Erica intensely dislikes a particular co-worker and seems to only notice his negative qualities. For example, when the co-worker is late for work but happens to bring in donuts, Erica assumes that the co-worker brought donuts because he knew he was going to be late and is trying to deflect attention from his lateness. It does not occur to Erica that her co-worker is late because he stopped to buy donuts. Erica's conclusions illustrate the ____.
A)confirmation bias
B)gambler's fallacy
C)conjunction fallacy
D)illusory correlation

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Erica's conclusions illustrate the confirmation bias, which is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one's preexisting beliefs or hypotheses, while giving disproportionately less consideration to alternative possibilities.

Erica Intensely Dislikes a Particular Co-Worker and Seems to Only