PSYX 100is 1st Edition Lecture 16Irrational Humans★ Wason 2 4 6 problem○ experiment has a rule that all valid number triples must conform to the “2 4 6” ○ Subjects are told to try and discover the rule○ Participants nearly always guess the wrong rule○ Actual rule is increases from left to right ★ Tversky & Kahnemian UN problem○ Step 1→ participants spun a pointer on a wheel that ranges from 1-100○ Step 2→ The needle lands on some number○ Step 3→ participants were asked to estimate the percent of nations in the UN that were African Nations○ Results→ your answer correlates wherever the needle stopped on the dial■ indicate that people allow completely arbituary info to influence their judgements about the world■ T & K called this anchoring effect★ Wason Selection Task○ 4 cards with a letter on one side and a number on the other side○ Rules→ vowels have even numbers on the back○ Determine the rule by selecting the minimum number of cards to flip■ As long as the 7 does not have a vowell on the back the rule is true■ only need to check the e and the 7, no more and no less■ Between 4-10% of adults get the correct answer● common answer is 4 and E○ confirms the rule if you flip the 4 and find a vowell but if youfind an odd it does not disconfirm ○ Task Results■ less then 10% of adults are irrational● we assume that a certain percentge of people guessed then perhaps no one is rational★ Detroit vs. Michigan○ randomly assigned to 2 groups■ group 1→ estimate homicides in Detroit■ group 2→ estimate homicides in Michigan ■ Results→ people in the Detroit group provide higher estimates than the Michigan group★ Rational or Irrational○ Response to data■ Human are frequently irrational ■ Humans are rational● experiments are designed poorly, researchers try and trick people into providing results thar can be described as irrational○ Human reasoning is irrational (or at least frequently flawed)■ Kahneman & Tversky■ Wason■ Johnson-Laird■ Many… Many others★ Response to Data ○ humans are frequently irrational ■ Barnes● Eagles are poor swimmers. Carp are poor flyers No problem there. Why can't humans be poor reasoners?■ K & T● shortcuts help us get answers that are good enough most of the time○ Humans are rational■ Aristotle● Man is the rational animal■ Common Sense● We do things everyday that prove we are incredibly rational■ Evolutionary Argument● human made irrational decisions should be less likely to survive and reproduce than a human that made rational decisions■ Herbert Simon● rationality is bounded by their limitations on working memory, long term memory■ Chris Cherniak● humans have only minimal rationality ■ Gerd Gigirenzer● hates everything about these experiments● not worth anything, participants are messed up? what about their researchers?★ Question of norms○ FDL→ should not be the standard of rationality○ Bayesian reasoning is the norm○ We should assume that adaptability or reasonableness is the appropriate norm★ Hallucinogens○ LSD-->a synthetic crystalline compound, lysergic acid diethylamide, that is a potent hallucinogenic drug.★ LSD○ History■ changing interest in LSD● 1 LSD Key to understanding psychosis ● 2 LSD adjunct to talk therapy● 3 LSD truth serum or chemical weapon● 4 LSD mind enhancer or recreational drug○ 1