Peter Carthcart Wason 1960 2 4 6 Hypothesis

Peter Carthcart Wason (1960) 2 -4 -6 Hypothesis Rule Discovery Task Class Activity http: //www. Dev. Psy. org/

What Sequences Make Me Happy? Dev. Psy. org

What Sequences Make Me Happy? 2, 4, 6 Dev. Psy. org

What Sequences Make Me Happy? 2, 4, 6 Dev. Psy. org

What Sequences Make Me Happy? 2, 4, 6 count up by 2’s Dev. Psy. org

What Sequences Make Me Happy? 2, 4, 6 count up by 2’s 50% Dev. Psy. org

What Sequences Make Me Happy? 2, 4, 6 count up by 2’s 50% __, __ Dev. Psy. org

What Sequences Make Me Happy? 1. Write a 3 number sequence. 2. Wait for me to tell you if it fits my rule , or not . 3. Take your best guess for what my rule is. 4. Estimate your confidence from 0% to 100% Repeat the steps. Dev. Psy. org

What Sequences Make Me Happy? Poll of Our Class: Guess What Rule Makes Me Happy N count up by 2’s count up by X’s a formula like (a, b, c) èa+b=c any increasing sequence Dev. Psy. org

What Sequences Make Me Happy? 2, 4, 6 count up by 2’s 50% __, __ Any increasing sequence of numbers. Why did so many of you become so confident about a wrong answer? Dev. Psy. org

Typical Response Dev. Psy. org

Typical Response count up by 2’s 50% count up by 2’s 60% count up by 2’s 70% count up by 2’s 80% 42, 44, 46 count up by 2’s 90% 96, 98, 100 count up by 2’s 100% 2, 4, 6 8, 10, 12, 14 20, 22, 24 Dev. Psy. org

Confirmation Bias We actively try to support what we already believe rather than trying to find out where we might be wrong. We seek out information that confirms our view. We interpret ambiguous or mixed information to confirm our existing theories (e. g. , Darley & Gross, 1983). This confirmation bias is one of the many natural inclinations we have in our thinking and decision-making. Dev. Psy. org

Challenge Confirmation Bias Dev. Psy. org

Challenge Confirmation Bias 2, 4, 6 5, 10, 15 3, 7, 10 4, 25, 100 3, 20, 700 3, 2, 1 3, 1, 2 7, ⅓, 12 count up by 2’s 50% count up by X’s 50% the first two add to the third 50% operation combines 1 st two for 3 rd 50% any sequence going up 60% any sequence going up 70% any sequence going up 80% Dev. Psy. org

Confirmation Bias in Everyday Life Dev. Psy. org

Original Task The original 2 -4 -6 Hypothesis Rule Discovery Task was created by Cognitive Psychologist Peter Cartcart Wason. Here is the original citation and record sheet. Wason, P. C. (1960). On the failure to eliminate hypotheses in a conceptual task. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 129 -140. Dev. Psy. org

About this Class Activity The original adaptation for this class activity was created by Kevin Grobman in 2001 and was published on Dev. Psy. org in 2003. Over the years I polished the handout and slides, as well as improved the clarity with which I share it with other teachers. This page was revised with these improvements in 2017. In 2018 the American Psychological Association (APA) Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP) included it in an ebook of lab activities for high school Psychology classes. This is one of many activities for the teaching and learning of Psychology available at http: //www. Dev. Psy. org and http: //www. Perplexing. Questions. org Please use the following citation for these slides, the handout, and this activity: Grobman, K. H. (2003). Confirmation Bias: A class activity adapted from Wason’s 2 -4 -6 Hypothesis Rule Discovery Task. Retrieved from: http: //www. Dev. Psy. org/teaching/method/confirmation_bias. html Dev. Psy. org