Mad River Behavioral Health

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 deci...

 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 i...

  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 a...

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, tend...