EigoPro 準1級読解 — The Flaws in Our Thinking

We like to imagine ourselves as rational creatures who weigh evidence dispassionately and arrive at sound conclusions. Decades of research in psychology suggest otherwise. The human mind, it turns out, is governed less by cold logic than by a collection of mental shortcuts—cognitive biases—that once helped our ancestors survive but now routinely lead us astray. These shortcuts are not occasional lapses; they are the default setting of human judgement. Consider confirmation bias, perhaps the most pervasive of these tendencies. Once we form a belief, we instinctively seek out information that supports it and dismiss whatever contradicts it. A person convinced that a particular diet works will remember the weeks it seemed to help and conveniently forget the months it did not. The trouble is that this filtering happens beneath conscious awareness, so we experience our skewed conclusions as the plain product of evidence. Equally insidious is the anchoring effect, whereby an initial figure—however arbitrary—silently shapes every estimate that follows. Tell shoppers a watch "normally" costs three hundred dollars, and a price of two hundred suddenly feels like a bargain, regardless of what the watch is actually worth. Why are such biases so stubborn? Part of the answer is that they are efficient. Deliberate, evidence-weighing thought is slow and exhausting; the brain, ever frugal with energy, prefers the rapid verdict of intuition. Crucially, awareness of a bias does not dissolve it. Psychologists who have spent careers cataloguing these errors confess that they fall prey to them as readily as anyone else. This is sobering, yet it is not cause for despair. We cannot rewire instinct, but we can build external safeguards—checklists, devil's advocates, decisions made by committee rather than by a single confident expert. The lesson of this research is not that humans are hopelessly irrational, but that good judgement is less a personal virtue than a structure we must deliberately construct around our fallible minds.

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この単元の問題を3問、解説つきで公開しています

準1級 · 読解 · 全5問

問 1

What is the main idea of the passage?

Cognitive biases are rare malfunctions that careful, well-trained experts can easily eliminate.
Human judgement is shaped by built-in mental shortcuts, so reliable decisions depend on external safeguards rather than willpower.
Because the human mind is hopelessly irrational, attempting to improve decision-making is futile.
Confirmation bias and anchoring are the only two biases that meaningfully affect human reasoning.

Phrase

good judgement is less a personal virtue than a structure we must deliberately construct around our fallible minds

準1級読解心理学主旨把握

⚡ひとことで

本文の論旨は「思考は生得のバイアスに支配されるので、良い判断は外部の仕組みで担保せよ」。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Human judgement is shaped by built-in mental shortcuts, so reliable decisions depend on external safeguards rather than willpower.」

正解

本文は (1) 人間は思っているほど合理的でなくバイアス (mental shortcuts) が判断の default setting だ→ (2) 具体例 (確証バイアス・アンカリング)→ (3) バイアスは効率的ゆえ頑固で、認識しても消えない→ (4) だから checklists や committee など external safeguards を構築すべき、と展開する。最終文の『good judgement is less a personal virtue than a structure we must deliberately construct』を言い換えた選択肢が主旨。

「Cognitive biases are rare malfunctions which careful and well-trained experts are able quite easily to eliminate.」
= 稀な誤作動で専門家なら容易に除去できる ━ 本文は they are the default setting であり awareness does not dissolve it と明言、稀でも容易に除去でもない。
「the only two biases that meaningfully affect」
= 影響するのはこの2つだけ ━ 確証バイアスとアンカリングは『例 (Consider...)』に過ぎず、2つだけとは述べていない。
「Because the human mind is hopelessly irrational, any attempt at all to improve our decision-making is futile.」
= 絶望的に非合理で改善は無駄 ━ 最終段で not that humans are hopelessly irrational と明確に否定しているので正反対。

▦Collocation

パターン	意味	例
lead someone astray	人を誤らせる	These shortcuts lead us astray.
the default setting	初期設定・標準状態	Bias is the default setting of judgement.
weigh evidence	証拠を吟味する	We rarely weigh evidence dispassionately.
fall prey to ~	~の餌食になる	We fall prey to bias as readily as anyone.
build a safeguard around ~	~の周りに防護策を築く	We build safeguards around fallible minds.

❝例文

These mental shortcuts often lead us astray.
こうした心の近道はしばしば我々を誤らせる。
Bias is the default setting of human judgement.
バイアスは人間の判断の初期設定だ。
Good judgement is a structure we must construct.
良い判断は我々が構築すべき仕組みだ。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

主旨設問は最終段の結論文 (especially not A but B / less A than B 構文) を探すと速い。本文は最後の『less a virtue than a structure』に主張が凝縮。

問 2

According to the passage, how does confirmation bias operate?

People consciously weigh all available evidence before committing to a belief.
People abandon a belief the moment any contradictory information appears.
People deliberately invent false evidence in order to deceive those around them.
People unconsciously favour information that supports an existing belief and overlook evidence that challenges it.

Phrase

we instinctively seek out information that supports it and dismiss whatever contradicts it

準1級読解心理学詳細把握

⚡ひとことで

確証バイアス=信念を支える情報を本能的に集め、反証を無意識に無視する。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「People unconsciously favour information that supports an existing belief and overlook evidence that challenges it.」

正解

第2段で確証バイアスを『信念を形成すると instinctively 支持情報を探し、矛盾するものを dismiss する』と定義し、さらに this filtering happens beneath conscious awareness と述べる。よって『無意識に既存の信念を支持する情報を好み、反する証拠を見落とす』が正解。

「deliberately invent false evidence」
= 意図的に偽証拠を捏造する ━ 本文は捏造ではなく既存情報の選別 (filtering) を述べ、しかも無意識 (beneath conscious awareness)。
「People consciously weigh up every piece of the available evidence before ever committing to a belief.」
= 全証拠を意識的に吟味する ━ 正反対。本文は filtering happens beneath conscious awareness と無意識性を強調。
「People abandon a long-held belief the very moment that any kind of contradictory information appears.」
= 反証が出た瞬間に信念を捨てる ━ 確証バイアスはむしろ反証を dismiss する傾向なので逆。

▦Collocation

パターン	意味	例
seek out ~	~を探し求める	We seek out supporting information.
dismiss ~	~を退ける	We dismiss contradictory evidence.
beneath conscious awareness	意識の下で	Filtering happens beneath awareness.
form a belief	信念を抱く	Once we form a belief...
the plain product of ~	~の純粋な産物	skewed conclusions as the product of evidence

❝例文

We instinctively seek out information that supports us.
我々は本能的に自分を支持する情報を探す。
He dismissed every fact that contradicted his view.
彼は自説に反する事実をすべて退けた。
This filtering happens beneath conscious awareness.
この選別は意識の下で起こる。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

detail 設問は本文の語を別語に置換した肢が正解 (instinctively→unconsciously, dismiss→overlook)。『意識的に/捏造』のような本文と性質が異なる肢は除外。

問 3

What does the passage suggest about awareness of one's own biases?

Even experts who study biases remain susceptible to them, so awareness alone does not remove their influence.
Biases can be eliminated entirely by thinking more slowly and carefully.
Once a person learns about a bias, they become permanently immune to it.
Only untrained people are vulnerable to biases, while specialists are not.

Phrase

awareness of a bias does not dissolve it ... they fall prey to them as readily as anyone else

準1級読解心理学詳細把握

⚡ひとことで

バイアスを研究する専門家ですら陥る→気づいても影響は消えない。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Even experts who study biases remain susceptible to them, so awareness alone does not remove their influence.」

正解

第3段で awareness of a bias does not dissolve it と述べ、さらに『誤りを記録し続けた心理学者ですら誰と同じくらい簡単に fall prey to them する』と告白する (confess)。よって『専門家でさえ陥り、気づくだけでは影響を取り除けない』が正解。

「permanently immune」
= 永久に免疫を得る ━ 本文は awareness does not dissolve it と否定、免疫獲得とは正反対。
「Only the untrained people are ever vulnerable to these biases, while the specialists are not.」
= 訓練を受けていない人だけが脆弱 ━ Psychologists who ... confess that they fall prey to them と専門家も陥ると明記。
「Biases can be eliminated entirely simply by thinking a great deal more slowly and carefully.」
= ゆっくり考えれば完全に除去できる ━ deliberate thought is slow and exhausting とあるが、それで完全除去できるとは述べていない。

▦Collocation

パターン	意味	例
dissolve a bias	バイアスを解消する	Awareness does not dissolve a bias.
fall prey to ~	~の餌食になる	Experts fall prey to bias too.
confess that ~	~だと告白する	They confess that they err.
catalogue errors	誤りを記録・分類する	careers cataloguing these errors
as readily as anyone else	誰にも劣らず容易に	They err as readily as anyone.

❝例文

Awareness of the bias did not dissolve it.
そのバイアスを認識してもそれは消えなかった。
Even the experts fall prey to these errors.
専門家でさえこうした誤りに陥る。
He confessed that he was no exception.
彼は自分も例外ではないと認めた。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

別段落 detail 設問は『同じ趣旨を別語で要約した肢』を選ぶ。極端語 (permanently / only / entirely) を含む肢は本文の限定と矛盾しがちで要注意。

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EigoPro 準1級 読解 — The Flaws in Our Thinking

この単元の問題を3問、解説つきで公開しています

good judgement is less a personal virtue than a structure we must deliberately construct around our fallible minds

we instinctively seek out information that supports it and dismiss whatever contradicts it

awareness of a bias does not dissolve it ... they fall prey to them as readily as anyone else

EigoPro 準1級読解 — The Flaws in Our Thinking