private use

1. Stinking thinking and Critical
thinking.
Joann V. Altiero Ph.D
Bias-Implicit assumptions

2. Critical Thinking-Strategies for
problem solving
Metacognition-Thinking about thinking
Bias of Language:
1. Descriptions can never be entirely objective
2. Be aware of your values and bias
3. Do not present your value judgments as
truth
4. Recognize how one’s use of language
reflects one’s value judgments

3. Shades of Grey
 All-or-none thinking
 Dichotomous variables
 Continuum
Can you come up with some popular all-
or none variables that may actually be
continuous?

4. Similarities vs. Differences
 Most things are both similar and
different!
 Pick out three word pairs to explain to
the person next to you how they are
similar and how they are different.
 i.e democrats and republicans

5. The Barnum Effect
 One size fits all!
 Horoscopes
 Psychics and frauds
 Marketing gimmicks

6. The Assimilation Bias
 Assimilation Bias: a distortion that is the result of
scheme colored glasses!
 You assimilate information differently given your
history and background.

7. The Representativeness bias
 Heuristics-mental short cuts
 Representative heuristic-the judgment
that something belongs to a certain
category-prototype
 Faulty prototypes=representativeness
bias

8. Availability Bias
 Same reason we are ethnocentric
 We do not need to say that the ease
something comes to mind makes it real.
In fact a study at Harvard-false
memories

9. Fundamental Attribution Error
 To attribute an event as intrinsic to the
person rather than influenced by the
situation or environment
 Cognitive bias-systematic processing of
salient stimuli (Can’t process it all) The
lens is set differently culture to culture
 Motivational bias-makes us feel better
about ourselves-just world hypothesis

10. Self-fulfilling Prophecy
 With our expectations we can influence
a reaction in others
 You can expect and encourage hostility
in others
 What might we be doing like this when
dealing with other nations?

11. Correlation Vs. Causation
 Confusing “what?” with ”why?”
 Causal relationships
 Post-hoc analysis-magical thinking
Superstitious behaviors

12. Bidirectional influences-
interactive
 Multiple causation-not just either or it
can be both
 Try not to limit your search to one
cause

13. Majority-might means right?
 Frequency does not determine moral
value or right
 Statistical verses Clinical significance
 Naturalistic Fallacy- (kind of circular
reasoning) What is typical is average,
normal, and good.

14. Belief Perseverance Effect
 Sally: “You’re sexist”
 Sam: “No I am not”
 Sally: “Sam, you’re just saying that I
am wrong because I am a woman!”

15. Reference
 Shiraev E. and Levy, D.(2010) Cross-
Cultural Psychology. Boston: Allyn and
Bacon
 Please view a video at the following
link:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oef
mPtsV_w4