Learn / The Brain

The Brain

Why smart people make bad calls. Real studies, in plain English.

Layla, an original Learn the Table character, holding a card

3 studies

More risk after a win?

Evidence: mixed

After winning, people in this study took bigger risks, as if they were playing with house money. After losing, a bet that could get them back to even looked extra tempting.

Thaler and Johnson, 1990, Management Science · Read the study · Coming to Hand Log

How sure are you?

Evidence: well replicated

On hard tasks, people think they did better than they did. On easy tasks, they think they did worse.

Moore and Healy, 2008, Psychological Review · Read the study · Practice in Board Danger

Why near misses feel close

Evidence: mixed

In a slot machine study, near misses felt worse than clear losses, yet made people want to keep playing. Brain scans showed some of the same reward areas responding as they did for real wins. A hand that almost won is still a loss.

Clark and colleagues, 2009, Neuron · Read the study

Well replicatedMany studies agree.
MixedSome agree, some don't.
EarlyOnly a few studies so far.

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