vbloke
11th July 2008, 12:28 PM
A cognitive bias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_bias) is something that our minds commonly do to distort our own view of reality. Here are the 26 most studied and widely accepted cognitive biases.
Bandwagon effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandwagon_effect) - the tendency to do (or believe) things because many other people do (or believe) the same. Related to groupthink (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupthink), herd behaviour (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herd_behaviour), and manias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mania).
Carl Jung (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Jung) pioneered the idea of the collective unconscious (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_unconscious) which is considered by Jungian psychologists to be responsible for this cognitive bias.
Bias blind spot (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bias_blind_spot) - the tendency not to compensate for one’s own cognitive biases.
Choice-supportive bias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choice-supportive_bias) - the tendency to remember one’s choices as better than they actually were.
Confirmation bias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias) - the tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one’s preconceptions.
Congruence bias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congruence_bias) - the tendency to test hypotheses exclusively through direct testing.
Contrast effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contrast_effect) - the enhancement or diminishment of a weight or other measurement when compared with recently observed contrasting object.
Déformation professionnelle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9formation_professionnelle) - the tendency to look at things according to the conventions of one’s own profession, forgetting any broader point of view.
Disconfirmation bias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disconfirmation_bias) - the tendency for people to extend critical scrutiny to information which contradicts their prior beliefs and uncritically accept information that is congruent with their prior beliefs.
Endowment effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endowment_effect) - the tendency for people to value something more as soon as they own it.
Focusing effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focusing_effect) - prediction bias occurring when people place too much importance on one aspect of an event; causes error in accurately predicting the utility of a future outcome.
Hyperbolic discounting (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbolic_discounting) - the tendency for people to have a stronger preference for more immediate payoffs relative to later payoffs, the closer to the present both payoffs are.
Illusion of control (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusion_of_control) - the tendency for human beings to believe they can control or at least influence outcomes which they clearly cannot.
Impact bias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_bias) - the tendency for people to overestimate the length or the intensity of the impact of future feeling states.
Information bias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_bias) - the tendency to seek information even when it cannot affect action.
Loss aversion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loss_aversion) - the tendency for people to strongly prefer avoiding losses over acquiring gains (see also sunk cost effects (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_cost))
Neglect of probability (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neglect_of_probability) - the tendency to completely disregard probability when making a decision under uncertainty.
Mere exposure effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mere_exposure_effect) - the tendency for people to express undue liking for things merely because they are familiar with them.
Omission bias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omission_bias) - The tendency to judge harmful actions as worse, or less moral, than equally harmful omissions (inactions).
Outcome bias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outcome_bias) - the tendency to judge a decision by its eventual outcome instead of based on the quality of the decision at the time it was made.
Planning fallacy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planning_fallacy) - the tendency to underestimate task-completion times.
Post-purchase rationalization (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-purchase_rationalization) - the tendency to persuade oneself through rational argument that a purchase was a good value.
Pseudocertainty effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudocertainty_effect) - the tendency to make risk-averse choices if the expected outcome is positive, but make risk-seeking choices to avoid negative outcomes.
Selective perception (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_perception) - the tendency for expectations to affect perception.
Status quo bias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Status_quo_bias) - the tendency for people to like things to stay relatively the same.
Von Restorff effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Restorff_effect) - the tendency for an item that “stands out like a sore thumb” to be more likely to be remembered than other items.
Zero-risk bias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-risk_bias) - preference for reducing a small risk to zero over a greater reduction in a larger risk.
Oh and, by the way, you’ll never be able to truly gauge any of the biases you might be operating under since it’s not possible to accurately observe a system you’re part of. Now, get out there and delude yourself!
Complete list of cognitive biases (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases) - Wikipedia
Bandwagon effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandwagon_effect) - the tendency to do (or believe) things because many other people do (or believe) the same. Related to groupthink (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupthink), herd behaviour (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herd_behaviour), and manias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mania).
Carl Jung (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Jung) pioneered the idea of the collective unconscious (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_unconscious) which is considered by Jungian psychologists to be responsible for this cognitive bias.
Bias blind spot (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bias_blind_spot) - the tendency not to compensate for one’s own cognitive biases.
Choice-supportive bias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choice-supportive_bias) - the tendency to remember one’s choices as better than they actually were.
Confirmation bias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias) - the tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one’s preconceptions.
Congruence bias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congruence_bias) - the tendency to test hypotheses exclusively through direct testing.
Contrast effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contrast_effect) - the enhancement or diminishment of a weight or other measurement when compared with recently observed contrasting object.
Déformation professionnelle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9formation_professionnelle) - the tendency to look at things according to the conventions of one’s own profession, forgetting any broader point of view.
Disconfirmation bias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disconfirmation_bias) - the tendency for people to extend critical scrutiny to information which contradicts their prior beliefs and uncritically accept information that is congruent with their prior beliefs.
Endowment effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endowment_effect) - the tendency for people to value something more as soon as they own it.
Focusing effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focusing_effect) - prediction bias occurring when people place too much importance on one aspect of an event; causes error in accurately predicting the utility of a future outcome.
Hyperbolic discounting (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbolic_discounting) - the tendency for people to have a stronger preference for more immediate payoffs relative to later payoffs, the closer to the present both payoffs are.
Illusion of control (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusion_of_control) - the tendency for human beings to believe they can control or at least influence outcomes which they clearly cannot.
Impact bias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_bias) - the tendency for people to overestimate the length or the intensity of the impact of future feeling states.
Information bias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_bias) - the tendency to seek information even when it cannot affect action.
Loss aversion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loss_aversion) - the tendency for people to strongly prefer avoiding losses over acquiring gains (see also sunk cost effects (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_cost))
Neglect of probability (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neglect_of_probability) - the tendency to completely disregard probability when making a decision under uncertainty.
Mere exposure effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mere_exposure_effect) - the tendency for people to express undue liking for things merely because they are familiar with them.
Omission bias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omission_bias) - The tendency to judge harmful actions as worse, or less moral, than equally harmful omissions (inactions).
Outcome bias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outcome_bias) - the tendency to judge a decision by its eventual outcome instead of based on the quality of the decision at the time it was made.
Planning fallacy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planning_fallacy) - the tendency to underestimate task-completion times.
Post-purchase rationalization (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-purchase_rationalization) - the tendency to persuade oneself through rational argument that a purchase was a good value.
Pseudocertainty effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudocertainty_effect) - the tendency to make risk-averse choices if the expected outcome is positive, but make risk-seeking choices to avoid negative outcomes.
Selective perception (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_perception) - the tendency for expectations to affect perception.
Status quo bias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Status_quo_bias) - the tendency for people to like things to stay relatively the same.
Von Restorff effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Restorff_effect) - the tendency for an item that “stands out like a sore thumb” to be more likely to be remembered than other items.
Zero-risk bias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-risk_bias) - preference for reducing a small risk to zero over a greater reduction in a larger risk.
Oh and, by the way, you’ll never be able to truly gauge any of the biases you might be operating under since it’s not possible to accurately observe a system you’re part of. Now, get out there and delude yourself!
Complete list of cognitive biases (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases) - Wikipedia