Using neuroscience to influence behavior

In summary• Rider, elephant and path • Before changing a behavior: • Identify behavior type • Match with appropriate change method... Rewards of the hunt: search for resources... Rewards

“Come on now,

who do you think

you are?

Bless your soul,

you really think

you’re in control?”

- Gnarls Barkley

USING NEUROSCIENCE

TO INFLUENCE HUMAN BEHAVIOR

Welcome to the

experiment

to Coursework

for group assignment.

post to Coursework

each) or group assignment (15-20 min) (but only if entire team agrees)

The nature of

behavior

One brain, two minds

Where the elephant lives

• “Primitive” parts of brain

Where the rider lives

• “Newest” part of brain

• Pre-frontal cortex (PFC)

• Executive function

• Controls impulses and

higher level thinking

Think of your behaviors

• What are the routines, habits, skills,

addictions in one’s life?

HighLow

What defines amateur

behaviors?

• The rider and elephant are in sync

• Easy to do, but also easy to forget

• Reward, process motivated, “for the love”

• Long-term

Amateur behaviors

How did you create your amateur behavior?

Creating amateur

behaviors

• Create a path for the elephant

• Make it simple, easy

• Placing well-timed cues

• “Baby steps”

HighLow

Skillful behaviors

What defines skillful

behaviors?

• Rider is steering the elephant

• Outcome, goal driven

• Hard work, grit

How did you create your skillful behavior?

Creating skillful

behaviors

• Deliberate practice

• Focus on fixing failures

• Grit and persistence

• Often with coaching

Skillful behaviors

HighLow

Habitual behaviors

What defines habitual (negative) behaviors?

• The rider tries to control the elephant

• Constant temptation

• Struggle with desire

How did you stop your

habitual behavior?

HighLow

Addictive behaviors

What defines addictive

Resisting addictive

behaviors

• Reigning in the elephant

• Abstinence, removal of cues

• Physical detoxification

• Social support

• Root cause analysis

HighLow

Matching behavior types with change

methods

Change with right tool

Behavior type Change method

Reign the elephant

Does the method match the type?

• “No pain, no gain”

• “Never quit”

• “Set strict goals”

• “Hold yourself

accountable”

Healthy lifestyle

• Over a lifetime

• Do (amateur behaviors):

• Physical activity

• Eating healthy foods

• Resist doing (habitual behaviors):

• Eating unhealthy foods

• Overconsumption

Beating yourself up hurts

night before, the more they drank the next night (Muraven et al

2005)

“chase” the loss and keep gambling (Yi and Kanatar 201)

studying the longest for next exam (Wohl, Pychyl, Bennett

2010)

likely to have a major relapse (Stephens et al 1994)

Source: Kelly McDonigal, “The Willpower Instinct”

The “what-the-hell” effect

• Dieters and non-dieters

asked to drink a milkshake

as part of “taste perception

study”

• Then asked to sample as

much ice cream as “needed”

for taste test.

• Dieters ate more than

non-dieters after drinking the

One size does not fit all

HighLow

In summary

• Rider, elephant and path

• Before changing a behavior:

• Identify behavior type

• Match with appropriate change method

Take a break and a survey www.OpinionTo.us (and take your stuff)

Why influence

behavior?

Helping people do what

they want to do.

HighLow

pref· er· ence

/ˈpref(ə)rəns/

Noun, Def:

A greater liking for one alternative over another or others.

be· hav· ior

/biˈhāvyər/

Noun, Def:

The way in which an animal or person acts

in response to a particular situation or

stimulus.

ad· dic· tion

/əˈdikSHən/

Noun, Def:

A persistent, compulsive dependence on a behavior or substance.

Are customer habits good for business?

• Higher life-time value

• Greater price inelasticity, can charge more

• Word-of-mouth brings down cost of

acquisition

= Higher ROI

Source: Inc magazine, Dec 2011

Why is this graph “smiling”?

Holding on to customers

by forming habits

Source: Amy Jo Kim, “Community Building on the Web”

To build habits need

Au· to· ma· ta· city

Impairment of habit system

• Trouble performing tasks requiring

multi-step behaviors or where emotion is deciding factor.

• With “elephant” out, the “rider” tries but

fails.

• Making simple decisions (which pen?)

• Ignoring insignificant details (reading

faces)

• Inability to act quickly “from the gut.”

Source: Antonio Demasio via Lehrer "How We Decide"

Decision fatigue

• “Rider” gets tired and lazy because decision making requires effort.

• Prisoners appearing for parole hearings early

in the morning granted parole 70% of the

time

• However, those appearing late in the day,

when judges were more tired, paroled less

than 10% of the time.

• So, making more decisions through habit

instead of logic, can leave more resources for important decisions

Source: Levav and Danziger, 2011

How to build automaticity?

Frequency and utility

How do we get users

to come back?

Building desire through

engagement

Low

The Desire Engine

In summary

• Habits can be good for business

• Habits require automaticity - action

Triggers

Habits aren’t created, they are built upon

Where are you sitting?

• Who is sitting where they sat

before break?

• Why did you sit there?

• What told you to sit?

• Where did you learn this

behavior?

What to do next

is in the trigger What to do next is in the user’s head

Negative emotions are powerful internal triggers

When I feel I use

FacebookYelpGoogleEmailGPSESPN, GlamInternally triggered

technologies

Bored Stressed

Excited Content

Emotional triggers Shiv x-framework

People with depression

check email more.

Source: Kotikalapudi et al 2012,

Associating Depressive Symptoms in College Students with Internet Usage Using Real Internet Data

Habits form from frequent

problem/solution fit.

• Need to find the existing behavior to attach to.

before.

To find the problem, know the narrative

Jack Dorsey

on narratives

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acMXhhdWylQ

The “Instagram moment”

- Bored, lonesome, curious

Your turn

• Pick an “amateur” behavior you’d like to

turn into a new routine in your life

• Brainstorm with the person next to you for

5 min each about potential triggers

• Describe the narrative of both external and internal triggers

• Write this down and be prepared to share

Form teams and complete Coursework assignment

(see syllabus) Debrief with team:

- What resonated with you?

- What stimulated new thinking?

- Ideas for personal and professional growth?

- Ideas for new ventures?

- What intrigued you, either by creating new questions

or by kindling a quest for more?

30 min discussion

15 min post to Coursework

Actions

when doing < thinking = action

Creating the path

mo· ti· va· tion

/mōtə vāSHən/

Noun, Def:

The psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal.

Pleasure Hope Acceptance

Avoid:

Pain Fear Rejection

Sensation Anticipation Social Cohesion

Source: Dr BJ Fogg, Stanford University

a· bil· i· ty

/əˈbilitē/

Noun, Def:

The capacity to do something

How increase capacity to do something?

Source: Dr BJ Fogg, Stanford University

Factors of ability

Time Money Physical effort Brain cycles Social deviance Non-routine

Source: Dr BJ Fogg, Stanford University

Factors of ability

Differ by person and context

What move first?

Move ability before motivation

Source: Dr BJ Fogg, Stanford University

Focus on ability and triggers

before motivation

Focus on ability and triggers

before motivation

Which has fewer calories?

Motivated people know

healthier option

Source: (Chernov et al 2011; Chandon & Wansink 2007)

Source: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, Centers for Disease Control

America the obese

Twitter homepage

2009

Twitter homepage

2012 Twitter homepage

The evolution of Twitter

2012

triggers = interface design

Your turn

is very able, easy)

all, 10 is very)

(considering your scarcest resource) and / or increase

motivation? !! Crazy ideas are encouraged !!

Source: Dr BJ Fogg, Stanford University

Motivators of Behavior

Seek:

Pleasure Hope Acceptance

Avoid:

Pain Fear Rejection

Sensation Anticipation Social Cohesion

Factors of ability

Time Money Physical effort Brain cycles Social deviance Non-routine

Bi· as

/ˈbīəs/

Noun, Def:

1 A tendency or inclination; a prejudice

2 A lever to increase motivation or ability

A well-studied bias

Classical biases

• Rational

• Can articulate, “I’d buy it if it were cheaper.”

• Predictable (for the most part)

Cognitive Biases

• Rational or irrational

• Unable to articulate

• Predictable

Source: Worchel, Lee, and Adewole (1975)

• People value cookies

more in a nearly

empty jar than in a

full jar

Remember this?

Source: (Chernov et al 2011; Chandon & Wansink 2007)

The halo effect

Source: (Chernov et al 2011; Chandon & Wansink 2007)

Which car owners?

• Are involved in more collisions

• Receive 65% more traffic tickets

• Drive 25% more miles than other drivers

• Are a more costly risk to insure than other vehicles in its class

Source: Data from insurance analytics company Quality Planning, reported in “Mitchell Industry Trends Report” 2010

Unit cost = $6.80

so, 6 for $44.25 Jockey only!

• 8 car wash, get one free

• 8 blank squares vs

10 squares with 2 free punches

• 82% higher completion rate

Many more

• Social proof, framing, reciprocity, relevance, status quo, loss aversion, familiarity bias,

regret aversion, peak-end effect, money

proxy, authority bias

Your turn

• Pick one of the “Mental Notes” cards

• How could you make use of a cognitive

biases to increase your partner’s behavior?

• Brainstorm with the person next to you for

5 min each !! Go for lots of ideas !!

• Write this down and be prepared to share

Take a break and a survey www.OpinionTo.us

Variable rewards

The brain and rewards

Source: Olds and Milner, 1945

Watch

What triggers the reward system?

• Stimulation of brain’s reward system activates new behaviors

• “Awakening the elephant” is possible through probes or drugs

• What stimulates the brain naturally?

Dopamine triggers

Were Olds and Milner stimulating pleasure?

(not exactly)

“I like pleasure spiked with

pain, it’s my aeroplane”

- The Red Hot Chili Peppers

The promise of reward

• Dopamine system activated by anticipation of

reward

• And dampened when reward achieved

Source: Knutson et al 2001

To supercharge the

“stress of desire” add variability.

Curious by nature

“I can’t get no satisfaction”

- The Rolling Stones

The search for rewards

the Hunt

the Tribe

the Self

Search for Social

Rewards of the tribe

Rewards of the tribe

Search for Resources

Rewards of the hunt: search for resources

Rewards of the hunt: search for information

Dare you not to scroll

Rewards of the hunt: search for resources

Search for Sensation

Rewards of the self:

Search for competency and mastery

Rewards of the self: Search for control

Fish bowl technique

• Addiction Recovery Study (Petry 2006)

• Patients earned opportunity to draw a ticket out of a bowl every

time they passed a drug test

• Half of the tickets said “Keep up the good work.” The rest won the patient a nominal prize worth $1 to $20 but one ticket was worth

• Fish bowl group less likely to relapse

• Technique worked better than paying patients for passing drug tests.

Rewards Decay

• As rewards become predictable, they

become less novel

Finite Variability Infinite Variability

Who gets hooked?

placed in MRI See images of win, lose, and

“near-miss.”

“excitement” from seeing win.

near-loss.

birth or if caused by repeated exposure.

Source: Habib, 2010

Variable reward levers

• Type (Tribe, Hunt, Self)

• Frequency

• Amplitude

Keep ‘em guessing

Your turn

increase your partner’s behavior?

unknown, or surprise?

(social), hunt (resources), self (mastery,

control) !! Crazy is ok !!

5 min each and prepare to share

Investments

• Where user does a bit

of “work.”

• “Pays” with something

of value: time, money, social capital, effort, emotional commitment, personal data

T A

RI

Facebook, friend, email

Scroll

Information (Hunt)

Follow

Twitter (consumer)

Boredom, curiosity

T A

RI

Mention, message

Open app

Social feedback (Tribe)

Tweet or RT (build following)

Boredom, curiosity,

lonesome

Twitter (creator)

Labor is love

The IKEA effectSource: Dan Ariely, Upside of Irrationality

People value their labor

• Value own work almost as much as an expert’s

• Even if other’s don’t

Source: Ariely, Mochon and Norton, 2012

Source: Langer, 1975

• People who pick

lottery numbers more likely to play

• Assign greater

odds

Labor increases

motivation

Value labor done for us

Source: Buell and Norton, 2011

Others’ labor increases

As we invest,

we endow and tend to

overvalue.

The endowment effect

• When chimps given juice bar

and peanut butter, 50/50 preference split.

• When given PB first, 80% chose

to keep rather than exchange.

• The “endowed” item was

preferred

• Only worked for food

Source: Brosnan et al 2007

Humans endow things

• Endowed mugs vs pens worth twice as much

(Kahneman, Knetsch & Thaler,1990)

• Endowed final four tickets worth 14 times more (Carmon and Ariely, 2000)

• Employees worked harder to maintain a

provisional bonus than a potential

yet-to-be-awarded prize (Hossain and List, 2010)

• Universal behavior across different populations and with different goods (Hoffman and Spitzer,1993) including children (Harbaugh et al, 2001)

Why do we endow?

• Improved bargaining position in bilateral

trades If I act like I love it, maybe you will too (Huck, Kirchsteiger & Oechssler 2005)

• Loss aversion Loosing feels twice as bad as the joy of gaining (Kahneman and Tversky,1984)

• Need for consistency causes cognitive

dissonance leads to rationalization

Jesse Schell, Professor of game design,

Carnegie Mellon University

Rationalization and

commitment

The preference cycle

Confirmation:

“Since I spent on it

before, and I am not an

idiot, it must be good.”

Little investments,

big results

Group 1:

17% acceptedGroup 2:

76% accepted

Source: Freedman & Fraser, 1966

• We acquire preferences to serve

our need to be consistent

• Relieve pain of cognitive

dissonance

Source: Jon Esler, 1983

Acquiring taste

tried spicy food or alcohol.

Motivating through

identity

the day before or the morning of the election

voter in the upcoming election?” (Noun)

in the upcoming election?” (Verb)

shape what we do.

Source: Bryan, Walton, Rogers, and Dweck, 2011

“the largest experimental effects ever observed on objectively measured voter turnout.”

• And behave in line with how we see

ourselves (identity shaping)

Your turn

• How could you use small investments and commitments to make your partner’s

behavior more likely to occur?

• Brainstorm with the person next to you for

5 min each

• Write this down and be prepared to share

Desire Engines create routines

- High preference Low

T A

RI

Spectator sports

VRI

Watch

Outcome (Self) Fandom - belonging (Tribe) Capturing the win (Hunt)

With more cycles

Increase motivation and difficulty of action

Greater loyalty, increased price inelasticity, greater

satisfaction

Using neuroscience to influence human behavior

What are you going to

Use this for good.

and take a survey www.OpinionTo.us