Cognitive Biases FAQ

Anchoring bias is the tendency to rely heavily on the first piece of information encountered when making decisions, even if it’s irrelevant or arbitrary.

Availability bias is the tendency to overestimate the importance or likelihood of events based on how easily examples or instances come to mind.

The bandwagon effect is the tendency to adopt certain beliefs or behaviors simply because many others are doing so, without independently evaluating the evidence or reasoning.

The blind spot bias is the cognitive bias that leads individuals to recognize biases in others but fail to see them in themselves.

The clustering illusion is the tendency to see patterns or meaningful connections in random or unrelated data, often leading to the formation of superstitious beliefs or false correlations.

Confirmation bias is the tendency to favor information that confirms our preexisting beliefs or hypotheses while ignoring or downplaying contradictory evidence.

The conjunction fallacy is the tendency to judge the co-occurrence of two specific events as more likely than the occurrence of a single event, even when the former is statistically less probable.

The curse of dimensionality refers to the challenges and limitations that arise when dealing with high-dimensional data or complex decision spaces.

The curse of knowledge is the cognitive bias that occurs when someone with expertise or knowledge in a particular subject overestimates the ability of others to understand or grasp the same information.

The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias where individuals with low ability or knowledge in a particular domain tend to overestimate their competence, while highly skilled individuals may underestimate their abilities.

The egocentric bias is the tendency to rely heavily on one’s own perspective, beliefs, or experiences when making judgments or decisions.

The endemic bias is the tendency to favor information or sources from one’s own culture, group, or environment, while being skeptical or dismissive of information from outside sources.

The endowment effect is the tendency to assign higher value to things simply because we own them, leading to reluctance to part with or sell possessions at a lower price than what we perceive as their worth.

The empathy gap is the bias that leads individuals to underestimate the influence of visceral drives, emotions, or situational factors on their own or others’ behavior, leading to a lack of understanding or empathy.

The false consensus effect is the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors.

The false memory effect is the phenomenon in which a person recalls events or details that did not actually occur or were different from how they happened.

The false uniqueness effect is the bias that leads individuals to believe that their abilities, qualities, or characteristics are more unique or uncommon than they actually are.

The framing bias is the influence of how information is presented or framed, which can significantly impact decision-making outcomes.

The framing effect refers to how the presentation or wording of a choice or information can significantly influence decision-making, even if the underlying content remains the same.

The fundamental attribution error is the tendency to attribute others’ behavior to internal characteristics or traits, while underestimating the impact of situational factors.

The gambler’s fallacy is the mistaken belief that previous independent events or outcomes can influence the probability of future random events.

The halo effect is the cognitive bias in which a person’s overall impression or evaluation of someone is influenced by a specific positive trait or characteristic they possess.

The hindsight bias is the tendency to perceive events as more predictable than they actually were after they have occurred, leading to an overestimation of one’s ability to have predicted the outcome.

The hot-hand fallacy is the mistaken belief that a person who has experienced success in a particular activity is more likely to continue being successful in subsequent attempts.

The illusion of control is the belief that one has more influence or control over events or outcomes than is actually the case, often leading to overconfidence in decision-making.

The illusion of transparency is the bias that leads individuals to overestimate the extent to which their thoughts, emotions, or internal states are apparent or evident to others.

The in-group bias is the tendency to favor and give preferential treatment to members of our own social group while displaying prejudice or discrimination toward those outside the group.

Inattentional blindness refers to the failure to notice or perceive unexpected objects or events in one’s visual field when attention is focused on a specific task or stimulus.

The illusory correlation is the tendency to perceive a relationship or association between two variables or events when none actually exists or the relationship is weak.

The negativity bias is the tendency to pay more attention to negative information or experiences than positive ones, and to weigh them more heavily in decision-making and memory formation.

The negativity effect is the tendency to give greater weight or importance to negative information or experiences compared to positive ones.

The neglect of probability bias is the tendency to disregard statistical probabilities when making decisions, often relying on vivid or emotionally charged examples instead.

The observer-expectancy effect is the bias that occurs when an experimenter’s expectations or beliefs about the outcome of a study unintentionally influence the results.

The ostracism bias is the tendency to remember and give more weight to instances of being excluded or ignored, while downplaying or forgetting instances of inclusion.

The ostrich effect is the tendency to ignore or avoid negative or threatening information or situations in the hope that they will resolve themselves or go away on their own.

The overconfidence effect is the tendency to overestimate one’s abilities, knowledge, or accuracy in making predictions or judgments.

The overoptimism bias is the tendency to overestimate the likelihood of positive outcomes and underestimate the likelihood of negative outcomes.

The peak-end rule is the cognitive bias in which people judge an experience based on its peak moments and how it ends, rather than considering the overall experience.

The planning fallacy is the tendency to underestimate the time, resources, or effort required to complete a task or achieve a goal, often leading to delays or incomplete projects.

The placebo effect is the phenomenon in which a person experiences a perceived improvement or positive outcome due to the belief in receiving a beneficial treatment, regardless of its actual efficacy.

The positivity effect is the tendency to prioritize or remember positive information more easily and to downplay or forget negative information, particularly in older adults.

The primacy effect is the cognitive bias that leads people to remember and give greater weight to information or stimuli encountered first in a series, compared to those encountered later.

The recency bias is the tendency to give greater weight or importance to recent information or events when making judgments or decisions, while disregarding older or historical data.

The representativeness heuristic is the tendency to judge the likelihood or probability of an event based on how well it matches a prototype or mental category, often leading to errors in judgment or stereotyping.

The self-serving bias is the tendency to attribute personal successes to internal factors (such as skill or effort) while blaming failures on external factors (such as luck or circumstances).

The spotlight effect is the bias that leads individuals to overestimate the extent to which others notice and pay attention to their appearance or behavior.

The status quo bias is the tendency to prefer the current state of affairs or to maintain existing decisions or choices, even if objectively better alternatives are available.

The sunk cost fallacy is the tendency to continue investing in a failing project or decision because of the resources already invested, even if it’s no longer rational or beneficial.

The survivorship bias is the bias that arises when we focus only on the individuals or things that have survived a process or competition, ignoring those that have not survived, leading to an inaccurate understanding of the overall process.

The zero-sum bias is the tendency to perceive situations as win-lose scenarios, where one person’s gain must come at the expense of another’s loss, even when there is potential for mutual benefit or cooperation.