heuristic bias

heuristic bias



HEURISTIC BIAS AND CONFLICT DETECTION DURING THINKING




Wim De Neys1, 2, 3


1 ‐ CNRS, Unité 8240 LaPsyDÉ, France
2 ‐ Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Unité 8240 LaPsyDÉ, France
3 ‐ Université de Caen Basse‐Normandie, Unité 8240 LaPsyDÉ, France



Word count : 13139


Mailing address: Wim De Neys
LaPsyDÉ (Unité CNRS 8240, Université Paris Descartes)
Sorbonne - Labo A. Binet
46, rue Saint Jacques
75005 Paris
France

wim.de-neys@parisdescartes.fr


HEURISTIC BIAS AND CONFLICT DETECTION DURING THINKING

Decades of reasoning and decision-making research have established that human judgment is often biased by intuitive heuristics. Although this heuristic bias is well documented and widely featured in psychology textbooks, its precise nature is less clear. A key question is whether reasoners detect the biased nature of their judgments. My research is focusing on this detection process. In a nutshell, results indicate that despite their illogical response, people demonstrate a remarkable sensitivity to possible conflict between their heuristic judgment and elementary logical or probabilistic principles. In this chapter I present a detailed overview of the empirical studies that I have run and discuss theoretical implications. I will clarify why the empirical detection findings have led me to hypothesize that people not only have heuristic intuitions but also logical intuitions. I also explore implications for ongoing debates concerning our view of human rationality (“Are humans blind and ignorant heuristic thinkers?”), dual process theories of reasoning (“How do intuitive and deliberate thinking interact?”), and the nature of individual differences in bias susceptibility (“when and why do biased and unbiased reasoners start to diverge?”).




1. INTRODUCTION

One of my all-time favorite movie scenes comes from the iconic parody “This Is Spinal Tap”. The faux documentary covers a tour by the fictional...

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