Vaccine hesitancy has been a growing challenge for more than a decade. Concerns about vaccine safety and adverse events are the most commonly cited reasons.
(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
To help increase trust in vaccines, researchers analyzed data on adverse events to address safety concerns, and then used cognitive science to show how cognitive biases feed vaccine hesitancy.
The situation in the delivery room can change suddenly, and doctors need to react fast.
naphtalina/E+ via Getty Images
It’s human nature to unconsciously rely on quick rules to help make spur-of-the-moment decisions. New research finds physicians use these shortcuts, too, which can be bad news for some patients.
Whistleblower Frances Haugen called Facebook’s algorithm dangerous.
Matt McClain/The Washington Post via AP
You have evolved to tap into the wisdom of the crowds. But on social media, your cognitive biases can lead you astray, something organized disinformation campaigns count on.
Facebook has known that its algorithms enable trolls to spread propoganda.
STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images
You have evolved to tap into the wisdom of the crowds. But on social media your cognitive biases can lead you astray, something organized disinformation campaigns count on.
People tend to view social media posts more favorably when more people have liked, commented on or shared them, regardless of the quality of the posts.
Sai Aung Main/AFP via Getty Images
Philosophy can help us see how some of the implicit beliefs we hold about work are mere myths. Success isn’t always due to effort, and the idea some jobs are more shameful to have than others.
These psychological tendencies explain why an onslaught of facts won’t necessarily change anyone’s mind.
Francesco Carta fotografo/Moment via Getty Images
Cognitive shortcuts help you efficiently move through a complicated world. But they come with an unwelcome side effect: Facts aren’t necessarily enough to change your mind.
If you’re struggling to cut back on the booze, your subconscious brain may be over-riding your conscious brain. A new form of brain training targets our subconscious tendencies towards alcohol.
Framing cats as responsible for declines in biodiversity is based on faulty scientific logic and fails to account for the real culprit – human activity.
Climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.
Daniele COSSU/Shutterstock
To fight climate change, we need to take people’s cognitive biases into account.
A regional election commission member in Banyuwangi, East Java, is tested for COVID-19. Indonesia plans to hold its biggest regional election in December this year.
Budi Candra Setya/wsj/Antara Foto
The US and other countries have a legal definition of citizenship, yet human psychology and identity politics result in ingrained biases over who truly belongs.
Despite assurances of a sufficient and stable supply, citizens start to hoard toilet paper and other food items.
www.shutterstock.com
Eryn Newman, Australian National University; Amy Dawel, Australian National University; Madeline Jalbert, University of Southern California, and Norbert Schwarz, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Instead of debunking false claims, psychology shows promoting the facts is a more effective way to fight the spread of misinformation.
To save as many lives as possible, public health efforts must take into account our subconscious biases.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Provost Professor of Psychology and Marketing and co-director of the Dornsife Mind & Society Center, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences