Cognitive Biases

Cognitive biases are systematic errors in thinking that affect the decisions and judgments people make. They arise from our brain's attempt to simplify information processing, and while they can sometimes be helpful, they often lead to irrational or inaccurate conclusions.

Categories and Examples:

 Biases Related to Memory:

·      Hindsight bias: The "I knew it all along" phenomenon, where people perceive past events as more predictable than they actually were.

·      Recall bias: Systematic error due to differences in accuracy or completeness of recall to subjects regarding past events or experiences.

 Biases Related to Decision-Making:

·      Confirmation bias: The tendency to search for, interpret, and remember information that confirms preexisting beliefs.

·      Anchoring bias: Relying too heavily on the first piece of information offered (the "anchor") when making decisions.

·      Availability heuristic: Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory (e.g., overestimating the risk of plane crashes after seeing news reports).

·      Framing effect: Drawing different conclusions from the same information, depending on how it's presented.

·      Loss aversion: The tendency to prefer avoiding losses to acquiring equivalent gains.

·      Overconfidence bias: The tendency to overestimate one's own abilities.

Social Biases:

·      In-group bias: Favoring members of one's own group over out-group members.

·      Halo effect: A general impression of a person influences how we feel and think about their character.

·      Implicit bias: Unconscious attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions.

 Other Biases:

·      Dunning-Kruger effect: The tendency for unskilled individuals to overestimate their own competence and for high-skilled individuals to underestimate their own competence.

·      Status quo bias: The preference for the current state of affairs.

Key points to remember about cognitive biases:

·      They are often unconscious.

·      They can affect anyone.

·      Awareness of these biases can help us make more rational decisions.

I hope this helps.

 

 

Our Natural Vulnerability to Propaganda

 It's important to understand that susceptibility to propaganda isn't a sign of weakness, but rather a reflection of how our brains process information. Here are some key factors that make us vulnerable:

Emotional Appeals:

   ~> Propaganda often targets our emotions, such as fear, anger, or hope. Strong emotional responses can bypass our rational thinking, making us more likely to accept information without critical evaluation.

Confirmation Bias:

   ~> We tend to seek out and believe information that confirms our existing beliefs. Propaganda can exploit this by presenting information that aligns with our worldview, reinforcing our biases and making us less receptive to opposing viewpoints.

Social Influence:

   ~> We are social creatures, and we are influenced by the opinions and behaviors of those around us. Propaganda can leverage this by creating a sense of social pressure or conformity, making us more likely to accept information that is widely accepted by our social group.

Repetition:

   ~> Repeated exposure to information, even if it is false, can make it seem more credible. The "illusory truth effect" demonstrates that we are more likely to believe statements that we have heard multiple times.

Source Credibility:

  ~> We are more likely to believe information that comes from sources we perceive as credible. Propaganda can exploit this by associating itself with trusted figures, institutions, or media outlets.

Cognitive Biases:

   ~> Our brains use mental shortcuts, or cognitive biases, to process information quickly. These biases can make us susceptible to manipulation. For example, the "availability heuristic" leads us to overestimate the likelihood of events that are easily recalled, which can be exploited by propaganda that emphasizes dramatic or sensational events.

Information Overload:

   ~> In the current age of information overload, it is hard to check the validity of every piece of data we receive. This makes us more prone to accept information at face value.

Lack of Critical Thinking Skills:

   ~> The inability to properly analyze data, and understand logical fallacies, makes people more susceptible to propaganda.

Understanding these vulnerabilities is the first step in developing critical thinking skills and resisting the influence of propaganda.

Overcoming Functional Fixedness

 

Train yourself and your team in overcoming functional fixedness. 

Functional fixedness is a cognitive bias that limits a person to using an object only in the way it is traditionally used. For example, if someone needs a paperweight, but they only have a hammer, they may not see how the hammer can be used as a paperweight. Functional fixedness is this inability to see a hammer's use as anything other than for pounding nails; the person couldn't think to use the hammer in a way other than in its conventional function.

This phenomenon was first described by Gestalt psychologist Karl Duncker in 1935. In a classic experiment, Duncker gave participants a candle, some tacks, and a box of matches and asked them to attach the candle to the wall so that it would burn without dripping wax on the floor. The solution involved using the box as a platform for the candle. However, many participants failed to see this solution because they were fixated on the box's traditional function as a container.

Functional fixedness can hinder problem-solving and creativity, as it prevents people from seeing novel or unconventional uses for objects. 

However, there are ways to overcome functional fixedness. One approach is to try to think about the object's physical properties rather than its intended function. For example, instead of thinking about a brick as a building material, you could think about its weight, shape, and texture. This can help you see new possibilities for its use.

Another way to overcome functional fixedness is to expose yourself to new and different ideas. This can be done by reading, traveling, or talking to people from different backgrounds. By expanding your knowledge and experiences, you can break free from your preconceived notions about objects and their uses.

Functional fixedness is a common cognitive bias, but it is not insurmountable. By understanding the phenomenon and employing strategies to overcome it, you can become a more creative and effective problem-solver.

K. H. Little Consulting Services

Kenneth H. Little, MA

KHLittle603@gmail.com

kenlittle-nh.com

Marching Bands & Silent Ninjas

Marching Bands & Silent Ninjas

In politics:

Our personal and political biases make us vulnerable to the misinformation / disinformation / propaganda / ideas / beliefs that fit into our world view. It slips in unnoticed and unchallenged. This impacts our political decision-making, even when the information, ideas, beliefs are bad*. 

We are predisposed to dismiss and reject information of all kinds, ideas, and beliefs from an alternative perspective, even if they are good ideas.

In fact, you may be predisposed to accept or reject the ideas I am presenting here without much consideration.

At work: 

The same thing happens.  

We are predisposed to easily accept - without question - ideas and information that are congruent with our professional perspectives, even when they are bad. And, we are predisposed to reject ideas that conflict with our perspective, even when they are good. 

This is why it is important to override our natural predispositions, inclinations, tendencies, beliefs with evidence-based reasoning.  Our decision-making will improve.

* We tend to believe that only the other perspectives have misinformation / disinformation / propaganda / bad beliefs and ideas because we notice them so much more easily. They are like little marching bands making noise and waving red flags. Our own side also has all of the above, but we tend to not notice them. They slip in like silent ninjas unobserved. In fact, we believe they are factually true.

K. H. Little Consulting Services

Kenneth H. Little, MA

KHLittle603@gmail.com

kenlittle-nh.com