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| [[File:Topic Cover - 9.2 Biases.png|thumb]]
| | {{Cover|9.2 Biases}} |
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| Some of the psychological biases that make our probability judgments go awry.
| | As social creatures, humans make decisions in the context of their social environment. This often leads to decisions that tend to conform with the group or obey those in authority, and to judgments that overemphasize the role of individual differences in explaining people's behaviors. We provoke a discussion on the implications of these cognitive biases to society and encourage empathy when judging others. |
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| == The Lesson in Context == | | == The Lesson in Context == |
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| This lesson is in the middle our "heuristics and biases" series and tends to be one of the more popular lessons in the course. It focusses on people's "hot" biases that are more emotionally or socially driven. Unfortunately, people that know about these biases are generally ''not'' actually less likely to fall into them. We choose to teach the students about them anyways. | | This lesson is in the middle our "heuristics and biases" series and tends to be one of the more popular lessons in the course. It focusses on people's "hot" biases that are more emotionally or socially driven. Unfortunately, people that know about these biases are generally ''not'' actually less likely to fall into them. We choose to teach the students about them anyways. |
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| <!-- Expandable section relating this lesson to earlier lessons. --> | | <!-- Expandable section relating this lesson to other lessons. --> |
| {{Expand|Relation to Earlier Lessons| | | {{Expand|Relation to Other Lessons| |
| | '''Earlier Lessons''' |
| {{ContextLesson|8.1 Orders of Understanding}} | | {{ContextLesson|8.1 Orders of Understanding}} |
| {{ContextRelation|Orders of Understanding is about how each event arises from multiple influences, some more important than others. Human behavior, for instance, is affected by both individual differences and by circumstance or context, including pressures to conform and obey, and we often overestimate the former and underestimate the latter (FAE).}} | | {{ContextRelation|Orders of Understanding is about how each event arises from multiple influences, some more important than others. Human behavior, for instance, is affected by both individual differences and by circumstance or context, including pressures to conform and obey, and we often overestimate the former and underestimate the latter (FAE).}} |
| {{ContextLesson|9.1 Heuristics}} | | {{ContextLesson|9.1 Heuristics}} |
| {{ContextRelation|The first lesson on H&B is on "cold" biases around numbers and frequencies. The second lesson (this one) is on "hot" biases, more emotion and value-laden thinking. Both involve heuristics, strategies for making quick judgments that can be useful in some contexts but can also go awry.}} | | {{ContextRelation|The first lesson on H&B is on "cold" biases around numbers and frequencies. The second lesson (this one) is on "hot" biases, more emotion and value-laden thinking. Both involve heuristics, strategies for making quick judgments that can be useful in some contexts but can also go awry.}} |
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| <!-- Expandable section relating this lesson to later lessons. -->
| | '''Later Lessons''' |
| {{Expand|Relation to Later Lessons|
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| {{ContextLesson|10.1 Confirmation Bias}} | | {{ContextLesson|10.1 Confirmation Bias}} |
| {{ContextRelation|Confirmation bias is a broader form of bias in which people tend to look for and believe evidence or arguments supporting what they already believe or expect, and to neglect or dismiss evidence and arguments against what they believe or expect. It can exacerbate other biases, including status quo bias, temporal discounting, and/or the fundamental attribution error.}} | | {{ContextRelation|Confirmation bias is a broader form of bias in which people tend to look for and believe evidence or arguments supporting what they already believe or expect, and to neglect or dismiss evidence and arguments against what they believe or expect. It can exacerbate other biases, including status quo bias, temporal discounting, and/or the fundamental attribution error.}} |
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| {{ContextRelation|Scenario Planning involves considering four different possible future scenarios. It is one strategy that may reduce status quo bias and temporal discounting by making more salient a variety of possible futures, and how they may differ from the present in both desirable and undesirable ways.}} | | {{ContextRelation|Scenario Planning involves considering four different possible future scenarios. It is one strategy that may reduce status quo bias and temporal discounting by making more salient a variety of possible futures, and how they may differ from the present in both desirable and undesirable ways.}} |
| }} | | }} |
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| == Takeaways == | | == Takeaways == |
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| </tabber> | | </tabber> |
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| == Useful Resources ==
| | {{#restricted:{{Private:9.2 Biases}}}} |
| | | {{NavCard|chapter=Lesson plans|text=All lesson plans|prev=9.1 Heuristics|next=10.1 Confirmation Bias}} |
| <tabber>
| | [[Category:Lesson plans]] |
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| |-|Lecture Video=
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| <br /><center><youtube>_iKuqvhyE6A</youtube></center><br />
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| |-|Discussion Slides=
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| {{LinkCard | |
| |url=https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11jcf9OQnHfYTuYYKijC6eLhGUe4q49lxiHmNKg-WxNk/
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| |title=Discussion Slides Template
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| |description=The discussion slides for this lesson.
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| }}
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| <br />
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| </tabber>
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| == Recommended Outline ==
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| === Before Class ===
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| {{BoxCaution|This class in particular has ''a lot'' of content. Make sure to take extra time when reviewing this lesson.}} | |
| Prepare enough sticky notes for your class for the [[#Fundamental Attribution Error|fundamental attribution error]] activity.
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| === During Class ===
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| {| class="wikitable" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: auto;"
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| |21 Minutes
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| |Lead the students through the [[#Conformity|conformity]] discussion.
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| |24 Minutes
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| |Lead the students through the [[#Obedience|obedience]] discussion.
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| |11 Minutes
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| |Play the [[#Fundamental Attribution Error|fundamental attribution error]] game.
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| |12 Minutes
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| |Lead the students through the [[#Status Quo Bias|status quo bias]] discussion. Skip this if pressed for time.
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| |8 Minutes
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| |Lead the students through the [[#Temporal Discounting|temporal discounting]] discussion.
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| |}
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| == Lesson Content ==
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| === Conformity ===
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| ==== Instructions ====
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| {| class="wikitable" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: auto;"
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| |6 Minutes
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| |Show your students the [[#Asch Experiment|Asch experiment video]].
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| |8 Minutes
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| |Have your students discuss the [[#Asch Question 1|first Asch discussion question]].
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| |7 Minutes
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| |Have your students discuss the [[#Asch Question 2|second Asch discussion question]].
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| |}
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| ==== Asch Experiment ====
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| <center><youtube>NyDDyT1lDhA</youtube></center>
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| ==== Asch Question 1 ====
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| Why do you think the participants in the Asch experiment conformed, even though they could see the other people were not correct? Can you think of a time you conformed without really thinking about it? Why did you conform then? Can you think of a time you didn't conform? Why didn't you? Was it difficult? How did others react?
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| ==== Asch Question 2 ====
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| Discuss as a whole group. What surprised you? Are there sometimes good reasons to conform? What makes it hard to resist conforming? What enables people to resist conformity?
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| === Obedience ===
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| This activity introduces students to the unexpected power of the pressure to obey authority, showing them the classic Milgram study and inviting them to discuss its implications and ramifications.
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| ==== Instructions ====
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| {| class="wikitable" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: auto;"
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| |6 Minutes
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| |Show your students the [[#Milgram Experiment|Milgram experiment video]].
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| |10 Minutes
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| |Have your students discuss the [[#Milgram Group Questions|small group discussion questions]].
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| |8 Minutes
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| |Have your students discuss the [[#Milgram Class Questions|whole class discussion questions]].
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| |}
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| ==== Milgram Experiment ====
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| <center><youtube>wObjVgDHxD8</youtube></center>
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| {{BoxCaution|Warn students that the video may be disturbing, and assure them that no one was actually physically injured.}}
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| {{BoxTip|The full version of the video is hidden in the slides. You may show it if you'd like.}} | |
| ==== Milgram Group Questions ==== | |
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| Have your students discuss the following questions in small groups.
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| # Why did so many people continue to push the button, even after the "learner" cried out in pain and begged them to stop?
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| # What situational factors do you think contributed to people feeling pressure to push the button?
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| # What situational factors might increase people's willingness to push the button? What situational factors might decrease their willingness? What questions do you have for plenary?
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| # What would prevent you from pushing the button all the way through? How can you be sure you wouldn't? (How similar would the situation have to be for you to recognize the similarity to Milgram's study?)
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| # What could we do at the level of institutions that might reduce the pressure to conform and obey to do harmful acts?
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| ==== Milgram Class Questions ====
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| [[File:Milgram variations.gif|thumb|Variations on the Milgram experiment.]]
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| Return to the whole class. Explain that Milgram did many variations on this experiment, and found that the further away the experimenter, the less people pushed the button; and the closer the victim, the less people pushed the button. Ask your students the following question.
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| # Why do you think experimenter distance made it easier to disobey?
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| # Why do you think victim proximity made it easier to disobey?
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| # What implications does this study have for our society? For the increasingly technological nature of war (e.g. drones piloted at a distance)?
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| {{BoxCaution|You may want to give your students a couple minutes to get up and shake it off before continuing.}}
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| === Fundamental Attribution Error === | |
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| In this activity students are introduced to the broader phenomenon of the fundamental attribution error. The FAE describes people's surprise at both the Milgram and Asch experiments, as well as other situations where people underestimate the power of the situation. In other words, a lot of bad behavior comes not from bad people doing bad things, but from regular people in difficult situations. We can take this optimistically; it's not that people are intrinsically bad, it's that it's really hard to resist situations. So if we can change the situations—if we can make systemic change happen—then maybe we can drastically reduce harmful behavior. Students will practice generating alternative situational explanations to help them recognize the power of situation, and to reduce the natural tendency to underestimate it.
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| {{LinkCard
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| |title=Fundamental Attribution Error Game
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| |url=https://sites.google.com/a/sunsetparkhighschool.org/psychology/sociocultural/activity-fundamental-attribution-error
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| |description=The game that inspired this activity.}}
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| ==== Instructions ====
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| {| class="wikitable" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: auto;"
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| |7 Minutes
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| |Have your students [[#FAE Game Directions|play the game]].
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| |4 Minutes
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| |Ask your students the [[#FAE Game Discussion|discussion questions]].
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| |}
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| ==== FAE Game Directions ====
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| {{BoxCaution|Make sure you bring enough sticky notes for your students.}}
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| Give the students an example and then the following directions.
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| # Write some strange past behavior of yours that could be misinterpreted on the sticky note.
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| # Once everyone in your group has written them, trade the notes with another group and try to come up with creative explanations for them.
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| # Once you have explanations for the other group, get back together and share your explanations and the real ones.
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| Afterwards, call the class back together and see if anyone has any particularly amusing past behaviors and misinterpretations to share.
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| ==== FAE Game Discussion ====
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| Ask your students the following questions.
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| # Why is it so easy to jump to conclusions?
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| # Why is it useful to consider multiple possible explanations for a behavior?
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| # How can we improve our institutions to reduce situational pressures that often cause harmful behavior (e.g. through obedience and conformity, as in the Milgram and Asch experiments)?
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| === Status Quo Bias ===
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| {{BoxTip|Skip this activity if you run out of time.}}
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| === Activity 1 ===
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| [Brief description of and motivation for the activity]
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| {{BoxCaution|[Common misconception or thing to look out for.]}}
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| {{BoxWarning|[Thing you really need to look out for!]}}
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| {{BoxTip|title=[Title]|[Useful tip, guideline, or other background.]}}
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| ==== Instructions ====
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| {| class="wikitable" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: auto;"
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| |[n] Minutes
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| |[Activity.]
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| |-
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| |[n] Minutes
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| |[Activity.]
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| |}
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| ==== Discussion Questions ====
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| [Question 1]
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| {{BoxCaution|[Possible misconception that may need to be corrected and clarified.]|small=right}}
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| {{BoxAnswer|[Intended answer to the above question.]}}
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| {{Line}}
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| [Question 2]
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| {{BoxCaution|[Possible misconception that may need to be corrected and clarified.]|small=right}}
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| {{BoxAnswer|[Intended answer to the above question.]}}{{NavCard|prev=9.1 Heuristics|next=10.1 Confirmation Bias}}
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| [[Category:Lesson plans]]0 | |