Alexis has been diagnosed with a learning disability. She doesn't believe that the psychologist was accurate in this diagnosis, so she decided to seek out additional information about the disability, and its rate of misdiagnosis. She finds a number of websites and a couple of books that suggest that the diagnosis for the particular disability is wrong 20 percent of the time. Alexis is confident that hers is a case of misdiagnosis, and even after getting three additional evaluations from other diagnosticians (who all agree with the original diagnosis), Alexis refuses to believe otherwise. What does this example illustrate?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This example illustrates confirmation bias leading to belief perseverance, where Alexis holds onto her belief that she has been misdiagnosed despite receiving multiple confirmations of the original diagnosis. The information she found on misdiagnosis rates may have influenced her initial doubt, and her refusal to accept the diagnosis may be due to her unconscious selective search for information that supports her belief.

Alexis Has Been Diagnosed with a Learning Disability