Top 10 Cognitive Biases to Look Out For
Examples
Dunning-Kruger Effect: Tom recently learned about cognitive biases and now he goes around speaking confidently about them even though he only just learned about them!
Framing Effect: Raising taxes on the middle-class, an often discussed political talking point, can be framed as expanding social services or having a smaller paycheck every month. Depending on the candidate, one frame is generally preferred to the other.
Anchoring: When negotiating the price for anything, the initial price becomes the focal point for all future negotiation. Prices below the anchor may appear to be a great deal, but in fact may still be higher than market value.
Fundamental Attribution Error: Don observed his co-worker making excuses lately for being late on project deadlines. This has lead Don to believe that he is a poor worker instead of considering the possibility that he's going through a divorce, which is negatively impacting all aspects of his life. Contrarily, if Don was the one going through the divorce, he would be more likely to attribute his tardiness to this instead of an intrinsic part of his character.
In general, it's best to judge with charity until more information is gathered about the situation.
Group Think: Jeff is the President of an organization that he co-founded and is the final word on all decisions. During group meetings, he is often the most vocal and his positions are considered above all else. All the employees are careful to avoid dissenting positions for fear of harsh judgment, which Jeff is known to do by subtle means. Unfortunately, this toxic atmosphere leads to chronic irrational decision making, which ultimately leads to the failure of his business.
Belief Bias: Todd, a global warming skeptic, was watching the news when a debate came on between a “skeptic” and an “alarmist.” Todd often found himself agreeing with the arguments coming from the “skeptic” and rejecting those from the “alarmist.” His decision on what to accept or reject clearly supports his current belief system that global warming is a natural phenomenon and that humans couldn't possibly influence the climate even though this position conflicts with the scientific community.
Overconfidence Bias: When Dylan was asked how he compared to his other classmates in math, he probably responded with “I’m one of the best!”
Halo Effect: Sally says, "Bob knows so much about car mechanics. He's a genius!"
Availability Heuristic: Immediately following the 2008 financial crisis, John refused to continue to invest in the stock market even though, historically, the stock market has always recovered and returns on average 7-8% (accounting for inflation).
Confirmation Bias: Don Bryden is running for President. In a campaign speech, he touts the success of a bill he sponsored, citing statistics and even showing clips of testimonials of some people who benefited greatly from this achievement, but he doesn't mention the statistics citing scores of people who lost their jobs as a result of it.