Zahra Hussain

Deeper insight into human judgements: Sensitivity versus bias

Many real-world judgements are made under uncertainty. For instance, we often face questions such as ‘Is the suspect guilty?’ or ‘Does the bag contain a dangerous object?’ These situations ask us to distinguish between truth or signal and falsehood or noise, even when we have only partial or ambiguous information. Signal detection theory provides a framework for measuring how well we can differentiate signal from noise, termed sensitivity, independently of our tendency to respond a certain way, referred to as bias. It also offers insights for enhancing the success of our decisions in various contexts.

These lectures will introduce the basic concepts of detection theory and explore its applications in areas like placebo effects, eyewitness testimony, forensic judgements, and systemic discrimination. The lectures will include guided hands-on exercises, and discussions of current literature.