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Related Concept Videos

Confirmation Biases01:31

Confirmation Biases

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The confirmation bias is the tendency to focus on information that confirms our existing beliefs and ignore information that is inconsistent with our expectations. For example, if you think that your professor is not very nice, you notice all of the instances of rude behavior exhibited by the professor while ignoring the countless pleasant interactions he is involved in on a daily basis. Have you ever fallen prey to the confirmation bias, either as the source or target of such bias?
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While variables are sometimes correlated because one does cause the other, it could also be that some other factor, a confounding variable, is actually causing the systematic movement in our variables of interest. For instance, as sales in ice cream increase, so does the overall rate of crime. Is it possible that indulging in your favorite flavor of ice cream could send you on a crime spree? Or, after committing crime do you think you might decide to treat yourself to a cone?
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Cognitive bias results from limitations in thinking and information processing, leading to systematic errors in judgment. Conversely, motivational bias stems from personal desires or emotions, causing distortions in perception to align with self-interest. Motivational bias influences how individuals perceive and attribute causes to events, often shaped by personal needs, goals, and self-esteem preservation. This bias can distort judgment, leading to inaccurate assessments of success, failure,...
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Hindsight bias leads you to believe that the event you just experienced was predictable, even though it really wasn’t. In other words, you knew all along that things would turn out the way they did. Can you relate this to the phrase "Hindsight is 20/20" now? 
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Social proof is a form of persuasion based on comparison and conformity. People compare their behavior and actions to what others are doing and will change to conform to do what their peers do.
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Self-Serving Bias01:29

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Self-serving bias is a cognitive phenomenon in which individuals attribute positive outcomes to internal factors such as their abilities, intelligence, or effort while attributing negative outcomes to external circumstances. This cognitive distortion helps maintain self-esteem but can also impede objective self-assessment.Theoretical Explanations of Self-Serving BiasTwo primary theories explain the self-serving bias: the cognitive explanation and the motivational explanation.The cognitive...
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Confidence drives a neural confirmation bias.

Max Rollwage1,2, Alisa Loosen3,4, Tobias U Hauser3,4

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High confidence in decisions amplifies processing of confirming evidence and blocks contradictory information, revealing how confirmation bias solidifies beliefs. This neural gating mechanism reduces the likelihood of changing one's mind, even with new data.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Decision-Making Research
  • Social Psychology

Background:

  • Confirmation bias, the tendency to favor information confirming existing beliefs, contributes to polarized and entrenched viewpoints.
  • This bias is particularly pronounced when individuals exhibit high confidence in their decisions.
  • Understanding the neural underpinnings of post-decisional processing is crucial for explaining confirmation bias.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how post-decisional neural processing is altered by decision confidence.
  • To identify neural mechanisms contributing to confirmation bias using human magnetoencephalography (MEG) and computational modeling.
  • To elucidate the role of confidence in selective evidence integration.

Main Methods:

  • Combined human magnetoencephalography (MEG) recordings with behavioral experiments.
  • Employed neural and behavioral modeling to analyze post-decisional processing.
  • Examined neural responses to confirmatory and disconfirmatory evidence following decisions of varying confidence levels.

Main Results:

  • High confidence significantly modulates post-decision neural activity.
  • Integration of confirmatory evidence is amplified, while processing of disconfirmatory evidence is abolished.
  • Confidence acts as a neural gate, selectively allowing choice-consistent information.

Conclusions:

  • Decision confidence shapes neural processing by selectively gating choice-consistent information.
  • This selective gating reduces the probability of reconsidering decisions based on new, contradictory evidence.
  • Metacognitive interventions targeting confidence may help mitigate confirmation bias.