Changing behaviors

Another interesting talk at NCWIT was by David Neal, a behavioral psychologist. He said that space and memory are tightly bound. This explains why when you go to the garage to get something, you may forget what you went for.

He said that in European countries there is a big difference between various countries and organ donation. Some were near 100% while others were around 12%. In studying it, they learned that all countries had organ donation as an option on the drivers license. The difference was that in the 100% countries, people had to opt out of organ donation where in the 12% countries, people had to opt in. While we would expect people care about organ donation, most just took the default.

In context cued behavior, we do something because of the place, time, or activity. We need to disrupt the sequence.

They did studies with giving people popcorn before a movie. They either gave them fresh, warm popcorn or stale popcorn. They found that people that are habitual popcorn eaters ate it no matter whether it was good or bad popcorn, while non-habitual eaters were selective. They also found that giving people popcorn during a music video decreased the amount of popcorn consumed as popcorn assumption isn't tied mentally to music videos.

For things you don't do often, you can control behavior by simple vigilance or using "if then plans". An if-then plan ties an intention to environmental cues. It could take the form, "When I go to the restaurant, I am only going to look at the salad section."

Things to consciously target: (1)Cues, people, places, times, decisions points. (2) mistaking familiar for preferred (3) Shutting down the information search.

Often, if you are stuck, imagine what someone else would do to solve the problem. Often, getting out of your familiar thought process if helpful.