Ethical principles and standards guide school psychologists in their professional decision-making, but of equal importance is the ability to think scientifically and ethically. Scientific thinking helps us proceed thoughtfully and deliberately as we make decisions about student needs and interventions. However, even the most thoughtful planner needs to be aware of the cognitive errors and misperceptions that characterize all decision-making, especially by school-based teams. This session describes common errors—of knowledge, perception, association, and social influence—and offers advice about ways to minimize these errors when making assessment and intervention decisions.

Workshop Objectives:

This session will help participants

1. explain the manner in which their professional decisions can be inadvertently influenced by cognitive errors and biases;
2. identify the most common types of decision-making errors and the forms they might take (e.g., representativeness bias, groupthink); and
3. circumvent and manage bias in their own thinking, as well as in team-based decision-making.

Prerequisite Knowledge

Be familiar with the range of decisions to which school psychologists contribute, including assessment, classification, and intervention. Have experience working as a member of a team charged with making educational decisions.

Practical Tools

Research-based information about bias and errors that affect school psychologists’ decisions, as well as strategies to mitigate their impact.