Unit 5 Lesson 10: Biases and Errors in Thinking

anchoring bias

when a person focuses on only one piece of information when solving a problem or making a decision

availability heuristic

when a decision is made primarily by using information that is readily available, regardless of whether the information is faulty

belief perseverance

the tendency to maintain a belief even after the information that originally gave rise to it has been refuted or otherwise shown to be inaccurate

bias

a tendency to think a certain way that negatively affects problem solving and decision making

confirmation bias

when a decision is made primarily by using information that confirms the person’s existing beliefs

framing

a cognitive bias in which people make decisions based on whether options are presented as losses or gains

functional fixedness

a kind of mental set in which a person cannot perceive that an object can be used for anything other than what it was designed for

hindsight bias

believing that a past event was predictable, even though it may not have been; the “knew it all along” phenomenon

mental set

when a problem is persistently approached in the same way that may have worked in the past, although it is currently ineffective

representative bias

when a decision is made primarily by stereotyping, regardless of whether the stereotyping was intentional or not