When Engineers meet AI

When Engineers meet AI

Engineer’s Playbook

How the Priming Effect Shapes Engineers: The Hidden Biases in Our Decisions

Kannan Kalidasan's avatar
Kannan Kalidasan
Mar 31, 2025
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Have you ever walked into a room and immediately felt like you knew what kind of place it was? Maybe the scent of coffee reminded you of your favorite cafe, or a particular song tune made you think of a childhood memory. These little triggers influence how we perceive and react to the world, often without us even realizing it.

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Daniel Kahneman's groundbreaking work, Thinking, Fast and Slow, reveals the dual nature of our cognition or distinct thinking through two systems

  • System 1: Fast, intuitive, and automatic thinking. It’s great for quick decisions but prone to biases.

  • System 2: Slow, analytical, and effortful thinking. This is where deep reasoning happens, but it takes energy and effort.

Priming effect

One of the most fascinating biases he discusses is the priming effect. What we see first changes how we think about what comes next.

For example, if you see the word "yellow," your brain is primed to recognize "banana" more quickly than other words. You don’t think a…

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