Assignment 1: Discussion-Behavioral Heuristics

Behavioral heuristics, such as availability, anchoring, vividness, storage, conjunction fallacy, and representativeness, all reflect behavioral traits, which if left unchecked may lead to systematic bias in the choices you make. For example, anchoring and availability can lead to disastrous decisions.

You may know how to recognize these heuristics, but consider how they may have influenced you in the past.

Find at least one example from your own career where you, or another manager, allowed one of these or another pitfall, to sway you from the mean.

Respond to the following:

• Why did you/they ignore the base rates?

• What other statistically relevant factors did you/they fail to incorporate?

• How could you have altered the framing of the situation to make a better decision?

By the due date assigned, post your response to the appropriate Discussion Area. Through the end of the module, review and comment on at least two peers' responses.

Write your initial response in 300-500 words. Your response should be thorough and address all components of the discussion question in detail, include citations of all sources, where needed, according to the APA Style, and demonstrate accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation

Do the following when responding to your peers:

• Read your peers' answers.

• Provide substantive comments by

i. contributing new, relevant information from course readings, Web sites, or other sources;

ii. building on the remarks or questions of others; or

iii. sharing practical examples of key concepts from your professional or personal experiences

• Respond to feedback on your posting and provide feedback to other students on their ideas.

• Make sure your writing

i. is clear, concise, and organized;

ii. demonstrates ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; and

iii. displays accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.