Scientists call systematic errors in our thinking "cognitive biases". These are a kind of logical traps, into which our mind falls under the influence of certain factors, and which are not so easy to get around. Below are the 20 most common cognitive distortions that occur in your brain, to which everyone, without exception, is subject …
Confirmation bias
When a person receives information, he seeks to find information in it that confirms his personal beliefs and ideas. That is why eyewitness testimonies of an incident sometimes differ.
Affective heuristic
This phenomenon is a kind of filter of feelings and emotions through the prism of which a person is aware of the surrounding reality. For example, if you are hungry, and the words "port", "cake" and "court" are flashing in front of your eyes, then you will only remember "cake", because at the moment it will be meaningful to you.
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Herd instinct
Many people tend to rely on the opinions of most people in their judgments. Each person at least once in his life succumbed to the herd instinct, even if his personal opinion was different from the rest.
Distortion in the perception of one's own choice
A person may be so confident in his choice that he may not even notice its irrationality and weaknesses. For example, if your beloved dog bites another person, then you will think that the person who teased the dog is to blame, because other dogs can be aggressive, not yours.
Conservatism
Each person is subject to conservatism to one degree or another. Many people continue to believe in something, even if there is direct scientific evidence that it is a mistake. An example is that over the years people continued to believe that the Earth was flat, even after direct refutation and evidence.
Observer expectation effect
If you are interested in something, then your expectations can influence further development. In the event that you want to get some specific result in the study, then, without realizing it, you will adjust the received data in order to pass off wishful thinking.
Clustering illusion
Some people have an unconscious desire to see patterns in the chains of random events that play into the hands of casino owners. So, many players are convinced that if in the past they have got five consecutive "red", then now they need to bet on it.
Selective perception
Alphonse Bertillon, a famous lawyer from France, said that "a person is inclined to see only what he notices, but notices only what is present in his subconscious."
Conformity
This phenomenon is expressed in the fact that people tend to behave "like everyone else", sometimes changing their own opinion. Psychologist Solomon Ash conducted a study in which volunteers estimated the size of rectangles, but there were people in their group who gave deliberately incorrect answers. It turned out that 75% of the subjects changed their answers after they learned the answers of the "decoy" participants.
Snapping effect
Usually, when predicting any indicators, a person tends to focus on the numbers obtained earlier. For example, when discussing wages at an interview, the person who was the first to say the desired numbers will have an advantage; all further discussions will be based on them.
Tragedy of the Commons
This mistake was especially pronounced in ancient times, when a person, having found a good field, began to use it to the fullest, thereby depleting the earth and not caring about the future. If a group of people has access to a certain number of resources, then some will seek to use them in greater quantities, neglecting the common good and putting forward only their own interests.
Zero risk preference
Trying to avoid one of the risks by exposing yourself to another serious danger is one of the most common mistakes. If a person cannot completely control the situation, then he is inclined to obtain at least an insignificant result, achieved without much risk.
Whole Object Preference
Almost always, a person tries to complete any business he has begun, even if it does not bring great benefits. It is this mistake that causes a person to come to a restaurant and order a large portion and feel obliged to eat it completely.
Stereotyping
People tend to endow specific individuals or groups of people with special properties without having specific information and drawing conclusions based only on personal prejudices.
Maintaining the status quo
This phenomenon combines conservatism and the "contribution effect", so a person may be afraid to change the state of some things in his life, trying to avoid losses, albeit at the cost of missed opportunities.
Survival bias
The error of decision making, based on the available examples of successful solution of the problem and on the lack of negative experience in this matter, occurs quite often. Therefore, people believe that there is nothing difficult in starting their own business, because there are so many successful businessmen in the world. But in reality, these people do not take into account that the percentage of businessmen who have failed is quite large.
The Cognitive Bias Blind Zone
This phenomenon can be expressed in one phrase - "you will see a speck in someone else's eye, but you will not notice a log in your own." People tend to overlook their own stereotypes and criticize others for their biases.
The "teapot" and "specialist" illusion
People who often shift responsibility to others are susceptible to the phenomenon of overconfidence in the work of specialists. When making an important decision, they run for advice from a professional, and when everything does not go according to plan, they believe that it is not they who are to blame, but the specialist who gave the wrong advice.
Disregard for scale
During the experiment, three groups of people were asked to donate money to save birds whose habitat was threatened by the oil spill. The first group was offered to save two thousand birds and each donated $ 80, the second group - 20 thousand birds, the fees were $ 78 each, and each member of the third group paid $ 88 to save two hundred thousand birds. It turns out that the amount of funds that people are willing to give to solve the problem, for the most part, does not depend on its scale.
The illusion of your own superiority
People most often talk about their successes with pleasure, preferring to remain silent about the mistakes that have befallen them. Because of this, a person has a wrong opinion about his abilities.