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Question		Answer
Anchoring Bias start learning		The tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information received (the "anchor") when making decisions. Estimating the price of a used car based on the first price seen, regardless of further information.
Apophenia start learning		The tendency to perceive meaningful connections between unrelated things. Seeing patterns in stock market movements that are actually random.
Availability Heuristic start learning		Overestimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory. Thinking that plane crashes are more common than they are after seeing a news report about a plane crash.
Cognitive Dissonance start learning		The mental discomfort experienced by a person who holds contradictory beliefs or ideas. Continuing to smoke despite knowing it's unhealthy.
Confirmation Bias start learning		The tendency to search for, interpret, focus on, and remember information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions. Only reading news articles that align with your political beliefs.
Egocentric Bias start learning		Over-reliance on one's own perspective and a different perception of oneself compared to others. Thinking your contribution to a project was more significant than it actually was.
Extension Neglect start learning		Overlooking the size of the sample or scope of a problem when evaluating it. Ignoring the rarity of winning in a large lottery when buying a ticket.
False Priors start learning		Initial beliefs or knowledge that interfere with the unbiased evaluation of evidence. Assuming a medical treatment is ineffective based on past beliefs despite new evidence showing its effectiveness.
Framing Effect start learning		Drawing different conclusions from the same information based on how that information is presented. More people choosing surgery when told the “survival” rate rather than the “mortality” rate.
Logical Fallacy start learning		Error in reasoning that renders an argument invalid. Assuming that correlation implies causation.
Prospect Theory start learning		People value gains and losses differently, leading to irrational financial choices. Preferring a certain gain over a probable larger gain with some risk.
Self-assessment start learning		Misjudgment of one’s abilities or condition. Overestimating one's own driving skills.
Truth Judgment start learning		Bias in evaluating the truth of a statement or belief. Believing a statement is true because it has been heard repeatedly.
Common Source Bias start learning		The tendency to combine or compare information from the same or similar sources. Relying solely on a single news outlet for information on a complex issue.
Conservatism Bias start learning		The tendency to insufficiently revise one's beliefs when presented with new evidence. Sticking to traditional investing strategies despite new trends suggesting a change in the market.
Functional Fixedness start learning		A limitation in thinking, where one is unable to use an object beyond its traditional use. Not realizing you can use a coin as a screwdriver in the absence of actual tools.
Law of the Instrument start learning		Over-reliance on a familiar tool or method. Using a hammer for tasks that would be better served by other tools, like a screwdriver.
Clustering Illusion start learning		The tendency to overestimate the importance of small patterns in large sets of data. Seeing trends in stock market movements that are actually random.
Illusory Correlation start learning		Perceiving a relationship between two unrelated events. Believing that wearing a certain color increases chances of winning a game.
Pareidolia start learning		Tendency to interpret a vague stimulus as something familiar. Seeing shapes in clouds or a face on the moon.
Anthropocentric Thinking start learning		Using human analogies for understanding non-human biological phenomena. Assuming animals have human-like family structures.
Anthropomorphism start learning		Attributing human characteristics to animals, objects, or abstract concepts. Believing a pet dog feels guilty for misbehaving.
Attentional Bias start learning		The tendency of our perception to be affected by our recurring thoughts. Noticing more cars like yours after you buy one.
Frequency Illusion start learning		Once noticing something, seeing it everywhere, leading to a belief it's common. After learning a new word, you start noticing it in conversations and readings frequently.
Implicit Association start learning		Unconscious associations that influence attitudes and decisions. Subconsciously associating certain foods with comfort due to childhood experiences.
Salience Bias start learning		Focusing on items that are more prominent and ignoring unremarkable ones. Remembering only the dramatic events of a trip and forgetting the mundane details.
Selection Bias start learning		A bias caused by the non-random selection of participants. Conducting a survey on physical activity in a gym, leading to skewed results.
Survivorship Bias start learning		Focusing only on the surviving examples, thus getting a distorted view of reality. Studying only successful companies while ignoring failed ones.
Well-travelled Road Effect start learning		Underestimating the duration taken to travel familiar routes and overestimating for unfamiliar ones. Thinking your daily commute takes less time than it actually does.
Normalcy Bias start learning		The refusal to plan for, or react to, a disaster which has never occurred before. Ignoring evacuation warnings because you've never experienced a major disaster.
Effort Justification start learning		Attributing greater value to an outcome if significant effort was put into achieving it. Valuing a piece of furniture you assembled yourself more than a pre-assembled one
Ben Franklin Effect start learning		A person who has done someone a favor is more likely to do them another favor. Feeling more positively towards someone after you lent them help.
Backfire Effect start learning		Reacting to disconfirming evidence by strengthening one's previous beliefs. Holding onto a conspiracy theory even more tightly when presented with facts that contradict it.
Congruence Bias start learning		The tendency to test hypotheses through direct testing, instead of considering alternative explanations. Only focusing on evidence that supports your hypothesis in an experiment.
Experimenter’s Bias start learning		The tendency for experimenters to believe, certify, and publish data that agree with their expectations. A researcher finding results that align with their hypothesis and overlooking contrary data.
Observer-Expectancy Effect start learning		When a researcher's expectations unintentionally influence the outcome of a study. Subconsciously giving cues to human or animal subjects in experiments.
Selective Perception start learning		The tendency for expectations to affect perception. Hearing what you want to hear in a conversation or a debate.
Semmelweis Reflex start learning		The tendency to reject new evidence that contradicts an established paradigm. Dismissing new research because it doesn't fit with traditional methods or understanding.
Egocentric Bias start learning		Relying too heavily on one's own perspective and/or having a higher opinion of oneself than others. Thinking your memories are more accurate than others' recollections.
Bias Blind Spot start learning		Seeing oneself as less biased than other people. Believing that you are not influenced by advertising, unlike others.
False Consensus Effect start learning		Overestimating the extent to which others share your opinions and beliefs. Assuming everyone in your circle feels the same way about a political issue.
False Uniqueness Bias start learning		Believing your abilities or interests are more unique than they actually are. Thinking you're the only one who appreciates a certain type of music in your group.
Forer Effect (Barnum Effect) start learning		The tendency to give high accuracy ratings to vague and general personality descriptions. Believing a horoscope is tailored specifically to you, despite it being generic.
Illusion of Asymmetric Insight start learning		Believing one's knowledge of their peers surpasses their peers' knowledge of them. Thinking you understand your friends better than they understand you.
Illusion of Control start learning		The tendency to overestimate one's degree of influence over external events. Believing your actions can influence the outcome of a completely random event like a lottery draw.
Illusion of Transparency start learning		Overestimating how well others understand your personal mental state. Assuming your nervousness is obvious to others when it's not.
Illusion of Validity start learning		Overestimating the accuracy of one's judgments. Being confident in a stock market prediction based on patterns you've noticed.
Illusory Superiority start learning		Overestimating one's desirable qualities and underestimating undesirable qualities compared to others. Believing you're more skilled than your coworkers.
Naïve Cynicism start learning		Expecting more self-interest driven actions in others than in oneself. Assuming others are more biased or selfish in their actions than you would be in the same situation.
Naïve Realism start learning		Belief that we see the world objectively, and those who disagree are uninformed, irrational, or biased. Feeling that people with different political views just don't understand the 'facts'.
Overconfidence Effect start learning		Excessive confidence in one's own answers to questions. Being sure about the facts in a trivia game, only to find out they're incorrect.
Planning Fallacy start learning		Underestimating the time it will take to complete a task. Thinking a work project will take two days when it actually takes a week.
Restraint Bias start learning		Overestimating one's ability to control impulsive behavior. Thinking you can resist eating junk food when it's readily available, but then eating it anyway.
Trait Ascription Bias start learning		Viewing oneself as more variable in terms of personality, behavior, and mood than others. Believing that you react differently in different situations, but others always react the same way.
Third-person Effect start learning		Belief that mass communicated media messages have a greater effect on others than on oneself. Thinking that advertising influences other people, but not believing it influences you.
Base Rate Fallacy start learning		Ignoring general information in favor of specifics in the evaluation of a decision or event. Overlooking the fact that serious diseases are rare when diagnosing a common symptom.
Compassion Fade start learning		Being less moved by suffering as the number of victims increases. Feeling more sympathy for a single starving child than for a large group of starving children.
Conjunction Fallacy start learning		Assuming that specific conditions are more probable than general ones. Thinking a bank teller is more likely to be a bank teller and a feminist than just a bank teller.

Language Studies Cognitive Biases

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