I looked at the
list of cognitive biases from Wikipedia to see if there is something that is relevant to the TASVideos voting system or to the kind of situation thatguy describes. These are what I found at the first glance:
Anchoring or focalism
The tendency to rely too heavily, or "anchor," on one trait or piece of information when making decisions (usually the first piece of information that we acquire on that subject)
Yes. This can happen when regular voters "anchor" their decision to the first piece of information they get about the TAS, which by the way happens to be the name of the author.
Availability cascade
A self-reinforcing process in which a collective belief gains more and more plausibility through its increasing repetition in public discourse (or "repeat something long enough and it will become true").
I'm not sure how often "availability cascade" happens in the submission discussions, but this looks like something that might happen occasionally.
Bandwagon effect
The tendency to do (or believe) things because many other people do (or believe) the same. Related to groupthink and herd behavior.
This is a strong effect in human behavior and probably happens often here too. In retrospect, I remember some occasions (not necessarily related to submissions) where I jumped to the wagon.
Cheerleader effect
The tendency for people to appear more attractive in a group than in isolation.
This might actually happen with submissions that have more than one author.
Confirmation bias
The tendency to search for, interpret, focus on and remember information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions.
Yes, this will definitely happen often. It is a common human thing to do. Like, if you believe that the submissions of newbies are generally unoptimized, you will pay more attention to the mistakes. I can imagine myself thinking "that trick looks unoptimized" vs. "that trick looks unoptimized, but since the TASer is experienced, he must know what he is doing".
Conservatism or regressive bias
A certain state of mind wherein high values and high likelihoods are overestimated while low values and low likelihoods are underestimated.
Yes, this looks like something that could happen here sometimes. I might overestimate the probability that the TAS is close to optimal when it is made by an expert TASer and underestimate the probability when it was done by a newbie.
Conservatism (Bayesian)
The tendency to revise one's belief insufficiently when presented with new evidence.
I can't think of an example, but this probably happens here sometimes.
Contrast effect
The enhancement or reduction of a certain perception's stimuli when compared with a recently observed, contrasting object.
Yes, this might happen when somebody has just seen a very good TAS and then watches an average TAS and perceives the latter as worse than it actually is.
Curse of knowledge
When better-informed people find it extremely difficult to think about problems from the perspective of lesser-informed people.
This probably happens here, but I can't think of an example.
Distinction bias
The tendency to view two options as more dissimilar when evaluating them simultaneously than when evaluating them separately.
Yes, comparing two TASes to each other vs. watching them separately.
Essentialism
Categorizing people and things according to their essential nature, in spite of variations.
Definitely happens: "A submission by a newbie. Must be unpotimized then."
Experimenter's or expectation bias
The tendency for experimenters to believe, certify, and publish data that agree with their expectations for the outcome of an experiment, and to disbelieve, discard, or downgrade the corresponding weightings for data that appear to conflict with those expectations.
Seems like something that could happen when watching TASes with expectations of it being good/bad.
Focusing effect
The tendency to place too much importance on one aspect of an event.
Yes. This can happen when we focus too much on who did the TAS.
Framing effect
Drawing different conclusions from the same information, depending on how or by whom that information is presented.
Yes, I think any submission whether made by a newbie or not will receive better feedback, if the the run is submitted by somebody with good reputation. Also, good submission text and text formatting will have a positive impact on the audience.
Hot-hand fallacy
The "hot-hand fallacy" (also known as the "hot hand phenomenon" or "hot hand") is the fallacious belief that a person who has experienced success has a greater chance of further success in additional attempts.
Not sure about this. Maybe you can fall to this fallacy, when you overestimate the probability that an expert taser will make a good TAS in the future?
Illusion of control
The tendency to overestimate one's degree of influence over external events.
This happens every time someone votes. (Just kidding.)
Selective perception
The tendency for expectations to affect perception.
Happens all the time?
Stereotyping
Expecting a member of a group to have certain characteristics without having actual information about that individual.
"A specimen from the noob group? Definitely didn't use frame advance."
