Research by a graduate student in Oregon State Universityâs College of Science has upended the conventional wisdom that for a century has incorrectly guided the study of a toad listed as endangered in part of its range. Anne Devan-Song used spotlighting â shining a light in a dark spot and looking for eye reflections â to find large numbers of the eastern spadefoot toad. The study illustrates how confirmation bias â a tendency to interpret new information as ratification of existing theories â can hamper discovery and the development of better ones. Her findings, which show that the toad spends much more time above ground than commonly believed, were published in the Journal of Herpetology.