Science & Technology

Have you suffered from 'hindsight bias' ?

By T.K. Randall
September 9, 2012 ·  15 comments

Image Credit: Andrew Mason If you have ever watched a murder mystery on TV and someone in the room announces at the end that they knew all along who the culprit was, even if they didn't, that person may be exhibiting hindsight bias. Several factors can contribute to this, for instance it is possible for memories to become distorted if the event had been discussed beforehand. While relatively harmless, when this happens it can prevent someone from learning why something has happened or prevent them from accepting advice.

"Too often we actually didn't know it all along, we only feel as though we did," researchers wrote in the Perspectives on Psychological Science journal. "It's often hard to convince seasoned decision-makers that they might fall prey to hindsight bias."[!gad]If you have ever watched a murder mystery on TV and someone in the room announces at the end that they knew all along who the culprit was, even if they didn't, that person may be exhibiting hindsight bias. Several factors can contribute to this, for instance it is possible for memories to become distorted if the event had been discussed beforehand. While relatively harmless, when this happens it can prevent someone from learning why something has happened or prevent them from accepting advice.

"Too often we actually didn't know it all along, we only feel as though we did," researchers wrote in the Perspectives on Psychological Science journal. "It's often hard to convince seasoned decision-makers that they might fall prey to hindsight bias."

Source: Telegraph | Comments (15)

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