On the Possible Origins of Bias: A Working Hypothesis Based on Neuroscience

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 9:50 am Four Seasons Ballroom 4
  In Roundtable Session: The Role of Context in Addressing Bias in Professions Education (Table 11)

Abstract

Bias has long been considered a problem in healthcare education, with particular concern paid to the potential for bias in the assessment of learners. This paper explores the origins of bias from the perspective of neuroscience, focusing on evolutionarily adaptive neural processes that exist to support efficient human sensory and cognitive processes. It is hypothesized that an understanding of developmental neuroscience can help unravel the mystery of why people have biases, and thus may lead to more effective solutions for addressing bias. The hypothesis relies on the assumption that neural processing is hierarchical in nature, where sensory processes emerge prior to cognition in human development.

Author

• Stan Hamstra, University of Toronto