Running head: COGNITIVE ERRORS AND BIASES 1

Cognitive Errors and Biases

Name

Institution
COGNITIVE ERRORS AND BIASES 2

Part I

Growing up, I have experienced several cognitive errors that I have become aware of

through my intellectual development. One of the biases that I experienced and became aware of

is the probability bias. When I began getting higher grades in mathematics, I would not even

study for my mathematics exams because I knew that I would automatically get higher grades in

the subsequent exams (Ackerman, 2019; Hartney, 2013). However, this was not the case as my

grades would fluctuate depending on whether I had prepared well for the mathematics exam or

not. Growing up, I realized that my mathematics grade did not depend on my previous grades,

rather on how well I had prepared for an exam.

Part II

At an earlier point in my life, my judgments and decisions solely relied on some

cognitive errors. The “one of us/one of them” error affected how I interacted with other people.

Our society has people from different communities. However, I would only identify myself with

white Americans because I am a white American. Whenever I met with the African Americans,

Asians or other individuals from a different ethnic background, either at school or the mall, I

would imagine “this is not one of us”. This notion affected my feelings towards people from

other races and ethnic backgrounds and would not even feel compassion for them when they got

into a problem as I would feel for the white Americans (Cherry, 2014). As I was growing up, I

got to understand that all human beings are the same regardless of the race, color of skin and

ethnic backgrounds. This has helped me to appreciate and embrace diversity, and change my

judgment and decisions towards people from other ethnic backgrounds.

Part III
COGNITIVE ERRORS AND BIASES 3

Our institution was holding a rally for electing student representatives. Several students

were vying for different representative seats and as students; we were supposed to elect the

‘president’ who is the overall student representative of the institution. One of the students who

were vying for the position of the president had all the qualities of a good leader but did not have

money to buy other students some snacks. His opponent, on the other hand, would buy students

snacks and drinks every time there was a rally. As other students were voting in the rich

candidate, I chose to vote in the candidate with good leadership skills because I had learned that

leadership is not about money or looks, but rather, the good leadership attributes that an

individual possesses. Even though he did not win the election, I knew that I had done what is

right. Earlier in my life, I would have chosen the rich candidate because of emotional reasoning

which influences how individuals make decisions based on what feels (Curran, 2015; Howard &

Sutorius, 2019). For example, I would have voted in the rich guy because I would have formed

negative emotional impressions with the guy cannot buy us snacks.

References
COGNITIVE ERRORS AND BIASES 4

Ackerman, C. (2019). Cognitive Distortions: When Your Brain Lies to You (+ PDF Worksheets).

Retrieved October 4, 2019, from https://positivepsychology.com/cognitive-distortions/

Cherry, K. (2014). How Cognitive Biases Influence How You Think and Act.

Retrieved October 4, 2019, from https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-cognitive-

bias-2794963

Curran, E. T. (2015). Outbreak Column 16: Cognitive errors in outbreak decision making.

Journal of infection prevention, 16(1), 32-38.

Hartney, E. (2011). 10 Cognitive Distortions That Can Lead to Addiction Relapse.

Retrieved October 4, 2019, from https://www.verywellmind.com/ten-cognitive-

distortions-identified-in-cbt-22412

Howard, J., & Sutorius. (2019). Cognitive Errors and Diagnostic Mistakes. Springer

International Publishing.