Jessica Schrader
Psychology Today
・
17 May 2021
It’s Likely You’re Unaware of These Habits
Cognitive bias
- We are all culpable of leaning on these mental crutches, even though we don’t do it intentionally
- In my last post, I wrote about the importance of critical thinking, and how in today’s information age, no one has an excuse for living in ignorance.
What are Cognitive Biases?
Cognitive bias is the way a person understands events, facts, and other people based on their own set of beliefs and experiences, which may or may not be reasonable or accurate
- A cognitive bias is an involuntary pattern of thinking that produces distorted perceptions of people, surroundings, and situations
- It is a shortcut to thinking
What to Watch Out For
Confirmation bias: When you prefer to attend media and information sources that are in alignment with your current beliefs
- Anchoring bias: You become committed to the first thing you learn about a particular subject
- Hindsight bias: The inclination to see some events as more predictable than they are
- Misinformation effect: When your memories of an event can become affected or influenced by information you received after the event occurred
- Actor-observer bias: Attributing your actions to external influences and other people’s actions to internal ones
- False consensus effect: You assume more people agree with your opinions and share your values than actually do
- Illusion of control: The belief that you have more control over a situation than you actually do
