Confirmation

Confirmation bias, also

called myside bias, is the tendency
to favor information that confirms
one's beliefs or hypotheses. People
display this bias when they gather
or remember information
selectively, or when they interpret
it in a biased way.
Examples of Confirmation
Bias

Writing a Research Paper
Confirmation Bias by Journalists
Confirmation Bias in Consuming Journalism
Parenting Confirmation Bias
Screening Applicants
Writing a research Paper
One of the ways in which confirmation bias can
rear its ugly head is when you are trying to write a
research paper. When you begin thinking about
your topic question, you generally have some idea
where you think that the answer should be. It is,
therefore, relatively easy to only look into
information that would affirm that your initial
suspicions were correct. You would likely avoid, or
altogether ignore, any information that suggests
that there might be another answer.
Confirmation Bias by
Journalists
If you work in the field of journalism, you're likely to
be well informed about the subjects you cover.
However, overconfidence in your field of
knowledge can also lead to confirmation bias. An
example of this would be if a journalist were only to
use the opinions of experts that agreed with his or
her expectations of the topic, rather than going
with information that could be factually confirmed.
If the facts are specious on both sides, failure to
describe the faults of the side the journalist agrees
with would also be a form of confirmation bias.
Parenting Confirmation
Bias
Confirmation bias, in many ways, is built in to good
child rearing. Think of it this way: a parent who
doesn't have a strong affection for their child isn't
likely to put much effort into child rearing. It should
come as no surprise that any decent parent is
going to have a strong preference for their own
child. This may manifest as believing that your child's
abilities are greater than they actually are. Despite
the generally negative connotation of confirmation
bias, this may be the most positive form of it.

Screening Applicants
Let's say that you are responsible for hiring a new
employee for your company to fill a vacant role.
You have come down to two choices: a friend of
yours and someone you're not familiar with. In this
situation, confirmation bias would emerge if you
were to ignore the weak points of your friend's
application, while harping on the weak points of
the other applicant. This is why many businesses
generally have a conflict of interest clause, and it
may be best to allow someone else to handle the
hiring in this particular case.
ACTIVITY 1.7
Which of the following is an example of argument
ad ignorantium?
A. Since many people claim to have seen ghosts, it
is likely that they exist.
B. Many members of the Society for the Paranormal
believe in ghosts.
C. Ghosts must exist because no one has proved
that they do not.
D. It is true for me that ghosts exist.
Three other examples to illustrate the fallacy of argument ad ignorantium.
These are the typical ones that we often heard in our daily conversation.

o Since the class has no questions concerning the topics discussed in
class, the class is ready for a test.
o No one has objected to our class monitors rules during last month,
so I suppose those rules are very good.
o There is no evidence that frogs actually feel pain during the
experiment. It is true they exhibit pain behavior, but as they have no
consciousness, they feel no pain.

How about trying to prove that a species has
become extinct?
By comparing the DNA
sequence of that species
with other species
By proving that the
species had existed
before
By issuing a letter to
every NGO in each
nation to identify that
species if it still exist in
their country
By comparing the DNA
sequence with other
species, we can assure
that no other of the
species family branch
that still existed
By issuing a letter to Forestry & Wildlife Ministry and
NGOs of each nation, they will help to identify the
species if they are still exist in their country or not.
This is to confirm that the species does not exist
anymore in elsewhere part of the world.