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 theory suggests that individuals tend to attribute their successes to internal factors and their failures to external factors?

  1. Self-Serving Bias

  2. Fundamental Attribution Error

  3. Confirmation Bias

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

The self-serving bias is a cognitive bias in which individuals tend to attribute their successes to internal factors, such as their abilities or efforts, and their failures to external factors, such as bad luck or difficult circumstances.

Multiple choice

What is the tendency to form an overall impression of a person based on a single trait or behavior called?

  1. Halo Effect

  2. Horns Effect

  3. Confirmation Bias

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

The halo effect is a cognitive bias in which an individual's overall impression of a person is influenced by a single trait or behavior, either positive or negative.

Multiple choice

Which theory proposes that individuals tend to seek out information that confirms their existing beliefs and disregard information that contradicts them?

  1. Confirmation Bias

  2. Illusory Correlation

  3. Fundamental Attribution Error

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

Confirmation bias is a cognitive bias in which individuals tend to seek out information that confirms their existing beliefs and disregard information that contradicts them.

Multiple choice

What is the tendency to perceive a relationship between two events that are not necessarily causally linked called?

  1. Illusory Correlation

  2. Confirmation Bias

  3. Fundamental Attribution Error

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

Illusory correlation is a cognitive bias in which individuals perceive a relationship between two events that are not necessarily causally linked.

Multiple choice

What is the process by which individuals form impressions of others based on their physical appearance, behavior, and communication style called?

  1. Impression Formation

  2. Social Comparison

  3. Attribution

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

Impression formation is the process by which individuals form impressions of others based on their physical appearance, behavior, and communication style.

Multiple choice

What is the process by which individuals infer the causes of their own and others' behavior called?

  1. Attribution

  2. Impression Formation

  3. Social Comparison

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

Attribution is the process by which individuals infer the causes of their own and others' behavior.

Multiple choice

What is the tendency to perceive others as being more similar to oneself called?

  1. Similarity Bias

  2. Contrast Effect

  3. Illusory Correlation

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

Similarity bias is the tendency to perceive others as being more similar to oneself.

Multiple choice

What is the tendency to perceive others as being more different from oneself called?

  1. Contrast Effect

  2. Similarity Bias

  3. Illusory Correlation

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

Contrast effect is the tendency to perceive others as being more different from oneself.

Multiple choice

What is the tendency to perceive others as being more attractive or desirable when they are similar to oneself called?

  1. Similarity Bias

  2. Contrast Effect

  3. Illusory Correlation

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

Similarity bias is the tendency to perceive others as being more attractive or desirable when they are similar to oneself.

Multiple choice

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

  1. Contextual Influences

  2. Past Experiences

  3. Feature Detection

  4. Schema-Driven Processing
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Feature detection is a bottom-up processing approach where individual features of a stimulus are processed before being integrated into a whole.

Multiple choice

The tendency to perceive objects as complete and whole, even when they are incomplete or broken, is known as:

  1. Perceptual Closure

  2. Perceptual Constancy

  3. Illusory Contours

  4. Figure-Ground Perception
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Perceptual closure refers to the tendency to fill in missing information and perceive objects as complete.

Multiple choice

The tendency to perceive objects as having a constant size, shape, and color despite changes in viewing conditions is known as:

  1. Perceptual Constancy

  2. Perceptual Closure

  3. Illusory Contours

  4. Figure-Ground Perception
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Perceptual constancy refers to the ability to perceive objects as having stable properties despite changes in viewing conditions.

Multiple choice

The tendency to perceive objects as belonging to a group or category is known as:

  1. Perceptual Organization

  2. Perceptual Constancy

  3. Illusory Contours

  4. Figure-Ground Perception
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Perceptual organization refers to the tendency to group and categorize objects based on their similarities.

Multiple choice

The tendency to perceive objects as distinct from their background is known as:

  1. Perceptual Organization

  2. Perceptual Constancy

  3. Illusory Contours

  4. Figure-Ground Perception
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Figure-ground perception refers to the ability to distinguish between an object (figure) and its background (ground).

Multiple choice

Which of the following is NOT a cognitive bias that can be influenced by power?

  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 cognitive bias that can be influenced by power. It is a tendency to believe that an event was more predictable than it actually was, after the event has already occurred.