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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attribute substitution | 2/2 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attribute_substitution | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T15:12:18.619161+00:00 | kb-cron |
=== The beautiful-is-familiar effect === Monin reports a series of experiments in which subjects, looking at photographs of faces, have to judge whether they have seen those faces before. It is repeatedly found that attractive faces are more likely to be mistakenly labeled as familiar. Monin interprets this result in terms of attribute substitution. The heuristic attribute in this case is a "warm glow"; a positive feeling towards someone that might either be due to their being familiar or being attractive. This interpretation has been criticised, because not all the variance in the familiarity data is accounted for by attractiveness.
== Evidence == The most direct evidence, according to Kahneman, is a 1973 experiment that used a psychological profile of Tom W., a fictional graduate student. One group of subjects had to rate Tom's similarity to a typical student in each of nine academic areas (Law, Engineering, Library Science etc.). Another group had to rate how likely it is that Tom specialised in each area. If these ratings of likelihood are governed by probability, then they should resemble the base rates, i.e., the proportion of students in each of the nine areas (which had been separately estimated by a third group). A probabilistic judgment would say that Tom is more likely to be a Humanities student than Library Science, because many more students study Humanities, and the additional information in the profile is vague and unreliable. Instead, the ratings of likelihood matched the ratings of similarity almost perfectly, both in this study and a similar one where subjects judged the likelihood of a fictional woman taking different careers. This suggests that rather than estimating probability using base rates, subjects had substituted the more accessible attribute of similarity.
== See also ==
Bounded rationality Inattentional blindness Labeling theory List of cognitive biases Neglect of probability Self-deception
== References ==
== Further reading == Kahneman, Daniel; Frederick, Shane (2004). "Attribute Substitution in Intuitive Judgment". In Mie Augier; James G. March (eds.). Models of a man: essays in memory of Herbert A. Simon. MIT Press. pp. 411–432. ISBN 978-0-262-01208-9. OCLC 52257877. Kahneman, Daniel; Frederick, Shane (2005). "A Model of Heuristic Judgment" (PDF). In Keith James Holyoak; Robert G. Morrison (eds.). The Cambridge Handbook of Thinking and Reasoning. Cambridge University Press. pp. 267–294. ISBN 978-0-521-82417-0. OCLC 56011371. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-07-13. Kahneman, Daniel (December 8, 2002). "Maps of Bounded Rationality: A Perspective on Intuitive Judgement and Choice (Nobel Prize Lecture)". NobelPrize.org. The Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2009-06-13. Kahneman, Daniel (July 22, 2007). "Short Course in Thinking about Thinking". Edge.org. Edge Foundation. Retrieved 2009-06-13. Sinnott-Armstrong, Walter; Young, Liane; Cushman, Fiery (2010). "Moral Intuitions". In J. Doris; G. Harman; S. Nichols; J. Prinz; W. Sinnott-Armstrong; S. Stich (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Moral Psychology. Oxford University Press. pp. 246–272. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199582143.003.0008. ISBN 9780199582143. De Neys, Wim; Rossi, Sandrine; Houdé, Olivier (2013). "Bats, balls, and substitution sensitivity: Cognitive misers are no happy fools". Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. 20 (2): 269–273. doi:10.3758/s13423-013-0384-5. PMID 23417270. Frederick, Shane (2005). "Cognitive Reflection and Decision Making". Journal of Economic Perspectives. 19 (4): 25–42. doi:10.1257/089533005775196732.