Cognitive biases, survival ability, and gameplay statistics

Abstract

The cognitive biases Need for Cognition and Need for Cognitive Closure are evolutionary adaptations formed within the human species to deal with information processing effectively. As such, this present study investigated these two cognitive biases in relation to one's ability to navigate and manipulate a perilous environment for survival purposes, measured through the construct Survival Ability, developed for the purposes of this enquiry. This research, of a quantitative design, involved participants (N = 20) completing two scales designed to measure whether they were either high or low in the two cognitive biases mentioned above. These scales were followed by a short period spent in a virtual dangerous environment, in order to measure their Survival Ability, in five different facets. Demographic data was also obtained for exploratory purposes. Data was analyzed through Pearson product-moment correlations, Analysis of Variance, and a multiple regression. Contrary to predictions, the two biases Need for Cognition and Need for Cognitive Closure were found to not have any effect on Survival Ability; the demographic variables age and education were found to correlate and even predict the Need for Cognition, weakly and moderately, respectively. Age was also found to have a relationship with a facet of Survival Ability. Finally, the Need for Cognition and the Need for Closure were found to be negatively correlated with each other.