Methodology

How entries in the directory are selected, summarized, and structured.

Sources

Findings and research summaries are drawn from the peer-reviewed and working-paper literature in behavioral economics and decision science (including journals such as Econometrica, the QJE, AER, Science, PNAS, and NBER working papers). We prefer primary sources and link to a freely available full text or working paper where one exists.

How findings are summarized

Each finding is recorded in a consistent, labeled structure so it can be compared and cited:

• Challenge — the behavioral problem being addressed.
• Intervention — the specific choice-architecture change tested.
• Outcome — the measured control-versus-treatment metric and the sample.
• Source — the full citation of the study the numbers come from.
• Biases leveraged — the cognitive mechanisms the intervention exploits.

How biases are written

Definitions are written in original, plain language — the first sentence answers "what is it?" — followed by real-world examples and the design implications. Where the directory contains empirical evidence or research for a bias, it is linked directly.

Quality & corrections

A completeness score tracks whether each entry has its definition, examples, evidence, and citation. We never invent study details. If you spot an error in a number or citation, please contact us — we correct rather than silently edit.