Critical Thinking Cheat Sheet: Lesson 5 - Understanding Cognitive Biases
Common Cognitive Biases
Bias | Description | Example | How to Counter |
Confirmation Bias | Seeking information that confirms existing beliefs | Reading articles supporting your diet while dismissing studies questioning it | Actively seek contradictory information; ask “What would change my mind?” |
Availability Heuristic | Judging likelihood based on how easily examples come to mind | Overestimating plane crash risk after news coverage | Look up actual statistics rather than relying on what comes to mind |
Anchoring Bias | Relying too heavily on first piece of information | Thinking a £70 shirt is a good deal because it was marked down from £100 | Consider issues before knowing others’ opinions; evaluate from multiple starting points |
Dunning-Kruger Effect | People with limited knowledge overestimate their competence | Feeling you’ve mastered a skill after learning basics | Approach new topics with humility; seek feedback from experts |
Hindsight Bias | Believing events were predictable after they occurred | Claiming you “saw it coming” after a surprising election result | Keep a decision journal documenting predictions; notice your level of surprise |
Sunk Cost Fallacy | Continuing due to past investment despite new evidence | Finishing a terrible movie because you paid for the ticket | Focus on future costs/benefits; ask “Would I choose this if starting fresh?” |
Fundamental Attribution Error | Attributing others’ behavior to character, your own to circumstances | Thinking a colleague who missed a deadline is lazy, but when you do it, it’s because of traffic | Consider situational factors for others; apply same standards to yourself |
Negativity Bias | Giving more weight to negative experiences than positive ones | One criticism outweighing five compliments | Consciously give more weight to positive information; keep a gratitude journal |
Signs Your Thinking Might Be Biased
Physical Signals: - Increased heart rate or breathing - Tension in your body - Feeling hot or flushed
Cognitive Signals: - Black-and-white thinking - Catastrophizing (“This will be a disaster”) - Mind-reading (“They’re just trying to manipulate people”) - Overgeneralizing (“This always happens”)
Behavioral Signals: - Urge to immediately share content that confirms your views - Dismissing sources without examining their evidence - Avoiding certain topics altogether
Debiasing Strategies
- Slow Down: Many biases thrive when thinking quickly and automatically
- Consider the Opposite: Deliberately consider alternative viewpoints
- Seek Diverse Perspectives: Consult with people who think differently
- Use Decision Tools: Checklists, decision matrices, and structured tools
- Embrace Intellectual Humility: Acknowledge knowledge limits
- Create Distance: View situations as an outside observer would
- Quantify When Possible: Replace vague impressions with specific numbers
Remember
Cognitive biases are part of being human. We can’t eliminate them entirely, but awareness is the first step toward mitigation. The goal isn’t perfect rationality but becoming less wrong over time.