Cognitive Biases

Representativeness Heuristics is described as how individuals judge the probability of a situation only based on stereotypes rather than considering the factual and statistical probability of a particular situation occurring. Although stereotypes can be useful when making rash and quick decisions they can also be very destructive. Often times there is an incorrect perception of individuals from various cultures, ages and social groups due to stereotypes. An example of stereotyping a particular segment of individuals is often used when speaking of success. Many students today consider those of Asian descent to be more academically successful compared to students of other races. This stereotype may or may not be true depending on the individual, however we must understand that a generic stereotype does not include everyone in a group. Although I myself am of South Asian descent, I often stereotype and consider those of Asian descent to be more knowledge. I was once with one of my very good friends who is of Asian descent, and the both of us were preparing for a test. I did not understand a particular topic, and using the stereotypes that I learnt I had assumed he knew, however he did not. At the time, I found that to be very surprising since I believed that all Asians knew everything. Although, I never acted surprised I was. This could have definitely had a negative effect on my ability to solve our problem, but it did not and the both of us were able to move past the representative heuristic and solve the problem the both of us were unsure of.

Anchoring and Adjusting Heuristic is described as using a starting piece of information and adjusting ourselves around it when it comes time to make decisions. Often times anchoring and adjusting heuristic is used when guessing how others feel by using one’s own feelings as an “anchor” or point of comparison, its allows us to relate to others more effectively. When my best friend’s grandmother past away she was obviously devastated and even although she had died due to complications relating to dementia and other heart conditions, I had tried to understand how she was feeling by comparing my grandfather’s death to her grandmothers. They were in no way similar, in the sense that her grandmother’s death was expected unlike my grandfather’s which was a complete surprise. The only way I thought I could help her was discussing what happened to me. This was obviously a mistake, because she was obviously grieving in a way different that how I did. At the time I did not understand that until some time afterwards when I had realized that the deaths were not similar and I truly did not understand what she was experiencing, as this anchoring heuristic was a negative effect on my ability to solve the problem. I found that the best way to understand how she was feeling was put my own experiences aside and focus on how she felt.

Conformation Bias is searching for evidence that fits ones own beliefs while ignoring and not considering any evidence that may contradict the beliefs of the particular individual. Conformation bias often plays a significant role when discussing topics that relate to prejudice, faith and tradition. Conformation bias can be quite a negative as it does not allow for other opinions and different outlooks on