Far Beyond Baker: Heuristics and the Inadequacy of the Reasonable Apprehension of Bias Analysis

Authors

Arash Nayerahmadi, Lenczner Slaght LLP

Document Type

Article

Abstract

When we consider bias in an adjudicative setting, we think about cases such as Baker v. Canada where the interviewing officer’s emphasis on the applicant’s number of children, economic status, and mental health is glaring. It is easy to become accustomed to thinking about bias in clear examples such as prejudice against people of a disadvantaged group. However, bias can also be subtly present in the subconscious mind, even when a person appears to be acting objectively. The development of cognitive psychology research has revealed that the mind relies on heuristics, or mental shortcuts, to make quick decisions. Heuristics research divides the mind into two systems of operation: The first operates automatically, while the second operates methodically. Heuristics are a function of the former and are consequently difficult to clearly observe and readily identify. Subconscious reliance on heuristics when approaching tasks that demand objectivity can result in decisions that are unintentionally guided by bias, rather than evidence.

A reasonable apprehension of bias (RAB) claim is advanced when a party suspects bias on the part of an adjudicator. The question is whether an informed reasonable person would reasonably perceive bias on the part of the adjudicator. The onus is not to prove bias, but merely an appearance of bias. The test is an appeal to the maxim that justice must not only be done but should be seen to be done. The analysis is designed to protect not only the parties but also the public perception of the legal system. In this sense, the RAB test is overinclusive. Conversely, consideration of the RAB test, in light of cognitive biases and heuristic reasoning, reveals that the test is also underinclusive. The driving force behind the RAB analysis appears to be that justice must be seen to be done. Neither the informed reasonable person’s knowledge of the law nor the community can help discover veiled or subtle cognitive biases. We are left with a conundrum: The original premise that justice must be done may be violated covertly without triggering the prevailing test for a RAB, leaving an unintentional blind spot.

In order to address the shortcomings of the RAB analysis, I propose the implementation of preventative measures to decrease adjudicators’ vulnerability to cognitive biases. These measures can be established by increasing adjudicators’ understanding of heuristics and counteracting potential intuitive predispositions. Development of remedial measures should consider scarce judicial and adjudicative resources.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Citation Information

Nayerahmadi, Arash. "Far Beyond Baker: Heuristics and the Inadequacy of the Reasonable Apprehension of Bias Analysis." Osgoode Hall Law Journal 59.2 (2022) : 339-373.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.60082/2817-5069.3781
https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/ohlj/vol59/iss2/3

References

1. [1999] 2 SCR 817 [Baker].

2. Ibid at para 5.

3. For an informal and accessible summary of heuristics, see Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013) at 98; Justin Fox, "Instinct Can Beat Analytical Thinking," Harvard Business Review (20 June 2014), online: https://hbr.org/2014/06/instinct-can-beat-analytical-thinking.

4. Daniel Kahneman & Shane Frederick, "Representativeness Revisited: Attribute Substitution in Intuitive Judgement" in Thomas Gilovich, Dale Griffin & Daniel Kahneman, eds, Heuristics and Biases: The Psychology of Intuitive Judgement (Cambridge University

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5. See Steven A Sloman, "Two Systems of Reasoning" in Gilovich, Griffin & Kahneman, supra note 4, 379 at 383. Sloman notes that the rule-based system is responsible for "[d] eliberation," "[e]xplanation," and "[f ]ormal analysis" (ibid). Anecdotally and relying on our own experience, we know that these functions are fundamental parts of any learned task.

6. Baker, supra note 1 at para 48.

7. [1978] 1 SCR 369 at 394-95 [Committee for Justice].

8. See Canadian Pacific Ltd v Matsqui Indian Band, [1995] 1 SCR 3 at para 81; Baker, supra note 1 at para 46.

9. See Wewaykum Indian Band v Canada, 2003 SCC 45 at para 77 [Wewaykum].

10. Ibid.

11. Ibid.

12. See Turoczi v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), 2012 FC 1423 [Turoczi]. In Turoczi, the Federal Court dismissed an appeal that relied on the statistical acceptance and rejection rate of the board member. The court noted that "the statistics provided by the applicants are not, without more, sufficiently informative. Furthermore, one must question what the 'informed person' would take from them" (ibid at para 13). However, the court did leave room for the use of statistical evidence in future, more compelling, cases (ibid at para 18).

13. The level of impartiality prescribed will vary depending on the decision maker (e.g., a judge at trial compared to an elected official serving on a panel for a commission). See e.g. Newfoundland Telephone Co v Newfoundland (Board of Commissioners of Public Utilities), [1992] 1 SCR 623 at 638-39 [Newfoundland Telephone]. The degree of impartiality will not be a material point of analysis in this article.

14. See R v S (RD), [1997] 3 SCR 484 at 532 [S (RD)]. On the presumption of impartiality, see Zündel v Citron, [2000] 4 FC 225 at para 37 (FCA), leave to appeal to SCC refused,[2000] SCCA No 322.

15. Committee for Justice, supra note 7 at 395; Wewaykum, supra note 9 at para 76.

16. Justice Cory in Newfoundland Telephone noted that the "great diversity of administrative boards" affects the necessary level of neutrality and restraint in the conduct of the decision maker. Supra note 13 at 638.

17. Ibid.

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19. See Beaverford v Thorhild (County No 7), 2013 ABCA 6 at paras 26-30.

20. Supra note 18 at 1197.

21. Supra note 13 at 638.

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23. Ibid.

24. See S (RD), supra note 14 at 505.

25. Ibid. See also Committee for Justice, supra note 7 at 386.

26. Supra note 14 at 505-09.

27. Ibid at 505.

28. Ibid at 509.

29. [1993] AC 646 (HL (Eng)) [Gough].

30. Ibid at 670.

31. Magill v Porter, [2001] UKHL 67 at para 103.

32. Ibid.

33. S (RD), supra note 14 at 505.

34. Gough, supra note 29 at 670.

35. S (RD), supra note 14 at 506.

36. Ibid at 505.

37. Ibid at 506.

38. [1991] 2 SCR 114 at 152.

39. See Simon Atrill, "Who Is the 'Fair-Minded and Informed Observer'?: Bias after Magill" (2003) 62 Cambridge LJ 279 at 280. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0008197303006317

40. [2002] EWCA Civ 1104 at para 38 [Sengupta].

41. Supra note 29.

42. S (RD), supra note 14 at 506.

43. Ibid.

44. Ibid at 507, citing R v Bartle, [1994] 3 SCR 173.

45. See S (RD), supra note 14 at 507.

46. Ibid at 507-508.

47. See Albert H Hastorf & Hadley Cantril, "They Saw a Game: A Case Study" (1954) 49 J Abnormal & Soc Psychology 129. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0057880

48. Ibid at 130.

49. Ibid at 130, 132.

50. Ibid at 132.

51. Ibid at 133.

52. See Dan M Kahan et al, "'They Saw a Protest': Cognitive Illiberalism and the

Speech-Conduct Distinction" (2012) 64 Stan L Rev 851 at 870-74.

53. Ibid at 883. The authors define "culturally motivated cognition" as "a species of motivated reasoning that promotes congruence between a person's defining group commitments, on the one hand, and his or her perceptions of risk and related facts, on the other" (ibid at 859).

54. See e.g. Erik Larson, "A Checklist for Making Faster, Better Decisions," Harvard Business Review (7 March 2016), online: https://hbr.org/2016/03/a-checklist-for-making-faster-better-decisions.

55. See "Decision-making process," online: UMass Dartmouth https://www.umassd.edu/fycm/decision-making/process/ [UMass].

56. See Gerd Gigerenzer, "Heuristics" in G Gigerenzer & C Engel, eds, Heuristics and the Law (MIT Press & Dahlem University Press, 2006) 17 at 17. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/3488.003.0005

57. Kahneman & Frederick, supra note 4 at 51.

58. Ibid.

59. Ibid at 58. See also Sloman, supra note 5 at 383.

60. See Kahneman & Frederick, supra note 4 at 51, 58.

61. Ibid at 51.

62. See Sloman, supra note 5 at 391.

63. See Kahneman & Frederick, supra note 4 at 51.

64. See ibid; Sloman, supra note 5 at 391.

65. See Sloman, supra note 5 at 391.

66. See ibid.

67. This has been the system settled and adopted by a number of psychologists, with varying schools of thought and backgrounds. See generally Sloman, supra note 5; Kahneman & Frederick, supra note 4; Gigerenzer, supra note 56; Keith E Stanovich & Richard F West, "Individual Differences in Reasoning: Implications for the Rationality Debate?" in Gilovich, Griffin & Kahneman, supra note 4, 421.

68. See Douglas A Kysar et al, "Group Report: Are Heuristics a Problem or a Solution?" in Gigerenzer & Engel, supra note 56, 103 at 106; Gigerenzer, supra note 56 at 17-18. See also Mark Kelman, The Heuristics Debate (Oxford University Press, 2011). Kelman presents a thorough explanation of the interaction between the two schools and their opposing approaches to heuristics.

69. See Kelman, supra note 68; Kysar et al, supra note 68 at 103-05.

70. See Gigerenzer, supra note 56 at 17.

71. "Judgement Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases" (1974) 185 Science 1124 at 1124 [Tversky & Kahneman, "Judgement Under Uncertainty"]. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.185.4157.1124

72. Supra note 56 at 18.

73. Ibid at 17.

74. See Gerd Gigerenzer, Jean Czerlinski & Laura Martignon, "How Good Are Fast and Frugal Heuristics?" in Gilovich, Griffin & Kahneman, supra note 4, 559 at 580. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511808098.033

75. Ibid at 565.

76. Ibid at 563.

77. Ibid at 563-66.

78. Ibid at 561-64.

79. Ibid.

80. Ibid at 563-64.

81. Supra note 56 at 18.

82. Ibid at 40.

83. Ibid at 41.

84. See Callia Piperides et al, "Group Report: What is the Role of Heuristics in Litigation?" in Gigerenzer & Engel, supra note 56, 343 at 374. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/3488.003.0019

85. Ibid at 358.

86. See David M Paciocco & Lee Stuesser, The Law of Evidence, 7th ed (Irwin Law, 2015) at 113

R v Khelawon, 2006 SCC 57 at para 35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12118-006-1023-y

87. See R v Baldree, 2013 SCC 35 at para 2; Paciocco & Stuesser, supra note 86 at 113.

88. The principled approach to hearsay based on necessity and reliability was set out by the SCC in R v Khan and was affirmed in R v Smith and R v Starr. See R v Khan, [1990] 2 SCR 531; R v Smith, [1992] 2 SCR 915; R v Starr, 2000 SCC 40.

89. See Statutory Powers Procedure Act, RSO 1990, c S.22, s 15(1). However, tribunals do have the power to set their own rules, subject to section 25.0.1 (ibid, s 25.0.1).

90. See e.g. S (RD), supra note 14 at 532; EA Manning Ltd v Ontario (Securities Commission) (1995), 23 OR (3d) 257 (CA).

91. Piperides et al, supra note 84 at 374.

92. Ibid.

93. Ibid at 362.

94. Supra note 84 at 369.

95. See Sloman, supra note 5 at 391.

96. See Tversky & Kahneman, "Judgement Under Uncertainty," supra note 71 at 1124; Kahneman & Frederick, supra note 4 at 54.

97. See Kahneman & Frederick, supra note 4 at 51.

98. See Richard A Leo, "Why Interrogation Contamination Occurs" (2013) 11 Ohio State J Crim L 193 at 202.

99. Fadia M Narchet, Christian A Meissner & Melissa B Russano, "Modeling the Influence of Investigator Bias on the Elicitation of True and False Confessions" (2011) 35 L & Human Behavior 452 at 452-53. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10979-010-9257-x

100. Chris Guthrie, Jeffrey J Rachlinski & Andrew J Wistrich, "Blinking on the Bench: How Judges Decide Cases" (2007) 93 Cornell L Rev 1 at 2-3, 8.

101. Ibid at 3.

102. Ibid at 9.

103. Ibid at 8.

104. Ibid at 27.

105. Ibid at 18.

106. Ibid at 19; Tversky & Kahneman, "Judgement Under Uncertainty," supra note 71 at 1128.

107. See supra note 71 at 1128.

108. See Guthrie, Rachlinski & Wistrich, supra note 100 at 20.

109. Ibid at 20-21.

110. See Tversky & Kahneman, "Judgement Under Uncertainty," supra note 71 at 1124.

111. Ibid at 1124-26.

112. Ibid at 1126.

113. Supra note 100 at 23. https://doi.org/10.1080/10286020.2021.1899618

114. Ibid at 22.

115. Ibid at 23.

116. Kelman, supra note 68 at 232.

117. Supra note 100 at 24.

118. Ibid at 25.

119. Ibid at 26.

120. Ibid at 27.

121. Ibid.

122. Tversky & Kahneman, "Judgement Under Uncertainty," supra note 71 at 1127.

123. Ibid.

124. See Amos Tversky & Daniel Kahneman, "Availability: A Heuristic for Judging Frequency and Probability" (1973) 5 Cognitive Psychology 207 at 230. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(73)90033-9

125. See Gretchen B Chapman & Eric J Johnson, "Incorporating the Irrelevant: Anchors in Judgements of Belief and Value" in Gilovich, Griffin & Kahneman, supra note 4, 120 at 133; Raymond S Nickerson, "Confirmation Bias: A Ubiquitous Phenomenon in Many Guises" (1998) 2 Rev General Psychology 175 at 175. See also Kahneman, supra note 3 at 81.

126. Chapman & Johnson, supra note 125 at 133. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025644523574

127. Derek J Koehler, Lyle Brenner & Dale Griffin, "The Calibration of Expert Judgement: Heuristics and Biases Beyond the Laboratory" in Gilovich, Griffin & Kahneman, supra note 4, 686 at 692. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511808098.041

128. For an example of a rational decision-making framework, see UMass, supra note 55.

129. See Chapman & Johnson, supra note 125 at 133.

130. Ibid.

131. See Narchet, Meissner & Russano, supra note 99 at 453.

132. See generally Christine M Venter, "The Case Against Oral Argument: The Effects of Confirmation Bias on the Outcome of Selected Cases in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals" (2017) 14 Leg Communication & Rhetoric: JAWLD 45. In a judicial setting, all parties, including the judges, are well versed in the case and the law. However, Venter posits that preparation does not prevent confirmation bias or its influence on decisions.

133. Supra note 84 at 362.

134. See Kahneman & Frederick, supra note 4 at 51.

135. See Turoczi, supra note 12 at para 13.

136. See Wewaykum, supra note 9 at para 77.

137. See Tversky & Kahneman, "Judgement Under Uncertainty," supra note 71 at 1124.

138. See Chapman & Johnson, supra note 125 at 133; Nickerson, supra note 125 at 175. See also Kahneman, supra note 3 at 81.

139. See Venter, supra note 132 at 49.

140. Ibid at 61.

141. Ibid.

142. Ibid at 62.

143. Ibid at 57.

144. Ibid at 71.

145. Ibid.

146. Supra note 14 at 506.

147. See R v Corby, 2016 BCCA 76 at para 40.

148. See Clayson-Martin v Martin, 2015 ONCA 596 at paras 111-13.

149. Ibid at para 112.

150. See Sengupta, supra note 40 at para 38. https://doi.org/10.1177/0262728017725633

151. See Venter, supra note 132 at 58.

152. Ibid at 72.

153. Ibid.

154. Ibid at 48.

155. 2016 ONCA 60 at para 74 [Stuart Budd]. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12614-016-6094-4

156. See Venter, supra note 132 at 58.

157. Ibid at 58, 69.

158. Stuart Budd, supra note 155 at paras 54, 56.

159. Ibid at paras 53, 55, 88.

160. See Agraira v Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness), 2013 SCC 36 at para 95.

161. Ibid.

162. Canada (AG) v Mavi, 2011 SCC 30 at para 68.

163. Ibid at para 69.

164. R v Sussex Justices (1923), [1924] 1 KB 256 at 259.

165. Iwa v Consolidated-Bathurst Packaging Ltd, [1990] 1 SCR 282 at 333 [Consolidated-Bathurst].

166. See Wewaykum, supra note 9 at para 64.

167. See Newfoundland Telephone, supra note 13 at 636.

168. See Wewaykum, supra note 9 at para 62.

169. Supra note 164.

170. Katherine Barber, ed, Canadian Oxford Dictionary, 2nd ed (Oxford University Press, 2004) sub verbo "bias."

171. See Housen v Nikolaisen, 2002 SCC 33 at para 8 [Nikolaisen]. See also Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v Vavilov, 2019 SCC 65 [Vavilov]. The more recent Vavilov decision upholds the appellate standards of review as set out in Nikolaisen.

172. Nikolaisen, supra note 171 at paras 25, 37. https://doi.org/10.1353/wal.1990.0070

173. Piperides et al, supra note 84 at 369.

174. See R v Ewanchuk, 1999 SCC 711 at paras 82, 88-89.

175. See generally R v Santhosh, 2016 ONCA 731.

176. Ibid at paras 13, 55.

177. Ibid at paras 19, 55-56.

178. Ibid at para 17.

179. Guthrie, Rachlinski & Wistrich, supra note 100 at 31.

180. Ibid at 31-32.

181. Ibid at 32.

182. Ibid.

183. See generally Doré v Barreau du Québec, 2012 SCC 12 [Doré]. Doré may be an exaggerated example and it is likely that criticism of judges will be more cautiously worded.

184. Supra note 100 at 33.

185. See generally Consolidated-Bathurst, supra note 165.

186. Supra note 100 at 35-36.

187. See David L Faigman et al, "Implicit Bias in the Courtroom" (2012) 59 UCLA L Rev 1124 at 1177.

188. R v Jordan, 2016 SCC 27 at para 46.

189. See Faigman et al, supra note 187 at 1172.

190. Ibid at 1173.

191. Ibid.

192. See Kahneman & Frederick, supra note 4 at 51.

193. Supra note 187 at 1173.

194. Christoph Engel & Gerd Gigerenzer, "Law and Heuristics: An Interdisciplinary Venture" in Gigerenzer & Engel, supra note 56, 1 at 14.

195. Kelman, supra note 68 at 230.

196. Supra note 187 at 1176.

197. Ibid.

198. Ibid at 1169.

199. Ibid.

200. Ibid.

201. Ibid at 1170.

202. Ibid at 1170-71.

203. Ibid at 1171.

204. Supra note 4 at 58.

205. Supra note 100 at 33.

206. Ibid.

207. Supra note 187 at 1178.

208. Ibid.

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