The Science of Behavior Change
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This document discusses how to effectively change human behavior. It explains that behavior is influenced by two systems: the rational "Rider" and the emotional "Elephant". The Rider thinks logically about the future, while the Elephant focuses on immediate rewards and feelings. To motivate behavior change, one must appeal to the Elephant by making rewards more visible, tangible, and immediate. The document provides examples of how to do this for behaviors like exercise, dieting, and work projects. It also discusses using social influences, implementation plans, and success stories to guide the Elephant toward better long-term decisions.
The Science of Behavior Change
- 1. THE SCIENCE OF BEHAVIOR CHANGE Julie Dirksen Usable Learning
- 3. WHAT KINDS OF BEHAVIORSWOULD YOU LIKETO CHANGE? Tell me of your pain.
- 4. In our ideal world, behavior change would work like this: •By the way, smoking is bad for you. Oh my goodness!You are right. I will never smoke again.
- 5. In our ideal world, behavior change would work like this: •You know, exercise is good for you. Absolutely! I will now go for a run.
- 6. I apparently can’t do a talk without the elephant: FromThe Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt
- 7. The Rider • Thinks logically • Controls impulses • Plans for the future • Uses conscious resources (Kahneman’s System 2)
- 8. The Elephant • Is concerned with what is happening now • Feels, rather than thinks • Is impulsive • Is automatic (Kahneman’s System 1)
- 9. The Elephant Here’s the thing: If there was only NOW, all these choices would be logical.
- 10. Planning for the future • Not entirely a human trait, but we seem to be the best at it. • Specifically, our riders are good at it. Western Scrub-Jay Image Credit: cc www.ingridtaylar.com
- 11. So, if they have this framework: Future. Now! Now! Now! Noooooo ooooooo oow!
- 12. So, how do these two entities see the world? Rider (Future) Elephant (Now)
- 13. How would you like to go exercise? Rider (Future) Elephant (Now) That sounds like a great idea. If I work out hard, there will likely be some visible benefits in 6-8 weeks! That sounds awful. And, we need to save our energy for something important.
- 14. Would you like this donut? Rider (Future) Elephant (Now) Well, I would, but I’m really trying to eat better. Swimsuit season is coming up, you know. YES. Mmm, delicious.And you never know when calories will be available so you better grab them while you can.
- 15. Do you want to start working on that paper that’s due in a few weeks? Rider (Future) Elephant (Now) Absolutely! Getting a start on that will make it much less stressful. What? Of course not. There are Facebook posts to read RIGHT NOW.
- 16. We decide differently for our future selves: How much nasty stuff would you drink? How long would you wait for a reward? Pronin et al 2008
- 17. Variables that influence the Elephant • How big is the reward in relation to the effort? • How immediate is the reward? • How tangible is the reward? Big! Now! Real!
- 18. So, let’s check this out:
- 19. Hyperbolic Discounting Image Credit: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Moxfyre
- 20. How to use this: Saving for Retirement Would you rather? Give up 10% of your paycheck to savings right now? Or would you rather? Give up half of your next few raises until you are at 15%? Example from Nudge, by RichardThaler and Cass Sunstein
- 21. Tangibility matters What’s the consequence of smoking?
- 22. Making choices a bit less tangible and immediate: “in seven weeks, NewYork Googlers consumed 3.1 million fewer calories from M&Ms” Source http://abcnews.go.com/Health/google-diet-search-giant-overhauled-eating-options-nudge/story?id=18241908
- 25. So let’s look at a few examples: Managers need to use the new performance evaluation system, which has several new evaluation categories. How does the elephant view: • Size of the reward • Tangibility of the reward • Immediacy of the reward
- 26. So let’s look at a few examples: Salespeople need to switch from product-based selling, to a consultative sales approach. How does the elephant view: • Size of the reward • Tangibility of the reward • Immediacy of the reward
- 27. So let’s look at a few examples: Project Managers have access to a new risk- analysis tool they can use during the project planning process. How does the elephant view: • Size of the reward • Tangibility of the reward • Immediacy of the reward
- 28. What happens when there’s a conflict? PrepareTax Information Watch Game of Thrones
- 29. But The rider can drag the elephant along, but… Shiv and Fedorikhin 1999 Heart and Mind in Conflict:The Interplay of Affect andCognition in Consumer Decision Making
- 30. When there’s no conflict, there’s no problem: Gardening! Gardening!
- 31. So what can we do about this? • Size of the reward • Tangibility of the reward • Immediacy of the reward
- 32. Increase the size of the reward? • Sometimes you can’t • Extrinsic rewards are problematic
- 33. Tangibility and immediacy of the reward • Have a more visceral experience • Make the reward visible
- 34. Tangible experience: http://vhil.stanford.edu/pubs/2011/VHIL-technical-report.pdf
- 35. How can learning be more tangible? • Role plays • Simulations • Trials • Observations • Tinkering
- 37. TheTrolley Problem Anyone familiar with the Trolley Problem? Phillippa Foot, Judith Jarvis Thomson, Joshua Greene
- 38. Enter Joshua Greene Greene et al 2001 http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~jgreene/GreeneWJH/Greene-CogNeuroIV-09.pdf
- 39. Do you know, or do you believe?
- 40. Make it more visible
- 41. Visible Progress: From PerfectTime-Based Productivity by FrancisWade
- 42. Make it Easier: Defaults Johnson and Goldstein 2003 http://www.dangoldstein.com/papers/DefaultsScience.pdf
- 43. Make it easier: Have the script ready Implementation Intentions: If X happens, I will do Y. Gollwitzer, 1999
- 44. We use other people as cues for how to act
- 45. Social norming Examples: • Environmental behaviors • Tax compliance • Binge drinking • Teen Smoking
- 46. Should you order wine with dinner?
- 48. Ways to help • Make it more tangible / visceral / experiential • Create more immediate / visible feedback • Make it easier • Creating a script • Create belief (using experience or emotion) • Make it social • Make success stories visible Performance Evaluations Consultative Selling New RiskAnalysisTool
- 49. Questions? Julie Dirksen julie@usablelearning.com Twitter: usablelearning Design For How People Learn designforhowpeoplelearn.com
- 50. References • Haidt, Jonathan.The Happiness Hypothesis • Raby, C. R., et al. (2007). Planning for the future by western scrub-jays. Nature 445: 919-921. • Suddendorf,T. & Busby, J. (2003). Mental time travel in animals?TrendsCog. Sci. 7: 391-396. • Pronin, E et al. (2008) Doing Unto Future Selves AsYou Would Do UntoOthers: Psychological Distance and Decision Making. Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc. • http://vhil.stanford.edu/pubs/2011/VHIL-technical- report.pdf • Johnson, Eric and DanielGoldstein. Do Defaults Save Lives 21 NOVEMBER 2003VOL 302 SCIENCE www.sciencemag.org http://www.dangoldstein.com/papers/DefaultsScience.pdf • http://abcnews.go.com/Health/google-diet-search-giant- overhauled-eating-options-nudge/story?id=18241908 • Shiv and Fedorikhin 1999 Heart and Mind in Conflict:The Interplay of Affect andCognition in Consumer Decision Making • http://www.insurancefraud.org/IFNS- detail.htm?key=17545#.VVgAU_lViko • Social norm links: http://usablelearning.com/2013/08/18/social-norms-or-hey- what-are-they-doing-over-there/ • http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~jgreene/ • http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Time-Based- Productivity-protect-increase/dp/1505408091 • http://www.psych.nyu.edu/oettingen/Gollwitzer,%20P.%20 M.,%20&%20Oettingen,%20G.%20(2013).%20In%20%20 M.%20Gellman%20&%20J.%20R.%20Turner%20(Eds.).pdf
Editor's Notes
- #39: As predicted, the personal dilemmas preferentially engaged brain regions associated with emotion, including the mPFC, PCC, and the amygdala (Greene et al., 2001, 2004). (As noted above, this contrast also revealed preferential engagement of the pSTS/TPJ). Also consistent with our dual-process theory, the impersonal moral dilemmas, relative to “personal” ones, elicited increased activity in regions of DLFPC associated with working memory (Cohen et al., 1997; Smith and Jonides, 1997) and cognitive control (Miller and Cohen, 2001)