Ambiguity aversion
Preferring known risks over uncertain alternatives regardless of expected value.
Open detailsCognitive Bias Catalog
Curated ontology of established cognitive biases for narrative and manipulation analysis.
Anchoring bias
Early numbers or frames become a reference anchor for later judgments.
Open detailsAppeal to fear
Using threat-heavy messaging to drive acceptance of a conclusion.
Open detailsAuthority bias
Claims are accepted primarily because they come from an authority figure.
Open detailsAvailability heuristic
Easily recalled examples are treated as representative frequency or probability.
Open detailsBandwagon effect
A claim is treated as true or desirable because many people support it.
Open detailsBase rate neglect
General prevalence is ignored when interpreting specific cases.
Open detailsCherry picking
Selecting favorable evidence while omitting relevant counterexamples.
Open detailsConfirmation bias
Preferring information that confirms an existing belief while discounting conflicting evidence.
Open detailsEmotional reasoning
Emotional intensity is treated as evidence of factual validity.
Open detailsFalse dilemma
Presenting a complex issue as if only two options exist.
Open detailsFraming effect
The same facts are presented in a wording frame that steers interpretation.
Open detailsFundamental attribution error
Over-attributing behavior to personal traits while underweighting situational factors.
Open detailsHalo effect
One favorable or unfavorable trait spills into unrelated evaluations.
Open detailsHindsight bias
Past outcomes are presented as if they were obvious in advance.
Open detailsIllusion of control
Overestimating how much uncertain outcomes can be controlled.
Open detailsIn-group bias
Favorable judgments are applied to in-group actors versus out-group actors.
Open detailsIn-group consensus bias
Overestimating agreement inside one group and treating it as broad consensus.
Open detailsLoss aversion
Potential losses are weighted more heavily than equivalent gains.
Open detailsMotivated reasoning
Reasoning is steered by desired conclusions rather than neutral evidence weighting.
Open detailsNarrative fallacy
Building overly coherent stories from fragmented evidence.
Open detailsNegativity bias
Negative information receives disproportionate weight in interpretation.
Open detailsNormalcy bias
Assuming disruptive change is unlikely because current conditions feel normal.
Open detailsOmission bias
Harm caused by inaction is judged as less severe than similar harm caused by action.
Open detailsOptimism bias
Positive outcomes are overestimated and risks are underestimated.
Open detailsOut-group homogeneity bias
Out-group members are seen as more similar and less diverse than they are.
Open detailsOutcome bias
Judging decision quality by outcome rather than information available at decision time.
Open detailsOverconfidence bias
Confidence in claims exceeds evidentiary support.
Open detailsPlanning fallacy
Underestimating time, cost, and complexity despite known precedents.
Open detailsProportionality bias
Assuming major events must always have major intentional causes.
Open detailsReactance bias
Rejecting guidance because it is perceived as limiting autonomy.
Open detailsRecency bias
Recent events are overweighted versus longer historical patterns.
Open detailsStatus quo bias
Preferring existing arrangements over alternatives without balanced evaluation.
Open detailsSunk cost fallacy
Past investment is used to justify continuation despite weak future value.
Open detailsSurvivorship bias
Conclusions are drawn from visible successes while failures are ignored.
Open detailsUrgency bias
Immediate action is favored due to urgency cues even when evidence is incomplete.
Open details