Cognitive Biases of Information Overload

The availability heuristic is a cognitive shortcut in which people estimate the likelihood or importance of events based on how easily examples come to mind.

Attentional bias is a tendency to focus attention on certain types of information while ignoring others.

The illusory truth effect is a bias in which repeated statements are perceived as more true than new ones.

The mere-exposure effect is a psychological phenomenon where repeated exposure to a stimulus increases liking for it.

The context effect describes how surrounding information influences perception, judgment, and memory.

Cue-dependent forgetting occurs when information cannot be recalled because the appropriate retrieval cues are missing.

Mood-congruent memory bias is the tendency to recall memories that match one’s current emotional state.

The frequency illusion is a cognitive bias where after noticing something once, it seems to appear more frequently.

The Baader–Meinhof Phenomenon is another name for the frequency illusion, where something newly learned seems to appear everywhere.

The empathy gap is a cognitive bias where people underestimate the influence of emotional states on behavior.

Omission bias is the tendency to judge harmful actions as worse than equally harmful inactions.

The base rate fallacy occurs when people ignore general statistical information in favor of specific anecdotes.

The bizarreness effect is a memory phenomenon in which unusual or bizarre information is remembered better than ordinary information.

The humor effect is a memory phenomenon in which humorous information is remembered better than non-humorous information.

The Von Restorff effect is a memory phenomenon in which distinctive items are remembered better than similar surrounding items.

The picture superiority effect is a memory phenomenon in which images are remembered better than words.

The self-relevance effect is a memory phenomenon in which information related to oneself is remembered better than other information.

Negativity bias is a cognitive bias in which negative events or information have a stronger impact on attention, memory, and judgment than positive ones.

Anchoring is a cognitive bias in which people rely too heavily on the first piece of information they receive when making judgments or decisions.

Conservatism is a cognitive bias in which people update their beliefs too slowly in response to new evidence.

The contrast effect is a bias in which the evaluation of an item is influenced by comparisons with recently encountered items.

Distinction bias is a tendency to overestimate differences between options when they are evaluated side by side.

The focusing effect is a bias where people place too much importance on one aspect of an event while ignoring others.

The framing effect is a bias where decisions are influenced by how information is presented rather than by the information itself.

Money illusion is a bias in which people think in nominal monetary terms rather than real purchasing power.

The Weber–Fechner law describes the relationship between physical stimulus intensity and perceived sensation.

Confirmation bias is a cognitive bias in which people seek, interpret, and remember information that confirms their existing beliefs.

Congruence bias is the tendency to test hypotheses in ways that confirm rather than challenge them.

Post-purchase rationalization is a bias where people justify a decision after making it by emphasizing its positives.

Choice-supportive bias is the tendency to remember chosen options as better than they actually were.

Selective perception is the tendency to perceive information that aligns with expectations while ignoring conflicting data.

The observer-expectancy effect occurs when a researcher’s expectations influence observations or outcomes.

Experimenter's bias refers to systematic errors introduced by researchers during study design, data collection, or interpretation.

The observer effect occurs when individuals alter behavior because they know they are being observed.

Expectation bias is the tendency for expectations to influence perception, judgment, and interpretation.

The ostrich effect is the tendency to avoid negative or threatening information.

Subjective validation is the tendency to accept vague or general statements as personally meaningful.

The continued influence effect occurs when misinformation continues to affect beliefs even after correction.

The Semmelweis reflex is the tendency to reject new information because it contradicts established beliefs or norms.

Bias blind spot is a cognitive bias in which people recognize biases in others but fail to see the same biases in themselves.

Naïve cynicism is the tendency to assume that others are motivated primarily by self-interest, bias, or hidden agendas.

Naïve realism is the belief that one sees the world objectively and that those who disagree are uninformed, irrational, or biased.