Cognitive efficiency motives lead perceivers to sacrifice accuracy in person perception¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · theoretical r3 · q1
Currency · newest study 2018 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q1 i? Perceivers often sacrifice accuracy in person perception to save time and mental effort, via shortcuts such as anchoring, stereotyping, dispositional attributions, and the availability heuristic. → Gehlbach 2018

Evidence¶

Gehlbach 2018¶

Gehlbach, H., & Vriesema, C. C. (2018). Meta‐bias: A practical theory of motivated thinking. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-018-9454-6

q1 · i? · theoretical · r3

Theoretical argument in the article's statement of the meta-bias theory: the authors posit an efficiency motive, drawing on the "cognitive misers" framing of Fiske and Taylor and on Kahneman's System 1 account, under which shortcuts save effort at the expense of accuracy. No empirical test is reported in this article itself.

"First, perceivers will often sacrifice accuracy in person perception for the sake of cognitive efficiency."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Anchoring-and-adjusting perspective taking saves effort but adjustments systematically fall short — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Self-protection and self-enhancement motives lead perceivers to sacrifice accuracy in person perception — related
• High math-anxious participants sacrifice accuracy for speed as problems become more difficult, interpreted as an avoidance-like effort to finish quickly — related
• In-group/out-group bias serves both cognitive efficiency and self-enhancement simultaneously — related