BESC1020 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Availability Heuristic, Confirmation Bias
25 May 2018
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Thinking
Cognition is all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and
communicating
Concept – a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people
Prototype – a mental image or best example of a category. Matching new items to a prototype
provides a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories (as when comparing feathered
creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a robin
Algorithm – a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem.
Contrasts with the usually speedier but also more error-prone – use of heuristics
Heuristic – A simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgements and solve
problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms
Insight – A sudden realisation of a problems solution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions
Confirmation bias – A tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and
to ignore or distort contradictory evidence
Forming Good and Bad Decisions and Judgments
Intuition – An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit,
conscious reasoning.
• Whe akig each day’s hudreds of judgements and decisions (Is it worth the bother to take a
jaket? Can I trust this person? Should I shoot the asketall or pass to the player who’s hot?)
• We seldom take the time and effort to reason systematically
• We just follow our intuition, our fast automatic, unreasoned feelings and thoughts
The Availability Heuristic
• Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come
readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common
• When we need to act quickly, the mental shortcuts we call heuristics enable snap judgements
• Thaks to our id’s autoatic iforatio processig, ituitive judgeets are istataeous
• They are also usually effective
• Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman showed how these generally helpful shortcuts can lead even
the smartest people into dumb decisions
• The availability heuristic operates when we estimate the likelihood of events based on how
mentally available they are – how easily they come to mind
• Casinos entice us to gamble by signalling even small wins with bells and lights – making them
mentally vivid – while keeping big losses invisible.
• The availability heuristic can distort our judgements of other people, too
• Anything that makes information pop into mind – its vividness, recency, or distinctiveness – can
make it seem commonplace
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Document Summary
Cognition is all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating. Concept a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people. Prototype a mental image or best example of a category. Matching new items to a prototype provides a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories (as when comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a robin. Algorithm a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. Contrasts with the usually speedier but also more error-prone use of heuristics. Heuristic a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgements and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms. Insight a sudden realisation of a problems solution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions. Confirmation bias a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence.
