PSYC 213 Lecture Notes - Lecture 22: Representativeness Heuristic, Organ Donation, Availability Heuristic
28 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Decision-Making & Making Choices
Decision-Making
• Hypnosis: client does what told by hypnotist, then makes up explanation spontaneously when
asked why did this?
o Confabulation: post-hoc rationalization; after the fact, rationalize why did something
o Usually false
• Constantly done when make decisions, along with rationalization
• Show men two woman's faces and asked which one is more attractive?
o Ask why find her more attractive? Give explanation
o Keep on doing this
• At some point, swap the pictures such that ask why find this one more attractive but show
picture of one that wasn't chosen
o Did not notice (80-90%), and then make up explanation for why like the shown one
more
• Confabulate based on image that are seeing
• Explaining a decision that did not even make in the first place
• Verbal preferences for mates have very little to do with behavior
o Even in controlled ways with speed dating studies
o Who choose vs. what described is not related
• Study where give people two jars of jam and ask them to choose which like best
o Have another taste and ask why like this one?
o Do not notice when swap, and confabulate based on one that did not choose
Choice
• Choice blindness: when outcome of your choice is the stimulus that is being changed
o Choose something and then they show you something else
• Choice blindness blindness: if explain choice blindness to people and ask them if would notice
and say yes; and then do it and do not notice and make up explanation for why did not
o Subset of introspective blindness: do not know what is happening in your head
o Cannot get to real reason of why did something so confabulate
• Justify most of the decisions that we make --do not know why we make them even though we
feel like we do
• Confabulation is done constantly throughout the day
o Rationalize every decision that we make; even for small decisions
o Often rationalize decisions to yourself
• Is adaptive, to avoid cognitive dissonance
o Avoid internal conflict --can just accept decision and move on
o Also important in social context
• Able to explain decisions
• Although is mainly an illusion based on information that do not have
• Do not know when confabulating
Document Summary
If were to change response to the other choice, people then change their voting tendency towards that side: even hold that switched view two weeks later, showed that can give false feedback and completely change their decision. Confabulate: people heavily influenced in making a decision, but feeling of influence was very low. Introspective blindness (leads to confabulation --try to explain it, do not know why so confabulate) In half the bowls, there is a tube that re-fills the soup bowl every time take a sip: do not notice, eat more soup. If tell them about the tube, say that did not eat more because of it. Confabulate: forcing = highly persuasive, here a little less persuasive but still have influence, deny the factors, people don"t like idea of being influenced without their knowledge. High stakes decisions: deciding what happens to organs when die --pretty important. In some countries (france, sweden), the organ donor rates are very high.
