cognitive bias

A systematic pattern of deviation from rationality in judgement — mental shortcuts (heuristics) that produce predictable errors in thinking, decision-making, and perception.

• (compound term; related: biased /ˈbaɪəst/ (adj))

• cognitive bias in decision-making
• list of cognitive biases
• overcome cognitive bias
• confirmation bias
• anchoring bias
• availability bias

1. 1.Confirmation bias — seeking information that supports your existing beliefs while ignoring contradictory evidence — is perhaps the most pervasive cognitive bias in politics, science, and everyday life. (selective evidence processing)
2. 2.The anchoring bias causes people to rely too heavily on the first piece of information they receive: an initial price tag, even if arbitrary, shapes all subsequent negotiations. (first-information dependency)

• thinking error (informal)
• systematic error (in judgement)
• irrational tendency (predisposition to flawed reasoning)

"cognitive" from Latin "cognoscere" (to know) + "bias" from Old French "biais" (slant, oblique) — a slant in knowing