Final answer:
Hindsight bias, confirmation bias, and the availability heuristic are cognitive biases that shape our perception and judgment, often leading to misunderstandings and misconceptions, such as the belief that social psychology is just common sense.
Step-by-step explanation:
Hindsight bias is the inclination to see events that have already occurred as being more predictable than they actually were. A classic example of this is after a sports team loses a big game, fans may claim they "knew" the outcome was inevitable due to the team's previous performance, disregarding the complexities of the situation. Confirmation bias is another cognitive bias where an individual favours information that confirms their existing beliefs. For instance, if someone believes that a particular politician is untrustworthy, they are more likely to pay attention to news that supports this view and ignore any evidence to the contrary. Similarly, the availability heuristic leads individuals to make decisions based on the information most readily available to them, such as the most recent or memorable events, which may not be the most accurate or relevant data for the situation.
People may think that social psychology is merely common sense because after learning about these biases and fallacies, they appear obvious and inherent to our everyday reasoning. However, it is only through studying social psychology that many people become aware of these biases and their influence on our judgement and decision-making. Representative bias also contributes to this misconception by leading individuals to stereotype based on a narrow set of characteristics, which can seem like common sense even when it's inaccurate.