What is Cognitive Bias?

The term “bias” is typically used to describe a person’s “inclination toward” something that does not necessarily indicate a negative propensity. However, the term is most usually associated with occurrences that have a negative influence on someone. Cognitive bias is a systemic inaccuracy in thinking that occurs as people receive and interpret information in their surroundings that influences their decisions and judgments. This Chicago Booth Review article defines cognitive bias and lists some of its most prominent variants.

Understanding cognitive bias

The article describes how most of us are what is usually termed as typical neurotics, and how we go around on a daily basis attempting to preserve or improve our self-esteem, which leads to a range of expected biases. According to the article, while biases might help us in some situations, they can also lead us astray. As a result, we must keep an eye on them and recognize them. The article goes on to discuss several of the most prevalent varieties of cognitive bias, the first of which is ‘availability’. According to the article, one of the most common biases is availability bias, which occurs when items that are more available or accessible in our brains are weighted in our judgments.

According to the article, the two most critical moments when certain information is more accessible in our mind or memory than others are beginnings and ends. This is the major reason that greetings and goodbyes are so crucial, the article suggests. The article also highlights the overconfidence bias as a cognitive bias. Since typical neurotics are intelligent, the article emphasizes that we believe we are correct more often than we are. Finally, the article discusses hindsight bias, which is defined as the bias that leads us to feel that we always know what is going to happen. These biases can help us preserve or boost our self-esteem, but they can also impede our capacity to acquire the proper lessons from experience. As a result, the article suggests recognizing and monitoring each of them in our regular habits.

Depending on the context, cognitive bias may be both useful and detrimental. The types listed above are some of the most typical and prevalent sorts that practically all of us encounter.