We hypothesize that the participants reading article A will be biased toward John. We hypothesize that the participants reading article B will be biased toward Jimmy because of the use of exxageration.

So, what exactly is cognitive bias, and why do we have it?

Cognitive bias is a thought process caused by the tendancy of the human brain to filter out and simplify information dictated by our own personal preferances and past experiences. The filtering process is a coping mechanism for our brain, enabling it to process information quickly. It's our brain's attempt to simplify information. This type of thinking can be effective in certain situations, but can often cause errors in our judgement. Cognitive bias finds mental shortcuts that assist us in our every day life, and there are many different types of biases. For example, you may prefer and use a certain brand of toothpaste because you saw your friend using the same one, or because its a popular brand.

The types of bias

There are many types of biases that influence our every day desicion making, some more obvious to spot than others.

1. Conformation bias

Conformation bias is when we favour information based on that fact that it confirms our existing beliefs. It is the tendancy to search for information that aligns with our beliefs and values. People often display conformation bias in situations where they favour information that supports their views, and ignoring or opposing to information contarary to their beliefs. This type of bias can also occur when people interperate ambiguous phrases in favour of their beliefs and values. When people make judgements based on their conformarion bias, they often ignore evidence opposing their opinion, and refuse to be neutral. An example of conformation bias is only reading positive reviews before purchasing a kitchen appliance. People want to purchase a good product, therefore they only read positive reviews.

2. Halo Effect

The Halo effect happens when we see a positive trait in something or someone, and apply that positive trait to all of their other traits, even if the other traits are completely unrelated. For example, atractive people are often seen as kinder, more intelligent, and more confident than others. Because of the fact that a person is attractive, we imediately assume that everything else about that person is positive because they are attractive. Another example of the Halo effect is in the workplace. If you have a co-worker with a university degree, and a coworker that only graduated highschool, you might assume that the co-worker with the university degree is more competant in doing their job because you automatically assume that because they went to university, they must be a better worker.

3. Dunning Kruger Effect

The Dunning Kruger Effect happens when we overestimate our ability to do something. It's basically how confident you are, versus how much you actually know about the subject. For example, a person that wants to learn how to ride horses might be overconfident in their ability to do so before they've even started learning. They've gained a huge boost of confidence at the start, but once they actually start learning the subject, they start to lose confidence in themselves because they've overestimated their horse riding abilities. Before they've even started horseback riding, they had a huge amount of conidence but know knowledge about the subject. When they've gained knowledge about the subject, they've lost their confidence because they thought they would be able to learn so much more. When that person has mastered the art of horseback riding, they will regain some of their confidence, but will always feel like they haven't learned enough.

4. Negativity Bias

Negativity bias is when we only focus on the negative information presented to us, ignoring the positives. This bias comes from our survival instincts to always look for danger. This is why we are more drawn to negative or depressing stories in news articles. News channels often make the most out of negativity bias by talking about depressing world issues such as natural disasters and war, rather than highlighting positive things because it creates a crowd.

5. Ostrich Effect

The tendancy to avoid unplesant, negative, and potentially useful information. This is inspired by the myth that ostriches bury their heads in sand to avoid danger. It is better to use negative, but helpful information to our advantage, as seeing the bigger picture gives us a way better idea of a situation. When people are affected by the ostrich effect, they go out of their way to avoid any negativity, even if it will help them in the long run.

6. Anchoring Bias

Anchoring bias causes us to rely too heavily on the information we were first given. For example, a company advertises their new soon to be released computer as $2000 before they actually sell it. Once the computer is avalible for purchase in stores, the price is $1700. This makes buyers believe that they are saving $300 by purchasing the computer for $1700. It makes us completely ignore the fact that the price we are still paying is $1700. The buyers relied on the information that was first presented to them in order to determine that the computer was a good deal, even if it really wasn't. Many companies, especially grocery stores, do this today by using a "Buy 4, get 1 20% deal!" making customers feel good about getting a "good deal" on something even if they're still paying a hefty price.

Controlled Variables: Amount of participants reading each article, quotes in the article, characters in the article, issue in the article, topic of the article, price of money stolen, age of particpants, survery particpants will be taking.

Manipulated Variable: Language (exxageration words) used in the articles by the author.

Responding Variable: Which character participants are more biased towards.

We would like to thank the following people for making our project possible:

B. fee, for introducting us to the CYSF in 8th grade. We certainly wouldn't be here without you.

S. Syme, for taking the time to answer all of our questions, and for creating the 2025 CYSF club at our school.

All of our wonderul participants, for being eager to be a part of our project and doing our experiment.

Our wonderful parents for supporting and motivating us.