Health behaviours Flashcards
What are learning theories?
How we learn behaviours as a result of making (often unconscious) associations
What is classical conditioning (2 things)?
- Learning condition where 2 stimuli are continually paired
- Can change association with cues (related to health)
What is operant conditioning (2 things)?
- People act on the environment and behaviour is shaped by the consequences (reward or punishment)
- Behaviour increases if reinforced and decreases if punished
Operant conditioning in health- problem?
Unhealthy behaviours are immediately rewarding
3 limitations of conditioning theories
- Classical and operant both based on simple stimulus-response associations
- No account of cognitive processes, knowledge, beliefs, memory, attitudes, expectations
- No account of social context
What is the social learning theory (5 things)?
- People can learn through observation and vicarious reinforcement
- Behaviour is goal directed
- People are motivated to perform behaviours
- We learn what behaviours are rewarded and how likely it is we can perform it
- Modelling more effective if models high status or “like us”
What are social cognition models (2 things)?
- Look at how we decide to behave in particular ways
- Look at how people think, feel and reason about their behaviours
Cognitive dissonance theory (3 things)
- Discomfort when we hold inconsistent beliefs or when behaviours/events don’t match them
- Reduce discomfort by changing beliefs or behaviours
- e.g. health promotion
Health belief model (3 things)
- States that people’s beliefs influence their health-related actions/behaviours
- Beliefs about health threat (perceived susceptibility & severity)
- Beliefs about health related behaviour (perceived benefits & barriers)
Theory of planned behaviour (4 things)
- Attitude towards behaviour
- Subjective norms
- Perceived behavioural control
- All 3 above contribute to intention and thus health-related behaviour
TPB: intention behaviour gap (2 things)
- Good predictor of intentions but poor predictor of behaviours
- Problem is translating intentions into behaviours
What is the COM-B model?
Capability
Opportunity
Motivation
-
Behaviour
COM-B model: Capability (2 things)
- Physical and psychological capability
- Knowledge, skill, strength, stamina
COM-B model: Opportunity (2 things)
- Physical and social opportunity
- Time, resources, environment, social support
COM-B model: Motivation (2 things)
- Reflective and automatic motivation
- Plans, evaluation, desires and impulses
Interventions for capability of COM-B (3 things)
- Education (only psych.)
- Training
- Enablement
Interventions for opportunity COM-B (5 things)
- Training (only physical)
- Restrictions
- Environmental structuring
- Modelling (only social)
- Enablement
Interventions for motivation COM-B- MEET EPIC(8 things)
- Education (only reflective)
- Persuasion
- Incentivisation
- Coersion
- Training (only reflective)
- Environmental restructuring (only automatic)
- Modelling (“”)
- Enablement (“”)
What is the nudge theory (2 things)?
- Focus on unconscious influences on behaviour
- Change behaviour by changing the environment, using positive reinforcement, messaging & indirect suggestions
What is nudge theory based on?
Idea that majority of human behaviour is automatic, with people responding to cues in their environment
What does nudge theory involve (2 things)?
- Making simple changes to the choice architecture to steer decisions in the right direction
- For it to be successful, must decrease effort required to make the desired choice
Risks when focusing on individual behaviour (3 things)
- Determinants of health are complex and may be outside of individual control
- Risk of victim blaming (e.g. obesity)
- Little impact on determinants that actually cause poor health
Implications for health promotion (3 things)
- A behaviour change approach
- A strong policy framework that creates a supportive environment
- The empowerment of people to gain more control over making healthy lifestyle decisions
