Recently, Jamal Madison, FF-TIP lab manager and third-semester research assistant gave a step-back presentation regarding his topic of anchoring bias. He started off his presentation by splitting the lab in two groups and engaging both sides in an activity. This activity provided an introduction to statistics in medical malpractice and anchoring bias. After he went on to discuss cognitive bias and the idea of debiasing, as well as their roles in places like the medical field. Jamal cited that, at least 250,000 people die each year as a result of errors in medical care and how debiasing these assumptions could lead to better medical outcomes.
After giving his introduction Jamal elaborated further on debiasing. First he started by defining debiasing, and citing existing literature related to debiasing giving more context to his introduction. After providing the necessary information Jamal went on to describe different methods to provide incentive for people to debias themselves. The five different methods were discussed in detail and further added to his presentation. After discussing methods, Jamal showed existing research that showed the efficacy of debiasing techniques and ways to maintain them.
For the “step-back” part of his presentation, fellow labmates ask questions for ten minutes on anything they feel needs more context or to clarify anything covered within the presentation. After all questions are answered, Jamal takes a “step-back” to allow lab members to discuss different factors that might be worth examining or suggest ways to change and improve within his study. When fellow lab members act like they take on projects as their own during a step-back, it opens up the door for alternative ways to view the research, and can produce new ideas.
Jamal gave an excellent presentation, and his study is still ongoing. We look forward to what results he shows in the future!
FF-TIP LAB 