Joseph Grenny asks: If lying is the natural order of things, how can people behave unnaturally and tell the truth?

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A few years ago, my colleagues and I did an experiment to test what induces people to lie or tell the truth. Click here (registration required) to see the full experiment.

One of our subjects was 15-year-old Jake, a high school basketball star. We invited Jake to toss beanbags through holes of various sizes in a plywood target. He scored six out of a possible 15 points (not too good for a basketball phenom). As Jake approached our table to report his score, we wondered would he embrace his shame and tell the truth? Or would he lie to get the extra $1 per point we promised him?

We all lie. And if you dont believe that, youre probably lying to yourself. Studies have shown that lying is actually the natural order of things. From the time we are small, we learn there are powerful incentives to modify how we appear and to control the information we share with others.

So, given the importance of trust to healthy relationships, families and communities, how can we help people do the unnatural? How can we, in spite of all the immediate incentives to do the opposite, influence people to tell the truth?

Turns out, simply changing the way we communicate can be a powerful way to influence greater honesty.

Psychologist Bella DePaulo from UC Santa Barbara estimates that the average person tells three lies every 10 minutes. We lie about how we feel. We strategically edit our opinions to fit the group were chatting with. We select which parts of ourselves to reveal or suppress in order to create particular impressions. We overstate (or, if were trying to avoid an assignment, understate) our competence. We frequently feign powerlessness in order to exit conversations Sorry, Ive got to go! (A. Are you really sorry? And B. What is forcing you to go? Someone holding your cat hostage, perhaps?)

Our proclivity to lie begins early. Once we did an experiment in which we randomly assigned 3-year-olds to drink either a small cup of sweet, delicious orange juice or a similar cup tainted with salt. The salt was so strong that the tykes puckered involuntarily. Immediately after they drunk the juice, we asked the child to look into the camera and say, as convincingly as they could, Yum! This is great juice! You should try some. We videotaped the performances and then showed them to adults asking them to guess which tots were fibbing. Few could spot the liars. At age 3, the kids had learned the basics of lying. They knew enough to look sincerely into the camera, smile and in other ways fake emotion they didnt really feel.

Now back to the beanbag toss. In the first round of our experiment, we asked teenagers to report their own scores (which we verified using a hidden camera), and we paid them $1 for each point. Eighty percent of the subjects lied. Some of them lied by more than 200 percent. And ironically, many of these kids had just finished a Bible study class.

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Insights from the Behavioral Science Guy: Here's one of the most powerful ways to improve the moral character of our ...

Joseph Grenny asks: If lying is the natural order of things, how can people behave unnaturally and tell the truth?

Shutterstock

A few years ago, my colleagues and I did an experiment to test what induces people to lie or tell the truth. Click here (registration required) to see the full experiment.

One of our subjects was 15-year-old Jake, a high school basketball star. We invited Jake to toss beanbags through holes of various sizes in a plywood target. He scored six out of a possible 15 points (not too good for a basketball phenom). As Jake approached our table to report his score, we wondered would he embrace his shame and tell the truth? Or would he lie to get the extra $1 per point we promised him?

We all lie. And if you dont believe that, youre probably lying to yourself. Studies have shown that lying is actually the natural order of things. From the time we are small, we learn there are powerful incentives to modify how we appear and to control the information we share with others.

So, given the importance of trust to healthy relationships, families and communities, how can we help people do the unnatural? How can we, in spite of all the immediate incentives to do the opposite, influence people to tell the truth?

Turns out, simply changing the way we communicate can be a powerful way to influence greater honesty.

Psychologist Bella DePaulo from UC Santa Barbara estimates that the average person tells three lies every 10 minutes. We lie about how we feel. We strategically edit our opinions to fit the group were chatting with. We select which parts of ourselves to reveal or suppress in order to create particular impressions. We overstate (or, if were trying to avoid an assignment, understate) our competence. We frequently feign powerlessness in order to exit conversations Sorry, Ive got to go! (A. Are you really sorry? And B. What is forcing you to go? Someone holding your cat hostage, perhaps?)

Our proclivity to lie begins early. Once we did an experiment in which we randomly assigned 3-year-olds to drink either a small cup of sweet, delicious orange juice or a similar cup tainted with salt. The salt was so strong that the tykes puckered involuntarily. Immediately after they drunk the juice, we asked the child to look into the camera and say, as convincingly as they could, Yum! This is great juice! You should try some. We videotaped the performances and then showed them to adults asking them to guess which tots were fibbing. Few could spot the liars. At age 3, the kids had learned the basics of lying. They knew enough to look sincerely into the camera, smile and in other ways fake emotion they didnt really feel.

Now back to the beanbag toss. In the first round of our experiment, we asked teenagers to report their own scores (which we verified using a hidden camera), and we paid them $1 for each point. Eighty percent of the subjects lied. Some of them lied by more than 200 percent. And ironically, many of these kids had just finished a Bible study class.

Link:
Insights from the Behavioral Science Guy: Here's the most powerful way to improve the moral character of our world

Joseph Grenny asks: If lying is the natural order of things, how can people behave unnaturally and tell the truth?

Shutterstock

A few years ago, my colleagues and I did an experiment to test what induces people to lie or tell the truth. Click here (registration required) to see the full experiment.

One of our subjects was 15-year-old Jake, a high school basketball star. We invited Jake to toss beanbags through holes of various sizes in a plywood target. He scored six out of a possible 15 points (not too good for a basketball phenom). As Jake approached our table to report his score, we wondered would he embrace his shame and tell the truth? Or would he lie to get the extra $1 per point we promised him?

We all lie. And if you dont believe that, youre probably lying to yourself. Studies have shown that lying is actually the natural order of things. From the time we are small, we learn there are powerful incentives to modify how we appear and to control the information we share with others.

So, given the importance of trust to healthy relationships, families and communities, how can we help people do the unnatural? How can we, in spite of all the immediate incentives to do the opposite, influence people to tell the truth?

Turns out, simply changing the way we communicate can be a powerful way to influence greater honesty.

Psychologist Bella DePaulo from UC Santa Barbara estimates that the average person tells three lies every 10 minutes. We lie about how we feel. We strategically edit our opinions to fit the group were chatting with. We select which parts of ourselves to reveal or suppress in order to create particular impressions. We overstate (or, if were trying to avoid an assignment, understate) our competence. We frequently feign powerlessness in order to exit conversations Sorry, Ive got to go! (A. Are you really sorry? And B. What is forcing you to go? Someone holding your cat hostage, perhaps?)

Our proclivity to lie begins early. Once we did an experiment in which we randomly assigned 3-year-olds to drink either a small cup of sweet, delicious orange juice or a similar cup tainted with salt. The salt was so strong that the tykes puckered involuntarily. Immediately after they drunk the juice, we asked the child to look into the camera and say, as convincingly as they could, Yum! This is great juice! You should try some. We videotaped the performances and then showed them to adults asking them to guess which tots were fibbing. Few could spot the liars. At age 3, the kids had learned the basics of lying. They knew enough to look sincerely into the camera, smile and in other ways fake emotion they didnt really feel.

Now back to the beanbag toss. In the first round of our experiment, we asked teenagers to report their own scores (which we verified using a hidden camera), and we paid them $1 for each point. Eighty percent of the subjects lied. Some of them lied by more than 200 percent. And ironically, many of these kids had just finished a Bible study class.

Read more:
Insights from the Behavioral Science Guy: Lying is the natural order of things

IBM Corporation logo. (PRNewsFoto/IBM Corporation)

NEW YORK, Aug. 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced new cloud-based solutions and a Talent and Change consulting practice to enable organizations to use analytics and workforce science to identify top talent, deepen employee engagement and manage transformational change to provide differentiated client experiences.

The new offerings are delivered through IBM's Smarter Workforce initiative and draw upon the company's 25 years of workforce science expertise, a discipline that helps clients apply proven behavioral science, statistical analysis and psychological principles to improve employee engagement and organizational performance. In tandem with the new Talent and Change practice, which is backed by 1,600 change management experts, the offerings are also supported by more than 100 behavioral scientists dedicated to helping clients use social, analytics and digital experience technologies to identify top performers, evaluate workforce readiness, and guard against future talent attrition.

The announcement comes at a time when workforce engagement and transformation are top priorities for Chief HR Officers (CHROs) and C-suite leaders. According to the recent IBM global C-suite study, the pace and magnitude of change are disrupting every aspect of business1. In fact, two out of five CEOs expect their next competitive threat to come from organizations outside their industries, requiring them to completely rethink their workforce design and processes. A major challenge is the ability to attract and retain top talent while making sure the existing workforce is fully engaged to deliver exceptional customer experiences.

Another critical aspect is the ability of organizations to manage the size, scope and pace of workforce transformation projects to meet these shifting market demands. A new study released today by the IBM Institute of Business Value found that 87 percent of nearly 1,400 business leaders did not feel enough focus is placed on managing change2. In fact, just 20 percent felt they have been successful in managing change throughout the organization, and only 40 percent felt they have the right skills in place to manage change in the future. The study also found that organizations need to build an infrastructure capable of leading change initiatives while embracing emerging technologies.

IBM's new dedicated Talent and Change consulting practice helps clients prepare for the transformational change required to build a smarter, more connected workforce. The practice gives clients access to organizational change management methods, tools and expertise gained from thousands of client engagements and IBM's own transformation initiatives. It addresses four key areas Organizational Change, Talent Analytics, Employee Experience and HR Cloud with an overall focus on helping clients use cloud to deploy, manage and access their HR solutions and assets to drive business results.

The new practice will help clients accelerate the adoption of IBM's Smarter Workforce offerings, and embrace new technologies such as IBM SPSS predictive analytics to create a competitive advantage. As part of today's launch, IBM is delivering three new cloud-based solutions to give clients deeper insight into the talent and transformational change required to build the next generation workforce:

"Most successful organizations already view people as their most important differentiator in the market, yet many still struggle to unlock the true potential of their workforce," said Debbie Landers, General Manager, Smarter Workforce and Kenexa, IBM. "The new offerings give clients a more holistic, data-driven approach that uses workforce science to predict the best fit for an individual or team across a number of personal and organizational traits. They are designed to complement the expertise of business leaders and HR professionals, while giving them the tools and insights needed to drive lasting change across the organization."

The Military Spouse Corporate Career Network (MSCCN) is using IBM's Smarter Workforce solutions to help returning veterans and their spouses find meaningful employment. To date, MSCCN has used the technology to find employment for more than 20,000 military spouses and 8,000 transitioning active military and veterans.

"Our work is critical to the long-term well-being and meaningful employment of thousands of veterans, active military and their spouses. As these fine men and women return from war, the majority do not have a job and the transition is not always an easy one," said Stacy Bayton, Chief Operating Officer, CASY-MSCCN. "With the volume of individuals we actively serve at one time, the IBM Smarter Workforce solution is unique in its ability to manage caseloads, track metrics and outcomes, and report findings to ensure service members and their families are getting what they need."

More here:
IBM Delivers Analytics and Workforce Science to Help Clients Improve Organizational Performance

This article contains an interview with Timeful CEO Jacob Bank and chairman Yoav Shoham.

A behavioral scientist, artificial intelligence professor, and Stanford PhD candidate in machine learning walk into an office. The result, strangely enough, is yet a to-do and calendar app. But it's no joke.

These three smart, uniquely qualified people--noted economist Dan Ariely, professor Yoav Shoham, and CEO Jacob Bank--arent in love with to-do apps. But with their app Timeful, theyre trying to solve an acutely modern human problem using the types of tools people are already used to.

We built many things that looked very different from a calendar and a to-do list, but what we found over and over again is that its hard to affect behavior change if youre not in the environment, says CEO Jacob Bank. Its very hard to get people to go to another place that adds functionality on top of a set of tools that theyre already accustomed to--like the calendar and to-do list. We eventually realized that to have an impact we had to leverage some of the familiarities of the current tools.

Timeful uses what the teams calls the "Intention Genome" and "Intention Rank" to algorithmically assist in scheduling a persons day. The names were inspired by Pandoras Music Genome and Googles Page Rank, respectively. The Intention Genome breaks down user behavior to better categorize it and the Intention Rank helps to determine the best place to schedule items throughout the day.

The Timeful app is essentially just a backdrop for the companys algorithmic magic. Sure, it looks like a smart to-do list and calendar, but thats the sleight of hand. Its real trick is trying to make people more mindful of their time and form better habits.

We needed a single starting point to demonstrate how algorithms and behavioral science can help people manage their time, and thats really around scheduling flexible things and getting them onto your calendar, explains Bank. Everything about the current app is about inputting the flexible things you need to do and well help you get them on your schedule. Everything that doesnt directly feed into that goal was cut from the app.

In addition to normal meetings and appointments users are encouraged to add things like drink water, walk, study, or a host of other positive tasks. These are all things that vie for a person's valuable time, but usually arent scheduled for specific times. The learning algorithm looks at the person's day and will suggest a time accordingly and let the user confirm or deny the suggestion as well as move it to a different time.

The app will learn from all the different interactions a user makes and decide when they are most productive. It makes sense to do the important and critical tasks when a person is at their most productive and scheduling mindless tasks for other times. As part of the settings theres a slider which allows the user to control how often scheduling suggestions are made.

Smart calendar apps arent new. Tempo and Mynd for example have been around for a while. Tempo includes clever features to connect with contacts, displaying drive times, and other social interactions. Mynd is a fairly similar to Timeful in the sense that both are trying to actively learn about the user. But Mynd includes a few more surface level features that go beyond scheduling a persons day.

Follow this link:
This Could Be The Last Calendar App You Ever Install

Craig Berridge, a behavioral neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is comfortable with the scrutiny given animal research on campus.

Animal research is a heavily regulated and overseen process, says Berridge, who studies the brain mechanisms of rats. And I think everyone who does animal research feels theyre balancing the need for and desire to alleviate human suffering and to minimize animal suffering.

Berridge is the chairman of the College of Letters and Science committee that oversees animal research. There are five such bodies, known as Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees, or IACUCs. Experiments are also vetted by funding agencies such as the National Institutes of Health.

These committees were mandated by a1985 amendment to thefederal Animal Welfare Act in the wake ofrevelations about the scandalously grisly laboratory conditions of a colony of rhesus monkeys in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Its a committee with a very explicitly identified purpose, Berridge says. Its a committee that satisfies federal rules, federal laws, and those laws prescribe what were supposed to do.

But others are skeptical that the animal researchers who dominate the IACUCs are capable of rigorously evaluating the ethics of the work on which their livelihoods and careers are built.

These are technocrats, says Rick Marolt, a local critic of animal experimentation. They live in a culture of animal experimentation.

The committees are primarily composed of animal researchers, although they are required to include at least one public member. They have the ability to reject studies or require changes. Usually, committees approve experimental protocols unanimously after requesting revisions.

Since 2004, around 12,000 protocol submissions have been made to the UWs five campus IACUCs, a somewhat duplicative number since many were submitted multiple times, says Eric Sandgren, director of the Research Animal Resources Center. Eighteen of those protocols drew dissenting votes, nine were denied outright, and an unknown number of protocols were simply withdrawn, he says.

Sandgrennotes that the committees almost always ask for protocol revisions. I do not believe it is a criticism of our system that IACUCs are willing to work with investigators until a protocol finally receives approval.

Read more:
UW animal research oversight committees strive for consensus

Szelag on UNC dean's list

GREELEY, Colo. -- Kyla Szelag of Columbus has been named to the dean's list of distinction for the 2013-14 academic year at the University of Northern Colorado.

Dean's list qualifications require a 3.75-4.0 grade point average in any two terms of the year.

BELLEVUE -- Bellevue University acknowledges the accomplishments of students who have earned degrees from January through June 2014.

Graduates include the following students from local communities: Columbus - Rachelle Benson, master of business administration; Rose Kavulak, BS in behavioral science; Brittany Newill, bachelor of science in criminal justice administration, cum laude; Calan Reppert, bachelor of science in criminal justice administration; Deanna Soulliere, bachelor of science in business; Thomas Yrkoski, bachelor of science in business.

COLUMBUS - Seventy-seven students participated in the Central Honors Institute July 13-18 at Central Community College-Columbus.

Participants will be entering the seventh or eighth grade this fall and have demonstrated a high ability in language arts, math and/or science. They were selected on the basis of their academic accomplishments, leadership skills and maturity as well as a recommendation from a teacher or counselor.

In addition to attending classes, camp participants had a chance to socialize with peers in the evenings and experience life on a college campus. Terry Wulf of Columbus supervised the social activities.

Participants from local schools include the following: CHI Creativity Track - Clarkson Public School: Libby Crecco, daughter of Josie and Ron Crecco of Clarkson; Columbus Christian School: Madeline Fremarek, daughter of Jill and Jeff Fremarek of Columbus; Lakeview: Emily Stevenson, daughter of Denise and Ken Stevenson of Richland; Columbus Middle School: Faith Dill, daughter of Susan Pospisil and Scott Schuld of Columbus; Allie Gotschall, daughter of Tammi and Jeff Gotschall of Columbus; Emily Hall, daughter of Kristel and Greg Hall of Columbus; Samantha Huerta, daughter of Marlene Cordon and Junior Huerta of Schuyler; Alexis Jeffryes, daughter of Trina and Michael Jeffryes of Columbus; Abby Marshall, daughter of Amanda Mancini Marshall of Columbus; Lucas Miller, son of Nicole and Matthew Miller of Columbus; and Jalynn Olson, daughter of Angela and Corey Olson of Columbus; Aquinas: Lindsey Nickolite, daughter of Tami and Paul Nickolite of Bellwood, and Jill Witter, daughter of Jo and James Witter Jr. of David City; Twin River: Kelsey Swantek, daughter of Annette and Marc Swantek of Genoa; Schuyler: Connor Bywater, son of Christina and Brian Bywater of Schuyler, and Anna Rocheford, daughter of Bobbie Jo and Pat Rocheford of Schuyler.

CSI at CHI Track Lakeview: Kyle Mohrmann, son of Lela and Tim Mohrmann of Columbus, and Ethan Vinson, son of Becky and Quinn Vinson of Columbus; Columbus Middle School: Douglas Davidchik, son of Sarah and Daniel Davidchik of Columbus; Michaela Graham, daughter of Barb Graham of Columbus; Taylor Howerter, daughter of Deanna and Mark Howerter of Columbus; Paige Jeffryes, daughter of Trina and Mike Jeffryes of Columbus; Autumn Tindall, daughter of Jenny Tindall of Columbus; and Ashley Warner, daughter of Brandi and Curt Warner of Columbus; Scotus Central Catholic: Hannah Allen, daughter of Kimberly and Michael Allen of Columbus, and Elliott Thomazin, son of Kelli and John Thomazin of Columbus; Leigh: Alexis Schroeder, daughter of Sharon and Ronald Schroeder of Leigh; Shelby-Rising City: Angelina Rodriguez, daughter of Paula and BJ Barcel of Bellwood.

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Youth digest -- July 30

New York, NY (PRWEB) July 30, 2014

Anyone who has ever wondered why the gulf between conservative and liberal views seems so unbridgeable might find some answers in the latest issue of Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

In a fascinating article, Differences in negativity bias underlie variations in political ideology, three political scientists argue that our political bias is frequently not a conscious choice nor the result of our upbringing, but a product of predispositions rooted in our psychology and even our biology.

Drawing on a growing body of research and on their own experiments, John Hibbing and Kevin Smith from the University of NebraskaLincoln, and John Alford from Rice University, Texas, make the claim that personality, psychology, physiology, and genetics each play an important role in whether individuals will turn out to have conservative or liberal leanings.

Using experiments in which people were shown nice or nasty images or asked to judge facial expressions, the authors found that participants of a conservative bent reacted faster and spent longer engaging with negative images than testees who defined themselves as liberals. The unsavory images included spiders, burning houses, and a maggot-infested wound, and each subjects reactions were gauged by monitoring devices such as eye trackers, which measure involuntary responses.

Hibbing writes:

The logic for our approach is straightforward. Life is about encounters: sights, sounds, smells, imaginings, objects, and people, and the systems employed to sense, process, formulate, and execute a response to stimuli are psychological and physiological. Even if a stimulus is identical, one individual will sense, process, and respond to it differently than another.

We reason that this variation is likely to correlate with the political positions endorsed by each individual. Across research methods, samples, and countries, conservatives have been found to be quicker to focus on the negative, to spend longer looking at the negative, and to be more distracted by the negative.

This negativity bias could explain why typical conservatives traits are preference for stability and order, which keep in check potentially threatening change, while liberals are more likely to embrace innovation and reform and the uncertainty and potential chaos they may bring.

Hibbing includes a warning against the temptation to base value judgements on the findings:

Continued here:
DNA Explains Political Preference, New Research Claims

Most of what we know or think we know about how kids learn comes from classroom practice and behavioral psychology. Now, neuroscientists are adding to and qualifying that store of knowledge by studying the brain itself. The latest example: new research in the journal Developmental Science suggests a famous phenomenon known as the "fourth-grade shift" isn't so clear-cut.

"The theory of the fourth-grade shift had been based on behavioral data," says the lead author of the study, Donna Coch. She heads the Reading Brains Lab at Dartmouth College.

The assumption teachers make: "In a nutshell," Coch says, "by fourth grade you stop learning to read and start reading to learn. We're done teaching the basic skills in third grade, and you go use them starting in the fourth."

But, Coch's team found, that assumption may not be true. The study involved 96 participants, divided among third-, fourth-, and fifth-graders as well as college students. All average readers, the subjects wore noninvasive electrode caps that could swiftly pick up electrical activity in the brain.

They were shown strings of letters/symbols that fell into four different categories: words ("bed"); pseudo-words ("bem"); strings of letters ("mbe") and finally, strings of meaningless symbols (@#*). The researchers then observed the subjects' brains as they reacted, within milliseconds, to each kind of stimulus.

The children in the study handled the first three categories roughly as well as the college students, meaning their brains responded at a speed that suggested their word processing was automatic. The difference came with the fourth category, meaningless symbols. As late as fifth grade, children needed to use their conscious minds to decide whether the symbols were a word.

The study suggests there is nothing so neat as a fourth-grade shift. It found that third-graders exhibit some signs of automatic word processing while fifth-graders are still processing words differently from adults.

Why is this important? "From my perspective, this concept of automaticity is key to learning to read," says Coch. "If you're not automatic, you're using a lot of effort to decode and understand individual words, meaning you have fewer resources for comprehension."

Coch's team also administered a written test, covering the same set of real words, fake words, and symbol strings. This task was designed to test the participants' conscious word processing, a much slower procedure.

Interestingly, most of the 96 participants got a nearly perfect score on the written test, showing that their conscious brains knew the difference between words and non-words. Future research will no doubt try to pinpoint when that process becomes automatic ... research that could change the way we teach reading in the higher grades.

Original post:
Learning To Read May Take Longer Than We Thought

By Barbara Wilcox The Humanities at Stanford

As part of her work, philosopher of science Helen Longino investigates assumptions made by users of behavioral research.

Studies of the origins of human sexuality and aggression are typically in the domain of the sciences, where researchers examine genetic, neurobiological, social and environmental factors.

Behavioral research findings draw intense interest from other researchers, policymakers and the general public. But Stanford's Helen E. Longino, the Clarence Irving Lewis Professor of Philosophy, says there's more to the story.

Longino, who specializes in the philosophy of science, asserts in her latest book that the limitations of behavioral research are not clearly communicated in academic or popular discourse. As a result, this lack of communication distorts the scope of current behavioral research.

In her book Studying Human Behavior: How Scientists Investigate Aggression and Sexuality, Longino examines five common scientific approaches to the study of behavior quantitative behavioral genetics, molecular behavioral genetics, developmental psychology, neurophysiology and anatomy, and social/environmental methods.

Applying the analytical tools of philosophy, Longino defines what is and is not measured by each of these approaches. She also reflects on how this research is depicted in academic and popular media.

In her analysis of citations of behavioral research, Longino found that the demands of journalism and of the culture at large favor science with a very simple storyline. Research that looks for a single "warrior gene" or a "gay gene," for example, receives more attention in both popular and scholarly media than research that takes an integrative approach across scientific approaches or disciplines.

Longino spoke with the Stanford News Service about why it is important for scientists and the public to understand the parameters of behavioral research:

Read more:
Simple isn't better when talking about science, Stanford philosopher suggests

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

24-Jul-2014

Contact: Cindy Fox Aisen caisen@iupui.edu 317-843-2276 Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis School of Science

INDIANAPOLIS -- Roland Roeder, Ph.D., a mathematician from the School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), will receive $460,000 over the next five years from the National Science Foundation's Division of Mathematical Sciences to support his research in pure math and the training of students from the graduate to high school levels.

The Faculty Early Career Development award is the NSF's most prestigious award in support of junior faculty. It is given to individuals who "exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research."

The award will support Roeder's research on dynamics in several complex variables, an area of pure mathematics focusing on the theoretical underpinnings of systems that change with time.

"Systems that change with time appear at the core of nearly all scientific endeavors, including biology, chemistry, physics and the social sciences," he noted. "Given the current state of a system, can one predict its future state? How does this evolution of the state of the system depend on the parameters of the system?

"Many such dynamical systems are far too complicated for a rigorous study, so one often resorts to simpler models, which are hoped to indicate the types of behavior that one should expect experimentally. One venue for such simpler models is the iteration of holomorphic maps, the topic of my NSF-supported research."

According to Roeder, insights obtained from complex dynamics have already provided a deeper understanding of real-world problems in a variety of fields including the study of magnetic materials and astrophysics.

In addition to supporting Roeder's research, his CAREER grant will provide research training including tuition and living expenses for one or two doctoral students he will supervise over the next five years. The funding will also enable Roeder and the Department of Mathematical Sciences to hold two workshops for graduate mathematics students from universities throughout the United States. Each workshop will provide opportunities for students to make presentations and will bring top researchers to IUPUI to speak and interact with the students.

Read the original:
IUPUI mathematician receives prestigious NSF Early Career Development Award

Behavioral Science Video Project on Attitude
FUS MBA Program.

By: Hannah Poyo

Continued here:
Behavioral Science Video Project on Attitude - Video

Too many times, we avoid those in pain because we arent sure what to say.

Shutterstock

Enlarge photo

Editor's note: A version of this column was published previously at crucialskills.com.

Dear Joseph,

My husband recently passed away, and although Im sure they dont mean to hurt me, several of my friends and family members have made insensitive comments about my loss or the way I grieve. For example, people have told me, It was Gods will and Its time to get on with your life. I know they are trying to help, but I dont know what to say when somebody belittles my pain. How can I respond to seemingly insensitive comments about my husbands death?

Signed,

Dont Make It Worse

Im so sorry about your husband. Im especially sorry that the pain youre feeling has been compounded by others actions. I wish I could help with the first problem, but I hope to offer some helpful ideas for solving the second.

I asked readers to share their perspective. Many wrote back about their experiences from which three clear messages emerged.

See original here:
Insights from the Behavioral Science Guy: The worst (and best) things to say to someone who is grieving

In an innovative approach to HIV prevention, an interdisciplinary group of experts has come together for the first time to lay out a framework of best practices to optimize the role of the clinician in achieving an AIDS-free generation. The guidelines, which will be published online in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), integrate both cutting-edge biomedical advances and evidence-based behavioral interventions for the care of people living with HIV or at high risk for HIV infection.

The recommendations, developed by an expert volunteer panel assembled by the International Antiviral (formerly AIDS) Society-USA (IAS-USA), are intended as guidelines for clinicians to implement a combined biomedical-behavioral approach to HIV care and prevention. They are based on a comprehensive review of data that was either published or presented at scientific conferences over the past 17 years.

Among the new recommendations is a call for the use of antiretroviral therapy (ART), which suppresses HIV replication and virtually eliminates the risk of transmitting the virus, for all HIV-infected individuals and as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV-uninfected individuals at high risk of infection. The guidelines emphasize the integration of behavioral and social interventions -- such as psychosocial counseling or treatment for drug dependence -- in health care systems to help individuals living with HIV or at high risk for infection to access and remain in high quality HIV care.

"The tools to prevent HIV infection and disease progression are better than ever, but providers need encouragement and support to integrate best practices in communication and counseling with the biomedical measures that can render patients less- and ideally non-infectious," says Jeanne M. Marrazzo, MD, MPH, professor of medicine at the University of Washington; medical director of the Seattle STD/HIV Prevention Training Center; a co-chair of the IAS-USA panel; and corresponding author of the paper.

According to the recommendations, the availability of combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) has changed the lives of millions of individuals living with HIV, transforming HIV from a fatal infection to a manageable chronic disease. But while the incidence of new HIV-1 infections worldwide has decreased by an estimated 33 percent since 2001, it still remains high -- approximately 2.3 million new infections occurred in 2012. In the United States alone, approximately 50,000 new infections occur each year -- a number that has remained largely unchanged since the 1990s.

"We are at a time where scientific advances in HIV allow us to effectively implement interventions that could stop HIV transmission," says Carlos del Rio, MD, chair of the Department of Global Health at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, co-director of the Emory Center for AIDS Research, co-chair of the IAS-USA Panel, and a member of the IAS-USA volunteer board of directors. "But the success of both biomedical and behavioral HIV prevention measures depends on clinicians' ability and willingness to implement them."

"These guidelines provide a practical, science-based approach that any clinician can implement," says David Holtgrave, PhD, chair of the Department of Health, Behavior and Society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a co-chair of the IAS-USA Panel. "They are designed to promote the integration of the best available services -- both behavioral and biomedical -- and to create a clear pathway to access these services and realize their full benefit."

The panel's recommendations include the following:

The recommendations note that while implementing them may present structural, economic, or political challenges, the benefits should be substantial in preventing disease progression, promoting the gain of healthy life years and preventing new HIV infections.

Story Source:

Original post:
New HIV prevention recommendations combine biomedical, behavioral approaches

KARLA MURTHY:Like many Americans, Barbara Nordin, a freelance editor and writer in Charlottesville, Virginia often procrastinates.

BARBARA NORDIN:I knew that professionally I needed a website. And I, had the domain name, I, you know, made lists of what I put on it for eons

KARLA MURTHY:But in 2012, she learned about an online program that would push her to get the project done or else she would lose $50 dollars. Its an example of behavioral economics at work, according to Dean Karlan, a Yale University economist.

DEAN KARLAN:Its about realizing that youre going to respond to incentives. If you dont like the way youre going to respond, you can change those incentives. You can change the price of things by being a bit self-aware and thinking ahead.

KARLA MURTHY:Understanding how people respond to incentives is central to behavioral economics, a field which looks at the psychology behind economic decisions. This new science is being used to help people nudge them on everything from making better healthcare decisions to maximizing energy efficiency.

But one of its biggest uses is in improving peoples financial choices. An area in which many Americans dont excel. The personal savings rate is less than half of what it was a generation ago. And an estimated 56 million Americans have virtually no retirement savings.

JOSH WRIGHT:Financial education has actually had not great results in terms of getting people to change behavior.

KARLA MURTHY:Josh Wright is the executive director of Ideas42, a nonprofit that works with companies, foundations, and governments to apply lessons from behavioral economics. He points to a study that showed how committing to save more, not even today, but in the future, dramatically increased retirement savings.

JOSH WRIGHT:One of the interesting things about peoples financial lives is, they usually know what they wanna do or they have an intention to save more or spend less get greater control over their finances. And a lot of it has to do with following through on those desires and intentions. And theres a lot that behavioral science can do along with technology to help us help people help themselves, really, to do what they wanna do.

KARLA MURTHY:And new businesses have taken some of these insights to heart. Washington D.C.-based HelloWallet provides financial computer software, including budgeting and retirement tools for employees of big companies across the country.

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Can betting against yourself online help you save money?

Evidence from behavioral economists, researchers who study the psychology behind economic decision making, has been applied before to everything from getting people to become organ donors to helping them reduce water use.

But now, its helping people make better financial decisions and save more money. And increasingly major financial companies are using it to help consumers get a better fiscal foothold.

Josh Wright, executive director of Ideas42, a nonprofit consulting firm that works with companies to apply research from behavioral science, says that hes seen a shift in the finance industry with firms putting more emphasis on encouraging smarter financial decisions.

A lot of these concepts are now being used by financial institutions to start to think about designing products that are better for people, Wright said. And this is particularly true for people on the lower end of the income spectrum.

Wright cites American Express as one such company. In 2012, the company partnered with Walmart to launch Bluebird, a prepaid card aimed at consumers who dont use traditional banks. With Bluebird, users can pay bills, load cash at Walmart and even receive paychecks using direct deposit.

Notably, though, Bluebird lets users set up a savings account within the card just one example of a small tweak companies are making to help generate more responsible behavior, Wright said.

And in the next several months, Ideas42, which has been working with American Express, will be helping conduct studies with the companys Serve prepaid card to see how it can influence consumer behavior.

Well actually be able to see if it helps people, Wright said.

JP Morgan Chase is also hoping to use behavioral economics to help improve peoples financial behavior.

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Can you be nudged into saving money? Some companies are banking on it

Can betting against yourself help you save money?
A new behavioral science is what #39;s behind a host of new online applications that help nudge people into making better decisions on everything from health car...

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Can betting against yourself help you save money? - Video

ABS 200 | Introduction to Applied Behavioral Science
DOWNLOAD: http://bit.ly/1kVPAJR ASHFORD ABS 200 Week 1 DQ 1 What is Applied Behavioral Science ASHFORD ABS 200 Week 1 DQ 2 Values and Ethics Guiding Generali...

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ABS 200 | Introduction to Applied Behavioral Science - Video

Behavioral Science - Student Video Presentation
Dysfunctional Consequences of Formal Organization - version 3.

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Behavioral Science - Student Video Presentation - Video

Knoxville, TN (PRWEB) July 16, 2014

Individuals on the Autism spectrum face unique challenges in areas like language, socialization, sensory integration and some levels of cognition. No two individuals on the Autism spectrum will face the same combination of challenges. Therefore, it is important for the treatment of these challenges be individualized to fit the specific needs and goals of the person in need.

The scientific community has noted that one of the most effective treatments for individuals on the Autism spectrum is Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Applied Behavior Analysis is a discipline that seeks to understand and improve the behavior of individuals by developing custom treatment programs that fit the skill deficits of the person in need. "ABA works by systematically changing behavior based on principles of learning derived from behavioral psychology, that encourage positive behaviors and discourage negative behaviors" - Autism Science Foundation. It is through this practice that new skills are acquired and maladaptive behaviors are reduced, both working together to foster the success and independence of the individual.

Behavioral Foundations, LLC (behavioralfoundations.com) is a new private service provider for East Tennessee offering ABA services to individuals of all ages and abilities. Driven by data oriented programs based on ABA principles, Behavioral Foundations seeks to improve the lives of those in need of behavioral or education support in the Knoxville area. Further, all programs are developed and monitored by a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), Dr. Melissa Switzer.

Dr. Switzer obtained her graduate degree from the University of Texas at Arlington. Having held the assistant licensure of Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst for eight years while completing her Doctoral coursework, she has over thirteen years of education and experience in the field of ABA based Autism treatment. After completing her PhD in Psychology, Dr. Switzer went on to broaden her experience base serving in residential, center-based and home-based ABA programs in the Dallas area for the last five years. Dr. Switzer and her family have recently relocated to the Knoxville area, upon which she opened Behavioral Foundations, LLC. It is Dr. Switzer's mission to offer Autism and ABA services to local families and individuals in need of behavioral or educational support here in East Tennessee.

Behavioral Foundations, LLC offers consultation, therapy, and support services that are based on the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) that are developed and monitored by a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA).

If you would like more information about the ABA services offered by Behavioral Foundations, LLC, contact Melissa Switzer at 865-288-7871, or visit the website http://behavioralfoundations.com/aba-bcba/.

Melissa Switzer Ph.D., BCBA Owner and Founder, Behavioral Foundations, LLC.

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Autism Service Provider Behavioral Foundations LLC Offers Applied Behavior Analysis Therapy and Consultations