Top 100 Decision Scientists

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Daniel Kahneman

Prospect Theory; Thinking, Fast and Slow.

heuristics-and-biases program; Prospect Theory co-author.

mental accounting; Nudge; behavioral economics Nobel.

Nudge co-author; choice architecture.

Superforecasting; Good Judgment Project.

Thinking in Bets; resulting fallacy.

Barbara Mellers

Good Judgment Project co-PI; forecasting accuracy.

overconfidence research.

Robert Cialdini

Influence; six principles of persuasion.

Predictably Irrational.

George Loewenstein

hot-cold empathy gap; curiosity gap.

behavioral game theory; neuroeconomics.

fairness models; behavioral econ formalizer.

Sendhil Mullainathan

Scarcity; bandwidth tax.

Scarcity co-author; decision context.

behavioral finance pioneer.

behavioral portfolio theory.

Werner De Bondt

investor overreaction.

disposition effect in retail investors.

overtrading and gender in investing.

Andrei Shleifer

noise traders; inefficient markets.

narrative economics; irrational exuberance.

sunk-cost fallacy research.

Baruch Fischhoff

hindsight bias; risk perception.

affect heuristic; psychometric paradigm.

Sarah Lichtenstein

preference reversals.

improper linear models; clinical-vs-statistical.

kind vs wicked learning environments.

Gerd Gigerenzer

fast-and-frugal heuristics; ecological rationality.

boost / decisions from experience.

simple heuristics that make us smart.

Bayesian decision theory in psychology.

decision analysis discipline founder.

decision trees; Smart Choices.

adaptive decision-maker framework.

consumer information processing.

defaults; The Elements of Choice.

choice overload; The Art of Choosing.

Paradox of Choice.

Itamar Simonson

compromise effect; context effects.

bayesian truth serum; intertemporal choice.

hyperbolic discounting; present bias.

present bias formal models.

Botond Köszegi

reference-dependent preferences.

Stefano DellaVigna

psychology and economics surveys.

Ulrike Malmendier

CEO overconfidence; experience effects.

perspective-taking; Mindwise.

power and decision-making.

rebel talent / motivated reasoning (note retracted-data controversy).

Judgment in Managerial Decision Making; noticing.

peak-end rule clinical research with Kahneman.

Mistakes Were Made; cognitive dissonance.

cognitive dissonance.

original cognitive dissonance theory.

marshmallow test; delay of gratification.

ego depletion (note replication issues).

Anders Ericsson

deliberate practice.

naturalistic decision making; recognition-primed decision.

Daniel Goldstein

recognition heuristic; defaults research.

precognition / time and decision (fringe but cited).

political-brain motivated reasoning.

moral foundations; elephant-and-rider.

moral judgment dual-process.

moral psychology / causal judgment.

neural basis of moral decisions.

neuroeconomics; reward prediction.

neuroeconomics founder.

Antonio Damasio

somatic-marker hypothesis.

Jennifer Lerner

emotion and judgment.

Richard Nisbett

Mindware; cultural cognition.

fundamental attribution error.

overjustification effect.

affective forecasting; Stumbling on Happiness.

affective forecasting; Strangers to Ourselves.

Human Element / friction theory.

How to Change; temptation bundling.

habit science; Good Habits, Bad Habits.

Tiny Habits; behavior model.

Robert Sapolsky

Behave; biology of decisions.

Incognito; subconscious decision drivers.

Stuart Sutherland

Irrationality (1992 classic).

Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini

Inevitable Illusions.

Noise co-author; You're About to Make a Terrible Mistake.

Cass Sunstein & Reid Hastie

Wiser; group decision research (Hastie individually).

group decision-making; jury research.

group problem-solving research.

groupthink theory.

James Surowiecki

Wisdom of Crowds (practitioner-author).

Robin Dawes / Lewis Goldberg

clinical-vs-actuarial prediction (Goldberg's Big Five).

meta-analysis on mechanical-vs-clinical prediction.

Berkeley Dietvorst

algorithm aversion.

Wharton Risk Center; algorithm appreciation.

Women Don't Ask; negotiation behavioral econ.

What Works; behavioral design for gender equity.

future-self continuity; intertemporal choice.

Drunk Tank Pink; Irresistible; cue-driven behavior research.

UK Behavioural Insights Team; EAST framework.

The Mind is Flat; bounded-rationality theorist.

Knowledge Illusion; dual-process and explanatory depth.

Thinking and Deciding; actively-open-minded thinking.