Confirmation Bias

Confirmation bias is the tendency for people to search for or interpret information in a manner that favors their current beliefs. This entry communicates psychological research on confirmation bias as it relates to medical decision making. This will help medical professionals, patients, and policy makers consider when it might pose a concern and how to avoid it. The focus is on choosing a test for a simple case of medical diagnosis. The first section discusses how inference and information search ought to take place; the second section discusses confirmation bias and other possible errors; the final section discusses how to improve inference and information search.