Social Science

Cognitive Biases and Decision Making

1,902 Questions

Explore a curated set of questions on cognitive biases, decision making, and behavioral economics. These concepts evaluate how social norms, emotions, and heuristics influence human judgment and group behavior. Master these topics to build a strong foundation for psychology and social science exams.

Behavioral economicsSocial group influencesEmotional decision makingConfirmation bias

Cognitive Biases and Decision Making Questions

Multiple choice

Which cognitive bias refers to the tendency to rely excessively on an initial piece of information as a reference point when making subsequent judgments and decisions?

  1. Confirmation bias

  2. Availability heuristic

  3. Framing effect

  4. Anchoring bias
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Anchoring bias occurs when individuals are influenced by an initial piece of information, known as the anchor, and tend to make subsequent judgments and decisions relative to that anchor, even if it may not be relevant or accurate.

Multiple choice

What is the term used to describe the tendency to seek out information that confirms existing beliefs and disregard information that contradicts them?

  1. Confirmation bias

  2. Availability heuristic

  3. Framing effect

  4. Anchoring bias
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Confirmation bias refers to the tendency to seek out, interpret, and remember information that confirms existing beliefs, while ignoring or discounting information that contradicts those beliefs.

Multiple choice

What is the term used to describe the process of making decisions based on gut feelings, hunches, or sudden insights without conscious deliberation or analysis?

  1. Intuition

  2. Heuristics

  3. Rational analysis

  4. Emotional reasoning
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Intuition refers to the ability to make decisions or judgments based on gut feelings, hunches, or sudden insights without conscious deliberation or analysis, often relying on past experiences, knowledge, and subconscious processing.

Multiple choice

What is the term used to describe the tendency to make decisions based on emotional responses and feelings rather than logical reasoning or analysis?

  1. Intuition

  2. Heuristics

  3. Rational analysis

  4. Emotional reasoning
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Emotional reasoning refers to the tendency to make decisions and judgments based on emotional responses and feelings, rather than logical reasoning or analysis, often leading to impulsive or biased choices.

Multiple choice

What is the term used to describe the phenomenon where the perceiver's expectations and beliefs influence their perception of an object?

  1. Perceptual bias

  2. Perceptual constancy

  3. Perceptual illusion

  4. Perceptual organization
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Perceptual bias refers to the phenomenon where the perceiver's expectations and beliefs influence their perception of an object, leading to systematic errors in perception.

Multiple choice

What is the term used to describe the phenomenon where the perceiver's perception of an object remains relatively constant despite changes in the sensory input?

  1. Perceptual constancy

  2. Perceptual bias

  3. Perceptual illusion

  4. Perceptual organization
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Perceptual constancy refers to the phenomenon where the perceiver's perception of an object remains relatively constant despite changes in the sensory input, such as changes in lighting or viewing angle.

Multiple choice

What is the term used to describe the phenomenon where the perceiver organizes and interprets sensory information into meaningful patterns?

  1. Perceptual organization

  2. Perceptual bias

  3. Perceptual illusion

  4. Perceptual constancy
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Perceptual organization refers to the phenomenon where the perceiver organizes and interprets sensory information into meaningful patterns, such as shapes, objects, and scenes.

Multiple choice

What is the term used to describe the phenomenon where a perceiver misinterprets or distorts sensory information, leading to an inaccurate perception?

  1. Perceptual illusion

  2. Perceptual bias

  3. Perceptual constancy

  4. Perceptual organization
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Perceptual illusion refers to the phenomenon where a perceiver misinterprets or distorts sensory information, leading to an inaccurate perception, such as seeing a mirage in the desert.

Multiple choice

What is the process of assigning causes to events called?

  1. Attribution

  2. Perception

  3. Cognition

  4. Evaluation
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Attribution is the process of assigning causes to events in order to understand why they happened.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is NOT a type of attribution bias?

  1. Fundamental attribution error

  2. Self-serving bias

  3. Actor-observer bias

  4. Illusory correlation
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Illusory correlation is not an attribution bias, but rather a cognitive bias that refers to the tendency to perceive a relationship between two events that are not actually related.

Multiple choice

The tendency to attribute our own successes to internal factors and our failures to external factors is known as:

  1. Self-serving bias

  2. Fundamental attribution error

  3. Actor-observer bias

  4. Illusory correlation
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Self-serving bias is the tendency to attribute our own successes to internal factors such as our abilities and efforts, and our failures to external factors such as bad luck or other people's actions.

Multiple choice

The tendency to attribute the behavior of others to internal factors, while attributing our own behavior to external factors, is known as:

  1. Fundamental attribution error

  2. Self-serving bias

  3. Actor-observer bias

  4. Illusory correlation
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Actor-observer bias is the tendency to attribute the behavior of others to internal factors such as their personality or intentions, while attributing our own behavior to external factors such as the situation or other people's actions.

Multiple choice

The tendency to overestimate the importance of personal factors and underestimate the importance of situational factors in explaining behavior is known as:

  1. Fundamental attribution error

  2. Self-serving bias

  3. Actor-observer bias

  4. Illusory correlation
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Fundamental attribution error is the tendency to overestimate the importance of personal factors and underestimate the importance of situational factors in explaining behavior.

Multiple choice

The tendency to attribute the behavior of others to stable, internal factors, even when the behavior is clearly due to situational factors, is known as:

  1. Dispositional attribution

  2. Situational attribution

  3. Internal attribution

  4. External attribution
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Dispositional attribution is the tendency to attribute the behavior of others to stable, internal factors, even when the behavior is clearly due to situational factors.

Multiple choice

The tendency to attribute the behavior of others to unstable, external factors, even when the behavior is clearly due to internal factors, is known as:

  1. Dispositional attribution

  2. Situational attribution

  3. Internal attribution

  4. External attribution
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Situational attribution is the tendency to attribute the behavior of others to unstable, external factors, even when the behavior is clearly due to internal factors.