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Challenging Confirmation Bias (UK)

How can we challenge our own confirmation bias?
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Our brains are great at using past experiences to make quick decisions on the fly, but these shortcuts can also lead to bias. "Confirmation bias" is our brain's tendency to seek out information that confirms things we already think we know. Help your learners learn to recognise this when they encounter news online, as a way to examine competing opinions and ideas, and to avoid drawing questionable conclusions.

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Learning Objectives:

  • Define confirmation bias and identify why it occurs.

  • Explore examples of confirmation bias, particularly related to news and online information.

  • Identify strategies for challenging their own confirmation biases.

Key Vocabulary: cognitive bias   ·   confirmation bias   ·   mnemonic device  
cognitive bias:
limitations in our thinking caused by perceiving information through our personal experiences and preferences
confirmation bias:
a tendency to interpret information in a way that affirms what we already believe
mnemonic device:
a word or series of letters that helps you remember steps or strategies for something

Lesson Plan

45 mins.

What You'll Need

Classroom resources

  • Lesson Slides
  • Biased Brains Handout
    Handout Teacher Version
  • Lesson Quiz

Take-home resources

  • Family Activity
  • Family Tips
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Lesson last updated: August 2022