Lord Neuberger "The big problem, as it is everywhere, is with unconscious bias. I dare say that we all suffer from a degree of unconscious bias, and it can occur in all sorts of manifestations. It is almost Cognitive Bias by definition an unknown unknown, and therefore extraordinarily difficult to get rid of, Tom Stafford, University of Sheffield, or even to allow for. " 28/11/17 t.stafford@shef.ac.uk Fairness in the courts: the best we can do: Address to the @tomstafford Criminal Justice Alliance. Lord Neuberger, 10 April 2015 https://www.supremecourt.uk/docs/speech-150410.pdf Bias, in the psychological What is bias? sense
Wason’s selection task ‘Mental These four cards all have: Contamination’ a letter on one side a number on the other side. The 450 foot Capilano Suspension Bridge E X 1 6 Image: Maarten Van Horenbeeck Rule: ‘All cards with a Vowel on one side have an Even number on the other side.’ Which cards would you have to turn over to decide whether this statement is true or false? Mechanisms of implicit bias Error Inconsistency Failure of rule following Unwanted influences Stereotype accessibility E.g. confirmation bias, E.g. “implicit bias”, errors in reasoning about contamination, priming due Automatic probability, errors due to to group membership, choice structure stereotypes, etc associations ‘Cognitive bias’ ‘Social biases’ Priming Osgood & Luria (1954)
The ‘Implicit Association Test’ (IAT) The ‘Implicit Association Test’ (IAT) Self-generating dynamic of biases Ie target of bias underperforms due to the biases and/or a biased environment
Discussion: hiring criteria case study What advice would you give to chairs of future hiring committees so they could ensure a gender impartial hiring process? Hehman, E., Flake, J. K., & Calanchini, J. (2017). Disproportionate Use of Lethal Force in Policing Is Associated With Regional Racial Biases of Residents. Social Psychological and Personality Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550617711229 An applicant for the police chief job is described as highly educated, but not streetwise. The gender of the applicant affects which characteristics people judge are important for the job (but not which they are perceived to have). Uhlmann, E. L., & Cohen, G. L. (2005). Constructed criteria redefining merit to justify http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/idris-elba-is-too-str discrimination. Psychological Science, 16 (6), 474-480. eet-to-play-007-says-james-bond-author-10480532.html
Do you worry about social bias? Anti-bias strategies How? How do you address it in people who come to tribunals? Why bias mitigation hard (1) Why bias mitigation hard (2) - Easier to see biases in other people than ourselves - Source(s) of bias hard to locate - Extent of bias hard to assess Cartoon Reproduced with kind permission of Grizelda and Private Eye Magazine
What doesn’t work on its own What can judges do about - Ignoring social identity (e.g. “colour blindness”) bias - a framework Trying to be objective / suppression Awareness raising - Duguid, M. M., & Thomas-Hunt, M. C. (2015). Condoning stereotyping? How awareness of stereotyping prevalence impacts expression of stereotypes. The Journal of applied psychology , 100 (2), 343-359. Focussing on individuals - Kalev, A., Dobbin, F., & Kelly, E. (2006). Best practices or best guesses? Assessing the efficacy of corporate affirmative action and diversity policies. American sociological review , 71 (4), 589-617. Effect on bias - Does your strategy... Who it affects - Is your strategy... Mitigate bias Personal Insulate against bias Interpersonal Remove bias Institutional
A 3x3 A 3x3 Mitigate Insulate Remove Mitigate Insulate Remove model model Avoid risk factors Remove information Cognitive training Personal Personal (hunger, fatigue), that activates bias (e..g relearning articulate reasoning, associations) ‘imagine the opposite Interpersonal Interpersonal Institutional Institutional A 3x3 A 3x3 Mitigate Insulate Remove Mitigate Insulate Remove model model Avoid risk factors Remove information Cognitive training Avoid risk factors Remove information Cognitive training Personal Personal (hunger, fatigue), that activates bias (e..g relearning (hunger, fatigue), that activates bias (e.g. relearning articulate reasoning, associations) articulate reasoning, associations) ‘imagine the opposite ‘imagine the opposite’ Identifying others’ Sub-divide tasks to Exposure to diversity Identifying others’ Subdivide tasks to Exposure to diversity Interpersonal biases is easier; insulate; (“Contact hypothesis”) Interpersonal biases is easier; ensure independence (“Contact hypothesis”) challenging independence of challenging of procedures; reveal conversations procedures conversations identifying information last Tracking outcomes; Procedures that Avoiding biased predeclared criteria; remove bias outcomes (e.g. Institutional Institutional recording process of activating information; quotas / shortlisting decisions; norms of requirements) fairness
Addressing bias is like healthy eating Exercise: put your anti-bias strategies into the 3x2 framework Image: By Evan-Amos (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons Need for collective approaches Possible future actions Review practice using 3x3 framework Take an implicit association test https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/ Get a resource pack by emailing t.stafford@shef.ac.uk Other?
END Exercise: future actions t.stafford@shef.ac.uk @tomstafford http://www.tomstafford.staff.shef.ac.uk/ Reserve slides (for discussion etc) t.stafford@shef.ac.uk @tomstafford http://www.tomstafford.staff.shef.ac.uk/
examples of biased experts Goldin, C., & Rouse, C. (2000). Orchestrating Impartiality: The Impact of" Blind" Auditions on Female Musicians. The Schwitzgebel, E., & Cushman, F. (2015). Philosophers’ biased judgments persist despite training, expertise and American Economic Review, 90 (4), 715-741. reflection. Cognition , 141 , 127-137.
A 50-year-old woman, no symptoms, participates in routine mammography screening. She tests positive, is alarmed, and wants to know from you whether she has breast cancer for certain or what the chances are. Apart from the screening results, you know nothing else about this woman. How many women who test positive actually have breast cancer? What is the best answer? nine in 10 50% eight in 10 21% one in 10 one in 100 The probability that a woman has breast cancer is 1% ("prevalence") If a woman has breast cancer, the probability that she tests positive is 90% ("sensitivity") If a woman does not have breast cancer, the probability that she nevertheless tests positive is 9% ("false alarm rate") Hoffrage, U., & Gigerenzer, G. (1998). Using natural frequencies to improve diagnostic inferences. Academic Medicine , Danziger, S., Levav, J., & Avnaim-Pesso, L. (2011). Extraneous factors in judicial decisions. Proceedings of the National Academy 73 (5), 538-40. of Sciences , 108 (17), 6889-6892. - "97 percent of judges (thirty-five out of thirty-six) believed that they were in the top quartile in “avoid[ing] racial prejudice in decisionmaking”" Rachlinski, J. J., Johnson, S. L., Wistrich, A. J., & Guthrie, C. (2009). Does unconscious racial bias affect trial judges?. notre dame law review, 84(3), 09-11.
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