Session: How unconscious is unconscious bias?
Giving examples from visual illusions that I study in my own work, I illustrate the concept of cognitive bias. Then I draw links between such illusions and unconscious bias in work contexts. The visual illusion examples disarm everyone who might not 'buy' the unconscious bias stories as a possibly harmful source of behavior. At the same time, it encourages taking responsibility without taking the blame, inviting us all to think what we can do to live a better life.
Bio
Arzu Çöltekin is currently a professor of computer science in human-computer interaction and extended reality with a background is in geospatial technologies. She has a strong interest in spatial cognition and eye movements in connection to human-centered technology design that takes individual differences into account (e.g., gender, age, expertise). She has lived and worked in many countries such as Turkey, Finland, the Netherlands, Canada, USA and she's currently based in Switzerland. After having worked at the University of Zurich for about a decade, Arzu currently works at the Institute of Interactive Technologies of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, and has an affiliation with Harvard University's Seamless Astronomy group.