The Crash

Cognitive bias is an important conceptual framework behind The Crash’s thematic exploration of Perception Versus Reality and the Dangers of Presumption. Cognitive bias is defined as “a systematic error in thinking, affecting how we process information, perceive others, and make decisions. It can lead to irrational thoughts or judgments and is often based on our perceptions, memories, or individual and societal beliefs” (Ruhl, Charlotte. “Cognitive Bias: How We Are Wired to Misjudge.” Simply Psychology, 24 Oct. 2023). Biases, in general, can be either conscious or unconscious. Cognitive biases are unconscious, resulting from automatic mental processes aimed at simplifying information. This is necessary given that the human brain can process only about 40 of the 11 million bits of information it receives per second. To enable timely decision-making, humans use mental shortcuts called heuristics. Sometimes these shortcuts are helpful, but other times, they lead to misperceptions and flawed judgments. Emotions and social factors also contribute to cognitive bias. There are numerous types of cognitive biases, including confirmation bias, self-serving bias, hindsight bias, anchor bias, availability bias, and inattentional blindness.

Several of the most studied cognitive biases can be observed in The Crash. Tegan’s initial assumptions about Hank and Polly, based on emotion and suggestive “evidence,” form the basis of how she interprets everything that follows. She exhibits confirmation bias, which is “the tendency to interpret new information as confirmation of your preexisting beliefs and opinions while giving disproportionately less consideration to alternative possibilities” (Ruhl). Polly’s justifications for holding Tegan captive, on the other hand, demonstrate a self-serving bias. This refers to the tendency to attribute positive personal outcomes to one’s internal characteristics, like intelligence or ability, while attributing negative outcomes to external factors around oneself, like luck or sabotage. Conversely, this bias makes people more likely to attribute another person’s success to luck and their failures to incompetence. Polly, like many other people whom Tegan encounters, assumes that Tegan’s pregnancy reflects irresponsible behavior, making Polly think that she would be a better mother for the baby and justifying her actions.

Another common bias, known as hindsight bias, refers to a tendency to view events in the past as more predictable than they actually were. For example, once fans of a sporting event know the outcome, they’re more likely to criticize decisions made by coaches or players than they are before knowing the outcome. The anchoring bias describes an overreliance on the first piece of information one encounters when making a decision. Market prices offer a good example: Shoppers may treat the first price they encounter for a desired object as an anchor, using it as a standard of comparison for prices at other merchants, regardless of how well it reflects the actual market value. Availability bias occurs when undue weight is given to examples that come to mind most readily. For example, the prevalence of television shows about serial killers may bring the subject to mind readily and lead an individual to view serial killings as much more common than they actually are. Inattentional blindness refers to the failure to notice something in one’s environment or a piece of information because one’s attention is focused on something else. In Part 4 of The Crash, for example, Polly says that she’d been so focused on her desire to have a child that she failed to notice how blessed and complete her life with Hank is.