Additive bias

Additive bias is the tendency that prompts solving problems from a wrong or non expected way.

It is a cognitive urge/ tendency of human beings facing problem that they add resources instead of taking or subtracting. According to Keith Holyoak, "Humans seeks to strengthen an argument or a manager seeks to encourage desired behaviour, thus requires a mental search for possible changes.^[1]

Leidy Klotz conducted a series of laboratory experiments, demonstrating how, when faced with a problem, subjects were more likely to add elements rather than subtract, even where subtraction would have led to a better solution.^[2]

References

Citations

^ Holyoak, K. J. (1984). Sternberg, R. J. (ed.). Advances in the Psychology of Human Intelligence. Vol. 2. Erlbaum. pp. 199–230.
^ Klotz, Leidy (2021). Subtract: the untapped science of less (First ed.). New York: Flatiron Books. ISBN 978-1-250-24986-9.

v t e Biases
Cognitive biases	Acquiescence Ambiguity Affinity Anchoring Attentional Attribution Actor–observer Correspondence Authority Automation Availability Mean world Belief Blind spot Choice-supportive Commitment Confirmation Selective perception Compassion fade Congruence Cultural Declinism Distinction Dunning–Kruger Egocentric Curse of knowledge Emotional Extrinsic incentives Fading affect Framing Frequency Frog pond effect Halo effect Hindsight Horn effect Hostile attribution Impact Implicit In-group Intentionality Illusion of transparency Mean world syndrome Mere-exposure effect Narrative Negativity Normalcy Omission Optimism Out-group homogeneity Outcome Overton window Precision Present Pro-innovation Proximity Response Restraint Self-serving Social comparison Social influence bias Spotlight Status quo Substitution Time-saving Trait ascription Turkey illusion von Restorff effect Zero-risk In animals
Statistical biases	Estimator Forecast Healthy user Information Psychological Lead time Length time Non-response Observer Omitted-variable Participation Recall Sampling Selection Self-selection Social desirability Spectrum Survivorship Systematic error Systemic Verification Wet
Other biases	Academic Basking in reflected glory Déformation professionnelle Funding FUTON Inductive Infrastructure Inherent In education Liking gap Media False balance Vietnam War Norway South Asia Sweden United States Arab–Israeli conflict Ukraine Net Political bias Publication Reporting White hat
Bias reduction	Cognitive bias mitigation Debiasing Heuristics in judgment and decision-making
Lists: General Memory

Additive bias

See also

References

Citations

Further reading