Cognitive Biases

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What is a Cognitive Bias?

A cognitive bias is a systematic pattern of deviation from rationality in judgment. These mental shortcuts can lead to perceptual distortion, inaccurate judgment, or illogical interpretation.

Decision-Making Biases

9 biases

Biases that affect how we make choices and evaluate options, often leading to suboptimal decisions.

Affect Heuristic^*

Ambiguity Effect

Anchoring Bias^*

Automation Bias^*

Endowment Effect^*

Framing Effect^*

Loss Aversion^*

Survivorship Bias^*

Memory Biases

3 biases

Biases that affect how we remember past events, often distorting our recollection of what actually happened.

Availability Heuristic^*

Hindsight Bias^*

Misinformation Effect^*

Attention Biases

2 biases

Biases that affect what we notice and focus on, often causing us to overlook important information.

Attentional Bias

Negativity Bias^*

Belief Biases

7 biases

Biases that affect how we form, maintain, and change our beliefs, often reinforcing existing views.

Backfire Effect

Confirmation Bias^*

Dunning-Kruger Effect^*

Illusion of Validity

Optimism Bias^*

Biases marked with * are more common.

Understanding Cognitive Biases

How our minds take shortcuts

Cognitive biases are systematic errors in thinking that occur when people process and interpret information. They are often a result of the brain's attempt to simplify information processing, acting as mental shortcuts (heuristics) that help us make quick decisions.

While these shortcuts can be useful in many situations, they can also lead to poor judgments and decision-making. Cognitive biases affect everyone, regardless of intelligence or education level.

Understanding cognitive biases is crucial for critical thinking, better decision-making, and recognizing when our judgment might be compromised. By becoming aware of these biases, we can take steps to mitigate their effects.

Cognitive biases differ from logical fallacies in that biases are unconscious patterns of thinking, while fallacies are errors in the structure of arguments.

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