Fallacies and Cognitive Biases: Framing Effect ~ by Ransom

 

This article is part of an ongoing series that began with Fallacies and Cognitive Biases.

The above picture is a detail from "50 Cognitive Biases to be aware of so you can be the very best version of you"

"We often draw different conclusions from the same information depending on how it's presented."

This cognitive bias reflects the difference in how information is processed between the academy and real life (see the initial post in this series).

Framing changes how information is perceived because framing is itself information.

For example, if a medical treatment for some serious illness had an 80% survival rate it would be good, right?  What if the medical treatment had a 20% death rate?  That sounds bad.

Looking at both statements together you can tell they are stating the same thing.  Taken in isolation each statement bends interpretation in a different direction.

So what's the difference?

The difference is that the framing conveys information on how to interpret the statement.  Framing can be intentionally constructed by malicious actors to sway others but in normal interaction it unconsciously encapsulates the cultural norms of the speaker.

The framing gives context to the statement.  That context isn't trivial or meaningless.  It is cultural information.  Culture provides a set of rules and systems that have been demonstrated on some level to work.

Would it be better to have the information without framing?  Is that even possible?  Who's definition of "frame-free" should we adopt?

See In-group Favoritism.