Biases

Question 1

Cognitive Biases

Answer 1

A systematic thought process caused by the tendency of the human brain to simplify information processing through a filter of personal experience and preferences.

Question 2

Confirmation Bias

Answer 2

Is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one’s prior beliefs or values.

Question 3

Belief Bias

Answer 3

The belief bias can cause someone to accept the argument “all flowers have petals, and roses have petals, therefore roses are flowers”

Question 4

Hindsight Bias

Answer 4

After attending a baseball game, you might insist that you knew that the winning team was going to win beforehand.

Question 5

Representative

Answer 5

Thinking that because someone is wearing a suit and tie and carrying a briefcase, that they must be a lawyer, because they look like the stereotype of a lawyer.

Question 6

Availability

Answer 6

Prioritizing infrequent events based on recency and vividness. For example, “plane crashes can make people afraid of flying. However, the likelihood of dying in a car accident is far higher than dying as a passenger on an airplane.”

Question 7

Anchoring

Answer 7

Anchoring bias occurs when people rely too much on pre-existing information or the first information they find when making decisions. For example, if you first see a T-shirt that costs $1,200 – then see a second one that costs $100 – you’re prone to see the second shirt as cheap.

Question 8

Cognitive Dissonance

Answer 8

You want to be healthy, but you don’t exercise regularly or eat a nutritious diet. You feel guilty as a result. You know that smoking (or drinking too much) is harmful to your health, but you do it anyway.

Question 9

Attribution Bias

Answer 9

If you notice that every time you don’t study for a test, you get a bad grade, then you will start to attribute bad grades to not studying.