Human behavior as automatons cognitive_bias
Baader-Meinhof phenomenon
also known as frequency illusion.
Scholarship
Frequency illusion, also known as the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon or frequency bias, is a cognitive bias referring to the tendency to notice something more often after noticing it for the first time, leading to the belief that it has an increased frequency of occurrence. The illusion is a result of increased awareness of a phrase, idea, or object – for example, hearing a song more often or seeing red cars everywhere. The name “Baader-Meinhof phenomenon” was coined in 1994 by an online message board user, who, after mentioning the name of the German terrorist group Baader-Meinhof once, kept noticing it, and posted on the forum about their experience. This led to other readers of the message board sharing their own experiences of the phenomenon, leading it to gain recognition. It was not until 2005, when Stanford linguistics professor Arnold Zwicky wrote about this effect on his blog, that the name “frequency illusion” was coined.
original source/found:
- What is the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon? | The Lighthouse
- Second take: Seeing the same car everywhere is one example of the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon at work.