PSY 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Critical Thinking, Cognitive Bias, Random Assignment

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 1101
• Professor: Najwa Haddad

Document Summary

Intuition is valuable in certain situations but it can not be relied on to give a realistic scope of the world. Common sense does not generate new knowledge, information, or learning. I knew it all along - cognitive bias. We tend to overestimate how easy it is to predict the outcome of an event or study without knowing all the facts. We overestimate our abilities and the accuracy of our knowledge. We have a tendency to be more confident than accurate and/or skilled. Perceiving a relationship between two or more variables when there is none. This influences and affects our emotions and behaviours. Leads us to focus and remember more the events that support our beliefs and dismiss the events that do not. We look for patterns and order where there is none for a sense of security and comfort. Be open minded, but never accept things at face value.