Cognitive Biases

Cognitive biases are predictable patterns where judgment goes awry — the mental shortcuts that trip us up. Each page below has a short explanation and real-world examples. All 40 cognitive biases in the ThinkBetter app.

• Loss Aversion BiasWe often feel the pain of losing something more intensely than the pleasure of gaining something of equal value.
• The Ben Franklin EffectSomeone who does a favor for another is more likely to do another favor for that person, even if they didn't particularly like them initially.
• The Baader-Meinhof PhenomenonWhen something you've recently learned or paid attention to suddenly seems to appear everywhere.
• The False Consensus EffectWe tend to think more people share our beliefs and behaviors than they actually do.
• Anchoring BiasAnchoring Bias is the tendency to overly rely on the first piece of information seen when making decisions.
• Dunning-Kruger EffectIndividuals with low ability or knowledge/experience overestimate their competence, while experts may underestimate their capabilities.
• Negativity BiasPredisposition to prioritize and remember negative events or emotions over neutral or positive ones.
• Survivorship BiasThe focus on successful outcomes while overlooking failures due to their lack of visibility.
• Scarcity BiasThe tendency to value and desire something more when it is perceived as rare or in limited supply.
• Sunk Cost FallacyThe tendency to continue something once an investment has been made into it, even when it's clear that is not working or being beneficial.
• Hindsight BiasThe tendency to believe, after an event has occurred, that one would have predicted or expected the outcome.
• Ostrich EffectThe tendency to avoid or ignore negative or unpleasant information.
• Fundamental Attribution ErrorPeople often attribute someone's behavior to their character rather than to external factors.
• Default EffectPeople tend to stick with the pre-defined options or default choices when presented with a decision.
• Ambiguity EffectPeople tend to avoid options with unknown probabilities in favor of those with known risks.
• Base Rate FallacyIgnoring general (usually statistical) information (base rates) in favor of specific anecdotes or recent examples when making decisions.
• Zero-sum ThinkingAssuming that one person's gain is directly balanced by another's loss, treating situations as if there's a fixed amount of value to distribute.
• Rosy RetrospectionPeople tend to remember past events more positively than they experienced them, overlooking negative aspects.
• In-Group BiasPeople tend to favor members of their own group over those from different groups.
• Cognitive DissonanceThe mental discomfort experienced by a person who holds contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time.
• Availability HeuristicPeople tend to rely on immediate examples that come to mind when evaluating something.
• Confirmation BiasPeople tend to favor information that confirms their preexisting beliefs or hypotheses.
• Gambler’s FallacyThe mistaken belief that if something happens more frequently than normal during a given period, it will happen less frequently in the future, or vice versa.
• Empathy GapUnderestimating the influence of emotional states on one's own and others' behavior and decision-making.
• Endowment EffectWe value things more just because we own them.
• Zeigarnik EffectWe remember uncompleted or interrupted tasks better than completed tasks.
• Hyperbolic DiscountingWe prefer immediate rewards over future benefits, even when the future rewards are larger.
• Framing EffectHow information is presented shapes our decisions and judgments, even when the underlying facts are the same.
• Curse of KnowledgeWe find it hard to imagine not knowing something once we've learned it.
• Barnum EffectWe tend to accept vague, general personality descriptions as uniquely applicable to ourselves.
• Halo EffectWe tend to judge a person's overall character based on one notable trait or first impression.
• Impact BiasWe tend to overestimate the intensity and duration of our emotional reactions to future events.
• Salience BiasWe tend to focus on the most noticeable or striking features of a situation, often overlooking other important aspects.
• GroupthinkWe tend to conform to group opinions, often suppressing our own views or critical thinking to maintain harmony.
• Mere Exposure EffectWe tend to develop a preference for things simply because we're familiar with them.
• Bystander EffectWe are less likely to help someone in need when other people are present.
• Availability CascadeWe tend to believe something is more true or important the more it's repeated in public discourse.
• Hawthorne EffectPeople tend to change their behavior when they know they're being observed.
• Illusion of ControlWe tend to overestimate our ability to control events, even when we have little or no influence over them.
• Narrative FallacyWe have a tendency to create stories to explain events, even when the events are random or unconnected.

Go deeper in ThinkBetter

The ThinkBetter app has the full Cognitive Biases deep-dive: more examples, a quiz to test yourself, audio narration, and a weekly path that builds these ideas into a habit.