Cognitive biases directly affect the way we perceive and process sensory and memory data. Several types of cognitive biases effect how we perceive, think, and feel (Mathews & Mackintosh, 2000).

The specific types of cognitive biases are:

• Attention Bias explaining how things are seen, heard, and felt, that individuals subconsciously choose to perceive based on their current paradigm and ignore what conflicts with beliefs (Salemink, Hout, & Kindt, 2007). Individuals delete, distort, and generalize data so it aligns with their biases (Salemink et al., 2007).
• Interpretation Bias is when the sensory data perceived and accepted is interpreted in a way that fits into or supports one’s biases.
• Memory Bias occurs when individuals recall prior experiences, thoughts, and imagery that supports their current biases (Hertel & Mathews, 2011)).

More emotional individuals may have vulnerabilities to cognitive biases that contribute to more negative processing of the sensory data available and this contributes…