Class 10: Group decision making and behavioural insights Flashcards
What are the four steps in completing goals of a policy intervention as outlined by the Behavioural Insights Team?
- Define the outcome 2. Examine the content 3. Create the policy 4. Assess effectiveness
What is an example of a nudge?
Posters in the bathroom reminding people to wash their hands thoroughly before returning to a shared public space
Define nudging?
A concept that refers to using subtle and indirect methods to influence people’s behaviour in a positive way without restricting their choices or imposing significant costs on them.
What is an example of a “warning” type of nudge?
Graphic images on cigarette boxes.
name 3 of the 10 important nudges in society from the paper “Nudging a very short guide’
- Default rules (automatic enrolment I things has shown to benefit people greatly) 2. Simplification (complexity causes confusion, make it super easy to understand) 3. Use of social norms (“most people do it” encourages the right behaviour) 4. Increase in ease and convenience (make it low cost, more visible, super easy to get) 5. Disclosure (disclosure reports give people confidence that they is nothing dodgy) 6. Warnings, Graphic or otherwise (If serious risks are involved, show the issues in pics) 7. Precommitment strategies (people commit to the process before committing to the action – early world gym membership before it opens) 8. Reminder (helpful to provide people with opportunity to remember) 9. Eliciting implementation intentions (posing the question in the way you want them to answer, eg, do you plan to vote) 10. Informing people of the mature and consequences of their own past choices (When people are made aware of their bad decisions in the past they are likely to change)
What is the purpose of nudging?
It is to help people make better decisions that will align with a persons own interests.
what is the Egger’s test used for
used to check for publication bias based on the funnel plot
What is the definition of a “Nudge”
Liberty-preserving approaches that steer people in particular directions, but that also allow them to go their own way
Which of the following is a potential limitation of nudging interventions, according to Mertens et al. (2022)? A. They may not be suitable for promoting behavior change in individuals with low motivation. B. They may be too expensive to implement on a large scale. C. They may lead to unintended consequences, such as decreased autonomy or increased resistance to change. D. They may not be effective in promoting behavior change in individuals with high levels of self-control.
C
What does the EAST framework stand for?
Easy, Attractive, Social, Timely
What does the EAST framework stand for? A) Exaggerated, Attractive, Static and Tenable B) Easy, Attractive, Social and Timely C) Easy, Attainable, Social and Tenable D) Exaggerated, Attainable, Static and Timely
B) Easy, Attractive, Social and Timely
What is the difference between a nudge and a mandate, according to Sunstein?
According to Sunstein, a nudge is a choice-preserving approach that aims to influence behavior in a positive way by making certain options more salient or appealing, while a mandate is a requirement or restriction that limits or eliminates certain options.
What are the ten important nudges?
default rules, simplification, social norms, ease and convenience, disclosure, warnings, precommitment strategies, reminders, implementation intentions and informing of nature and consequences of choices.
True or False: Painting lines in the middle of the road to influence people to stay to one side is a Nudge
True; This is a small change to environmental stimuli that influences behaviour to a profound level by reducing car accidents
According to “Nudging: A Very Short Guide” by Cass R. Sunstein, what is an example of a successful nudge? A)Putting up signs threatening punishment for littering, B) Adding a tax on junk food or C) Making healthy food options more visible and attractive in a cafeteria
C) Making healthy food options more visible and attractive in a cafeteria
What does the concept of Nudging refer to?
Small changes to environmental stimuli can influence behaviour to a large effect
True or False: The two approaches for implementing nudges are relying entirely on existing institutions or creating a new institution, such as a behavioural insights team.
False. The passage mentions both approaches, relying entirely on existing institutions and creating a new institution, as potential methods for implementing nudges. It discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each approach, and notes that both approaches may prove complementary.
According to the EAST framwork, how can one create more effective nudges?
Easy: Simplify the message and process Attractive: Make desired behaviors appealing Social: Utilize social norms and networks Timely: Time interventions strategically
According to the ‘Decision Lab’ site, what is the is the purpose of nudging?
Nudging describes choice architects’ ability to influence the public’s choices through purposeful design. Nudging creates an environment in which one is free to choose, but certain decisions are more cognitively taxing than others.
What is the scientific name for “nudges?”
Choice architecture interventions
Changing the default settings on a printer to double-sided printing to encourage people to conserve paper, while still allowing them to change the setting to single-sided if they prefer demonstrates which type of nudging?
Default Nudging
How does ‘nudging,’ also known as choice architecture interventions, work?
They focus on the design of choice environments that facilitate personally and socially desirable decisions without restricting people in their freedom of choice.
How does Sunstein distinguish between the concept of nudging and other related concepts, such as persuasion, manipulation, and coercion?
Sunstein distinguishes nudging from persuasion, manipulation, and coercion by emphasizing that nudges aim to influence behavior while preserving freedom of choice, and do not involve deception, force, or hidden motives.
Fill in the Blank: The concept of nudge is based on the idea that people are ___________ in their decision-making.
Irrational
How successful are choice architecture interventions?
The majority will promote the desired behavior change, however approx 15% of interventions are likely to backfire, i.e., reduce or reverse desired behavior,
What is libertarian paternalism?
Libertarian paternalism is the idea that institutions can influence behavior in ways that promote individual well-being, while also respecting freedom of choice.
What is the fundamental aim of choice architecture interventions?
Choice architecture interventions aim to facilitate access to decision-relevant information by increasing its availability, comprehensibility and personal relevance to the decision-maker.
True or false: Nudging is a form of coercion that forces individuals to make a certain decision.
False. Nudging is a form of influence that aims to guide individuals towards making better decisions without restricting their freedom of choice. As explained by Sunstein (2014), nudges are interventions that alter people’s behavior in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives. Nudges can take various forms, such as changing the default option or providing social norms feedback, but they always respect people’s autonomy and leave them with the option to opt out. Therefore, nudges do not use force or coercion to compel people to behave in a certain way, but rather provide gentle guidance towards the preferred option.
Name a reaons the ‘Social’ aspect of the EAST frameowrk is important.
Any of these answers can be correct: 1) People are highly influenced by the thoughts, approval, and behavior of others (Bandwagon Effect). 2) People enjoy doing things as part of a group. 3) Holding ourselves accountable to someone else increases likelihood of success.
Making policies with as minimal effort as possible is the description of which ideal of the EAST framework?
Easy
What is a risk associated with the nudge of warnings or graphics such as labelling on cigarette packets?
Individuals sometimes respond to these warnings by discounting them, assuming that bad outcome won’ t happen to them.
What is nudging?
Nudging (aka nudge theory) is a concept that provides choice architects’ ability to influence the public’s choices through purposeful design. Essentially, nudging creates an environment in which one is free to choose, but certain decisions are more cognitively taxing than others. An example of this theory in everyday life as a consumer is where default options exist to nudge people towards a desired behaviour.
What does the abbreviation EAST stand for?
Easy, Attractive, Social, Timely
What type of nudge is it when a government campaign informs citizens that the majority of people in their community recycle?
Social norms nudge.
Fill in the blank : In the meta-analysis about nudges, the overall effect size of the interventions is very probably smaller than initially presented because of an alleged _______________ bias
Publication
According to Sunstein, what is nudging?
A nudge is a small intervention that is designed to influence behaviour in a certain way (usually positive), without limiting freedom of choice.
What is the relationship between silicon-based life and artificial intelligence?
Silicon-based life and artificial intelligence are both concepts about life and intelligence. Artificial intelligence is a technology that simulates human intelligence through computer programs and machine learning technology, while silicon-based life is a hypothetical life form based on silicon rather than carbon. There is no direct connection between the two, but they both represent the exploration and understanding of life and intelligence.
How did Mertens et al. (2022) classify the different types of nudges used in the included studies?
Mertens et al. (2022) classified nudges into four categories: (1) changes in the presentation or framing of information, (2) changes in the default setting, (3) changes in the physical environment or choice set, and (4) changes in the social environment.
What is an example of a “reminder” type of nudge?
Emails or text messages of an upcoming appointment.
What is the EAST Framework?
The EAST Framework describes a concept for implementing policy. It stands for: Easy - Policy should be easy to implement with minimal obstacles Attractive - Any policy should be noticeable and regarded positively Social - Policy should benefit and be encouraged by groups of people Timely - Policy needs to be implemented at the appropriate time to be effective
Please explain in brief detail the “S” in the EAST framework…
“S” in the EAST framework stands for social. Individuals have the tendency of being influenced by the thoughts and approval from others. One technique to influence behavior change is to convince that the majority of people have implemented and engaged in the preferred behavior.
What is one of the most effective method of nudging?
Setting programs as default e.g. default health care program
For one of the way to apply motheds for implement nudges(Rely entirely on existing institutions).It has been proved highly successful by applying________.
numerous nudges
What is a nudging intervention?
It is a form of choice architecture that aims to influence people’s behaviour by changing contexts. From this, it is designed to be subtle, and use positive reinforcement to encourage desirable behaviour
In the meta-analysis of nudging, Mertens et al. (2022) found that nudging had the strongest effects in which behavioural domain? a) food choices, b) financial choices c) health choices d) pro-social choices?
a) food choices
Is it more effective to highlight what most people actually do or what most people think people should do when using social norms?
most people think people should do
One person joined a weight loss club where there were many people who also wanted to lose weight, and the coach of the club created accountability among all of them, with each person having the responsibility to monitor the weight loss of the others. After a period of time the club’s weight loss failure rate was reduced. Judgment is right or wrong: This case shows the trend effect
Wrong. In this case, the coach used social norm to foster a bond between the members of the club. The responsibility given to each member drove the members to monitor each other, and in the process of monitoring, the members’ own sense of responsibility for weight loss was strengthened.
How can publication bias potentially artificially inflate coen’s d values in metanalytic research?
By not publishing this data it fails to allow meta-analyses access to the data, potentially inflating the value of coen’s d.
What do the letters in EAST framework represent?
E – Easy, A – Attractive, S – Social, T – Timely.
true or false: despite the growing interest in choice architecture, only a few attempts have been made to quantitatively integrate the empirical evidence on its effectiveness as a behaviour change tool.
TRUE
How does nudging work?
It guides individuals towards making better choices without restricting their freedom of choice.
If you are emphasising what most people would normally do such as “most people plan on voting”, what type of nudge are you implementing?
You would be implementing a nudge that employs the use of social norms.
TRUE or FALSE: A nudge is a form of coercion that restricts people’s freedom of choice.
False. A nudge is a gentle or subtle push that guides people towards making choices without restricting their freedom of choice.
What are some examples of nudges that have been used successfully to influence behavior, according to Sunstein?
Sunstein provides several examples of nudges that have been used successfully to influence behavior, including: placing healthy foods at eye level in a cafeteria, using default options to increase organ donation rates, and providing energy consumption feedback to households to encourage conservation.
What is the attention-behaviour gap?
When limited attentional capacities and a lack of self-control acts as a barrier and prevents a person’s decisions from translating into the desired actions, even when the decisions made are deliberate and rational.
What is the main finding of the meta-analysis conducted by Mertens et al. (2022) on the effectiveness of nudging? A. Nudging interventions are only effective in promoting positive behavior change in the domain of health and food choice. B. Nudging interventions are highly effective in promoting positive behavior change across all behavioral domains studied. C. Nudging interventions are not effective in promoting positive behavior change in any of the behavioral domains studied. D. Nudging interventions are most effective in promoting positive behavior change in the domain of environmental sustainability.
B. Nudging interventions are highly effective in promoting positive behavior change across all behavioral domains studied.
How does the level of influence that automatic biases and heuristics have on decision making change when decisions have a larger impact on the decision-makers life?
Decision makers will be less influenced by automatic biases and heuristics, making choice architecture interventions less impactful.
The gap between initial cost of a program and its eventual benefit plays into which part of the EAST framework?
Timely: people are more receptive to policies when they can clearly see the benefit, which is sometimes difficult to achieve when long-term programs have high up-front costs.
What did the meta-analysis mentioned in the “Nudged of a cliff article” state that nudges had the strongest effects on?
They found that nudges had the strongest effects on food-related decisions.
The main finding of Mertens’s meta-analysis stated that nudges promote what?
promotes desired behaviours, with larger effects observed when nudges were combined with other interventions.
True or false? Nudging theory has received criticism for being manipulative as it can be a form of paternalism where authorities use nudges to steer people in a certain direction, assuming they know what’s best for everyone.
True.
Why are nudges described as ‘soft paternalism’?
Nudges are properly described as ‘soft paternalism’ because they steer individuals in the right direction.
Measures that increase the visibility of otherwise covert information aim to provide decision makers with access to ________.
Information.
What type of nudges (from the 10 important nudges) are on cigarette packages?
Warnings and disclosure.
Choice Default is an element of choice architecture that pre-emptively guesses a person’s most likely response. (True/False)
False: Choice Default sets a response that will be selected if no other response is made, such as automatically being signed up for a newsletter as part of registering a new product unless it’s explicitly opted out of.
According to Sunstein (2014), nations all over the world are taking a growing interest in nudging because of four reasons, which are?
- They impose low-to-no costs, 2. sometimes deliver prompt results, 3. they maintain freedom, 4. they can be highly effective
intention-behaviour gap
people have limited attentional capacities and lack self-control which can prevent decisions being translated into desired actions
Please explain in brief detail the “E” in the EAST framework…
“E” in the EAST framework stands for easy. One ways to best engage people to change their behavior is to make it as easy as possible. By setting the preferred decision easier to choose will increase the likelihood of the behavior to be adopted.
Why is the EAST framework controversial?
The framework is ultimately based on Nudging, which is heavily criticised as a rebranded form of Psychological Manipulation.
What are some ethical concerns regarding offical nuding to influence an individual’s behaviour without their consent and how to fix it? (from “Nudging: A Very Short Guide” by Cass R. Sunstein)
The individual might feel that their full freedom of choice is taken when they have not provided explicit consent; therefore, it is essential to be transparent and open about offical nudging.
True or False: Policymakers can alter the levels of friction to make the preferred decision more difficult to choose.
False. Policymakers can alter the levels of friction to create more or less difficulty in competing behaviors. They make the preferred decision easier to choose, and by the same token, they make less preferred decisions more difficult.
Define what is the East Framework and provide an example of each.
4 ideals designate what a policy should involve: Easy - Making a policy with as minimal effort as possible such as implementing it during work time Attractive - attract both attention and use attractive incentives to promote a particular behaviour such as a work bonus Social - as social beings we are highly influenced by the thoughts and approval of others convincing multiple individuals to gain the most power such as through group activities Timely - utilising the correct timing to ensure the correct public perception such as health policy at stressful times
How does internal value and goals affect the effectiveness of nudging interventions?
A person’s values and goals significantly affects the effectiveness of nudging interventions. If the nudging intervention does not align with their internal values and goals, it is less likely to be effective. The reason is because the person may feel conflict and is likely to resist and ignore the intervention. Thus, it is crutial to take these into consideration when developing nudging interventions to make sure it is effective.
Out of decision structure intervention, decision information intervention and decision assistance intervention, which require taking into account the personal values and/or goals of the subjects?
Decision information intervention and decision assistance intervention.
What are the 10 types of nudges outlined by Sunstein (2014)?
Default Rules, Simplification, Uses of social norms, Increases in ease and convenience, Disclosure, Warnings, Pre-commitment strategies, Reminders, Eliciting Implementation Intentions, Informing people of the nature and consequences of their past choices
What is the effect of describing social norms?
It facilitates the access to decison relevant information that can change/influenec behaviours e.g. The Alcott study showed that households which regularly received a letter comparing their own energy consumption to that of similar neighbors reduced their consumption by an average of 2%
According to Sunstein, what are nudges?
Liberty-preserving approaches that steer people in particular directions, but also allow them to go their own way.
According to Mertens et al., the effectiveness of nudges depends on the (BLANK 1), target (BLANK 2), and the (BLANK 3) being nudged.
- Nudge type, 2. behavior, 3. population
What is the key difference between soft nudging and hard nudging? And generally, which type tends to be more effective?
Soft” nudges involve subtle changes in the choice structure that do not restrict people’s freedom of choice. Hard nudges involve more aggressive tactics such as imposing mandates or restrictions. Generally speaking, soft nudges tend to be more effective
What is a meta-analysis?
Meta-analysis is through the use of statistics, combining multiple studies on a given topic. Through analysis of multiple studies, more conclusions can be drawn on a particular intervention or treatment
What does Sunstein’s “Nudging: a very short guide” propose and how does it challenge traditional approaches to consumer behavior?
Sunstein proposes the idea of “nudging,” which involves subtly influencing behavior through small changes in the environment rather than relying on traditional approaches such as incentives or punishments. This approach challenges the idea that consumers always act rationally and consciously, and suggests that small environmental cues can have a significant impact on behavior.
List some reasons explaining the growing interest in nudges.
They usually impose low (or no) costs, sometimes deliver prompt results, often result in significant economic savings, maintain freedom, can be highly effective, and in some cases, nudges have a larger impact than more expensive and more coercive tools.
True or False: The Decision Lab is a consultancy firm that focuses on applying behavioral science to improve decision-making in various industries.
Answer: True. Explanation: The Decision Lab is a think tank and consultancy firm that specializes in the application of behavioral science to improve decision-making in various industries. They provide research, analysis, and customized solutions to help organizations better understand human behavior and make more effective decisions.
Give one example of a nudge used by the government
Graphic photos displaying the effects of the use of cigarettes.
What is a flaw in the rational agent model in terms of people’s access to information?
It implies that people make decisions based on weighing the cost and benefits of all available options to identify the most favourable. However, the issue with this is that people rarely have access to all relevant information when making a decision.
Define the item “Nudging”.
Nudging: a subtle policy shift that encourages people to make better choices for themselves, without imposing significant economic or regulatory burdens on them.
True or False: Nudges are always effective in changing people’s behavior.
False. Nudges can be effective in certain contexts and for certain behaviors, but may not work for everyone or in all situations.
True or False: The four steps involved in completing policy interventions are (1) Define the outcome (2) Examine the context (3) Increase ease and convenience (4) Assess effectiveness.
False: (3) Increasing ease and convenience is incorrect as it is not related to implementation intentions in policy interventions. It is one of the 10 important nudges, but not part of the four steps. The correct four steps are (1) Define the outcome, (2) Examine the context (3) Create the policy, and (4) Assess effectiveness.
In what ways do nudges reflect broader societal trends towards personalization and individualization, and what are some of the implications of this trend?
Nudges reflect broader societal trends towards personalization and individualization by tailoring interventions to individual preferences and behaviors, which may have implications for issues such as social cohesion and collective decision-making.
What is the difference between nudging and mandating behaviour change?
Nudging involves designing interventions that influence behaviour in a positive way without restricting freedom of choice, while mandating behaviour change involves imposing requirements or penalties to enforce desired behaviours.
What does the acronym EAST stand for?
Easy, Attractive, Social, Timely
