Cut Irrational Decisions

Professor launches video games that could boost business judgment

Anyone who has ever snuck in a game of solitaire or Candy Crush at work knows that video games can be fun and addictive—and kill productivity. But two forthcoming games might turn players into model employees. They’re full of crime, mystery, and lessons that could lead to a boost in the bottom line.

Carey Morewedge, an associate professor of marketing, and a team of research collaborators developed two video games that have been shown to reduce a type of irrational thinking called cognitive bias.

Morewedge writes in Harvard Business Review that the games target six cognitive biases, such as the bias blind spot (seeing yourself as less susceptible to biases than other people) and projection (assuming that other people think the same way you do).

The two games were designed to activate these cognitive biases in gamers and alleviate them as they’re played, writes Morewedge. The first, Missing: The Pursuit of Terry Hughes, asks players to make decisions and judgments as they search for their missing neighbor, Terry Hughes. The second, Missing: The Final Secret, tasks them with finding evidence that clears their employer of a criminal charge, while busting her accusers for their own misdeeds. After completing each game, players are given a feedback report and strategies for making better decisions.

In a study, reported in Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, the games were found to slash players’ vulnerability to biases—an effect that stuck for weeks. The games are currently being used to help train government intelligence analysts; commercial versions are in development.