AO1 Description Sylvia was passing a colleague in the corridor at work and said ‘hello’ but the colleague did not reply. ‘What a rude and impolite person,’ thought Sylvia. 1. Name one cognitive bias demonstrated in this scenario. (1 mark) 2. Justify your answer to question 1. (2 marks) Later that day, the colleague quietly explained to Sylvia why they had ignored her earlier. Sylvia replied, ‘I don’t like your tone, you need to calm down.’ 3. Identify the type of cognitive bias shown by Sylvia and explain why it may be a reason for her comment. (3 marks) 4 Discuss the extent to which the concept of cognitive bias can explain Sylvia’s comment. (3 marks) Apply it It could happen. But we’re more likely to think the homework is missing because the student is lazy. SPEC SPOTLIGHT Cognitive biases, including fundamental attribution error, confirmation bias and hostile attribution bias. Key concept 6: Cognitive biases A1: Cognitive approach What are cognitive biases? Bias is a ‘prejudgement’ Cognitive bias = how our thinking can ‘prejudge’ or ‘lean’ in one direction. Negative effects Cognitive biases are automatic (no thinking) so how we process information (what we notice and remember) becomes flawed. Biases undermine our ability to make rational decisions. Positive effects Cognitive biases simplify how we view the world. They are ‘shortcuts’ that help us make decisions quickly. Fundamental attribution error (FAE) Explaining other people’s behaviour We can understand the FAE from individual words in the term. Attribution We try to explain the reasons for other people’s behaviour. E.g. if your friend is late you might attribute lateness to their personal characteristics (they don’t think it’s important to be on time) or to situations (the bus broke down). Fundamental error Most people are biased towards one attribution, to overemphasise personal characteristics and downplay situations. It is the most basic (fundamental) error. E.g. believing a student is handing in an essay late because they are lazy (a personal characteristic). Confirmation bias Confirming existing beliefs We are biased towards favouring information that confirms what we already believe. E.g. you are more sensitive to information confirming your existing view of the football team you support. We notice, store and easily recall confirmatory information. But we ignore or reject information that challenges our beliefs and we don’t look for contradictory information. Hostile attribution bias (HAB) An aggressive bias Someone with a HAB: • Wrongly believes another person’s behaviour is threatening (hostile) when it is actually neutral, e.g. an accidental bump in a crowded pub. • Believes the other person is hostile because that is what they are like (personal characteristic), but this ignores the situation (crowded pub). Unit 1 Psychological approaches and applications Content area A 22 Copyright: Sample material
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