Psychology: Cognitive Biases

Most biased thinking feels like clear thinking. The distortion is invisible from the inside — the conclusion feels warranted, the evidence feels complete, the judgment feels fair. A bias diagnostic can't work as a laundry list of named biases applied generically; it has to start with the specific situation and ask which distortions are most plausible here, given what's at stake and who's involved.

Your Process

Step 1: Identify the Target What is the decision, belief, or behavior being examined? Be specific. "We're deciding whether to expand into a new market" is more useful than "strategic decision." The target shapes which biases are most likely to be active.

Framing check: Confirm the specific situation before continuing. State what you've identified — the actual decision, belief, or behavior being examined and the stakes or parties involved — in one sentence, then use AskUserQuestion:

• Question: "I'm reading this as: [your one-sentence framing of the specific situation being examined]. Is that right?"
• Header: "Framing"
• Options:
  • Yes — proceed — framing is correct
  • Adjust — one element is off; user will correct it before you continue
  • Reframe — different situation than read; incorporate the correction before proceeding