Sketchplanations
Big Ideas Little Pictures
Get the book!
Sketchplanations podcast photo of Rob Bell, Tom Pellereau and Jono Hey
Prefer to listen?
Sketchplanations is ad-free
thanks to supporters like you.

Cognitive bias sketches

Explore sketches, drawings, and illustrations that simplify ideas related to Cognitive bias.

The Fundamental Attribution Error illustration: a driver assuming someone is rude when they swerved in front of them rather than considering that they may have been running late and it been an accident - attributing character over contextThe Fundamental Attribution ErrorThe Barnum effect (also the Forer effect) illustrated by 3 people, each getting the same seemingly personalised personality test result and figuring it described them perfectly.The Barnum effectWhat is Self-serving bias example explained: two tennis players think on their contrasting fortunes, the winner proud of their athleticism (character), and the loser blaming the umpire (the situation).Self-serving biasWhat is attribution bias example explained: a parent consoling a child and correcting their attribution of winning and losing to the situation and actions not to personal traitsAttribution biasWhat is Optimism bias example explained: A stunt rider overestimates their chance of leaping a canyon thanks to optimism bias. Various onlookers gasp. "Huh" says the riderOptimism biasThe Rhyme As Reason Effect illustration: whilst on a stroll, one friend shrewdly convinces the other about how aphorisms that rhyme tend to be more believable, by including a rhyme in their statement. The Rhyme As Reason EffectBrilliance bias: A group of people in a gallery of portraits of famous people lament that the brilliant women were forgotten againBrilliance biasThe dilution effect illustration: showing how adding a side effect of 'itchy feet' to sleeping pills reduces perceived risk of the other side-effects of heart attack and stroke!The dilution effectThe bandwagon effect: someone struggles to decide at a path forking between a long empty road of 'what they think' and one full of people and fun of 'what everyone thinks'The bandwagon effectSurvivorship Bias illustration: two analysts observe bullet damage, depicted by red dots, on a fighter plane returning from battle. They propose that heavier armour is added to all aircraft in the most hit areas of the plane. A third onlooker wonders whether this surviving plane tells a different story in that it returned because the most vulnerable areas weren't hit. Maybe heavier armour should be added to those areas? Survivorship biasFading affect bias illustration: showing that the emotional intensity of negative memories, like dropping your ice cream, fades faster than for positive memoriesFading affect biasProportionality Bias illustration: a dice has landed on a six and the person who rolled it gave it a really good shake beforehand. Proportionality biasWhat is The Destiny Instinct example explained: the meaning of the destiny instinct shown by an individual, bent over on hands and knees, inspecting a line of ants through their magnifying glass. At some point later in time, they return to find an enormous anthill that towers overhead. The Destiny InstinctThe Availability Heuristic illustration: Plane crashes, cold snaps, and winning lottery tickets are shown as examples of uncommon but widely reported events that might affect the significance we associate with them. The availability heuristic (and bias)The Implicit Association Test illustration: using gender roles as an example, we are asked to sort Career words into a Men's column and Home/Family words into a Women's column. We are then asked to do the opposite. One's bias is calculated as the difference in time it takes to complete both tasks. The Implicit Association TestThe Spotlight Effect illustration: two individuals greet one another, each illuminated by an intense spotlight as if on stage - and each secretly worry about how the other perceives their appearance.The spotlight effectWhat is The Effect Effect explained: two colleagues are left in no doubt as to the veracity of research presented to them because it has been labelled as an "effect". Indeed, one heads straight off to tell their friends about it. The Effect EffectThe Misattribution of Arousal illustration: a couple in the early stages of romance reflect on how excited they were to ride on a roller coaster together. Was the excitement due to each others' company or the roller coaster itself? Or maybe a bit of both? The misattribution of arousalThe Lucretius Problem illustration: examples of the biggest occurrences in history, like a market crash, a volcano eruption, a long drought and a traffic delay tend to be perceived as the biggest there could ever be. The Lucretius problemPsychic Numbing Illustration: A radio plays out the news headlines. The story about a young girl is met with empathy. Another story about thousands of people dying is met with apathy. Psychic numbingMean world syndrome illustration: showing how those who watch more believe the world is a meaner placeMean world syndromeWhat is the Peak-end rule example: chart showing two experience lines, one with more downs that ends on a high that's remembered as better than the one that's more steady throughoutThe peak-end ruleThe nocebo effectThe placebo effect explanationThe placebo effectWhat is the Fresh Start Effect example explained: a brave person thinks challenge accepted on Monday 1st January thanks to the Fresh start effect from Katy MilkmanThe fresh start effectWhat is the IKEA effect example explained - sketch shows a person that put an IKEA table together by themselves, and although it's not a perfect build they still love it, because they put it togetherThe IKEA effectThe frequency illusion explained in a sketch with an expecting couple suddenly seeing babies everywhereThe frequency illusion: we notice what’s top of mindCognitive bias, heuristic, logical fallacy: hidden features of the mindAn energised person at 9 am closely contemplates a file while at noon they're down to 'whatever'Don’t make important decisions on an empty stomachProspect theoryThe decoy priceThe Lake Wobegon EffectSurvivorship Bias illustration: two onlookers enjoy the long-lasting, successful design of the fun, iconic Volkswagen Beetle car. One says to the other "They don't make them like they used to" - ignoring the fact that the product they see is undoubtedly the result of many failed prototype designs. Survivorship biasSneaky cognitive biases: hindsight bias, loss aversion, recency biasThe Anchoring biasAnchoringNarrative biasFramingHyperbolic discountingPresent bias
Buy Me A Coffee