We all make decisions every day, from small choices like what to eat for breakfast to big decisions that shape our future, like what career path to pursue. But how often do we stop and think about the thought processes and mental shortcuts that influence the choices we make? This beginner’s guide will introduce you to the field of cognitive psychology and how it can help us understand decision-making.

First, what exactly is cognitive psychology? It’s the study of mental processes like thinking, memory, perception, reasoning, and judgment. Cognitive psychologists develop theories and run experiments to understand how the human mind works when processing information and making decisions. The field dates back to the 1960s, but has seen huge growth and advancement in recent decades.

Some of the key topics cognitive psychologists study include:

Attention – What information do we tune into or ignore? How does our focus impact memory and learning?

Memory – How is information stored and retrieved from short-term and long-term memory? Why do we forget some things easily but vividly remember others?

Perception – How do we interpret and make sense of the constant sensory stimuli around us? What innate biases shape our perceptions?

Problem-solving – What thought processes do we use to solve problems and make connections between ideas? How do we arrive at insights?

Decision-making – How do we weigh information, assess risks and benefits, and choose between options? What rational and irrational factors influence our choices?

By studying these mental processes, cognitive psychologists shed light on why we think and act the way we do. These insights can help us override unhelpful biases, improve productivity, tap into creativity, and ultimately make smarter decisions.

Heuristics and Cognitive Shortcuts

One key concept from cognitive psychology that applies directly to decision-making is heuristics. A heuristic is a mental shortcut or rule of thumb that allows us to quickly make judgments and choices without having to meticulously analyze all the facts.

For example, the availability heuristic is our tendency to estimate the likelihood of something based on how easily examples come to mind. The more vivid or emotionally-charged the memory, the more “available” it feels. This shortcut can lead to bias though because we will think sharks attack more often than they actually do if we’ve recently seen gory shark attack stories on the news.

Other common heuristics include:

• The affect heuristic: judging options based on gut emotional reactions.
• Anchoring bias: relying too heavily on the first piece of information offered when making decisions.
• Satisficing: choosing the first option that meets your minimum criteria rather than the optimal choice.

While heuristics do serve the useful purpose of speeding up decision-making, they can also lead us astray in predictable ways. Being aware of misleading shortcuts is the first step toward making less biased, more thoughtful choices.

Framing Effects

Cognitive psychologists have also discovered that the way options are framed or presented to us powerfully sways our decisions, even when the fundamental information is the same. This is known as a framing effect.

For example, people are more likely to undergo a risky medical procedure when statistics are framed in terms of the survival rate rather than the mortality rate, even though the numbers are identical! Positive framing is more reassuring.

Similarly, the default option we’re presented with creates a strong framing effect. We tend to passively accept defaults rather than switching from the preset choice. Companies leverage this tendency when signing people up for recurring subscriptions online by pre-checking the box to renew automatically.

Being aware of framing effects helps us notice when our choices are being unconsciously swayed by superficial factors instead of meaningful differences in the underlying information. We can train ourselves to override the frame and objectively evaluate the decision at hand.

Cognitive Biases

Unfortunately, cognitive shortcuts and framing effects often lead us into cognitive biases that predictably cause poor choices and judgment errors. Over 100 types of cognitive biases have been identified through psychological research.

Some of the most common and impactful biases include:

• Confirmation bias: Only noticing or accepting evidence that confirms our existing beliefs.
• In-group bias: Favoring people who are similar or familiar to us over outsiders.
• Overconfidence bias: Believing our knowledge or abilities are greater than they truly are.
• Loss aversion: Weighing potential losses much more heavily than equivalent gains when assessing options.

The key to avoiding biased thinking is humility and awareness. Seek out information that contradicts your assumptions. Question your default reactions. Consider perspective-taking thought experiments to empathize with different viewpoints. And remember that no one is immune to cognitive biases, no matter how intelligent or open-minded they seem.

Improving Your Decision Process

By studying common heuristics, framing effects, and cognitive biases, cognitive psychologists offer useful insights on the flawed ways our minds tend to process information. We can use this knowledge to design better decision-making strategies that lead to wiser choices. Here are some tips:

• Define your goals and criteria before assessing options. Don’t let surface impressions drive your choices.
• Take time to gather complete data from multiple sources, not just convenient anecdotes.
• Consider all options, not just the defaults, norms or first ones you encounter. You might find a better fit.
• Use objective criteria to evaluate each option rather than how you feel in the moment. Emotions often deceive us.
• Visualize future scenarios to check whether you’ll remain satisfied down the line. Mental simulation helps avoid regret.
• Sleep on big decisions if possible so your mind can consciously and subconsciously mull the nuances.
• Consult experts who can fact-check your assumptions or fill knowledge gaps pre-decision. Two minds are better than one.
• Explain your thought process to someone else to externalize internal biases you may not notice yourself.

With practice, you can train your brain to override unhelpful mental shortcuts, check biases, reframe options effectively, and more accurately weigh risk, benefits and feasibility. Embracing insights from cognitive psychology will lead to better choices that help you reach your goals and avoid future regrets.

Now that you have a beginner’s overview of cognitive psychology and decision-making, you can start applying these principles to analyze and improve your own choices. We all have cognitive blindspots, so be patient with yourself as you build self-awareness and decision-making skills over time. With greater understanding of the inner working of your mind, you’ll be able to master the art of making smarter decisions.