The value-action gap is a psychological phenomenon where people act in a manner that is inconsistent with their personal values. This means that the value-action gap occurs when people act in a way that fails to support their values, or in a way that contradicts those values entirely. For example, a prevalent value-action gap …
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The confirmation bias is a cognitive bias that causes people to search for, favor, interpret, and recall information in a way that confirms their preexisting beliefs. For example, if someone is presented with a lot of information on a certain topic, the confirmation bias can cause them to only remember the bits of information …
Read moreThe Confirmation Bias: Why People See What They Want to See
Many people like to listen to music or background noise while they perform various activities, such as working, studying, or exercising. Research shows that this can be beneficial, since music and background noise offer a range of benefits when it comes to factors such as productivity, creativity, concentration, and mood. While it’s possible to …
The gambler’s fallacy is the mistaken belief that if an event occurred more frequently than expected in the past then it’s less likely to occur in the future (and vice versa), in a situation where these occurrences are independent of one another. For example, the gambler’s fallacy can cause someone to mistakenly assume that if …
Read moreThe Gambler’s Fallacy: What It Is and How to Avoid It
Debiasing is a process through which the influence of cognitive biases is reduced, generally with the goal of helping people think in a more rational and optimal manner. Debiasing is usually accomplished through the use of various debiasing techniques, that can work on any number and type of cognitive biases. For example, when it comes to …
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A cognitive bias is a systematic pattern of deviation from rationality, which occurs due to the way our cognitive system works. Accordingly, cognitive biases cause us to be irrational in the way we search for, evaluate, interpret, judge, use, and remember information, as well as in the way we make decisions. For example, one …
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The humor effect is a psychological phenomenon that causes people to remember information better when they perceive that information as humorous. For example, when students are taught a new concept in a humorous way, such as through a funny story, they’re generally more likely to remember that concept, compared to if it was taught …
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Learned helplessness is a state of mind where someone believes that they are unable to act effectively, especially when it comes to avoiding negative outcomes, following their past experiences. For example, if a student tries hard at school but keeps failing, they can develop learned helplessness and decide to give up on their studies, …
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Rosy retrospection is a cognitive bias that causes people to remember past events as being more positive than they were in reality. For example, rosy retrospection could cause someone to remember their childhood years as being more joyful than they actually were. Declinism is the belief that a certain entity, such as a country …
Read moreRosy Retrospection and Declinism: Why the Past Looks Great and the Future Is Frightening
It can be hard to come up with innovative solutions to various problems. Most people assume that being innovative is a fixed personality trait, meaning that you either have it or you don’t. However, research shows that while personality does play a role in innovative ability, innovation is something that can be learned, even …
Read moreHow to Be More Innovative: Identify and Use Obscure Features