Question

The group of doctors who were told a diagnosis in advance (but then told to ignore it) were more likely to pick that diagnosis anyways when given a patient. This is due to

a) anchoring
b) hindsight bias
c) availability heuristic
d) inductive reasoning

Answer 1

The tendency of doctors to stick to an initial diagnosis even after being told to disregard it is an example of anchoring bias, where the first piece of information heavily influences subsequent judgments.

Step-by-step explanation:

The scenario given illustrates the group of doctors gravitating towards a diagnosis they were initially told to ignore, which can be attributed to the cognitive bias known as anchoring bias. Anchoring bias occurs when individuals rely heavily on the first piece of information they receive (the "anchor") when making subsequent judgments or decisions, even if they are instructed to disregard it. In the context of the question, the initial diagnosis acts as an anchor, hence influencing the doctors' final diagnosis despite being told to ignore the initial information. This phenomenon suggests that once an anchor is set, it can skew the decision-making process, making it difficult for the doctors to consider alternative diagnoses objectively.