List of cognitive biases

Cognitive biases are tendencies to think in certain ways that can lead to systematic deviations from a standard of rationality or good judgment, and are often studied in psychology and behavioral economics. There are also controversies over some of these biases as to whether they count as useless or irrational, or whether they result in useful attitudes or behavior. For example, when getting to know others, people tend to ask leading questions which seem biased towards confirming their assumptions about the person. However, this kind of confirmation bias has also been argued to be an example of social skill: a way to establish a connection with the other person.[7] Although this research overwhelmingly involves human subjects, some findings that demonstrate bias have been found in non-human animals as well. For example, hyperbolic discounting has been observed in rats, pigeons, and monkeys.[8] Decision-making, belief, and behavioral biases[edit] Social biases[edit] Debiasing[edit] Related: The human brain and the mind

Cognitive dissonance In psychology, cognitive dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time, or is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values.[1][2] Leon Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance focuses on how humans strive for internal consistency. When inconsistency (dissonance) is experienced, individuals tend to become psychologically uncomfortable and they are motivated to attempt to reduce this dissonance, as well as actively avoiding situations and information which are likely to increase it.[1] Relationship between cognitions[edit] Individuals can adjust their attitudes or actions in various ways. Consonant relationship – Two cognitions/actions that are consistent with one another (e.g., not wanting to get intoxicated while out, then ordering water instead of alcohol) Magnitude of dissonance[edit] Reducing[edit] Theory and research[edit] Examples[edit] E.

Neuroscience News - Neuroscience Research Neuroscience Labs Neuroscience Jobs Neuroscience Books Reviews Neuroscience Forums Social Network Does Language Shape What We Think? My seventh-grade English teacher exhorted us to study vocabulary with the following: "We think in words. The more words you know, the more thoughts you can have." This compound notion that language allows you to have ideas otherwise un-haveable, and that by extension people who own different words live in different conceptual worlds -- called "Whorfianism" after its academic evangelist, Benjamin Lee Whorf -- is so pervasive in modern thought as to be unremarkable. Eskimos, as is commonly reported, have myriads of words for snow, affecting how they perceive frozen percipitation. A popular book on English notes that, unlike English, "French and German can distinguish between knowledge that results from recognition ... and knowledge that results from understanding." For all its social success, Whorfianism has fared less well scientifically. Oh, and Eskimos don't have all that many words for snow. The lack of number words had a profound and surprising effect on what the Pirahã could do.

Mind42 - Free Online Mind Map The end is always nigh in the human mind - opinion - 07 June 2011 Why are we so attracted to prophecies of doom, from religious raptures to environmental collapse? It's part of our psychology IN 1919, William Butler Yeats wrote The Second Coming, an allegory of the atmosphere in Europe after the carnage of the first world war. Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhereThe ceremony of innocence is drowned;The best lack all conviction, while the worstAre full of passionate intensity. The poem draws heavily on the mythic narrative of the apocalypse - or at least the first half of it, destruction. What usually follows is rebirth and redemption, a second chance, life born anew. The latest incarnation of the destruction-redemption myth is brought to you by numerological number-cruncher and evangelical Christian radio host Harold Camping. Like Camping's rapture, many of these prognostications have failed to unfold. Why, then, do we find the basic narrative so appealing?

Human Thought Controls Neurons in Brain Neuroscience research involving epileptic patients with brain electrodes surgically implanted in their medial temporal lobes shows that patients learned to consciously control individual neurons deep in the brain with thoughts. Subjects learned to control mouse cursors, play video games and alter focus of digital images with their thoughts. The patients were each using brain computer interfaces, deep brain electrodes and software designed for the research. The article below offers more detail. Controlling Individual Cortical Nerve Cells by Human Thought Five years ago, neuroscientist Christof Koch of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) , neurosurgeon Itzhak Fried of UCLA, and their colleagues discovered that a single neuron in the human brain can function much like a sophisticated computer and recognize people, landmarks, and objects, suggesting that a consistent and explicit code may help transform complex visual representations into long-term and more abstract memories.

Enhancing Brains Editor’s note: In 2008, Henry T. Greely, a professor at Stanford Law School, co-authored a commentary in Nature; it concluded that “safe and effective cognitive enhancers will benefit both the individual and society.” The article inspired an impressive number of responses from readers, and the debate has continued in scholarly journals and the mainstream media in the years following publication. Here Professor Greely builds on that momentum, arguing that only some concerns about cognitive enhancements are justified and proper attention is needed to address such issues. He contends that rather than banning cognitive enhancements, as some have suggested, we should determine rules for their use. Probing that question is my ultimate aim in this article, but we will get there somewhat indirectly. Note first, though, that this is largely a hypothetical discussion, as cognitive enhancement remains largely in the future. Why Cognitive Enhancement—and What Kinds of Enhancements?

Overview of Creative Methods Overview of Creative Methods Alla Zusman September, 1998 Southfield, Michigan, USA Objectives of this report To research the availability of various methods dealing with creativity, innovation and problem solving, for the purpose of understanding the market. To identify the key players and the way in which they could be linked and/or positioned. Introduction There are three connected (and partially overlapping) areas of human activity related to any kind of development: Creativity Problem solving Design According to James M. Problem solving is the process required when we seek some kind of a resolution, such as removal of a drawback or achievement of a specific enhancement or improvement. Studying the natural creative process, psychologists defined it as the trial-and-error method and have identified the phenomenon of psychological inertia (see Figure 1). Classification of creative techniques Depending on the methods and means utilized, creative techniques can be categorized as follows: 1.