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Psychology studies have shown that people tend to confirm their preconceived ideas and ignore contradictory information, a phenomenon known as confirmation bias. To examine the role of confirmation bias in psychiatric diagnosis, researchers gave a case vignette to 75 psychiatrists (mean duration of professional experience, 6 years) and 75 fourth-year medical students. Participants were asked to choose a preliminary diagnosis of depression or Alzheimer disease and to recommend a treatment. The vignette was designed so that depression would seem the most appropriate diagnosis. Participants could then opt to view up to 12 items of narrative information; their “summary theses” were balanced between the two diagnoses, but the narratives overall …