SRIG 24-14: Exploring an Individualized Test of Confirmation Bias

What was the issue being addressed?

This research explores individualized difference in confirmation bias. There were three objectives: (1) replicate recent research demonstrating that a measure of CB presents a common factor, (2) explore the relationship between a test of confirmation bias and a test of actively open minded thinking (AOT, a tendency to consider alternatives) and (3) explore the relationship between a test of confirmation bias and a measure of hindsight bias (HB, tendency to believe that an event was more predictable than it was). The most important inquiry of this research, however, is Research Objective 3.               

Provide a brief, lay description of the work undertaken/initiative.

My role (Elika) as an online research assistant involved supporting a professor at KPU in studying confirmation and hindsight biases. In my role as a research assistant, I took on several responsibilities involving a blend of practical research tasks and academic exploration. I read academic papers and articles, which helped me to understand the key theories/methodologies used in studying confirmation bias and hindsight bias. I assisted the professor with writing an ethics form, created an Open Science Framework account to later publish our findings, created a survey on Qualtrics, uploaded it to the SONA Research Pool system and Prolific, and helped collect data from online participants. We were able to successfully receive our full sample size. The data is collected as of now. We are analyzing it, looking for patterns, and will draw conclusions about the presence of confirmation bias while also determine its relationship with hindsight bias.

What is the expected impact this project will have on the community?

This project will help bring awareness to the relationship hindsight bias and confirmation bias have and their implications. Through illustrating the impact of confirmation bias on perception and decision-making, the research can help individuals become more mindful of their own cognitive biases. Better decision-making and more conscious thought processes may result from this.