Cognitive Biases Flashcards
What is the Benjamin Franklin effect?
A person who has performed a favor for someone is more likely to do another favor for that person than they would be if they had received a favor from that person
You will grow to like the people you do nice things for (and conversely, hate those you harm)
What is a bias blind spot?
The tendency to see oneself as less biased than other people, or to be able to identify more cognitive biases in others than in oneself
What is the cheerleader effect?
The tendency for people to appear more attractive in a group than in isolation
What is confirmation bias?
The tendency to search for, interpret, focus on and remember information in a way that confirms one’s preconceptions
What is the continued influence effect?
The tendency to believe previously learned misinformation even after it has been corrected. Misinformation can still influence inferences one generates after a correction has occurred.
What is conservatism bias?
Refers to the tendency to revise one’s belief insufficiently when presented with new evidence
What is the Pollyanna principle? (positivity bias)
The tendency to remember pleasant items more accurately than unpleasant ones - like ‘rose tinted glasses’
This principle does not apply to individuals suffering with anxiety or depression who tend to have more of a negativity bias or depressive realism
What is depressive realism?
A hypothesis that depressed individuals make more realistic inferences than non-depressed people despite their negative cognitive bias that results in automatic, recurrent, negative thoughts and maladaptive behaviours
Depressive realism argues that this negativity may more accurately reflect the events of the world, as non-depressed individuals are subject to the Pollyanna principle
What is cryptomnesia?
A memory bias whereby a person recalls a previously forgotten memory without recognising it as such, instead thinking it is their original idea. This can happen to yourself in a kind of accidental auto-plagiarism
BF Skinner - “one of the most disheartening experiences of old age is discovering that a point you just made - so significant, so beautifully expressed - was made by you in something you published long ago”
What is the fundamental attribution error?
We make personal attributions to explain the behaviour of others - we impugn their motives and scornfully label them), but we make situational attributions in our own case
When outcomes are positive we attribute it to our virtues and competence; when outcomes are negative we appeal to circumstance (out of our control). The inverse is also true for negative outcomes
This is a demonstration of a self-serving bias
Interesting cultural variation - East Asian cultures have less self serving bias; bicultural people may even switch attribution styles depending on context
What is the optimism bias?
In relationships - you think you are the one that does xyz for your partner more than they do for you; in reality you don’t as while the motivation may be present, you fail to take into account practical or unconscious restraints to you achieving the task. To overcome - if you predict the amount of relationship enhancing behaviours your partner will do (ie in the next week), you are more likely to not experience such a level of bias
What is the white bear effect? (Or iconic process theory)
The deliberate attempt a to suppress certain thoughts make them more likely to surface - don’t think of a white bear will make you think of a white bear
Usually worsened by stress; in extreme cases can result in intrusive thoughts about doing something immoral or out of character; can make people more depressed if they actively try not to think depressing thoughts compared to if they actively try to feel sad
How to overcome: actively think about something else; give yourself a time to worry about the thing ie ‘i will worry about this next Tuesday’; lighten your mental load - stop multitasking, allocate yourself one specific thing to think about; exposure therapy - think about the unwanted thought in a controlled way in a controlled setting so it becomes less persistent at other times; mindfulness meditation
What is the overjustification effect?
Expected external incentives ie money/prizes decrease a person’s intrinsic motivation to perform a task
Offering a reward for a previously unrewarded activity is a shift to extrinsic motivation, undermining previous intrinsic motivation
Once rewards are no longer offered, previous interest in activity does not return and extrinsic reward must be continually offered to sustain motivation for the activity
What is an anchoring bias?
People are over-reliant on the first piece of information they hear - is maintained, possibly even across multiple consultations
What is the availability heuristic?
People overestimate the importance of information that is available to them
