Biases & Heuristics Assignment

Instructions

Assignment

In this assignment, you are to apply the concepts of cognitive biases and heuristics to your own life. Of the 8 heuristics and biases discussed in class, identify 4 that you have observed in your own life, either currently or in the past.

-Representativeness heuristic

-Anchoring and Adjusting heuristics

-Availability heuristic

-Confirmation bias

-Hindsight bias

-Scarcity heuristic

-Mental sets

-Functional fixednes.

For each heuristic or bias, you are to do the following:

*Describe the heuristic.Name the bias/heuristic and summarize the definition.

*Describe the situation where you observed the heuristic or bias occurring in your life. Your description should be clear enough so that someone who was not there could understand what occurred.

*Describe how the heuristic or bias affected your thought or behaviour at that time.Did you realize how the bias or heuristic was affecting your decision? Did the heuristic/bias have a negative or positive effect on your ability to solve a problem or make a decision? Explain your answer.

For each description, you need to demonstrate a clear understanding of what the heuristic or bias is and how it affects your problem-solving or decision-making abilities.

Additional comments:

-You do not need to do research to successfully complete the assignment. However, if you use resources you must use proper APA formatting to cite your resources.

-No marks will be given for definitions that are copied from other sources, even if correctly referenced. You must demonstrate in this assignment that you understand the material and can put the concepts into your own words.

-Any instances of plagiarism will be dealt with according to Sheridan’s policy on Academic Honesty.

Heuristic/Bias #1

Correct name for heuristic/bias is used, based on description given.

-1.0 Description of heuristic/bias clearly describes situation and demonstrates understanding of the heuristic/bias.

-1.5 Clear description of how the heuristic/bias affected your decision making or problem solving ability. Description answers the following questions: Did you realize your mistake at the time and correct it? Did the heuristic/bias have a negative effect on your ability to solve a problem or make a decision? If so, how? If not, why not?

 Heuristic/Bias #2

-Correct name for heuristic/bias is used, based on description given.

-Description of heuristic/bias clearly describes situation and demonstrates understanding of the heuristic/bias.

-1.5 Clear description of how the heuristic/bias affected your decision making or problem solving ability. Description answers the following questions: Did you realize your mistake at the time and correct it? Did the heuristic/bias have a negative effect on your ability to solve a problem or make a decision? If so, how? If not, why not?

Heuristic/Bias #3

-Correct name for heuristic/bias is used, based on description given.

-Description of heuristic/bias clearly describes situation and demonstrates understanding of the heuristic/bias.

-1.5 Clear description of how the heuristic/bias affected your decision making or problem solving ability. Description answers the following questions: Did you realize your mistake at the time and correct it? Did the heuristic/bias have a negative effect on your ability to solve a problem or make a decision? If so, how? If not, why not?

 Professional Presentation

-Spelling, grammar. Assignment is clearly written.  

-APA formatting is correctly used. APA formatted title page, citations, reference page, APA formatted header and headings. Double spaced and APA font.