Skip to main content
note
This page was translated from the German original, partly by machine. Some passages may read awkwardly or contain inaccuracies. When in doubt, please read the original.

Quiz: Cognitive biases and mental heuristics

Quiz questions:

1. Which cognitive bias describes the tendency to seek and interpret information so that it confirms existing beliefs?

  • a) Anchoring effect
  • b) Confirmation bias
  • c) Availability heuristic
  • d) Base rate fallacy

2. An investor holds on to a stock even though it is continuously losing value, because they do not want to lose the original purchase price. Which cognitive bias is shown here most clearly?

  • a) Dunning-Kruger effect
  • b) Hindsight bias
  • c) Status quo bias
  • d) Sunk cost effect

3. The availability heuristic can lead people to:

  • a) Be too strongly influenced by first impressions
  • b) Overestimate the probability of dramatic but rare events
  • c) Overestimate their own abilities
  • d) Rely too much on expert opinions

4. Which phenomenon does the Dunning-Kruger effect describe?

  • a) The tendency to regard past events as predictable
  • b) The tendency in groups to strive for consensus and suppress dissenting opinions
  • c) The tendency of people with low abilities to overestimate themselves, and of experts to underestimate themselves
  • d) The tendency to explain the behavior of others through personal traits and to underestimate situational factors

5. Which strategy is best suited to overcoming confirmation bias?

  • a) Make decisions more slowly
  • b) Actively seek information that contradicts one's own beliefs
  • c) Rely on statistical data instead of anecdotes
  • d) Take the perspective of other people

Answers:

  1. b) Confirmation bias
  2. d) Sunk cost effect
  3. b) Overestimate the probability of dramatic but rare events
  4. c) The tendency of people with low abilities to overestimate themselves, and of experts to underestimate themselves
  5. b) Actively seek information that contradicts one's own beliefs