Using Conditioning to Achieve Positive Results

Ever make a deal with your kids?

If they bring home an “A” in school, you’ll give them a reward. If they behave at a special event, you’ll get them a toy. If they clean their room every week for a month, you’ll take them to the Taylor Swift concert.

That’s called conditioning. Whether you have kids, or not, we’ve all done it.

Creating Ownership with the Endowment Effect

In 1990, economists Richard Thaler, Daniel Kahneman, and Jack Knetsch conducted an experiment at Cornell University. They gathered a group of students and gave half a Cornell University coffee cup (retail value $6.00) and nothing to the other group of students.