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Confirmation Biases

Confirmation Biases

The confirmation bias is the tendency to focus on information that confirms our existing beliefs and ignore information that is inconsistent with our expectations. For example, if you think that your professor is not very nice, you notice all of the instances of rude behavior exhibited by the professor while ignoring the countless pleasant interactions he is involved in on a daily basis. Have you ever fallen prey to the confirmation bias, either as the source or target of such bias?

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Hindsight bias leads you to believe that the event you just experienced was predictable, even though it really wasn’t. In other words, you knew all along that things would turn out the way they did. Can you relate this to the phrase "Hindsight is 20/20" now?

Bias

Bias

Bias refers to any tendency that prevents a question from being considered unprejudiced. In research, bias occurs when one outcome or answer is selected or encouraged over others in sampling or testing. Bias can occur during any research phase, including study design, data collection, analysis, and publication.
In statistics, a sampling bias is created when a sample is collected from a population, and some members of the population are not as likely to be chosen as others (remember, each member...

Correspondence Bias

Correspondence Bias

Correspondence bias, also referred to as the fundamental attribution error, describes the tendency to attribute another person’s behavior to internal characteristics rather than situational influences. This cognitive bias leads individuals to overlook external factors that may be influencing actions, thereby fostering potentially inaccurate assessments of others’ intentions and dispositions.Empirical Evidence for Correspondence BiasResearch has consistently demonstrated the...

Self-Serving Bias

Self-Serving Bias

Self-serving bias is a cognitive phenomenon in which individuals attribute positive outcomes to internal factors such as their abilities, intelligence, or effort while attributing negative outcomes to external circumstances. This cognitive distortion helps maintain self-esteem but can also impede objective self-assessment.Theoretical Explanations of Self-Serving BiasTwo primary theories explain the self-serving bias: the cognitive explanation and the motivational explanation.The cognitive...

Motivational Bias

Motivational Bias

Cognitive bias results from limitations in thinking and information processing, leading to systematic errors in judgment. Conversely, motivational bias stems from personal desires or emotions, causing distortions in perception to align with self-interest. Motivational bias influences how individuals perceive and attribute causes to events, often shaped by personal needs, goals, and self-esteem preservation. This bias can distort judgment, leading to inaccurate assessments of success, failure,...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 15, 2026

Measuring Attentional Biases for Threat in Children and Adults

Measuring Attentional Biases for Threat in Children and Adults

Published on: October 19, 2014

Self-face Captures, Holds, and Biases Attention.

Michał J Wójcik^1,2, Maria M Nowicka¹, Ilona Kotlewska^1,3

¹Laboratory of Psychophysiology, Department of Neurophysiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland.

Frontiers in Psychology

|January 30, 2018

Summary

The self-face automatically captures attention, even when irrelevant. This unintentional processing of self-referential information engages attentional resources and visual short-term memory, impacting cognitive tasks.

Keywords:

ERP N2pc SPCN attention attentional bias self-face self-recognition

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Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Feb 15, 2026

Measuring Attentional Biases for Threat in Children and Adults

Measuring Attentional Biases for Threat in Children and Adults

Published on: October 19, 2014

A Methodology for Capturing Joint Visual Attention Using Mobile Eye-Trackers

A Methodology for Capturing Joint Visual Attention Using Mobile Eye-Trackers

Published on: January 18, 2020

Measurement of Neurophysiological Signals of Ignoring and Attending Processes in Attention Control

Measurement of Neurophysiological Signals of Ignoring and Attending Processes in Attention Control

Published on: July 5, 2015

Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Social Psychology
Psychophysiology

Background:

Self-referential information significantly influences cognitive processes.
Attentional bias, the preferential allocation of attention to salient stimuli, is a key mechanism.
The dot-probe paradigm is a standard method for measuring attentional bias.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if self-faces, as task-irrelevant stimuli, capture, sustain, and bias attention.
To examine the electrophysiological correlates of attentional engagement by self-faces.
To understand how unintentional self-face processing affects attentional control.

Main Methods:

Two dot-probe experiments were conducted.
Event-related potential (ERP) technique was employed to record brain activity.
Key ERP components analyzed included N2pc (attentional shifts) and SPCN (attention maintenance).

Main Results:

Experiment 1 showed self-faces elicited both N2pc and SPCN components.
Experiment 2 confirmed N2pc and demonstrated a significant attentional bias towards self-faces.
Results suggest self-face processing overrides top-down control, engaging attentional resources.

Conclusions:

Unintentional self-face processing automatically captures and holds attention.
Self-faces act as distractors that engage attentional resources and visual short-term memory.
This highlights a fundamental mechanism in self-referential information processing and attentional bias.