PHIL 111: Lecture 7 (Biases)
I asked my friend Allen to lend me $20, and he said he didn't have the money. I bet he's lying—I really need it and he's just being selfish and mean to me. I guess he's not really my friend.
fundamental attribution error
I used to be friends with Sarah, but then she switched schools to our biggest football rival. I never realized how she could betray me and all our friends at this school. How awful of her!
fundamental attribution error
Framing effects
given two situations with identical outcomes, people tend to pick the situation framed in positive terms rather than negative terms (e.g., pricing, health decisions under risk, legal decisions under risk, negotiation behavior, voting, marketing)
I'm so glad I work on the Green Team at work. Those Blue Team folks just don't cut it—I bet they just sit around and do nothing. Green Team is the best! Blue Team sucks!
in-group bias
Jane is a vegetarian and says she really can't be friends with anyone who eats meat. Carnivores are horrible people, she says, and clearly don't care about anything have to do with nature. We vegetarians need to steer clear of them at all times.
in-group bias
Dunning-Kruger effect
people believe that they are smarter and more capable than they really are
Those burgers aren't fatty—I don't know what you're talking about! The label clearly says "75% lean!"
framing effects
The hotel I checked into last night was definitely sketchy. There was mold in the bathroom, peeling paint, and a gas leak smell in the hallway. But the reservation was non-refundable, so I'm staying anyway and hoping the place doesn't blow up.
sunk cost bias
Ugh—my stomach hurts! I'm so full from dinner at Joe's diner. But I didn't want to leave anything on my plate because I already paid for it.
sunk cost bias
Anchoring bias
tendency to fixate on initial pieces of information to guide subsequent calculations or actions toward a question/making a decision
Confirmation bias
tendency to search for information that confirms facts we already believe to be true; never look at information that disproves what you believe
Contrasting framing pairs
the way something is framed can change your attitudes/response Ex.) penalty .vs. discount (people respond to penalty threat) 95% lean .vs. 5% fat (people prefer the leanness messaging) employment .vs. unemployment rates (people respond more positively to employment rates) 10% success rate .vs. 90% failure rate (people respond to the 10% success rate)
Fundamental attribution error
view actions of self as externally influenced, but actions of others as internally motivated
Sunk cost bias
when people continue a behavior or activity based on the fact they have previously invested resources (e.g., time, money, effort)
Scientists doing nutritional research wanted to test whether eating chocolate chip cookies was a viable alternative treatment for headaches. They gave cookies to one group of participants with headaches, and a cup of water to the other group. The cookies group smiled while eating their cookies and said thank you for the cookies. The scientists took this to be evidence that the cookies worked as a treatment. Success!
confirmation bias
I just got a flu shot at my local clinic, but Betty refused to get one when she went to her doctor. We had both been worried about bad side effects. I told her that my clinic nurse practitioner told me that out of 100 people getting a flu shot, 98—99 people have no side effects at all. That sounded good to me. Betty said, "Wow—that's not what my doctor told me. She said that 1—2% of people who get the flu shot have fever or aches as a result. I don't have time to be sick, so I didn't get it".
framing effects
Jack and Jill are friends, and both of them get a weekly allowance from their parents (how nice for them!). Jack's parents give him $50 a week (again, nice...), but penalize him $5 if he doesn't make up his bed every day. He complains about this but always makes his bed. Jill's parents give her $45 a week (still good), and if she makes her bed every day, give her a bonus of $5. She cares about money, but can't get around to doing this all the time, so ends up missing out on the extra dough.
framing effects
Steve's cat Fluffy is really sick, and he took her to the vet. The vet said there's a chemo drug in development, with a 3% success rate. Steve immediately agreed, saying anything is possible.
framing effects
A nationwide survey of American teenagers found that 15% of them believed they would become rich YouTube celebrities. One student interviewed said, "I know it seems like a long shot, but I know I'm special and have what it takes to be famous".
Dunning-Kruger effect
In a 2008 study, researchers examined students in a collegiate debate tournament. Students performing in the lowest 25% grossly overestimated their skills -- they guessed they'd won almost 60% of their matches. In fact, they'd won about 22% of them.
Dunning-Kruger effect
International news flash: 84% of Frenchmen rate themselves as above-average lovers. Hmmm...
Dunning-Kruger effect
The karate instructor told me that very few students can manage the advanced class without at least 5 years' experience. But I'm sure I'll do great—in the 3 months I've been taking karate lessons, I've come to believe I'm a natural at this, with real talent.
Dunning-Kruger effect
Sara doesn't believe that global warming is happening. She did a lot of google searching on the topic and eventually found one article that supports her view. Whenever she gets into an argument about this (which is very often!), she cites that one article in support of her view.
confirmation bias
My doctor prescribed Xylonty for my headaches, and it was really expensive and hard to get my insurance to cover. I don't think it's working, but both my doctor and I don't want to give up, given how hard we worked just to get me this medicine.
sunk cost bias
I went to buy a car yesterday, and saw one I liked. And I got a great deal—I bargained my way to 10% below the sticker price!
anchoring bias
Availability bias
acting on information and examples that are easily available and giving these pieces of information priority in decision making Ex.) Seeing several television programs on shark attacks increases the view that such incidences are relatively common.
At the Prada store in Soho, I saw this very cute sundress that retailed for $1800. Imagine my delight when I saw a knock-off at Macy's for only $500! I bought it immediately.
anchoring bias
I just bought the new Star Wars themed Le Creuset cast iron pan. It's only $50 more than the regular one with the plain lid (retail $400), and you get so much added value and pleasure from the lid with Han Solo on it (this is real—google it and see).
anchoring bias
I was watching The Price is Right on TV, and the contestants were bidding on a dining room set. The first person bid $3000, and then the next three bids were $3200, $3500, and $3600. Turns out the dining room set costs $6000. Whoa.
anchoring bias
Air travel is so dangerous. I read another article last week about the Boeing 737 Max, the model that causes two crashes in the past year. I'm definitely driving to Toronto instead—no flying for me!
availability bias/heuristic
Chatham just put up shark warning signs on all their town beaches. I see them every time I walk on the beach. I'm never going in the water again—it's way too dangerous.
availability bias/heuristic
The police and fire departments definitely have more dangerous jobs than say, loggers or fishermen. I mean, I'm always hearing about police or fire department injuries or deaths on the news. I really worry about them.
availability bias/heuristic
in-group bias
belief that one's group is higher/better than another group Ex.) Red Sox hate the Yankees and vise versa, political rivalries between parties, school clubs or cliques, religious groups between or within religions
In a management meeting, Sally informed the group that she had made an offer to Jerry (her high school friend) to join her team. The group was surprised, as other candidates seemed to have more educational and work experience. Sally responded, saying that Jerry was a better fit even though he lacked the main qualifications. He knew the geographic area, she said, and could get a grass-roots sense of marketing needs because he had a lot of friends and family in this location, too.
confirmation bias
Jill insists that she has ESP. Just the other night, she dreamed that she would see her cousin Phil; then, later that day, she ran into Phil at Starbucks. That's proof enough for her.
confirmation bias
Anna still hasn't returned the 4 texts I sent her in the past hour. She is clearly an inconsiderate slob and my parents were right years ago when they said I should have dropped her as a friend ages ago!
fundamental attribution error
