Cognitive bias is the tendency to think and act irrationally due to our limited ability to process information objectively. These biases operate unconsciously. When we make decisions or judgements, we’re often influenced by:
- Our beliefs and expectations
- What we have recently seen or heard
- Social pressures
- Emotions and fears
EXAMPLE
The most evident example is the conflict between Galileo and the Roman Catholics.
They were reluctant to accept Galileo’s heliocentric idea that Earth and other planets revolve around the sun because they believed that the information they had processed was correct and could not be altered because it had been sourced from holy scriptures.
Their reluctance to accept new ideas that differed from the previous ones was due to their biases towards new information or concepts. That’s why they preferred to stick with their geocentric idea and sentenced him to house arrest until death.
That’s how cognitive bias influences even educated people.
What is Cognitive Bias?
Cognitive biases are systematic errors in thinking that cause us to interpret information in a distorted way. Instead of looking at facts objectively, our brains rely on shortcuts, emotions, and past experiences. These mental shortcuts can be helpful, but they can also lead to poor judgments and irrational decisions.
Cognitive bias is not always “bad”. It exponentially helps the brain work efficiently by simplifying complex information. However, it can blur our vision of reality and lead to serious errors in thinking, especially in areas like politics, relationships, finance, and research.
Discovery of cognitive bias
The term “cognitive bias” was introduced in 1972 by psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman. Their research showed that people don’t always think logically; instead, they rely on heuristics, which are mental shortcuts that can lead to predictable errors.
It is difficult for us to think before taking every action, like boarding the train or eating lunch. That’s why we unconsciously perform actions without thinking, due to our psychological cognitive bias of being at work all the time. Our brains rely on our experiences and beliefs to push us towards making decisions quickly.
Since then, researchers have identified dozens of cognitive, social, behavioural, and decision-making biases that shape how we:
- Judge risks
- Remember events
- Evaluate people
- Make finance choices
- Conduct research
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How do cognitive biases affect our decisions?
Cognitive biases act as mental shortcuts (also called heuristics). Instead of carefully analysing every situation, our brain uses quick “rules of thumb” to save time and effort. It helps us make judgments and predictions without bothering too much.
It is an intuitive process; that’s why people often don’t realise they are acting based on biases or preconceived notions.
What Is the Difference Between Cognitive Biases and Logical Fallacies?
Here are the key differences between cognitive biases and logical fallacies:
| Cognitive Biases | Logical Fallacies |
|---|---|
| Systematic patterns of thinking that cause people to deviate from rational judgment. | Errors in reasoning that weaken the logic or validity of an argument. |
| These arise from the brain’s information-processing limits, emotions, memory, and perception. | These arise from flawed argument structure, incorrect assumptions, or misused logic. |
| They are psychological and cognitive in nature. | They are logical and argumentative in nature. |
| They help the brain make quick decisions using mental shortcuts. | They are often used (intentionally or unintentionally) to persuade or argue incorrectly. |
| In research, they can influence data interpretation and hypothesis evaluation. | In research, they can weaken academic arguments and conclusions. |
| These are biased decisions that feel “right” but may be incorrect. | These are arguments that sound convincing but lack logical validity. |
Common Types of Cognitive Biases
Here are some of the most common types of cognitive biases we encounter in our daily lives:
1. Availability Bias
If you start hearing the same kind of information about anything, you will unconsciously believe it is accurate or relevant to you. Even though the situation will be different because of availability bias, you try to fit the information you hear into your decisions.
For example, if you hear about several car accidents in a short period, you may believe that driving is more dangerous than it is because those instances are more vivid in your mind. Even though those stats were for driving on highways, you were supposed to drive on downtown roads.
2. Bandwagon Effect
Do you remember how we altered our opinions or behaviour about anything in school just because our friends were doing so? That’s because of the bandwagon effect, which drives us to go with the majority, based on the preconceived notion that the majority is always right without critically evaluating it.
3. Confirmation Bias
People tend to pay attention to views or ideas related to their beliefs and ignore those that contradict them. The most relevant example of confirmation bias is found in the political sphere. We only pay attention to editorial opinions or news headlines that align with our beliefs, while ignoring or dismissing conflicting viewpoints.
4. Anchoring Bias
Suppose you are out shopping and you see the price tag of a product while casually walking from that store. When you reach your desired store to purchase that product, you unconsciously use the previous price as a standard to compare.
We do this because of anchoring bias in daily life and use initial information to compare with the preceding ones.
5. Sunk Cost Fallacy
Researchers are more likely to fall prey to the sunk cost fallacy because of their research bias. Suppose you continually invest time, money, or effort into a project or relationship, even if it is not achieving the desired results. That’s because of the sunk cost fallacy, which is because you invested a lot of time and energy in it.
6. Stereotyping
We all unconsciously stereotype different things in our lives about any nation, race, or religion. We do so because of our limited information or preconceived notions, beliefs, or assumptions about a group of people while ignoring the diversity and individuality within that group.
7. Self-Serving Bias
When you succeed at something, you attribute it to your abilities and efforts, but when you fail, you blame external factors or bad luck; you do so because of a self-serving bias. We all do so at different life stages, like conducting a research study.
For example, if our experiments yield the anticipated results, we attribute them to our extraordinary abilities. If the results are unexpected, we blame it on bad luck and the supervisor’s lack of guidance. We do so because of self-serving bias.
8. Halo Effect
Suppose you perceive your mayor as a just man. The halo effect pushes you to perceive that he is physically attractive, intelligent, or kind based on one perception, even without evidence supporting those traits. That’s like building a castle on the sand using one element because of the halo effect.
9. Overconfidence Bias
Students are more likely to fall prey to overconfidence bias by overestimating their abilities or the accuracy of their judgments.
For example, when to take risks by not studying near exams because of an overconfidence bias that “I am well-prepared”.
10. Recency Bias
Recency bias occurs when you give more importance to recent information or events while undervaluing older information that could provide a more balanced perspective.
For example, an employer might judge an employee based only on their last month of performance, ignoring years of good work.
What are the common types of cognitive bias?
- Availability Bias
- Bandwagon Effect
- Confirmation Bias
- Anchoring Bias
- Sunk Cost Fallacy
- Stereotyping
- Self-Serving Bias
- Halo Effect
- Overconfidence Bias
- Recency Bias
What Are the Causes of Cognitive Bias?
Here are the key causes of cognitive bias:
1. Motivation
Our decisions are influenced by our beliefs and behaviour towards anything. We choose the beliefs and views that align with our biases and preconceived notions to reach the conclusions we want to achieve.
2. Emotion
Most of our relationships are fueled by our emotions towards them, whether hate or love. We tend to make decisions about our loved ones based on our feelings. On the other hand, we critically evaluate everything before making any decisions about strangers.
3. Limited Information Processing
Our minds have a limited ability to store and process information about anything. That’s why, when we decide, our minds cannot consider all the relevant information; instead, they are bound to focus on a subset of the available data.
4. Age
It has been observed that people of older age tend to show less cognitive flexibility. It means we are more likely to fall prey to cognitive bias as we age.
5. Societal Influence
Societal influence, whether from society or our friends, can influence our opinions. We may unconsciously conform to the views expressed earlier by others or act in socially desirable ways. This can influence collective behaviours, such as voting.
6. Heuristics, or Mental Shortcuts
Our brain aims not to capture the problem in all its complexity but to arrive at a perfect solution. But it works quickly to arrive at a ‘good enough’ solution to minimise the mental effort.
What are the key causes of cognitive bias?
Cognitive bias happens because of:
- Motivation
- Emotion
- Limited Information Processing
- Age
- Societal Influence
- Heuristics, or Mental Shortcuts
Examples of Cognitive Biases
Here are real-time examples that can help you better understand what cognitive biases are:
Example 1: Cognitive bias in decision-making
Apple has used cognitive bias to skyrocket its sales by introducing the iPhone for $600 and then quickly discounting it to $400. Apple deliberately imprinted the price of $600 in consumers’ minds, making them think that $400 was a real bargain.
They have used anchoring bias to influence people’s decision-making to buy the iPhone as a worthy device.
Example 2: Cognitive bias in medicine
If a patient keeps visiting the hospital regularly and most of the time seeks drugs for quick relief from her illness, then, after some time, her perception will be created as a drug-seeking patient in front of nurses and doctors. However, labels like this can stick to a patient for life and lead to misdiagnosis.
If the same patient visits again with heartache, the doctor may perform a quick physical exam and prescribe painkillers because of the bandwagon effect, which may lead to misdiagnosis.
Example 3: Cognitive bias in everyday risk perception
Suppose a person keeps hearing the news about plane crashes and seeing the heartbreaking images of crashes. In that case, the person may likely believe that travelling by plane is more dangerous than travelling by car due to availability bias.
Regularly seeing plane crash images and hearing about crashes can make you believe that plane crashes are more frequent than they actually are.
Frequently Asked Questions
A cognitive bias is the capacity to think and act irrationally due to our limited ability to process information objectively. It’s not a bad act, but it can occasionally result in poor judgment or decisions.
Common cognitive biases include availability bias, anchoring bias, confirmation bias, self-serving bias, stereotyping, overconfidence bias, bandwagon effect, halo effect, and recency bias.
Biases, such as self-serving bias, confirmation bias, and overconfidence, can affect how you design your study, interpret results, and respond to unexpected findings. They may lead you to overvalue supportive data and ignore contradictory evidence.
No, they cannot be fully eliminated because they are built into the way the human brain processes information. However, awareness, reflection, and structured decision-making processes can reduce their impact.
You can pause and examine your assumptions, actively seek opposing viewpoints, use objective data, discuss your decisions with others who think differently, and reflect on past decisions where bias may have influenced you.
