Cognitive Biases in Decision Making

Psychology/decision-science cards — common biases with exam-friendly definitions and examples.

12 cards· by GuruOwl

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  1. 01
    What is confirmation bias?
    Favoring information that confirms existing beliefs and discounting disconfirming evidence.
    bias
  2. 02
    What is availability heuristic?
    Judging probability by how easily examples come to mind (recent/vivid events overweighted).
    heuristic
  3. 03
    What is anchoring?
    Over-relying on an initial number/value when estimating, even if arbitrary.
    bias
  4. 04
    What is loss aversion (prospect theory sketch)?
    Losses loom larger than equivalent gains — people dislike losing $100 more than they like gaining $100.
    bias
  5. 05
    What is sunk cost fallacy?
    Continuing a project because of past investment rather than future costs/benefits.
    bias
  6. 06
    What is survivorship bias?
    Drawing conclusions from winners that remain visible while ignoring failures that dropped out.
    bias
  7. 07
    What is hindsight bias?
    Seeing past events as more predictable than they were (“I knew it all along”).
    bias
  8. 08
    What is overconfidence bias?
    Overestimating the accuracy of one’s knowledge or control over outcomes.
    bias
  9. 09
    What is the Dunning–Kruger effect (popular sketch)?
    Low-ability individuals may overestimate competence; experts may underestimate relative ease.
    bias
  10. 10
    What is status quo bias?
    Preferring the current state even when change has better expected value.
    bias
  11. 11
    What is framing effect?
    Choices change when the same options are presented as gains vs losses.
    bias
  12. 12
    One debiasing tactic for confirmation bias?
    Actively seek disconfirming evidence / pre-mortems / red teams.
    practice