Rare
Frequency illusion
Kind of cognitive bias
Frequency illusion
The frequency illusion, also known as the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon, is a cognitive bias in which a person notices a specific concept, word, or product more frequently after recently becoming aware of it. The name "Baader–Meinhof phenomenon" was coined in 1994 by Terry Mullen in a letter to the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The letter describes how, after mentioning the name of the German militant group Baader–Meinhof once, he kept noticing it. This led to other readers 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. The occurrence of this phenomenon has increased in frequency among the general public, mainly because of the large increase in algorithmic curation across the internet.
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