英国伦敦大学Tali Sharot和Andreas Kappes课题组合作提出利用他人观点力量的证实性偏见。该研究于2019年12月16日发表在国际学术期刊《自然—神经科学》上。

他们报告了证实性偏见的潜在机制。具体来说，他们提供的证据表明，人们不会利用他人的不确定性意见来改变对判决的信心，而当意见具有确定性时，就会充分利用。这种偏见与当观点不一致时，对后内侧前额叶皮层中其他观点强度的神经敏感性降低有关。

他们的结果表明，现有的判断会改变信息强度的神经表示，从而使个人在面对分歧时不太可能改变观点。

据了解，人们倾向于削弱过去选择和判断的信息。这种证实性偏见对从政治到科学和教育等各个领域都具有重大影响。关于信念形成这一基本特征的机制知之甚少。

附：英文原文

Title: Confirmation bias in the utilization of others’ opinion strength

Author: Andreas Kappes, Ann H. Harvey, Terry Lohrenz, P. Read Montague, Tali Sharot

Issue&Volume: 2019-12-16

Abstract: Humans tend to discount information that undermines past choices and judgments. This confirmation bias has significant impact on domains ranging from politics to science and education. Little is known about the mechanisms underlying this fundamental characteristic of belief formation. Here we report a mechanism underlying the confirmation bias. Specifically, we provide evidence for a failure to use the strength of others’ disconfirming opinions to alter confidence in judgments, but adequate use when opinions are confirmatory. This bias is related to reduced neural sensitivity to the strength of others’ opinions in the posterior medial prefrontal cortex when opinions are disconfirming. Our results demonstrate that existing judgments alter the neural representation of information strength, leaving the individual less likely to alter opinions in the face of disagreement.

DOI: 10.1038/s41593-019-0549-2

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-019-0549-2