Cognitive Biases Directory
Explore comprehensive catalog of cognitive biases and their real-world applications.
🧠 Memory Biases
Primarily linked to the hippocampus and frontal cortex, these biases affect how we encode, store, and recall information.
Availability Heuristic
We judge the likelihood or frequency of an event by how easily examples come to mind, rather than by actual statistics.
Hindsight Bias
After an event occurs, we tend to see it as having been predictable, even if there was no objective basis to predict it.
Misinformation Effect
Memories can be altered by misleading information presented after the fact, causing us to recall events inaccurately.
Rosy Retrospection
We tend to remember past events more favorably than they actually were, glossing over difficulties.
Peak-End Rule
We judge experiences mostly based on how they felt at the peak (most intense point) and at the end, rather than the total sum of the experience.
Cryptomnesia
We mistakenly believe a thought or idea we recall is our own original creation, when it was actually encountered elsewhere in the past.
Telescoping Effect
Events that occurred long ago feel more recent, while recent events feel more distant, distorting our perception of time.
Illusory Truth Effect
Repeated statements are more likely to be believed as true, regardless of their accuracy.
Source Confusion
We recall information but misattribute its origin (e.g., thinking we read it in a reputable newspaper when it was actually a rumor online).
Childhood Amnesia
The tendency to have few or no memories from early childhood due to the brain’s developmental stages.
👁️ Attention & Perception Biases
Linked to various regions including the parietal and frontal lobes, these biases affect how we perceive and focus on stimuli.
Selective Attention Bias
We focus on certain elements of our environment while ignoring others, often based on expectation or relevance.
Inattentional Blindness
We fail to notice something unexpected in our visual field when our attention is engaged elsewhere.
Change Blindness
We fail to notice major changes in a visual scene when the change happens during a visual disruption.
Confirmation Bias
We tend to seek, interpret, and remember information that confirms our preconceptions, ignoring evidence to the contrary.
Attentional Bias
Our perceptions are influenced by recurring thoughts or emotions, causing us to pay undue attention to certain stimuli over others.
Negativity Bias
Negative events or emotions have a greater effect on one’s psychological state than neutral or positive events.
Positivity Bias (Pollyanna Principle)
The opposite of negativity bias: we sometimes remember pleasant items more accurately than unpleasant ones.
Figure-Ground Bias
We instinctively segment our visual world into foreground (figure) and background, potentially missing critical information relegated to “background.”
Visual Hierarchy Bias
We prioritize visual information in a hierarchical manner (e.g., larger, bolder elements get more attention).
Spotlight Effect
We overestimate how much others notice our behavior or appearance because our own attention is fixed on ourselves.
⚖️ Decision-Making & Heuristic Biases
Often linked to “System 1” thinking and areas in the prefrontal cortex that handle quick, heuristic-based judgments.
Representativeness Heuristic
We judge probabilities or events by how much they resemble an existing prototype in our minds, often ignoring base rates.
Law of Small Numbers
We draw sweeping conclusions from small sample sizes, believing they represent broader trends.
Escalation of Commitment (Sunk Cost Fallacy)
We continue to invest in a losing proposition because of the resources we’ve already spent, rather than cutting our losses.
Overconfidence Effect
We overestimate our abilities, knowledge, or likelihood of success.
Status Quo Bias
We prefer the current state of affairs and resist change.
Choice Paralysis (Analysis Paralysis)
Too many choices or too much information can lead to indecision and lack of action.
Attribute Substitution
When a complex judgment is required, we substitute a simpler question or attribute instead.
Effort Heuristic
We value outcomes more if we believe more effort went into them, regardless of the actual quality.
Survivorship Bias
We focus on successes and ignore failures, leading to false conclusions.
Planning Fallacy
We underestimate the time, costs, and risks of future actions while overestimating the benefits.
❤️ Emotional & Affective Biases
Often associated with limbic system structures such as the amygdala, these biases arise from emotional or affective states.
Affect Heuristic
Our overall emotional response to a stimulus influences our judgments about its risks and benefits.
Emotional Reasoning
We interpret evidence in a way that aligns with our emotional states, rather than objective facts.
Mood-Congruent Memory Bias
We recall information that matches our current mood, which can skew our perception of the past.
Hot-Hand Fallacy
We believe that a person who has experienced success with a random event has a greater chance of further success in additional attempts.
Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)
Anxiety that others might be having rewarding experiences that one is absent from, driving impulsive decisions.
Regret Aversion
We try to avoid the emotional pain of regret, often making safer or more conventional choices.
Loss Aversion
We feel the pain of losses more strongly than the pleasure of equivalent gains, affecting risk decisions.
Endowment Effect
We value items more once we own them, overestimating their worth compared to market value.
Framing Effect (Emotional Framing)
The way information is presented (gain vs. loss framing) influences decisions based on emotional response.
Empathy Gap
We underestimate the influence of emotional and visceral states on our behavior and the behavior of others.
🪞 Self & Ego-Driven Biases
Involving self-referential processing in the medial prefrontal cortex and related areas. These biases revolve around how we see ourselves.
Egocentric Bias
We rely too heavily on our own perspective and have difficulty understanding another person’s viewpoint.
Illusion of Transparency
We overestimate how well our mental state is understood by others and assume they can “see” our emotions or intentions.
Self-Serving Bias
We attribute successes to our own abilities and efforts, but blame failures on external factors.
Illusory Superiority (Better-Than-Average Effect)
Most people rate themselves above average in various traits (e.g., intelligence, driving skill).
Impostor Syndrome
Opposite of illusory superiority, feeling inadequate and fearing being exposed as a “fraud” despite achievements.
Dunning-Kruger Effect
People with low ability in a domain often overestimate their skill, while high-ability people underestimate it.
False Uniqueness Effect
We underestimate how many others share our positive traits or successful behaviors.
Illusion of Control
We overestimate our ability to control events, especially random or external factors.
Spotlight Effect (Self-Focus)
A repeat from earlier in perception but also very relevant to self-bias: we assume that others are paying close attention to us.
Self-Handicapping
We create obstacles or excuses to protect self-esteem in case of failure.
🎲 Risk & Probability Biases
Tied to how the brain—often the prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia—processes uncertainty, risk, and reward.
Probability Neglect
We focus on the magnitude of the outcome but ignore the probability of it occurring.
Zero-Risk Bias
We prefer reducing a small risk to zero rather than reducing a larger risk by a greater amount.
Gambler’s Fallacy
Belief that future probabilities are influenced by past events in statistically independent scenarios.
Clustering Illusion
We see patterns in random distributions or interpret clusters as meaningful.
Hyperbolic Discounting
We prefer smaller, immediate rewards over larger, delayed rewards, disproportionately discounting the future.
Certainty Effect
We give greater weight to outcomes that are certain compared to those that are probable, even if the probable outcome might yield a higher expected value.
Ambiguity Aversion
We prefer known risks over unknown or ambiguous risks, even if the expected outcome may be better.
Risk Compensation
When safety measures increase, people may feel safer and thus take more risks, offsetting the benefit of the safety measure.
Possibility Effect
We give disproportionately high weight to small probabilities of large gains or losses.
Pseudocertainty Effect
We may incorrectly perceive an outcome as certain based on how information is framed, leading us to take different risks than we would otherwise.
🤔 Logical & Reasoning Biases
Reflecting limitations in our higher-order reasoning—often in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
Base Rate Fallacy
We ignore general statistical rates (base rates) in favor of specific information or anecdotal examples.
Syllogistic Reasoning Errors
Drawing incorrect conclusions from premises in a faulty or incomplete logical structure.
Confirmation Bias (in Reasoning)
Already listed in attention/perception, but also critical in logic: we interpret new information to confirm existing beliefs.
Argument from Authority (Appeal to Authority)
Accepting a claim as true because an authority figure endorses it, instead of evaluating the evidence.
Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc (False Causation)
If event B follows event A, we assume A caused B, ignoring other factors.
Circular Reasoning
Using a conclusion as a premise without actual proof, effectively restating the same point.
Straw Man Fallacy
Misrepresenting an opponent’s argument to make it easier to attack.
Ad Hominem Fallacy
Attacking the person making an argument rather than the argument itself.
Slippery Slope Fallacy
Assuming a relatively small first step will inevitably lead to a chain of related (and often extreme) events.
Either/Or (False Dilemma)
Presenting two options as the only possibilities, when more exist.
🔍 Anchoring, Framing & Contextual Biases
These biases arise from how initial information or context shapes our interpretations—linked to various frontoparietal networks.
Anchoring Bias
We rely too heavily on the first piece of information (the “anchor”) when making decisions.
Contrast Effect
We perceive or evaluate something in comparison with something else, often skewing judgment.
Decoy Effect
The presence of a decoy option can influence which of two other options people choose.
End-of-Day Effect
People make different decisions when they perceive time or opportunities as closing, often due to mental fatigue or the sense of a deadline.
Projection Bias
We project our current preferences onto our future selves, underestimating how our desires will change over time.
Relativity Trap
Our decisions often depend on comparisons to others or to arbitrary benchmarks, rather than absolute value.
Mere Exposure Effect
Repeated exposure to something leads us to prefer it, simply because it’s more familiar.
Peak Pricing Bias
Judging an item’s cost based on the highest-priced point we’ve seen, treating that as the norm.
Context Effect
The context in which an option is presented can shift preferences.
Priming Effect
Exposure to a stimulus influences response to a later stimulus, often unconsciously.
Miscellaneous & Other Cognitive Biases
A variety of biases that don’t fit neatly into previous categories, touching on sense-making, moral reasoning, etc.
Moral Credential Effect
Having done something “good” may lead us to feel less guilty about acting in ways that are less moral later.
System Justification
A tendency to defend and justify the status quo, believing existing social, economic, or political systems are fair.
Just-World Hypothesis
Belief that the world is inherently fair, leading to the assumption that people get what they deserve.
Naïve Realism
Belief that we perceive the world as it “really is,” and that those who disagree are uninformed, irrational, or biased.
Splitting (All-or-Nothing Thinking)
Viewing the world in extreme terms (good/bad, success/failure) without gray areas.
Subjective Validation
Perceiving information as correct if it has personal significance, ignoring objective data.
Backfire Effect
Challenging someone’s beliefs with evidence can strengthen their original viewpoint if they feel threatened.
Peltzman Effect
Similar to risk compensation, where regulatory safety measures can result in people engaging in riskier behavior.
Ben Franklin Effect
Doing a favor for someone increases our liking for them, even if we initially disliked them.
Restraint Bias
Overestimating our capacity for self-control in the face of temptation, leading us to expose ourselves to more temptations.