And we’ll generally tend to weigh the significance of the new value by the direction the change happened (positive or negative) more than re-evaluating the new value as if it had been presented alone. Also applies to when we compare two similar things. Anchoring A cognitive bias that describes the… Read More »We notice when something has changed
We notice flaws in others more easily than we notice flaws in ourselves. Yes, before you see this entire article as a list of quirks that compromise how other people think, realize that you are also subject to these biases. Bias Blind Spot The cognitive bias of recognizing the impact… Read More »We notice flaws in others more easily
We notice things already primed in memory or repeated often. This is the simple rule that our brains are more likely to notice things that are related to stuff that’s recently been loaded in memory. Attentional Bias The tendency for people’s perception to be affected by their recurring thoughts at… Read More »We notice things repeated often
We are drawn to details that confirm our own existing beliefs. This is a big one. As is the corollary: we tend to ignore details that contradicts our own beliefs. Confirmation Bias (Confirmatory Bias, Myside Bias) The tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that… Read More »We are drawn to certain details
Bizarre, funny, visually-striking, or anthropomorphic things stick out more than non-bizarre/unfunny things. Our brains tend to boost the importance of things that are unusual or surprising. Alternatively, we tend to skip over information that we think is ordinary or expected. Bizarreness Effect The tendency of bizarre material to be better… Read More »Certain things stick out more than others
