Thomas Gilovich
Thomas Gilovich: A Leading Figure in Social Psychology
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Full Name and Common Aliases
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Thomas Gilovich is a renowned American social psychologist known for his groundbreaking research on cognitive biases, intuition, and decision-making.
Birth and Death Dates
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Born in 1954, Gilovich's life and work have spanned over four decades. His exact date of birth is not publicly available, but he remains active in academia.
Nationality and Profession(s)
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Gilovich holds American citizenship and is a social psychologist by profession. He has held various academic positions throughout his career, including being the Cornell University Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Intuition and Reasoning Lab.
Early Life and Background
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Growing up in a family that valued education, Gilovich was encouraged to pursue his interests in psychology from an early age. He developed a keen interest in understanding human behavior and decision-making processes, which eventually led him to study social psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Major Accomplishments
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Gilovich's work has had significant impacts on various fields, including social psychology, economics, and business. Some of his notable contributions include:
Cognitive biases: Gilovich has extensively researched cognitive biases, particularly those related to intuition and decision-making. His work has helped identify the sources and consequences of these biases in everyday life.
The lottery effect: In 1998, Gilovich published a study on the lottery effect, which demonstrated that people tend to overestimate their chances of winning when they have purchased lottery tickets. This research highlights how cognitive biases influence our perceptions of risk and probability.
Intuition vs. reason: Gilovich has also explored the relationship between intuition and rational thinking. His work shows that people often rely on intuition rather than reason, even in situations where it leads to poor decision-making.Notable Works or Actions
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Some notable works by Gilovich include:
"How We Know What Isn't So: The Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life" (1999) - a comprehensive book on cognitive biases and how they impact our daily lives.
"Heuristics and Biases: The Psychology of Intuitive Judgment" (2002) - an edited volume that explores the role of heuristics and biases in decision-making.Impact and Legacy
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Gilovich's work has had far-reaching impacts on various fields, from social psychology to business and economics. His research on cognitive biases has:
Improved understanding of human behavior: Gilovich's work has shed light on why people make certain decisions, even when it goes against their best interests.
Informed policy-making and decision-making: By identifying the sources and consequences of cognitive biases, policymakers and business leaders can develop more effective strategies to mitigate these effects.Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
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Gilovich's work has had a lasting impact on our understanding of human behavior and decision-making. His contributions have:
Raised awareness about cognitive biases: Gilovich's research has made the general public more aware of the presence and consequences of cognitive biases in everyday life.
* Influenced policy-making and business strategies: By identifying areas where cognitive biases can lead to poor decision-making, policymakers and business leaders can develop targeted interventions to mitigate these effects.
Gilovich's work continues to inspire new research and applications across various fields. His legacy serves as a reminder of the importance of understanding human behavior and decision-making processes in shaping our world.
Quotes by Thomas Gilovich
Thomas Gilovich's insights on:
Finally, it has been shown that the tendency for people to think of themselves as above average is reduced – even for ambiguous traits – when people are required to use specific definitions of each trait in their judgments.27.
Psychologists have known for some time that rewarding desirable responses is generally more effective in shaping behavior than punishing undesirable responses.19 However, the average person tends to find this fact surprising, and punishment has been the preferred reinforcer for the majority of parents in both modern society19 and in earlier periods.
When people learn no tools of judgment and merely follow their hopes, the seeds of political manipulation are sown.”11 As individuals and as a society, we should be less accepting of superstition and sloppy thinking, and should strive to develop those “habits of mind” that promote a more accurate view of the world.
Often when we get to know someone whose words and deeds were off-putting, once we get a better sense of how that person is understanding events, our dislike dissipates.
We hold many dubious beliefs, in other words, not because they satisfy some important psychological need, but because they seem to be the most sensible conclusions consistent with the available evidence. People hold such beliefs because they seem, in the words of Robert Merton, to be the “irresistible products of their own experience.”7 They are the products, not of irrationality, but of flawed rationality.
When examining evidence relevant to a given belief, people are inclined to see what they expect to see, and conclude what they expect to conclude. Information that is consistent with our pre-existing beliefs is often accepted at face value, whereas evidence that contradicts them is critically scrutinized and discounted. Our beliefs may thus be less responsive than they should to the implications of new information.
Our motivations thus influence our beliefs through the subtle ways we choose a comforting pattern from the fabric of evidence.