[Neurons] 2015 "Neurons" Meta-Reflections #8

[L. Michael Hall]

From: L. Michael Hall

Meta Reflections 2015  #8

February 9, 2015

 

 

CRITICAL THINKING

AND COGNITIVE BIASES

 

 

How does it set with you to realize that you, like all of the rest of us,
have numerous cognitive biases which are built into the way your brain and
body works?  How does it settle to know that there are numerous experiences
in which you are more likely than not to distort information and come away
from the experience with false ideas and erroneous understandings?

 

Personally, I don't like it.  Yet it is a fact about our mind-body system.
Distortion is one of the modeling processes along with generalization and
deletion which is inherent in how we make our mental maps.  And so I accept
it and I also work to, first, be aware of the operational cognitive biases
that are operational in us as human beings and then, second, take them into
account as best I can in those situations where they are most likely to be
activated.

 

There's something else that I also don't like.  I don't like how many
cognitive biases there are!  There are a lot of them!  There are dozens and
dozens, maybe even hundreds.  When Colin Cox began studying this subject, I
asked him at one time regarding how many of the cognitive biases that he
catalogued.  I was hoping we could reduce them to a list of 10 or 20.  But
no.  There were scores and scores of them.  That fact alone makes it really
challenging to know them all, be conscious of them, and not let them get the
best of us.

 

What then are some of the central ones, the most common ones?  What
cognitive biases can you count on that you have and most of the people
around you fall for on a regular basis?

 

Confirmation Bias

This is the bias to confirm what you already know and believe.  The more you
know it, the more familiar it is to you, and so the stronger you believe it.
The more you believe it, the more you will find even more confirming
evidence for it.  Talk about a Catch-22!  No wonder it is so difficult to
talk, and worse yet, argue, someone out of a belief.

The Patternicity Bias

This is the bias to find and invent patterns.  We are biased that way.  Our
brains are most essentially pattern-detection machines.  We think
anecdotally, not statistically and so one or more incidents can convince us
of a pattern when there is none!  This creates all sorts of weird beliefs
and understandings that can undermine a person's effectiveness in dealing
with the real world.

Hindsight Bias

Have you noticed how things are so clear to you after the event?  It is
amazing! In hindsight, we clearly see all of the clues that should have
forewarned us about things.  We see so clearly what went wrong with other
people and scratch our heads wondering, "What's wrong with them?  Are they
blind?  All the evidence was right there in front of them?"  In sports we
call this Monday Morning Quarterbacking.  In psychology we talk about
someone being an arm-chair psychologist.  An arm-chair expert in any of
these things, sports, profiling people, businesses, politics, etc. we are so
incredibly insightful about things afterwards!  We know how the game should
have been played and what we would have done if we were the coach!

Self-Justification Bias

Ah, here is the bias of biases!   We all come with this one-a bias to
justify ourselves.  We want to be right, and by God, we're going to be right
even if we have to twist the facts a bit, or a lot.  Little children who are
not capable of truly being "response-able" almost automatically will
"explain" why they hit their brother or didn't do his homework.  Being wrong
is hard.   It is easier and more "natural" to tell you why I am right and
you are wrong. :) 

Attribution Bias

Like the previous one, in this one we demonstrate our built-in bias to
attribute goodness to ourselves as we interpret our problems being due to
the circumstances of life while we attribute character flaws to others when
they have the same problems.  In our case, the mistake is due to the
situation, in theirs it is due to their disposition and character.  We are
good, just blocked.  They are bad to the bone!

Sunk-Cost Bias

This is a bias that gets us to pay far, far too much than what is realistic
or needed.  The bias is that once we have invested something (money, time,
effort, reputation, etc.) into something, then we are biased to keep
investing even though we "know" better.  After all, we have sunk so much
into it already!  So we can't just stop and let it go.  Or can we?

Status Quo Bias

Think of this one as also the Risk Averse bias.  Here we are biased to keep
things the same and avoid risk in situations where there is a strong
possibility of loss.  Because security is so important for us as human
beings, the status quo is very satisfying in that it gives us comfort,
familiar, and the known.

Anchoring Bias

This bias occurs because once something has been mentioned it tends to
"anchor" our thinking and calculations thereafter.  Mention an irrelevant
number, even this will have an anchoring effect.  This is the bias of
first-impressions.  It is what we do in priming.

Availability Bias

This is the bias is described by the proverb, "A bird in hand is worth two
in the bush."  We tend to think, process information, and calculate
according to what we have available to us, information that's available,
memory that's available, etc.

Representation Bias

When faced with uncertainty, we are biased to make snap decisions based on
various shortcuts that we use.  We use these shortcuts by using whatever
"rules of thumb" (heuristics) that we have developed.  This reduces things
to make them more simple (for us) as we judge probability.  "An event is
judged probable to the extent that it represents the essential features of
its parent population or generation process" (Amos Tversky, Daniel
Kahneman).  So what and how we represent these heuristics biases us.

Inattention Blindness Bias

When we are intensely focused on one thing, we are biased to be "blind" to
other things.  This explains how people can not see a Gorilla in the middle
of a basketball game.

Expectation Bias

We are also biased to see what we expect to see!  When we expect something,
we tend to notice it, look for it, and then ... lo and behold, we find it.
As a meta-level, our expectations set a frame which then affects our
perceptual filters.

Authority Bias

In contexts where we are new or uncertain, we tend to default to those in
authority and to uncritically believe them and value their opinions.
Obviously, this is a dangerous one as it actually encourages people to not
think for themselves and to be too naively trusting.

Group Bias

This is our bias for valuing and believing what our group values and
believes, also known as the "bandwagon effect."  Because we are social
beings and our social relationships mean a lot to us, most people find it
extremely difficult to not deferent to whatever biases their referent group
holds.  In highly cohesive groups this can lead to groupthink.

Consistency Bias

We have a bias to be consistent.  This is good.  Except when the bias is so
strong we cannot tolerate inconsistency.  Then when we experience
dissonance, our inner psychology will work to reduce the cognitive
dissonance.  If our beliefs and behaviors are inconsistent with each other,
there will be a natural inner bias to distort our perceptions about such
and/or to change the belief or the behavior.

Not-Invented Here Bias

When a group of people are highly cohesive or simply having been together
for a long time, they will develop the tendency to discount information or
ideas that do not come from the preferred group or source.  What comes from
outside and is "not invented here" will seem foreign and therefore wrong.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Bias

finally we are biased to set in motion a self-fulfilling prophecy based on
our beliefs.  When we believe something, our belief becomes a meta-level
frame that then governs perceptions and actions.  Then because we are a
system, our whole system becomes organized to conform as best as it can to
our beliefs.

 

If you have any questions about the importance of critical thinking skills-
then take this short list of cognitive biases with you for a week and begin
to notice them.  I think you will be stunned to discover just how much we
all distort our sense of reality and how much we all need to keep learning
and updating our critical thinking skills.

 

 

 

 

The 3rd International Neuro-Semantic Conference

            Hong Kong

            June 26 and 27

            June 25 --- Colin Cox, Master Neuro-Semantic Trainer, will be
delivering a Pre-Conference Workshop on Critical Thinking Skills

            June 29 and 30:  Transformational Coaching, by L. Michael Hall

            Contact:  Sherran at apti.com.hk 

 




 

 

L. Michael Hall, Ph.D.

                Neuro-Semantics Executive Director 

                Neuro-Semantics International

P.O. Box 8

Clifton, CO. 81520 USA                             

                1 970-523-7877 

                Dr. Hall's email:
<mailto:meta at acsol.net\hich\af31506\dbch\af31505\loch\f31506> meta at acsol.net


    

    

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