Clark McCauley (1998) The bet on Bias is Cockeyed Optimism
. Psycoloquy: 9(71) Social Bias (9)
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Psycoloquy 9(71): The bet on Bias is Cockeyed Optimism
THE BET ON BIAS IS COCKEYED OPTIMISM
Commentary on Krueger on Social-Bias
Clark McCauley
Psychology Department
Bryn Mawr College,
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
phone (610)526-5017
fax (610)526-7476
cmccaule@brynmawr.edu
Abstract
Bayesian statistics have drawbacks beyond subjectivity of
prior probabilities, and attribution research probably suffers more
from ignoring man the lawyer than from ignoring subjects' beliefs
about the power of situational causes. More importantly, the root
of social psychology's focus on errors and biases is an unwarranted
optimism that human conflict will diminish if we can see one
another more accurately.
Keywords
Bayes' rule, bias, hypothesis testing, individual
differences probability, rationality, significance testing, social
cognition, statistical inference
References
- Krueger, J. (1998). The bet on bias: A foregone conclusion? PSYCOLOQUY 9(46) http://www.cogsci.soton.ac.uk/cgi/psyc/newpsy?9.46 ftp://ftp.princeton.edu/pub/harnad/Psycoloquy/1998.volume.9/psyc.98.9.46.social-bias.1.krueger
- McCauley, C., & Wright, M. (1998 unpublished paper). Diversity training workshops on campus: A review of recent models and relevant research.
- Rummel, R. J. (1994). Murder by government. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
- Sabini, J. (1995). Social psychology, second edition. New York: Norton.
- Shafer, G. (1976). A mathematical theory of evidence. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.