Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 6, 2026
06:55
Inverse Probability of Treatment Weighting (Propensity Score) using the Military Health System Data Repository and National Death Index
Published on: January 8, 2020
Value-induced bias in medical decision making
Andrea Gurmankin Levy1, John C Hershey
1Center for Community-Based Research, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. adg11@cornell.edu
Summary
People may distort medical probabilities when making close-call decisions, but not clear-cut ones. This value-induced bias helps justify preferred treatment choices, impacting medical decision-making.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Medical Decision Making
- Behavioral Economics
Background:
- Value-induced bias can lead to suboptimal medical decisions.
- This bias involves distorting probabilities to align with desired outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the conditions under which individuals exhibit value-induced bias.
- To determine if this bias influences probability judgments in medical contexts.
Main Methods:
- A web-based experiment involved participants imagining a serious illness with two diagnoses.
- Participants estimated treatment success probability before or after learning their diagnosis.
- Two studies differentiated between clear-cut and close-call medical decisions.
Main Results:
- No significant probability distortion was observed in clear-cut medical decisions (Study 1).
- In close-call decisions, individuals adjusted probability judgments to justify their treatment preference (Study 2).
Conclusions:
- Value-induced bias affects probability distortion primarily in close-call medical decisions.
- Individuals may rationalize their choices by manipulating perceived success probabilities.
Related Concept Videos
01:22Ethics and Bioethics
Ethics is a philosophical study of moral actions. Ethics attempts to determine what is valuable for individuals and society. It examines the rational justification of moral judgments and analyzes what is morally just, fair, and right. Bioethics is a sub-discipline of applied ethics that analyzes the philosophical, social, and legal issues in life sciences and medicine. Ethical theories serve as a foundation for decision-making and represent the viewpoints from which people seek direction. They...
01:29Bias in Epidemiological Studies
Biases can arise at various stages of research, from study design and data collection to analysis and interpretation. Recognizing and addressing these biases is essential to ensure the validity and reliability of epidemiological findings.Broadly speaking, biases in epidemiology fall into three main categories: selection bias, information bias, and confounding. A more detailed description of possible biases is:
01:09Decision Making: P-value Method
The process of hypothesis testing based on the P-value method includes calculating the P- value using the sample data and interpreting it.
First, a specific claim about the population parameter is proposed. The claim is based on the research question and is stated in a simple form. Further, an opposing statement to the claim is also stated. These statements can act as null and alternative hypotheses: a null hypothesis would be a neutral statement while the alternative hypothesis can have a...
First, a specific claim about the population parameter is proposed. The claim is based on the research question and is stated in a simple form. Further, an opposing statement to the claim is also stated. These statements can act as null and alternative hypotheses: a null hypothesis would be a neutral statement while the alternative hypothesis can have a...
01:27Ethical Issues
Nurses are essential in patient care, upholding the ethical principles of their profession and effectively navigating ethical dilemmas. Neglecting ethical issues can lead to inadequate patient care, compromised therapeutic relationships, and moral distress among healthcare workers.
Ethical Concerns in Healthcare:
Ethical Concerns in Healthcare:
01:13Sensitivity, Specificity, and Predicted Value
In healthcare diagnostics, laboratory tests play a crucial role in identifying and diagnosing a wide range of medical conditions. However, interpreting test results is not always straightforward. An abnormal test result does not always confirm the presence of a disease, just as a normal result does not guarantee its absence. To assess the reliability of these diagnostic tools, healthcare practitioners rely on two key statistical indicators: sensitivity and specificity.
Sensitivity is the...
Sensitivity is the...
01:08The Availability Heuristic
A heuristic is a general problem-solving framework (Tversky & Kahneman, 1974). You can think of these as mental shortcuts that are used to solve problems. Different types of heuristics are used in different types of situations, and the impulse to use a heuristic occurs when one of five conditions is met (Pratkanis, 1989):