The Framing Effect: One of the Worst Cognitive Biases of them All

来源：http://www.highiqpro.com/willpower-self-control/the-framing-effect-improving-decision-making-skills-with-capacity-strategy-training

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One of the most compelling /kəm'pɛlɪŋ/ and persistent/pə'zɪstənt/ cognitive/'kɑɡnətɪv/ biases that plague/pleɡ/ our decision making competence/'kɑmpɪtəns/ is the framing effect. You can experience this cognitive bias first hand by considering the following dilemmas/di'lemə/.

compelling /kəm’pɛlɪŋ/

* adj. 引人注目的；强制的；激发兴趣的

* persistent/pə'zɪstənt/

* adj. 固执的，坚持的；持久稳固的

* plague/pleɡ/

* vt. 折磨；使苦恼；使得灾祸

* competence/'kɑmpɪtəns/n. 能力，胜任

* dilemmas/di'lemə/.

* n. 困境（dilemma的复数）

Dilemma 1

The U.S. is preparing for the outbreak /'aʊtbrek/ of an unusual disease, which is predicted to affect 600 people. You are to imagine that you have the authority to choose between two treatments/'tritmənt/.

Treatment A: You save 200 lives.

Treatment B: There is a 1/3 probability/'prɑbə'bɪləti/ that 600 will be saved and a 2/3 probability that no one will be saved.

Which treatment do you choose?

outbreak /‘aʊtbrek/

* n. （战争的）爆发；（疾病的）发作

* vi. 爆发

* treatments/'tritmənt/

* n. 治疗，疗法；处理；对待

* probability/'prɑbə'bɪləti/

* n. 可能性；机率；[数] 或然率

Dilemma 2

The U.S. is preparing for the outbreak of an unusual disease, which is predicted to affect 600 people. You are to imagine that you have the authority to choose between two treatments.

Treatment A: 400 people will die.

Treatment B: There is a 2/3 probability that all 600 will die and a 1/3 probability that no one will die.

Which treatment do you choose?

If you were like most people – no matter how high your IQ – you were more likely to choose treatment A in Dilemma 1 and treatment B in Dilemma 2.

But this is irrational /ɪ'ræʃənl/. You’ve been taken in the Framing Effect Bias. If you double check you can see that the numbers and probabilities in the two dilemmas are in fact identical; they are just verbally  ['vɝbli]framed in different ways – Dilemma 1 in terms of lives saved, and Dilemma 2 in terms of lives lost.

irrational /ɪ'ræʃənl/

* adj. 不合理的；无理性的；荒谬的

* n. [数] 无理数

According to the research, intelligence agents, who may in fact be in positions of authority to make life or death decisions like this, are more taken in by this bias than your average college student – more likely to take risks with human lives when outcomes are framed as losses rather than gains.

In general, a “framing effect” occurs when factually/'fæktʃuəli/ equivalent descriptions of a decision scenario /sə'nærɪo/ lead to systematically /ˌsɪstəˈmætɪk l..ɪ/ different decisions depending on how they are phrased. In our example people react differently to a particular choice depending on whether it is described as a loss or as a gain.

factually/'fæktʃuəli/

* adv. 真实地；确实地

* scenario /sə'nærɪo/

* n. 方案；情节；剧本；设想

Examples of the Framing Effects In Real Life

Framing effects in our day to day lives have been demonstrated /'dɛmən'stret/ by many studies.

day to day lives 日常生活

* We are more likely to enjoy meat labeled 75% lean /lin/ meat as opposed to 25% fat.

* 93% of PhD students registered early when the framing was in terms of a penalty/'pɛnəlti/ fee for late registration, with only 67% registering early when the framing was in terms of a discount for earlier registration.

* More people will support an economic policy/ˈpɑlɪsi/ if the employment rate is emphasized than when the associated/ə’soʃɪetɪd/ unemployment rates is highlighted.

Interestingly, framing effects may be neutralized /'nʊtrə'laɪz/ in a second language!

neutralized /'nʊtrə'laɪz/

* vt. 抵销；使…中和；使…无效；使…中立

* vi. 中和；中立化；变无效

Cognitive Biases such as the Framing Effect can be Overcome

Cognitive biases make us irrational. The benefits /'bɛnəfɪt/ of a high IQ do not extend to coping with these biases. And coping with these biases is critical to being intelligent understood more broadly.

Cognitive biases like the framing effect can be to a large extent overcome with training.

a large extent很大程度上

Debiasing is a technique which aims to decrease biases by encouraging us to use our working memory and self-control to override automatic, ‘pop-up’ ‘System 1’ processing /prəu'sesiŋ/ (Baumeister & Bushman, 2010, p. 155). Training working memory and increasing its capacity /kə'pæsəti/ to engage System 2 thinking can help with debiasing.

So can building up useful ‘mind ware’. According to Professor Keith Stanovich from the University of Toronto who studies intelligence and rationality/ˌræʃən'æləti/, ‘mind ware’ is made up of learned cognitive rules and strategies. It includes our ability to keep track of underlying probabilities when dealing with scenarios described in different but equivalent ways, how we go about doing Matrices IQ Tests, and our willingness /'wɪlɪŋnɪs/ to consider alternative/ɔl'tɝnətɪv/ hypotheses /haɪ'pɑθəsiz/ when trying to solve a problem.

IQ Mind ware’s ‘capacity strategy’ brain training method is based on training working memory capacity so we have the self-control and processing power to use System 2 logical thinking when we need to. It is also based on using problem-sets and tutorials to build up our ‘mind ware’ – our knowledge end strategies for better decision-making and problem solving, so we have the know-how to solve problems and make better decisions.

A high IQ alone is not enough to ensure good decision-making in real life. It helps, but we also need the self-control to snap us out of being cognitive misers /'maɪzɚ/ and apply System 2 thinking when we need to. And we need the know-how and strategies to know how to apply our analytic/ˌænə'lɪtɪk/ minds to the problem at hand.

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Slow read:

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Sentences

There is a 1/3 probability/'prɑbə'bɪləti/ that 600 will be saved and a 2/3 probability that no one will be saved.

Which treatment do you choose?

If you were like most people – no matter how high your IQ – you were more likely to choose treatment A in Dilemma 1 and treatment B in Dilemma 2.

In general, a “framing effect” occurs when factually/'fæktʃuəli/ equivalent descriptions of a decision scenario /sə'nærɪo/ lead to systematically /ˌsɪstəˈmætɪk l..ɪ/ different decisions depending on how they are phrased

Framing effects in our day to day lives have been demonstrated /'dɛmən'stret/ by many studies.

Cognitive Biases such as the Framing Effect can be Overcome

Cognitive biases make us irrational

Cognitive biases like the framing effect can be to a large extent overcome with training.

It is also based on using problem-sets and tutorials to build up our ‘mind wa

A high IQ alone is not enough to ensure good decision-making in real life.