Cognitive Bias

Definition of Cognitive Bias

Cognitive bias is the tendency of human beings to process the information in
accordance with their needs and wants and filtering out incompatible information.
Cognitive biases occur because of information processing strategies of people due
to mental errors. Main of point of differentiation between cognitive bias and other
biases is that cognitive bias does not happen due to any intellectual disposition or
emotional judgment but due to information processing strategies influenced by
subconscious mental procedures. However, cognitive bias is consistent mental error.

Definition of Terms
Cognitive dissonance
Cognitive dissonance is incompatible combination of ideas, thoughts, emotions, and
beliefs. In the psychological state of dissonance people feel anger or feelings of
guilt. Psychologists act to reduce the dissonance by inducting particular
motivational drives as well as suppress the existing ones.
Framing effects
Framing effects is important for publicity campaign that involves manipulation of
information by general context, words, and use of images in order to influence the
information presented to the audience.
Expectation bias
Expectation bias is the bias of experimenter that involves adoption and certification
of information and data that appeals the experimenter and vice versa discarding the
data that contradicts the needs and expectations of experimenter.
Optimism Bias
Optimism bias is the inclination of people to perceive negative events as less
material or over-estimating the revenues or positive results of planned course of
actions.

Essay
Cognitive bias is extremely important for crucial decision making in which bias is
threat to objectivity. Likewise, cognitive bias is also evaluated in case of presenting
facts to jury as cognitive bias renders the witness as unreliable.
Similarly, confirmation bias is important category of cognitive bias in which
information is ignored due to mismatch of beliefs. However, fundamental attribution
error is also cognitive bias in which behavior is associated with personalities of

people rather than with environmental and social factors (Conjecture Corporation,
2012). Psychologists try to define rule of thumb for the determination of cognitive
bias. For instance, an object is more visible if it is viewed more sharply whereby
distant objects would be less visible than closer objects so this fact can create error
in the human information processing. This thumb rule is valid in predictable
environment to judge the cognitive bias. However, laboratory evidence or
experimental judgment can show tendencies of people engaging in cognitive bias
whereas such evidence are not applicable to every situation or every described
group of people (Central Intelligence Agency, 2012). Laboratory evidences are
helpful for intelligent analysis of data.
As described above, subconscious understanding causes the erroneous information
processing. It is evident that human thoughts are powerful that direct the life
pattern of a person. Although, thoughts shape the life of a person as subconsciously
but this process can be made as conscious. In comparison, cognitive bias can be
reduced by positive thinking, visualizing favorable situations, and usage of positive
words in routine conversation. Likewise, discarding the pessimism or situation of
anxiety, and feelings of laziness. Psychologists need to add positive things in the
mind of person or replace the negative things with positive outcomes (Sasson,
2012). In case a person is unable to replace negative things with positive ones due
to inner resistance then it should focus on positive aspects of situation and ignore
the negative ones. Thus, thumb rules can be defined to encounter the cognitive bias
as focus on favorable situations and patterns, avoid negative factors regardless of
circumstance, desirable results may take time to occur.
Social psychology can meet effectively with the cognitive bias involved in the
research process. Social psychology can demonstrate that motivation is important
factor to influence the cognitive bias by the reasoning process. Motivation may
influence the peoples behavior to target particular conclusions but their ability of
reasonable justification for conclusion hinder this act (Kunda & Ziva, 1990). It means
that motivation can be considered as determining factor in cognitive bias.
Let us consider the cognitive bias of a person engaged in research process, an
individual involved in research process will be motivated to derive the results that
match with its internal needs and wishes. Cognitive bias of research process can be
eroded by determining motivation of researcher, encouraging beneficial things, and
promotion of unbiased and objective attitude. In comparison, personality of person
may be irrelevant in the process of cognitive bias but circumstance may take more
importance in the creation of cognitive bias.

Bibliography
Central Intelligence Agency, 2012. What Are Cognitive Biases? [Online] Available at:
https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csipublications/books-and-monographs/psychology-of-intelligence-analysis/art12.html
[Accessed 12 February 2012].
Conjecture Corporation, 2012. What is a Cognitive Bias? [Online] Available at:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-cognitive-bias.htm [Accessed 12 February
2012].
Kunda & Ziva, 1990. The case for motivated reasoning. Psychological Bulletin,
108(3), pp.480-98.
Sasson, R., 2012. Positive Thinking of Mind. [Online] Available at:
http://www.successconsciousness.com/index_000009.htm [Accessed 12 February
2012].