Cognitive biases and decision making - Essay Example

ob applicant, an interviewer may give a high rating to another applicant who is average at best because they appear more qualified than the previous applicant. Adjustment and anchoring biases may also influence decision making, especially in cases where the individual tends to make judgments on the basis of their initial assessments as anchor, while failing to make sufficient later adjustments (Das & Teng, 1999: p760). For example, an interviewer who has a high-caliber anchor or descriptions of the perfect job candidate may give average applicants substantially higher scores than the interviewer who has anchors of a lower caliber.

In this case, evaluation and judgment is not dependent on competence but, rather, on anchors (Das & Teng, 1999: p760). Availability bias also influences the process of decision making, specifically as a result of inaccurate evaluation of event frequency based on the ease of memory recall. The aspects of a specific issue that are unusual and, as a result, more memorable, are more easily recalled and occur more frequently, which negatively influences the process of decision making in most cases.

For instance, an interviewer may be influenced more by unfavorable and negative information as compared to more positive information. In such a scenario, availability biases is referent to a condition in which imaginations and beliefs of what could or should happen leads to the individual making the decision remembering similar past situations and applying them to the current situation (Das & Teng, 1999: p760). Confirmation biases also have a unique impact on the decision making process and outcomes.

In this case, there is a tendency for the decision-maker to look for evidence in order to confirm pre-conceptions, while ignoring any information that contradicts these pre-conceptions. One scenario that is especially liable to cognitive bias but can be improved through using the right decision making process is an evaluation of appropriate climate