Uploaded byJulie Dirksen
The Science of Behavior Change
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.
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Introduction to the science of behavior change, addressing the humorous aspects of human behavior and ideal scenarios for change.
The metaphor of Rider (logical thinking) and Elephant (emotional impulses) illustrates how these elements affect decision-making.
Decision-making scenarios contrasting the Rider's future planning versus the Elephant's present desires, exemplifying conflict in choices.
Factors influencing the Elephant's decisions: size, tangibility, and immediacy of rewards, with implications for personal finance.
Examines how employees perceive rewards based on size, tangibility, and immediacy using smoking and diet examples.
Real-world applications of Rider and Elephant dynamics in performance evaluations, sales approaches, and project management.
Exploration of conflicts between immediate desires and future obligations, emphasizing the importance of managing these conflicts.
Review of strategies to amplify rewards, enhance tangibility, and create social environments that foster desired behaviors.
Closure of the presentation with contact information and references used throughout the discussion.
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The Science of Behavior Change
- 1. THE SCIENCE OF BEHAVIORCHANGE Julie Dirksen Usable Learning
- 2.
- 3. WHAT KINDS OF BEHAVIORSWOULD YOULIKETO CHANGE? Tell me of your pain.
- 4. In our idealworld, 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 idealworld, 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’tdo a talk without the elephant: FromThe Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt
- 7. The Rider • Thinkslogically • Controls impulses • Plans for the future • Uses conscious resources (Kahneman’s System 2)
- 8. The Elephant • Isconcerned with what is happening now • Feels, rather than thinks • Is impulsive • Is automatic (Kahneman’s System 1)
- 9. The Elephant Here’s thething: If there was only NOW, all these choices would be logical.
- 10. Planning for thefuture • 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 theyhave this framework: Future. Now! Now! Now! Noooooo ooooooo oow!
- 12. So, how dothese two entities see the world? Rider (Future) Elephant (Now)
- 13. How would youlike 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 likethis 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 wantto 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 differentlyfor 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 influencethe 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 checkthis out:
- 19. Hyperbolic Discounting Image Credit:http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Moxfyre
- 20. How to usethis: 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 theconsequence of smoking?
- 22. Making choices abit 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
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- 25. So let’s lookat 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 lookat 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 lookat 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 whenthere’s a conflict? PrepareTax Information Watch Game of Thrones
- 29. But The rider candrag 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 noconflict, there’s no problem: Gardening! Gardening!
- 31. So what canwe do about this? • Size of the reward • Tangibility of the reward • Immediacy of the reward
- 32. Increase the sizeof the reward? • Sometimes you can’t • Extrinsic rewards are problematic
- 33. Tangibility and immediacyof the reward • Have a more visceral experience • Make the reward visible
- 34.
- 35. How can learningbe more tangible? • Role plays • Simulations • Trials • Observations • Tinkering
- 36.
- 37. TheTrolley Problem Anyone familiarwith the Trolley Problem? Phillippa Foot, Judith Jarvis Thomson, Joshua Greene
- 38. Enter Joshua Greene Greeneet al 2001 http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~jgreene/GreeneWJH/Greene-CogNeuroIV-09.pdf
- 39. Do you know,or do you believe?
- 40. Make it morevisible
- 41. Visible Progress: From PerfectTime-BasedProductivity 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 otherpeople as cues for how to act
- 45. Social norming Examples: • Environmentalbehaviors • Tax compliance • Binge drinking • Teen Smoking
- 46. Should you orderwine with dinner?
- 47.
- 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 DesignFor How People Learn designforhowpeoplelearn.com
- 50. References • Haidt, Jonathan.TheHappiness 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)