https://irrationallabs.com/blog/cognitive-biases-and-academic-research/

Wikipedia lists over 200 common cognitive biases (aka psychologies). In our behavioral science training courses, we explain how leveraging cognitive biases can help you solve your most pressing personal and professional challenges. For a cliff notes version, our team has selected the following “Sweet Sixteen” list as a high-value collection worth understanding.

The 16 Critical Cognitive Biases (Plus Key Academic Research)

NOTE: Some of the studies below will be readily available on the internet (Pro Tip: search for the article title and add “PDF” to your search). Others may be behind a paywall / only available via libraries.

Perceived Costs and Benefits

Present Bias

Explanation: We live in the here and now, it makes sense that we’d value the present over the future. This tendency, called present bias, is also known as hyperbolic discounting. It explains why people put an unrealistically high value on what happens in the present and an unrealistically low value on the future. We often choose smaller, immediate rewards or benefits even at the expense of larger, more significant rewards that occur later in the future. As a result, people tend to have a hard time delaying gratification: it’s difficult to choose to do something that’s good for us in the future at the expense of doing what feels good right now.

Example: A very common example of present bias is the preference to sleep in for just a few extra minutes instead of waking up to exercise, even if we’ve just had a good night’s sleep. Even though the physical and mental benefits of exercise should, rationally, outweigh the minute benefits of an extra thirty minutes of snoozing, it’s often too hard for us to convince our present (sleepy) selves.

Key Academic Research:

• O’Donoghue, T., & Rabin, M. (1999). Doing It Now or Later. The American Economic Review, 89(1), 103–124. http://www.jstor.org/stable/116981
• O’Donoghue, T., & Rabin, M. (2015). Present Bias: Lessons Learned and To Be Learned. The American Economic Review, 105(5), 273–279. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43821892
• Wang, Y., & Sloan, F. A. (2018). Present bias and health. Journal of risk and uncertainty, 57(2), 177–198. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11166-018-9289-z
• Bisin, A., & Hyndman, K. (2020). Present-bias, procrastination and deadlines in a field experiment. Games and Economic Behavior, 119, 339–357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geb.2019.11.010

Incentives

Explanation: Incentives are rewards used to motivate behavior. Incentives may be either extrinsic (a physical or monetary reward) or intrinsic (an internal goal). In contrast to traditional economic theory, behavioral economics posits that small extrinsic and intrinsic incentives can have a disproportionate impact on behavior, especially in the face of present bias. Incentives can take the form of temptation bundling (as described above); extrinsic rewards including direct monetary incentives and lotteries; or intrinsic rewards, such as those that leverage one’s sense of pride or mastery. Providing incentives can be an effective way to jumpstart behavior change and are often most effective with long-term behavior change strategies.

Example: Imagine a behavioral designer were starting a program to encourage people to stop smoking. The designer might use extrinsic incentives, such as offering people a small amount of money for each day they didn’t smoke or entering them into a lottery where they have a chance of receiving prize money. They also might leverage loss aversion in this incentive programme: offering people a set sum of money upon completion of the program but deducting money each time a person smokes. Or, they might use intrinsic rewards: providing people with an opportunity to track their progress against desired milestones, and encourage people to reflect on their progress.

Key Academic Research: