Amos Tversky

Amos Tversky (March 16, 1937 – June 2, 1996) was a pioneering cognitive psychologist and a key figure in the discovery of systematic human cognitive bias and handling of risk. His work has had a profound impact on the fields of psychology, economics, medicine, political science, and law. He is best known for his collaborative work with Daniel Kahneman, which led to the development of prospect theory.

Early life and education

Tversky was born in Haifa, British Mandate Palestine (now Israel), in 1937. He received his bachelor's degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1961, and his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1965, both in psychology.

Career

Tversky spent most of his career at Stanford University, where he became the David Starr Jordan Professor of Psychology. He also held positions at the University of British Columbia and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Research

Tversky's early work focused on the psychology of decision making and judgment under uncertainty. He later collaborated with Daniel Kahneman on the development of prospect theory, which describes how people make decisions involving risk. This work challenged the traditional economic theory of expected utility and led to the creation of the field of behavioral economics.

Tversky also made significant contributions to the study of heuristics in judgment and decision-making, including the availability heuristic, the representativeness heuristic, and the anchoring and adjustment heuristic.

Legacy

Tversky's work has had a profound impact on a wide range of fields. His research on cognitive biases and heuristics has influenced the way psychologists, economists, and other social scientists understand human decision-making. His work with Kahneman on prospect theory has been particularly influential, leading to a Nobel Prize in Economics for Kahneman in 2002.

See also

• Cognitive psychology
• Decision theory
• Behavioral economics
• Daniel Kahneman
• Prospect theory