OAM 419

Shortcuts in Decision Making

Bounded Rationality, Cognitive Miser, & Heuristic

Bounded Rationality

We try to make rational decisions, however we are bounded by our mental capacities

Cognitive Miser

One seeking a quick, adequate solutions to a problem rather than a slow, careful one. One who takes mental shortcuts

Heuristic def.

a "mental shortcut" a person may take to reduce mental effort in decision-making`

Heuristics Categories

availability, representativeness, anchoring & adjustment, & affective

Availability

making decisions based on the most cognitively accessible, readily available, or easy to bring to mind example

Representativeness

making decisions by comparing a decision option to a mental prototype, or representative example

Anchoring & Adjustment

making decisions by relying heavily on the first bit of info we learn & letfing that information of color subsequent info

Affectuve

letting our emotions influence the decisions we make

Bias

prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared w/ another, usually in a way considered to be unfair

System 1

rapid, intuitive, emotional, & prone to bias

System 2

Deliberate, more reflective, more dispassionate, & (it is said) more accurate

Explicit Attitudes

conscious, deliberative, social & personal values

Implicit Attitudes

unconscious, spontaneous, habit from direct & vicarious experience

Regulatory System

the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) mediates conflict between gut responses & internal goals). when there's conflict the ACC focuses your brain more on your goals rather than habitual responses

Goals can

shape mental operations

Motivated Cognition

the unconscious tendency of individuals to fit their processing of information to conclusions that suit some end or goal

Motivated Cognition affects

system 1 & system 2 thinking

Unconscious bias (UB) training

did not change biased behaviour

Mandatory training can lead to

reactance

Reactance

when freedom of choice is taken away, people push back, even when the task is in their interest

Methods to reduce implicit bias

mind-set, meditation, adjust your perspective, slow-down

Fixed mindest

Entity theory of intelligence

Entity theory of intelligence

a belief that mental abilities & capacity are fixed and unchangeable

Growth mindset

incremental theory of intelligence

Incremental theory of intelligence

a belief that mental abilities & capacity are malleable & expandable effort

Perspective taking def.

looking beyond your own point of view, so that you can consider how someone else may think or feel about something

Perspective taking

can increase empathy which can reduce implicit bias (measuring through IAT scores)

Stereotype def.

a set of cognitive generalizations (ie. beliefs, expectations) about the qualities & characteristics of the members of a group set, or social category

Stereotypes are a nonconscious effort that

influence our judgments of others (regardless of our own group)

Stereotypes do

allow efficient, if sometimes inaccurate, processing of information. often conflict w/ consciously held or "explicit" attitudes, change based on experience/exposure

Stereotypes are

widely culturally shared & applied more under circumstances of ambiguity, stress from competing tasks, & time pressure

Stereotypes can result in

bias, prejudice, & discrimination

Stereotype Content Model (SCM)

is a theoretical model that delineates the stereotypes that are applied to people, & predicts the behaviours that are directed to them as a result. categorizes stereotypes against social groups into warmth & competence dimensions

How to change stereotypes + consequences in/out of workplace

counter-imaging, altering the triggered category, deliberation (rather than gut instincts, aka use system 2 in place of system 1), & hiring for values

Metastereotypes def.

a person's beliefs regarding the stereotype that out-group members hold about their own group

Metastereotypes can lead to

discomfort interacting with others & lower self-esteem, was associated with negative emotions about intergroup interactions

Metastereotype awareness

can create psychological distress & impact employability beliefs

Stereotype threat def.

is the experience of anxiety in a situation in which a person has the potential to confirm a negative stereotype about his or her social group

Stereotype threat

diagnostic negotiation & non-diagnostic negotiation

Diagnostic negotiation

- allows novices to assess their skills

- accurate gauge of genuine negotiating abilities and limitations

- diagnostic of future performance in negotiations course and real-world negotiations

Non-diagnostic negotiation

- allows novices to familiarize themselves with core concepts

- not an accurate gauge of genuine negotiating abilities and limitations

- not diagnostic of future performance in negotiations course and real-world negotiations

Why does stereotype threat occur

b/c stereotypes pervade the culture, creating automatic associations w/ groups (even for people in them), and the IAT reveals that even highly egalitarian people hold "implicit stereotypes"

How to interrupt stereotype threat process

reduce stereotype relevance of the task, don't make the task diagnostic, provide an alternative explanation for the task difficulty, and provide counter stereotypical info (role models that perform well & leads in respected roles)

Stereotypicality

the extent to which a person embodies stereotypes applied to groups they are part of

Subtyping

a process where disconfirming members of a group psychologically "fenced-off" or excluded from group perceptions

Colorism

discrimination against those with darker skin

Intersectionality

the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, & gender as they apply to a given individual/group regarded as creating overlapping & interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage

Class ceiling

lower cultural capital, less elite education, less opportunity

Perpetual Foreigner Syndrome

the concept that regardless of where Asian-Americans were born and raised, their American-ness is often questioned based on their physical appearance

Accent bias

bias against: social class, economic status, ethnic origin, & education level

Standard language ideology

the belief that the dialect with the highest social prestige is also the only correct form of the language