Set 2: Biases and Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking

The ability to analyze information and evaluate its validity in order to make reasoned judgments and decisions.

Cognitive Bias

Error in thinking that involves processing threatening information or interpreting ambiguous information negatively

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to favor information that confirms your existing beliefs.

Hindsight Bias

People claim they knew something would happen when they didn’t state it would before the something happened (“I knew it all along” syndrome).

Social Desirability Bias

The tendency of people to respond in a manner that is more favored by others rather than being honest.

Experimenter Bias

Occurs when the researcher’s expectations or beliefs about the outcome of a study influence the results.

Self-reporting Bias

Occurs when subjects change their responses often to impress/appease researchers

Sample Bias

Occurs when the sample is not representative of the larger population, which causes inaccurate or misleading results.

Overconfidence

The tendency to be more confident than correct—to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments.

Wording Effect

Changes in phrasing influence survey responses.