Cognitive Bias and Belief Revision

Cognitive bias is a systematic human thought pattern connected with the distortion of received information, that usually leads to deviation from rationality (for a recent analysis see [18]). Such biases are specific not only to human intelligence, they can be also ascribed to artificial agents, algorithms and programs. For instance, confirmation bias can be seen as stubbornness against new information which contradicts the previously adopted view. In some cases such confirmation bias can be implemented into a system purposefully. Take as an example an authentication algorithm and a malicious user who is trying to break into an email account.