PLG 800 Lecture 2: Forms of Cognitive Bias
28 Jan 2019
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
People are over-reliant on the first piece of information they hear. For example, in a salary negotiation whoever makes the first offer establishes a range of reasonable possibilities in each person"s mind. People over-estimate the importance of information that is available to them. For example, a person may argue that smoking is not unhealthy because they know someone who lived to the age of 105 while smoking three packs a day. The probability of one person adopting a belief increases based on the number of people who hold the belief. This is a form of group think and is a reason why meetings are often unproductive. When a person chooses something they tend to feel positive about it even if that choice has serious flaws. Example you may think that your dog is totally awesome even if it bites people on a regular basis. We tend to listen only to information that confirms our preconceptions.
