In general, when developing opinions on a topic, people primarily look for positive cases and resist negative cases.

Research on confirmation bias has continued over the decades, showing a number of interesting results that are detailed as follows. Wason coined the term “confirmation bias” and continued to study this cognitive error throughout his career.

Additionally, they were unwilling to test examples that went against their original hypothesis. He believed these people failed because they only tested examples of the numbers that conformed to their original hypothesis. Wason was surprised that more than half of his subjects were unable to figure out the simple rule using this method. The subjects were allowed to repeat this procedure until they believed they had figured out the rule. The experimenter would then tell them if the numbers conformed to the rule or not, and the subjects could note the outcome. They were then invited to write down sets of numbers that they believed conformed to the rule. In one of Wason’s first studies, subjects were told by the experimenter that they would be given “three numbers which confirm to a simple rule that I have in mind.” The subjects were asked to come up with an initial hypothesis of what they thought the rule was.

Keywords: inductive reasoning, confirmatory bias, myside bias, verification bias, interpretation, primacy effect, belief persistency, Pollyanna principleĬonfirmation bias was first described in the 1960s, when several studies completed by the psychologist Peter Wason showed that people tend to seek out confirming evidence alone when drawing conclusions about simple tasks. This phenomenon is generally unconscious, as people may not realize that this tendency is occurring. In this way, existing opinions are reinforced as any contradictory information is disregarded. People who fall into the trap of confirmation bias tend to purposefully seek out evidence that supports already solidified beliefs and purposefully reject any evidence that goes against those beliefs.

Summary: Confirmation bias is a cognitive error that people make when they are only willing to accept new information when it confirms what they already believe (i.e., aligns with their existing beliefs and values).

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