Perception and Bias in Sports

Ira Gorlick's lecture discusses selective perception, explaining how it affects our understanding of information. It covers three aspects: selective attention, distortion, and recall. An experiment from the 70s is described, illustrating how bias can alter perception. The lecture also examines a case study of a Princeton-Dartmouth football game, showing how different viewers perceived the same event differently. The analysis suggests that perception is subjective and influenced by personal biases. The lecture concludes with a segue into confirmation bias.

What is the main idea behind selective perception?

• We remember everything accurately.

• We perceive things based on our desires and biases.

• We see things exactly as they are.

• We ignore all external stimuli.

Which of the following is NOT an aspect of selective perception?

• Selective distortion

• Selective recall

• Selective attention

• Selective memory

What does selective attention involve?

• Distorting memories

• Remembering everything

• Paying attention to specific stimuli

• Ignoring all stimuli

In the selective perception experiment involving a razor, what was observed?

• The razor was not visible.

• The razor was always in the same person's hand.

• The razor changed hands based on the observer's bias.

• The experiment had no results.

What was the main finding of 'The Game' experiment?

• Dartmouth viewers saw more infractions than Princeton viewers.

• No infractions were seen by any viewers.

• Princeton viewers saw more infractions than Dartmouth viewers.

• All viewers saw the same infractions.

How did Dartmouth alumni perceive the infractions in the football game?

• They did not watch the game.

• They saw infractions by both teams equally.

• They saw no infractions by their team.

• They saw many infractions by their team.

What does the variation in perception of the football game suggest?

• Games are always perceived accurately.

• Infractions are not important.

• All viewers have the same perception.

• Perception is influenced by personal biases.

What was the significance of the 9.8 number mentioned in the analysis?

• It was the number of infractions seen by Dartmouth students.

• It was the number of viewers.

• It was the number of games played.

• It was the number of infractions seen by Princeton students.

What conclusion can be drawn about the infractions in the game?

• Both teams had the same number of infractions.

• Dartmouth had more infractions than Princeton.

• Dartmouth had fewer infractions than Princeton.

• Infractions were not recorded.

What will be discussed in the next section following this lecture?

• Confirmation bias and motivated reasoning

• The science of memory

• Selective perception

• The history of football