McGraw-Hill Series in Social Psychology This 302-page book begins with a Reader Survey, a questionnaire each reader is directed to complete before beginning to read. The purpose is to set the expectations, debias the reader, and serve as a teaching device. Together with a clear, readable text and sufficient explanation of difficult and counterintuitive scientific facts about human decision making, the book is must reading for any person, professional or otherwise, who wants to improve the accuracy of any decisions made. It has 21 chapters, an afterword, 28 pages of references, and indexes. The chapters are short and begin with descriptions of striking, interesting experiments. Many of the experiments are quite old and can be said to be classical work in social psychology. The one weakness of the book is that the more recent research is somewhat sparingly cited. However, none of the points made are contradicted by the recent research. Each point is also illustrated with brief anecdotes or descriptions of situations that make the ideas clear. It does not require any advanced training in psychology in order to read and profit from this book. For those persons involved in the justice system in which decisions are made by or about oneself or the lives and liberties of others, this book can be extremely useful and helpful. For attorneys and judges, the book offers significant and solidly based information about the decision making process of fact finders, judges or juries. For instance, Chapter 11, The Availability Heuristic, has a section of the effect of being able to imagine an event. An attorney who grasped the availability heuristic and understood the research on the effect of imagining an event may well choose to elicit imagining an event during jury selection or opening statement. If successfully done, the act of imagining likely increases the subjective probability in the minds of jurors. There are many other facts known about the decision making process of human beings that will help many to understand how the decisions reached in the justice system. We often hear attorneys describe the justice system as a crap shoot. This reflects the reality that many of the decisions rendered appear irrational to one side or another. This book may help reduce the sense of wonderment or bafflement about some verdicts. Sections IV and VI are likely to be the most useful for understanding and improving the accuracy of decisions made. Section IV discusses the short cuts, or heuristics, we use in making decisions and shows how they may often lead to wrong judgments and mistaken decisions. A chilling example of error is the description of a study showing a high rate of wrongful convictions including 23 persons wrongfully executed (p. 221). This shows the overconfidence people can demonstrate when a reasonable doubt is supposed to lead to acquittal. Section VI discusses steps to take to avoid falling into some of the traps the short cuts may open before us. I strongly recommend this book. It is the most succinct, clear, and readable book on this extremely important area that I have encountered. It should prove to be invaluable to practicing attorneys, judges, and anyone involved in the adversary system. Reviewed by Ralph Underwager, Institute for Psychological Therapies, Northfield, Minnesota.
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