Rational brain · Judgment & Decision Science

Choice Retention Bias

After choosing, memory quietly upgrades the chosen option and downgrades the rejected ones; you remember having had better reasons than you did, and you defend past choices with invented evidence.

An everyday example

Recalling the vendor you picked as having had the better price, when your own notes show otherwise.

What it can cost you

Sticking with past choices on falsified memory; being unable to learn from decisions you now misremember.

Warning signs

  • My reasons seem better in hindsight.
  • I cannot find the downside I must have seen.

One thing to do

Keep the comparison sheet you decided from; when re-deciding, reopen it instead of your memory.

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