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 focus on information that is emotionally salient?

  1. Emotional attentional bias

  2. Attentional bias

  3. Perceptual bias

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

Emotional attentional bias is the tendency to focus on information that is emotionally salient.

Multiple choice

What is the term for the ability to ignore irrelevant information and focus on relevant information?

  1. Selective attention

  2. Divided attention

  3. Sustained attention

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

Selective attention is the ability to ignore irrelevant information and focus on relevant information.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is an example of a cognitive bias?

  1. Confirmation bias

  2. Hindsight bias

  3. Framing effect

  4. All of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Cognitive biases are systematic errors in thinking that occur when people make judgments and decisions.

Multiple choice

What is the term for the tendency to attribute success to internal factors and failures to external factors?

  1. Self-Serving Bias

  2. Fundamental Attribution Error

  3. Actor-Observer Bias

  4. Illusion of Control
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
Correct answer
Explanation

Self-Serving Bias refers to the tendency for individuals to attribute their successes to internal factors (e.g., skill, effort) and their failures to external factors (e.g., bad luck, unfair officiating).

Multiple choice

What is the term for the tendency to attribute success to internal factors and failures to external factors?

  1. Self-Serving Bias

  2. Fundamental Attribution Error

  3. Actor-Observer Bias

  4. Illusion of Control
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
Correct answer
Explanation

Self-Serving Bias refers to the tendency for individuals to attribute their successes to internal factors (e.g., skill, effort) and their failures to external factors (e.g., bad luck, unfair officiating).

Multiple choice

What is the term for the tendency for individuals to overestimate the likelihood of experiencing a negative health event?

  1. Health anxiety

  2. Hypochondriasis

  3. Illness phobia

  4. All of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Health anxiety, hypochondriasis, and illness phobia are all terms for the tendency for individuals to overestimate the likelihood of experiencing a negative health event.

Multiple choice

What is the term for the tendency for individuals to engage in health behaviors that are consistent with their values and beliefs?

  1. Health value orientation

  2. Health belief orientation

  3. Health behavior orientation

  4. All of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Health value orientation is the term for the tendency for individuals to engage in health behaviors that are consistent with their values and beliefs.

Multiple choice

What is the term for the tendency for individuals to engage in health behaviors that are consistent with their perceived risks and benefits?

  1. Health risk-benefit orientation

  2. Health belief orientation

  3. Health behavior orientation

  4. All of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Health risk-benefit orientation is the term for the tendency for individuals to engage in health behaviors that are consistent with their perceived risks and benefits.

Multiple choice

What is the term for the tendency to attribute our successes to internal factors and our failures to external factors?

  1. Self-Serving Bias

  2. Confirmation Bias

  3. Fundamental Attribution Error

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

Self-serving bias refers to the tendency to attribute positive outcomes to our own abilities and negative outcomes to external factors.

Multiple choice

What is the term for the tendency to conform to the opinions or behaviors of a group?

  1. Groupthink

  2. Social Facilitation

  3. Social Loafing

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

Groupthink refers to the tendency to conform to the opinions or behaviors of a group, even when those opinions or behaviors are irrational or harmful.

Multiple choice

What is the term for the tendency to perceive others as being more similar to ourselves than they actually are?

  1. Illusory Correlation

  2. Confirmation Bias

  3. Fundamental Attribution Error

  4. Self-Serving Bias
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Illusory correlation refers to the tendency to perceive others as being more similar to ourselves than they actually are.

Multiple choice

What is the term for the tendency to attribute our failures to internal factors and our successes to external factors?

  1. Self-Serving Bias

  2. Confirmation Bias

  3. Fundamental Attribution Error

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

Fundamental attribution error refers to the tendency to attribute our failures to internal factors and our successes to external factors.

Multiple choice

What is the term for the tendency to perceive others as being more different from ourselves than they actually are?

  1. Illusory Correlation

  2. Confirmation Bias

  3. Fundamental Attribution Error

  4. Out-Group Homogeneity Bias
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Out-group homogeneity bias refers to the tendency to perceive others who belong to different groups as being more similar to each other than they actually are.

Multiple choice

What is the term for the tendency to perceive others as being more similar to ourselves than they actually are?

  1. Illusory Correlation

  2. Confirmation Bias

  3. Fundamental Attribution Error

  4. Self-Serving Bias
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Illusory correlation refers to the tendency to perceive others as being more similar to ourselves than they actually are.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is an example of a bottom-up processing approach in perception?

  1. Recognizing a face in a crowd.

  2. Interpreting the meaning of a sentence.

  3. Making an inference based on prior knowledge.

  4. Predicting the outcome of an event.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Recognizing a face in a crowd is an example of a bottom-up processing approach, where sensory information is processed from the individual features of the face to the overall gestalt.