RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Stop Fooling Yourself! (Diagnosing and Treating Confirmation Bias)
JF eneuro
JO eNeuro
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP ENEURO.0415-24.2024
DO 10.1523/ENEURO.0415-24.2024
VO 11
IS 10
A1 Born, Richard T.
YR 2024
UL http://www.eneuro.org/content/11/10/ENEURO.0415-24.2024.abstract
AB Confirmation bias (CB) is a cognitive bias that allows us to fool ourselves by selectively filtering data and distorting analyses to support favored beliefs or hypotheses. In this article, I will briefly review some classic experiments from cognitive psychology that illustrate what a powerful, pernicious, and insidious force CB is. I will then discuss how to recognize CB in our own thinking and behavior and describe specific elements of good experimental design that can mitigate its effects. These elements—such as randomization and blinding—are conceptually straightforward but often difficult in practice and therefore not as widely implemented as they should be.