Questioning cognitive errors

Cognitive biases

Confirmation Bias

• Have I actively sought out information or opinions that confirm my pre-existing beliefs?

• Am I ignoring or dismissing information that contradicts my current views?

• Are others involved in this situation showing signs of confirmation bias?

Availability Heuristic

• Am I making judgments based on readily available examples or recent experiences?

• Have I considered a broader range of information and experiences?

• Are others relying on easily recalled information to make decisions?

Anchoring Bias

• Did I initially anchor my decision or opinion to a specific value or idea?

• Have I sufficiently considered alternative anchors or reference points?

• Are others stuck on a particular anchor in their thinking?

Overconfidence Bias

• Am I excessively confident in my own knowledge, abilities, or predictions?

• Have I sought feedback or considered potential limitations in my thinking?

• Do I observe overconfidence in the actions of others?

Hindsight Bias

• Am I looking back at this situation with the belief that the outcome was entirely predictable?

• Did I underestimate the uncertainty and unknowns when making initial decisions?

• Do others exhibit hindsight bias when discussing past events?

Recency Bias

• Am I giving more weight to recent information or events when making decisions?

• Have I considered the longer-term trends or patterns?

• Are others overly influenced by the most recent information?

Sunk Cost Fallacy

• Am I continuing with a course of action because of the resources (time, money, effort) already invested, rather than its future potential?

• Have I re-evaluated the situation based on current circumstances and potential benefits?

• Do I see others sticking with a project or decision due to sunk costs?

Groupthink

• Have I or my group members been avoiding conflict or dissenting opinions to maintain harmony?

• Have I considered alternative viewpoints and encouraged open discussions?

• Is there a group mentality affecting decision-making?

Self-Serving Bias

• Am I attributing success to my own abilities and failures to external factors?

• Have I considered my role in both successes and failures objectively?

• Do I notice others demonstrating a self-serving bias in their actions or explanations?

Dunning–Kruger Effect

• Am I overestimating my competence in an area where I lack expertise?

• Have I sought feedback or acknowledged my limitations?

• Do I observe others displaying overconfidence in areas where they lack knowledge?

Cognitive Dissonance

• Do I find myself ignoring or downplaying information that contradicts my beliefs or decisions?

• Have I tried to reduce cognitive dissonance by re-evaluating my position?

• Do I see others rationalizing their choices to alleviate cognitive dissonance?

In-Group Bias

• Am I favoring members of my own group while being critical of those outside the group?

• Have I considered alternative perspectives and treated all parties fairly?

• Do I observe in-group bias in the actions of others?

Status Quo Bias

• Am I defaulting to the current state of affairs without considering potential improvements?

• Have I critically assessed the reasons for maintaining the status quo?

• Are others resisting change without adequate justification?

Neglect of Probability

• Am I neglecting the probabilities associated with different outcomes or risks?

• Have I considered the likelihood of various scenarios, not just the worst-case or best-case ones?

• Do others underestimate or overestimate probabilities in their decision-making?

Attribution Error

• Am I making attributions about others' behaviour based on dispositional factors rather than situational ones?

• Have I considered the broader context and external influences on their actions?

• Are others making attribution errors in their judgments of people or situations?

Cognitive distortions

All-or-Nothing Thinking

• Am I viewing this situation as entirely good or bad, without considering shades of grey?

• Is there a middle ground I might be missing?

Overgeneralization

• Am I drawing broad conclusions from a single event?

• Have I considered whether this always happens or just happened this time?

Mental Filtering

• Am I focusing only on the negatives and ignoring positives?

• What evidence supports a more balanced view of the situation?

Discounting the Positive

• Am I dismissing positive experiences or accomplishments as unimportant?

• Would I acknowledge this success if it happened to someone else?

Jumping to Conclusions

• Am I assuming I know what others think without asking them?

• Have I predicted a negative outcome without sufficient evidence?

Catastrophizing

• Am I assuming the worst-case scenario will happen?

• What are some more likely outcomes?

Emotional Reasoning

• Am I basing conclusions solely on my feelings?

• Could my feelings be influenced by something other than the facts?

Should Statements

• Am I using words like "should," "must," or "ought" to pressure myself?

• Is this expectation realistic or necessary?

Labeling and Mislabeling

• Am I defining myself or others by a single event or behavior?

• Would I use this label for someone else in a similar situation?

Personalization

• Am I taking responsibility for something outside my control?

• Could there be other factors involved?

Magnification and Minimization

• Am I exaggerating the importance of negatives or downplaying positives?

• What is a more balanced perspective?

Blaming

• Am I holding someone entirely responsible for something without considering other factors?

• Could I be overestimating their role or underestimating mine?

Mind Reading

• Am I assuming I know what others are thinking without evidence?

• Have I checked my assumptions with them?

Fortune Telling

• Am I predicting the future without solid evidence?

• Could I wait to see how things unfold before making conclusions?