McLelland’s 3 Needs Theory
People have a need for achievement, affiliation and power.
Fear of Missing Out
People make irrational decisions when they are afraid they might miss out on a big opportunity.
Equity Theory
People compare inputs and outputs to others to determine fairness.
Herzberg’s 2-Factor Theory
Hygiene and motivators affect performance.
Curse of Knowledge
Inability to recognize that others do not have the same level of knowledge.
Pattern of Withdrawal
Behaviors that indicate a person is withdrawing from a project or effort.
Illusion of Control
Overestimation of one’s ability to control activities or events.
Gambler’s Fallacy
The belief that one win will lead to another, or past failures necessitate more failure.
Survivorship/Absence Blindness
The tendency to forget or ignore failures. This is the antithesis of learning from your mistakes.
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
How human beings develop morality with maturity.
Perception is Reality
For most people, truth is irrelevant. Perception is their reality, no matter how distorted.
Peak-End Rule
People remember and judge experiences based largely on the peak and the last impression.
Groupthink
Tendency for group members to agree with each other and withhold contrarian views.
Cumulative Advantage
How advantages can stack over time to yield increasing advantages.
Incentives and Unintended Consequences
Incentives can lead to undesirable behavior, and punishments can provide justification for bad behavior.
Hindsight Bias
Hindsight is 20/20
Tuckman’s Stages of Group Development
How group dynamics evolve over time.
Dunning-Kruger
Low skilled people tend to overestimate their abilities and underestimate challenges.
Prior Hypothesis Bias
Tendency to favor a prior hypothesis despite contradictory evidence.
Confirmation Bias
Tendency to cherry-pick or distort information to fit a pre-existing viewpoint.
Self-Justification (Rationalizing Behavior)
Common methods of justifying actions/beliefs in light of contradictory information.
Cognitive Dissonance
Discomfort from contradictory information.
Availability Bias
People prefer to use information that is easy to obtain.
System 1 and 2 Thinking
Humans process information quickly using heuristics, but take time to analyze more complex decisions.
Sunk Costs
Costs including time and money, which have already been expended.
Opportunity Cost
The cost of what you are giving up when you make a decision involving scarce resources like time and money.
Expectancy Theory
People expect effort to lead to performance to lead to rewards.
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Existing beliefs create a feedback loop that reinforces the belief or influences its outcome.
Rational Basis
A good test for plot design to keep elements from getting too ridiculous.
Loss Aversion
People are more sensitive to losses than gains of similar magnitude.