Search

Copyright of Contemporary Accounting Research is the property of Canadian Academic Accounting Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

An assimilation bias occurs when people's evaluative judgment is positively influenced by a previously observed signal. We study this effect by examining investors' appraisal of M&A deals announced 1 day after other firms in the same 1-digit SIC as the merging parties release earnings surprises. Consistent with assimilation effects, acquirers' M&A announcement stock return initially correlates with the previous day's earnings surprises. This effect reverses after 1 week. Assimilation generates other distortions as more positive surprises are related to increases in bid competition, takeover premiums, and withdrawn M&As. Evidence from IPOs corroborates the presence of assimilation effects in financial markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Packaging waste makes up more than 10% of the landfilled waste in the United States. While consumers often want to make environmentally friendly product choices, we find that their perceptions of the environmental friendliness of product packaging may systematically deviate from its objective environmental friendliness. Eight studies (N = 4,103) document the perceived environmental friendliness (PEF) bias whereby consumers judge plastic packaging with additional paper to be more environmentally friendly than identical plastic packaging without the paper. The PEF bias is driven by consumers' "paper = good, plastic = bad" beliefs and by proportional reasoning, wherein packaging with a greater paper-to-plastic proportion is judged as more environmentally friendly. We further show that the PEF bias impacts consumers' willingness to pay and product choice. Importantly, this bias can be mitigated by a "minimal packaging sticker" intervention, which increases the environmental friendliness perceptions of plastic-only packaging, rendering plastic-packaged products to be preferable to their plastic-plus-paper-packaged counterparts. This research contributes to the packaging literature in marketing and to research on sustainability while offering practical implications for managers and public policy officials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can strategic decision-making be reinforced through reliable forecasts of technological change? Observations of strategic forecasts have shown that they mainly rely upon expert opinions. To turn these opinions into consistent knowledge about the future, we need to manage cognitive biases using provable models. Observed forecasting methods provide useful tools for exploiting expert knowledge and data, but management of cognitive bias remains underdeveloped. To improve the situation with cognitive biases in technology forecasting, the Researching Future method (RFm) offers a mixed methods approach. This article introduces RFm, a method that combines a problem-based approach and a logistic function, unified by an applied resources paradigm. A practical case study is described to illustrate and validate RFm, and the results, limitations, and perspectives of RFm are then examined. The article contributes to the technology forecasting methodology and is of interest to copper mining technology R&D specialists, among others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decision-making processes are vulnerable to cognitive biases like hindsight bias, with particularly fateful consequences in forensic contexts. However, while debiasing strategies have been effective in various areas, their impact in forensics is underexplored. We investigated hindsight bias and a simple awareness-based debiasing strategy in novices (n = 52) and forensic professionals (n = 49). Participants were assigned to baseline, biased, or debiased conditions and rated an offender’s risk of re-offending using case vignettes. Significant hindsight bias was found in novices, but not experts who were also more aware of biases. Debiasing proved effective in novices, indicating that raising awareness may enhance equitable forensic decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diagnostic excellence underscores the patient-centered diagnosis and patient engagement in the diagnostic process. In contrast to a patient-centered diagnosis, a doctor-centered diagnosis with a lack of patient engagement may inhibit the diagnostic process due to the lack of responsibility, disrupted information, and increased effect of cognitive biases, particularly in a situation where multiple physicians are involved. In this paper, we suggest a promising idea to enhance patient engagement in the diagnostic process by using written information by a patient about their perspective and experience, which can fill the gaps needed for diagnosis that doctors cannot find alone.A 38-year-old woman developed chest pain, which gradually worsened during the following two years. For two years, she was evaluated in multiple departments; however, no definitive diagnosis was made, and her condition did not improve. During this evaluation, she searched her symptoms and image findings online. She reached a possible diagnosis of ‘esophageal achalasia.’ Still, she could not tell her concerns to any physicians because she felt that her concerns were not correctly recognized, although she showed her notes that her symptoms were recorded. She finally consulted the department of internal medicine, where her notes and previous test results were thoroughly reviewed. The final diagnosis of esophageal achalasia was confirmed.Doctors must organize an environment where patients can freely express their thoughts, emotions, and ideas regarding their diagnosis. Cogenerating visit notes using patient input through written communication can be a promising idea to facilitate patient engagement in the diagnostic process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forensic examiners have come under scrutiny due to high‐profile exonerations, highlighting the consequences that contextual bias can have on investigations. Researchers have proposed solutions to reduce the effects of bias including blind testing and redacting task‐irrelevant information. Practitioners have concerns over the limitations of some of this research that uses untrained students to examine complex pieces of forensic evidence (e.g., fingerprints) (1; but see 2 for studies including trained experts and/or actual casework). This study sought to (a) examine the effect of contextual bias on examiners' evaluation of forensic evidence by varying the amount of pre‐comparison information available to participants, (b) compare student and expert examiners' performance and their vulnerability to contextual bias, and (c) examine the effects of contextual bias on examiners' evaluation of different types of forensic evidence. Expert fingerprint examiners and student participants were presented with varying amounts of pre‐comparison case information and compared matching and non‐matching fingerprint and footwear impression evidence. Results suggest no effects of blinding examiners from case information or redacting task‐irrelevant information. As expected, expert fingerprint examiners were more likely to correctly identify matching fingerprints and correctly exclude non‐matching fingerprints than students. However, expert fingerprint examiners were no better than student participants at comparing footwear impression evidence. These findings suggest that sample, stimulus selection, and discipline‐specific training matter when investigating bias in forensic decision making. These findings suggest caution when using forensic stimuli with student samples to investigate forensic decision‐making and highlight the need for more research on redaction procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many philosophers have become sceptical of the use of thought experiments in theorising about personal identity. In large part, this is due to work in experimental philosophy that appears to confirm long‐held philosophical suspicions that thought experiments elicit inconsistent judgements about personal identity and hence judgements that are thought to be the product of cognitive biases. If so, these judgements appear to be useless at informing our theories of personal identity. Using the methods of experimental philosophy, we investigate whether people exhibit inconsistent judgements and, if they do, whether these judgements are likely to be the source of cognitive bias or, instead, sensitivity to some relevant factor. We do not find that people's judgements are sensitive to any of the factors we investigate (relevant or irrelevant), nor that people have inconsistent judgements across cases. Rather, people's judgements are best explained by them having a very minimal account of what it takes for a person to survive. Since this pattern of judgements is no reason to think that we are subject to cognitive bias, we see no reason, as things stand, to be sceptical of our judgements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Delusion is an important feature of schizophrenia, which may stem from cognitive biases. Working memory (WM) is the core foundation of cognition, closely related to delusion. However, the knowledge of neural mechanisms underlying the relationship between WM and delusion in schizophrenia is poorly investigated. Two hundred and thirty patients with schizophrenia (dataset 1: n = 130; dataset 2: n = 100) were enrolled and scanned for an N-back WM task. We constructed the WM-related whole-brain functional connectome and conducted Connectome-based Predictive Modelling (CPM) to detect the delusion-related networks and built the correlation model in dataset 1. The correlation between identified networks and delusion severity was tested in a separate, heterogeneous sample of dataset 2 that mainly includes early-onset schizophrenia. The identified delusion-related network has a strong correlation with delusion severity measured by the NO.20 item of SAPS in dataset 1 (r = 0.433, p = 2.7 × 10−7, permutation- p = 0.035), and can be validated in the same dataset by using another delusion measurement, that is, the P1 item of PANSS (r = 0.362, p = 0.0005). It can be validated in another independent dataset 2 (NO.20 item of SAPS for r = 0.31, p = 0.0024, P1 item of PANSS for r = 0.27, p = 0.0074). The delusion-related network comprises the connections between the default mode network (DMN), cingulo-opercular network (CON), salience network (SN), subcortical, sensory-somatomotor network (SMN), and visual networks. We successfully established correlation models of individualized delusion based on the WM-related functional connectome and showed a strong correlation between delusion severity and connections within the DMN, CON, SMN, and subcortical network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposing learners to sustainability-related topics can present affective–motivational challenges for learners, which may prompt cognitive bias. Cognitive bias directly influences how individuals perceive and process sustainability-related information, thereby also influencing sustainability-related behaviour and decision-making. Therefore, cognitive bias may also present a significant obstacle to the purposes of Environmental and Sustainability Education. Notwithstanding its potential relevance, there is no comprehensive understanding of how cognitive bias is currently addressed in Environmental and Sustainability Education. This review scopes scientific literature that addresses cognitive bias in Environmental and Sustainability education, based on SCOPUS, Web of Science and ERIC. We identified 21 articles that matched our search criteria. We identified four superordinate categories of cognitive bias that were addressed in the literature, including bounded rationality, confirmation bias, self-enhancement and ambiguity aversion. Moreover, we distinguished three perspectives from which cognitive bias is discussed in the literature: (i) education to mitigate bias associated with sustainability-related matters, (ii) bias as a barrier to Environmental and Sustainability Education and (iii) bias at the research-paradigm level. The list of identified biases provides evidence that cognitive bias may play an important role in Environmental and Sustainability Education scholarship and practices, which suggests that more research on this topic is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much discrimination works through exclusion. Poor access to public goods disadvantages minority individuals before they reach the job market. Market impediments to competition cannot explain exclusionary discrimination, and the question is, what can? This paper draws on two different nonmarket theories of discrimination, 'discriminatory equilibrium' and 'stratification economics', to address the question. In one, group cognitive biases are (re)generated by the tenor of inter-group interaction, while in the other the majority finds exclusionary discrimination remunerative given its asymmetric power. This paper models these views as different types of bad equilibria. In a couple, Pareto-improving policy interventions are possible as the problem arises from bad intra-group coordination within, respectively, the minority and the majority. Yet, in a third, the majority is in a payoff-dominant strategy game when discrimination pays off irrespective of coordination dynamics. The mitigation of discrimination in this case is more political than a policy problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses bias in faculty hiring decisions and its impact on the selection process. Previous studies have shown bias in favor of certain candidates based on gender and race, but recent studies have conflicting findings. The article presents a new study that analyzes data from a survey of mechanical engineering faculty members to understand the influence of candidate characteristics, selection conditions, and evaluator demographics on hiring decisions. The study found that factors such as publication record and expertise played a significant role in evaluations, but perceived identity also had an impact. The article emphasizes the importance of reducing bias in faculty hiring and promoting inclusivity in higher education institutions. [Extracted from the article]

Nascent entrepreneurs often believe that their chances of success are better than those of others due to imperfect information about the competencies and accomplishments of other entrepreneurs, leading to overplacement. Theory suggests that the provision of historical outcome data of comparable projects could help entrepreneurs develop more realistic plans and expectations by closing the information gap and enabling the calibration of their beliefs. However, effectively calibrating beliefs by incorporating new reference information requires effortful cognitive processing and rational integration of the data, which may be impeded by the same cognitive biases leading to overplacement initially. Drawing from a unique dataset that allows us to observe substantial parts of the planning process of 971 entrepreneurs, we investigate the effectiveness of providing reference values as a debiasing tool. Rather than rationally leveraging the information for honest self-assessment, our findings suggest that entrepreneurs use the information to differentiate themselves even more from the reference group after they see the historical values. This, in turn, results in an even higher level of overplacement. JEL Classifications: G41, D91, L26, L25. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Unconscious bias of the clinician favors the diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in patients with median paresthesia. We hypothesized that more patients in this cohort would be diagnosed with proximal median nerve entrapment (PMNE) by strengthening our cognitive awareness of this alternative diagnosis. We also hypothesized that patients with PMNE may be successfully treated with surgical release of the lacertus fibrosus (LF). Methods: In this retrospective study, cases of median nerve decompression at the carpal tunnel and in the proximal forearm for the 2-year periods before and after adopting strategies to mitigate cognitive bias for CTS were enumerated. Patients diagnosed with PMNE and treated by LF release under local anesthesia were evaluated to determine surgical outcome at minimum 2-year follow-up. Primary outcome measures were changes in preoperative median paresthesia and proximal median-innervated muscle strength. Results: There was a statistically significant increase in PMNE cases identified after our heightened surveillance was initiated (z = 3.433, P <.001). In 10 of 12 cases, the patient had previous ipsilateral open carpal tunnel release (CTR) but experienced recurrent median paresthesia. In 8 cases evaluated an average of 5 years after LF release, there was improvement in median paresthesia and resolution of median-innervated muscle weakness. Conclusions: Owing to cognitive bias, some patients with PMNE may be misdiagnosed with CTS. All patients with median paresthesia, particularly those with persistent or recurrent symptoms after CTR, should be assessed for PMNE. Surgical release limited to the LF may be an effective treatment for PMNE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forensic examiners make important decisions to address legal questions, yet there is now ample evidence that their decisions can be subjective and inconsistent. This commentary suggests that elements of deliberate practice may help in not only having more consistent forensic decisions but also toward expected accuracy. Specifically, four elements of deliberate practice: (1) setting a goal, (2) motivation, (3) feedback, and (4) repetition are outlined with examples for addressing issues of cognitive bias and managing stress at work. If any of these elements are missing, such as delayed or no feedback, then suboptimal or no improvement of examiners' decision‐making may result. This tool for deliberately improving decision‐making may be applicable to other legal professionals; thus, potentially driving policies that may help enhance the criminal justice system broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this note, we discuss two specific cognitive biases towards closure property as a learning obstacle in school mathematics in the context of number sets. These biases are related to rational and irrational numbers, two important and challenging issues from an educational point of view. The first bias concerns incorrect application of rules and properties of closure property in rational numbers to irrational numbers, and the second deals with the improper generalisation of the closure property in finite states to infinite states. These biases indicate the importance of teaching and learning the closure property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The left-digit bias (LDB), a numerical-related cognitive bias, not only potentially influences decision-making among the general public but also that of medical practitioners. Few studies have investigated its role in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Methods: We retrospectively included all consecutive patients with OHCA witnessed by family members registered in the All-Japan Utstein Registry of the Fire and Disaster Management Agency between January 1, 2005, and December 31, 2020. Target outcomes were the percentage of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (BCPR) performed by family members or paramedics and the percentage of prehospital physician-staffed advanced cardiac life support (ACLS). Using a nonparametric regression discontinuity methodology, we examined whether a significant change occurred in the percentages of BCPR and ACLS at the age thresholds of 60, 70, 80, and 90 years, which would indicate the presence of LDB. Results: Of the 1,930,273 OHCA cases in the All-Japan Utstein Registry, 384,200 (19.9%) cases witnessed by family members were analyzed. The mean age was 75.8 years (±SD 13.7), with 38.0% (n = 146,137) female. We identified no discontinuities in the percentages of chest compressions, mouth-to-mouth ventilation, or automated external defibrillator (AED) usage by family members for the age thresholds of 60, 70, 80, and 90 years. Moreover, no discontinuities existed in the percentages of chest compressions, advanced airway management, and AED usage by paramedics or prehospital ACLS by physicians for any of the age thresholds. Conclusions: In conclusion, our study did not find any evidence that age-related LDB affects medical decision-making in patients with OHCA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasing vaccine hesitancy among parents, which has resulted in insufficient rates of immunization, provides reason to reconsider childhood vaccination practices. Studies suggest that parents' decision‐making process concerning whether to vaccinate their child is highly influenced by cognitive biases. These biases can be utilized to increase vaccination uptake via changes in the choice context. This article considers childhood vaccination programmes, which involve children being vaccinated in school or daycare unless their parents actively ‘opt out’. We suggest that such programmes reconcile parents' decisional authority and vaccination duties. First, opt‐out childhood vaccination based in schools or daycare centres are not disrespectful of parental authority. Second, the programme aligns the default setting with a moral obligation to vaccinate one's child that most parents have. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intertemporal decision making refers to the behavior of making decisions after weighing the costs and benefits of two or more outcomes at different time points. This study explores the moderating effect of self-concept clarity on the influence of future self-continuity on intertemporal decision-making and the mediating effect of future outcome consideration, aiming to establish a mediated moderating model. In Study 1, we recruited 370 participants via questionnaire to explore the relationship between future self-continuity and intertemporal decision-making, as well as the moderating effect of self-concept clarity. The results showed that: (1) Future self-continuity significantly negatively predicted the time discount rate of intertemporal decision-making. (2) Selfconcept clarity significantly negatively moderated the relationship between future self-continuity and the time discount rate of intertemporal decisionmaking. In Study 2, we recruited 234 participants using an experimental method and divided them into high and low future self-continuity groups to explore the mediating effect of future outcome consideration and the moderating role of self-concept clarity in the influence of future self-continuity on intertemporal decision-making. The results indicated that: (1) Self-concept clarity significantly negatively moderated the impact of future self-continuity on future outcome consideration. (2) Future outcome consideration mediated the moderating effect of self-concept clarity on the influence of future self-continuity on intertemporal decision-making. The findings indicated that future selfcontinuity negatively impacted the time discount rate in intertemporal decisionmaking. Furthermore, self-concept clarity could indirectly regulate the effect of future self-continuity on intertemporal decision-making through future outcome consideration. These two studies contribute to a better understanding of intertemporal decision-making behavior in different states, help reduce cognitive bias through rational analysis of current states, achieve maximum life benefits, and enrich empirical research in the fields of future self-continuity and intertemporal decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To have enough financial literacy, an investor must be able to make intelligent investment choices, and on the other hand, the heuristic bias, the framing effect, cognitive illusions, and herd mentality are all variables that contribute to the formation of behavioral biases, also known as illogical conduct, in the decision-making process. The current research looks specifically at behavioral biases and financial literacy influence investment choices, particularly on stock market investment. For the research, a representative sample of 450 individual investors was evaluated. A structured questionnaire was designed using the Likert's scale method to elicit the research variables, and the data acquired were analyzed using the SEM method. According to the findings, there was a statistically significant link between heuristic bias and the development of behavioral bias in decision-making. Nevertheless, cognitive illusions, the herd mentality, and the framing effect all have a deleterious impact on behavioral biases. In addition, investors often adhere to heuristic biases rather than other irrational strategies when making investment judgments. Therefore, individual investors' financial literacy level greatly influences the choices made about investments in the stock market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to examine how soccer referees make decisions about issuing yellow cards for fouls. The research involved 60 male participants, divided into expert (n=30) and novice (n=30) groups based on their experience and qualifications as referees. They took part in a 2x2x2 mixed-design experiment. The study looked at Decision-Making Style (DMS: Analytical Decision-Making [ADM] vs. Intuitive Decision-Making [IDM]), Video Type (yellow card foul vs. nonyellow card foul), and Referee Level (expert vs. novice) as independent variables. The dependent variables were accuracy rate (ACC), discrimination index (D), self-confidence index (C), and overconfidence index (OC). The findings showed that Analytical Decision-Making (ADM) led to higher accuracy compared to Intuitive Decision-Making (IDM). Expert referees demonstrated better accuracy than novice referees. There was also an interaction between Decision-Making Style and Referee Level, showing differences in the effectiveness of ADM and IDM between expert and novice referees. Additionally, the study revealed that both expert and novice referees showed overconfidence, with experts demonstrating significantly higher overconfidence, particularly during IDM. In conclusion, the research highlighted the complexity of referees' decisionmaking in high-pressure situations and emphasized the potential benefits of employing Analytical Decision-Making strategies. The study contributed to understanding cognitive biases in sports officiating and suggested the need for targeted training programs to help referees improve their performance and reduce overconfidence in challenging situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the climate continually changing, the interaction between weather and mental health is expected to grow. Weather anxiety and its associated safety behaviors are common experiences that can reach distressing, debilitating, and clinically significant levels. Models of anxiety disorders suggest that cognitive and perceptual biases related to threat probability often contribute to and maintain anxiety, yet this has not been investigated within weather anxiety or its associated safety behaviors. The current study aimed to investigate the effects of severe weather probabilities across visual and written modalities on anxiety, worry, and safety behaviors in those with elevated weather anxiety and safety behavior use. Participants were shown three images and three texts that displayed lower, medium, and higher risk probabilities for severe weather and were asked to rate anxiety, worry, and safety behaviors in response to each level of probability. Results suggested that those with increased weather-related anxiety and safety behaviors displayed less flexibility in anxiety and expected safety behavior use across varying levels of threat probability, relative to those lower in anxiety and safety behavior use. These results support the application of cognitive biases as potential maintenance factors of weather anxiety, a condition that has a significant lack of investigation. Clinical implications and limitations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior work suggests that cognitive biases may contribute to health anxiety. Yet there is little research investigating how biased attention, interpretation, and memory for health threats are collectively associated with health anxiety, as well as the relative importance of these cognitive processes in predicting health anxiety. This study aimed to build a prediction model for health anxiety with multiple cognitive biases as potential predictors and to identify the biased cognitive processes that best predict individual differences in health anxiety. A machine learning algorithm (elastic net) was performed to recognise the predictors of health anxiety, using various tasks of attention, interpretation, and memory measured across behavioural, self‐reported, and computational modelling approaches. Participants were 196 university students with a range of health anxiety severity from mild to severe. The results showed that only the interpretation bias for illness and the attention bias towards symptoms significantly contributed to the prediction model of health anxiety, with both biases having positive weights and the former being the most important predictor. These findings underscore the central role of illness‐related interpretation bias and suggest that combined cognitive bias modification may be a promising method for alleviating health anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In research on public economics, climate politics and the welfare state, voters' informational and cognitive biases are commonly understood as impeding future‐oriented policy‐making, by incentivizing policymakers to trade off long‐term investments against short‐term consumption when facing competitive elections or liquidity constraints. Yet, the assumptions about how policymakers perceive these alleged trade‐offs have not yet been verified. This study reports results from a survey of Swedish local government politicians, centring around experiments about environmental‐friendly public investments. We find that most politicians perceive that electoral competition stimulates rather than impedes investments. Politicians are, however, less supportive of investments if these need to be financed through absolute losses rather than gains foregone, which illustrates the relevance of endowment effects in long‐term governance. We furthermore show that our micro‐level observations are consistent with macro‐level investment expenditure patterns. These findings demonstrate that accounting for policymakers' own perceptions is important for advancing our understanding of future‐oriented policy‐making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study delves into the combined cognitive bias hypothesis in depression, exploring the interaction between negative attention, interpretation and memory biases. We aimed to assess whether modifying attention and interpretation bias would lead to congruent changes in memory bias, and to what extend and depth this causal effect can be. Method: Ninety-nine undergraduates underwent either a positive (PT) or negative (NT) four-day attention and interpretation bias training. A set of well-established post-training assessments including free recall, recognition, autobiographic memory, and self-reference encoding tasks were used to evaluate memory bias. Affective states were measured pre- and post-training. Results: Compared to PT, participants in NT correctly retrieved more negative trained stimuli, and falsely recognized more negative synonyms of trained terms. NT also exhibited an enhanced retrieval of negative autobiographical memory. No significant differences were found between NT and PT in self-referential encoding and retrieval bias, or affective states. Discussion: The results suggested an extensive and strong transfer effect from attention and interpretation bias modification to different facets of memory bias, being found in retrieving trained emotional stimuli, in memory intrusion of negative synonyms, and in autobiographic memory recall. The findings underscored the causality between three biases, supporting the combined cognitive bias hypothesis. It might also suggest an effective new approach to modify memory bias via attention and interpretation bias training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the efficacy of Cognitive Bias Modification of Interpretation (CBM-I) to reduce hostile interpretation bias and aggressive behavior. Methods: We searched PsycINFO, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases up until January 1, 2023, and assessed risk of bias using Cochrane's risk of bias tool (RoB 2). We used multi-level meta-analysis to synthesize effect sizes. Results: Fourteen articles including 16 randomized studies met the inclusion criteria, yielding data from 1449 participants. CBM-I had medium effects on hostile interpretation (d = −0.62, p <.001) and benign interpretation (d = 0.71, p <.001), and a small effect on aggressive behavior (d = −0.28, p =.017). However, effects on interpretation bias were significant only for measures that were similar to the training method, suggesting that CBM-I effects do not generalize beyond the training task. Moreover, effects on aggressive behavior were significant only for self-reported aggression, suggesting demand effects. Effects on non-self-reported aggression were small and even zero after excluding one study with an exceptionally large effect size. Conclusion: There currently is insufficient evidence to use CBM-I as a treatment component to reduce aggressive behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals from different social groups form divergent legal punishment decisions about police officers engaged in altercations with civilians despite viewing the same visual evidence. We review empirical and archival data in the legal domain to offer four vision‐based moderators of polarized legal judgments determined after viewing evidence with a focus on research relevant to police‐civilian altercations. We discuss how selective visual attention, flittering and staring tendencies, differences in cognitive engagement, and visual confirmation bias contribute to divergent legal decisions within and across social groups. By incorporating visual experience into models of legal decision‐making, we reconcile inconsistencies regarding the impact of social group identity on bias in police punishment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Algorithms are a ubiquitous part of modern life. Despite being a component of medicine since early efforts to deploy computers in medicine, clinicians' resistance to using decision support and use algorithms to address cognitive biases has been limited. This resistance is not just limited to the use of algorithmic clinical decision support, but also evidence and stochastic reasoning and the implications of the forcing function of the electronic medical record. Physician resistance to algorithmic support in clinical decision making is in stark contrast to their general acceptance of algorithmic support in other aspects of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insight has been studied as an element of problem solving in the field of cognitive psychology and may play an important role in clinical reasoning. We propose a new strategy based on theories that promote insight that may help generate further diagnostic hypotheses by reviewing the interpretation of a case and an individual's list of differential diagnoses from multiple perspectives: formation (F), re-encoding (R), analogy (A), modification (M), elaboration (E), and deliberation (D) (FRAMED). The FRAMED strategy may help clinicians overcome misinterpretations and cognitive bias by systematically reflecting on previous clinical reasoning processes from multiple perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To analyze the Big Three diagnostic errors (malignant neoplasms, cardiovascular diseases, and infectious diseases) through internists' self-reflection on their most memorable diagnostic errors. This secondary analysis study, based on a web-based cross-sectional survey, recruited participants from January 21 to 31, 2019. The participants were asked to recall the most memorable diagnostic error cases in which they were primarily involved. We gathered data on internists' demographics, time to error recognition, and error location. Factors causing diagnostic errors included environmental conditions, information processing, and cognitive bias. Participants scored the significance of each contributing factor on a Likert scale (0, unimportant; 10, extremely important). The Big Three comprised 54.1 % (n=372) of the 687 cases reviewed. The median physician age was 51.5 years (interquartile range, 42–58 years); 65.6 % of physicians worked in hospital settings. Delayed diagnoses were the most common among malignancies (n=64, 46 %). Diagnostic errors related to malignancy were frequent in general outpatient settings on weekdays and in the mornings and were not identified for several months following the event. Environmental factors often contributed to cardiovascular disease-related errors, which were typically identified within days in emergency departments, during night shifts, and on holidays. Information gathering and interpretation significantly impacted infectious disease diagnoses. The Big Three accounted for the majority of cases recalled by Japanese internists. The most relevant contributing factors were different for each of the three categories. Addressing these errors may require a unique approach based on the disease associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legal psychologists' assessments can have a major impact on the fact finder's evaluation of evidence and, consequently, perceptions of guilt. Yet, in the few studies about legal psychologists' assessments and reports, great variability was found. As is the case with other forensic expert domains, legal psychologists are prone to cognitive biases, such as being adversely affected by irrelevant contextual information, confirmation bias, and allegiance bias. Based on the scientific literature, we propose several ways in which legal psychologists can minimize cognitive biases in their assessments, most notably the alternative scenario method. Furthermore, we propose guidelines for expert witnesses in the legal psychological domain, designed to make reports as scientifically grounded, applicable, readable, transparent, and bias-free as possible. We hope that the guidelines will enhance the quality of expert witness testimony provided by legal psychologists around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the efficacy of combined cognitive bias modification (CBM) on perfectionism and intolerance of uncertainty. Fifty‐four university students scoring over 70.5 on the Brief Symptom Measure were randomly assigned to experimental and placebo control groups. The CBM intervention was administered online for 4 weeks. Assessments were given at baseline, after the 4‐week intervention, and 1 month post‐intervention. Results showed a statistically significant decrease in two dimensions of perfectionism, concern over mistakes and parental criticism, and intolerance of uncertainty of those in the experimental group, compared to those in the control group. The findings related to the interpretation of perfectionism revealed a significant interaction effect of time and direction of sentences for the experimental group. Lastly, the experimental group's interpretation bias scores for intolerance of uncertainty showed a statistically significant increase after the intervention compared to those in the control group. The study's findings provide preliminary support for the effectiveness of CBM on perfectionism and intolerance of uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has ignited a debate about its effects on the mis‐ and disinformation landscape. The doomsday scenarios of epistemic and information apocalypse presented for many years are recently being questioned, and the previous fears are called "overblown." These phenomena are analyzed mostly through the factors of quantity and quality of AI‐powered content and the potential for personalization possessed by AI. We argue that using quantitative arguments carries a high risk of underestimating the threat, especially in the context of the so‐called detection challenge. We point out that this discourse is affected by the narrow conceptualization of how we understand quantity, quality, and personalization with regard to AI. In our opinion, apocalyptic visions are speculative in nature, difficult to quantify, and carry signs of a self‐fulfilling prophecy, but disregarding risks hinders appropriate countermeasures against AI‐powered dis‐ and misinformation, which adversely affects policy‐making activities. We propose a paradigm shift to focus more on social reactions to technology rather than technological attributes. By expanding the understanding of the analyzed phenomena, we indicate that the potential of AI is both overestimated and underestimated and above all—still misunderstood. Related Articles: Norman, Emma R., and Rafael Delfin. 2012. "Wizards under Uncertainty: Cognitive Biases, Threat Assessment, and Misjudgments in Policy Making." Politics & Policy 40(3): 369–402. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2012.00356.x. Robles, Pedro, and Daniel J. Mallinson. 2023. "Catching Up with AI: Pushing Toward a Cohesive Governance Framework." Politics & Policy 51(3): 355–72. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12529. Veloso Meireles, Adriana. 2024. "Digital Rights in Perspective: The Evolution of the Debate in the Internet Governance Forum." Politics & Policy 52(1): 12–32. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12571. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inequality is perpetuated, in part, by the psychological and behavioral tendencies that arise from the social context of inequality. Cognitive biases lead most people to see themselves as middle class, even when that perception does not align with economic reality. Those who perceive themselves as economically advantaged tend to view inequality as fair and legitimate, often dismissing proponents of redistributive solutions as ill-informed. And unequal contexts increase risky behaviors that can be profitable to some but are more likely to be costly for most. This research program suggests an inequality cycle, in which inequality experienced today tends to reproduce itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent work shows that people judge an outcome as less likely when they learn the probabilities of all single pathways that lead to that outcome, a phenomenon termed the Unlikelihood Effect. The initial explanation for this effect is that the low pathway probabilities trigger thoughts that deem the outcome unlikely. We tested the alternative explanation that the effect results from people's erroneous interpretation and processing of the probability information provided in the paradigm. By reanalyzing the original experiments, we discovered that the Unlikelihood Effect had been substantially driven by a small subset of people who give extremely low likelihood judgments. We conducted six preregistered experiments, showing that these people are unaware of the total outcome probability and do formally incorrect calculations with the given probabilities. Controlling for these factors statistically and experimentally reduced the proportion of people giving extremely low likelihood judgments, reducing and sometimes eliminating the Unlikelihood Effect. Our results confirm that the Unlikelihood Effect is overall a robust empirical phenomenon, but suggest that the effect results at least to some degree from a few people's difficulties with encoding, understanding, and integrating probabilities. Our findings align with current research on other psychological effects, showing that empirical effects can be caused by participants engaging in qualitatively different mental processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sense of agency refers to the feeling of controlling one's actions and their effects on the external environment. Here, we tested how the physiological process of aging affects the agency experience by taking advantage of a validated ecological experimental paradigm and exploring the different dimensions of agency. We tested 60 young and older adults during active and passive movements, causing, after a variable time delay, an external sensorial event. We collected overt agency judgments (i.e., explicit agency dimension), and we measured the perceived compression of the time interval between the active/passive movements and outcomes (to quantify the intentional binding phenomenon, an implicit index of agency). Our results indicate that the sense of agency significantly changes across the adult life span, with older participants exhibiting a reduced sense of agency, both at the explicit and implicit level. Crucially, the temporal dimension of the action outcome did not affect their agency experience. We suggest that elderly adults are more reliant on internal predictions, making them less sensitive to cognitive biases and external manipulations. We discuss these results in the domain of neurocognitive models of motor control, with reference to how aging affects the weighting process of predictive and sensory signals for efficient sensorimotor integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous evidence has suggested that feature-based templates-for-rejection can be maintained in working memory to suppress matching features in the environment. Currently, this effect has only been demonstrated using abstract neutral shapes, meaning that it is unclear whether this generalizes to real-world images, including aversive stimuli. In the current investigation, participants searched amongst an array of real-world objects for a target, after being precued with either a distractor template, target template, or a no template baseline. In Experiment 1, where both distractor and target template cues were presented randomly on a trial-by-trial basis, there was moderate evidence of increased capture by aversive distractors after the distractor template cue. In Experiment 2a, however, when distractor templates were the only available cue and more time was given to encode the cue features, there was moderate evidence of effective distractor inhibition for real-world aversive and neutral stimuli. In Experiment 2b, when the task required a slower more effortful comparison of target features to stereotypical object representations, there was weaker evidence of inhibition, though there was still modest evidence suggesting effective inhibition of aversive distractors. A Bayesian meta-analysis revealed that across Experiment 2, aversive distractors showed strong cumulative evidence of effective inhibition, but inconsistent inhibition for neutral distractors. The results are interpreted from a rational search behaviour framework, which suggests that individuals utilize informative cues when they enable the most beneficial strategy and are accessible, and apply these to distractors when they cause sufficient disruption, either to search speed or emotional state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social information can be used to optimize decision‐making. However, the simultaneous presentation of multiple sources of advice can lead to a distinction bias in judging the validity of the information. While the involvement of event‐related potential (ERP) components in social information processing has been studied, how they are modulated by (mis)judging an advisor's information validity remains unknown. In two experiments participants performed a decision‐making task with highly accurate or inaccurate cues. Each experiment consisted of an initial, learning, and test phase. During the learning phase, three advice cues were simultaneously presented and the validity of them had to be assessed. The effect of different cue constellations on ERPs was investigated. In the subsequent test phase, the willingness to follow or oppose an advice cue was tested. Results demonstrated the distinction bias with participants over or underestimating the accuracy of the most uncertain cues. The P2 amplitude was significantly increased during cue presentation when advisors were in disagreement as compared to when all were in agreement, regardless of cue validity. Further, a larger P3 amplitude during outcome presentation was found when advisors were in disagreement and increased with more informative cues. As such, the most uncertain cues were related to the smallest P3 amplitude. The findings hint at the possible role of P3 in judging and learning the predictability of social cues. This study provides novel insights into the role of P2 and P3 components during the judgment of social information validity. When considering advice of others during decision making, we often overestimate or underestimate how accurate the advisors' opinions are. In two experiments, we found that two event‐related potentials, P2 and P3, are associated with misjudging social information. Whereas P2 is modulated when observing advisors who disagree, P3 is associated with how informative a cue is for making the correct decision. Altogether, we demonstrate the electrophysiological correlates of (mis)judging social information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What's the worst that could happen? After a flood has devastated communities, those affected, the news media, and the authorities often say that what happened was beyond our imagination. Imagination encompasses the picturing of a situation in our minds linked with the emotions that we connect to this situation. However, the role imagination actually plays in disasters remains unclear. In this regard, we analysed the responses of a survey that was disseminated in the 2021-flood-affected areas of Germany. Some respondents perceived that due to their lack of imagination regarding the flood, they did not take adequate action in advance. Limited or a lack of imagination could be linked to never having experienced a flood before, difficulties in interpreting forecasts and warnings, the perceived distance to waterbodies, and cognitive biases. Overall, the responses indicated the influence of imagination on risk perception. Based on these results, we recommend that future research should investigate the extent to which visual support can help forecast and warning communication to trigger the imagination of citizens in the short-term. From a long-term perspective, research should focus on how to cultivate imagination over time through participatory risk management, developing climate storylines, citizen weather observations, and the like. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking others' perspectives is a challenging task, especially when inferring them from written reports. In three experiments, we investigated how to modulate the illusory transparency bias, an error in perspective taking during reading. We modified the traditional illusory transparency task by adding a final sentence that informed participants about an outcome. The outcome was either consistent or inconsistent with a biased response. We found that the illusory transparency bias disappeared when the outcome provided was inconsistent (Experiment 2) but increased when it was consistent (Experiment 1). Experiment 3 tested whether the size of the bias depended on the relationship between the event and the message. In the counterfactual condition, the message was dependent on the event, while in the semifactual condition it was not. Again, a modulation of the bias was obtained. The results are discussed in terms of their theoretical implications and their relationship to other cognitive biases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Professional Business Review (JPBReview) is the property of AOS: ESTRATEGIA & INOVACAO and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study looks at how decisions are made during early-stage innovation, specifically how managers, teams, or team leaders formulate problems on which to focus. Problem formulation processes put organisations on paths that incur sunk costs and influence subsequent problem solving and innovation outcomes. Varying human biases may impair these processes. Therefore, factors that have the potential to mitigate biases play a key role in determining problem formulation performance. This exploratory study looks at one of these factors by examining the role of awareness of bias. It offers theoretical insight into and examines empirically the relationships between bias awareness and bias intensity, as well as between bias intensity and problem formulation performance. Using the problem as the unit of analysis, and examining original survey datasets gathered from the US, China, and Finland, we find that two bias types are particularly prone to influence strategic problem formulation: Solution jumping as a cognitive bias and dominance as a motivational bias show negative relationships with problem formulation performance. We also find that unlike other biases, dominance bias appears unaffected by the degree of bias awareness. The insights from our study shed light on how formulating novel problems is subject to the influence of cognitive, motivational, and informational biases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bias in clinical reasoning has been identified as one of the main sources of diagnostic errors. Clinical Decision Support Systems that suggest possible diagnoses and provide information to mitigate cognitive bias could support physicians in finding a less biased diagnosis. We examine the influence of confidence and experience on the probability to adjust the decision after receiving decision aid and whether forming a first opinion beforehand or immediately receiving decision support makes a difference. 103 physicians and medical students participated in an online experiment built on decision tasks formulated to trigger availability and representativeness bias. The analysis showed that the presentation of prevalence data to mitigate availability bias changed the final probability estimate of the diagnosis significantly. Prototypical data to counteract representativeness bias showed no significant change. Medical experience, confidence in the decision, and timing of support had no significant influence on the probability to change the estimate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractHealthcare educators are exploring ways to integrate Large Language Models (LLMs) into the curriculum. At the same time, they are concerned about the negative impact on students’ cognitive development. There is concern that the students will not learn to think and problem-solve by themselves and instead become dependent on LLMs to find answers. In addition, the students could start accepting the LLM generated responses at face value. The Illusion of Explanatory Depth (IoED) is a cognitive bias where humans believe they understand complex phenomena in more depth than they do. This illusion is caused when people rely on external sources of information rather than deeper levels of internalized knowledge. This illusion can be exposed by asking follow-up in depth questions. Using the same approach, specifically iterative prompting, can help students interact with LLM’s while learning actively, gaining deeper levels of knowledge, and exposing the LLM shortcomings. The article proposes that educators encourage use of LLMs to complete assignments using a template, that promotes students’ reflections on their interactions with LLMs, using iterative prompting. This process based on IoED, and iterative prompting will help educators integrate LLMs in the curriculum while mitigating the risk of students becoming dependent on these tools. Students will practice active learning and experience firsthand the inaccuracies and inconsistencies in LLM responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unnecessary care, where the potential for harm exceeds the potential for benefit, is widespread in medical care. Orthopaedic surgery is no exception. This has significant implications for patient safety and health care expenditure. This narrative review explores unnecessary care in orthopaedic surgery. There is wide geographic variation in orthopaedic surgical practice that cannot be explained by differences in local patient populations. Furthermore, many orthopaedic interventions lack adequate low‐bias evidence to support their use. Quantifying the size of the problem is difficult, but the economic burden and morbidity associated with unnecessary care is likely to be significant. An evidence gap, evidence‐practice gap, cognitive biases, and health system factors all contribute to unnecessary care in orthopaedic surgery. Unnecessary care is harming patients and incurring high costs. Solutions include increasing awareness of the problem, aligning financial incentives to high value care and away from low value care, and demanding low bias evidence where none exists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dogs can discriminate stressed from non-stressed human odour samples, but the effect on their cognition is unstudied. Using a cognitive bias task, we tested how human odours affect dogs' likelihood of approaching a food bowl placed at three ambiguous locations ("near-positive", "middle" and "near-negative") between trained "positive" (rewarded) and "negative" (unrewarded) locations. Using odour samples collected from three unfamiliar volunteers during stressful and relaxing activities, we tested eighteen dogs under three conditions: no odour, stress odour and relaxed odour, with the order of test odours counterbalanced across dogs. When exposed to stress odour during session three, dogs were significantly less likely to approach a bowl placed at one of the three ambiguous locations (near-negative) compared to no odour, indicating possible risk-reduction behaviours in response to the smell of human stress. Dogs' learning of trained positive and negative locations improved with repeated testing and was significant between sessions two and three only when exposed to stress odour during session three, suggesting odour influenced learning. This is the first study to show that without visual or auditory cues, olfactory cues of human stress may affect dogs' cognition and learning, which, if true, could have important consequences for dog welfare and working performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Each year, adverse events are reported in healthcare, of which many relate to healthcare workforce cognitive bias. The active involvement of workforce and consumers in the review and co-design of effective training for the healthcare workforce to recognise, monitor, and manage unconscious bias is required. We used participatory action research to co-design an innovative, interprofessional simulation based on 'real world' clinical incidents and lived experiences to improve the delivery of safe, high quality, consumer-focused healthcare. Following ethics approval, content analysis of serious adverse patient safety events involving cognitive bias was conducted. These data informed audio-recorded interviews with the healthcare workforce and consumers to explore their experiences of cognitive bias. Following thematic analysis, key themes of communication, stigma, diagnostic overshadowing, and fragmented systems were uncovered. Guided by consumers, these themes were interwoven into a simulation scenario that included real places, stories, and verbatim quotes delivered through mixed media artefacts. This heightened the immersive and experiential learning that aimed to uncover unconscious bias and help learners recognise its impact on clinical decisions and practice. To our knowledge, this is the first interprofessional, co-designed simulation to specifically address cognitive bias in current and future healthcare workforce. Plans to translate this research into a practical framework on how to work with key stakeholders (including consumers) to identify 'real-world' health service risks and co-design targeted simulations to address these gaps are described, including lessons learned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]