Confirmation Bias and Belief Perseverance

These flashcards cover key concepts related to confirmation bias, belief perseverance, and related studies within the context of psychology.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to seek, interpret, and remember information that supports one's existing beliefs while ignoring or discounting information that contradicts those beliefs.

Card Selection Task

A task used to study confirmation bias that shows a greater likelihood of confirming existing beliefs in abstract tasks compared to concrete or thematic tasks.

Belief Perseverance

The tendency to continue endorsing a belief even when disconfirming evidence is present, resisting change despite contrary evidence.

Forensic Confirmation Bias

A cognitive bias where a forensic examiner's interpretation of evidence is influenced by prior beliefs and expectations rather than the evidence itself.

Lord, Ross, & Lepper (1979) Study

A study examining how individuals favor evidence that supports their pre-existing beliefs and discount disconfirming evidence related to capital punishment.

Van den Eeden et al (2019) Study

Research revealing that even experienced crime scene investigators are influenced by confirmation bias when interpreting ambiguous evidence.

Heuristic

A mental shortcut or rule of thumb that simplifies decision making, often leading to bias.

Deterrent Effect (Capital Punishment)

The hypothesis that the death penalty deters crime, which is supported or opposed by various studies and evidence.

First Impression Bias

An initial judgment formed upon encountering information, often influenced by prior beliefs or expectations.

Thematic Task

A task requiring reasoning from social knowledge and experience, often less prone to confirmation bias compared to abstract tasks.