MASTERY QUIZ

Predictably Irrational

Test your knowledge with 45 questions across 3 challenge tiers

Based on the book Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely

🥉 Fundamentals

🥈 Deep Dive

🥇 Expert

Dan Ariely

The behavioral economist who wrote Predictably Irrational based on research into decision-making

Example

Ariely uses experiments to reveal systematic patterns in human irrationality

Behavioral Economics

The field combining psychology and economics to study how people actually make decisions

Example

Behavioral economics challenges the assumption that humans are rational economic actors

Predictable Irrationality

The systematic repeatable patterns in human irrational behavior

Example

Our irrationality is not random but follows predictable patterns that can be studied

Anchoring

The tendency to rely heavily on the first piece of information encountered when making decisions

Example

Anchoring means arbitrary initial numbers influence what we are willing to pay

Relativity

The human tendency to compare things to nearby options rather than evaluate them absolutely

Example

We judge value relatively not absolutely which marketers exploit with decoy options

The Cost of Zero

The irrational appeal of free things that makes us overvalue them

Example

Free triggers emotional response that overrides rational cost-benefit calculation

Social Norms vs Market Norms

The two different sets of rules governing behavior in social versus commercial contexts

Example

Mixing social and market norms can backfire as when paying for favors destroys relationships

The Effect of Expectations

How what we expect to experience shapes what we actually experience

Example

Expectations about quality price or brand change actual perception and enjoyment

Arbitrary Coherence

Prices and preferences can start arbitrarily but become internally consistent

Example

Initial anchors may be random but subsequent decisions maintain coherence with them

The Endowment Effect

Overvaluing things simply because we own them

Example

Ownership increases perceived value beyond what we would pay to acquire the same item

Self-Control

The struggle between immediate desires and long-term goals

Example

Humans systematically fail at self-control in predictable ways

Procrastination

The tendency to delay important tasks in favor of immediate gratification

Example

Procrastination follows patterns that can be addressed through precommitment

Fundamentals

TIER 1 • READER BADGE

10 Questions ~5 min 80% to pass

Start Quiz →

🔒

Deep Dive

TIER 2 • SCHOLAR BADGE

15 Questions ~10 min 80% to pass

🔒 Pass Fundamentals to Unlock

🔒

Expert

TIER 3 • MASTER BADGE

20 Questions ~15 min 85% to pass

🔒 Pass Deep Dive to Unlock

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