Ambiguous Information
The initial exposure to blurred, conflicting or ambiguous stimuli and data creates deep interference with accurate perception even after more and better information becomes available. This effect has been demonstrated experimentally with subjects that are exposed to a distorted blurred image. As they develop more confidence in this first and perhaps erroneous impression of ambiguous stimuli this initial impression has more impact on subsequent perceptions. When the picture becomes clearer, new data is assimilated into the previous image but the initial interpretation is maintained and resistance to cognitive change is upheld until the contradiction becomes so strong and apparent that it forces itself upon consciousness.
The amount of information to invalidate a hypothesis is significantly greater than the amount of information required to make an initial interpretation, and the early but incorrect impression tends to endure. The difficulty is not in acquiring new perceptions or new ideas, but that already established perceptions are difficult to change. Human assumptions formed regularly on the basis of very little information, are not rejected or changed unless rather solid and extensive evidence forces to reconsider the analysis. As the impact of expectations and pre-existing images on perception of stimuli is related to the ambiguity of the stimuli and discordance of information, the intelligence analyst's own preconceptions are likely to exert a big impact, despite striving for objectivity. As Cultural Intelligence deals with highly ambiguous situations by definition, analysts adapt a strategy of suspending judgment for as long as possible.