2.2 Cognitive approach

Anchoring bias occurs when an initial number or reference point influences a later judgement, even when the anchor is not relevant to the answer.

The mechanism is selective adjustment: people start from the anchor and move away from it insufficiently. Expertise, time pressure, knowledge and the salience of the anchor can change the effect.

A suggested price of $900 can make a$700 product feel cheap, even if comparable products suggest $500. Asking for an independent estimate first can reduce the pull.

Anchoring is a systematic tendency, not proof that every estimate is wrong. Identify the starting value and compare with an unbiased reference.

In classical conditioning, a previously neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus after repeated pairing with an unconditioned stimulus, so it elicits a conditioned response.

Acquisition depends on timing and contingency. Extinction reduces the conditioned response when the cue is no longer paired, but spontaneous recovery or generalisation can show that learning has not simply vanished.

If a tone repeatedly precedes an unpleasant event, the tone may later trigger anxiety. Presenting the tone safely can weaken the response, while a similar tone may still generalise it.

Conditioning is not just repetition. Name the stimulus roles and the pairing that changes the prediction.

Cognitive load is the amount of processing demand placed on working memory. Intrinsic load comes from task complexity, extraneous load from poor presentation, and germane effort from building useful schemas.

Working memory is limited, so instructions should reduce avoidable search and split attention. Prior knowledge changes effective load: a novice may need worked steps that an expert can compress.

A diagram with labels beside the relevant parts can reduce the need to hold two distant sources in mind. Adding decorative text may increase extraneous load without teaching the mechanism.

More information is not automatically better learning. Diagnose which load is consuming capacity and whether the learner is forming a transferable schema.

The working-memory model describes limited short-term processing through interacting components: a central executive directs attention, while specialised systems handle verbal and visuospatial information; an episodic buffer integrates them.

The model predicts dual-task effects and explains why similar codes can interfere while different modalities may be combined. Evidence supports useful distinctions but does not make the components literal brain regions.

Repeating a phone number while reading another number competes for verbal resources. Reading a route while holding a visual map may be less disruptive because the demands differ, though the executive still coordinates them.

Working memory is not the same as permanent storage and the central executive is not an unlimited homunculus. Link each prediction to the component and task.

Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek, interpret or remember information in ways that support an existing belief while discounting conflicting evidence.

It can operate through search, attention, interpretation and memory. Strong prior commitment, identity relevance and ambiguous evidence can increase it; preregistered tests and deliberate consideration of alternatives can reduce it.

A researcher expecting a treatment to work may notice supportive cases first and explain away null results. A blind analysis and explicit stopping rule make that mechanism harder to operate.

Disagreement is not automatically confirmation bias. Identify the prior belief and the systematic way evidence is being filtered.

Dual-process models distinguish fast, automatic, associative processing from slower, effortful and rule-based reasoning. Both can be useful; the context determines which is reliable.

Fast processing is efficient when patterns are familiar and feedback has trained accuracy. Slow processing is valuable when a problem is novel, high-stakes or designed to trigger a misleading intuition.

Recognising a familiar word uses little effort. Checking whether a discount really beats the original price requires deliberate calculation because the display can invite a quick but wrong comparison.

System 1 is not always irrational and System 2 is not always correct. Explain the trigger, expertise and opportunity for checking.

Operant conditioning changes behaviour through its consequences. Reinforcement increases a behaviour; punishment decreases it. Positive means adding a consequence and negative means removing one—not good and bad.

The consequence must follow the behaviour and matter to the learner. Timing, consistency and reinforcement schedule affect acquisition and maintenance; avoidance can be reinforced even when the person experiences relief rather than reward.

If checking a phone removes boredom, checking may become more frequent: the boredom is removed, so this is negative reinforcement, not punishment.

Negative does not mean harmful and positive does not mean beneficial. Classify by direction of behaviour change and what is added or removed.

A schema is an organised framework that guides attention, interpretation and retrieval. It allows people to fill gaps and act efficiently, but can also introduce consistent distortions.

Schema effects are strongest when information is ambiguous or incomplete. New details may be assimilated to an existing framework, while surprising details may be remembered less or force revision.

A person recalling a hospital visit may insert expected doctor equipment that was never seen. The error reveals a reconstruction mechanism, not proof that all details were invented.

A schema is not a conscious stereotype in every case. Specify the prior knowledge, the task and the evidence for its effect.