Stereotypical Bias
Our memories are distorted toward stereotypical expectations about people or events.
Stereotypical bias is the tendency for memory errors to favor information consistent with pre-existing stereotypes. When people recall events or descriptions that include stereotype-inconsistent information, they tend to misremember the details to conform with stereotypical expectations. This perpetuates stereotypes even in people trying to be fair, because their own memory selectively reinforces the stereotype.
What it looks like in the wild.
- Justice Witness Misremembering A witness who observed a crime misremembers details of the suspect's behavior in ways that align with stereotypical expectations about that demographic group, even when their original perception was more neutral.
Recognising a definition is not the same skill as spotting it.
Two scenarios from the app, with distractors drawn from the same family of biases — which is what makes them hard.
After seeing one colleague get promoted quickly, Nina assumes all young employees are fast-tracked for management, even though her own career path has been different.
After reading one article about a tech startup founder from Stanford, Lisa assumes everyone from Stanford who starts a company must be a coding genius with a great business plan.
Biases rarely arrive alone.
Understand more. Assume less.
188 biases, 18,869 scenarios, and a record of how you actually decide.
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