Vaccines, Cognitive Bias, And The Parent Pediatrician...

Alexis Telyczka HUM102 H01 10/05/16 Vaccines, Cognitive Bias, and the Parent-Pediatrician Relationship The articles â€Å"Cognitive Processes and the Decisions of Some Parents to Forego Pertussis Vaccination for Their Children† by J. Meszaros, D. Asch, J. Baron, J. Hershey, H. Kunreuther, and J. Schwartz-Buzaglo; â€Å"Illusion of Control: The Role of Personal Involvement† by Ion Yarritu, Helena Matute, and Miguel A. Vadillo; and â€Å"Responding to Parental Refusals of Immunization of Children† by Douglas S. Diekema help to describe the relationship between non-vaccinating parents and pediatricians, and the cognitive biases that run this relationship. One question addressed in the article â€Å"Cognitive Processes and the Decisions of Some Parents to Forego Pertussis Vaccination for Their Children† is, â€Å"What are the factors leading up to a parent deciding that they will not vaccinate their children?† (Meszaros, Asch, Baron, Hershey, Kunreuther, Schwartz-Buzaglo, 1996) This question is expanded upon further in â€Å"Illusion of Control: The Ro le of Personal Involvement† (Yarritu, Matute, Vadillo, 2014) and â€Å"Responding to Parental Refusals of Immunization of Children.† (Diekema, 2005) The question that connects these three papers, and the question that must be answered, is â€Å"What are the cognitive biases that dictate the likelihood of a parent vaccinating their child, and how can pediatricians be more aware of and attempt to rectify these biases?† One question raised in â€Å"Cognitive Processes and