What is Cognitive bias?
A cognitive bias is a systematic pattern of deviation from rational judgment, where people draw inferences about other people and situations in an illogical way. Unlike random errors, cognitive biases are predictable and consistent across populations.
How it works
Cognitive biases emerge from the brain’s reliance on mental shortcuts (heuristics) that work well in many situations but produce systematic errors in others. They are shaped by evolutionary pressures, limited cognitive capacity, and the need to make fast decisions with incomplete information.
Applied example
A hiring manager who consistently favors candidates who attended the same university is exhibiting affinity bias, a pattern that can persist even when the manager believes they are being objective.
Why it matters
Cataloguing cognitive biases helps designers, policymakers, and researchers anticipate where human judgment will predictably go wrong and build systems that account for these tendencies.
