Discussion Questions

In your breakout groups please discuss these questions and write a brief sentence or two on each point. Hand it in on D2L in the dropbox for Week_01_Discussion.

Note we’re not expecting perfect answers here, you should spend no more than 3-5 minutes on each question.

One classic illustration of the Representativeness Heuristic is the “Linda Problem.” In this experiment the authors asked participants to read a description of a woman called Linda

Linda is 31 years old, single, outspoken, and very bright. She majored in philosophy. As a student, she was deeply concerned with issues of discrimination and social justice, and also participated in anti-nuclear demonstrations.

They then had to judge whether Linda was more likely to be

A. A bank teller
B. A bank teller and and active in the feminist movement

1. Why does the Representativeness Heuristic cause most people to say that B is more likely to true?
2. Why is B the wrong answer?
3. How might the Representativeness Heuristic lead people astray they are trying to hire someone for a job?