The Psychological Experiment Iceberg Explained

This classic effect (which is even more striking when the words are printed in color) reflects the intervention of your executive control system. When the words and colors conflict, the central executive must inhibit word reading to remain focused on the task of naming the ink color.

In psychology there are at least two biases that drive this pattern. One is confirmation bias:23 seeing what we expect to see. The other is desirability bias:24 seeing what we want to see. These biases don’t just prevent us from applying our intelligence. They can actually contort our intelligence into a weapon against the truth.