Understanding Cognitive Biases
Cognitive biases are systematic patterns of deviation from rationality in judgment and decision-making. They're mental shortcuts (heuristics) that our brains use to process information quickly, but they can sometimes lead us to make errors in thinking and reasoning.
These biases evolved to help our ancestors make quick survival decisions, but in our modern world, they can sometimes work against us. The good news? Awareness is the first step to overcoming them.
Available Cognitive Biases
💭 Judgment & Decision-Making Biases
Confirmation Bias
The tendency to search for, interpret, and recall information that confirms our pre-existing beliefs.
Availability Heuristic
Judging probability based on how easily examples come to mind, often influenced by recent events or media coverage.
Anchoring Bias
Over-relying on the first piece of information encountered when making decisions.
🎯 Overconfidence & Self-Assessment Biases
Dunning-Kruger Effect
When people with limited knowledge overestimate their own competence in that area.
Coming Soon
We're continuously adding new cognitive biases to our collection. Future additions will include:
- Sunk Cost Fallacy - Continuing a behavior because of previously invested resources
- Attribution Error - How we explain others' behavior vs. our own
- Representativeness Heuristic - Judging based on similarity to mental prototypes
- Loss Aversion - Preferring to avoid losses over acquiring equivalent gains
- Hindsight Bias - The "I knew it all along" phenomenon
How to Use This Index
Start with Common Ones
Begin with biases marked as "Very Common" - these are the ones you're most likely to encounter in daily life.
Read the Examples
Each bias page includes real-world scenarios to help you recognize the pattern in your own thinking.
Practice Recognition
Use our Bias Spotter Challenge to test your ability to identify biases in realistic scenarios.
Apply Metacognitive Techniques
Learn metacognitive strategies to monitor your own thinking for these patterns.