Consider the opposite: An application of scientific thinking to mitigate assimilation bias

In 1979, Lord, Ross and Lepper identified a psychological trait that they dubbed assimilation bias. This habit of the mind causes people to filter and evaluate new information and evidence based on their existing beliefs. In 1984, Lord, Lepper and Preston suggested a consider the opposite strategy of evaluating new information might limit the effects of assimilation bias. This research tested that proposal using 115 subjects in freshman level classes at two community colleges. Subjects were divided into control and treatment groups and tested on both an educational technology topic and a capital punishment topic. The treatment group was asked to evaluate articles that opposed their beliefs about the issues of technology in education and capital punishment using a consider the opposite technique. The subjects used the technique with no knowledge of the purpose. Comparisons of pre- and post-treatment evaluations were done using both an analysis of variance and the Mann-Whitney U test with a confidence level of .05. In the educational technology portion of the research, the hypothesis was supported very strongly. Those subjects using the consider the opposite technique---even though unaware that they were doing so---demonstrated little or no assimilation bias. The treatment group showed the expected tendency toward assimilation bias. Neither the capital punishment group nor the replication group produced results that rose to a level of significance, though the mean of each group shifted in the anticipated direction. Further research is recommend to investigate the emotional commitment aspect and to expand on the present findings. The current findings suggest that consider the opposite may well be a cognitive skill worth teaching in schools to provide students with a specific critical thinking tool with which to mitigate their own tendencies toward assimilation bias.