Social Science

Cognitive Biases and Decision Making

1,880 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

What is the term for the tendency to attribute one's successes to internal factors and one's failures to external factors?

  1. Self-serving bias

  2. Illusion of control

  3. Optimism bias

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

Self-serving bias refers to the tendency to attribute one's successes to internal factors (e.g., skill, effort) and one's failures to external factors (e.g., bad luck, unfair circumstances).

Multiple choice

What is the term for the tendency to underestimate the likelihood of experiencing a negative health outcome?

  1. Optimism bias

  2. Pessimism bias

  3. Illusion of control

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

Optimism bias refers to the tendency to underestimate the likelihood of experiencing a negative health outcome, such as a disease or injury.

Multiple choice

What is the term for the tendency to believe that one has more control over events than one actually does?

  1. Optimism bias

  2. Pessimism bias

  3. Illusion of control

  4. Confirmation bias
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Illusion of control refers to the tendency to believe that one has more control over events than one actually does, leading to an overestimation of one's ability to influence outcomes.

Multiple choice

What is the term for the tendency to believe that one is less likely to experience a negative health outcome than others?

  1. Optimism bias

  2. Pessimism bias

  3. Illusion of control

  4. Comparative optimism
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Comparative optimism refers to the tendency to believe that one is less likely to experience a negative health outcome than others, even if the objective risk is the same.

Multiple choice

What is the term for the psychological phenomenon where people tend to underestimate the risks associated with environmental hazards?

  1. Optimism bias

  2. Risk perception bias

  3. Environmental risk perception bias

  4. None of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Environmental risk perception bias refers to the tendency for people to underestimate the risks associated with environmental hazards, such as air pollution or climate change.

Multiple choice

What is the term for the psychological phenomenon where people tend to overestimate the benefits of environmental actions?

  1. Optimism bias

  2. Risk perception bias

  3. Environmental benefit perception bias

  4. None of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Environmental benefit perception bias refers to the tendency for people to overestimate the benefits of environmental actions, such as recycling or using renewable energy.

Multiple choice

What is the term for the psychological phenomenon where people tend to ignore or downplay environmental problems?

  1. Environmental denial

  2. Environmental apathy

  3. Environmental disengagement

  4. None of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Environmental denial refers to the psychological phenomenon where people tend to ignore or downplay environmental problems, often due to cognitive biases or emotional discomfort.

Multiple choice

What is the term for the psychological phenomenon where people tend to conform to the environmental norms of their social group?

  1. Social norms

  2. Social influence

  3. Environmental conformity

  4. None of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Environmental conformity refers to the psychological phenomenon where people tend to conform to the environmental norms of their social group, such as recycling or conserving energy.

Multiple choice

What is the term for the psychological phenomenon where people tend to overestimate the risks associated with environmental hazards?

  1. Optimism bias

  2. Risk perception bias

  3. Environmental risk perception bias

  4. None of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Environmental risk perception bias refers to the tendency for people to overestimate the risks associated with environmental hazards, such as air pollution or climate change.

Multiple choice

What is the term for the psychological phenomenon where people tend to underestimate the benefits of environmental actions?

  1. Optimism bias

  2. Risk perception bias

  3. Environmental benefit perception bias

  4. None of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Environmental benefit perception bias refers to the tendency for people to underestimate the benefits of environmental actions, such as recycling or using renewable energy.

Multiple choice

What is the name of the phenomenon in which people tend to overestimate their own abilities and accomplishments?

  1. The Dunning-Kruger effect

  2. The self-serving bias

  3. The confirmation bias

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

The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability. It is related to the cognitive bias of illusory superiority and comes from the inability of people to recognize their own incompetence.

Multiple choice

What is the name of the phenomenon in which people tend to remember information that is consistent with their existing beliefs and forget information that is inconsistent with their beliefs?

  1. The confirmation bias

  2. The self-serving bias

  3. The anchoring bias

  4. The availability heuristic
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The confirmation bias is a cognitive bias that leads people to seek out information that confirms their existing beliefs and to ignore information that contradicts their beliefs.

Multiple choice

What is the name of the phenomenon in which people tend to remember information that is presented at the beginning and end of a list and forget information that is presented in the middle?

  1. The primacy effect

  2. The recency effect

  3. The serial position effect

  4. The availability heuristic
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The serial position effect is the tendency to remember information that is presented at the beginning and end of a list and forget information that is presented in the middle. This effect is thought to be due to the fact that information that is presented at the beginning and end of a list is more likely to be rehearsed and consolidated in memory.

Multiple choice

What is the name of the phenomenon in which people tend to remember information that is personally relevant to them?

  1. The self-reference effect

  2. The primacy effect

  3. The recency effect

  4. The availability heuristic
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The self-reference effect is the tendency to remember information that is personally relevant to us. This effect is thought to be due to the fact that information that is personally relevant to us is more likely to be processed and consolidated in memory.

Multiple choice

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

  1. Confirmation bias

  2. Hindsight bias

  3. Framing bias

  4. Availability bias
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Hindsight bias is not a type of cognitive bias, but rather a tendency to believe that an event was more predictable than it actually was.