Aug 2, 2019 04:43 PM
(This post was last modified: Aug 2, 2019 08:28 PM by C C.)
Change the bias, change the behavior? Maybe not
https://source.wustl.edu/2019/08/change-...maybe-not/
EXCERPT: The concept of implicit bias has made its way into the general consciousness, most often in the context of racial bias. More broadly, however, implicit biases can affect how people think of anything -- from their thoughts about cookies to those about white men. "All the little ways in which our everyday thinking about social stuff is unconscious or uncontrollable," wrote Calvin Lai, assistant professor of psychology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, in an article in DCist. "The stuff that we don't realize is influencing us when we make decisions."
Along with a broader cultural awareness of implicit bias is idea that the actions that they influence can be changed by eliminating the bias itself. Change the bias, changes in the behavior will follow. It seems logical enough. If true, reducing implicit bias could be put to practical use for anything from ending discrimination (removing a bias in favor of white males) to losing weight (dialing down a cookie bias).
In a meta-analysis of research papers published on the subject of implicit bias, however, Lai found that the evidence does not show this kind of causal relationship. The research is published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. [...] However, Lai said there is a more effective way to change these behaviors; one that doesn't rely on changing people's implicit biases: ridding society of the features that cause people to act in a biased way. (MORE - detailed elaboration)
How Temple Grandin's autism gave her a 'cow's-eye view' of the world
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-02/t...m/11349668
EXCERPT: . . . Professor Grandin believes her autism — or what she calls her "cow's-eye view" — has been her special tool, providing a unique insight into how animals see the world. In fact, she believes they see the world in the same way she does. She empathises with cows in particular, and says that's enabled her to understand what makes them distracted or stressed, and what calms them. And in helping farmers around the world improve their treatment of cattle, Professor Grandin learnt that some of the things that alleviate animals' stress, reduced hers, too.
[...] She says her autism, which causes her to think "visually", gave her a unique insight into what was impacting the cows. In a 2010 TED Talk, which has amassed over 5 million views, Professor Grandin explains that she doesn't think in language, but rather in pictures, which has been a "tremendous asset" to her. "Visual thinking gave me a whole lot of insight into the animal mind," she explains during the talk. "An animal is a sensory-based thinker, not verbal. [It] thinks in pictures, thinks in sounds, thinks in smells."
Professor Grandin says for animals, sensory-based information is placed into categories, and says she shares this compartmentalised way of thinking.
[...] It's no small feat that Professor Grandin's designs have led to changes in cattle stations around the world, and she's received international recognition for her work. ... But the early days in her career proved tough. "When I started out ... in the cattle industry in the US in the early '70s, it was totally a man's world. There were no women working out the yards," Professor Grandin says. "Being a woman in a man's industry in the early '70s was a much bigger obstacle than autism was — a much, much bigger obstacle." (MORE - details)
https://source.wustl.edu/2019/08/change-...maybe-not/
EXCERPT: The concept of implicit bias has made its way into the general consciousness, most often in the context of racial bias. More broadly, however, implicit biases can affect how people think of anything -- from their thoughts about cookies to those about white men. "All the little ways in which our everyday thinking about social stuff is unconscious or uncontrollable," wrote Calvin Lai, assistant professor of psychology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, in an article in DCist. "The stuff that we don't realize is influencing us when we make decisions."
Along with a broader cultural awareness of implicit bias is idea that the actions that they influence can be changed by eliminating the bias itself. Change the bias, changes in the behavior will follow. It seems logical enough. If true, reducing implicit bias could be put to practical use for anything from ending discrimination (removing a bias in favor of white males) to losing weight (dialing down a cookie bias).
In a meta-analysis of research papers published on the subject of implicit bias, however, Lai found that the evidence does not show this kind of causal relationship. The research is published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. [...] However, Lai said there is a more effective way to change these behaviors; one that doesn't rely on changing people's implicit biases: ridding society of the features that cause people to act in a biased way. (MORE - detailed elaboration)
How Temple Grandin's autism gave her a 'cow's-eye view' of the world
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-02/t...m/11349668
EXCERPT: . . . Professor Grandin believes her autism — or what she calls her "cow's-eye view" — has been her special tool, providing a unique insight into how animals see the world. In fact, she believes they see the world in the same way she does. She empathises with cows in particular, and says that's enabled her to understand what makes them distracted or stressed, and what calms them. And in helping farmers around the world improve their treatment of cattle, Professor Grandin learnt that some of the things that alleviate animals' stress, reduced hers, too.
[...] She says her autism, which causes her to think "visually", gave her a unique insight into what was impacting the cows. In a 2010 TED Talk, which has amassed over 5 million views, Professor Grandin explains that she doesn't think in language, but rather in pictures, which has been a "tremendous asset" to her. "Visual thinking gave me a whole lot of insight into the animal mind," she explains during the talk. "An animal is a sensory-based thinker, not verbal. [It] thinks in pictures, thinks in sounds, thinks in smells."
Professor Grandin says for animals, sensory-based information is placed into categories, and says she shares this compartmentalised way of thinking.
[...] It's no small feat that Professor Grandin's designs have led to changes in cattle stations around the world, and she's received international recognition for her work. ... But the early days in her career proved tough. "When I started out ... in the cattle industry in the US in the early '70s, it was totally a man's world. There were no women working out the yards," Professor Grandin says. "Being a woman in a man's industry in the early '70s was a much bigger obstacle than autism was — a much, much bigger obstacle." (MORE - details)