Heuristics
mental shortcuts that people take when there is no time or resources to analyse the situation thoroughly.
Normative models
Models that describe the ideal or correct way of thinking and deciding.
Descriptive models
Models that explain how people actually think and make decisions in real life, even if it's not the ideal way.
System 1 Thinking (Daniel Kahneman)
Fast, instinctive, and emotional thinking based on past experiences, which can sometimes lead to biases or incorrect judgments.
System 2 Thinking (Daniel Kahneman)
Slower, more logical, and analytical thinking that takes more time and effort but can help verify and correct System 1 decisions.
Confirmation Bias- types of biases
The tendency to look for and focus on information that supports what you already believe, while ignoring contrary evidence.
Cognitive Dissonance- types of biases
Feeling uncomfortable or stressed when you hold two contradictory beliefs or behaviors, so you try to rationalize or justify one of them.
Optimism Bias- types of biases
The tendency to believe that negative events are less likely to happen to you compared to others.
Selective Attention-types of biases
Focusing on only a few things while ignoring other important information happening at the same time.
Illusory Correlations- types of biases
Perceiving a relationship or pattern between things when there is no actual correlation.
Anchoring Bias- types of biases
Relying too heavily on the first piece of information you receive, and not adjusting enough based on new information.
Framing Effect- types of biases
How a question or problem is worded can influence the way people perceive and evaluate it.
Common Causes of Intuitive Thinking
Focusing on limited available information, seeking confirmation of existing beliefs, and avoiding mental stress from contradictory thoughts.
Tversky and Kahneman- framing effect study- aim
To study how the way a decision problem is worded (the "frame") influences people's choices involving risk.
Tversky and Kahneman- framing effect study- Method
An experiment with an independent measures design.
Tversky and Kahneman- framing effect study- Participants
307 students who completed a questionnaire in a classroom setting.
Tversky and Kahneman- framing effect study- Procedure
Participants were given a scenario about combating a disease outbreak expected to kill 600 people. They had to choose between two options, framed differently for two groups.
Tversky and Kahneman- framing effect study- Procedure- Options for Group 1
A) 200 people will be saved. B) 1/3 probability that all 600 will be saved, and 2/3 probability that no one will be saved.
Tversky and Kahneman- framing effect study- Procedure- Options for Group 2
C) 400 people will die. D) 1/3 probability that no one will die, and 2/3 probability that 600 will die.
Tversky and Kahneman- framing effect study-Results
In Group 1, 72% chose A (200 saved) and 28% chose B. In Group 2, 22% chose C (400 die) and 78% chose D.
Tversky and Kahneman- framing effect study-conclusion
The way the options were framed (using "will be saved" or "will die") influenced people's choices, even though the problems were mathematically equal. This violates the idea of rational decision-making.
Wason's 4 card problem- aim
To investigate confirmation bias and the errors people make in logical tasks due to mental shortcuts (heuristics).
Wason's 4 card problem- method
An experiment where participants were given a logical reasoning task
Wason's 4 card problem- procedure
Participants were shown 4 cards with a letter on one side and a number on the other. They were told if a card has a vowel on one side, it must have an even number on the other side. Their task was to identify the minimum cards needed to test this rule.
Wason's 4 card problem- The 4 Cards
A, K, 4, 7
Wason's 4 card problem- results
The most common answers were "A only" or "A and 4", which are incorrect.
Wason's 4 card problem- Correct Answer
The cards that need to be turned over are A (to see if it has an even number) and 7 (to see if it has a vowel).
Wason's 4 card problem- conclusion
People tend to focus only on information that confirms their initial belief (the rule), while ignoring information that could disprove it. This is known as confirmation bias.