Psychological Biases

noun a pair of small screens attached to a horse's bridle to prevent it from seeing sideways and behind, used to keep the horse focused on what is ahead

• The horse wore blinders to help keep its focus during the race.
• I need to put on my blinders and concentrate on finishing this project.
• Don't let your blinders stop you from seeing the bigger picture.
• She had blinders on when it came to her relationship, refusing to see any red flags.

adjective relating to or based on the idea that one's own group or culture is better or more important than others

• The company's ethnocentric policies led to a lack of diversity in its workforce.
• Some people can be so ethnocentric, thinking their culture is superior to others.
• Don't be so ethnocentric, man. Embrace different cultures.
• His ethnocentric views created a barrier between him and people from different backgrounds.

noun understanding of a situation or event only after it has happened

• In hindsight, it would have been wiser to invest in more stable stocks.
• Looking back, I should have known better than to trust him.
• Hindsight is 20/20, dude. You should have seen it coming.
• Hindsight is like a rearview mirror, showing us what we missed along the way.

adjective relating to or situated on the left side

adverb in a leftward direction

• The car made a precise leftward turn at the intersection.
• She always leans leftward when she's walking.
• I saw him veer leftward towards the food truck.
• His political views have shifted leftward in recent years.

verb to change or distort in meaning or effect

adjective having an oblique or slanting direction or position

• The data analysis showed that the results were skewed due to outliers in the dataset.
• The survey results are a bit skewed because most of the participants were from the same age group.
• The movie ratings are totally skewed by fanboys who gave it all 10s.
• Her perception of reality is skewed by her past experiences.

verb a word used to describe an action, state, or occurrence

adjective a word or phrase naming an attribute, added to or grammatically related to a noun to modify or describe it

• The study aimed to investigate the impact of stereotyped gender roles on career advancement.
• It's frustrating to be stereotyped based on my appearance.
• Don't judge a book by its cover, stereotypes are often misleading.
• She broke free from the stereotyped image society had placed upon her.

noun a surface or object that has two opposite sides

adjective describing a surface or object that has two opposite sides

• The contract was written in a two sided format to clearly outline the responsibilities of both parties.
• The pamphlet is two sided, so make sure to read both sides for all the information.
• I like to keep my options open and see things from a two sided perspective.
• Her decision was two sided, weighing the pros and cons before making a choice.

noun a twist or distortion in the shape or form of something

verb to become twisted or distorted

• The fabric's warp and weft are carefully woven together to create a strong textile.
• I think my GPS is starting to warp, it keeps giving me the wrong directions.
• He's always warping reality to make himself look better.
• The trauma of the accident seemed to warp her perception of the world.

noun a method of spreading a large amount of information or misinformation rapidly and repetitively in order to overwhelm and exhaust an audience

• The firefighters used a high-pressure firehosing technique to extinguish the flames.
• The firefighters were firehosing the burning building all night long.
• I heard they were firehosing the area with water to put out the fire.
• The politician was firehosing the audience with false promises during his speech.

noun a cognitive bias in which an observer's overall impression of a person influences their judgments about that person's character or properties

• The halo effect is a cognitive bias where a person's overall impression of someone influences their perceptions of that person's character.
• People tend to experience the halo effect when they assume that someone who is physically attractive must also be intelligent and kind.
• The halo effect is like when you automatically think someone is cool just because they have a lot of followers on social media.
• The halo effect of his charisma made it easy for him to win over the crowd.

noun a person from the ancient Greek city of Abdera

• The abderite philosopher was known for his deep contemplation on the nature of reality.
• I heard that abderite guy is really into studying ancient civilizations.
• That abderite dude is always dropping knowledge about history.
• She has a mind like an abderite, always questioning and seeking the truth.