Cognitive Bias Research Paper

A cognitive bias is the common tendency to acquire and process information by filtering it through one's own likes, dislikes, and experiences. These biases are often studied in psychology and behavioral economics. There are many types of these cognitive biases, which influence the reasons why we think what we think. The cognitive biases are all the different ways that our brains process information and sort through situations. Novel experiences become part of our memory as we experience them. Then, we tend to interpret future situations from the original experience. The stereotype bias is one of the most prevalent cognitive biases. This is when someone expects a member of a group to have certain characteristics, however they do not actually …show more content…
This causes them to think in an incorrect, and oftentimes what can be categorized as racist way. In my life, I have had the opportunity to travel throughout the world. Having been to six out of seven continents, and several countries within each, I am now very aware of stereotypes and the misperceptions they can lead a person to have about a culture. However, at a young age, I did not know stereotypes were often incorrect. Growing up in the south, it was common to be slightly racist-- primarily towards African Americans. Being in a primarily white area, many people were not personally familiar with African Americans personally and did not question stereotypes. As my parents do not believe in such stereotypes-- both being raised in Ohio-- I was taught that these are not correct and certainly not acceptable to say aloud, even in a joking manner. When I moved up to a primarily African American city, Philadelphia, I quickly learned that people are much more accepting of African Americans if they know them personally. Throughout my experiences with different people and their perceptions of people different than them I have become aware of just how wrong stereotypes can …show more content…
However, it often times takes personal experience for a persons to fully grasp the difference. To me, an individual's perception is their unprecedented opinion of a situation from afar. When looking at my roommate's situation, he originally had the perception that the Fraternity was a collection of boys focused on an unhealthy lifestyle and only concerned for themselves. Perception is not based on actual experience, rather on an outside view of a subject’s actions. The next level is interpretation. This is where an opinion about the subject (in this case, the Fraternity) is based on either a singular or majority opinion. A person’s interpretation is also not based on experience or fact, rather, based on original perception. The next, and last level would be an individual’s knowledge. This would be where the individual actually goes to the Fraternity, experiences the situation firsthand, and then steps back to analyze his experience. This gives him or her the knowledge of what the Fraternity is actually like. The subject who experiences what he originally percepts, firsthand, may either keep their former interpretation by seeing that their perceptions and interpretations were correct, or they could change their opinion, by seeing that they were originally misled. This change of heart could end up being either negative or positive. Only after primary involvement, will fake knowledge translate into