm over omission versus lesser harm by acting - we think doing harm is worse than not doing something that causes harm ie getting vaccinated

Question 13

What is negativity bias?

Answer 13

People pay more attention to negative information
Danger - negative - needs reaction in evolutionary history
News reports to scare you - use Wikipedia to verify

Question 14

What is outcome bias?

Answer 14

Judging a decision based on what ended up happening rather than on the information available at decision time

Question 15

What is Planning Fallacy?

Answer 15

We under estimate how long it will take to complete something - we overbook ourselves
Unexpected events happen - we don’t plan to have unexpected things happen

Question 16

What is wishful thinking?

Answer 16

Believe it something because we want it to be true - hope

Question 17

What is availability heuristic?

Answer 17

The easier things come to mind are more probable to be true
A problem that is vivid and emotional comes to memory easier
When news shows only murders you think murders are more common that they are

Question 18

What is Base rate neglect?

Answer 18

If a test for a disease is 90% curate and you get a positive result - what is the probability that the person has the disease
Ie base rate of smallpox is zero - test is positive - what is chance person has smallpox - zero in other words zero percent of the base rate which is zero
Always need to look at the base rate

Question 19

What is belief bias?

Answer 19

If rain is wet my roof is wet - my roof is wet therefore rain is wet - but roof could be wet from a hose
Is the argument valid

Question 20

What is conjunction fallacy?

Answer 20

What is more common - a person who wears Birkenstocks or a hippie who wears Birkenstocks - people say yes to hippie due to the image in their head

Question 21

What is gambler’s fallacy?

Answer 21

When flipping a coin which is least probable:
A - HTHT
B - HHTT
C - HHHH
All are probable at the same rate - every time the coming is flipped the probability is 50% - gamblers think something is due if it hasn’t happened ie in C gambler thinks T is due so will bet on it

Question 22

What is pareidolia clustering illusion, illusory correlation?

Answer 22

Seeing something or pattern, etc. in something that does not exist

Question 23

What is primacy and recency effects?

Answer 23

You remember beginning and end better than the middle

Question 24

What is just world phenomenon?

Answer 24

You think world is a just place
Karma - blame others for own problems as result of their actions

Question 25

What is actor observer bias?

Answer 25

Explain others in traits - ie jerks
Explain self actions for good reason

Question 26

What is confirmation bias?

Answer 26

You seek out, accept, remember things that support your view
You support things in a way to support your views