Dictionary

cognitive bias en · NOUN

Meanings

1. (uncountable, usually) A systematic deviation from norms of rationality and objectivity in judgment or perception.
   • When the government realised that a new virus was circulating, Chinese officials didn’t advise hand washing, a better cough etiquette and disposing of tissues. They quarantined entire cities and shut down the economy. As one former secretary of state for health in England put it to me, our scientists suffered from a “cognitive bias” towards the milder threat of influenza. 2020 April 9, Richard Horton, “Coronavirus is the greatest global science policy failure in a generation”, in The Guardian:
   • Cognitive biases can be adaptive when they speed decision-making.

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