Cognitive Bias

Learning Objectives

• Recognizing mental shortcuts, spotting bias in judgment, slowing down rushed thinking, comparing perspectives, and making more objective decisions.

Activity 1 (Bias Spotting Game)

Data

Setup

Prepare short situations that reveal a common bias.

Use these examples:

• A person trusts the first answer they hear without checking
• A team remembers only the one mistake and ignores the many successes
• Someone assumes a loud speaker is more correct than a quiet one
• The group thinks a familiar idea is safer even without proof
• A person says a plan must be good because they helped make it
• A team believes something because everyone in their circle says it
• Someone judges a new idea before hearing the full explanation
• A person notices only the evidence that supports their view

How to Play

1. Divide shabab into teams.
2. Read one situation at a time.
3. Teams identify the likely bias.
4. Teams explain how the bias affected the decision.
5. Murabbi awards points for clear identification and good explanation.

Sample Answers for Murabbi

• Trusting the first answer without checking: anchoring or quick acceptance.
• Remembering only one mistake: negativity bias.
• Thinking the loud speaker is more correct: authority bias or confidence bias.
• Choosing the familiar idea without proof: status quo bias.
• Saying a plan is good because they made it: self-serving bias.
• Believing something because the circle says it: in-group bias.
• Judging before hearing the explanation: premature judgment.
• Noticing only supportive evidence: confirmation bias.

Murabbi Notes

Keep examples neutral and everyday. The goal is self-awareness, not accusing others of bad character.

Activity 2 (Change the Lens)

Data

Setup

Write one biased statement and ask the team to rewrite it in a fairer way.

Use these examples:

• This idea is bad because I do not like the person
• We should ignore this because it is new
• Our plan is right because we made it
• Everyone says it, so it must be true

How to Play

1. Show one biased statement.
2. Teams identify the bias in the statement.
3. Teams rewrite it into a more balanced sentence.
4. One teammate reads the improved version aloud.
5. Murabbi gives points for fairness and clarity.

Creative Challenge

Ask teams to add one missing piece of evidence or one missing viewpoint to the sentence.

Sample Answers for Murabbi

• This idea is bad because I do not like the person -> I should judge the idea on its merits, not on my feelings about the person.
• We should ignore this because it is new -> New ideas should be checked carefully before accepting or rejecting them.
• Our plan is right because we made it -> We should test our plan and compare it with alternatives.
• Everyone says it, so it must be true -> Popularity does not prove truth, so we should verify it.

Murabbi Notes

The lesson should be calm and reflective. Bias is normal, but good thinking means noticing it and correcting it.