How to be a More Critical Consumer Vocab - AP Research

Bias

preference for or against something; can be innocuous, expected, evil, or something in between; must be recognized

Types of Bias

1. Cognitive: Mental shortcuts

2. Implicit: Unconscious attitudes

3. Statistical: Errors leading to misinformation

Types of Cognitive Bias

• Anchoring Bias

• Recency Bias

• Availability Heuristic:

• Confirmation Bias

• Hindsight Bias

• Dunning-Kruger Effect

Anchoring Bias

over-reliance on the first datapoint

Recency Bias

over-reliance on the newest datapoint

Availability Heuristic

over-reliance on easily accessible datapoints

Conformation Bias

only looking for datapoints that prove a belief

Hindsight Bias

belief that one knew an outcome’s inevitability

Dunning-Kruger Effect

belief that one is more knowledgeable than reality suggests

Ad Hominem Attack

attacking character

Building a Strawman

altering an argument to make it easier to attack

Moving the Goalposts

increasing the standard of proof

Fake Dilemma

creaming an “either/or” where none exists

False Analogy

superficial comparison that ignores important differences

Slippery Slope Argument

assertion that a small issue will inevitably lead to extreme consequences

Appeal to Authority

assertion that a point is true because it came from a a powerful individual

Red Herring Distractor

an unrelated issue used to cloud the real argument

Circular Reasoning

a conclusion serving as its own evidence

The Fallacy Fallacy

believing faulty evidence automatically invalidates a conclusion

Cherry Picked Data

ignoring any evidence that refutes a claim

Loaded Questions

including assumptions in questions

First Principles

starting to solve a problem from the most basic facts

Opportunity Cost

every choice sacrifices another choice

Second-Order Thinking

examining how the various parts of a whole relate

Occam’s Razor

the simplest explanation should be considered first

Hanlon’s Razor

malice is less likely than carelessness or incompetence

Mistaken

an error made honestly OR carelessly

Misleading

the honest, careless, or malicious omission of relevant information

Manipulated

the purposeful editing of information

Fabricated

a full and complete lie, absolutely no truth

Impersonated

purposeful imitation; can be malicious, pragmatic, or comedic

Misunderstood

sender (poorly communicated) - receiver (misunderstood) issues