The cognitive bias collection

Our minds often play tricks on us. It's human nature. Believe it or not, people are Predictably Irrational (thanks, Dan Ariely). Marketers and salespeople use these tricks to their advantage; corporations have spent billions in research learning how to exploit consumers using these tricks. Everyone should know about them. I've spent the last couple of years writing a series of essays on what behavioral scientists call "cognitive biases." I'm an amateur economist, but my editor on most of these pieces was Jeff Kreisler, Dan Ariely's co-author. Here's a collection of links to these essays. A lot of the experiments have entertaining names and are fun to read about (like the Ikea Effect!). I hope you enjoy them.

Affect Heuristic Attentional bias Choice Overload Concrete planning Confirmation bias Default Bias Dunning Kruger Endowed Progress Endowment Effect False consensus Frequency Illusion Goal Gradient Effect Google Effect Hyperbolic Discounting Identifiable Victim Ikea Effect Illusory superiority Loss aversion Operational Transparency Peak-End Rule Reciprocity Social Proof Sample size insensitivity Scarcity Sunk cost (Coming soon) Temptation Bundling (Soon) ---ESSAYS---

• Nudge Units

• Cult of Busy

• Importance of vacation

• Stocks and behavioral science

• Precarity

https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/everyday-economics/cognitive-bias/know-your-nuggets-choice-overload/

https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/everyday-economics/cognitive-bias/when-fear-takes-hold-everything-is-a-threat-and-thats-really-scary-the-dark-side-of-attentional-bias/

https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/everyday-economics/cognitive-bias/loss-aversion-why-we-hate-losing-more-than-we-like-winning-and-why-thats-a-trap/

https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/everyday-economics/cognitive-bias/times-running-out-youd-better-read-this-the-scary-power-of-scarcity/

https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/everyday-economics/cognitive-bias/know-your-nuggets-the-identifiable-victim-effect/

https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/everyday-economics/cognitive-bias/why-getting-attached-costs-you-real-money-the-endowment-effect/

https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/everyday-economics/cognitive-bias/hyperbolic-discounting-its-now-vs-the-future-and-its-not-a-fair-fight/

https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/everyday-economics/cognitive-bias/the-dunning-kruger-effect-its-not-what-you-think/

https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/everyday-economics/cognitive-bias/groupthink-and-false-consensus-were-already-dangerous-then-facebook-showed-up/

https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/everyday-economics/cognitive-bias/know-your-nuggets-operational-transparency/

https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/everyday-economics/cognitive-bias/know-your-nuggets-social-proof/

https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/everyday-economics/nerd-nuggets-what-is-the-ikea-effect/

https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/why-give-and-you-shall-receive-is-good-business/

https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/everyday-economics/cognitive-bias/where-i-did-leave-that-oyea-on-google/

https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/everyday-economics/cognitive-bias/get-things-done-with-concrete-planning/

https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/alls-well-that-ends-well-is-good-business/

https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/everyday-economics/cognitive-bias/know-your-nuggets-endowed-progress/

https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/everyday-economics/cognitive-bias/didnt-i-just-see-that-the-frequency-illusion-bias-and-what-investors-need-to-learn/

https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/everyday-economics/cognitive-bias/youre-not-wrong-you-just-have-a-small-sample-size-problem/

https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/everyday-economics/cognitive-bias/blown-your-new-years-resolution-dont-give-up-just-move-the-finish-line-closer/

https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/everyday-economics/cognitive-bias/why-the-default-option-is-so-enticing-and-how-its-used-against-you/

https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/everyday-economics/cognitive-bias/the-hottest-business-idea-youve-never-heard-of-nudge-units/

https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/everyday-economics/cognitive-bias/january-goals-fizzled-try-temptation-bundling/

https://peoplescience.maritz.com/Articles/2018/Personal-Cost-of-Bad-Behavior

https://bobsullivan.net/cybercrime/inside-the-cult-of-busy-a-special-report-for-peoplescience-com/

https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/finally-data-proves-that-worker-financial-anxiety-is-bad-for-employers-too/

https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/everyday-economics/cognitive-bias/tell-the-truth-you-just-like-or-hate-trump-dont-you-thats-what-like-is-like/