Critical Reasoning and Social Dynamics Lecture Flashcards

Flashcards covering social reasoning, cognitive biases, logical fallacies, and statistical misinterpretations based on the lecture transcript.

Social Beings (Talisse & Aikin)

The reason humans argue; because we must coordinate, justify ourselves to others, and hold them accountable, making argument a structural feature of social life rather than an optional hobby.

Cognitive Hygiene

The practice of maintaining thinking in a healthy, reliable, truth-tracking condition by cultivating habits that protect reasoning from distortion, bias, and self-deception.

The Duck-Rabbit Illusion

A classic illusion functioning on the basis of WYSIATI and System 1 (initial intuitive pattern recognition), but which can be analyzed by System 2 to see the alternative interpretation.

WYSIATI

An acronym for 'What You See Is All There Is,' where the mind constructs a narrative based only on readily available information.

System 1

A fast, intuitive, and pattern-dependent mode of intellectual processing.

System 2

A slow, analytical mode of intellectual processing that focuses on facts and overcomes initial intuitive responses.

The Gambler's Fallacy

The mistaken belief that earlier outcomes in a random process change the probabilities of later outcomes even when the underlying setup remains the same.

The Law of Small Numbers

The mistake of expecting small sample sizes to produce results equivalent to the larger population, often leading to extreme or unrepresentative statistical findings.

Regression to the Mean

The statistical phenomenon where extreme results are likely to be followed by results closer to the average.

Epistemic Reason

A reason to believe something based on findings regarding the objective truth of reality or the logic of an argument.

Pragmatic Reason

A reason to believe something based on how useful that belief is for a person in a specific situation, regardless of data-based facts.

Confidence Norm

General social expectations regarding how a speaker should express certainty and act on what they know.

False Positive

A test result that incorrectly indicates the presence of a condition (such as a disease) when it is not actually present.

Bias Blind Spot

The phenomenon where individuals observe bias in others much more frequently than in their own thinking, leading to the belief that they are less biased than others.

Epistemic Blame

Negative judgment directed at a person for their specific reasoning behaviors and ways of thinking, rather than just their actions.

Echo Chambers

Social environments where opposing views are disregarded or deemed untrustworthy solely because they do not affirm the group's existing beliefs.

Escalating Cycles

A process where debaters adopt dismissive or contemptuous postures because they clearly see cultural predispositions in opponents while ignoring their own.

Introspection Illusion

The difficulty of seeing one's own bias during self-inspection, which often leads to a stronger (but false) conclusion that one's reasons are epistemically sound.

Pyramid of Choice

A metaphor where two people start with similar attitudes but, after making a decision, justify their choice until they end at opposite base corners with polarized views.

Correlation without Causation

When two variables spike or move together (like ice cream sales and shark attacks) due to a hidden third factor (like sunny weather) rather than a direct cause-and-effect relationship.

The Barnum Effect

A psychological phenomenon where individuals believe personality descriptions are uniquely tailored to them specifically, even though the descriptions are highly generalized.

Motivated Reasoning

A psychological phenomenon where a desire to reach a specific, predetermined conclusion actively guides the reasoning process toward that preferred outcome.

Hermeneutical Injustice

An unfair disadvantage occurring when there is a gap in collective interpretive resources, preventing someone from making sense of their social experiences.

Epistemic Bubble

An environment where a person is not hearing or encountering opposing views, distinct from an echo chamber where those views are heard but dismissed.

The Likelihood of the Unlikely

A failure to appreciate that even rare events are possible and can occur, such as a patient having a rare autoimmune disorder instead of a common cold.

One-Sided Event

An event that can only happen or be noticed in one direction, such as 'at least one success.'

Two-Sided Event

An event that can happen in either an unusually high or unusually low direction, which people often underestimate or find too surprising.

Procedure 1

The method for finding a 'crux' by identifying a point of disagreement with another person.

Cognitive Dissonance

The uncomfortable mental tension felt when holding two conflicting beliefs or when behavior contradicts personal values.

Scout Mindset

A way of thinking that favors accuracy and truth over utility and convenience, even when facts do not align with personal desires.

Soldier Mindset

A way of thinking where the goal is to defend one's own beliefs rather than seeking an accurate conclusion.

Micro-Motivated Cognition

The concept that motivated reasoning might only slightly affect confidence in a single belief, yet significantly impact overall thinking when it becomes a habit.

Weak Man Phenomenon

Engaging with or making weak arguments that leave one vulnerable to being taken advantage of by an opponent who uses that weakness to strengthen their own position.

Flow

A state of being completely enthralled or 'in the zone' during creative moments or activities like reading or puzzles.

Durability Bias

The tendency to overestimate how long the emotional effect (positive or negative) of a specific event will last.

Focusing Illusion

The tendency to overestimate the significance of a single factor while thinking about it, summarized by the phrase: 'Nothing in life is as important as you think it is when you are thinking about it.'

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

A therapeutic approach that focuses on identifying and correcting distorted ways of thinking.

Testimonial Injustice

An injustice that occurs when a person's credibility is unfairly deflated due to prejudice.

Mean

The average of a set of scores, calculated as $\text{Mean} = 4.57$ for the set $1, 2, 2, 4, 5, 6, 12$, and highly sensitive to statistical outliers.

Median

The middle value of a data set (e.g., $\text{Median} = 4$ for the set $1, 2, 2, 4, 5, 6, 12$), which can sometimes hide inequality or extreme variation.

Mode

The most frequent value in a data set (e.g., $\text{Mode} = 2$ for the set $1, 2, 2, 4, 5, 6, 12$), which can make a mediocre result appear to be the norm.

One Minus Approach

A method used to determine probability; for example, the probability of getting at least one tails in five flips is calculated as $31/32$.