The Decision Lab

The illusion of explanatory depth (IOED) describes our belief that we understand more about the world than we actually do.

The false consensus effect is a cognitive bias in which individuals overestimate the extent to which their beliefs, values, and behaviors are shared by others.

The primacy effect is the tendency to remember the first piece of information we encounter better than information presented later on.

Peak-end rule refers to the phenomena of us judging an experience based on what we determine as peak and based on what happens towards the end.

Planning Fallacy is the tendency to be too optimistic about one's estimates. As a result, the time needed to get something done is underestimated.

System 1 thinking is a near-instantaneous thinking process while System 2 thinking is slower and requires more effort.

The intention-action gap, also known as the value-action gap or knowledge-attitudes-practice gap, occurs when one's values, attitudes, or intentions don't match their actions.

Bikeshedding, also known as Parkinson's law of triviality, describes our tendency to devote a disproportionate amount of our time to menial and trivial matters while leaving important matters unattended.

Below is a list of the most important cognitive biases and heuristics in the field of behavioural science, and why they matter.

The paradox of choice suggests that an abundance of options actually requires more effort to choose and can leave us feeling unsatisfied with our choice.