Cognitive bias of the week : Information bias

To some extent my job of fixing broken/slow computers is a constant fight against cognitive bias; both mine and other peoples. The use of Rational Process from Kepner Tregoe has been a very fine tool in avoiding some of the bias associated with the diagnosis of complex IT systems and the wider environment they run in.

The usual source defines cognitive bias as

A cognitive bias is the human tendency to draw incorrect conclusions in certain circumstances based on cognitive factors rather than evidence. Such biases are thought to be a form of "cognitive shortcut", often based upon rules of thumb, and include errors in statistical judgment, social attribution, and memory. Cognitive biases are a common outcome of human thought, and often drastically skew the reliability of anecdotal and legal evidence.

So as an exercise to imprint these on my brian and to write something a little more interesting, I shall endeavor to pick out a cognitive bias which I have found myself being guilty of. I shall try to do this at least once a week.

There is quite a rich source here, but I intend to add some value by giving context and the reason why I found myself guilty of that bias and how I might avoid it.

I am probably guilty of information bias by beliveing that by learning more about a range of congative biases that I may make future decisions which are better and that I shall reduce the number of events where I fail to take make the right diagnosis first time.

So will this feature on this blog be itself an example of cognative bias?