40 Biases in Category

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We notice things already primed in memory or repeated often

Availability Heuristic
We overestimate the likelihood of events that come easily to mind, often due to recent exposure or emotional impact.
Attentional Bias
We pay more attention to certain things while ignoring others, often based on our current emotional state or concerns.
Illusory Truth Effect
We tend to believe information is true after repeated exposure, regardless of its actual validity.
Mere Exposure Effect
We develop a preference for things simply because we are familiar with them.
Context Effect
Our perception of stimuli is influenced by the surrounding context or environment.
Cue-Dependent Forgetting
We fail to recall information without memory cues that were present when the memory was encoded.
Mood-Congruent Memory Bias
We recall memories that match our current emotional state more easily.
Frequency Illusion (Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon)
Once we notice something for the first time, we tend to notice it more often, leading us to believe it's suddenly everywhere.
Empathy Gap
We underestimate the influence of emotional states on our own and others' behavior and decisions.
Omission Bias
We judge harmful actions as worse than equally harmful inactions (omissions).
Base Rate Fallacy
We ignore general statistical information (base rates) in favor of specific information about an individual case.

Bizarre, funny, visually-striking, or anthropomorphic things stick out more

Bizarreness Effect
We remember bizarre or unusual material better than common material.
Humor Effect
We remember humorous information better than non-humorous information.
Von Restorff Effect
An item that stands out (is distinctive) from its surroundings is more likely to be remembered.
Picture Superiority Effect
We remember pictures better than words.
Self-Relevance Effect
We remember information better when it relates to ourselves.
Negativity Bias
We give more psychological weight to negative experiences than positive ones of equal intensity.

We notice when something has changed

Anchoring
We rely too heavily on the first piece of information we encounter (the "anchor") when making decisions.
Conservatism Bias
We insufficiently revise our beliefs when presented with new evidence.
Contrast Effect
We perceive things differently depending on what we've recently been exposed to for comparison.
Distinction Bias
We view two options as more different when evaluating them simultaneously than when evaluating them separately.
Focusing Effect
We place too much importance on one aspect of an event, causing errors in predicting future outcomes.
Framing Effect
We draw different conclusions from the same information depending on how it's presented.
Money Illusion
We think of currency in nominal rather than real (inflation-adjusted) terms.
Weber–Fechner Law
We perceive changes in stimuli proportionally to their initial magnitude (a small change in a large stimulus is less noticeable).

We are drawn to details that confirm our existing beliefs

Confirmation Bias
We search for, interpret, and recall information in a way that confirms our preexisting beliefs.
Congruence Bias
We test hypotheses exclusively through direct testing, neglecting to test alternative hypotheses.
Choice-Supportive Bias
We remember our choices as better than they actually were.
Selective Perception
We filter what we see and hear based on our expectations and beliefs.
Observer-Expectancy Effect
A researcher's expectations can influence the participants' behavior in a study.
Experimenter's Bias
Experimenters' expectations unconsciously influence the outcome of their research.
Observer Effect
The act of observing something changes the thing being observed.
Expectation Bias
We see what we expect to see in data or observations.
Ostrich Effect
We avoid negative information by "burying our heads in the sand."
Subjective Validation
We perceive two unrelated events as connected because of our belief, expectation, or hypothesis that they should be.
Continued Influence Effect
Misinformation continues to influence our thinking even after it has been corrected.
Semmelweis Reflex
We reflexively reject new evidence that contradicts established norms or beliefs.

We notice flaws in others more easily than flaws in ourselves

Bias Blind Spot
We recognize cognitive biases in others but fail to see them in ourselves.
Naïve Cynicism
We expect others to be more self-interested than they actually are.
Naïve Realism
We believe we see the world objectively and that people who disagree must be uninformed, irrational, or biased.