{"id":2966,"date":"2021-05-14T12:04:38","date_gmt":"2021-05-14T02:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bprworld.com\/?p=2966"},"modified":"2021-05-14T15:13:25","modified_gmt":"2021-05-14T05:13:25","slug":"80-fat-free-or-20-fat-added-the-dangers-of-cognitive-bias","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/news\/80-fat-free-or-20-fat-added-the-dangers-of-cognitive-bias\/","title":{"rendered":"80% Fat-Free or 20% Fat Added? The Dangers of Cognitive Bias"},"content":{"rendered":"

By David Kidd, BPR<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

One of the major findings in the study of psychology over the last 50 years has been what people had suspected all along: human thinking and judgment often isn\u2019t rational.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s all due to cognitive bias.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an example. If there were two yoghurt brands on the supermarket shelf and one says \u201c80% fat-free\u201d and the other one says \u201c20% fat added\u201d, which one do you think most people will pick? Yes, the study found the majority chose \u201c80% fat-free\u201d even though both had the same fat content.<\/p>\n

Cognitive bias\u00a0is the tendency to base conclusions and decisions on our predispositions rather than objective evidence.<\/p>\n

Cognitive bias is a strong preconceived perception of someone or something, based on information we have, think we have, or lack. These preconceptions are mental shortcuts the human brain produces to expedite the processing of information\u2026..to quickly help it make sense of what it is seeing or hearing.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, biases make it difficult for people to exchange accurate information. A cognitive bias distorts our critical thinking, leading to possibly perpetuating misconceptions or misinformation.<\/p>\n

Cognitive bias can be disastrous in strategic planning.<\/p>\n

Biases lead us to avoid information that may be unwelcome or doesn\u2019t sit with our preconceptions,\u00a0 rather than investigating the information that could lead us to a more accurate outcome.<\/p>\n

There are many types of cognitive biases and all serve as errors in a person\u2019s subjective way of thinking. The biases originate from that individual\u2019s own perceptions, observations or points of view.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll address just four types here.<\/p>\n

Confirmation bias<\/strong>. This type of bias is the tendency to seek out information that supports something you already believe and is a particularly harmful type of cognitive bias\u2026\u2026you remember the hits and forget the misses. Confirmation bias can also lead to the \u201costrich effect,\u201d where a person buries their head in the sand to avoid information that may disprove their original point. \u201cAll my friends love my new morning show\u2026\u2026the research must be wrong.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The Dunning-Kruger Effect<\/strong>. This particular bias refers to how people perceive a concept to be simplistic just because they don\u2019t have a lot of knowledge on the topic\u2026..the less you know about something, the less complicated it may appear. This form of bias limits curiosity\u2026..the desire to know more, to explore the \u201cwhy\u201d. Unfortunately, this bias can also lead people to think they are smarter than they actually are, because they have reduced a complex idea to a simplistic understanding. \u201cOur share of listening is up\u2026\u2026.we are improving\u201d. <\/em>Perhaps not\u2026.it could just be that overall listening is down and your station\u2019s average audience remained steady\u2026.it could be demos out of your target audience pumped up the figures\u2026..it could be any one of a number of\u00a0 anomalies.<\/p>\n

Availability bias<\/strong>. This bias refers to the tendency to use the information we can quickly recall when evaluating a topic or idea\u2026..even if this information is not the most accurate. Using this mental shortcut, we deem the information we can most easily recall as valid and ignore alternative solutions or opinions.\u00a0The bias operates under the principle that if you can think of it, it must be important. \u201cThe problem isn\u2019t the music. There was a story on the news today about information overload\u2026\u2026I think we\u2019re running too many commercials\u2026\u2026too many messages. We need an urgent revi<\/em>ew of inventory.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Status Quo bias. <\/strong>The status quo bias refers to the preference to keep things in their current state, while regarding any type of change as a loss. Change can be very scary for many people but this bias results in the difficulty to process or accept change that may be needed for a radio station to improve. Status Quo bias is connected to Loss Aversion bias\u2026. the potential for loss stands out in people’s minds much more prominently than the potential for gains. \u201cWe\u2019re not winning 25-39 females with the current format but if we change format we may lose even more\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

As a programmer, how can you deal with cognitive bias?<\/p>\n