Human Behavior Experiments and the Psychology of Error
03/05/25 • 23 min
Human behavior experiments like the Loftus and Palmer misinformation effect, Stroop effect, and Milgram’s obedience study reveal how memory distortions, attention failures, authority bias, social conformity, and cognitive biases influence human error. These psychological mechanisms explain why people misremember events, overlook critical details, follow flawed instructions, or make poor decisions under pressure. By understanding these errors—ranging from inattentional blindness to false memory creation—organizations can design better systems to minimize mistakes, improve decision-making, and enhance safety and productivity.
To learn more, visit:
https://humanerrorsolutions.com/
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Human behavior experiments like the Loftus and Palmer misinformation effect, Stroop effect, and Milgram’s obedience study reveal how memory distortions, attention failures, authority bias, social conformity, and cognitive biases influence human error. These psychological mechanisms explain why people misremember events, overlook critical details, follow flawed instructions, or make poor decisions under pressure. By understanding these errors—ranging from inattentional blindness to false memory creation—organizations can design better systems to minimize mistakes, improve decision-making, and enhance safety and productivity.
To learn more, visit:
https://humanerrorsolutions.com/
Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
Previous Episode
Cognitive Load Multipliers: Assessing Risk Factors for Human Error and Performance Optimization
Cognitive Load Multipliers are quantitative factors used to assess and measure the impact of various stressors on human performance, particularly in high-risk industries such as pharmaceutical manufacturing, healthcare, and aviation. These multipliers help identify conditions that increase cognitive burden, such as task complexity, time pressure, fatigue, interruptions, and environmental distractions, which can significantly raise the likelihood of human error. By applying cognitive load multipliers, organizations can systematically evaluate and mitigate risks, optimize workflows, and enhance overall reliability. Understanding these multipliers allows for the development of targeted strategies, such as improving procedural clarity, minimizing multitasking, and designing error-resistant systems to ensure compliance and operational efficiency.
To learn more, visit:
https://humanerrorsolutions.com/
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Next Episode
FDA Expectations for Quality Culture: Enhancing Compliance and Reducing Human Error
Quality culture is the foundation of an organization’s ability to maintain regulatory compliance, ensure product safety, and drive continuous improvement. In highly regulated industries such as pharmaceuticals and medical devices, fostering a strong quality culture is essential for meeting FDA expectations, reducing human errors, and ensuring consistent product quality.
Traditionally, FDA inspections have been system-based, evaluating compliance through quality systems such as CAPA, training, and documentation. However, there is a growing emphasis on assessing quality culture as a proactive measure to enhance compliance and reduce human errors. This shift recognizes that technical compliance alone is insufficient—a strong organizational culture that prioritizes quality is key to preventing failures, improving efficiency, and fostering a blame-free environment where employees are encouraged to report and address issues transparently.
To learn more, visit:
https://humanerrorsolutions.com/
Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
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