Human Biases


Human Biases

Humans, without knowing it, often have bias over some animal species vs others such as having bias over a dog instead of a coyote. There are four different types of bias; availability heuristic, confirmation bias, believability bias, and framing effect. Availability heuristic, or availability bias, is the tendency to have something immediately come to mind when viewing or talking about something in specific. Belief bias is the tendency to judge an argument based on how believable it is instead of the actual facts. Confirmation bias is the tendency to interpret information that supports their beliefs and reject any information that may contradict or disprove it. Framing Effect is drawing different conclusions based on how the same information is presented.  
Image result for great white shark
Great White Shark, photographed by Jim Abernethy, Nat Geo


What is the first thing that comes to mind when you see this picture? Do you think of negative or positive adjectives? When people think of a shark, they often think of the Great white shark. An animal that is dangerous, strong, scary and maybe even man eater. This is because pictures like these are what become available to the public, hence the availability bias. People watch shark week and think all sharks are bad and are afraid to go swimming in the ocean again thinking they will be attacked.

This is also true when it comes to confirmation bias. People will have this negative view about sharks and then find something to support that sharks are bad. In reality though the chance of being attacked by a shark and it being fatal is slim compared to other risks. According to the International Shark Attack File, in the United States between 1900 to 2009 there were a total of 30 fatal shark attacks compared to 63 fatal bear attacks. Bears are predator animals just like sharks, but society often doesn't view bears as something scary. There have been many movies and cartoons showing bears being friendly and even the children's toy the teddy bear. This has caused people to think that bears are cute and cuddly and not dangerous animals. This is where confirmation bias comes in. Because people often don't hear about bear attacks and they don't show on TV like they do with shark week, they dismiss it. People will just try to find something to support this theory and overlook any of the data that goes against what they think.

When It comes to the framing effect this is often used on coyotes and house pets. People hear stories about pet dogs and cats being killed by coyotes but don't pay attention to the number of coyotes because humans have developed speciesism for coyotes and house pets. Even though coyotes are a type of canine just like our pet dogs, they are considered pests. People considered them pests because of how they come into neighbors, peoples backyards, kill pets, have negatively affected the deer and turkey population and more. Seeing numbers such as, "400,000 coyotes are killed each year in the United States (The Rainforest Site Blog)" might make people happy considering how hated these animals are in the U.S. These are just some of the ways these four biases are used in relation to different animal species.
Steve Thompson via USFWS

References
“Great White Shark.” National Geographic, 21 Sept. 2018, www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/g/great-white-shark/.

Herrero, Stephen, et al. “Bear Attacks.” Florida Museum, 1 Feb. 2018, www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark-attacks/odds/compare-risk/bears/.

Cherry, Kendra. “How the Availability Heuristic Affects Your Decision Making.” Verywell Mind, Verywell Mind, 18 Nov. 2019, www.verywellmind.com/availability-heuristic-2794824.

Press, Associated. “10 Grizzly Bears Relocated from Argentina to Colorado.” FOX31 Denver, 2 Dec. 2019, kdvr.com/2019/12/02/10-grizzly-bears-relocated-from-argentina-to-colorado/.

Sullivan, Matthew M. “400,000 Coyotes Are Killed in the U.S. Each Year... The Reason Why Will Make You Livid.” The Rainforest Site Blog, 8 May 2015, blog.therainforestsite.greatergood.com/killing-coyotes/.


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