Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago

---

Dr. Ben discusses bias at the table and how it effects table behavior (Episode #162). #dnd #pathfinder #ttrpg #wfrp

Website rpgphd.com
Discord discord.gg/STFdne3PbU
RPG PHD swag!!! rpg-phd.myspreadshop.com
Facebook facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089593636905
Instagram instagram.com/rpg_phd
Bluesky @rpg-phd.bsky.social
Patreon patreon.com/user?u=87730462&view_as=patron

Special thanks to Evelina for the thumbnail template, much appreciated!! 😊

How do cognitive biases shape player decisions in tabletop RPGs? In this video, I explore how ideas from Daniel Kahneman’s work can help GMs understand player behavior, clue interpretation, resource hoarding, risk perception, and encounter design. If you want practical GM advice for running clearer, smarter, and more engaging TTRPG sessions, this video will give you useful tools you can apply right away.

cognitive biases, cognitive bias, cognitive biases rpg, tabletop rpg, ttrpg, rpg gm advice, gamemaster tips, dungeon master tips, gm advice, rpg advice, daniel kahneman, heuristics and biases, loss aversion, anchoring bias, availability heuristic, framing effect, confirmation bias, sunk cost fallacy, negativity bias, psychology of play, how to be a better gm, how to gm, tabletop roleplaying games, game master advice, dungeon master advice, ttrpg advice, rpg encounter design, rpg session design, player psychology rpg, gm psychology, rpg phd, dr ben, tabletop storytelling, ttrpg analysis, rpg design theory, tabletop game theory
---------------------------------------------
00:00 Intro
01:28 Bias and Uncertainty
03:47 Loss Aversion
06:11 Anchoring
08: 46 Availability Heuristic
11:17 Framing Effects
13:54 More Biases Wirth Watching
15:59 GM Guide
23:45 Homework
26:22 Thoughts?
--------------------------------------------
American Psychological Association. “Anchoring Bias.” APA Dictionary of Psychology, American Psychological Association.
American Psychological Association. “Availability Heuristic.” APA Dictionary of Psychology, American Psychological Association.
American Psychological Association. “Confirmation Bias.” APA Dictionary of Psychology, American Psychological Association.
American Psychological Association. “Framing.” APA Dictionary of Psychology, American Psychological Association.
American Psychological Association. “Framing Effect.” APA Dictionary of Psychology, American Psychological Association.
American Psychological Association. “Heuristic.” APA Dictionary of Psychology, American Psychological Association.
Kahneman, Daniel. Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011.
Kahneman, Daniel. “Maps of Bounded Rationality.” Prize Lecture, Nobel Prize Outreach AB, 8 Dec. 2002.
Kahneman, Daniel, and Amos Tversky. “Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk.” Econometrica, vol. 47, no. 2, 1979, pp. 263–291.
Tversky, Amos, and Daniel Kahneman. “Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases.” Science, vol. 185, no. 4157, 1974, pp. 1124–1131.

Music and Sounds:
epidemicsound.com/track/Erdns8jA3D
epidemicsound.com/track/MRyCi54t7M
epidemicsound.com/track/AQBpWzOsID
epidemicsound.com/track/yCvSWOBYUe
Music: creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0
epidemicsound.com/track/c0X3Z8H8uZ
epidemicsound.com/track/yCvSWOBYUe
Music: creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0
epidemicsound.com/track/bWHPOsoaql
epidemicsound.com/track/uDAHxg3lIS
epidemicsound.com/track/e3mQvva1kZ
epidemicsound.com/track/e3mQvva1kZ
epidemicsound.com/track/e3mQvva1kZ
epidemicsound.com/track/2dLRmfzdA5
epidemicsound.com/track/jrNZjxJQqZ
epidemicsound.com/track/c0X3Z8H8uZ
epidemicsound.com/sound-effects/tracks/8c51eca6-dbb5-4925-b4ec-7ee51630322e