Cognitive bias

A cognitive bias is a mental error caused by our simplified information processing strategies. According to Kendra Cherry, MSEd, "A cognitive bias is a systematic error in thinking that occurs when people are processing and interpreting information in the world around them and affects the decisions and judgments that they make."

Cognitive limitations cause people to employ various simplifying strategies and rules of thumb to ease the burden of mentally processing information to make judgments and decisions. These simple rules of thumb are often useful in helping us deal with complexity and ambiguity. Under many circumstances, however, they lead to predictably faulty judgments known as cognitive biases. Cognitive biases are categorized as biases in evaluation of evidence, biases in perception of cause and effect, biases in estimating probabilities, and hindsight biases.

Cognitive biases lists

• List of Common Cognitive Biases
• 16 Critical Cognitive Biases (Plus Key Academic Research)
• A list of the most relevant biases in behavioral economics
• Cognitive Biases (2024): Complete List of 151 Biases - Psychology

Examples

• Confirmation bias
• Dunning-Kruger effect
• Lake Wobegon effect
• Wishful thinking
• Intellectual humility