Modeling the hindsight bias

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_F92761A7FBE8
Type
Inproceedings: an article in a conference proceedings.
Collection
Publications
Title
Modeling the hindsight bias
Title of the conference
The logic of cognitive systems : Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Cognitive Modeling
Author(s)
Hoffrage U., Hertwig R., Fanselow C.
Publisher
Unveristät Bamberg
Address
Bamberg, Germany
ISBN
3-933463-15-7
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2003
Editor
Detje F., Dörner D., Schaub H.
Pages
259-260
Language
english
Abstract
Once people know the outcome of an event, they tend to overestimate what could have been anticipated in foresight. Although typically considered to be a robust phenomenon, this hindsight bias is subject to moderating circumstances. In their meta-analysis, Christensen-Szalanski and Willham (1991) observed that the more experience people have with the task under consideration, the smaller the resulting hindsight bias is. In a series of simulations we investigated whether the recently proposed RAFT model (Hoffrage, Hertwig, & Gigerenzer, 2000) can account for this "expertise effect." Indeed, we observed that the more comprehensive people's knowledge is in foresight, the smaller their hindsight bias is (Hertwig, Fanselow, & Hoffrage, in press). In addition, we made two counterintuitive observations: First, the relation between foresight knowledge and hindsight bias appears to be independent of how knowledge is processed. Second, even if foresight knowledge is false, it can reduce hindsight bias. In conclusion, our investigations confirm the utility of developing and testing precise process models of hindsight bias.
Create date
24/02/2009 15:34
Last modification date
20/08/2019 17:25
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