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All 10 Flashcards — Confirmation bias
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Question
What is confirmation bias?
Answer
The tendency to seek, notice and remember information that fits existing beliefs and ignore what contradicts them.
Question
Three ways confirmation bias operates?
Answer
Biased search, biased attention, and biased memory.
Question
Give an example of confirmation bias.
Answer
Believing a supplement works by noticing good days and forgetting bad ones.
Question
How do you counter confirmation bias?
Answer
Actively seek disconfirming evidence — ask 'what would prove this false?'
Question
Is confirmation bias deliberate?
Answer
No — the filtering is mostly automatic (System 1), so it's hard to notice.
Question
How does confirmation bias create echo chambers?
Answer
People seek sources that agree with them and dismiss those that don't.
Question
One strength of the concept?
Answer
Robust across many studies and explains stereotypes, poor decisions and echo chambers.
Question
One limitation of the concept?
Answer
It describes a tendency that varies, more than it explains the exact cause.
Question
Why is a fair test important here?
Answer
Comparing belief vs no-belief conditions stops us counting only confirming cases.
Question
Which concept is this?
Answer
Bias — expectations distort which evidence we use.
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Full study notes for Confirmation bias
Topic 2.2 hub
Cognitive approach
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