Learning from irrationality

Economists had long assumed that individuals behave as rational agents.  Behavioral economists and psychologists, however, have provided overwhelming evidence that individuals behave in ways that are consistently irrational in many circumstances. In this workshop, a variety of research findings by behavioral economists and psychologists concerning human rationality will be examined in terms of their implications for student motivation and learning.  Among the topics to be examined are the effects of:

• framing
• status quo bias
• loss aversion
• hyperbolic discounting
• rewards and performance
• intrinsic and extrinisic motivation