What is the Accentuation Effect

The accentuation effect is a psychological phenomenon that refers to the tendency to perceive differences between similar objects as more pronounced when they are divided into different categories. The effect, a key component of social identity theory, was initially identified by social psychologist Henri Tajfel in 1959. This principle suggests that categorization amplifies the perceived differences…

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Negativity Bias: Meaning and Examples

Negativity bias is a cognitive bias that compels individuals to give more weight to negative experiences or information compared to positive or neutral ones. In the realm of psychology, this predisposition means that emotions such as anger, stress, and trauma have a more significant impact on an individual’s psychological state than positive events. Negative outcomes…

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What is Salience Bias

Salience is the trait that makes something stand out. Salient events are an attentional strategy that organisms use to learn and survive; these organisms can focus their limited perceptual and cognitive resources on the relevant (that is, salient) subset of sensory data at their disposal. This term is commonly utilized in the study of perception…

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What is the Framing Effect Bias?

Framing effect bias occurs when the framing of information, whether about gains or losses, alters an individual’s perception and subsequent choices. This cognitive bias is a persuasive force in decision-making, along with other heuristics and psychological biases. It demonstrates that the same information can lead to different conclusions depending on how it is presented. For example, a 75% success rate…

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What Is the Introspection Illusion

Introspection illusion is a term in psychology that denotes a disparity in self-assessment versus assessment of others. People often assume they understand their own motives and preferences distinctly through conscious introspection, yet this introspection does not necessarily provide accurate self-knowledge. This illusion leads them to overestimate their own insights while underestimating those of others, often…

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Attentional Bias in Decision-Making and Behavior

Attentional bias refers to the tendency for people to pay more attention to certain types of information, usually emotionally-salient stimuli, while ignoring other information. It is a type of cognitive bias that affects how individuals process information and make decisions. Attentional bias has been linked to various psychological disorders, such as anxiety and depression, which…

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Apophenia: Finding Patterns in Random Data

Apophenia is a psychological phenomenon in which individuals perceive meaningful patterns or connections within unrelated data. The term was first coined by German psychiatrist Klaus Conrad in his 1958 publication, as a way to describe this tendency to see significance in meaningless randomness. Apophenia has been considered a cognitive error arising from the brain’s need to…

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The Illusory Superiority Cognitive Bias

Illusory superiority is a cognitive bias where individuals tend to overestimate their own qualities and abilities relative to others. This phenomenon is sometimes referred to as the superiority bias. People affected by illusory superiority tend to believe they are better than average in various aspects of life, such as intelligence, skill, or moral values. Some…

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False-Uniqueness Effect: the Illusion of Specialness

The false-uniqueness effect is a well-studied phenomenon in social psychology that deals with an individual’s tendency to perceive their own abilities or personal attributes as more unique than they actually are. This cognitive bias leads people to overestimate their distinctiveness in comparison to others, especially regarding positive traits or desirable behaviors. Various studies have demonstrated…

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