Question

An adolescent feels that warnings about the dangers of texting while driving do not apply to her. She believes that "other people get in accidents while texting and driving, but not me!" This adolescent is demonstrating which phenomenon of formal operations?

Answer 1

Answer:

The answer is false uniqueness effect.

Explanation:

In this type of cognitive bias, people tend to view their qualities as unique. The effect is more visible when asked about imaginary situations. An example would be telling someone: "16 out of 20 people woudln't help a person having a seizure. What would you do?". They will possibly answer that they are different, and would immediately help.

It's interesting to notice that the false uniqueness effect is the opposite to the false consensus effect, in which people believe the majority of others share his/her ideas and opinions.