Accentuation of information processes and biases in group judgments integrating base-rate and case-specific information

This article investigates differences in the ways that groups and individuals apply information-processing strategies and fall prey to biases in their judgments. Judgments were made on probabilistic inference problems that involved base-rate and case-specific information. Consistent with hypotheses,...

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Published inJournal of experimental social psychology Vol. 44; no. 1; pp. 116 - 126
Main Authors Hinsz, Verlin B., Scott Tindale, R., Nagao, Dennis H.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published San Diego, CA Elsevier Inc 2008
Elsevier
Academic Press
Subjects
Bias
Biological and medical sciences
Data analysis
Decision making
Experimental psychology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Group decision making
Group dynamics
Group membership
Information processing
Judgement
Judgment
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Social attribution, perception and cognition
Social interactions. Communication. Group processes
Social psychology
Strategic behaviour
Human
Social group
Information processing
Strategy
Cognition
Cognitive bias
Social cognition
Judgment
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Summary:This article investigates differences in the ways that groups and individuals apply information-processing strategies and fall prey to biases in their judgments. Judgments were made on probabilistic inference problems that involved base-rate and case-specific information. Consistent with hypotheses, when individuals neglect base-rate information in their probability judgments, groups accentuate this tendency. Moreover, when the source of case-specific information is inaccurate, individuals neglect the case-specific information, and groups accentuate this tendency with the base-rate information dominating their probability judgments. In addition, groups accentuate the strategies used by individuals to integrate the base-rate and case-specific information. These results provide strong support for a group accentuation tendency for the application of information-processing biases and the strategies used to integrate information. Discussion reflects upon the relationship of the results of this experiment with other research on base-rate neglect and group judgment. Underlying mechanisms and potential moderators of the group accentuation pattern are also discussed.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
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ISSN:0022-1031
1096-0465
DOI:10.1016/j.jesp.2007.02.013