Fallacies & BiasesTopic #7 of 10

Cognitive Biases

Systematic patterns of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment (e.g., Confirmation Bias).

Cognitive biases are systematic errors in thinking that affect the decisions and judgments that people make.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one's preexisting beliefs or hypotheses.

Anchoring Bias

The tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information offered (the "anchor") when making decisions.

Availability Heuristic

Evaluating the importance or likelihood of an event based on how easily examples come to mind (often driven by vivid or emotional news).

Dunning-Kruger Effect

A bias where people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability. It is related to the cognitive bias of illusory superiority.

Sunk Cost Fallacy

The phenomenon where a person is reluctant to abandon a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that abandonment would be more beneficial.