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

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Erica's conclusions illustrate confirmation bias, which is the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one's existing beliefs or theories, while ignoring evidence that contradicts them.

Erica Intensely Dislikes a Particular Coworker and Seems Only to Notice