Cognitive Bias-Skye Cabrera

Overview

A phenomenon was first made known by researchers Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman in 1972. Cognitive bias is an error in thinking that happens when a person’s tendency to perceive information through a filter of personal experiences and preferences affects their decisions or judgments. These are the subtle biases that influence the way we see and think about the world. The brain attempts to simplify the information the brain is processing. For example, a person will avoid any facts that counter their argument and only “accepts” facts if it advantages them.

The Cause

A lot of variables come into play when our brain makes an error like this. Cognitive biases can happen to anybody. We need to find the root of this problem and fix it. Some common causes of cognitive biases are:

Mental Shortcuts or “heuristics”
Emotions
Individual Motivations
Limits on a person’s ability to process information
Social Pressures & Customs

The Signs

As important it is to know the root of this error in thinking, one must also be aware when this happens to them.

Only paying attention to facts if it confirms your opinions
Blaming outside factors when things don’t go your way
Taking personal credit for your accomplishments while dismissing others’ success on luck
Assuming that everyone shares your thoughts and beliefs
Automatically assuming you’re an expert on a specific topic after learning little about it.

Common Types

Attentional Bias – This happens when we only pay to certain stimuli and ignore others. It can be attributed to our ancestors, who survived by paying greater attention to dangerous threats in the environment and ignored things that did not pose a threat. For example, cigarette smokers are more likely to pay more attention to smoking-related cues in the environment.
Halo Effect – This happens when people perceive someone’s personality or characteristics based on one unrelated attribute. It especially applies to how physical attractiveness affects how people perceive other people.

Confirmation bias refers to only favoring information that conforms to your own beliefs and discounting evidence that doesn’t. For example, if a person is debating somebody on a topic, they will sometimes ignore the facts that counter their arguments and only focus on the points that help strengthen it.
Actor-observer bias – This is a tendency to believe that your actions are caused by external variables while at the same time blaming other people’s actions on internal variables. An example of this is blaming genetics for your high blood sugar while believing that others have high blood sugar due to their diet and lifestyle.
Misinformation Effect – This is when memory recall becomes less accurate as a result of post-event information. For example, researchers once showed participants a video of a minor car accident and then asked them to comment on it. They discovered that simply asking subjects questions like “How fast were the automobiles going when they smashed into each other?” or “How fast were the automobiles going when they hit each other?” influenced their memories of the severity of the event.

Impact of Cognitive Bias

Cognitive biases can impact your decision-making abilities, restrict your problem-solving skills, obstruct your career success, compromise the accuracy of your memories, limit your capacity to respond in crises, increase tension and anxiety, and sabotage your relationships. They can be problematic because they cause you to focus excessively on certain types of information while ignoring others.

Tips of Overcoming Cognitive Bias

Be aware when you are being biased. The first step into overcoming biases is to recognize what may influence your thinking.
Challenge them. After being aware of what biases you have, start to challenge them actively. Ask yourself, “Am I ignoring relevant information because it doesn’t support my view?” or “Am I giving too much weight to certain data?”
Question them. Start figuring out why you have these biases. List down the factors that may influence you into having these biases and fix them through them.

Skye Cabrera, Mind Stance

References:

Stanborough, R. J. (2020, May 28). Cognitive Bias: Understanding How It Affects Your Decisions. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/cognitive-bias

Cherry, K. (2020, July 19). How Cognitive Biases Influence How You Think and Act. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-cognitive-bias-2794963

Desjardins, J. (2021, August 26). Every Single Cognitive Bias in One Infographic. Retrieved from https://www.visualcapitalist.com/every-single-cognitive-bias/

Cherry, K. (n.d.). How the Attentional Bias Influences the Decisions, We Make. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-an-attentional-bias-2795027