• A cognitive error is a failure to think clearly i.e. a routine barrier to logic.
• Rolf Dobelli describes 99 forms in his book, ‘The Art of Thinking Clearly’ (2014).
• Let’s examine two forms: (i) ‘Unconscious bias’; and (ii) ‘Loss aversion.’
• ‘Unconscious bias’ refers to a set of attitudes & beliefs that the P’s, M & MA’s may be unaware of.
• It has two components:

(i)      ‘attitudes’; &

(ii)     ‘stereotypes’.

• Attitudes can be positive, negative, or neutral, whereas a stereotype is a specific trait that is probabilistically associated with a category.
• As applied to people, stereotypes are usually unwelcome, even if they are positive, because they implicitly deny the individuality of the person being stereotyped.
• Negative stereotypes are even more unwelcome because they are commonly used to marginalise or oppress people stereotypically associated with a trait.
• Stereotypes are categories that constrain and shape what a person believes about, and expects from, other people.
• One of the challenges in managing stereotypes is that they are a form of automatic thinking, i.e. they spring to mind even if they represent a view that our conscious minds find abhorrent.
• Overcoming unconscious bias is the key to clear & rational thinking.
• The techniques for reducing bias are psychological strategies, i.e. they try to change, albeit indirectly, how our minds process difference.
• We can also examine our bigoted thoughts & feelings through introspection..
• The cognitive bias of ‘Loss aversion’, is that the fear of losing something, motivates people more than the prospect of  gaining something of equal value.

‘When making decisions, most people, most of the time, give more weight to the risk of suffering a loss of a given magnitude than to the chance of gaining a benefit of the same magnitude. This preference seems irrational, and it is considered a cognitive bias [known as ‘Loss Aversion’]. Loss aversion refers to the symmetry in the evaluation of positive and negative outcomes, in which losses loom larger than the corresponding gains. In other words, a person is more deterred by the idea of losing a particular sum of money than excited by the idea of gaining the same sum: for most people the fear of losing [£100] is more intense than the hope of gaining [£150]. … [Raising] awareness of bias requires sensitivity to cognitive distortions, including being aware of one’s resistance to seeing bias.’ (Linveh, Yair Overcoming the Loss Aversion Obstacle in Negotiation, Harvard Negotiation Law Review, Vol. 25:187, Spring 2020, 187-212, pp.1-2 & 15).

• If M and the MA’s understand the principle of ‘Cognitive error’, then they can save the P’s from themselves, thereby avoiding destructive behaviour which does not help the P’s get what they each ‘need’ through facilitated negotiation and agreement.