cognitive biases
Systematic thinking errors
Cognitive biases are systematic patterns in how people think that lead to irrational judgments or flawed reasoning.
They include tendencies like favoring information that confirms existing beliefs, overestimating one's own abilities, or being swayed by how choices are presented rather than their substance.
Psychologists have catalogued dozens of these mental shortcuts and distortions: confirmation bias, anchoring bias, the sunk cost fallacy.
The term appears frequently in behavioral economics and decision-making research.
Believed but fictional recall
- source confusionMistaking where memory came from
- suggestibilityReadiness to accept influence
Fastening securely to position
- representativenessQuality of being typical
- satisficingAccepting adequate over optimal
- mental shortcutQuick cognitive approximation
- rule of thumbPractical approximation, not strict
Adopting trends through imitation
- groupthinkConformity-driven poor decisions
- halo effectSingle trait skews perception
- social proofInfluence through others' behavior
- false consensusBelieving others share your views
Unjustified certainty in oneself
- Dunning-Kruger effectNovices overestimate their abilities
- self-enhancementMaintaining positive self-view
- illusion of controlOverestimating one's influence
When refutation strengthens belief
- echo chamberSelf-reinforcing information environment
- filter bubbleAlgorithm-created information isolation
- motivated reasoningBiased cognition favoring preferences
- wishful thinkingBelief shaped by desire
Setbacks sting more than gains please
- framing effectBias from how options are worded
- anchoring effectJudgment skewed by initial information
- decoy effectOption that steers choices
- mental accountingCategorizing money by source
false memory
Believed but fictional recall
- source confusionMistaking where memory came from
- suggestibilityReadiness to accept influence
anchoring
Fastening securely to position
- representativenessQuality of being typical
- satisficingAccepting adequate over optimal
- mental shortcutQuick cognitive approximation
bandwagon effect
Adopting trends through imitation
- groupthinkConformity-driven poor decisions
- halo effectSingle trait skews perception
- social proofInfluence through others' behavior
false consensus · spotlight effect · bystander effect · stereotype
gambler's fallacy
Assuming randomness self-corrects
- sunk cost fallacyHonoring spent resources irrationally
overconfidence
Unjustified certainty in oneself
- Dunning-Kruger effectNovices overestimate their abilities
- self-enhancementMaintaining positive self-view
- illusion of controlOverestimating one's influence
backfire effect
When refutation strengthens belief
- echo chamberSelf-reinforcing information environment
- filter bubbleAlgorithm-created information isolation
- motivated reasoningBiased cognition favoring preferences
loss aversion
Setbacks sting more than gains please
- framing effectBias from how options are worded
- anchoring effectJudgment skewed by initial information
- decoy effectOption that steers choices
- behavioral economicsloss aversion, nudge, anchoring, heuristics, mental accounting
- forensic psychologyforensic evaluation, forensic interview, insanity plea, psychological assessment, legal insanity
- negotiationbargaining, bargain, negotiate, mediation, compromise
- misinformationmisinformation, disinformation, fake news, falsehoods, hoaxes
- moral psychologymoral reasoning, moral judgment, moral development, moral intuition, conscience
- teen cognitionteen brain, executive function, impulse control, decision-making, abstract thinking
cognitive biaseslogical analysis
Methodical examination of reasoning
rational thinking · sound judgment · critical thinking · logical reasoning · intellectual rigor
cognitive biasesanalytical thinking
Systematic examination of parts
slow thinking · reflective thought · formal logic · scientific method
cognitive biasesobjectivity
Freedom from personal bias
impartiality · neutrality · open-mindedness · fair-mindedness · detachment
bias, recognize, recognition, recognized, cognitive, incognito, recognizing, recognizable, cognition