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Book chapter
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Reference no. BEP8401
Chapter from: "Understanding Behavioral BIA$"
Published by: Business Expert Press
Originally published in: 2020

Abstract

This chapter is excerpted from 'Understanding Behavioral BIA$'. People can be remarkably irrational in the complex setting of financial markets and this can lead to catastrophic mistakes costing millions of dollars. We tend to take credit for our successes, but disown our failures. We have limited powers of attention that prevent us from noticing critical factors in investment analysis. Our memories can lead us to make faulty assumptions that serve as the foundation for financial decisions. Our emotions often lead us to give inappropriate weight to some factors while neglectfully discounting others that deserve further investigation. Over the past 50 years, researchers have discovered over one-hundred predictable biases that lead people to make consistent errors. In this book, we describe the financial biases most relevant to investing, describe cutting-edge evidence of how they develop, and offer practical strategies that can help investors improve their performance by minimizing the negative influence of bias. We aim to offer readers a book that addresses cognitive bias as it occurs in real financial situations. Not all brain-based biases are the same, but some are more similar than others. We offer the reader a guide to categorizing the different biases based on fundamental brain science. This enables one to implement best practices that guard against whole sets of cognitive biases. We emphasize practical implications of financial decision making and we provide a scientific basis for adjusting practices in investing to avoid common cognitive traps.

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Abstract

This chapter is excerpted from 'Understanding Behavioral BIA$'. People can be remarkably irrational in the complex setting of financial markets and this can lead to catastrophic mistakes costing millions of dollars. We tend to take credit for our successes, but disown our failures. We have limited powers of attention that prevent us from noticing critical factors in investment analysis. Our memories can lead us to make faulty assumptions that serve as the foundation for financial decisions. Our emotions often lead us to give inappropriate weight to some factors while neglectfully discounting others that deserve further investigation. Over the past 50 years, researchers have discovered over one-hundred predictable biases that lead people to make consistent errors. In this book, we describe the financial biases most relevant to investing, describe cutting-edge evidence of how they develop, and offer practical strategies that can help investors improve their performance by minimizing the negative influence of bias. We aim to offer readers a book that addresses cognitive bias as it occurs in real financial situations. Not all brain-based biases are the same, but some are more similar than others. We offer the reader a guide to categorizing the different biases based on fundamental brain science. This enables one to implement best practices that guard against whole sets of cognitive biases. We emphasize practical implications of financial decision making and we provide a scientific basis for adjusting practices in investing to avoid common cognitive traps.

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