The Evolution of Cognitive Bias

Abstract

Abstract On the surface, cognitive biases appear to be puzzling when viewed through an evolutionary lens. Because they depart from standards of logic and accuracy, they appear to be design flaws instead of examples of good evolutionary engineering. Biases are often ascribed to cognitive “constraints” or flaws in the design of the mind that were somehow not overcome by evolution. To the evolutionary psychologist, however, evolved psychological mechanisms are expected to solve particular problems well, in ways that contributed to fitness ancestrally. Viewed in this way, cognitive biasescould have evolved because they positively impacted fitness. They are, then, not necessarilydesignflaws—instead, they could bedesign features. This chapter describes research documenting adaptive biases across many domains. These include inferences about danger, the cooperativeness of others, and the sexual and romantic interests of prospective mates. This chapter also addresses the question of why biases often seem to be implemented at the cognitive level, producing genuine misperceptions, rather than merely biases in enacted behavior.

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