Answer the following statements true (T) or false (F)

Question

1. When a manager makes a decision based on the strong beliefs she already has, she is guilty of a prior-hypothesis bias. 
2. You have surveyed all of your close friends, and they all prefer ice cream to frozen yogurt. Thus you should be confident that everyone prefers ice cream; that is, this is a representative sample of adequate size. 
3. The process of identifying and choosing between alternative courses of action is known as option evaluation. 
4. Politics has provided evidence that appeals to emotion are more effective than appeals to logic in decision making.

Answer 1

1. TRUE
When confronted with a choice, decision makers with strong prior beliefs tend to make their decision based on their beliefs, even if evidence shows those beliefs are wrong. This is known as the prior-hypothesis bias. Although it's always more comforting to look for evidence to support your prior beliefs, you need to be tough-minded and weigh the evidence.
2. FALSE
If all of your friends prefer ice cream to frozen yogurt, this is not enough data on which to draw the conclusion that everyone prefers ice cream. This small sample might be biased.
3. FALSE
Decision making is the process of identifying and choosing alternative courses of action.
4. TRUE
According to psychologist Christopher Chabris, politicians "have long known that appeals to emotion are more effective than appeals to logic, not because people are stupid but because the mind is designed to use logic as a tool for supporting our beliefs rather than for changing them."