Cognitive biases in humans and their varieties. All the pitfalls of the traps of consciousness with the peculiarities of their impact on the human psyche. The content of the article:
- What is cognitive biases
- The most common
Cognitive biases are abnormalities in logical thinking that cause a person to think in a narrower direction. In the absence of an integral perception of objective reality, such people experience “program failures” in the form of systematic errors in consciousness. A similar problem directly affects all spheres of an individual's life, therefore, requires detailed consideration.
What is cognitive biases
The voiced phenomenon is a kind of trap of consciousness, in which people stop thinking rationally. In some cases, our own thoughts are our worst enemies. Personal growth directly depends on a person's reaction to external stimuli, information flow and provocative situations. Someone makes a critical analysis of what is happening around him, and some individuals base their decisions on stereotyped conclusions.
The concept of "cognitive distortion" was first voiced in the early 70s by Israeli psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman. Their work was to study the influence of stereotypes on the thinking of some people.
Examining behavioral patterns, the experts asked a group of volunteers to answer the question of who the woman named Linda described by psychologists is. In her description, there was information that she was most likely a feminist. This conclusion was based on the fact that the young lady is fond of issues of injustice in society and discrimination.
The participants in the experiment were offered two options for the answer: 1 - a woman is a bank teller; 2 - the main character works as a bank teller and has shown herself to be an active participant in the feminist movement. The second conclusion was more to the liking of almost the entire group, as a result of which the concept of "Linda's problem" appeared. Psychologists concluded that it was the delusion that was imposed that made people respond in this way.
The reasoning of Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman became the basis for some research programs that covered such spheres of human activity as political science and medicine.
The most common cognitive biases
The path to personal change is often complicated by the voiced traps of consciousness. Patterns and stereotypes slow down the process of self-realization of a person, replacing his springboard when reaching a goal for a long journey in the dunes. The list of cognitive distortions is quite long, but one should dwell on their main manifestations.
Confirmation bias
Initial judgment and personal stereotypes underlie this tendency to think narrowly. An example is a potential buyer who considers milk to be a product harmful to an adult. He will study all the information on the Internet about this fact, including the positive responses of doctors and ordinary people in various forums. After carefully reading the information received, a person with a confirmation bias will never buy milk. In this case, the main argument for him will be the idea that he received data from incompetent people and his hypothesis is more correct.
Zero risk preference
Some people choose the lesser of two evils (without delving into the essence of the problem). This conclusion is not always the logical end result. When choosing to reduce a small risk to zero or significantly reduce a large hazard, they prefer the first option. An example is the comparison of crash statistics and aircraft crashes. Cognitive brain distortion makes people forget about numbers and logic. They are ready to reduce plane crashes to zero with the same statistics of incidents on the road.
Anchor effect
The expression that the first word is more expensive than the second is often distorted. The original thought is not always correct. The first impression sometimes has the effect of fixing the consciousness with the information received. This kind of binding is a kind of looping during decision making. The anchor effect is observed when there is a wrong opinion about a person whom you see for the first time with an already formed stereotype about him.
Survivor's mistake
The voiced systematic misconception is that people get hung up on the information they receive in full. At the same time, they forget about another group of data, which practically does not exist. The rescue dolphin stereotype is based on stories from people who have been helped by these mammals. However, there is no information about cases when these inhabitants of the deep sea pushed a drowning person back into the water element.
Selective perception
Expectation of something and informational confirmation of it are the basis of this cognitive bias. Take, for example, a person's distrust of dietary supplements, which he wants to justify for himself. Unlike confirmation bias, such a person will be convinced of the dangers of dietary supplements. The loss of objectivity will consist in the fact that a person will be able to perceive in the future exclusively negative reviews about the voiced product.
Loss aversion
This phenomenon has another formulation - the effect of ownership. With such a cognitive distortion, even with a real opportunity to hit a big jackpot, people with loss aversion will never sacrifice a modest amount to participate in a draw. A blouse from a grandmother's chest is sometimes valued much more than someone else's branded thing by a person with a similar perception of reality. Ownership is the basis of the ownership effect.
The effect of joining the majority
In this case, we will focus on the herd instinct. The psyche of some people is so tuned in to obedience to stronger persons that victims of such a cognitive distortion gladly shift the decision of all questions on planning their own lives to leaders. As a result, conformism and social pseudo-harmony will be welcomed in the formed community.
Player error
Gambling people should be wary of this cognitive distortion most of all. In many spontaneous things, they see only an obvious sequence and regularity to them. When playing the same "coin", the voiced persons begin to believe not in fortune, but in the code of a possible win. It is difficult to convince them then that if the “tails” fell 9 times, then with 10 attempts it is not worth betting exclusively on it.
The illusion of transparency
Some people believe that their intentions and actions are obvious to everyone around them. Sometimes lying in the name of salvation is essential. A person who is subject to the illusion of transparency can pervert the truth, but at the same time he will be afraid of exposure. In fact, knowing your essence, you should remember that no one else can reliably know it.
Unconscious lie
It is one thing to exaggerate facts for the benefit of something, and quite another to add it up for a catchphrase. Psychologists have long voiced the phenomenon of believing in one's own lies, when a person either exaggerates the events that have happened to him, or underestimates them. Over time, he gets so used to the created image that in his memory the mythical situation becomes true. Barnum effect
Quite often, skeptics are surprised by the fact that for the sake of boredom they look at their horoscope and then cannot tear themselves away from its decoding. As a result, they are amazed at the discovery that everything in it practically corresponds to their character, sexual preferences and the desire to make a career in a certain field. A similar experiment was carried out by the famous manipulator Barnum, who proved the fact that it is easy to mislead some people. A vague description was quite suitable even for those who had not previously believed in astrologers and seers.
Heightened self-esteem
In this case, one should sympathize not with depressed persons, but with those Narcissists who are overly arrogant. It is the most painful thing to fall from a great height, therefore psychologists consider people who doubt themselves to be realists. A huge number of mistakes occur with a person who classifies himself as above average with very mediocre internal and external potential.
The illusion of limited choice
A similar feeling arises in people who shackle themselves with certain frameworks when they want to achieve their goals. The effect of cognitive distortion in this case is quite strong, because pseudo-reasoning can nullify any undertakings of a person. Instead of striving to improve relations with a business partner in a successful business, a person with a limited choice reflects on the advisability of breaking a profitable cooperation at the slightest disagreement between the two parties.
The effect of moral trust
People who are rated 5+ by those around them for their behavior sometimes get tired of their own righteousness. On a subconscious level, they have a halo over their heads, which is the main negative consequence of the effect of moral trust. Psychologists argue that the poor fellows have the mechanism of the fact that the saint is sometimes allowed to give slack in the sounded way.
Planning errors
It is easy to blame someone for being slow and it is quite difficult to analyze your organization of life. Making a commitment to do a certain job initially seems like a simple task. Planning your schedule, however, is a difficult process. Exceptionally 40% of students deliver projects and coursework at a specified time, because they are not prone to planning errors. At the same time, psychologists do not assess the quality of the work of such responsible persons.
Immediate reward
In this case, we are talking about a very dual concept. The consciousness of many people is tuned to often have a titmouse in their hands, and not a pie in the sky. When choosing between 500 dollars today and 550 "green" tomorrow, ordinary people will calmly wait one day. However, with a proposal to receive the initial amount immediately, they will definitely refuse to become the owners of a slightly larger reward in a month.
What the hell effect
The voiced cognitive distortion of consciousness is a destructive and irrational manifestation of personality. It is easiest in this way to identify weakness in case of non-observance of a diet, parasitism and outright drunkenness. A person without an inner core, precisely according to the sounded scheme, turns his weaknesses into an act of protest with an imaginary desire to change his own life.
Perception of large numbers
Quite often, some people do not perceive large numbers that end in zeros. An experiment was conducted at Cornell University, New York, in which participants were asked to choose the home with the lowest cost. Almost all students approved a cottage for 391,534 dollars and considered it too expensive to buy a home for 390,000. Cognitive distortion of consciousness in the form of an irrational perception of large numbers is quite often used by market owners. Their favorite trick is the price of not 1000, but 999 rubles for a certain product.
Learned helplessness
American psychologist Martin Seligman initially demonstrated this cognitive distortion in dogs. Initially, they were placed in cages, in one of which weak current discharges were carried out. Some individuals remained safe, while others received pain from the electricity. Then the dogs were put into one cage, from which, when the door was opened, only animals jumped out, which avoided discomfort at the beginning of the experiment. In the human environment, learned helplessness is expressed in the patience of the wives of their tyrant husbands who beat them, and the unwillingness of the younger generation from the slums to change at least something in their lives. Fundamental attribution error
It is quite easy to consider the mistakes of other people to be unforgivable atrocities, and to see minor flaws in your own punctures. Even if they fail the exam, some people consider themselves a victim of migraines, and the teacher - a person of a dull mind. This is also the case with triumphant events. Many people consider their victory a well-deserved reward, and someone else's - solely luck and will of chance. "Treadmill of Happiness"
There is usually never much good. This is how people with this cognitive distortion of consciousness think. It is observed even in children who quickly forget about the desired toy after purchasing it. An important role in this case is played by advertising, which inspires people to purchase new products. If you wish for career growth, the "treadmill of happiness" can develop into neurasthenia and a desire to walk over the head to achieve the cherished goal. Resolution effect
Exclusively asceticism means giving up all the pleasures of life. In fact, many people allow themselves some kind of weakness. However, some of them act illogically at the same time, indulging one of their weaknesses at the expense of infringing themselves on others. Examples of cognitive biases can be supplemented by the behavior model of people who are on a diet and refuse the gym for this reason. Curmudgeons quite often limit themselves in everything, but as a bonus they allow themselves some expensive thing.
The opposite effect of suppressing thoughts
Quite often people get the opposite effect when they choose not to think about a thing. In this case, we are talking about a significant object or event in their life, because we do not remember that we are not interested. The more a person suppresses his thoughts, the more his cognitive distortion of consciousness is triggered.
Emotional distortion
Artificially heated emotions are sometimes taken by a person for real feelings. The first extreme date seems so exciting to partners that they then, after this event in their lives, consider acquaintance a sign of fate. Roller coasters, horror films, auto racing - all these places of the first meeting can ultimately lead to emotional distortion in the created couple.
What is cognitive distortion of perception - look at the video:
When asking how to deal with cognitive biases, you should first think about the type of problem you have. Any of them requires individual correction if you want to get rid of the traps of consciousness.
