ad observed.Another example of the confirmation bias can be seen when it is pointed out to Biklen the obvious inconsistency of autistic patients who are able to type clearly, using one finger, without ever looking at the keypad. It is clear when observing a facilitator and patient that, although the patient may never even glance at the letters, the facilitator’s eyes never leave. While Biklen agreed that this is impossible, when interacting with patients, he did not seem notice or care when they did not look at the keys. Even though there is often this direct evidence to disprove the communication, Biklen and other facilitators do not recognize it as such. Their tendency is to seek out and observe only evidence in favor of facilitated speech. The confirmation bias is again visible.Although I found no solid linking statement in the text, it seems these concepts bay be related to cognitive dissonance. As those involved with facilitated speech were exposed to studies disproving it, a large amount of cognitive dissonance was surely felt. The conflicting ideas are the scientific facts disproving facilitated speech and the belief by individuals that they have seen it work. In order to reconcile the conflict and ease the dissonance, the people in the examples given have begun to use both the confirmation bias and belief perseverance. While neither of these fallacies are consciously chosen, each allows the experienced dissonance to be eased.It is clear that the film Prisoners of Silence holds many illustrations of concepts explained by Social Psychology. While the examples of belief perseverance and the confirmation bias are specifically pointed out here, one could find numerous others. This shows that one can examine situations and events occurring around and within one’s own life and see Social Psychology at work. ...
