Cognitive Biases

Question 1

Anchoring

Answer 1

The first thing you judge influences your judgement of all that follows.

Question 2

The Sunk Cost Fallacy

Answer 2

You irrationally cling to things that have already cost you something.

Question 3

The Availability heuristic

Answer 3

Your judgements are influenced by what springs most easily to mind.

Question 4

The Curse of Knowledge

Answer 4

Once you understand something you presume it to be obvious to everyone.

Question 5

Confirmation Bias

Answer 5

You favour things that confirm your existing beliefs.

Question 6

The Dunning-Kreuger Effect

Answer 6

The more you know, the less confident you’re likely to be.

and

People of low ability have illusory superiority and mistakenly assess their cognitive ability as greater than it is.

• The cognitive bias of illusory superiority comes from the inability of low-ability people to recognize their lack of ability. Without the self-awareness of metacognition, low-ability people cannot objectively evaluate their competence or incompetence​*
• the cognitive bias of illusory superiority results from an internal illusion in people of low ability and from an external misperception in people of high ability; that is, “the miscalibration of the incompetent stems from an error about the self, whereas the miscalibration of the highly competent stems from an error about others.”*

Question 7

Belief Bias

Answer 7

If a conclusion supports your existing beliefs, you’ll rationalize anything that supports it.

Question 8

Self-Serving Bias

Answer 8

You believe your failures are due to external factors, yet you’re responsible for your success.

Question 9

The Backfire Effect

Answer 9

When some aspect of your core beliefs is challenged, it can cause you to believe even more strongly.

Question 10

Declinism

Answer 10

You remember the past as better than it was, and expect the future to be worse than it will be.

Question 11

The Framing Effect

Answer 11

You allow yourself to be unduly influenced by context and delivery.

Question 12

Fundamental Attribution Error

Answer 12

You judge others on their character, but yourself on the situation.

Question 13

The Halo Effect

Answer 13

How much you like someone, or how attractive they are, influences your other judgements of them.

Question 14

Optimism Bias

Answer 14

You overestimate the likelihood of positive outcomes.

Question 15

Pessimism Bias

Answer 15

You overestimate the likelihood of negative outcomes.

Question 16

Just-World Hypothesis.

Answer 16

Your preference for justice makes you presume it exists.

Question 17

In-Group Bias

Answer 17

You unfairly favor those who belong to your group.

Question 18

The Placebo Effect

Answer 18

If you believe you’re taking medicine it can sometimes ‘work’ even if its fake.

Question 19

The Bystander Effect

Answer 19

You presume someone else is going to do something in an emergency situation.

Question 20

Reactance

Answer 20

You’d rather do the opposite of what someone is trying to make you do.

Question 21

The Spotlight Effect

Answer 21

You overestimate how much people notice how you look and act.

Question 22

The Barnum Effect

Answer 22

You see personal specifics in vague statements by filling the gaps.

Question 23

Groupthink

Answer 23

You let the social dynamics of a group situation override the best outcomes.

Question 24

Negativity Bias

Answer 24

You allow negtative things to disproportionately influence your thinking.