There are MANY behavioral biases, and their books, Kahneman, Ariely and Thaler (to name a few) explain what lies behind these biases. Fantastic books! However, sometimes a list of some common ones are welcome; in this article, 61 are presented.
57 Cognitive Biases That Screw Up How We Think
moriza via www.flickr.com People aren’t as rational as we would like to think. From attentional bias – where someone focuses on only one or two of several possible outcomes – to zero-risk bias – where we place too much value on reducing a small risk to zero – the sheer number of cognitive biases that affect us every day is staggering.
(At the end of this post, I have copied from the page, in case it goes offline..)
This graphic is also a useful reminder. 🙂
 http://uk.businessinsider.com/cognitive-biases-that-affect-decisions-2015-8?r=US&IR=T
61 Behavioral Biases That Screw Up How You Think
Every decision we make is influenced by subconscious behavioral biases.
They cause us to make snap judgments based on bad information, to be unfair and to waste time. This is clearly problematic for investors, managers and people in general. Once we become aware of these biases, we can disrupt our thinking and come to terms with reality.
We’ve collected a long list of cognitive biases from Tim Richard’s Psy-Fi Blog, Wikipedia and more.
Decoy effect
A phenomenon in marketing where consumers have a specific change in preference between two choices after being presented with a third choice.
Read more about the decoy effect.
Distinction bias
When you value two options differently when looking at them together rather than separately.
Read more about distinction bias.
Empathy gap
Where people in one state fail to understand people in another state. If you are happy you can’t imagine why people would be unhappy. When you are not sexually aroused, you can’t understand how you act when you are sexually aroused.
Read more about the empathy gap.
Herding
YouTube
People tend to flock together, especially in difficult or uncertain times.
Read more about herd behavior.
Hindsight bias
The tendency to see past events as predictable. “I knew all along Philip Phillips would win American Idol.” Sure you did…
Read more about hindsight bias.
Irrational escalation
Investing more money or resources into something based on prior investment, even if you know it’s a bad one. “I already have 500 shares of Lehman Brothers, let’s buy more even though the stock is tanking.”
Read more about irrational escalation.
Negativity bias
The tendency to put more emphasis on negative experiences rather than positive ones. People with this bias feel that “bad is stronger than good” and will perceive threats more than opportunities in a given situation.
This leads toward loss aversion.
Read more about negativity bias.
Omission bias
The tendency to judge harmful actions as worse than equally harmful inactions. For example, we consider it worse to crash a car while drunk than to let one’s friend crash his car while drunk.
Read more about omission bias.
Ostrich effect
The decision to ignore dangerous or negative information by “burying” one’s head in the sand, like an ostrich.
Read more about the ostrich effect.
Outcome bias
Judging a decision based on the outcome over the quality of the decision when it was made. This is not accounting for the role luck plays in outcomes.
Read more about outcome bias.
Overoptimism
When we believe the world is a better place than it is, we aren’t prepared for the danger and violence we may encounter. The inability to accept the full breadth of human nature leaves us vulnerable.
Read more about optimism bias.
Pessimism bias
This is the opposite of the overoptimism bias. Pessimists over-weigh negative consequences with their own and others’ actions.
Read more about pessimism bias.
Planning fallacy
The tendency to underestimate how much time it will it will take to complete a task.
Read more about planning fallacy.
Pro-innovation bias
Daniel Goodman / Business Insider
When a proponent of an innovation tends to overvalue its usefulness and undervalue its limitations.
Read more about pro-innovation bias.
Reactance
The desire to do the opposite of what someone wants you to do, in order to prove your freedom of choice.
Read more about reactance.
Recency
SocGen
The tendency to weight the latest information more heavily than older data.
Read more about recency.
Reciprocity
The belief that fairness should trump other values, even when it’s not in our economic and/or other interests.
Read more about reciprocity.
Salience
Our tendency to focus on the most easily-recognizable features of a person or concept.
Read more about salience.
Seersucker Illusion
Over-reliance on expert advice. This has to do with the avoidance or responsibility. We call in “experts” to forecast, when in fact, they have no greater chance of predicting an outcome than the rest of the population. In other words, “for every seer there’s a sucker.”
Read more about seersucker illusion.
Status quo bias
The tendency to prefer things to stay the same. This is similar to loss-aversion bias, where people prefer to avoid losses instead of acquiring gains.
Read more about status quo bias.
Unit bias
We believe that there is an optimal unit size, or a universally-acknowledged amount of a given item that is perceived as appropriate. This explains why when served larger portions, we eat more.
Read more about unit bias.
Zero-risk bias
The preference to reduce a small risk to zero versus achieving a greater reduction in a greater risk.
This plays to our desire to have complete control over a single, more minor outcome, over the desire for more — but not complete — control over a greater, more unpredictable outcome.
Read more about zero-risk bias.