We tend to assume that we make logical decisions based on the available facts – and that our memories are an accurate record of what happened to us. In this blog we look at what is called a ‘cognitive bias’ – one of many that distort our thinking and even alter our memories.

Today we will look at what psychologists call ‘framing effects’, often used in advertising.

The way a question is “framed” often has an influence on how people answer that question: the exact same problem produces different answers based on how the problem is described. That’s what the term framing effect means.

How framing can distort our reasoning

Here is the scenario presented in a classic study of the framing effect:

You work for the Centers for Disease Control and there is an outbreak of a deadly disease called “The Mojave Flu” in a town of 600 people. All 600 people in the town are expected to die if you do nothing. Someone has come up with two different programs designed to fight to the disease:

With Program 1: 200 people in the town will be saved
With Program 2: There is a 1/3rd probability that 600 people will be saved, and a 2/3rds probability that no people will be saved.

Which would you pick?

In the original study, 72 percent of the subjects picked Program 1.

Now consider these two programs:

With Program 3: 400 people in the town will die
With Program 4: There is a 1/3rd probability that nobody will die, and a 2/3rds probability that 600 people will die.

Which of these do you pick?

In the study, 78 percent of the subjects picked Program 4. This shows the framing effect because Programs 1 and 3 mean the same thing, and Programs 2 and 4 mean the same thing – exactly the same thing. The only difference is the way the information is presented – how it is ‘framed’. In one ‘framing’ of the program 72% of people chose is, in another ‘framing’ of the exact same program, only 12% chose it.

How framing can distort our memories

Framing effects don’t only distort our reasoning, they also distort our actual memories. The psychologist Elizabeth Loftus has shown this in a classic study in which  participants saw a film of a traffic accident, after which they were asked questions about the event. Some people were asked ‘About how fast were the cars going when they contacted each other?’ Others were asked the same question but the verb ‘contacted’ was replaced by either hit, bumped, collided, or smashed. So there were  5 different ways of framing the question . Even though all of the participants saw the same film, the wording of the question had an impact on their answers. The speed estimates were 31mph for contacted, 34mph for hit, 38mph for bumped, 39mph for collided, and 41mph for smashed.

One week later, the participants were asked whether they had seen broken glass at the accident site. The correct answer was ‘no,’ but 32% of the participants who were given the ’smashed’ condition said that they had.

So just using a choice word in a single question asked in the past can distort our memories!

Mind Hacking: How advertisers, politicians & the media use framing

Mind hacking is when the critical faculty of the mind is deliberately bypassed to establish ‘selective’ thinking. Framing can be a method for mind hacking.

Framing is used in advertising all the time. Keep an eye out for examples, and share them if you find any good ones.

Framing effects are also widely used  in politics – to great effect. Buzzwords and political terms are constantly being coined and promoted to try to stay on the positive side of public opinion.

Frank Luntz is an example of a political consultant who has worked with Republican candidates to frame various policy issues to make them more appealing to the general public. Among other things, Luntz is responsible for the re-framing the term “global warming” to “climate change”. Pro Republican media outlets such as Fox News, then adopt the term and broadcaste it to the general public.

How we can overcome framing effects

Framing effects are powerful, and can be deliberately manipulated to great effect. When we recognize that this bias exists, we can gain some control over it. This blog post is an example of what is called ‘Mindware’ – in this case knowledge can use to overcome a powerful thinking bias.   The next time you hear a politician or an advertisement for some product, listen closely and decipher if there is any framing going on.

Research by Stanovich and West (2008) also shows that when you are aware that there may be a framing effect trying to ‘mind hack’ you, the more intelligent you are the more likely you are to overcome the bias. Overcoming the bias needs you to hold back your automatic response and reason it through. This takes working memory power. The ability to overcome automatic responses is improved using our HighIQPro software.
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