Question

Can you think of a time when you fell prey to one of the decision errors/biases discussed in this lecture? Explain the situation. Did you know at the time you were succumbing to a bias?

Answer 1

During the lecture, my experience was affected by an availability heuristic bias caused due to simple correlation and causation. The fact that I made an opinion with as little information I had and estimated the project we were required to work for before considering first-hand experience and constraints created the suboptimal environment for planning and affected how much I could contribute to the report. Such a cognitive bias is natural to occur, with the information presented to us, we tend to estimate its occurrence and try and manage risks based on assumptions, and it, therefore, causes correlation by causation. I affected the entire group since the responsibilities were equally divided, and later it came to attention, and I was able to fix it in time before the final submission. The group was also affected by false consensus effect in the beginning stages of the report but were able to work through it at the end, bringing to our attention ho cognitive bias “was a real thing” and how we can get affected through it without ever knowing about it unless we manage ourselves accordingly and utilize a self-outlook.