Skip to main content

Exercise: Identifying Cognitive Biases in Your Own Thinking

This exercise will help you identify and reflect on cognitive biases in your own thinking.

Step 1: Self-Observation​

Choose a day in the coming week and consciously observe your thoughts, judgments, and decisions. Pay particular attention to situations where:

  • You make quick judgments about people or situations
  • You immediately accept or reject information
  • You feel certain without much evidence
  • You react emotionally to information

Step 2: Documentation​

Record at least three situations where you observed potential cognitive biases in yourself. Use the following format:

  1. Situation: Briefly describe what happened.
  2. Thoughts/Judgments: What thoughts or judgments did you have in this situation?
  3. Potential Bias: Which cognitive bias might have played a role?
  4. Alternative Perspective: How could the situation be viewed differently?

Step 3: Reflection​

Reflect on your observations:

  • Which cognitive biases do you encounter most frequently?
  • In which situations or on which topics are you particularly susceptible to biases?
  • Which strategies could help you reduce these biases?

Example:​

Situation: I read a news article that supported a political position I oppose.

Thoughts/Judgments: "This article is obviously biased. The statistics cited are surely manipulated. The author has no idea what they’re talking about."

Potential Bias: Confirmation bias—I immediately rejected the article because it contradicted my existing beliefs without objectively examining the arguments or data.

Alternative Perspective: Even if I disagree with the author’s conclusion, some of the presented facts might be correct. I should check the sources of the statistics and consider whether there are valid points I should take into account.