Multidisciplinary Perspectives
on the Study of Behavior Change
Behaviors such as overeating, smoking, drinking, physical inactivity, or excessive risk taking are often difficult to change, and changing such behaviors can lead to substantial improvements in well-being and health. We will explore factors involved in behavior change from a broad multidisciplinary perspective. This class provides a rare and exciting opportunity for students to meet leading scholars from different fields (business, computer sciences, economics, neuroscience, psychology, psychiatry, public health) on and off the Berkeley campus who will present their work as it relates to the study of behavior change. Topics of interest include emotion, motivation, cognition, decision-making, well-being, health, and social networks with a special developmental focus on adolescence and late life. Speakers will give a 45-minute presentation that will be open to the public. After a brief period for questions and answers, there will be an in-depth discussion limited to the class. Readings will include those related to each speaker’s work and that provide a background understanding of the topic. Students will prepare discussion questions for each speaker.
This seminar is organized and sponsored by the Behavior Change Research Network. Select talks are sponsored by the Institute of Human Development.
Seminar Schedule
- January 23: Welcome & Introduction
Location: 9 Durant Hall
Time: 2-4 pm
- January 30: Robert W. Levenson, UC-Berkeley
Title: Emotional Functioning and Age: Some Surprising Changes
Location: 9 Durant Hall
Time: 2-4 pm
Flyer: Levenson (2012) Talk.pdf
Related Papers:
Shiota, M. N., & Levenson, R. W. (2009). Effects of aging on experimentally instructed detached reappraisal, positive reappraisal, and emotional behavior suppression. Psychology and Aging, 24, 890-900. Shiota_Levenson_2009.pdf
Carstensen, L. L., Mikels, J. A., & Mather, M. (2006). Aging and the intersection of cognition, motivation, and emotion. In J. E. Birren & K. W. Schaie (2006). Handbook of the psychology of aging (6th ed., pp. 343-362). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. Carstensen_Mikels_Mather_2006.pdf
Host: Claudia M. Haase
- February 6: John Canny, UC-Berkeley
Title: Dialog, Narrative, and Behavior Change
Location: 9 Durant Hall
Time: 2-4 pm
Related Papers:
Ramachandran, D., Canny, J., Dutta Das, P., & Cutrell, E. (2010). Mobile-izing health workers in rural India. Proc. 2010 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1879-1888. Ramachandran, Canny, Dutta Das & Cutrell (2010).pdf
Ramachandran, D., & Canny, J. (2008). The Persuasive Power of Human-Machine Dialog. Proc. Third International Conference on Persuasive Technology (Persuasive 2008), Springer Lecture notes in Computer Science 5033/2008, Oulu, Finland. Ramachandra & Canny 2008.pdf
Host: Jeff Spielberg
- February 13: Nancy Adler, UC-San Francisco
Title: Health Disparities: What's Behavior Got To Do With It?
Location: 9 Durant Hall
Time: 2-4 pm
Related Papers:
Adler, N.E. & Stewart, J. (2010) Health disparities across the lifespan: Meaning, methods and mechanisms. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1186; 5-23. Adler & Stewart (2010).pdf
Adler, N.E. & Stewart, J. (2009) Reducing obesity: Motivating action without blaming the victim. Millbank Quarterly, 87, 49-70. Adler & Stewart (2009).pdf
Host: Jeffrey Spielberg
- February 27: Samuel McClure, Stanford University
Title: Decision Neuroscience: The Neural Mechanisms of Choice
Location: 9 Durant Hall
Time: 2-4 pm
Related Papers:
McClure, S.M., Laibson, D.I., Loewenstein, G., & Cohen, J.D. (2004). Separate neural systems value immediate and delayed monetary rewards. Science, 306, 503-507. McClure_Laibson_Loewenstien_Cohen_2004.pdf
Rangel, A., Carmerer, C., & Montague, P.R. (2008). A framework for studying the neurobiology of value-based decision making. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 9, 545-556. Rangel_Camerer_Montague_2008.pdf
Host: Jeffrey Spielberg
- Tuesday, March 6: George Loewenstein, Carnegie Mellon University
Title: Behavioral Economics and Incentives in Health Care
Location: Wells Fargo Room, Haas School of Business
Time: 2-4 pm
Related Papers:
Loewenstein, G. and Haisley, E. (2008). The economist as therapist: Methodological issues raised by “light” paternalism. In A. Caplin and A. Schotter (Eds.), “Foundations of Positive and Normative Economics,” volume 1 in the Handbook of Economic Methodologies, Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. EconomistAsTherapist.pdf
*** Note, this talk will be held on a Tuesday rather than Monday and in a different location
Host: Ayala Arad
- March 12: Laurence Steinberg, Temple University
Title: A Social Neuroscience Perspective on Adolescent Risk-Taking
Location: 9 Durant Hall
Time: 2-4 pm
Related Papers:
Steinberg, L. (2010). A dual systems model of adolescent risk-taking. Developmental Psychobiology, 52, 216-224. Steinberg (2010).pdf
Albert, D., & Steinberg, L. (2011). Judgment and decision making in adolescence. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 21, 211-224. Albert & Steinberg (2011).pdf
Host: Claudia M. Haase
- March 19: Don Moore, UC-Berkeley
Title: Is Overconfidence a Positive Illusion?
Location: 9 Durant Hall
Time: 2-4 pm
Related Papers:
Moore, D. A. & Healy, P. J. (2008). The trouble with overconfidence. Psychological Review, 115, 502-517. Moore Healy 2008.pdf
Armor, D.A., & Taylor, S.E. (1998). Situated optimism: Specific outcome expectancies and self-regulation. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 30, pp. 309-379). New York: Academic Press.Armor Taylor 1998.pdf
Host: Ayala Arad
- April 2: Ariel Rubinstein, Tel Aviv University and New York University
Title: A Personal Journey in the Wonderland of Neuroeconomics
Location: 9 Durant Hall
Time: 2-4 pm
Related Papers:
Arieli, A., Ben-Ami, Y., & Rubinstein, A. (2011). Tracking Decision Makers under Uncertainty. American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 3, 68–76.
eye tracking 2011.pdf
Rubinstein, A. (2007). Instinctive and cognitive reasoning: a study of response times. Economic Journal, 117, 1243–1259. response time.pdf
Host: Claudia M. Haase
- April 9: Eduardo Andrade, UC-Berkeley
Title: The Role of Emotion in Decision Making
Location: 9 Durant Hall
Time: 2-4 pm
Related Papers:
Andrade, E. B. & Ho, T.-H. (2009). Gaming Emotions in Social Interactions. Journal of Consumer Research, 36, 539-551. Andrade&Ho2009.pdf
Andrade, E. B. & Cohen, J. B. (2007). Affect-Based Evaluation and Regulation as Mediators of Behavior: The Role of Affect in Risk-Taking, Helping and Eating Patterns. In Do Emotions Help or Hurt Decision Making: A Hedgefoxian Perspective, Eds. Kathleen Vohs, Roy Baumeister, and George Loewenstein. New York, NY: Russel Sage, (pp. 35-68). Andrade and Cohen2007.pdf
Host: Ayala Arad
- April 16: Emily Ozer, UC-Berkeley
Title: TBA
Location: 9 Durant Hall
Time: 2-4 pm
Related Papers: TBA
Host: Jeffrey Spielberg
Location: 9 Durant Hall
Time: 2-4 pm
Related Papers: TBA
Contact
Robert W. Levenson (boblev@socrates.berkeley.edu)
Ayala Arad (ayala_arad@haas.berkeley.edu); Claudia M. Haase (claudia.haase@berkeley.edu); Jeffrey Spielberg (jspielb2@gmail.com)
Picture: (c) Jean Kirsten, www.j-kirsten.de
Behaviors such as overeating, smoking, drinking, physical inactivity, or excessive risk taking are often difficult to change, and changing such behaviors can lead to substantial improvements in well-being and health. We will explore factors involved in behavior change from a broad multidisciplinary perspective. This class provides a rare and exciting opportunity for students to meet leading scholars from different fields (psychology, economics, business, public health, neuroscience) on and off the Berkeley campus who will present their work as it relates to the study of behavior change. Topics of interest include emotion, motivation, cognition, decision-making, well-being, health, and social networks with a special developmental focus on adolescence and late life. Speakers will give a presentation that will be open to the public followed by an in-depth discussion limited to the class. Readings will include those related to each speaker’s work and that provide a background understanding of the topic. Students will prepare discussion questions for each speaker.
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