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Recognizing Cognitive Biases
Learn to evaluate factors that influence your decision-makingPreview the first lesson free — get full access to all 8 lessons.
Intermediate Provider : Victor Kersey 8 Lessons · 21m in Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese
Course Description
Cognitive biases are patterns of thought that stray away from rational judgment. These can lead to long-term stagnation and missed opportunities for growth. In this course, we discuss the biases that cause us to poorly assess risks, choices, and performance. You’ll take a closer look at some of the negative effects of confirmation bias, base rate bias, availability bias, sunk cost bias, and overconfidence.
You’ll learn to make informed decisions and keep flexible but well-supported beliefs. Discover what belief perseverance is and how it can contradict facts and evidence. You’ll be able to avoid thought patterns that make us more attached to our ideas despite new information. We look at the false positive paradox to consider the probability of an outcome and a test’s accuracy, so you can interpret results and make decisions based on them–including the choice to consult more testing or information to avoid false positives. After this course, you’ll be able to identify when people make judgments or decisions based on how easily they remember relevant examples or information. We talk about when it’s best to stop investing in a project and avoid the sunk cost bias. As we cover plan continuation bias, you’ll develop the skills and knowledge to reject a plan that’s no longer appropriate and effective.
This course on Recognizing Cognitive Biases will help you understand the different types of bias that can influence your decision-making. You’ll learn how bias can alter your perception, so you can avoid making errors in judgment by understanding the negative impacts that cognitive biases can have.
What You'll Learn
- Recognize cognitive biases that stray from rational judgment, including confirmation, base rate, availability, sunk cost, anchoring, and overconfidence biases
- Identify biases that interfere with judgment and distort your perception of risks, choices, and performance
- Apply the false positive paradox to weigh outcome probability against a test's accuracy when interpreting results
- Practice making more effective, informed decisions while keeping flexible but well-supported beliefs
- Determine when to stop investing in a project to avoid the sunk cost bias
- Reject a plan that is no longer appropriate by understanding plan continuation bias
Key Takeaways
- Cognitive biases are patterns of thought that stray away from rational judgment and can lead to long-term stagnation and missed opportunities for growth.
- Confirmation, base rate, availability, sunk cost, and overconfidence biases cause people to poorly assess risks, choices, and performance.
- Belief perseverance makes us more attached to our ideas despite new information and can contradict facts and evidence.
- The false positive paradox involves weighing the probability of an outcome against a test's accuracy, which may call for more testing or information to avoid false positives.
- Understanding the negative impacts of cognitive biases helps you avoid errors in judgment and make better decisions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What cognitive biases does this course cover?
The course covers confirmation bias, base rate bias, availability bias, sunk cost bias, the overconfidence effect, hindsight bias, anchoring bias, belief perseverance, the false positive paradox, and plan continuation bias.
What will I be able to do after taking this course?
You'll be able to recognize cognitive biases, identify biases interfering with judgment, and practice making more effective decisions, so you can avoid errors in judgment and keep flexible but well-supported beliefs.
How is the course structured?
The course includes lessons on an Introduction, Confirmation Bias, Base Rate Bias, Availability Bias, Sunk Cost Bias, The Overconfidence Effect and Hindsight Bias, Anchoring Bias, and a Test Your Knowledge section.
What skills will I gain from this course?
You'll build skills in decision making, influencing, cognitive processing, cognitive strategies, and recognizing cognitive distortion and biasing.
Professional Certifications and Continuing Education Units (CEUs)
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