LLM Online
©Arlene R. Taylor, PhD
15 hours CE Credit for RNs
CE Provider
CA Board of Registered Nursing BRN #08580
Copyright ©Arlene R Taylor, PhD, February 1, 2020
Bias – BRN requires that nurses be educated about bias
Each brain appears to have some innate bias—resulting in eight billion biases on Planet Earth. An innate bias can be described as an inclination for or against something. A healthy and balanced innate bias based on accurate information can help keep you safe; unmanaged, it can be deadly. Bias assessments, which tend to relate to a personal perception of safety, may be the fastest decisions the brain ever makes, occurring at nano-second speeds.
Confirmation Bias, Belief Perseverance, or MySide Bias are terms describing an overconfidence in one’s personal beliefs, along with a tendency to search for, interpret, favor, recall, and act upon information that confirms or supports those beliefs. The term “Confirmation Bias” is believed to have been coined by English psychologist Peter Wason to describe the tendency of individuals to favor information that confirms or strengthens their own beliefs or values. It may be strongest for deeply entrenched beliefs—even generationally held—for personally desired outcomes, and emotionally charged issues. Any number circle the globe continually and once embraced are difficult to dislodge.
Michael Shermer has been quoted as saying that “smart people believe weird things,” being skilled at defending beliefs arrived at for “non-smart” reasons. Confirmation bias can often be observed in relation to highly emotionally charged issues such as those involving gender, sex, politics, and religion. Basically, it can encompass any personal belief.
Raymond S. Nickerson has referred to confirmation bias as a ubiquitous phenomenon in many guises that can contribute to overconfidence in personal beliefs even in the face of contrary evidence. Poor decisions due to these biases have been found in political, organizational, financial, religious, and scientific contexts.
For example, confirmation bias produces systematic errors in scientific research based on inductive reasoning—i.e., the gradual accumulation of supportive evidence. Similarly, early in an investigation, detectives may identify a suspect and subsequently tend to seek confirming (rather than disconfirming) evidence. The more fervent a person’s beliefs or values, the higher the likelihood of a more fervent confirmation bias.
This differs from what is commonly known as a “self-fulfilling prophecy” in which a person’s expectations—conscious or subconscious—influence their own behavior, eventually resulting in the expected outcome.
Confirmation bias can distort evidence which, consequently, impacts evidence-based decision-making. Individuals gather and/or recall information selectively or interpret information in a biased way or ignore any evidence that does not support their existing and strongly held beliefs.
Beliefs are very tricky concepts. Your brain creates your beliefs from what you are taught and from what you have learned—which are often quite different. For example, you may have been taught that one should never go to bed angry. You may have learned that this is perfectly okay for males, just not for females–or that anger itself is unfeminine.
Once beliefs are firmly entrenched, they can strengthen your brain’s bias assessments along with your resulting choices and behaviors. Anger or fear against something “different” may surface when that might not otherwise have been the case. Individuals can become defensive, argumentative, or irate and perhaps end up skewing data, destroying property, or attempting bodily harm against persons who disagree with or challenge the individual’s belief. Individuals may also interpret what they believe to be ambiguous evidence as supporting their own beliefs. This can include even scientific evidence (so-called) because experiments and studies are performed by human beings, and most brains are thought to have some type of confirmation bias.
Can confirmation bias be avoided or eliminated entirely? Probably not.
However, individuals can learn to identify their biases and manage them appropriately.
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Course Objectives
Continue with 54 questions that follow.
1. According to Dr. Carol Dweck, there are two general types of mindsets: fast and growth.
2. Your subconscious mind is always listening to and believing everything you repeatedly say to yourself or about yourself.
3. Of the four Core Emotions mentioned, three are considered “protective emotions.”
4. Emotional Quotient (EQ) is more important for one’s overall success in life than Intelligence Quotient (IQ).
5. According to Richard Restak, MD, physical exercise is the single most powerful tool you possess to optimize your brain function.
6. Some types of dementia are linked with a lack of challenging mental stimulation.
7. Sleep is independently linked with longevity.
8. Sleep deprivation can make almost any illness worse but does not increase a risk for depression.
9. The price of dehydration is high, impacting all brain-body systems but especially lethal to brain function.
10. Brain cells need at least twice the energy required by most other cells in the body and three times that required by muscle tissue.
11. Estimates are that only 20% of “accidents” are preventable.
12. The body’s immune system is capable of building antibodies to fight against an estimated 10 million different organisms.
13. The American Cancer Association suggests obtaining Vitamin D from a supplement to reduce skin cancer risk.
14. UV rays are not blocked by clouds, so you can still get too much exposure even on a cloudy day.
15. What you eat clearly impacts your risk of developing cognitive disturbances but does not affect potential longevity.
16. Brain studies of obese individuals revealed 8% less tissue and the brain appeared 16 years older than the brains of participants who were within normal weight ranges.
17. Laughter triggers the release of a cocktail of endogenous (internally produced) chemicals and hormones that are extremely beneficial and crucial to good health.
18. Perception differences of what is “funny” or “humorous” rarely exist between males and females.
19. Support networks are not designed to provide unpaid volunteer work for one person’s benefit.
20. People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime, but it is unimportant to identify which is which.
21. According to Lawrence Albert "Al" Siebert, PhD, there is no stress in any situation until the individual human feels strain—and this differs for every brain.
22. Stress is contagious. Human beings—and mice—can experience negative health effects associated with second-hand stress.
23. Four common contributors to Life Satisfaction identified in the Pew research data were Health, Partner/Spouse, Financial/Wealth, and Friends.
24. Adolescence tends to feed on drama.
25. All bias is developed in adolescence and can be avoided entirely in adulthood.
26. Individuals can learn to identify their biases and manage them appropriately.
27. You develop your mindset early in life from:
a) What you hear people say to you.
b) What you hear others say about you.
c) What you see your care providers do.
d) All of the above.
28. A self-talk style using your “given name” and the pronoun “you”
a) Helps depersonalize things.
b) Tends to activate your “ego.”
c) Signals that you are working with your brain.
d) a and c.
29. The “protective” emotions are:
a) Joy, Anger, Fear, and Sadness
b) Anger and Fear
c) Joy and Sadness
d) Anger, Fear, and Sadness
30. In addition to minimizing conflict, high EQ skills help you:
a) Identify Core Emotions quickly and accurately.
b) Manage them effectively.
c) Recognize the information they are providing.
d) Select your actions and behaviors more carefully.
e) All the above.
31. Studies show that dendrites can alter their shape in:
a) 13 seconds
b) 30 seconds
c) 20 seconds
d) None of the above
32. Over-exercising physically can lead to addictive-like behaviors related
to which substance(s):
a) Adrenalin
b) Melatonin
c) Dopamine
d) a and c
33. During sleep:
a) The brain generates electricity.
b) Growth hormones are produced.
c) Neurotrophic food is created.
d) All of the above
34. Sleep deprivation can result in:
a) Accumulation of waste products.
b) Failure to file information in long-term memory.
c) Increased risk of weight gain.
d) All of the above
35. Studies have linked dehydration with:
a) Structural brain changes visible on an fMRI.
b) Potentially life-threatening conditions especially for the young and
the elderly.
c) Production of cortisol.
d) a and b
36. America’s “drinking problem” has to do with:
a) Lack of adequate hydration.
b) Increasing rates of alcohol intake.
c) Substituting colas and sugary drinks for water.
d) a and c
37. Strategies to lower your risk for a stroke include:
a) Avoid smoking and/or inhaling side-stream smoke.
b) Reducing salt (sodium) intake.
c) Obtaining adequate physical exercise.
d) All of the above.
38. Immune system functions include all the following except:
a) Destroying invading organisms.
b) Deleting mutated and abnormal cells.
c) Creating food for immune system messengers.
d) Getting rid of waste products.
39. The sun provides:
a) Light, heat, and energy.
b) Non-24.
c) Synchronization of the brain’s circadian rhythm clock.
d) Jet lag.
e) a and c
40. Regarding blue light waves all are true except:
a) Dark glasses can help reduce natural blue light waves from reaching
the human retina.
b) The human eye has difficulty filtering out artificial electronic blue
light waves.
c) Only computers blue light waves
d) Many electronic devices produce artificial blue light waves.
41. Intake of food and beverages that are high in sugar and that contribute
to high blood sugar levels:
a) Can cause a fluctuating pattern of glucose highs and lows that can
be deadly for many brain functions.
b) Can cause low-grade inflammation.
c) Can negatively impact memory functions.
d) Have been linked with lower brain volume (shrinkage) in areas of
memory and thinking.
e) All of the above.
42. The following statements about carbohydrates are true except for:
a) Carbs are all created equal.
b) Glucose from carbs are preferred almost exclusively by brain
thinking cells.
c) Simple carbs like refined sugar in foods or beverages are toxic to
the brain.
d) Some carbs are much healthier than others.
43. Correctly used humor and laughter can enhance school and work
environments because:
a) Employees who laugh together tend to be more creative, more
productive, and better at collaboration.
b) They can be an effective intervention to improve retention in
students K through college.
c) Those who laugh together tend to be better at collaboration.
d) All of the above.
44. As relates to laughter and humor:
a) Collect humorous materials to use as “first aid” for yourself in
emergency situations.
b) Be serious about life but avoid taking every little thing too seriously.
c) Approach life as an importantbut fun! —experience where you
look for and purposely choose humor and laugh.
d) All of the above.
45. Male humor tends to be more right-brained. Males:
a) Use jokes to connect with other males or use slapstick humor
requiring no language.
b) Try harder to be funny and are rewarded for this growing up.
c) Like to tease others but do not necessarily like to be teased
themselves and may even respond with aggression.
d) All of the above.
46. Female humor tends to be more left-brained. Females:
a) Connect through language but not necessarily through jokes, which
they may not even “get.”
b) May accept teasing more playfully than males.
c) Use humor that involves word play and stories that strike a woman’s
funny bone.
d) All of the above
47. Healthy support networks have several characteristics except for:
a) Offering emotional and practical encouragement to an individual in
difficulty.
b) Doing things people need to be doing for themselves.
c) Having members who are trustworthy but who do not enable
codependent behaviors.
d) Providing mentoring when starting a new job.
48. When building a support network, select a few individuals who . . .
a) Are smart, affirming, and upbeat.
b) Have asked to be in your support network.
c) Are reciprocal and on a Longevity Lifestyle.
d) a and c.
49. Unmanaged stress reactions can:
a) Enhance cognitive ability.
b) Increase libido and ability to conceive.
c) Raise energy potential by 30 percent.
d) None of the above.
50. Eustress can be good for you and can boost the immune system . . .
a) If your life activities are in balance.
b) When you are meeting the expectations of others.
c) If you participate in choosing the eustress activities—even when
they take work and challenge your brain and body.
d) a and c
51. Components linked with good life satisfaction are these:
a) Happiness, gratitude, and high levels of EQ skills.
b) Hope, a balanced sense of self-worth along with a willingness to
forgive yourself and others for mistakes.
c) Financial success.
d) a and b
52. Life satisfaction:
a) Involves an evaluation of one’s overall life.
b) Appears to come from within, based on personal. values, i.e., what
the individual believes is important.
c) Includes an emphasis on or appreciation of materialism.
d) a and b
53. Confirmation biases:
a) Can strengthen your own innate bias.
b) Are difficult to eradicate once firmly entrenched.
c) Impact your choices, decisions, and behaviors.
d) All the above
54. Confirmation biases can:
a) Contribute to overconfidence in personal beliefs even in the face of
contrary evidence.
b) Distort evidence and consequently impact evidence-based decision
making.
c) Ignore information or evidence that does not support strongly held
beliefs.
d) All the above.
