Linda is 31 years old, single, outspoken, and very bright. She majored in philosophy. As a student, she was deeply concerned with issues of discrimination and social justice, and also participated in anti-nuclear demonstrations.
Which is more likely (choose 1)?
A. Linda is a bank teller.
B. Linda is a bank teller and a professional golfer.
C. Linds is a bank teller and a lesbian.
D. Linda is a bank teller and active in the feminist movement.
2006-09-29 17:45:16 · 24 answers · asked by justamanandagorilla 1 in Social Science ➔ Psychology
I will give the answer after 20 people respond. There is a correct answer to this.
2006-09-29 17:56:32 · update #1
This question (well, one very much like it) was used in a very famous social psychological experiment. It is an example of the Representativeness Heuristic. Without explicitly revealing the answer, ask yourself, how do you (more like, how should you) estimate the probability of things being true?
Is it possible that the probability of one thing being true could ever be less than the probability of that one things plus something else?
This is a great example of how humans do not think like computers. We are not probability calculators and make mistakes because of it. About 90% of you got this question wrong.
Reference for the diehards who really want to understand this:
Tversky, A. and Kahneman, D. (1983). Extension versus intuititve reasoning: The conjunction fallacy in probability judgment. Psychological Review, 90, 293–315.
2006-09-29 18:11:06 · update #2
a
2006-09-29 17:47:46 · answer #1 · answered by twysty 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Well it's not D for sure cuz u said that 90% answerers got it wrong and most of the ppl did say D.
2006-09-29 18:45:21 · answer #2 · answered by *SaL* 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Information available points to C as the more likely than the others since this is the only one where one statement is definitely true and the other statement is common with all other options.
2006-09-29 17:52:04 · answer #3 · answered by small 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
A.
Linda is a bank teller.. All other activities have to be shelved with this job on hand !
2006-09-29 20:50:29 · answer #4 · answered by Spiritualseeker 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The answer is C.
What is she doing as a bank teller anyway???
2006-09-29 17:56:17 · answer #5 · answered by Stormy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
She's 31, I doubt she believes the same things she did when she was a student...
2006-09-29 18:08:33 · answer #6 · answered by agarwaen_neithan 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
of the choices, A is the most likly (if any) because the more details one adds lowers the probability.
2006-09-29 18:53:15 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
d is d answer as she is concerned with social justice..so she must be in feminist movement
2006-09-29 17:59:41 · answer #8 · answered by sarath 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'll take B. Trippy question.
2006-09-29 17:59:03 · answer #9 · answered by Thurston Howell III 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
c
2006-09-29 17:55:17 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋