scholarly journals Nudging and Boosting: Steering or Empowering Good Decisions

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 973-986 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph Hertwig ◽  
Till Grüne-Yanoff
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Economics ◽  
Behavioral Science ◽  
Cognitive Architecture ◽  
Freedom Of Choice ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Coercive Measures ◽  
Potential Value ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Causal Pathways ◽  
Human Cognitive Architecture

In recent years, policy makers worldwide have begun to acknowledge the potential value of insights from psychology and behavioral economics into how people make decisions. These insights can inform the design of nonregulatory and nonmonetary policy interventions—as well as more traditional fiscal and coercive measures. To date, much of the discussion of behaviorally informed approaches has emphasized “nudges,” that is, interventions designed to steer people in a particular direction while preserving their freedom of choice. Yet behavioral science also provides support for a distinct kind of nonfiscal and noncoercive intervention, namely, “boosts.” The objective of boosts is to foster people’s competence to make their own choices—that is, to exercise their own agency. Building on this distinction, we further elaborate on how boosts are conceptually distinct from nudges: The two kinds of interventions differ with respect to (a) their immediate intervention targets, (b) their roots in different research programs, (c) the causal pathways through which they affect behavior, (d) their assumptions about human cognitive architecture, (e) the reversibility of their effects, (f) their programmatic ambitions, and (g) their normative implications. We discuss each of these dimensions, provide an initial taxonomy of boosts, and address some possible misconceptions.

scholarly journals An overview of behavioral economics in Dutch policy making. the next step: how to nudge policy makers

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 27-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natasha Els Stroeker
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Economics ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Behavioral Science ◽  
Dutch Government ◽  
Science Knowledge ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Structural Integration ◽  
Dutch Policy ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk

This article describes the beginning of the influence of behavioral economics on the Dutch government. This started in the period that the UK started with its Behavioral Insights Team (BIT UK). The article presents explanation of the concept “nudging” and the way this is integrated in Dutch policy. Also leading publications and examples of how behavioral economics is used in policy making are presented. The advice of the government in 2014 on how to ensure a structural integration of behavioral science knowledge in policy is part of the next step. The next step contains two main parts: 1. How to nudge policy makers and 2. Embedding nudges in policy making on four aspects: positioning, projects, performance and professionality.

Instructional Design in Digital Environments and Availability of Mental Resources

2013 ◽  
pp. 81-104
Author(s):  
Renae Low ◽  
Putai Jin ◽  
John Sweller
Keyword(s):  
Instructional Design ◽  
Cognitive Architecture ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Digital Era ◽  
Human Cognitive Architecture ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
Digital Environments ◽  
Welfare Workers ◽  
Mental Resources

In this digital era, the gap between the elderly and younger generations in their use of computer-based technology is wide, and many researchers in behavioural and social sciences, along with educators, welfare workers, and policy makers, are concerned about this disturbing phenomenon. However, it is not clear whether this discrepancy is due to a lack of previous access to information technology or declining mental ability in the course of aging. The purpose of this chapter is to consider the aged subpopulation’s needs and their ability to use digital technology from the perspectives of human cognitive architecture and the principles of instructional design guided by cognitive load theory. The authors focus on the following critical issues: a) the evolution and formation of human cognitive architecture, b) cognitive functioning as influenced by aging, c) compatibility between elderly people’s available mental resources and the cognitive requirements of digital equipment, and d) guidelines for human-computer multimedia interactions derived from the accumulated experimental evidence on effective instructional design and delivery.

Instructional Design in Digital Environments and Availability of Mental Resources for the Aged Subpopulation

2013 ◽  
pp. 1131-1154
Author(s):  
Renae Low ◽  
Putai Jin ◽  
John Sweller
Keyword(s):  
Instructional Design ◽  
Cognitive Architecture ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Digital Era ◽  
Human Cognitive Architecture ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
Digital Environments ◽  
Welfare Workers ◽  
Mental Resources

In this digital era, the gap between the elderly and younger generations in their use of computer-based technology is wide, and many researchers in behavioural and social sciences, along with educators, welfare workers, and policy makers, are concerned about this disturbing phenomenon. However, it is not clear whether this discrepancy is due to a lack of previous access to information technology or declining mental ability in the course of aging. The purpose of this chapter is to consider the aged subpopulation’s needs and their ability to use digital technology from the perspectives of human cognitive architecture and the principles of instructional design guided by cognitive load theory. The authors focus on the following critical issues: a) the evolution and formation of human cognitive architecture, b) cognitive functioning as influenced by aging, c) compatibility between elderly people’s available mental resources and the cognitive requirements of digital equipment, and d) guidelines for human-computer multimedia interactions derived from the accumulated experimental evidence on effective instructional design and delivery.

Promoting Savings for Financial Resilience: Expanding the Psychological Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-54
Author(s):  
Crystal C. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Science ◽  
The United States ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Financial Security ◽  
Psychological Perspective ◽  
Psychological Science ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
The People ◽  
The World ◽  
Personal Savings

In the United States, the lack of personal savings has been a perennial concern in the world of public policy. Policymakers and other practitioners constantly struggle with how to encourage families to accumulate funds in preparation for inevitable, but often unpredictable, financial emergencies. The field of applied behavioral science has attempted to address this challenge—often with mixed or modest results. I argue that psychological science (personality and social psychology in particular) offers underappreciated insights into the design and implementation of policy interventions to improve the rate of individual savings. In this article, I briefly discuss examples of prior interventions that have attempted to increase saving and then lay out some opportunities that have not been deeply explored. Future research in this area should broaden and deepen the way that psychology is leveraged as a tool to improve the financial security of the people who are the most vulnerable.

scholarly journals Policy interventions for attraction and retention of female teachers in rural secondary schools

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 50-59
Author(s):  
Isabela M. Kamere ◽  
M I Makatiani ◽  
Arthur Kalanza Nzau
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Female Teachers ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Life Long Learning ◽  
Key Policy ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Attraction And Retention

The potential role of female teachers in achieving the Education for all (EFA) and the Sustainable Development Goals, specifically on  ensuring  inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting life-long learning opportunities for all (Goal 4), achieving gender equality and empowering  all women and girls(Goal 5 ) is well documented. Available evidence, however, suggests that attraction and retention of female teachers in secondary schools located in rural areas remains a significant and on-going challenge. In response, policy makers in Kenya have recommended three key policy interventions namely decentralization of teacher recruitment, payment of hardship allowance and provision of housing. A literature search reveals a dearth of information on the perspectives of rural educators on the effectiveness of these interventions. The paper presents findings based on one objective of a broader study which was to: Establish the views of female teachers’ and other stakeholders’ regarding the effectiveness of strategies for attraction and retention of female teachers in Makueni County. This study adopted a mixed methods design. The paper presents findings from the qualitative component of the study. Interviews were used to gather data. Based on their interpretations, the authors provide useful   insights and offer suggestions on how the implementation of these policies could be improved.  

scholarly journals A biological infrastructure for communication underlies the cultural evolution of languages

2008 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 518-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. de Ruiter ◽  
Stephen C. Levinson
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Cognitive Architecture ◽  
Main Function ◽  
Human Species ◽  
Primate Brain ◽  
Human Cognitive Architecture ◽  
Development Of Language

AbstractUniversal Grammar (UG) is indeed evolutionarily implausible. But if languages are just “adapted” to a large primate brain, it is hard to see why other primates do not have complex languages. The answer is that humans have evolved a specialized and uniquely human cognitive architecture, whose main function is to compute mappings between arbitrary signals and communicative intentions. This underlies the development of language in the human species.

Neuroeconomics and Media Economics

2016 ◽  
pp. 33-44
Author(s):  
Dinçer Atli ◽  
Mehmet Yilmazata
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Economics ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
Behavioral Science ◽  
Marketing Strategies ◽  
Media Industry ◽  
Media Economics ◽  
Independent Field ◽  
The Media ◽  
Recent Trends

This chapter investigates the development of neuroeconomics as a relative new sub-discipline in the fields of economics and behavioral science. After comparing paradigms of both classical and behavioral economics, the problem of the “conscious and rational consumer” is addressed in relation to more passive views of consumerism in neuroeconomics. Highlighting the most recent trends in neuroeconomics, the chapter also addresses the historical development of the discipline of neuroeconomics as an independent field of research within the fields of media and economics. The problem of new marketing strategies as well as the evolvement of neuroeconomics as an independent discipline in the age of digitalization is presented while considering the changing nature of the media industry.

Learners' Cognitive Load When Using Educational Technology

2010 ◽  
pp. 169-188
Author(s):  
Renae Low ◽  
Putai Jin ◽  
John Sweller
Keyword(s):  
Educational Technology ◽  
Instructional Design ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Cognitive Architecture ◽  
Rapid Evolution ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Human Cognitive Architecture ◽  
Secondary Information

Taking advantage of the rapid evolution of educational technology, simulations and games have been embodied in a variety of teaching and learning procedures. To a large extent, their effectiveness, in common with the effectiveness of all instructional design relies on how material and activities are optimally organized. That organization should be determined by the nature of human cognitive architecture when dealing with complex, biologically secondary information. Cognitive load theory has been devised to deal with such knowledge. Therefore, embodied simulations and serious games should take evidence-based cognitive load principles into account in both design and implementation.

scholarly journals Towards a Circular Economy: Using Stakeholder Subjectivity to Identify Priorities, Consensus, and Conflict in the Irish EPS/XPS Market

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (23) ◽  
pp. 6834
Author(s):  
Jeffrey E Black ◽  
Kathrin Kopke ◽  
Cathal O’Mahony
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Q Methodology ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Expanded Polystyrene ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Marine Litter ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Single Use ◽  
Industry Policy

In European Seas, plastic litter from fishing activities, river transport, and poor waste management is one of the fastest growing threats to the health of the marine environment. Extruded polystyrene (XPS) and expanded polystyrene (EPS), specifically, have become some of the most prominent types of marine litter found around Europe’s coastlines. To combat this problem, the European Commission has ratified a series of regulations and policies, including the Single-Use Plastics Directive and the EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy. However, in order to ensure that the benefits of such regulations and policies are realized at a scale that can adequately address the scope of the problem, decision-makers will need to integrate the opinions, values, and priorities of relevant stakeholders who operate across the EPS/XPS product lifecycle. In this study, we apply a 35-statement Q-methodology to identify the priorities of stakeholders as they relate to the Irish EPS/XPS market and the wider societal transition to a circular economy. Based on the responses of nineteen individuals representing industry, policy-makers, and community leaders, we identified three distinct perspectives: System Overhaul; Incremental Upgrade; and Market Innovation. The results demonstrate that the type and format of policy interventions linked to Ireland’s EPS/XPS circular economy are heavily contested, which presents significant challenges for driving the debate forward. These results provide valuable information on viewpoints that can be used by different stakeholders at national and EU levels to address areas of conflict, ultimately fostering the development of more effective, broadly supported co-developed policies.

scholarly journals Self-nudging and the citizen choice architect

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
SAMULI REIJULA ◽  
RALPH HERTWIG
Keyword(s):  
Goal Attainment ◽  
Behavioral Science ◽  
Personal Autonomy ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Control Problems ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
Scope Of Application

Abstract This article argues that nudges can often be turned into self-nudges: empowering interventions that enable people to design and structure their own decision environments – that is, to act as citizen choice architects. Self-nudging applies insights from behavioral science in a way that is practicable and cost-effective, but that sidesteps concerns about paternalism or manipulation. It has the potential to expand the scope of application of behavioral insights from the public to the personal sphere (e.g., homes, offices, families). It is a tool for reducing failures of self-control and enhancing personal autonomy; specifically, self-nudging can mean designing one's proximate choice architecture to alleviate the effects of self-control problems, engaging in education to understand the nature and causes of self-control problems and employing simple educational nudges to improve goal attainment in various domains. It can even mean self-paternalistic interventions such as winnowing down one's choice set by, for instance, removing options. Policy-makers could promote self-nudging by sharing knowledge about nudges and how they work. The ultimate goal of the self-nudging approach is to enable citizen choice architects’ efficient self-governance, where reasonable, and the self-determined arbitration of conflicts between their mutually exclusive goals and preferences.

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