title: Confirmation bias in visual search.
abstract: In a series of experiments, we investigated the ubiquity of confirmation bias in cognition by measuring whether visual selection is prioritized for information that would confirm a proposition about a visual display. We show that attention is preferentially deployed to stimuli matching a target template, even when alternate strategies would reduce the number of searches necessary. We argue that this effect is an involuntary consequence of goal-directed processing, and show that it can be reduced when ample time is provided to prepare for search. These results support the notion that capacity-limited cognitive processes contribute to the biased selection of information that characterizes confirmation bias. (PsycINFO Database Record
authors.affiliation: University of Toronto.
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rajsic
authors.affiliation: Queen's University.
authors.forename: Daryl E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: University of Toronto.
authors.forename: Jay
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pratt
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult