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Person

Daniel Kahneman

Psychologist — dual-process theory (System 1 / System 2)

Psychologist whose System 1 / System 2 framework — fast, automatic thinking versus slow, deliberate reasoning — underlies Phil Barden's explanation of why marketing works on a mind that mostly isn't reasoning consciously about its choices. Referenced, not interviewed, in any of these episodes. See Dual-Process Thinking (System 1 / System 2). Named again in Episode 24 as an example of a researcher whose landmark findings came from small samples, in Episode 25 for his book Thinking, Fast and Slow's finding that loss-aversion-driven frequent trading underperforms passive investing (see Loss Aversion in Investing), and in Episode 29 for the phrase "what you see is all there is," which Barden uses to introduce perception's outsized role in decision-making. Episode 32 covers his own hands-on structured-hiring work recruiting for the Israeli army, where he found gut-instinct interview ratings didn't predict which recruits became good soldiers (see Kahneman Israeli Army Structured Interview Study). Episode 68 covers his best-known original finding with Donald Redelmeier: the 1993 colonoscopy study that established the Peak-End Rule. Episode 76 cites his framing that behavior change works better by removing friction ("releasing the handbrake") than by pushing for action ("pressing the accelerator"). Episode 129 cites his day-reconstruction method, which found socializing was the most consistently enjoyable activity across a sample of roughly 900 working women's daily activities (see Kahneman Day-Reconstruction Activity-Enjoyment Study). Episode 245 revisits Thinking, Fast and Slow's priming chapter critically: a follow-up analysis found 11 of its 12 cited studies unreliable, and Kahneman himself wrote a 2012 open email conceding he feared priming research was "a train wreck looming" (see Priming). Episode 286 cites his 1993 study with Barbara Fredrickson establishing the founding cold-water evidence for the Peak-End Rule (see Kahneman Fredrickson Cold-Water Ending Study). Episode 287 re-cites his and Amos Tversky's founding 1974 anchoring studies via Markus Husemann-Kopetzky, with the precise African-countries-in-the-UN figures given for the first time (see Kahneman Tversky Founding Anchoring Studies).

Discussed in

  • Episode 19 — 19- Why marketing is vital- not a nice to have
  • Episode 24 — 24- How to nudge within your business (referenced)
  • Episode 25 — 25- Coronavirus- The psychology behind panic buying
  • Episode 29 — 29- Why first impressions matter (referenced)
  • Episode 32 — 32- 6 discriminatory mistakes most hiring managers make
  • Episode 68 — 68- The Peak-End Rule - And the supermarket that destroyed communism
  • Episode 76 — 76- Harry Dry-s favorite marketing examples (referenced)
  • Episode 129 — 129-can-too-much-free-time-make-you-unhappy (referenced)
  • Episode 189 — 189-it-s-the-mistake-every-business-makes-rory-sutherland (boardroom risk-pooling anecdote, via Rory Sutherland)
  • Episode 196 — 196-7-cognitive-biases-that-might-ruin-your-life (referenced, "thinking is to humans as swimming is to cats")
  • Episode 203 — 203-this-is-why-your-boss-makes-bad-hires (1955 Israeli army interview redesign)
  • Episode 245 — 245-i-debunked-psychology-s-greatest-myth (priming chapter's failed replications; 2012 open email)
  • Episode 286 — 286-will-guidara-how-cognac-solved-a-major-problem-at-the-world-s-1-restaurant (1993 cold-water peak-end study)
  • Episode 287 — 287-learn-psychological-pricing-in-24-minutes (founding anchoring studies re-cited with precise figures)

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