Psychological biases refer to the systematic errors in thinking and judgment that people make due to their cognitive limitations, social and cultural influences, and emotional factors. These biases can affect our perception, memory, attention, and decision-making in various domains of life, such as finance, politics, health, and relationships. Psychological biases can occur at different levels of processing, from the basic sensory input to the higher-level conceptualization of information. They can also interact with each other and with contextual factors to produce complex and sometimes paradoxical effects on behavior. One way to categorize psychological biases is based on their underlying mechanisms, such as heuristics, framing, anchoring, availability, and confirmation bias. Heuristics are mental shortcuts that allow people to make quick and efficient judgments, but they can also lead to errors when applied inappropriately. Framing bias refers to the influence of the context or presentation of information on the interpretation and evaluation of it. Anchoring bias refers to the tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information encountered when making decisions. Availability bias refers to the overestimation of the frequency or likelihood of events based on their salience or accessibility in memory. Confirmation bias refers to the tendency to seek, interpret, and remember information in a way that confirms one's preexisting beliefs or expectations. Psychological biases can have both positive and negative effects on human cognition and behavior. On the one hand, they can facilitate learning, creativity, and social cohesion by simplifying complex information, reducing uncertainty, and reinforcing social norms. On the other hand, they can lead to errors, conflicts, and injustices by distorting reality, perpetuating stereotypes, and reinforcing power differentials. Therefore, understanding and mitigating psychological biases is crucial for promoting rationality, fairness, and well-being in individuals and societies.
mental errors, cognitive limitations, social influences, decision-making, heuristics, framing, anchoring, availability, confirmation bias, positive and negative effects
Psychological biases are the ways that our brains automatically make decisions without us even realizing it. Everyone has them and they often lead us to make decisions that don't always make sense. For example, if you were to see two similar items and one was much more expensive than the other, you might automatically assume that the more expensive one is better. This is a psychological bias that is based on the idea that more expensive items have higher quality.
Cognitive biases, logical fallacies, psychological heuristics, irrational thinking, mental shortcuts.
Psychological biases are mental errors that result in distorted beliefs and judgments. They arise from numerous sources, including heuristics, cognitive schemas, and psychological processes. Heuristics are mental shortcuts that allow people to make decisions quickly and efficiently, but they can lead to cognitive biases. Cognitive schemas are mental structures that can lead to oversimplified and distorted interpretations of reality. Psychological processes, such as selective attention and confirmation bias, can also lead to distorted beliefs and judgments. Psychological biases can lead to mistakes in reasoning, inaccurate decisions, and irrational behavior.
Skewed perception, motivated reasoning, overconfidence bias, hindsight bias, anchoring bias, availability heuristic.
CITATION : "Jessica Adams. 'Psychological Biases.' Design+Encyclopedia. https://design-encyclopedia.com/?E=213809 (Accessed on June 10, 2025)"
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