Myside Bias and Group Discussion (1.1.0)
The my-side bias is a well-documented cognitive bias in the evaluation of arguments, in which reasoners in a discussion tend to overvalue arguments that confirm their prior beliefs, while undervaluing arguments that attack their prior beliefs. This agent-based model in Netlogo simulates a group discussion among myside-biased agents, within a Bayesian setting. This model is designed to investigate the effects of the myside bias on the ability of groups to reach a consensus or collectively track the correct answer to a given binary issue.
Release Notes
The model simulates a group discussions over a binary issue between myside biased agents, i.e. agents that undervalue arguments that attack their prior belief, and overvalue arguments that confirm their prior belief.
The objective of our model is to assess the extent to which the myside bias, i.e. the tendency to overvalue/undervalue arguments depending on their fit with one’s own prior belief, affect the ability of the group to find the correct answer to the binary issue under discussion.
In particular, the model is built to answer the question: does the myside bias help or hinder the ability of groups to find the correct answer to a binary issue?
Associated Publications
The Wisdom of the Small Crowd: Myside Bias and Group Discussion, with Zoé Christoff, Stephan Hartmann and Rineke Verbrugge, Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulations (forthcoming)
Myside Bias and Group Discussion 1.1.0
Submitted by
Edoardo Baccini
Published Sep 05, 2023
Last modified Sep 05, 2023
The my-side bias is a well-documented cognitive bias in the evaluation of arguments, in which reasoners in a discussion tend to overvalue arguments that confirm their prior beliefs, while undervaluing arguments that attack their prior beliefs. This agent-based model in Netlogo simulates a group discussion among myside-biased agents, within a Bayesian setting. This model is designed to investigate the effects of the myside bias on the ability of groups to reach a consensus or collectively track the correct answer to a given binary issue.
Release Notes
The model simulates a group discussions over a binary issue between myside biased agents, i.e. agents that undervalue arguments that attack their prior belief, and overvalue arguments that confirm their prior belief.
The objective of our model is to assess the extent to which the myside bias, i.e. the tendency to overvalue/undervalue arguments depending on their fit with one’s own prior belief, affect the ability of the group to find the correct answer to the binary issue under discussion.
In particular, the model is built to answer the question: does the myside bias help or hinder the ability of groups to find the correct answer to a binary issue?
