Attentional bias is a cognitive bias that describes the tendency for people's perception to be affected by their recurring thoughts at the time. It occurs when individuals give disproportionate attention to certain stimuli while ignoring others, often leading to distorted or incomplete perspectives.
Authority bias is a cognitive bias that leads individuals to attribute greater accuracy and truthfulness to the opinion of an authority figure and to be more influenced by their perspective. This bias stems from a natural human tendency to trust and follow the guidance of those who are perceived as experts or leaders.
Automation bias is a specific cognitive bias where humans disproportionately favor information or suggestions output by automated systems, sometimes to the detriment of other important data or their own judgment. This bias can lead individuals to overlook errors or incorrect recommendations made by machines. It is particularly prevalent in situations where automated systems are designed to aid decision-making processes.
The backfire effect is a cognitive bias that manifests when individuals faced with evidence contradicting their beliefs not only resist changing their perspective but may also strengthen their original belief. This anomaly highlights the complexity of human cognition where reason and rational evidence do not always align with changing deeply rooted convictions.
The base rate fallacy is a cognitive bias that occurs when people ignore the base rate (statistical prevalence) of an event or characteristic in favor of specific, anecdotal, or vivid information. This often leads individuals to make erroneous judgments by overlooking the underlying probabilities.
Confabulation is a cognitive bias characterized by the creation and presentation of false or distorted memories without any intent to deceive. This phenomenon is particularly noteworthy because the person producing the confabulated accounts believes them to be genuine. Often, this bias emerges when an individual attempts to fill in gaps in their memory with details that make a coherent and plausible story, even if those details do not reflect reality.
Conservatism cognitive bias refers to the tendency of individuals to insufficiently revise their beliefs when presented with new evidence. This bias falls under the broader category of information overload, as people tend to give disproportionate weight to their prior knowledge or beliefs and do not adequately adjust them with fresh information. The phenomenon is closely associated with the psychological difficulty of abandoning previously held concepts and the innate preference for consistency.
The continued influence effect is a cognitive bias where people continue to maintain beliefs based on misinformation, even after it has been debunked. Despite corrections and factual information being presented, the initial misinformation persists in influencing beliefs and decisions.
Duration neglect is a cognitive bias where the duration of an emotional experience has little impact on the overall retrospective evaluation of the event. Instead, the evaluation is disproportionately influenced by the peak (most extreme moment) and the end (final moment) of the experience.
The framing effect is a cognitive bias where individuals react differently depending on how information is presented, rather than the information itself. This bias is classified under information overload, particularly in the 'change is noticed' subcategory, which addresses how alterations in information presentation can lead to different perceptions and decisions.
Hyperbolic discounting is a cognitive bias where individuals tend to prefer smaller, immediate rewards over larger, delayed rewards. This bias reflects the human tendency to reduce the perceived value of delayed outcomes, often leading to choices that contradict long-term interests.
The illusion of external agency is a cognitive bias where individuals attribute their own thoughts, actions, or experiences to an external source. This bias often manifests when people perceive that their thoughts or feelings are influenced or controlled by an outside entity, rather than originating from within themselves.
Illusory correlation is a cognitive bias that describes the tendency to perceive a relationship between two variables even when no such relationship exists. This bias is particularly likely to occur with low-frequency variables or when the data is sparse. It often leads individuals to form and maintain specific beliefs or stereotypes based on misleading or insufficient information.
The implicit associations cognitive bias refers to the automatic associations some individuals hold about groups of people, ingrained at an unconscious level. These associations can influence attitudes, judgments, and behaviors, often without the individual being aware of them. This bias falls under the broader category of implicit stereotypes, which are the unconscious beliefs and attitudes toward particular groups based on race, gender, age, or other factors.
The Just-world hypothesis is a cognitive bias that leads individuals to believe that the world is inherently fair and that people ultimately get what they deserve. This belief can shape the way individuals perceive events and the behavior of others, often leading to a skewed interpretation of reality.
The Lake Wobegon effect is a cognitive bias wherein individuals overestimate their own capabilities, believing they are above average in various domains such as intelligence, skills, or knowledge. This name is derived from the fictional town of Lake Wobegon, created by Garrison Keillor, where 'all the children are above average'.
Neglect of probability is a cognitive bias where individuals disregard the probability of an event occurring and focus instead on the potential outcomes. This bias often leads to irrational decision-making because it prioritizes the emotional impact of potential outcomes over rational analysis of their likelihood. It is categorized under 'Lack of meaning' and is a subcategory of 'Stories in sparse data.'
Normalcy bias is a cognitive bias characterized by the refusal to plan for or react to a disaster which has never happened before. This bias leads individuals to underestimate both the likelihood of a disaster occurring and its potential impact, reinforcing a false sense of security.
The 'Not Invented Here' (NIH) bias refers to a cultural or psychological stance where individuals or organizations resist using, acquiring, or even acknowledging external knowledge, ideas, or solutions, simply because these innovations originate outside their own environment. This bias is characterized by the preference for internally developed products or ideas, often leading to skepticism and dismissal of externally sourced solutions.
The observer-expectancy effect, also known as the experimenter-expectancy effect, refers to a cognitive bias where a researcher's expectations or beliefs about the outcome of a study subconsciously influence the participants of the study or the interpretation of results. This can lead to skewed outcomes that conform to the observer's preconceived notions.
Outcome bias is a cognitive bias that occurs when people judge the quality of a decision based on its outcome rather than the quality of the decision at the time it was made. This bias can lead to an inaccurate assessment of the decision-making process as it disregards the information available when the decision was made, focusing instead on the result.
Pareidolia is a cognitive bias where individuals perceive familiar patterns, such as faces or objects, in random stimuli. This tendency to find meaning where none exists is a form of apophenia, making us see stories in sparse data.
The peak-end rule is a cognitive bias that impacts how people retrospectively evaluate experiences. According to this rule, individuals tend to judge experiences based largely on how they felt at the most intense point (the peak) and at the end, rather than on the total sum or average of every moment of the experience.
Pessimism bias is a cognitive bias that leads individuals to overestimate the likelihood of negative outcomes, often projecting a more dire picture of future events than is warranted. This bias causes people to focus on potential drawbacks or harmful future scenarios while discounting positive ones, resulting in a skewed perception that influences decision-making and emotional resilience.
The placebo effect cognitive bias refers to the phenomenon where individuals experience a perceived improvement in a condition due to their belief in the efficacy of a treatment, which in reality is inert. This bias falls under the category of lack of meaning and specifically under the subcategory where information gaps are generalized. It highlights how human cognition can convert expectations into actual physiological and psychological changes.
The positivity effect is a cognitive bias that entails an increased focus on positive information while minimizing negative information. It suggests that individuals, especially as they age, are more likely to remember positive events over negative ones, contributing to an overall more optimistic worldview. This bias is often linked to emotional regulation strategies that prioritize well-being and happiness.
Prejudice is a cognitive bias that involves forming an opinion or assumption about an individual or group based on generalizing characteristics, often discarding specific details in the process. This bias relies heavily on stereotypes and oversimplified beliefs about a group, resulting in assumptions that don't account for individual variations.
Restraint bias is a cognitive bias wherein individuals overestimate their ability to control impulses or resist temptations. This often results in exposing oneself to situations with higher risk of succumbing to temptation, as the perceived self-control is mistakenly assumed to be sufficient to handle it.
Risk compensation is a cognitive bias that occurs when individuals adjust their behavior in response to perceived changes in risk. Essentially, as people feel more protected or safer, they tend to take greater risks, potentially offsetting the intended safety benefits.
The Semmelweis reflex is a cognitive bias wherein people tend to reject new evidence or knowledge if it contradicts established norms or beliefs. Named after Ignaz Semmelweis, a 19th-century Hungarian physician who discovered that hand-washing could drastically reduce childbed fever incidence, the term describes the tendency to dismiss or undervalue findings that conflict with accepted paradigms.
Social desirability bias is a cognitive bias where individuals tend to answer questions or behave in ways they perceive as being more socially acceptable, rather than being truthful or authentic. This often results in skewed data in surveys, interviews, and research, as people provide responses they believe will make them look favorable in the eyes of others.
The Weber-Fechner law is a principle that attempts to explain the relationship between the physical magnitude of a stimulus and the perceived intensity of that stimulus, suggesting that the perceived change in a given stimulus is proportional to the initial intensity of that stimulus. It is named after Ernst Weber and Gustav Fechner, who pioneered early research in sensory perception.
Zero-risk bias is a cognitive bias where individuals prefer to eliminate a small risk entirely over reducing a larger risk by a greater margin. This preference occurs even when the latter option is statistically safer or more advantageous. This bias reflects our affinity for certainty and the psychological comfort derived from completely eradicating a particular risk.