Content area A1: Cognitive approach Key concept 6: Cognitive biases Do you live in a filter bubble? You might well do if you get your news from social media. Algorithms detect your preferences and tailor what the news feeds serve up to you. You see only items that match your preferences and these reinforce your current opinions. You rarely get to see information that contradicts or challenges what you already believe. Such filter bubbles are sometimes called ‘echo chambers’ because all you ever read or hear are your own views reflected back at you. Some people argue that filter bubbles are a threat to democracy because other viewpoints and opinions are excluded from social media feeds. If you want to read other views you have to work harder to find them. Many people can’t be bothered to spend the time or eort doing that extra work. Making links to the key assumptions Assumption: Behaviour is a product of information processing When we meet other people, we o¡en have to make quick decisions (‘Are they friendly?’, ‘Should I cooperate with them?’). So we process information quickly (our survival might depend on it). But this comes at a cost because the processing may be biased. For instance, we wrongly perceive the other person as hostile, so we behave aggressively towards them. Assumption: The brain can be compared to a computer Explain how the concept of cognitive biases relates to this assumption (see page 10). What are cognitive biases? A ‘bias’ refers to leaning in one direction or prejudging a situation. A cognitive bias refers to how our thinking can ‘lean’ in one direction. Negative effects Cognitive biases are automatic and affect what we notice, what we remember, how we make decisions and how we interpret other people’s behaviour. So how we process information becomes «awed, and our ability to make rational choices is undermined. Positive effects However, on the plus side, cognitive biases simplify how we view the world and allow us to make decisions quickly (they are ‘shortcuts’ that help us process information). Fundamental attribution error (FAE) We can understand the FAE by looking at the individual words in the term. Attribution This is about how we try to explain the reasons for other people’s behaviour. For example, why was your friend late? You might attribute lateness to their personal characteristics (maybe they were late because they don’t think it’s important to be on time) or to situations (perhaps the bus broke down). Fundamental error Most people overemphasise personal characteristics and downplay situations. This is a bias towards one explanation, which psychologists call the fundamental attribution error because it is the most basic (fundamental) error. For example, if a student is late handing in an essay, the teacher might believe it’s because the student is lazy (a personal characteristic). But there could be many situational causes (e.g. the dog ate it). Confirmation bias We favour information that con rms beliefs we already hold – we show a conrmation bias. For example, if you support a football team you are more sensitive to information that con rms your existing view of the team (see also the example of lter bubbles on the le¡). We notice con rmatory information quickly and we store and recall it easily. But we ignore, downplay or reject examples that challenge our beliefs, and eventually we don’t even look for contradictory information. Hostile attribution bias (HAB) Hostile attribution bias is a special form of bias in explaining the reasons for other people’s behaviour. Someone with a HAB: • Wrongly believes somebody else’s behaviour is threatening (hostile) when it is actually neutral, e.g. interpreting an accidental bump in a crowded pub as deliberately aggressive. • Believes the other person is being hostile because that is what the other person is like (a personal characteristic). However, this ignores the role of the situation (the crowded pub). Specification terms Cognitive biases Errors in how we process information, which affect our attention, memory and decision-making. Conrmation bias We pay more attention to (and recall more easily) information that supports our existing beliefs. We may seek it out and ignore contradictory information. Fundamental attribution error In explaining the reasons for other people’s behaviour, we focus on their personal characteristics and overlook the role of the situation. Hostile attribution bias A tendency to assume that someone else’s behaviour has an aggressive or antagonistic motive when it is actually neutral. ‘Ever since I learnt about con rmation bias I’ve started seeing it everywhere’ (Jon Ronson). 22 Unit 1: Psychological approaches and applications Copyright: Sample material
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