Psychologists say that people look at the same things in different ways. Let's talk about the most common traps for the brain, into which at least once everyone fell.
10. Functional fixation
This psychological phenomenon was discovered and then described by Karl Dunker. Functional fixation is the use of an object in only one, certain quality, which prevents it from being used in any other way. So, if we are used to using paper clips to fasten paper, it’s harder for us to figure out what else we can do with them. Dunker conducted an experiment. On the table in front of the participants in the experiment was white cardboard and black squares, other objects, among which were paper clips. He asked to attach the squares to the cardboard, then hang the sheet to the loop. She hung from the ceiling. Some of the participants in the experiment glued the squares, some - fastened with paper clips. Those who used glue were quicker to guess that the sheet could be hung up, to use a paper clip, than those subjects who already used paper clips as intended.
9. Statistics tricks
There is a book written in 1954 by Darrell Huff. It is called "How to Lie Using Statistics." The book proves that you should not trust statistics. So, he gives a vivid example. When he needed to prove that wealthy people live in the California Valley, the author said that their average income is $ 15,000 a year. For his calculations, he used the arithmetic mean, i.e. added up the incomes of all families and divided them by the number of residents. It turned out an impressive amount, although people could have different incomes, some had high incomes, and others had lower than average incomes. Another time, the author needs to underestimate the income of these same people in order to prevent a tax increase. This time, he pointed out that the average income of the inhabitants of the California Valley is 3,500. And this again cannot be called a lie. Only this time, to calculate the average income, the author used the median. This means that half of the families living in this area have incomes higher than $ 3,500, and half have less, and this figure becomes the average number of incomes. There is still a mod, i.e. the number that is most often found in a given area. So, in order to calculate it, we need to make a list of the incomes of all families, and the average to name the number that occurs most often. If most families earn $ 5,000, this will be a modal income.
8. Player error
Gambling people most often fall into this trap and lose all the money. People do not understand that random selection does not depend on what happened before. So, when a person throws a coin, he is sure that if an “eagle” falls out 10 times in a row, then the probability that there will now be a “tails” increases. This is actually not the case. No matter how many times we throw a coin, the probability of losing an “eagle” or “tails” remains 1 to 2.
7. Anchor effect
A person erroneously evaluates numerical values, the estimate is tied to those numbers that he received earlier. So, the subjects were asked to estimate the number of African countries in the UN. Prior to this, using roulette, we chose 2 random numbers, 65 and 10. 1 group was asked a question using the first digit, i.e. they had to answer, the number of countries more than 65% or less. Group 2 was asked a similar question, but with a figure of 10%. And interestingly, the numbers in group 1 were higher than in group 2, i.e. people chose answers, guided by the presented "anchor".
6. Hind site error
This is a distortion when a person perceives past events as predictable or obvious, although before that there was no information on the basis of which these predictions could be made. In short, we often repeat, “I knew that”, although in reality we did not know anything before everything happened.
5. The effect of IKEA
The buyer always appreciates the importance of the goods in the creation of which they took part. The effect was named after a chain of stores that sells a lot of furniture that a person must assemble himself.
4. The placebo effect
This is an improvement in the well-being of a person who believes that this or that remedy will help him, although it does not have medicinal properties. It can be either drugs, or procedures or exercises. The degree of manifestation of the effect depends on the suggestibility of the person, on the appearance of the placebo, trust in the doctor and other factors. It is based on suggestion. In addition to the placebo effect, there is also the nocebo effect, when the patient, expecting the negative effect of the drug, really feels worse.
3. The survivor's mistake
This is a mistake when focusing on the wrong group about which there is a lot of data ("survivors", but do not take into account information regarding another group ("dead"). Because of this, the result is erroneous. So, we all believe that dolphins are the kindest creatures in the world.This is based on the stories of swimmers whom the dolphins helped to survive, pushing them to the shore.But we don’t have information about the people they were pushing in the opposite direction, because they most likely died.
2. The tendency to confirm their point of view
A person from the flow of all information selects one that is consistent with his point of view or beliefs. And the one that contradicts them, he eliminates. This feature of man was also noted by writers; L.N. Tolstoy, poet Dante Alighieri, philosopher Francis Bacon and others. This was later confirmed by studies by psychologists Peter Wason and Joshua Kleiman, Ha Young Won.
1. Stockholm Buyer Syndrome
This is a cognitive distortion in which a person making expensive purchases or using expensive services begins to justify himself. He does not realize that he wasted money, but convinces himself and other people that he needs these things. He will use them, if not now, then a little later.