Cognitive Biases
People who believe that the media is biased will look for evidence that confirms this view.
What is the hostile media effect?
The form of argument which intends to guarantee the conclusion.
What is a deductive argument?
Make this incomplete argument valid: "If the door is open, the dog has escaped. The dog has escaped."
Possible new premise: "The door is open."
Identify the target, sample, and property: "I posted in my groupchat full of students from CSUEB who are philosophy majors asking if they think that philosophy is a waste of time. 90% of them said “No.”. Therefore, about 90% CSUEB students don’t think that philosophy is a waste of time."
Target: CSUEB students
Sample: 90% of CSUEB philosophy majors in the groupchat
Property: Don't think that philosophy is a waste of time.
"Every person who lives in France that I’ve met have been so snobbish. All people who live in France are snobs."
What is hasty generalization?
Preferring the current state of things. Ex: The white middle class fears the changing demographics of the United States.
What is the status quo bias?
The form of argument which intends to make the conclusion likely, or probable.
What is an inductive argument?
Make this incomplete argument strong: "90% of students at my school love to listen to Kate Bush. Carl loves listening to Kate Bush."
Possible new premise: "Carl is a student at my school."
Identify the target, sample, and property:"90% of teachers in my school district report that students aren’t given enough homework. So, students should be getting more homework than they currently do."
Target: Students
Sample: 90% of teachers in my school district
Property: Should be getting more homework that they currently do
"We have no proof that the megalodon is completely extinct. Therefore, we must assume that there are still megalodons out there in the ocean somewhere."
What is appeal to ignorance?
Our beliefs and attitudes become heightened in the presence of other people from our social group. An example of this would be one's attitude when they are with fellow sports fans.
What is group polarization?
"Robert Downey Jr. played Iron Man. Tom Hanks did not play Iron Man. Therefore, Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Hanks are not identical."
What is a deductive, valid, and sound argument?
Make this incomplete argument strong: "José eats vegetables all of the time. Therefore, José leads a healthy lifestyle."
Possible new premise: "Most people who eat vegetables all of the time lead a healthy lifestyle."
Identify the target, sample, and property: "Mrs. Cyndi, a third grade teacher at Lauper elementary school is too strict. She yells at her students, gives way too much homework, and never lets her students go outside to play. One can conclude that most of the third grade teachers at Lauper elementary school are the same way."
Target: Third grade teachers at Lauper elementary school
Sample: Mrs. Cyndi
Property: are too strict
"If you let your kids go to daycare at a younger age, you will not be the only authority figure in their lives. If you aren’t the only authority figure in their lives, then your kids will respect you less. When they respect you less, you won’t be able to stop them from becoming delinquents in the future. Therefore, you should never put your kids in daycare when they are still young."
What is slippery slope?
Tending to prefer those who we believe are from the same groups as us, and discount those who we think aren’t from the groups we identify with.
What is the in-group bias?
For inductive arguments, above 50% is ____ while below 50% is ____.
Make this incomplete argument valid: "José eats vegetables all of the time. Therefore, José leads a healthy lifestyle."
Possible new premise: "If you eat vegetables all of the time, then you lead a healthy lifestyle."
Identify the target, sample, and property: "80% of adults in San Francisco say that they lean more left politically. Most likely, 80% of all Californian adults are more left on the political spectrum."
Target: Californian adults
Sample: 80% of adults in San Francisco
Property: Are more left on the political spectrum
"It is totally fine to eat fast food for all three meals every day of the week. My Uncle Tony did that, and he lived until he was 95!"
What is anecdotal evidence?
We judge the behavior of ourselves and people we know as stemming from external, situational factors, as opposed to coming from some aspect of our/their personality
What is the actor-observer bias?
" If the cat scratches you, he is upset. The cat is upset. The cat scratches you."
What is a deductive, invalid, and unsound argument?
Make this incomplete argument valid: "If the door is open, the dog has escaped. The dog has escaped."
Possible new premise: "The door is open."
Identify the target, sample, and property: "Thousands of samples have been taken from Bird Highschool’s water fountains. All of them came up with concerning results showing that the water contains lead and other harmful substances. The water from Bird High is not safe to drink."
Target: Water from Bird High
Sample: Thousands of samples from Bird High's water fountains
Property: Is not safe to drink
"Either you agree with me, or you aren’t a real friend and you hate me."
What is false dilemma/black and white?
Thinking that people agree with “our beliefs, opinions, preferences, and values” more than they actually do.
What is the false consensus bias?
"80% of British people speak Spanish. Meghan Markle is British. Meghan Markle speaks Spanish."
What is an inductive, strong, and uncogent argument?
Make this incomplete argument valid: "The furniture is destroyed and I have scratches all over my arms. The cat’s nails need to be clipped."
Possible new premise: "If the furniture is destroyed and I have scratches all over my arms, the cat's nails need to be clipped."
Identify the target, sample, and property: "We’ve interviewed about 500 performers from Nashville. All of them when asked the question “Do you enjoy singing?” answered “Yes.”. We can probably conclude that all people who live in Tennessee love to sing."
Sample: 500 performers from Nashville
Property: Love to sing
"Leo claims that doesn’t think we should go get burgers for lunch because he is vegetarian. Obviously he hates all meat and thinks that people who eat burgers are cow-hating monsters. What an insane claim to make!"
What is straw person?
Tendency to perceive people outside of our social groups as all the same and interchangeable, while seeing those in our social group as unique and verified
What is the out-group homogeneity effect?
"If the Tower of London is located in the city of Castro Valley, then the Tower of London is located in the state of California. The Tower of London is located in Castro Valley. The Tower of London is located in California."
What is a deductive, valid, and unsound argument?
Make this incomplete argument strong: "The furniture is destroyed and I have scratches all over my arms. The cat’s nails need to be clipped."
Possible new premise: "Most of the time if my cat's nails need to be clipped, she destroys my furniture and scratches me on my arms."
Identify the target, sample, and property: "A news site posted a question on their website for 24 hours asking “Do you think that America is the most advanced country?” 70% of people who visited the site answered “Yes”. So, we can conclude that Americans believe that their country is the most advanced."
Target: Americans
Sample: 70% of people who answered the site
Property: Believe that their country is the most advanced
"Julia has been arguing for more funding for school libraries. Obviously, she only wants the funding because she works as a librarian at a school library. I wouldn’t listen to any of her opinions on this matter."
What is ad hominem circumstantial?
"40% of dogs bite strangers who come into their homes. Maxie is a dog. She probably bites any stranger she sees."
What is an inductive, weak, and uncogent argument?
"A woman shouldn't propose to a man. It just isn't done that way!"
What is appeal to tradition?
Is validity or strength equivalant to truth?
NO!!!
"Sean thinks that everybody should be vegan. Well, Sean’s an idiot who can’t even spell the word 'vegetable', so I wouldn’t listen to him about what diet you should have."
What is ad hominem abusive?