Human Error Series – How to Exploit Biases and Defend Against Manipulation

This series was suggested by a member of /r/socialengineering, and upon reading his request it struck me that though many resources detail methods of manipulation that exploit these biases in one way or another, no author has aimed to explain how to exploit each individually and shown how to defend oneself against these biases. Further, we’re expected to be aware of which of the many biases are taking place and are being exploited at any given time, which requires a more detailed knowledge of the fundamental nature of these biases.

By explaining these biases and analyzing their place in hypothetical situations and how they could be abused, seen from the perspective of a social engineer, I hope to

Teach you a more fundamental understanding of human behavior and cognition.
inspire you to use your own creativity and imagination to approach the subject of applied social psychology.
Allow you to see situations in a different light and be more adaptable in dealing with them.
Raise awareness and shed light on what is happening in your own mind when these biases are being turned against you by others.

Sociality and social interaction is an interplay of all manner of manipulations and influences, and what is apparent is not often what is actual. What you think is happening might not be as it seems, and might actually be a part of the game other people, and even your own brain, are playing with your mind.

Enjoy!

– Joven

Attentional Bias

Important: This is about the cognitive bias known as the attentional bias.

This is not an article about various neurological attention biases that exist, such as pseudoneglect,[1] or the animal brain’s attentional bias for left visuospatial information.[2]

This is also not referring to various other cognitive biases which are often categorized as attention(-related) biases, which most of the cognitive biases fall under in some manner, including anchoring,[3] or the unnamed attentional bias towards things that don’t fit a pattern.

Disclaimer: Most examples are written from the POV of a male protagonist, because most of my audience and most of my clients are men. Do bear in mind: if experience teaches me anything, women are, on average, better natural social engineers by far. And ladies, if you think my saying this is just a cheap ploy to appease you, then learn to take a compliment.

The What

Attentional bias refers to the human tendency of our perception to be affected by our internal recurring thoughts and associated emotions, and thus determine a large part of the information will be used when making a value judgment by a judge in a decision-making process.

While applying some biases, like anchoring, works by creating salient information or directing the target towards that information, the attentional bias instead works by eliciting already existing information, or