The last acts of justice finally have been handed down in the Lance Armstrong doping scandal of more than 12 years ago. A cognitive bias, on the other hand, is a genuine deficiency or limitation in our thinking which is a flaw in judgment that arises from errors of memory, social attribution, and miscalculations. Although there are several Cognitive Biases in the Lance Armstrong doping scandal. The main cognitive biases here, is the flaw in his judgment and reasoning as well as current moment Bias, Confirmation Bias, and the bandwagon effect. These flaws resulted in the outcome of lance and his teammates taking banned substances, or just flat out steroids to enhance their performances.
As everyone knows or maybe does not know that Lance Armstrong got caught taking steroids. The evidence put forth by the anti-doping agency drew a picture of Armstrong as an infamous cheat, a defiant liar and a bully who pushed others to cheat with him, so he could succeed, or be vanquished. The story behind all of this In 2002, Armstrong summoned a teammate to his apartment in Girona, Spain. He told his teammate that if he wanted to continue riding for the team he would have to follow the doping program outlined by Armstrong’s doctor, a known proponent of doping. Many of the teammates followed him because “Lance called the shots on the team,” and that “what Lance said went.” “His goal led him to depend on EPO, testosterone and blood transfusions but also, to expect and to require that his teammates would likewise use drugs to support his goals if not their own,” the agency said in its 202-page report. The Lance Armstrong doping case was a doping investigation that led to American former professional road racing cyclist Lance Armstrong being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and his eventual admission to using performance-enhancing drugs. That is the main idea with what this case is clearly about.
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One of the three cognitive biases shown here is confirmation bias. Confirmation bias means that we love to agree with people that agree with us. This was one big issue that Armstrong had on the team. He had to have everyone on the doping routine, and if they were opposed to it, they were kicked off the team. Everyone had to be on the same page, so it was not just in Lance’s best interests even though a lot of it was, but his former teammates as well. One of the drugs taken was called EPO. Which is used basically to add oxygen in your red blood cells by creating more of them? As it was very well encouraged for everyone to do it. When Hamilton arrived one day before the tour, he badly needed some EPO, and he asked Armstrong for some. “Lance pointed casually to the fridge. I opened it and there, on the door, next to a carton of milk, was a carton of EPO I was surprised that Lance would be so cavalier.” So as one can see the confirmation bias involved here. These Biases were either overcome by saying they wouldn't take enhancing drugs. Or not overcome by doing what Lance says. The confirmation bias was shown how they both agreed that they needed to depend on EPO to be one of the top athletes.
The next Cognitive Bias shown here is the current moment bias. Current moment bias means that most of us would rather experience pleasure in the current moment while leaving the pain for later. The big issue Lance Armstong had with this bias is that he wasn't paying attention to what the consequences were gonna be if he got caught. In mistakes were made but not me they mentioned: “ The scientific method consists of the use of procedures designed to show not that our predictions and hypotheses are right, but that they might be wrong” (Tavris, Carol, Elliot). His experience in pleasure knowing that he could win a race with ease with all the enhancements he was taking, but he was wrong for doing so. He predicted that the outcome would just be him winning titles and being one of the best to cycle. It turned out that he was a big cheat or so the stories say. The steroids did benefit him because they enhanced his performance both athletically and mentally but there is also a bigger picture. Taking steroids will also take a toll on one's body. The scary thing is that lance did have cancer before all of this, and another drug he used was testosterone. Now that doesn't cause cancer itself but if one has that in their body. It will make cancer grow and spread even faster. He was thinking only about the benefits and saving the pain for later. As well as his doctor Michele Farrari. He was the one that supplied Lance and his teammates with the performance-enhancing drugs. One may wonder why he would be apart of the current moment Bias because he was just giving them out and not taking them for himself. Instead, he was receiving loads of money for it. So he was indeed in the current moment bias phase. Lances outcome for all of that was being stripped of all the titles that he won. As well as Michele Farrari the Italian doctor was issued a lifetime ban by USADA in 2012 and did not contest it.
The third cognitive bias displayed here is the bandwagon effect. The bandwagon effect is quite simple it is the tendency for people to do or think things because other people do or think them. This wasn’t so much Lance, but Lances teammates. As once said in the article, “what lance says, goes.” Lance was the best of the best and whomever was on his team had to dope to stay there. His team was the team that 'ran the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen.' All eleven of his teammates suffered greatly after being suspended disqualified appropriately in line with the rules. Armstrong’s most trusted adviser was Dr. Michele Ferrari, who was nicknamed Dr. Evil because he could figure out how to beat any doping test, writes Hamilton. This is how on board they were with the bandwagon effect. They thought they were invincible and able to glide under the radar. The bandwagon effect didn’t last long until Hamilton said “We all wanted to win. But Lance needed to win. He had to make 100 percent sure that he won, every time, and that made him do some things that went way over the line, in my opinion … I think people have the right to know the truth” He told everyone what had been going on and how it was all done. Even claiming to do it himself. In the end, the bandwagon effect was overcome by snitching and then facing the consequences.
Of the three cognitive biases shown in the Lance Armstrong Doping case, there was a whole bunch of flaws in judgment and bad reasoning. The way Lance went about all of this is his choice. These Biases contributed a big deal that no one is invincible, and you cannot get away with everything. It teaches all the athletes on that team a lesson to be humble and realize the scam they were putting on everyone. That taking steroids may contribute to a great victory for a brief time, until one gets caught and makes everyone realize it was all just a cheat. Then all those titles won and all the fame brought upon them by those victories. To just be stripped away like it never happened.
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