IB Psychology 3.4.1 Thinking and Learning Notes

Cognitive Biases

Confirmation Bias is the tendency to pay attention to information that confirms existing beliefs and ignore contradictory ideas.

Example

If you meet someone who you don't like on first impression, you may notice their irritating behaviours more than their kind ones.

Case study

Mendel et al. (2011)

Aim

Are mental health professionals affected by confirmation bias?

Method

A decision task was administered to 75 psychiatrists and 75 medical students.
They either looked for confirmatory information, contradictory information, or balanced information.

Results

25% of medical students and 13% of psychiatrists showed confirmation bias.
Confirmatory search led to participants insisting on the wrong diagnosis and administering wrong treatment in some case.

Note

Critical Thinking

The % in Mendel et al. (2011) is a relatively small number, telling us that the issue may not be as big as we are making it seem.
It is still widely agreed that it is incredibly powerful and increases behaviour.

Conditioning

Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning was first researched by Ivan Pavlov and John Watson, both of whom participated in the rise behaviourism in the early 1900s.

They believed we had no free will (determinism) and that we were a product of our environment.

They believed we should ignore mental process and focus on observable behaviours.

Note

Key Terms

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): A stimulus that triggers an automatic response without learning (e.g. salivating when we see food)
Unconditioned Response (UCR): The response to the UCS that is not learned.
Neutral Stimulus (NR): A stimulus that has no behavioural response.
Conditioned Stimulus (CS): A previously neutral stimulus that has been paired with an UCS to cause an UCR.
Conditioned Response (CR): A previously unconditioned response that has been conditioned to occur in response to a previously neutral stimulus.

In Pavlov's study, Pavlov repeatedly paired the ringing of a bell with food in front of a dog.

Eventually, the dog salivated at the sound of the bell.

The dog associated the bell with the fact that food will come.

Tip

In this case:

The food is the unconditioned stimulus.
The salivation is the unconditioned response that became a conditioned response.
The bell is a neutral stimulus that became a conditioned stimulus.

Example

An example is in advertising.
If you associate a footballer with greatness, and they start promoting a soda brand, you may begin to associate that soda brand with greatness.

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Note

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Tip

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IB Psychology 3.4.1 Thinking and Learning Notes

Cognitive Biases

Conditioning

Classical Conditioning

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Cognitive Biases

Conditioning

Classical Conditioning

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1. Concepts6 subtopics

2. Content4 subtopics

3. Contexts4 subtopics

4. Extensions (HL only)4 subtopics

IB Psychology 3.4.1 Thinking and Learning Notes

1. Concepts6 subtopics

2. Content4 subtopics

3. Contexts4 subtopics

4. Extensions (HL only)4 subtopics

Cognitive Biases

Conditioning

Classical Conditioning

anim nostrud sit dolore minim proident quis fugiat velit et eiusmod nulla quis nulla mollit dolor sunt culpa aliqua

Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit

Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident

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Cognitive Biases

Conditioning

Classical Conditioning

anim nostrud sit dolore minim proident quis fugiat velit et eiusmod nulla quis nulla mollit dolor sunt culpa aliqua

Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit

Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident

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