10 Common Faults in Human Thinking

Occam’s Razor Clever Hans

Gambler’s Fallacy The Gambler’s fallacy is the tendency to think that future probabilities are altered by past events, when in reality, they are not.

Reactivity Reactivity is the tendency of people to act or appear differently when they know that they are being observed.

Pareidolia Pareidolia is when random images or sounds are perceived as significant. Interesting Fact: the Rorschach Inkblot test was developed to use pareidolia to tap into people’s mental states. Testees are shown images of ambiguous pictures, and asked to describe what they see. Responses are analyzed to discover the testee’s hidden thoughts.

Self-fulfilling prophecy Self-fulfilling prophecy is engaging in behaviors that obtain results that confirm existing attitudes. A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that causes itself to become true. Interesting Fact: Economic Recessions are self-fulfilling prophecies. Because a recession is 2 quarters of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) decline, you cannot know you are in a recession until you are at least 6 months into one. Unfortunately, at the first sign of decreasing GDP, the media reports a possible recession, people panic and start a chain of events that actually cause a recession.

Halo Effect The Halo effect is the tendency for an individual’s positive or negative trait to “spill over” to other areas of their personality in others’ perceptions of them. Interesting Fact: The Physical Attractiveness Stereotype is when people assume that attractive individuals possess other socially desirable qualities, such as happiness, success and intelligence. This becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when attractive people are given privileged treatment such as better job opportunities and higher salaries.

Herd Mentality Herd mentality is the tendency to adopt the opinions and follow the behaviors of the majority to feel safer and to avoid conflict. Also known as “Mob Mentality,” this is, at its most common form, peer pressure.

Hyperbolic Discounting Hyperbolic discounting is the tendency for people to prefer a smaller, immediate payoff over a larger, delayed payoff.

Reactance Reactance is the urge to do the opposite of what someone wants you to do out of a need to resist a perceived attempt to constrain your freedom of choice. Interesting Fact: “reverse psychology” is an attempt to influence people using reactance. Tell someone (particularly children) to do the opposite of what you really want, and they will rebel and actually end up doing what you want.

Placebo Effect The Placebo effect is when an ineffectual substance that is believed to have healing properties produces the desired effect. Interesting Fact: The term “Placebo” is used when the outcomes are considered favorable, when the outcomes are negative or harmful; the term is “Nocebo”

Escalation of Commitment Escalation of commitment: the tendency for people to continue to support previously unsuccessful endeavors.

L@Gs4sa7ya - Lincoln at Gettysburg said four score and seven years ago A study of 28,000 passwords by Robert Graham of Errata Security revealed a distinct lack of creativity by U.S. computer users. The statistical analysis found: 16% used their own first name or that of one of their children 14% used simple keyboard combinations such as "123456789" or "QWERTY" 5% of the passwords were of television shows, famous names, etc. such as "Hannah," "Matrix," or "Ironman" 4% used the word "password" or a close variation "password1" 3% used phases such as "Idontcare," "Whatever," "Yes," or "No." Security experts suggest a password of a minimum of eight characters with at least one capital letter and one symbol. Many suggest having a "mnemonic password". For example: L@Gs4sa7ya - Lincoln at Gettysburg said four score and seven years ago Ih8h2rsmp - I hate having to remember so many passwords Mpcmagr8APPl - Mnemonic passwords could make a great AP Psychology lesson