Introduction
My friend may be very confident about having found the right answers to his dissertation research question; however, he needs to be aware of the phenomenon of cognitive biases in the research process. This is because occurrence of cognitive bias may affect the credibility of a research and render it erroneous. More so, cognitive biases are more subtle and difficult to comprehend as compared to other research related biases. It is related to one’s common sense and the way information is perceived and synthesised. Thus, it is important to be better aware of this bias and avoid failures in projects. The paper attempts to understand the meaning of cognitive bias and its relevance in the research process, taking my friend’s example.
The paper is divided into four sections. The first section defines cognitive bias. The second section identifies positive and negative consequences of cognitive bias in the research process. The third section discusses the application of cognitive biases for my friend’s research process. The fourth section concludes the paper.
Definition of Cognitive Bias
Cognitive bias is a limitation of the human mind in conducting flawless research. According to the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States, cognitive biases are mental errors that are caused by the human tendency to simplify information processing (Cia.gov, 2007). It is different from other biases that are easier to understand and identify. This error occurs from our innate quality of being human (Taylor, 2011). Even awareness does not help changing perception or the mental processing of information. This does not conclude that the entire process of information synthesising and judgement formation is erroneous. It merely highlights that a bias may be more prominent in a particular group of people as compared to others. People with emotional disorders may also display cognitive bias (MacLeod and Holmes, 2012).
Positive Consequences of Cognitive Bias
Cognitive bias is important in research for a variety of reasons. First, enabling simplification of information processing is the most important aspect of cognitive bias. It has certain adaptive value in today’s environment of information overload and complexity. Second, cognitive bias helps in creating shortcuts, enabling simplifying information processing and quick decision making. Thus, it helps “make our world more predictable and absorb new information consistently with what we already know” (Krause, 2008). Third, it displays group behaviour and may help in categorising people and mapping their intelligence.
Negative Consequences of Cognitive Bias
Cognitive bias can be dangerous causing chaotic and catastrophic decisions. Being human makes leaders prone to cognitive biases. The leaders are responsible for making critical decision for organisations as well nations. As a result of this fundamental limitation, they can make a wrong estimate of risk and returns of a project. They may underestimate the risks associate with a project, leading to project failure. Failure of projects may be detrimental for the organisation and the economy as a whole. Some common forms of cognitive biases are confirmation bias, anchoring bias, bandwagon effect, overconfidence effect, illusion of control and false consensus effect.
Confirmation bias is building research on preconceived notions and attempting to substantiate it with the help of information. The relevance of information is based on their feeling of right and wrong. Thus, their research is biased as they seek only that information that confirms their pre-existing beliefs. Anchoring bias is the common human tendency to give more importance to one piece of information than to others while making decisions. It leads to subjective distribution of probability and underestimates failures (Kahneman, 1974). Following the group or going by the latest fashion, trend and popularity causes another bias known as the bandwagon effect. Overconfidence bias is created by giving more weightage to one’s own predictions and judgements. Illusion of control is a belief that one has more control over situation that one actually does (Taylor, 2011). False consensus effect is a belief that most of the people are in support of one’s argument, ignoring the opposing views. These biases can also take the form of socio-cognitive bias that means distortion of other’s intentions (Lahera et. al., 2012).
Application of Cognitive Bias
Taking the example of my friend, it is evident that he suffers from a few types of cognitive biases. First of all, research involving only internet research results in cognitive bias. Second, he suffers from confirmation bias as his search for information was based on his gut feeling and not on the dissertation question. Third, false consensus bias may have been created as he attempted to look for information supporting his argument, rather than conducting an impartial research. This resulted in creating a belief in him that his research is going in the right direction and could have formed an anchoring bias as well. Fourth, the confidence that his research was going great and over reliance on his judgement may have created an overconfidence bias in his research. Lastly, he suffers from illusion of control as he believes that the situation is under his control and he is performing great.
Thus, it is important that my friend is sensitive of the phenomenon of cognitive bias. It may help him understand his thought process, perceptions and common biases he is prone to. This will enable him to avoid instances that may lead to these biases. Though cognitive bias cannot be completely eliminated, an understanding of one’s biases may help reduce the frequency of these mental errors.
Reference
Central Intelligence Agency (2007). What are Cognitive Biases? [online]. [Accessed 4 June 2012]. Available at: <https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/psychology-of-intelligence-analysis/art12.html>.
Krause, Thomas R. (2008). The Role of Cognitive Bias in Safety Decisions. [online]. [Accessed 4 June 2012]. Available at: <http://ehstoday.com/mag/role_cognitive_bias/>.
Kahneman, Daniel (1974) Judgement under Uncertainty. Science [online]. 185 (4157) pp. 1124-1131 [Accessed 4 June 2012]. Available at: <http://www.hss.caltech.edu/~camerer/Ec101/JudgementUncertainty.pdf>
Lahera, Gullimero et. al. (2012). Socio-Cognitive Bias and Depressive Symptoms in Outpatients with Bipolar Disorder. Depression Research and Treatment [online]. [Accessed 4 June 2012]. Available at: doi <10.1155/2012/670549>
MacLeod, Colin and Holmes, Emily A. (2012) Cognitive Bias Modification: An Intervention Approach worth Attending to. The American Journal of Psychiatry [online]. 169 (2) pp. 118-120 [Accessed 4 June 2012]. Available at: <http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleid=483677>
Taylor, Jim (2011). Understanding Cognitive Bias. [online]. [Accessed 4 June 2012]. Available at: <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-jim-taylor/cognitive-biases_b_896421.html>.
