Prompt #418 Observer Bias

By Liz On September 12, 2012 · Leave a Comment · In Writing Prompt

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In five experiments, subjects were shown multiple images of people on a computer screen and determined whether the person was holding a gun or a neutral object such as a soda can or cell phone. Subjects did this while holding either a toy gun or a neutral object such as a foam ball.

The researchers varied the situation in each experiment — such as having the people in the images sometimes wear ski masks, changing the race of the person in the image or changing the reaction subjects were to have when they perceived the person in the image to hold a gun. Regardless of the situation the observers found themselves in, the study showed that responding with a gun biased observers to report “gun present” more than did responding with a ball. Thus, by virtue of affording the subject the opportunity to use a gun, he or she was more likely to classify objects in a scene as a gun and, as a result, to engage in threat-induced behavior, such as raising a firearm to shoot.

“Beliefs, expectations and emotions can all influence an observer’s ability to detect and to categorize objects as guns,” Brockmole says. “Now we know that a person’s ability to act in certain ways can bias their recognition of objects as well, and in dramatic ways. It seems that people have a hard time separating their thoughts about what they perceive and their thoughts about how they can or should act.” -Science Daily

Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story or poem about jumping to a dangerous conclusion.

Journaling Prompt: Write about a time when you have jumped to a wrong conclusion.

Art Prompt: Observer Bias

Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about observer bias and how it affects our society.

Photo Credit: @LIQUIDBONEZ on Flickr

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