PSYCH291 Lecture Notes - Facilitated Communication, Confirmation Bias

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCH291
• Professor: Richard Eibach

Document Summary

Should make efforts to reach correct conclusions (not jump to conclusions based on preliminary evidence/intuitions, rush to judgments by relying on heuristics [mental shortcuts]) Should seek out evidence that could falsify his hypothesis (not seeking just confirmatory evidence) Should not act in ways that alter the phenomenon being observed (not interact with them to distort the observation) Biasing expectations: finding evidence that is consistent with our prior beliefs. Biasing motivations: finding evidence that is consistent with what we want to believe. Confirmation bias: seeking information consistent with our expectations, confirming pre-existing beliefs. Biased skeptism: results consistent with expectations, we accept as true. Hindsight bias: makes an outcome seem obvious after that outcome is known. Beer with vinegar experiment: people preferring beer with vinegar when they didn"t know of vinegar, but choosing beer without vinegar when they knew expectations bias perception (can bias sensory experiences) Biases in perceiving ambiguous information you see what you want to see.