Memory and Hindsight Distortions

Summary

This book contains these topics:

- The Hindsight Bias: Hindsight bias, often referred to as the "knew-it-all-along" effect, is the cognitive phenomenon in which people perceive past events as having been more predictable than they actually were. After an event has occurred, individuals tend to believe they foresaw the outcome, even though there was no reasonable way to predict it at the time. This bias can distort our memories, judgments, and perceptions, leading us to think that we knew the outcome of a situation from the very beginning, even though the reality is quite different.

- The Mere Exposure Effect: The Mere Exposure Effect is a psychological phenomenon where repeated exposure to a stimulus leads to an increased preference for that stimulus. This effect occurs without any active engagement or deep processing from the individual. Simply put, the more we encounter something, the more likely we are to develop a liking for it, even if we don’t consciously realize why. This effect can apply to a wide range of stimuli, from people and objects to sounds, images, and even ideas. The central principle behind this concept is that familiarity breeds fondness.