PSS Final Exam

• Cybersecurity & Censorship

-building tools to help ppl who experience digital censorship. A lot of ppl in the world don't have access to news, info, messaging apps -Outline VPN enables anyone to create, run, and share access to their own censorship- resistant server -Intra: app to access websites and apps blocked by domain name blocking -Project shield: service that defends news, civil society, election monitoring, and political campaign websites from distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS- cyberattacked used to take down sites) -Encrypting internet standards to make internet safer and less censored -Protecting Elections: they have a suite of tools to protect against digital attacks during elections

• How can academics/scientists communicate with the public?

-events/ in person -through media (social media, TV, books, blogs)

• What is Dialectical Behavioral Therapy?

-evidence based -Finding the gray -More for ppl w borderline personality disorders, ppl who self-harm (you can kinda throw EDS in there) -Theories and techniques: Mindfulness (idea of being present), emotion regulation (primary emotions, secondary), radical acceptance (reality testing, no judgment, shifting focus from "what should be" to "what is"), interpersonal effectiveness (DEARMAN thing)

Social influence

-obedience studies (Milgram): basically it says that RAM predicted a linear rxnship b/w voltage and attrition. But BM shows how when you commit to something, it's harder to change your course of action Pluralistic ignorance: smoke-filled waiting room -Within 4 minutes of smoke pouring into the room(recall how amt of ppl next to you wouldn't affect whether or not you report, according to RAM) --When alone, more ppl reported smoke vs with strangers. -Other's lack of reaction is used as a cue that nothing is wrong (Pluralistic ignorance). It's bc of diffusion of responsibility Diffusion of responsibility: bystander inaction -Presence of others reduce ppl's feeling of personal responsibility, lower rates of reporting. -Personality and background are not predictive of helping -BM says context of under which you're operating matters in decision making

Lecture 11: Behavioral Model

-policy interventions are critical in addressing the world's current problems -behavioral science is vital to good policy --ideal: bridging behavioral science with policy to promote social welfare

Systems change versus individual change

systems change: focusing on systems or bigger entities versus the individual (?) individual change: focusing on individual actions to reduce carbon footprint, placing individual responsibility combining both is beneficial: "Community-engaged research is best positioned to catalyze systemic change" -Necessary structural changes will need public buy-in • Some behavioral changes are necessary to mitigate and adapt • Politics responds to the public and groups can demand or impede structural change • Individual behaviors are interdependent -> small changes can have big impacts!

1. Define

Understand the problem; Focus on a concrete piece of the problem (where, when, what); Identify target population and characteristics (who)

3. Design

What intervention could use the diagnosis to target the defined problem? -Use design principles from Lecture 3. (think abt operationalization, randomization, etc)

• NYCgov poverty report

"The alternative NYC poverty measure, in comparison to the official U.S. measure of poverty, includes a threshold that accounts for the higher cost of housing in New York City. Additionally, it incorporates the value of programs intended to alleviate poverty; adjusting family incomes for benefits such as the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Earned Income Tax Credit." - Rates over time: NYCgov rates of poverty are higher than the Official report referenced by the state. As of 2019, rate dropped to 17.9% -higher % of population below poverty threshold are in the Bronx and Brooklyn. idk what she wants us to know from this ? socio-demographic breakdowns: more ppl are moving out of manhattan, as well as brooklyn and queens marginal effects: factoring sources of income such as housing adjustment vouchers, income taxes, school meals, WIC decreases the poverty rate (?). Sources such as childcare expenses, commuting, FICA, and MOOP increase it (?) policy implications: poverty report contribute to major citywide initatives, such as increasing childcare expidentures, opening the office of childcare and early childhood education, scholarships for kids.

• Reporters' mission

"We seek the truth and help people understand the world. This mission is rooted in our belief that great journalism has the power to make each reader's life richer and more fulfilling, and all of society stronger and more just."

• Guest 2: Using Behavioral Science for Social Impact (Ideas42)

- guest 1 is in quizlet for exam 1

• Guest 9: Social Norms & Climate Change (Northeastern Public Policy)

- i should prob watch this lecture

Clinical Implications of BN

-BN is usually egotistic (it does not feel good to spend so much money on food that you're gonna throw up after) -AN is egosyntonic (they think they're incredible dieters and it fuels them to keep going) -Very important clinical determination: is the primary guiding force the binge or the purge? -Do they throw up so they can eat? Or, do they eat in order to throw up? -The answer to this determines where you aim the treatment. Do we try to keep them from binging or do we try to limit opportunities to vomit?

• What should be done about it?

-Carbon tax -emissions trading scheme (ETS) -other examples in pics Why don't all countries have carbon taxes? -If we de-incentivize carbon use, it'll make ppl turn to cheaper and more renewable sources Transitioning 145 countries to 100% renewable energy would cost $62 trillion, but this initial investment would be paid back in just 6 yrs, and save 12 trillion by 2050 Transitioning the United States would cost $4.5 trillion dollars, the same amount the US has spent on counterterrorism in the past 2 decades. Transitioning from fossil fuels to renewables would create 28.4 million more jobs, and would dramatically improve our health by decreasing pollution Transitioning to renewables is also the best long term option for investors. In a "net zero" scenario (ambitious decarbonization), investment returns over 40 years would be 10% lower compared with a world without climate change. • But in the "failed transition" (4C increase by 2100), returns would be then at least 40% lower -4 pathways for the future: net zeroes

• Images & Words

-Certain images paint an opinion or sentiment on topics, others may deliver more mixed messages -Images and words can influence each other

• How to evaluate planning?

-Cognitive science operationalizes tasks to test whether an entity can accurately extract a cognitive map of the environment & use it to plan. -Can LLMs adapt to common changes in rewards and transitions (detours, shortcuts)? yes? • We adopt similar tasks to LLM prompts, assess performance & failure

Biased JDM

-Criminals are rational agents under the RAM. -Rational agents under RAM weigh equally the probability of being caught and severity of punishment to compute the disutility of offending. (justice system calculated this probability to decide the severity of crime and prison sentence) -In reality, increasing the probability of being caught is more effective at preventing crimes than increasing the severity of punishment correspondingly (how long they're gonna be in jail is an afterthought)

• How can we address bias in reporting?

-Diversity in the workplace • Style guide: fairness and impartiality ("The news report takes no sides and plays no favorites in what it covers or what it omits", neutrality ("And when, despite all efforts, The Times slips from neutrality, it is prompt and thorough in rectifying errors or lapses of fairness. See corrections and editors' notes") -Goal of presenting news w fairness and impartiality, don't take a side or play favorites in what's reported

• What's going on?

-Fossil fuel extraction began before 1800 and quickly escalated thereafter -Now we emit over 35 gt of carbon per yr -The warming we are experiencing now is equivalent to 7 Hiroshima atomic bombs being detonated every second -More than half of all CO2 emissions since 1751 emitted in the last 30 years: highest emitters are Oceania and Asia (excluding China and India) -july 2023 was the hottest month on record, prob due to the Greenhouse Effect

• What are the consequences?

-Intensity, frequency, severity of natural disasters increases (droughts, air pollution from fires) -Phenomenons compound w time, UN warns Earth 'firmly on track toward an unlivable world' -At this stage, 70% of wildlife has already disappeared, compared to 1970 (as of 2023) -Where we go next depends on what current actions/policies are enacted: no climate policies means increase in global temp; current policies have us as 2.5-2.9 c; new pledges and targets would decrease temp -5 degrees is the threshold for mass extinction -Why we fell off the good trajectory: we don't follow policies very well, rolling back good policies, ineffective policies -Assuming the current policies' projection that we'll be at 3 degrees in 2100, in 2050: a billion ppl will be forced to migrate, there will be areas outside of the human niche (temps where the temperature is stable for human life). sea levels will rise so the area will be smaller

Components of Behavior

-Intentions: what people want to do -context: The physical, social, financial and other environments where people are forming intentions and taking actions -actions: What people actually do

• Examples of when unconscious bias can slip in.

-Mistake with image, using the wrong picture. But also, racially charged commentary -Poor use of words, words that imply negative associations, stereotypes -Bad headlines which makes ppl perceive things differently -Unsubstantiated claims: Making claims without including the supporting evidence to back it up -It's important to consider every single thing you write in a piece

• What is public relations writing?

-Objectivity and Persuasion -Unlike marketing and adveritising writing; that's more promotional -Because your audience for earned media is reporters, you need to speak their language • Inverted pyramid: -Most important info goes at the top -More info next -Details at the bottom -This often means leading w the 5 Ws (who, what, when, where, why) -But you do not necessarily need to lead with all "five W's" - -However, including at least some of this information at the outset makes a release comprehensible at the outset—and can pique interest Reporters, editors have little time to sort through releases - Most important, relevant information to publics first - Not necessarily information most important, relevant to PR professionals or their employers Press releases: should read like a news story; Focus on what's most important -Important info presented accurately -Approval process -Put subjective judgments in quotes -Sometimes you have to put the findings in a context that non-scientists will understand Person: -celebrity -someone of status (government person) Topic: -Things ppl care about (ex: money, gender differences) Timing: -Can't always control timing of when article is released

Social norms

-Ppl believe in info more when it appears to be normative, or endorsed by a lot of other ppl online (in the example, the tweet with more likes and retweets was believed more, even though tweet was exact same) -Info that appears as normative is more believed and more effective at changing a prior belief -RAM is correct in that ppl would be rational, but it doesn't include these examples. BM model expands rationality, includes cues

Rational Model vs Behavioral Model

-RAM used to be main model, but BM provides more accurate predictions -People endorse the normative view upon reflection -But most of our information processing is automatic, intuitive, heuristic, malleable and not privy to nor governed by normative requirements -Thus, ppl are error prone, and this is not available to introspection (we don't understand why we make these errors) 3 alternative views of the human agent: 1. The rational agent 2. Intuitive psychology 3. Research based psychology (behavioral model)

• What is Anorexia Nervosa (AN)?

-Restriction of remedy intake leading to a significantly low body weight in the context of age, sex, developmental trajectory, and physical health (less than minimally normal/expected) -Fear of gaining weight, becoming fat -UNDUE INFLUENCE of body weight or shape on self-evaluation (they're disturbed by it) What are the types? • Restricting AN: • During the last 3 months, HAS NOT regularly engaged in binge-eating or purging. (Purging is self-induced vomiting or misuse of laxatives, diuretics, or enemas. • Binge-purge: During the last three months, HAS regularly engaged in binge-eating or purging. (Purging is self-induced vomiting or misuse of laxatives, diuretics, or enemas.) Clinical implications: physical health: Muscle and bone problems •Heart irregularities and blood vessel difficulties •Weakened immune system •Malnutrition •Brain and nerve problems •Fertility issues •Bowel, gastrointestinal, or kidney problems •Endocrine system issues •Dermatological changes family life: •Parents have to take medical leave •Siblings lose attention •Treatment often requires family involvement •Parents are often ill-equipped to manage the disease •Tremendous amount of strife in managing the disease friends: •Withdrawal from friends is common •Friends are often put in the position of keeping secrets or "tattling" •Friend groups can often exacerbate the problem social wellbeing: •People often withdraw from social events, especially if food is involved. •The ED takes precedence in a person's life. Everything else takes a backseat. Severe self consciousness academic/job: •Often high performers, but hard to sustain •Have to take medical leave for treatment. •Malnutrition eventually leads to poor performance •Disease is priority mental health: -often co-morbid w other

The Power of Context

-Slides 37-39 Good samaritan study -Personality variables did not predict helping behavior (40) -Context affects everything, including what we consume (portion sizes have increased over time) Slides 42, 43 -But why if the expected values are the same? -RAM would not predict these preferences -Conclusion: we're risk averse for gains, and risk taking for losses (according to BM)

• What are the barriers to solving this crisis?

-The fossil fuel industry is lobbying lawmakers against the transition policy (bc they'd lose money) -Fossil fuel industry is controlling the narrative in the media GB news is over 82% owned by investors in the fossil fuel industry -They're confusing the public w less effective solutions: Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and and BP Carbon footprint is misleading. CSS actually increases net CO2 -inducing doubt in the science which makes ppl not take much personal or collective action Misinformation: The fossil fuel industry (and electric utilities) has been active in generating misinformation, using techniques that the tobacco industry had honed decades earlier. • One effective strategy was to attack the consensus. From 2007 to 2010, the most common argument in conservative op-eds about climate change was that there was no consensus. • Consensus misinformation can take many forms, including emphasizing uncertainty. • Another form of misinformation worth further examination is false-balance media coverage: contrarian voices are given equal coverage with climate scientists. -Poor coverage: % of people who hear about climate change at least once a week in the media -Fossil fuel companies are aggressively advertising and pushing their agenda -Strongest predictors of denialism are political ideology (conservative compared to liberal) • Scientific consensus is high, yet it's perceived as low (especially by conservatives). Why? • Because of targeted misinformation campaigns by fossil fuel industries. • From 2007 to 2010, the most common argument in conservative op-eds about climate change was that there was no consensus. Neoliberalism: -Privatization (of railways, education, healthcare, mail) -Deregulation (remove constraints on businesses; e.g., not to pollute) -Overconsumption Circle of denial

Rational Agent Model (RAM)

-Theoretical model of human behavior, the predominant view in Economics. -Assumes individuals are well informed, have stable preferences, are controlled, self-interested, and calculating. -Implications: people maximize, know what's knowable, exploit opportunities, need no help from others, and no protection from themselves. -Choices freely made by rational agents deserve complete respect, require no intervention. -Problem: this approach leads to suboptimal societal outcomes bc of no govt intervention (e.g., addiction, homelessness, pandemics, climate disasters) -Assumes preferences are more stable, emotions don't influence outcomes

• How can psychology help?

-putting out articles and news stuff about climate change -enforcing interventions • Integrating the two new approaches: -Many labs: Data acquisition run internationally (across labs) -Mega study: Experimental design (causal inference) Target these Behaviors: • Climate change beliefs • Climate policy support • Climate information sharing • Contributions to tree planting efforts -try to stimulate international collective action towards climate change by using diff interventions: Best strategy of increasing... • climate change beliefs was decreasing psychological distance • willingness to share climate info was negative emotions • climate policy support was writing a letter to the future generation ● But, these 3 strategies decreased tree planting efforts -Advocacy works: In one analysis, over a quarter of fossil fuel projects encountering social resistance have been cancelled, suspended, or delayed. • In another study, large scale disruptive activism (e.g., Extinction Rebellion) was found to strengthen environmental attitudes -Social protests are effective depending on the audience: sympathetic audiences like normative, nonviolent forms of action more. Resistant audiences like more extreme, disruptive action -these things can lead to mobilization and policy change

behavioral mapping steps

1. Define (identify and define a societal problem) 2. Diagnose the root cause 3. Design an intervention 4. Test the intervention Stages rely on behavior (B) being a function of a person (P) and their environment (E) B = (P, E) BM view says P = a person w individual cognition, motivations, background, etc (person is not so uniform). E = individual's representation of the environment RAM (or traditional view) says ... B = behavior P = rational agent E = utility

• What is Psychodynamic psychotherapy?

Address unresolved developmental conflicts to change maladaptive behavior definitions from his slides: • 1: the psychology of mental or emotional forces or processes developing especially in early childhood and their effects on behavior and mental states • 2: explanation or interpretation (as of behavior or mental states) in terms of mental or emotional forces or processes • 3: motivational forces acting especially at the unconscious level

• Misinformation

Assembler: an experimental platform that uses new detection technology to help fact-checkers and journalists identify manipulated media, built in partnership with Google Research and academic institutions. Deepfake dataset: A groundbreaking dataset of deepfake videos, to help develop better detection technology, built in partnership with Google Research. StyleGAN Detector: An experimental detector model that identifies a particular type of manipulated media on the internet. Disinformation Data Visualizer: This project visualizes the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab research on coordinated disinformation campaigns.

Diagnose (cont)

Attention: idea that a lot is happening around you, but you're only focused on a fraction of what's going on. The rational agent has uniform attention, but we know that people don't. Strategies to deal w attention deficits: Information salience: pointing towards smt to make ppl pay more attention to it (ex: make calorie count available to decrease consumption of more calories) Decision aids: the aid makes ppl pay more attention, like a checklist (ex: authorize nurses to stop doctors if they skip a step, shown to decrease infections by 74%) Make desired behavior very easy: since we only pay attention to things briefly (ex: to get ppl to file their taxes on time, make it easy and simple like turbo tax; create intuitive paths to achieve desired behavior) Use attentional triggers (ex: direct attention to achieve desired behavior, make baby turn to the text to force ppl to read it too, instead of them just staring at baby) Construal: the rational agent has a consistent interpretation of the world. But we know that ppl don't, ppl interpret things differently Ex of a failed intervention: daycare noticed that ppl pick their kids late, they wanted to try and stop that. So they imposed a fine on late parents. Are late fines construed as deterrents from being late or license to be late? license Daycare assumed that rational agent wouldn't wanna pay money, they would come on time. But more parents came late as a result Other example on slide 22 final note: keep cultural context in mind when diagnosing

Behavioral Model (BM)

Behavioral Model (or empirical model of human behavior- it's measured w research study instead of intuition) -Empirical model of human behavior, the predominant view in Psychology, and the precursor to Behavioral Economics -Assumes individuals have contextual judgment, malleable preferences, are distracted, impulsive, myopic, trusting, vindictive. (all of these psychological dimensions that the RAM model was ignoring) -Implications: people are inconsistent, could benefit from attention and help. -Solution: "libertarian paternalism" suggests that it is appropriate to create a "choice architecture" that reduces bad decisions without reducing freedom (e.g., default options) --The govt won't force ppl to become organ donors, for example, but their choices can be made to their benefit bc of govt policy/architecture -This theory is more contextual

Part 2: Improving Society

Behavioral model: an empirically informed model of behavior Behavioral mapping: 1. identify and define a societal problem 2. diagnose the root cause 3. design an intervention 4. test the intervention examples from practitioners: - Nonprofits (Ideas42) - Public offices (NYC Mayor, Canada's Govt.) - Journalism (NYTimes, NYUpress) - Tech (Google, Meta, MSR) - Therapy (CSAB

• What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?

Challenging, changing, coping -feelings happen. We can't stop them -Thoughts result from feelings. Thoughts (cognition) can be adjusted, massaged, manipulated. -Behavior comes from thoughts. Behavior can be changed -Cognitive triangle: Super important in the basis of CBT -there's lots of techniques, don't think we have to know them.. I hope

• What can we do about it?

• Talk about it, teach others what you know • Vote • Avoid beef consumption • Fly less • Use public transportation (If you can't use public transport, electric vehicles are the next best. If you can't use an electric car, small cars are the next best.) • Join an advocacy group, activism events • Call an elected official • Choose how financial institutions use your money -Donate to organizations advocating for our future, such as Earth Justice. The number of legal cases against polluters is rising, hopefully compelling them to reconsider their activities • Support climate journalism by reading and sharing articles • Join climate nonprofits, as summer intern, volunteer, or full time employee.

Behavioral Design

Define: Disentangle presumptions to arrive at a behavioral problem diagnose: Study the context and identify key bottlenecks design: Create and refine a workable solution test: Test our solution and learn from the process scale: Spread successful interventions more widely • Case study: NYCHA trash disposal Problem: Significant evidence of improper trash, litter, and dog waste disposal Define -evidence of a problem: trash, litter, dog waste was present thruout common spaces -intention-action gap: NYCHA residents display above average trash disposal behavior, most throwing out their trash 1- 2 times a day Diagnose -To understand context, we conducted in depth interviews with over 50 NYCHA residents and found: • Most residents use large trash bags when collecting trash in their apartments... • ... most residents use the trash chutes on their floors to dispose of trash... • ... but these large bags do not fit in the buildings' chutes Design -increase channel factors: tilt trucks for household trash; trash cans for litter and dog waste -Attend to norms & learning costs: poster campaign to promote uptake Test -implementation of design decreased bags of household trash by 25%, making things cleaner

2. Diagnose

Diagnose the problematic behavior a. What about this problem, makes it a problem? b. ID the mechanism leading to the problem -focus your identified problem to a localized, tenable issue diagnosis has to follow one of these pathways/approaches: • Cognitive: self-control, attention, construal/mental model, system 1/system 2, heuristics, probability estimations social: incentives, morality, identity, norms, reference groups environmental: if you have to choose this then think abt how'd you design the best environment to solve the problem ex: Choice architecture: The rational agent has consistent preferences and makes choices according to their utility. People don't. Example: ppl tend to choose foods that are available first in the cafeteria line -Solution: place healthy food first cognitive dimensions: -Self control: the rational agent implies perfect self-control. But we know ppl don't (for example, choosing to go on internet even though you have HW to do) -Self-control is variable per person -So this can be used as a pathway to design interventions for ppl who lack good self-control, so that they're able to deal w it and achieve their goals -Overconfidence has ties to self-control -Strategies to deal w self-control: 1. Temptation bundling: bundling smt you don't wanna do but have to do, w smt you love to do (ex: only watch favorite show at the gym) 2. Imposing obstacles: app that doesn't let you check your phone while driving, sends automated messages to ppl (ex: texting and driving) 3. Commitment devices: ways to incentive you into meeting your goal (ex: apps that will charge you money if you miss your goal) 4. Defaults: choose defaults that align w your own goal (ex: if you wanna eat healthy, only stock your fridge w healthy food. Forces you to take extra step for unhealthy food)

What are the behavioural barriers to engagement in high-impact pro-climate actions?

Fields of choice: : Are high-impact, pro-climate actions in Canadians' field of choice? How salient are they? -Pro-climate products not always in the field of choice. For example, among Canadians without heat pumps: 31% have never heard of them, just 13% knowledgeable moments of choice: When might Canadians be most likely to engage in each pro-climate action? Are pro-climate options presented at these key moments? -Narrow windows of opportunity for many behaviours. For example, most heat pumps adopted at select and specific moments: newly-purchased homes, or when current heating system needs replacement consequences of choice: Do Canadians accurately perceive the costs and benefits of the pro-climate action? Are the costs perceived as too high, or the benefits as too low? -Canadians may hold many misperceptions about cost and performance of proclimate products like EV. underestimation of range of EVs, overestimation of price angles of choice: How do various groups of Canadian's think about pro-climate actions? Is pro-climate action socially desirable and normative for these groups? ease of follow through: How easy (or not) is it to follow-through on the pro-climate action? If it is difficult, might motivation be waning over time?

• Violent Extremism

Jigsaw uses research and technology to help identify and intervene in the online recruiting process of violent extremist groups. -Redirect method: open-source program which uses targeted ads and curated youtube vids uploaded by ppl worldwide to confront online radicalization. Redirect will show at-risk-individuals content that debunks extremists' recruiting messages

• What is being done about it?

Key events: timeline -Problem was identified as early as 1979, but recall that it's been in discussion since the 1850s -Exxonmobil (fossil fuel company) projected warming in 1982. They kept these findings a secret and used false campaigning -New paper published in 2023 -At this moment, fossil fuels are still providing 80% of the world's energy consumption. Decreasing fossil burning will keep temps from rising

Biases in language

Omission: Not writing certain things, using certain words. Leaving one side out of an article, or a series of articles over a period of time; ignoring facts that tend to disprove one side of the story Selection of sources: Whose words do you choose to highlight and use. Including more sources that support one view over another. This bias can also be seen when a reporter uses phrases such as "experts believe," "observers say," or "most people believe." Story selection: What stories do you deem worthy of using your words to tell. A pattern of highlighting news stories that coincide with the agenda of one side, while ignoring stories that coincide with the opposing side. Placement: Story placement is a measure of how important the editor considers the story. Studies have shown that, in the case of the average newspaper reader and the average news story, most people read only the headline, or the first paragraph. Labeling: This can come in two forms. Firstly via labeling individuals of a certain group or belief with extreme labels, for example when the story uses more extreme sounding labels for the conservative than the liberal i.e. "ultra-conservative", "far right", but just "liberal" instead of "far left" or "ultra-liberal". The other is not identifying an individual's biases before outline their view, calling them "an expert" or an "independent consumer group." Spin: The words you choose to use to tell a story and the connotations and implications of those specific words. Spin involves tone - it's a reporter's subjective comments about objective facts; makes one side's perspective look better than another. Also watch out for linguistic intergroup bias: -Check your stereotypes and the stereotypes of ppl around you -Some writers lean into stereotypes to increase engagement

Toxicity and Harassment

Perspective: helps to predict toxicity of a text by giving it a score. It's free, anyone can use it Goal: help publishers and platforms increase engagement while also addressing bad comments

Emotional Appeals

Photos of kid refugees influenced UK to accept more refugees into the country

RAM VS BM

RA has stable preferences, where more is always better. But: -Consider the following options: 100 dollars today (you'd pick this) 105 in a week In this case, more is not better -Now consider the following options: 100 in a yr 105 in a yr and a week (you'd be more inclined to pick this) In this case, more is better Inter-temporal discounting (discount the future more than the present) as more evidence for the behavioral model -We over rely on the present moment. We want the reward sooner even though we'd get less

• What is Bulimia Nervosa (BN)?

Recurrent episodes of binge eating, as characterized by both: 1. Eating, within any 2-hour period, an amount of food that is definitively larger than what most individuals would eat in a similar period of time under similar circumstances. 2.A feeling that one cannot stop eating or control what or how much one is eating • Recurrent inappropriate compensatory behavior in order to prevent weight gain, such as self-induced vomiting; misuse of laxatives, diuretics, or other medications; fasting; or excessive exercise. • Self-evaluation is unjustifiability influenced by body shape and weight. • Self-evaluation is unduly influenced by body shape and weight. • The disturbance does not occur exclusively during episodes of anorexia nervosa. -Eating when you're not hungry, eating just because the food is there -Eating much more rapidly than normal -Feeling disgusted w oneself, depressed, or very guilty afterward -Diagnostic criteria according to DSM: marked distress regarding binge eating is present; binge earrings occurs, on average, at least once a week for 3+ months -diff levels of severity, can experience partial or full remission -not to confuse w emotional eating

• What are social norms & how do they work?

Social norms: patterns of behaviors or values that depend on expectations about what others do -Social norms can reinforce the status quo, but can drive rapid social change! • Descriptive- describes behavior: what most people do • Injunctive- prescribes behavior: what most people think ought to/should be done • Reference group- group of relevant others for a particular behavior or belief How social norms work: ppl often conform to the social norms they perceive around them for tons of reasons • Informational influence (believe others are correct, social learning / short cut) • Heuristics, mimicry (automatic processes, esp when situations are complex or novel) • Benefits to coordination (e.g. technologies with increasing returns to scale) • Normative reputational influences (fear sanctions if appear deviant) • Signaling group membership / strengthening group identities Social norms Interventions • Pluralistic ignorance: When prevailing norms are "desirable" but unknown, invisible, or systematically misperceived • Tipping points: When prevailing norms are not collectively beneficial, policymakers can attempt to "seed" new norms through delimited interventions that leverage conformity or coordination dynamics. you need commitment from minority of population (called critical mass, at least 3.5-25% of pop) for successful change • Applications to climate action interventions: -make social norms visible and correct misperceptions (ex: so make ppl's concerns of climate change more visible to correct misperception of ppl thinking no one cares or that it's not a thing. get ppl talking more.) ex: households receiving energy reports that included social comparison information. reports reduced energy consumption by 1.4-3.3% across 12 utilities. Effects lasted after reports were terminated

• Opinion vs. News Coverage

Some news coverage is supposed to be bias, but remember that it's an article or opinion piece of 1 person

Test

Testing if your intervention worked Step1. This part involves running the experiment and collecting the data necessary to test the intervention empirically. Step 2. Then, using statistics to assess group differences (e.g., is the difference between the intervention condition and the control condition significant?) Step 3. Plotting the results in a graph

Communication: Who benefits?

The scholar: • Shape policy on important issues • Spur collaboration • Attract funding, students The organization: • Build reputation • Reach organizational goals (fundraise, shape policy) The media: • Need experts and interesting stories The profession: • Reshape the role of the academic outside of the "ivory tower" The public: • Learn new information from experts

Perceptual fluidity (the stroop test)

The stroop test: -Congruent trials will be faster than incongruent models (slower to respond) bc of interference from reading the word -Incongruent in unknown language (responses are faster, no interference) are also faster -During the cold war, american interrogators are reputed to have trapped native Russian-speaking spies by presenting them w a Stroop Task (i highly doubt we need to know this fact lmao) -When statements are read by a native speaker they're rated as more accurate. The heavier the accent, the lower it was rated on accuracy. -BM theory shows how perceptual fluidity influences what we see as true, it empirically matters. RAM would not say this, they would say the accent wouldn't matter other examples of perceptual fluidity: when aphorisms rhyme, they're rated as more accurate; Higher outside temperatures predicted the belief that global warming was a fact; ppl who experience circumstances related to global warming (being thirsty bc of drought, being warm inside of a heated cubicle bc of increased temperatures) believed more in global warming and drought versus those in opposite circumstances

Evidence for the behavioral model

Things that normatively ought to matter, don't Things that normatively ought not matter, do Things presumed to be hard often turn out to be easy Things presumed to be easy often turn out to be very hard We have very little introspective access into all this Our theories, policies, regulations often miss it Most of economic / normative / policy theorizing is concerned with how people choose between options in the world.. A simple but profound fact: Decisions are not about objective (extensional) states of the world, but about our mental representations (intensional) of those states. Here we uncover the "construal" processes and the importance of context everywhere from judgements, decisions, language, perception, social life. -perceptual fluidity -social norms, social influence -Memory, emotion, JDM biases -The power of context

Memory biases

eyewitness testimony "About how fast were the cars going when they (smashed / collided / bumped / hit / contacted) each other?" Leading questions can determine answers, and shape memories accordingly (how you ask the Q changes eyewitness' answers) The supreme court even revisited eyewitness IDs Another example: the illusory truth effect --"Vitamin C prevents the common cold" (false) --Sugar makes kids hyperactive (false) --Illusory truth effect: Repeated exposure to a statement creates the illusion of accuracy

• Guest 7: Neuroscience Inspired Evaluation & Architecture for Generative AI (MSR)

not gonna lie i don't understand this lecture so

• What is news?

• A change in the status quo • Time-sensitive • Examples of good story elements: firsts, human interest, achievements, breakthroughs, drama, contradiction, conflict • Not marketing - its goal is to share information, not boost sales

What are the structural barriers to engagement in high impact pro-climate actions?

• Awareness: does the population know which actions are highest-impact? --most canadians know little abt the impact of their actions, revealing the need for climate action literacy • Affordability: can pop afford to take these high-impact actions? • Availability: are the pro-climate actions available and accessible?

• Why interact with reporters?

• Communicate research findings (only other academics read scholarly journals) • Inform the public and engage those outside of your field in your work • Promote informed debate around your area of work • Establish yourself as an expert in your field • Try to control the message

• How do people think about it?

• Despite efforts to obscure the science, most people are concerned and alarmed. • But most people underestimate how concerned others are (including scientists) are. • Most people who want to act don't know how to make a difference or encounter structural barriers to meaningful climate action. • Only 20% of people's behavior is explained by their internal intentions (beliefs/attitudes). • The remaining 80% is guided by external factors (systems, laws, infrastructure, financial incentives, structural aspects)