The Top Ten Myths of Behaviour Change

- A Communications Specialist with Metro Vancouver talks about what drives behaviour change, in the context of increasing recycling, at the Recycling Council of British Columbia’s 2011 annual conference. He lists ten myths and breaks them down into anecdotes and references to studies on things like financial incentives.

For example, a daycare instituted fines for parents who picked up their kids late, but lateness increased because people felt like they’d bought a service.

After discussing myths, he talks about how we can change behaviours and develop new habits, drawing on knowledge from psychology, behavioural economics, marketing, neuroscience, sociology, social media, and more.

As an avid recycler who wants to help the environment however I can, new ways to promote recycling using social proof and other smart tactics sound very promising.

Perspective is Everything

- Perspective is essential to happiness, says Rory Sutherland. He gives examples of applied perspective and argues that the element of choice is what makes a situation more tolerable. Psychological factors should be added to mechanistic ideas in cost-benefit analyses. Things like train arrival clocks and traffic light timers have improved lives because they address human anxieties.

People believe that a company that only sells one type of product is better than a company that sells a wide array of products, which means “Google is as much a psychological success as it is a financial one.” Economics and advertising often fail to understand that what something is, has value, he asserts. An interesting intellectual TEDxAthens Talk.

What happens during laughter? It has to do with breathing, as neuroscientist Sophie Scott explains, as well as emotions, and the voice.

“Vulnerability is not weakness, and that myth is profoundly dangerous,” says shame researcher Brown in this follow-up to her wildly successful 2010 TEDxHouston Talk.

A neuropsychologist talks about neuroimaging studies of psychedelic drugs including psylocybin and ketamine.

A fascinating neuroscience talk about observations made during single cell recordings during neurosurgery, how the brain processes conscious representation, and free will.

A clip from the Q&A after a panel presentation about mental illness in the media, discussing how people can share stories with public speaking to fight stigma.

How sensitivities to milk casein, wheat, and gluten, may affect bipolar disorder.

A cognitive neuroscientist gives a rousing talk about the benefits of exercise on memory.

Douglas Hofstadter demonstrates numerous analogies and talks about how analogy is at the core of cognition, in this high profile lecture.