Adaptive bias

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Adaptive bias is the idea that the human brain has evolved to reason adaptively, rather
than truthfully or even rationally, and that cognitive bias may have evolved as a
mechanism to reduce the overall cost of cognitive errors as opposed to merely reducing
the number of cognitive errors, when faced with making a decision under conditions of
uncertainty
Contents
!hide"
# $rror %anagement Theory
& The 'ostly (nformation )ypothesis
* +ee also
, -eferences
[edit] Error Management Theory
.ccording to $rror %anagement Theory, when making decisions under conditions of
uncertainty, two kinds of errors need to be taken into account / 0false positives0, ie
deciding that a risk or benefit exists when it does not, and 0false negatives0, ie failing to
notice a risk or benefit that exists False positives are also commonly called 0Type #
errors0, and false negatives are called 0Type & errors0
Where the cost or impact of a type # error is much greater than the cost of a type & error
1eg the water is safe to drink2, it can be worthwhile to bias the decision making system
towards making fewer type # errors, ie making it less likely to conclude that a particular
situation exists This by definition would also increase the number of type & errors
'onversely, where a false positive is much less costly than a false negative 1blood tests,
smoke detectors2, it makes sense to bias the system towards maximising the probability
that a particular 1very costly2 situation will be recognised, even if this often leads to the
1relatively un/costly2 event of noticing something that is not actually there This situation
is exhibited in modern airport screening // maximi3ing the probably of preventing a high
cost terrorist event results in fre4uent, low/cost screening hassles for harmless travelers
who represent a minimal threat
%artie 5 )aselton and 6avid % 7uss 1&88*2 state that cognitive bias can be expected to
have developed in humans for cognitive tasks where:
6ecision making is complicated by a significant signal/detection problem 1ie
when there is uncertainty2
The solution to the particular kind of decision making problem has had a recurrent
effect on survival and fitness throughout evolutionary history
The costs of a 0false positive0 or 0false negative0 error dramatically outweighs the
cost of the alternative type of error
[edit] The Costly Information ypothesis
The costly information hypothesis is used to explore how adaptive biases relate to
cultural evolution within the field of dual inheritance theory The focus is on the
evolutionary trade/offs in cost between individual learning, 1eg, operant conditioning2
and social learning (f more accurate information that could be ac4uired through
individual learning is too costly, evolution may favor learning mechinisms that, in turn,
are biased towards less costly, 1though potentially less accurate2, information via social
learning
[edit] !ee also
5uided variation 9 biased transmission / .daptive biases in dual inheritance
theory
Psychological adaptation
[edit] "eferences
)aselton, %5, :ettle, 6 9 .ndrews, PW 1&88;2 The evolution of cognitive
bias (n 6 % 7uss 1$d2, Handbook of evolutionary psychology 1pp <&,=<,>2
)oboken: Wiley Full text
)aselton, %5 9 7uss, 6% 1&88*2 7iases in +ocial Judgment: 6esign Flaws
or 6esign Features? (n J Forgas, @ Williams, 9 7 von )ippel 1$ds2,
Responding to the social world: !plicit and e"plicit processes in social
#udg!ents and decisions :ew Aork, :A: 'ambridge Full text
)enrich, J 9 %c$lreath, - 1&88<2 6ual (nheritance Theory: The evolution of
human cultural capacities and cultural evolution (n - 6unbar and B 7arrett,
1$ds2, $"ford Handbook of %volutionary &sychology' 'h *C Dxford: Dxford
Eniv Press Full text