What is

Cognitive Bias

Cognitive bias describes unconscious errors in thinking that arise from issues related to memory, attention and other mental errors. These biases are automatic responses designed to make decision-making and judgment faster. Cognitive biases can be caused by a number of factors including heuristics, social pressures and stereotypes. Examples of cognitive bias include self-serving bias and confirmation bias.

Cognitive bias refers to unintentional attitudes and behaviors used to process information and scenarios. While cognitive biases allow us to make decisions faster, they can also be disguised as harmful prejudices towards certain populations. Additional examples include paying attention to news stories that confirm your political stance, attributing other people’s success to luck and learning a minimal amount of knowledge about a topic and then claiming you are a subject matter expert.