How Algorithms Can Fight Bias Instead of Entrench It
The algorithms we implement could become tools to help tackle deep-seated societal biases, such as notorious racial and gender biases.
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The Future of Behavioral Insights Demands Human-Centered Design
The behavioral insights approach to design has often been top-down. A priority moving forward should be to incorporate more reflexive, dynamic, and nuanced forms of behavioral change. One promising way of doing so is to adapt principles from human centered design.
Why We Should Crowdsource AI Ethics (and How to Do So Responsibly)
We asked three million people how self-driving cars should resolve moral dilemmas. Was that a good idea?
What We're Reading
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Why Are We in the West So Weird? A Theory
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The New York Times -
The Pandemic Is Tragic. It’s also an Incredible Chance to Study Human Behavior.
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The Washington Post -
How to Save a Psychological Approach to Better Spending and Saving
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Psyche -
Welcome to the Next Level of Bullshit
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Nautilus -
The Clocklike Regularity of Major Life Changes
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The Atlantic
Featured
The Road Back to College Is Paved with Barriers, but Behavioral Science Can Help Smooth the Way
There are plenty of policies and programs aimed at getting people to finish college, but little evidence that they work. Better understanding the barriers to re-enrollment and degree attainment can lead to more effective solutions.
How Practical Wisdom Helps Us Cope with Radical Uncertainty
As the world begins to open back up in fits and starts, we are, more than ever, longing for certainty. But certainty is likely a long way off. In the meantime, we should turn to practical wisdom to guide us.
Illuminating the Links Between Light and Disease
We are experiencing too much of the wrong kind of light at the wrong part of the day, writes Ainissa Ramirez. Here’s how these lights affect our health and some ideas for what we can do about it.
Building Trust to Face the COVID-19 Pandemic in Developing Countries
Developing countries have faced hard challenges in confronting coronavirus. Lacking trust in government could help explain why.
How Fraud and a Broken Publishing System Fueled the Vaccine-Autism Myth
You likely know that the study behind the vaccine-autism myth was discredited. What you might not know, however, are the ways the study was fraudulent from the start and how the scientific publishing process failed the public.
The Benefits of Statistical Noise
Statistical noise is nearly universally considered an impediment to sound decision-making. But what seems like noise to those shaping the rules may actually be critically important to those on the receiving end.
Research Lead: Hypocrisy, Soccer’s Geisterspiele, the Causation Taboo, Reasons to Doubt Anti-Bias Parenting Advice, and More
The Research Lead is a monthly digest connecting you to noteworthy academic and applied research from around the behavioral sciences. Here are our picks for August 2020.
What a New Marshmallow Test Teaches Us About Cooperation
In a new twist on an old study, researchers discover a common behavior in kids across cultures that might tell us something about how we can all cooperate better.
Most Popular
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Behavioral Scientist’s Summer Book List 2020
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Challenges Facing a COVID-19 Vaccine: A Behavioral Science Perspective
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How Fraud and a Broken Publishing System Fueled the Vaccine-Autism Myth
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Record Numbers of Americans Recognize Racism as a Problem. What Could the Solution Be Like?
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Finding Opportunities to Apply Behavioral Science for Good in the Private Sector
