Definitionv1DF-138
Naive realism
the pervasive cognitive distortion characterized by three interlocking assumptions - that one perceives events as they actually are (transparent window belief), that rational people given same information will reach same conclusions (shared reality expectation), and that disagreement indicates others are uninformed, irrational, or biased (external attribution bias) - which protects all other biases from examination by making the belief in objective perception feel like common sense
Why This Is a Definition
This definition precisely captures the three core assumptions of naive realism as identified by Ross and Ward, and explains its dangerous nature as a root bias that protects other biases from examination. It establishes the genus as 'cognitive distortion' and the differentia as the specific three assumptions and their protective function.