PSS Final Exam review Q&As (Verified
Answers) 2026
Biases in language - correct answer ✅Omission: Not writing certain
things, using certain words. Leaving one side out of an article, or a
series of articles over a period of time; ignoring facts that tend to
disprove one side of the story
Selection of sources: Whose words do you choose to highlight and use.
Including more sources that support one view over another. This bias
can also be seen when a reporter uses phrases such as "experts
believe," "observers say," or "most people believe."
Story selection: What stories do you deem worthy of using your words
to tell. A pattern of highlighting news stories that coincide with the
agenda of one side, while ignoring stories that coincide with the
opposing side.
Placement: Story placement is a measure of how important the editor
considers the story. Studies have shown that, in the case of the average
newspaper reader and the average news story, most people read only
the headline, or the first paragraph.
Labeling: This can come in two forms. Firstly via labeling individuals of a
certain group or belief with extreme labels, for example when the story
uses more extreme sounding labels for the conservative than the liberal
i.e. "ultra-conservative", "far right", but just "liberal" instead of "far left"
or "ultra-liberal". The other is not identifying an individual's biases
before outline their view, calling them "an expert" or an "independent
consumer group."
Spin: The words you choose to use to tell a story and the connotations
and implications of those specific words. Spin involves tone - it's a
reporter's subjective comments about objective facts; makes one side's
perspective look better than another.
,PSS Final Exam review Q&As (Verified
Answers) 2026
Also watch out for linguistic intergroup bias:
-Check your stereotypes and the stereotypes of ppl around you
-Some writers lean into stereotypes to increase engagement
Part 2: Improving Society - correct answer ✅Behavioral model: an
empirically informed model of behavior
Behavioral mapping:
1. identify and define a societal problem
2. diagnose the root cause
3. design an intervention
4. test the intervention
examples from practitioners:
- Nonprofits (Ideas42)
- Public offices (NYC Mayor, Canada's Govt.)
- Journalism (NYTimes, NYUpress)
- Tech (Google, Meta, MSR)
- Therapy (CSAB
Lecture 11: Behavioral Model - correct answer ✅-policy interventions
are critical in addressing the world's current problems
-behavioral science is vital to good policy
,PSS Final Exam review Q&As (Verified
Answers) 2026
--ideal: bridging behavioral science with policy to promote social
welfare
Rational Agent Model (RAM) - correct answer ✅-Theoretical model of
human behavior, the predominant view in Economics.
-Assumes individuals are well informed, have stable preferences, are
controlled, self-interested, and calculating.
-Implications: people maximize, know what's knowable, exploit
opportunities, need no help from others, and no protection from
themselves.
-Choices freely made by rational agents deserve complete respect,
require no intervention.
-Problem: this approach leads to suboptimal societal outcomes bc of no
govt intervention (e.g., addiction, homelessness, pandemics, climate
disasters)
-Assumes preferences are more stable, emotions don't influence
outcomes
Behavioral Model (BM) - correct answer ✅Behavioral Model (or
empirical model of human behavior- it's measured w research study
instead of intuition)
-Empirical model of human behavior, the predominant view in
Psychology, and the precursor to Behavioral Economics
, PSS Final Exam review Q&As (Verified
Answers) 2026
-Assumes individuals have contextual judgment, malleable preferences,
are distracted, impulsive, myopic, trusting, vindictive. (all of these
psychological dimensions that the RAM model was ignoring)
-Implications: people are inconsistent, could benefit from attention and
help.
-Solution: "libertarian paternalism" suggests that it is appropriate to
create a "choice architecture" that reduces bad decisions without
reducing freedom (e.g., default options)
--The govt won't force ppl to become organ donors, for example, but
their choices can be made to their benefit bc of govt policy/architecture
-This theory is more contextual
Rational Model vs Behavioral Model - correct answer ✅-RAM used to
be main model, but BM provides more accurate predictions
-People endorse the normative view upon reflection
-But most of our information processing is automatic, intuitive,
heuristic, malleable and not privy to nor governed by normative
requirements
-Thus, ppl are error prone, and this is not available to introspection (we
don't understand why we make these errors)
3 alternative views of the human agent:
1. The rational agent
2. Intuitive
Answers) 2026
Biases in language - correct answer ✅Omission: Not writing certain
things, using certain words. Leaving one side out of an article, or a
series of articles over a period of time; ignoring facts that tend to
disprove one side of the story
Selection of sources: Whose words do you choose to highlight and use.
Including more sources that support one view over another. This bias
can also be seen when a reporter uses phrases such as "experts
believe," "observers say," or "most people believe."
Story selection: What stories do you deem worthy of using your words
to tell. A pattern of highlighting news stories that coincide with the
agenda of one side, while ignoring stories that coincide with the
opposing side.
Placement: Story placement is a measure of how important the editor
considers the story. Studies have shown that, in the case of the average
newspaper reader and the average news story, most people read only
the headline, or the first paragraph.
Labeling: This can come in two forms. Firstly via labeling individuals of a
certain group or belief with extreme labels, for example when the story
uses more extreme sounding labels for the conservative than the liberal
i.e. "ultra-conservative", "far right", but just "liberal" instead of "far left"
or "ultra-liberal". The other is not identifying an individual's biases
before outline their view, calling them "an expert" or an "independent
consumer group."
Spin: The words you choose to use to tell a story and the connotations
and implications of those specific words. Spin involves tone - it's a
reporter's subjective comments about objective facts; makes one side's
perspective look better than another.
,PSS Final Exam review Q&As (Verified
Answers) 2026
Also watch out for linguistic intergroup bias:
-Check your stereotypes and the stereotypes of ppl around you
-Some writers lean into stereotypes to increase engagement
Part 2: Improving Society - correct answer ✅Behavioral model: an
empirically informed model of behavior
Behavioral mapping:
1. identify and define a societal problem
2. diagnose the root cause
3. design an intervention
4. test the intervention
examples from practitioners:
- Nonprofits (Ideas42)
- Public offices (NYC Mayor, Canada's Govt.)
- Journalism (NYTimes, NYUpress)
- Tech (Google, Meta, MSR)
- Therapy (CSAB
Lecture 11: Behavioral Model - correct answer ✅-policy interventions
are critical in addressing the world's current problems
-behavioral science is vital to good policy
,PSS Final Exam review Q&As (Verified
Answers) 2026
--ideal: bridging behavioral science with policy to promote social
welfare
Rational Agent Model (RAM) - correct answer ✅-Theoretical model of
human behavior, the predominant view in Economics.
-Assumes individuals are well informed, have stable preferences, are
controlled, self-interested, and calculating.
-Implications: people maximize, know what's knowable, exploit
opportunities, need no help from others, and no protection from
themselves.
-Choices freely made by rational agents deserve complete respect,
require no intervention.
-Problem: this approach leads to suboptimal societal outcomes bc of no
govt intervention (e.g., addiction, homelessness, pandemics, climate
disasters)
-Assumes preferences are more stable, emotions don't influence
outcomes
Behavioral Model (BM) - correct answer ✅Behavioral Model (or
empirical model of human behavior- it's measured w research study
instead of intuition)
-Empirical model of human behavior, the predominant view in
Psychology, and the precursor to Behavioral Economics
, PSS Final Exam review Q&As (Verified
Answers) 2026
-Assumes individuals have contextual judgment, malleable preferences,
are distracted, impulsive, myopic, trusting, vindictive. (all of these
psychological dimensions that the RAM model was ignoring)
-Implications: people are inconsistent, could benefit from attention and
help.
-Solution: "libertarian paternalism" suggests that it is appropriate to
create a "choice architecture" that reduces bad decisions without
reducing freedom (e.g., default options)
--The govt won't force ppl to become organ donors, for example, but
their choices can be made to their benefit bc of govt policy/architecture
-This theory is more contextual
Rational Model vs Behavioral Model - correct answer ✅-RAM used to
be main model, but BM provides more accurate predictions
-People endorse the normative view upon reflection
-But most of our information processing is automatic, intuitive,
heuristic, malleable and not privy to nor governed by normative
requirements
-Thus, ppl are error prone, and this is not available to introspection (we
don't understand why we make these errors)
3 alternative views of the human agent:
1. The rational agent
2. Intuitive
