Cognitive Biases: Confirmation Bias
Favoring information that supports what we already believe while ignoring evidence that doesn’t.
1/11
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
Cognitive Biases: Confirmation Bias | Favoring information that supports what we already believe while ignoring evidence that doesn’t. |
Cognitive Biases: Anchoring Bias | Relying too much on the first information we encounter. |
Cognitive Biases: Availability Heuristic | Overestimating the importance of information that comes to mind easily. |
Emotional Influences: Stress and Anxiety | These feelings cloud judgment and weaken decision making and thinking. |
Emotional Influences: Personal Bias | Strong feelings about an idea can make it hard to analyze information objectively. |
Lack of Information: Superficial Understanding | Skimming or not fully engaging with a text leads to shallow understanding, resulting in weak arguments and poorly supported conclusions. |
Lack of Information: Over-reliance on Secondary Sources | Using mostly secondary sources without checking primary data can introduce errors and bias. |
Overconfidence: Assuming Expertise | Thinking we know more than we do, which keeps us from seeking more information or questioning assumptions. |
Overconfidence: Dismissing Feedback | Ignoring criticism, which prevents us from refining our ideas and improving our work. |
Groupthink: Pressure to Conform | Feeling pressure to agree with peers or instructors can limit independent critical thinking in academic settings. |
Groupthink: Lack of Diverse Perspectives | Conforming to group opinions limits diverse viewpoints, harming critical analysis. |