What is Backfire Effect? The backfire effect is when a person is given proof that goes against what they believe, but instead of changing their mind, they stick to their original thoughts even more fiercely. This is a mistake in how we think, known as a cognitive bias, because our brains try hard to process information quickly, sometimes the wrong way. Imagine believing in a childhood story very s... »
Understanding Availability Heuristic Imagine you’re trying to decide which snack is healthier. You might choose the one you remember your friend saying was good for you, even though there might be another, better option you’re not recalling at the moment. This tendency to rely on immediate, easy-to-recall memories when making a decision, rather than all the possible information, is kno... »
What is Availability Cascade? Simple Definition 1: Imagine that a piece of gossip about a celebrity spreads through your school. At first, only a few people are talking about it, but as the day goes on, it seems like everyone is discussing it. By the end of the day, it feels like this gossip is the only thing that matters. This is an Availability Cascade: an idea spreads and grows because it’... »
What is Automation Bias? Think of automation bias like a shortcut in our thinking. It’s when we tend to assume that computers and machines are always right. Imagine you’re playing a video game, and there’s a computer telling you which moves to make. If you follow the computer’s suggestions every time without thinking for yourself, that’s automation bias. It’s li... »
What is Authority Bias? Imagine you are playing basketball and someone you know as a professional coach tells you to change your shooting technique. Because they are a coach, you trust their advice without much question. That’s authority bias. It’s when we believe or do something mainly because a person who seems to be an expert or leader says it. Even if other people say something dif... »
What is Attentional Bias? Attentional Bias is like a filter in our minds that makes us notice some things more than others. It’s kind of like when you’re listening to music and despite all the different instruments, you might only pick up on the guitar because it’s your favorite. With Attentional Bias, our brains do this automatically. Sometimes it’s like we have a set of i... »
What is Anchoring Bias? Anchoring Bias is a tricky part of our thinking process. It happens when the first bit of information we get sticks in our mind and influences how we think about things afterward. Imagine you’re trying to figure out how much something should cost or what decision to make, and the first number or opinion you hear sets the stage for your thinking, even if it’s not... »
Defining Ambiguity Effect The Ambiguity Effect is like choosing a familiar path in the woods over a new one, because the new path looks unknown and a bit scary. We feel safer on the path we’ve traveled before. This choice happens even when the new path could be better for us. Another simple definition is that it’s like always picking an old favorite book from your shelf instead of a ne... »
What is Zipf’s Paradox? Imagine you have a bag of jellybeans with lots of different flavors. Some flavors you find a lot, while others only appear once or twice. Zipf’s Paradox is kind of like that, but with words or things in a list. The idea is that the most common item is really common, but as you move down the list, each item gets less and less common, in a specific way. For exampl... »
What is a Zero-sum Game? A zero-sum game is when two or more people are involved in a situation, like a game or a contest, and for one person to win something, someone else has to lose the same exact thing. Think of it like a pizza—there are only so many slices, so if one person takes half the pizza, everyone else has to share the rest. This is just like saying the total amount of pizza stays the ... »