Resources Repository
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ArticlePublication 2016“Nudges” in Law and Policy
This article describes research on Americans’ preferences for types of “nudges” in the context of …
This article describes research on Americans’ preferences for types of “nudges” in the context of law and public policy—those that target “system 1” thinking, meaning the intuitive, emotion-based mechanisms, such as graphic warnings and default rules, versus those that target “system 2” thinking, the rational, deliberative form of cognition, such as statistical information or education-based messages.
Health/Medicine | Culture/Society | Decision Psychology | Preferences/Values | Priority Setting/Ethics | Policy/Regulation | Government/Law -
BookPublication 2010Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
This book explores the “hidden forces” that shape decisions as an argument against the common …
This book explores the “hidden forces” that shape decisions as an argument against the common assumption that people act in fundamentally rational ways. From drinking coffee to losing weight, people consistently overpay, underestimate, and procrastinate. Ariely shows that such misguided behaviors are systematic and predictable or “predictably irrational.”
Health/Medicine | Culture/Society | Decision Psychology | Business/Industry | Economics/Finance | Education/Labor | Science/Technology -
Online LearningVideo, Teaching Resource 2010TED Talk. The Riddle of Experience vs. Memory
In recent years, much attention has been devoted to the study of happiness, yet Daniel …
In recent years, much attention has been devoted to the study of happiness, yet Daniel Kahneman argues that there is confusion around defining happiness or well-being. He distinguishes between the happiness of our “experiencing selves” (whether we are happy in the moment) and our “remembering selves” (whether we are happy with the state of our lives on reflection). When we make choices, therefore, our decisions may be biased toward pleasing either the experiencing or remembering…
Health/Medicine | Culture/Society | Decision Psychology | Preferences/Values | Chronic Disease/Risk | High School | College | Graduate | Doctoral | Professional | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Decision Making/Leadership -
Teaching PackWeb Portal, Teaching Resource 2023Teaching Pack: Heuristics with Joe Pliskin
This teaching pack, curated by the Center for Health Decision Science, features videos introducing heuristics …
This teaching pack, curated by the Center for Health Decision Science, features videos introducing heuristics used in decision making. While these “mental shortcuts” can be useful in some circumstances, they can lead to more errors than deliberate, rational thinking. An awareness of these heuristics is useful to decision makers. This series of videos on heuristics was developed by Professor Joe Pliskin during his residency with the CHDS Media Hub led by Jake Waxman. They reflect…
Health/Medicine | Decision Psychology | Decision Theory | Probability/Bayes | Preferences/Values | Chronic Disease/Risk | Clinical Care | Business/Industry | Economics/Finance | High School | College | Graduate | Doctoral | Professional | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Decision Making/Leadership | Quantitative Literacy -
ArticlePublication 2021Misinformation in and About Science
Humans learn about the world by collectively acquiring information, filtering it, and sharing what we …
Humans learn about the world by collectively acquiring information, filtering it, and sharing what we know. Misinformation undermines this process. The repercussions are extensive. Without reliable and accurate sources of information, we cannot hope to halt climate change, make reasoned democratic decisions, or control a global pandemic. Most analyses of misinformation focus on popular and social media, but the scientific enterprise faces a parallel set of problems – from hype and hyperbole to publication bias…
Culture/Society | Decision Psychology | Preferences/Values | Social Determinants | Government/Law | Science/Technology | Global | North America -
ArticlePublication 2021Misinformation and Public Opinion of Science and Health
This article summarizes the literature on misinformation, beginning with an overview of the most common …
This article summarizes the literature on misinformation, beginning with an overview of the most common definitions of misinformation (and related terms) in the communication literature and then a review of academic studies in the areas of science and health. The author acknowledges four overarching questions that have emerged prominently in recent years: (1) What does “misinformation” (and the terms that are oftentimes treated synonymously) mean? (2) How big of a problem is it in areas…
Culture/Society | Decision Psychology | Preferences/Values | Social Determinants | Climate/Environment | Energy/Engineering | Education/Labor | Science/Technology | Global | North America -
ArticlePublication 2021Measuring the News and Its Impact on Democracy
Since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the deliberate spread of misinformation online, and on social …
Since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the deliberate spread of misinformation online, and on social media in particular, has generated extraordinary concern, in large part because of its potential effects on public opinion, political polarization, and ultimately democratic decision making. Recently, however, some have argued that both the prevalence and consumption of “fake news” per se is extremely low compared with other types of news and news-relevant content. Although neither prevalence nor consumption is a…
Culture/Society | Decision Psychology | Preferences/Values | Social Determinants | Policy/Regulation | Science/Technology | North America -
ArticlePublication 2021Emotion and Humor as Misinformation Antidotes
Many visible public debates over scientific issues are clouded in accusations of falsehood, which place …
Many visible public debates over scientific issues are clouded in accusations of falsehood, which place increasing demands on citizens to distinguish fact from fiction. Yet, constraints on our ability to detect misinformation coupled with our inadvertent motivations to believe false science result in a high likelihood that we will form misperceptions. As science falsehoods are often presented with emotional appeals, the authors focus their perspective on the roles of emotion and humor in the formation…
Culture/Society | Decision Psychology | Science/Technology | North America -
Resource PackPublication, Teaching Resource 2021Resource Pack: Role of Heuristics in Avalanche Education
Making decisions about backcountry skiing requires one to predict, manage, and mitigate avalanche risk. Individuals …
Making decisions about backcountry skiing requires one to predict, manage, and mitigate avalanche risk. Individuals need to understand and be comfortable with the language of probability, as well as appreciate the cognitive biases that can come into play in the context of decision making. This collection includes articles that range from early attempts to identify “heuristic traps,” based on a retrospective analysis of avalanche accidents in the United States more than 20 years ago, to…
Culture/Society | Decision Psychology | Probability/Bayes | Injuries/Accidents | Climate/Environment | College | Graduate | Doctoral | Professional | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Decision Making/Leadership