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PATTERN RECOGNITION BIASES

PERSONALIZED GUIDANCE REPORT

Pattern Recognition biases is one grouping of cognitive biases. The biases include confirmation, availability heuristics, generalization, frequency illusion, and law of the instrument. Developing an awareness of your biases brings them to the forefront of your thinking and is the first step toward change. Working to overcome your biases will help you improve your decision-making and problem-solving. It will also enhance your relationships and help you treat people fairly.

Action-oriented: Drive us to take action less thoughtfully than we should.
Interest: Arise in the presence of conflicting incentives, including non-monetary and even purely emotional ones.
Pattern recognition: Lead us to recognize patterns and sometimes imagine them even where there are none.
Stability: Create a tendency toward inertia in the presence of uncertainty.
Social: Arise from the preference for harmony over conflict.
Self-related: Cause us to judge ourselves differently than we understand and judge others.

CONFIRMATION BIAS

We favor information that confirms our existing beliefs or attitudes and hold onto first impressions instead of heeding new information about a person or situation.

YOUR PERSONAL GUIDANCE

Your responses indicate that you may have tendency to look for, interpret, support, and recall information that aligns with your existing beliefs or values. This bias may impact how you make decisions, perceive information, and view social issues. However, sometimes you may also display an openness or skepticism about your long-held beliefs and values. Being aware of this bias will help you regulate your behaviors and understand situations and issues objectively, and act on them accordingly.

UNDERSTANDING OTHERS

Other people might be influenced by the Confirmation bias more or less than you are. Understanding other individuals’ bias levels will help promote constructive conversations among you and others.

Individuals strongly influenced by this bias tend to look for, interpret, support, and recall information that aligns with their existing beliefs or values. This may lead them to judge others incorrectly at times, based on the first impression they made. This may also impact how they make decisions, perceive new information and view social issues. Being aware of this bias will help them regulate their behaviors and understand situations and issues objectively, and act on them accordingly.

Individuals moderately influenced by this bias may tend to look for, interpret, support, and recall information that aligns with their existing beliefs or values. This bias may impact how they make decisions, perceive information, and view social issues. However, sometimes they may also display an openness or skepticism about their long-held beliefs and values.

Individuals free of this bias and able to overcome the tendency to interpret information that supports their beliefs and values. They can judge a situation or a person objectively and keep an open mind when they hear something that calls into question their previously held beliefs. To a large extent, they can make decisions, perceive new information and view social issues objectively.

AVAILABILITY HEURISTICS

We rely on information that is immediately or easily available and regard it as more valuable or believable than less attainable information.

YOUR PERSONAL GUIDANCE

Your responses indicate that you rely heavily on data and facts available at hand and tend not to look elsewhere for information. You are likely to accept what meets the eye rather than do further research or data gathering. This bias would impact your perception of facts and data while making a decision. Being aware of this bias will help you regulate your behaviors and mitigate the impact of this bias to help you make better decisions.

UNDERSTANDING OTHERS

Other people might be influenced by the Availability Heuristics bias more or less than you are. Understanding other individuals’ bias levels will help promote constructive conversations with them.

Individuals strongly influenced by this bias rely heavily on data and facts available at hand and tend not to look elsewhere for information. They are likely to accept what meets the eye rather than do further research or data gathering. This bias would impact their perception of facts and data while making a decision. Being aware of this bias will help them regulate their behaviors and mitigate the impact of this bias to help them make better decisions.

Individuals moderately influenced by this bias tend to rely on the data and facts available at hand rather than looking elsewhere for more information. However, sometimes they may be open to looking for missing pieces of information and more evidence when required.

Individuals free of this bias do not assume that immediately available data is all they need. They are likely to search for missing pieces of information to fill in the gaps in available data. They do not go with what just meets the eye. Instead, they look for more details to help them evaluate people and situations.

GENERALIZATION BIAS

We often interpret generic statements as if they apply to us personally.

YOUR PERSONAL GUIDANCE

Your responses indicate that you tend to draw personal inferences from generic statements. However, you do not always identify with a group based on generic statements. Being aware of this bias will help you better understand how you interpret statements that are not specifically directed at you.

UNDERSTANDING OTHERS

Other people might be influenced by the Generalization bias more or less than you are. Understanding other individuals’ bias levels will help promote constructive conversations with them.

Individuals strongly influenced by this bias draw personal inferences from generic statements. They may identify with larger groups they think are very similar to them even when the similarities are applicable only at a high level. This bias may cause them to identify with people who are not like to them. Being aware of this bias will help them better understand how they interpret statements that are not specifically directed at them.

Individuals moderately influenced by this bias tend to draw personal inferences from generic statements. However, they do not always identify with a group based on generic statements. Being aware of this bias will help them better understand how they interpret statements that are not specifically directed at them.

Individuals free of bias can view and understand generic statements realistically. They do not try to attach any personal meaning to generic statements. If a generic assumption were to be true, they would think of it as a coincidence rather than assign personal significance to it.

Frequency Illusion Bias

When we learn or notice something new, we start seeing it everywhere due to selective attention.

YOUR PERSONAL GUIDANCE

Your responses indicate that you tend to notice objects similar to ones you own, especially those you have recently acquired. However, you may not always draw conclusions based on what you observe and give benefit of doubt. The selective attention phenomena —the brain’s inclination to notice and capture information or things we have recently acquired sometimes — but not always — influences your perception of things. Being aware of this bias will help you develop a more objective view.

UNDERSTANDING OTHERS

Other people might be influenced by the Frequency Illusion bias more or less than you are. Understanding other individuals’ bias levels will help promote constructive conversations with them.

Individuals strongly influenced by this bias may not be able to make objective observations. For example, they notice an object (car/phone/watch/attire etc.) similar to one their own, particularly if they recently bought it. Similarly, they tend to notice that they keep coming across information about something they have learned recently. This happens due to selective attention — an inclination of the brain to notice and capture recently acquired information or objects. This bias can make people draw incorrect conclusions based on frequency of observations. Being aware of this bias will help them develop a more objective view.

Individuals moderately influenced by this bias tend to notice objects similar to ones they own, especially those they recently acquired. However, they may not always draw conclusions based on what they observe and give benefit of doubt. The selective attention phenomena —the brain’s inclination to notice and capture information or things we have recently acquired sometimes — but not always — influences your perception of things. Being aware of this bias will help people develop a more objective view.

Individuals free of this bias can make objective observations. For example, they do not particularly notice an object that are similar to one they own, even if one recently acquired. Similarly, when they read something new, they don’t particularly notice the same information everywhere. This helps them draw valid conclusions from the data they observe around them. The selective attention phenomenon - the brain’s inclination and capture recently acquired information or things doesn’t impact their observations or decisions.

LAW OF THE INSTRUMENT

We rely too heavily on a familiar tool even in the presence of better options.

YOUR PERSONAL GUIDANCE

Your responses indicate that you are free of this bias and can easily apply fresh perspectives and actions to ideas and objects. For example, you can easily imagine many uses of a paper clip beside holding papers together. You can overcome limited views about potential uses of objects and ideas.

UNDERSTANDING OTHERS

Other people might be influenced by the Law of the Instrument bias more or less than you are. Understanding other individuals’ bias levels will help promote constructive conversations with them.

Individuals strongly influenced by this bias find it difficult to use any given object for a different purpose apart from what it is originally meant to be. For example: It’s hard for them to imagine that a paper clip can function as a bookmark and so on. They prefer to use the object for what it is originally designed for. This bias can limit their application of fresh perspectives and application of ideas. Being aware of this bias will help them apply their learnings from different experiences to solve problems and make decisions.

Individuals not completely influenced by this bias tend to apply an object for its given purpose and find it hard to apply it to other uses. For example: It’s hard for them to imagine that a paper clip can function as a bookmark and so on. However, there are times when they can think out of the box. They can at times overcome the limited view of the application of various objects and ideas.

Individuals free of this bias can easily apply fresh perspectives and actions to ideas and objects respectively. For example, they can easily imagine numerous uses of a paper clip than just holding the papers together. They can overcome the limited view / perspective of the application of various objects and ideas. They can apply creative imagination and application to ideas.

CONCLUSION

Cognitive biases are innate. However, developing an awareness of your biases brings them to the forefront of your thinking and is the first step toward change. Working to overcome your biases will help you improve your decision making and problem solving. It will also enhance your relationships and help you treat people fairly.

This guidance was based on your responses to the Social Biases quiz which is one of six different grouping of cognitive biases:

Action-oriented biases: Drive us to take action less thoughtfully than we should. Take the Action-oriented Biases Quiz
Interest biases: Arise in the presence of conflicting incentives, including non-monetary and even purely emotional ones. Take the Interest biases Quiz
Pattern recognition biases: Lead us to recognize patterns and sometimes imagine them even where there are none. Take the Pattern recognition biases Quiz
Stability biases: Create a tendency toward inertia in the presence of uncertainty. Take the Stability bias biases Quiz
Social biases: Arise from the preference for harmony over conflict. Take the Social biases Quiz
Self-related biases: Cause us to judge ourselves differently than we understand and judge others. Take the Self-related biases Quiz

Talent Transformation has also developed worksheets to help you develop work on your biases to help you improve your decision making, problem solving, relationships and in being fair. Link to Cognitive Biases Workbook.

The following graphic is based on your responses and reveals insights into your tendencies that lead you to recognize patterns and sometimes imagine them even where there are none.

Read on to learn more!