Corona Virus Member Discussion

[70 copo]

So lets examine

Kahneman, D., Tversky, A.: Choices, values, and frames. Am. Psychol. 39(4), 341 (1984)

I recall this from School and it is instructive because it used a mythical virus as an examination of presentation bias:

Assume a scenario in which a population of 600 people is endangered by an outbreak of a virus. In a first survey, Kahneman and Tversky asked participants which option they would choose:

A.
200 people be will be saved.

B.
66% chance that 600 people will be saved. 33% chance that no one will be saved.

In the first survey, 72% of the participants chose A, and 26% chose B. Afterward, a second survey was conducted that objectively represents the exact same choices, but here the options to choose from were framed in terms of likely deaths rather than lives saved.

C.
400 people will die.

D.
66% chance that no one will die. 33% chance that 600 people will die.

In this case, the preference of participants was reversed. 22% of the participants chose C, and 72% chose D. The results of the survey thus demonstrated that framing alone, that is, the way in which information is presented, has the ability to draw attention to either the negative or the positive aspects of an issue.


In summary, the effects of media bias are manifold and especially dangerous when individuals are unaware of the occurrence of bias.

The concentration of the majority of mass media in the hands of a few corporations amplifies the potential impact of media bias and individual news outlets even further and that's often why we sit here and bicker with each other.