A Beginner's Guide to Irrational Behavior
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Course Details
Cost
FREE
Upcoming Schedule
- TBA
Course Provider
Coursera online courses
Coursera's online classes are designed to help students achieve mastery over
course material. Some of the best professors in the world - like neurobiology
professor and author Peggy Mason from the University of Chicago, and computer
science professor and Folding@Home director Vijay Pande - will supplement your
knowledge through video lectures. They will also provide challenging
assessments, interactive exercises during each lesson, and the opportunity to
use a mobile app to keep up with yo...
Coursera's online classes are designed to help students achieve mastery over
course material. Some of the best professors in the world - like neurobiology
professor and author Peggy Mason from the University of Chicago, and computer
science professor and Folding@Home director Vijay Pande - will supplement your
knowledge through video lectures. They will also provide challenging
assessments, interactive exercises during each lesson, and the opportunity to
use a mobile app to keep up with your coursework. Coursera also partners with
the US State Department to create “learning hubs” around the world. Students
can get internet access, take courses, and participate in weekly in-person
study groups to make learning even more collaborative. Begin your journey into
the mysteries of the human brain by taking courses in neuroscience. Learn how
to navigate the data infrastructures that multinational corporations use when
you discover the world of data analysis. Follow one of Coursera’s “Skill
Tracks”. Or try any one of its more than 560 available courses to help you
achieve your academic and professional goals.
Provider Subject Specialization
Humanities
Sciences & Technology
Course Description
This course will draw heavily on my own research, and pulls largely from my
three books: [Predictably Irrational](http://www.amazon.com/Predictably-
Irrational-Revised-Expanded-Edition/dp/0061353248/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=13610
31703&sr=8-1&keywords=dan+ariely) (2008), [The Upside of
Irrationality](http://www.amazon.com/The-Upside-Irrationality-Unexpected-
Benefits/dp/0061995045/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1361031759&sr=8-6)
(2010), and [The Honest Truth About Dishonesty](http://www.amazon.com/Honest-
Truth-About-Dishonesty-Everyone---Especially/dp/0062183591/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&
qid=1361031810&sr=8-3&keywords=dan+ariely) (2012). We will examine topics such
as our “irrational” patterns of thinking about money and investments, how
expectations shape perception, economic and psychological analyses of
dishonesty by honest people, how social and financial incentives work together
(or against each other) in labor, how self-...
This course will draw heavily on my own research, and pulls largely from my
three books: [Predictably Irrational](http://www.amazon.com/Predictably-
Irrational-Revised-Expanded-Edition/dp/0061353248/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=13610
31703&sr=8-1&keywords=dan+ariely) (2008), [The Upside of
Irrationality](http://www.amazon.com/The-Upside-Irrationality-Unexpected-
Benefits/dp/0061995045/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1361031759&sr=8-6)
(2010), and [The Honest Truth About Dishonesty](http://www.amazon.com/Honest-
Truth-About-Dishonesty-Everyone---Especially/dp/0062183591/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&
qid=1361031810&sr=8-3&keywords=dan+ariely) (2012). We will examine topics such
as our “irrational” patterns of thinking about money and investments, how
expectations shape perception, economic and psychological analyses of
dishonesty by honest people, how social and financial incentives work together
(or against each other) in labor, how self-control comes into play with
decision making, and how emotion (rather than cognition) can have a large
impact on economic decisions. This highly interdisciplinary course will be
relevant to all human beings.
**The goals of this class:**
1. Introduce you to the range of cases where people (consumers, investors, managers, friends, significant others, and even you) might make decisions that are inconsistent with standard economic theory and the assumptions of rational decision making. This is the lens of behavioral economics.
2. Help you think creatively about the applications of behavioral economics to the development of new products, technologies and public policy, and to understand how business and social policy strategies could be modified with a deeper understanding of the effects these principles have on all of us.
Sort By
- 1 review
- 1 completed
7 years, 11 months ago
I signed up for this course 4 months before it started, and was looking
forward to it for weeks. And boy was I not disappointed! The course was so
much better than I expected. The animation, the jokes, the office hours, the
readings, the guest lecturers, and, most importantly, interesting and well-
organized study material - is what made this course the best I've taken so far
online or in class, and helped me stay on track, invested and motivated to
accomplish it. Huge thanks to Dan, Aline, the guest speakers and all the
behind-the-scenes team of the course! If there will be a continuation to the
course, I will be first to sign up!
- 9 reviews
- 5 completed
6 years, 6 months ago
- 1 review
- 1 completed
6 years, 7 months ago
This course really provides an easy and friendly way to discover that our
intuition often fails to capture the reality. Certainly I'll enroll in a
"advanced guide to irrational behavior" if existed.
- 3 reviews
- 2 completed
6 years, 8 months ago
Best MOOC I've ever taken. If you want to know more about sociology and why
people behave the way they do, this is the course to take. The instructor has
written several books as well. His lectures were engaging and insightful (and
funny)! If you're on the fence about this course, I implore you to take it. I
knew nothing about the course going in, just watched the trailer however I
owned (but have yet to read) one of his books. The quizzes and final were easy
and the course was a joy to take!
- 4 reviews
- 4 completed
6 years, 8 months ago
An excellent course and one I recommended that my team enroll for (I'm a
company CEO). The course content will be of interest to almost anyone - from
someone with only a casual interest in the subject, to a an experienced
professional who might want to apply some of the concepts to this work. Dan is
an excellent Professor who teaches in a fun manner that makes the `psychology
stuff' easy to understand. There are a lot of simple examples and tests to
illustrate the main concepts taught. The course forums are also helpful and
informative. The Teaching assistants also put in a lot of work and that helps
make the course run as well as it does. The quizzes & exam ensure you have
understood the material. My only regret was that I did not have the time to
complete all the reading assignments.
- 39 reviews
- 37 completed
6 years, 10 months ago
Some experience with the subject Engaging Moderately challenging if one does
the Distinction Track with essays and required journal article readings-
otherwise would be easy. Engaged forum TAs and faculty.
- 6 reviews
- 6 completed
6 years, 11 months ago
I was reading 3 of Dan Ariely's books as I was taking the class, and the
course seemed to follow the books pretty closely. Much of what is covered is
based in his personal research projects and papers. My main interest in
signing up was centered around irrationality in group behaviors (like
financial bubbles), but the class doesn't really address that. It's much more
about individual irrationality - and reveals many facets of the skewed nature
of our decision making process. It'll make you keenly aware of how marketers
manipulate you to get you buy things. The primary difference in this course
than others I've taken is this class has heavy emphasis on reading academic
papers. What I liked: Dan and his staff put alot of effort into the class,
lectures, and even provided weekly video updates responding to class
questions. The lectures were uniformly interesting, thoughtful, and thought
provoking. I might even say entertaining. What did...
I was reading 3 of Dan Ariely's books as I was taking the class, and the
course seemed to follow the books pretty closely. Much of what is covered is
based in his personal research projects and papers. My main interest in
signing up was centered around irrationality in group behaviors (like
financial bubbles), but the class doesn't really address that. It's much more
about individual irrationality - and reveals many facets of the skewed nature
of our decision making process. It'll make you keenly aware of how marketers
manipulate you to get you buy things. The primary difference in this course
than others I've taken is this class has heavy emphasis on reading academic
papers. What I liked: Dan and his staff put alot of effort into the class,
lectures, and even provided weekly video updates responding to class
questions. The lectures were uniformly interesting, thoughtful, and thought
provoking. I might even say entertaining. What did I disliked: Probably I
burned out reading some of the academic papers. This isn't my field of study,
and the some of the longer papers were a bit of slog to read through, for what
I perceived as bit less bang for the buck. There was a path "for distinction"
that I did not pursue that involved taking information from the research
papers presented, and building additional experiments to further research into
the topic area (peer reviewed). Again, I didn't do the "distinction" path, but
it is available if you're more into the research process side of the topic.
Overall - this is a very well done course if you're interested in gaining
understanding behind irrational aspects of human behavior and thinking. Highly
recommended.
- 115 reviews
- 106 completed
6 years, 11 months ago
A beginner’s guide to irrational behavior provides a nice overview of key
topics in behavioral economics, including money, dishonesty, motivation, self-
control and emotion. I only watched the video lectures for this course, so my
review won’t touch on the readings, quizzes or assignments. The lecture
content is engaging and raises many interesting ideas and questions about the
way people think and act. Just be sure to maintain a healthy degree of
skepticism and realize that the professor is only sharing his views based on
his research and experience.
- 15 reviews
- 13 completed
6 years, 12 months ago
I read one of his books a while ago and was a little bit put off by the tone
in which he preached his knowledge. This course is even worse for me. I am
questioning his research from a statistical perspective, but my main gripe is
more of a subjective nature. It is the way Dan Ariely presents himself and his
ideas. Good science is not a popularity contest. I guess if you like his style
as a platform for presenting ideas, than you'd have less difficulty finishing
the course than I do. As far as the content goes, the way Dan Ariely blatantly
presents most of his inferences and conclusions as a matter of fact as opposed
to possible models given the circumstances of measurement is just wrong.
Before you know it you believe it ;) Read Daniel Kahneman's Thinking fast and
slow for a tad less pedantic and more professional overview of many of the
same ideas. PS: I didn't go for the "with Distinction" track, so statements
above is just about A...
I read one of his books a while ago and was a little bit put off by the tone
in which he preached his knowledge. This course is even worse for me. I am
questioning his research from a statistical perspective, but my main gripe is
more of a subjective nature. It is the way Dan Ariely presents himself and his
ideas. Good science is not a popularity contest. I guess if you like his style
as a platform for presenting ideas, than you'd have less difficulty finishing
the course than I do. As far as the content goes, the way Dan Ariely blatantly
presents most of his inferences and conclusions as a matter of fact as opposed
to possible models given the circumstances of measurement is just wrong.
Before you know it you believe it ;) Read Daniel Kahneman's Thinking fast and
slow for a tad less pedantic and more professional overview of many of the
same ideas. PS: I didn't go for the "with Distinction" track, so statements
above is just about Ariely's lectures and not the reading assignments.
- 3 reviews
- 3 completed
6 years, 10 months ago
This was the first coursera course I took, and -- ten complete courses later
-- still rates as the best. Anyone who has a chance should jump at the chance
of studying with Ariely, as his teaching style, scholarly network and ability
to relate behavioral econ to aspects of real life are all IMPRESSIVE!
- 1 review
- 1 completed
6 years, 10 months ago
Of the nine Coursera courses I have taken, this was by far the best. The
course provides an excellent overview of behavioral economics and decision
making. The material is interesting. The lecturer is engaging and the video
lectures are well organized with an incredible amount of production value. The
course also provides access to the actual journal articles that details the
research discussed in the lecture. Thus, I now have a comprehensive library of
reference material on behavioral economics. I high recommend this course.
- 1 review
- 1 completed
6 years, 11 months ago
Absolutely outstanding! For the first time I actually re-watched a few classes
and saved all videos in hope of watching it again in a few years as a
refreshment. Had I attended this course before, it would have saved me years
of research and studies trying to gain understanding and depth in the field of
economy, marketing and psychology. Incredibly value adding to any marketing
professional, psychologist, managers and enriching to any individual
personally. Fun, brilliant and concise: a rare mix. Thank you, Ariely for this
"gift"!
Student
10/10 starsCompleted
6 years, 11 months ago
This was my first ever MOOC and it vastly exceeded my expectations. Dan Ariely
is fascinating, engaging, humourous and an excellent instructor. I wish the
course had been longer. It was over too soon! I would take another of Dan's
courses without hesitation. I highly recommend this MOOC. You will be blown
away with what you learn.
Student
10/10 starsCompleted
6 years, 11 months ago
Came in clean with no prior experience, and learned SO much about the field
that it is just ridiculous. I recommend this course to anyone who is a human
being and interested in learning more about human behavior. There are multiple
topics covered in the class, and they will all hold your interest.
- 1 review
- 1 completed
6 years, 11 months ago
Dan tem algumas ideias ótimas que podem ser aplicadas em diversas áreas da
minha vida, o conteúdo é de extrema aplicabilidade. Além disto a forma como
ele foi apresentado e a disponibilidade de um grupo na ajuda para entender o
conteúdo tornou a experiência ainda melhor.
Student
10/10 starsCompleted
6 years, 11 months ago
This was a wonderful introduction to Online Learning in the MOOC format. Dan
is engaging and compelling. The material is the gem of this course though. I
love human behavior and there is no better way to get empirical evidence to
support how dumb we really are, while still providing perspective on how to be
smarter!
Student
10/10 starsCompleted
6 years, 11 months ago
I am semi-retired and love learning for the sake of learning. Didn't have a
need for a certificate so appreciate being allowed to audit the course without
doing all the homework. I found this to be the most enjoyable, entertaining,
and enlightening course of the many I've done with Coursera. Excellent
presentations by Dan Ariely, his assistants, and his guests.
- 1 review
- 1 completed
6 years, 11 months ago
I enjoyed psychology and economics courses in college and since then have
become interested in brain research that supports or disproves theories. This
course combined all three. The video lectures were informative and easy to
follow and well presented. I especially enjoyed the 3 discipline debate video
and the guest lecturers. The required readings of research papers were also
easy to understand in layman's language. I was able to do the classwork as my
time allowed. The professor used some techniques (pre -course survey on the
activities you planned to do to participate) on the class to motivate us to
complete the course and fully participate in all the activities (lectures,
readings, quizzes, research surveys, live chats, etc.)
- 1 review
- 1 completed
6 years, 11 months ago
Terrific One of the most enjoyable free course offered. Very beneficial to
anybody interested in Economy.
- 15 reviews
- 9 completed
6 years, 11 months ago
it's hard to make the quizzes before the due dates, but this course got great
content in the behaviourist approach to understand the human actions
- 1 review
- 1 completed
6 years, 11 months ago
This course was fascinating and presented in a way that made the material so
interesting. I took this for my own pleasure and am so glad I had the
opportunity to watch and listen to all of the sections. Thank you!
- 11 reviews
- 10 completed
6 years, 11 months ago
Great course, packed full of fascinating knowledge. I recommend this course to
everyone, as you'll learn a lot about how you think, feel, and behave. The
lectures are very engaging, the quizzes and exam are easy (and a bit silly),
the two writing assignments are interesting. The required readings, which
mostly consist of research papers, are a bit dense and more challenging to go
through but you can easily get away with just skimming them as you take the
related quiz.
- 1 review
- 1 completed
6 years, 11 months ago
Excellent course. It's eye opener for non-social students/professional on how
our every day life is affected by our bias.