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Cognitive Biases - A Small List

Andrew Badham 2018-04-17 09:07:55

Cognitive biases are shortcuts in our thinking which often get in the way of us understanding the world around us. Here is a list of some of the more common ones, so you can make yourself aware of your own biases

Confirmation and Belief Bias
When we already believe something to be true, we will both unconsciously look for evidence that supports that belief, and we will tend to place a higher weighting on that evidence. If evidence contradicts what we already believe, we will ignore it or simply see it as less relevant. This is especially true of beliefs surrounding our identity.

e.g. If you already believe that the earth is flat, every article you read that says otherwise will seem flawed or suspect, whereas every article that confirms your belief will feel more credible.

Anchoring
When receiving an information stream, we tend to place more weight on the information we received first. We also tend to add weight to any information that we receive more often.

e.g. If you were looking to find out the fair price for a pair of pants online. The first price you saw would set a reference for you. Each subsequent pair of pants would seem either expensive or cheap depending on how the new price compared to the first one you saw.

Attribution Error
We tend to err in attributing wilful purpose to the mistakes of others, disregarding the effect of circumstance. We also tend to attribute to an entire group the behaviours of just a few individuals within that group. We also tend to attribute greater blame to a person if the consequences of their actions were more severe, even if the actor could not have foreseen those consequences.

e.g. If a cyclist cuts you off on your way to work, you might attribute that one cyclist’s actions to all cyclists. So now you believe all cyclists are arrogant road users.

Justifying The Status Quo
We tend to defend the status quo. We have an emotional attachment to the current system and will justify it even if it is against the best interests of ourselves and/or the group. This is similar to the way we view sunk costs. If we have invested heavily in a system, we will defend it, even if the cost versus benefit of continuing is higher than the alternative. We do not like to admit that our previous decisions were poor and we tend to retrospectively justify them.

e.g. If you have spent several years organising your files with hardcopies in filing cabinets, moving over to a computer system would cause distress. You might argue against the move even if it would save you time and effort.