NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - March 20, 2017) - Leading non-profit behavioral design firm ideas42 today unveiled a unique approach to highlighting and resolving key behavioral problems in cybersecurity with the launch of an original, serialized novella.

The new "true-crime"-style short story Deep Thought: A Cybersecurity Story dramatizes the human factors in cybersecurity and is followed by a robust index of key insights from behavioral science that can be used to improve security protocols. The narrative, to be released in multiple installments, highlights the human actions and decisions that often compromise digital information and computer security. These range from password issues to more complex concerns such as coding practices and organizations' resource investment choices.

Despite public and private sector investments in sophisticated security systems, the level of risk is immense. In the search for answers, efforts have been heavily skewed toward finding technological solutions. However, up to 80% of the cost attributed to cyber-attacks is actually a result of human error.

With Internet access rapidly expanding across the globe and the proliferation of greater connectedness across business, finance, and individuals, ensuring privacy and security is more important than ever, as underscored by recent high-profile breaches such as the hacking of American political party systems during the 2016 election cycle.

"It is because of the urgency around strengthening cybersecurity that we chose to present our insights as an engaging novella instead of using the more traditional white paper approach," said ideas42 Executive Director Josh Wright. "With the release of a unique piece like Deep Thought: A Cybersecurity Story and our supporting analysis, we hope to reach more leaders and decision-makers who can take needed steps to increase the strength of their organizations' digital networks."

The first installment of ideas42's novella debuted today at New America's Cybersecurity for a New America conference and can be read at ideas42.org/cyber.

"Simply clicking on a bad link can be devastating to network security, and the strongest security network in the world is only as good as the human with the password," continued Wright, "Furthermore, human error in security is not limited to end-users. The challenges around understanding and addressing human behavioral factors in cybersecurity present a rich vein of opportunity for making the system as a whole more robust."

ideas42's work in cybersecurity is supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Cyber Initiative in partnership with New America's Cybersecurity Initiative. The goal is to focus on behavioral insights and solutions that can be adopted quickly and brought to scale. For a full copy of the novella and behavioral insight appendix contact us at cyber@ideas42.org. For a video introducing the novella, click here.

About ideas42

ideas42 has a clear mission: to use our unique experience at the forefront of behavioral science to change millions of lives. We create innovative solutions to tough problems in economic mobility, health, education, consumer finance, energy efficiency and international development. Our approach is based on a deep understanding of human behavior and why people make the decisions they do. Working closely with our partners from government, foundations, NGOs and companies, we have more than 80 active projects in the United States and around the world.

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ideas42 Channels Unique Behavioral Science Approach to Cybersecurity With Launch of Novella Highlighting Key ... - Marketwired (press release)

March 13, 2017

Luke Perez, VP, account planning and strategy, AbelsonTaylor

The truth is that we lie to ourselves and we lie even more flagrantly to market researchers. A mom may say that she feeds her kids organic and free-range food, but there's almost always a stash of Oreo cookies somewhere. We need to study our audiences' behaviors, and their corresponding motivations, to unearth the truth behind the decisions they make. Not to sound trite, but actions speak louder than words. If we really want to know what could drive an HCP or patient to utilize our brand, or to remain adherent, we need to understand how their behaviors impact choice and utilization.

Kathleen Starr, managing director, Adheris Health Behavioral Insights, an inVentiv Health company

Most of the industry acknowledges that patient behavior impacts brand performance. But quantifying this using transactional data can give clients a better appreciation of the need to move beyond awareness promotion. Evidence is also needed to tackle the daunting task of changing patient behavior. To date, there are more than 100 scientifically proven behavior-change techniques. However, choosing and applying them in ways that will improve brand performance requires scientific expertise and insights into the psychosocial context of patient behavior. The science alone won't cut it we need creativity to bring it to life. So we then architect, design, and brand programs that pull the science though into experiences that entice the level of patient engagement needed for behavior change. Only then are we able to provide evidence back to clients that it is time and money well spent.

D'Arcy King, EVP and chief strategy officer, Daggerwing Health

Evidence, evidence, evidence. Over the past decade, behavioral scientists have worked to link behavioral theory to behavior-change techniques (BCT). Identifying and providing proof that the processes, or the how behind behavioral change interventions, actually affect health behavior and provide ROI is critical to their advancement and adoption. Agencies and clients would benefit from adopting evidence-based BCTs and integrating them with human-centric design to provide interventions and programs that drive business results, improve quality of life, and create a trusted relationship with their brand.

Jessica Brueggeman, EVP, health behavior group, MicroMass Communications

Agencies should provide clients with the ability to promote behavioral science's benefits. They need to present a well thought-out story that demonstrates the evidence, connects to commercial objectives, and provides tangible application examples. Agencies must create opportunities that help clients build skills in applying behavioral science strategies. When clients possess such foundational skills, they can better articulate how these strategies can accelerate brand objectives. They also understand how behaviorally based strategies can be leveraged across brand initiatives and why they are preferred over traditional, information-based approaches.

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4 Ways for Agencies to Sell Clients on Behavioral Marketing Programs - Medical Marketing and Media

Regardless of their political affiliation, most who follow politics in any depth easily dismissed Donald Trumps series of grave Twitter accusations on March 4 that Barack Obama ordered Trump Tower wiretapped before the 2016 election. Trump offered no evidence for his wiretapping claims, but instead used inflammatory language such as calling Obama sick and bad, and requested that Congress conduct an investigation into the Obama administration.

Behavioral science suggests that despite Trump offering no substantive facts for his claim, the mainstream medias current coverage will get him what he craves. Fortunately, we can use the same research to reframe the narrative to help truth trump Trumps evidence-free accusations.

To understand why current coverage helps Trump get what he wants, lets consider some typical examples of how the accusations have been covered so far. CNNs story described in the first sentence how Trump made a stunning claim about the wiretapping, and added that he did not offer any evidence. Next, the story featured 3 screenshots of Trumps tweets, and a breakdown of the claims. Following that, the article continued with rebuttals of Trumps claims by Obamas spokesperson and US intelligence officials, and then went into an analysis of how the tweets are representative of Trumps wild and often false accusations.

The article on this topic by AP News, republished in many local newspapers and used by radio and TV stations, also started by describing Trumps startling allegation of abuse of power, and noted that it was offered without evidence. The story continued with Obamas denial of the claim, and then went into the details of Trumps accusations, followed by a broader analysis of Trumps frequent allegations backed by alternative facts.

These articles offered sophisticated political observers the appropriate context for Trumps evidence-free accusations in the analytic part of each piece. Yet research on news consumption shows that most people dont usually read the analysis. Only 41% of Americans go beyond simply skimming the headline, and, among these few, most only go into the first or second paragraph.

So what do the 6 in 10 who only read headlines get from the AP News headline: Trump Accuses Obama of Tapping His Phones, Cites No Evidence, and from the CNN headline White House Requests Congress Investigate Whether Obama Administration Abused Power? What do most of the rest get from the CNN story that starts with a thorough description of Trumps accusations?

Those who have a strong partisan perspective will likely not change their opinions, due to what psychologists term confirmation bias, the tendency to misinterpret new information in light of our current beliefs as opposed to objective facts. However, research shows that many moderates and independents, who do not suffer from confirmation bias but are not sophisticated political observers, will also likely be swayed to believe Trumps claims.

Their engagement with the headline and the initial paragraphs, which focus on the accusations by Trump, will cause them to experience anchoring. This well-established reasoning error results from the way in which we process information we first encounter about a topic. That initial information influences the entirety of our perspective on an issue, coloring all the content we receive moving forward, even after we get more complete information. The most information that people will retain from such coverage consist of a vague impression of Trump as unjustly wiretapped by the bad and sick Obama, a conclusion also supported by research on the availability heuristic. This fallacious thinking pattern causes us to focus on information with emotional overtones, regardless of whether it is factual or relevant.

Likewise, shallow news skimmers may be influenced by the halo effect, a phenomenon of perception in which positive associations with one aspect of an individual cause us to perceive all aspects of that individual in a positive light. Most Americans have a default positive association with the office of the President; thus they tend to give its occupant the benefit of the doubt. To that end, statements by Trump appear more believable to the public simply because he occupies an office that typically signifies credibility, and also has access to secret information unavailable to most Americans. For the same reason, Trumps request to Congress to launch an investigation will appear credible, leading people to believe there is a good reason for such an inquiry, regardless of the evidence.

These thinking errors will cause the majority of Americans to develop a mistaken impression of Trumps wiretapping claims as legitimate, despite the lack of evidence, just as so many found the baseless birtherism accusations launched at Obama legitimate, or the idea that George Bush was behind 9/11. Consider Trumps evidence-free but often-repeated claim that millions of illegal ballots cast for Hillary Clinton cost him the popular vote, an allegation rated false by fact-checkers, and criticized by fellow Republicans such as Paul Ryan. Nonetheless, Trump launched an investigation in February 2017 of supposed voter fraud, just as he is now asking Congress to do in regard to the Obama administrations use of investigative powers.

The consequences of Trumps evidence-free claims are stunning in their impact. A Qualtrics poll in December 2016 showed that over half of all Republicans believe that Trump won the popular vote, as do 24 percent of independents and 7 percent of Democrats. This distribution shows the impact of confirmation bias, with Republicans much more likely to believe Trumps evidence-free claims. However, Trumps tactics and the nature of media coverage lead even some independents and Trumps political opponents to buy into Trumps claims. Incidentally, the poll suggests that more sophisticated political observers are less likely to believe Trump, with only 37 percent of Republicans who had a college degree accepting Trumps baseless allegations about millions of illegal votes.

Would you be surprised if Trumps current claims about wiretapping will be rated false by fact-checkers just as his voter fraud claims were? Would you be surprised if the investigation of wiretapping will find nothing, just as the investigation of voter fraud has not found anything? Yet Trump keeps making such claims with no evidence, and will keep doing so, because he gets exactly what he wants--millions of people believing his baseless allegations.

Reframing the media coverage of Trumps claims, using techniques informed by behavioral science, would disincentivize Trump from making such baseless statements, instead of rewarding him. Rather than focusing on relating the details of the specific claims made by Trump, news headlines and introductory paragraphs could foreground the pattern of our President systematically making accusations lacking evidence.

For instance, in the case of this specific news item, AP News could have run the headline Trump Delivers Another Accusation Without Evidence, This Time Against Obama. CNN could have introduced the story by focusing on Trumps pattern of making serial allegations of immoral and illegal actions by his political opponents without any evidence, focusing this time on his predecessor. Then, deeper in the
article where the shallow skimmers do not reach, the story could have detailed the allegations made by Trump. This style of media coverage would make Trump less inclined to make such claims, as he would not get the impact he wants.

You can make a difference when media venues publicize Trumps evidence-free accusations by writing letters to the editor encouraging them to reframe their reporting. By doing so, you will help create appropriate incentives for all politicians--not just Trump--to make such claims only when they are supported by evidence.

_______________________________________________________________

Connect with Dr. Gleb TsipurskyonTwitter, onFacebook, and onLinkedIn, and follow his RSS feed and newsletter.

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How Behavioral Science Can Help Truth Triumph Over Baseless Accusations - Huffington Post

WASHINGTON (March 6, 2016) -- Two reports published March 5 (EST) by the World Health Organization reveal that more than 1 in 4 deaths of children under 5 years are attributable to unhealthy environments. That amounts to 1.7 million child deaths a year.

The reports (Inheriting a Sustainable World: Atlas on Childrens Health and the Environment and Dont pollute my future! The impact of the environment on childrens health) are alarming to Georgetown Universitys Laura Anderko, PhD, RN, director of the Mid-Atlantic Center for Childrens Health and the Environment, a regionalCDC Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit, which covers the District of Columbia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.

Anderko says many might think these reports reflect problems in developing countries, but that the United States is grappling with its own environmental challenges.

The new reports from the WHO underscore the important contribution of pollution to our children's health both abroad and here in the United States, says Anderko, the Robert and Kathleen Scanlon Chair in Values Based Health Care at Georgetowns School of Nursing & Health Studies. The US is experiencing an increase in the number of children suffering from asthma each year, which is exacerbated by extreme heat days that results in increased air pollution. Today, over 6 million US children suffer from asthma.

Anderko adds, It is essential to support efforts to reduce air pollution and reduce asthma in our children. In the U.S., we are fortunate to have the Office of Children's Health Protection at the EPA working to improve the health of our children through research, education, and regulation.

To interview Anderko about the impact of the environment on childrens health, please contact Karen Teber at km463@georgetown.edu.

About Georgetown University Medical Center Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) is an internationally recognized academic medical center with a three-part mission of research, teaching and patient care (through MedStar Health). GUMCs mission is carried out with a strong emphasis on public service and a dedication to the Catholic, Jesuit principle ofcura personalis-- or "care of the whole person." The Medical Center includes the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing & Health Studies, both nationally ranked; Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute; and the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization, which accounts for the majority of externally funded research at GUMC including a Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health. Connect with GUMC on Facebook (Facebook.com/GUMCUpdate), Twitter (@gumedcenter) and Instagram (@gumedcenter).

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Behavioral Science - Newswise (press release)

Newswise BOSTON (March 6, 2017)An epidemiological analysis of data from more than 6,000 American and Canadian women with breast cancer finds that post-diagnosis consumption of foods containing isoflavonesestrogen-like compounds primarily found in soy foodis associated with a 21 percent decrease in all-cause mortality. This decrease was seen only in women with hormone-receptor-negative tumors, and in women who were not treated with endocrine therapy such as tamoxifen.

The study, led by nutrition and cancer epidemiologist Fang Fang Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, was published March 6 in Cancer.

At the population level, we see an association between isoflavone consumption and reduced risk of death in certain groups of women with breast cancer. Our results suggest, in specific circumstances, there may be a potential benefit to eating more soy foods as part of an overall healthy diet and lifestyle, said Zhang, who is also the 2016-2017 Miriam E. Nelson Tisch Faculty Fellow at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life and an adjunct scientist in nutritional epidemiology at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts.

Since we only examined naturally occurring dietary isoflavone, we do not know the effect of isoflavone from supplements. We recommend that readers keep in mind that soy foods can potentially have an impact, but only as a component of an overall healthy diet, she adds.

Isoflavones have been shown to slow the growth of breast cancer cells in laboratory studies, and epidemiological analyses in East Asian women with breast cancer found links between higher isoflavone intake and reduced mortality. However, other research has suggested that the estrogen-like effects of isoflavones may reduce the effectiveness of endocrine therapies used to treat breast cancer. Because of this double effect, it remains unknown whether isoflavone consumption should be encouraged or avoided by breast cancer patients.

In the current study, Zhang and her colleagues, including Esther John, Ph.D., senior cancer epidemiologist at the Cancer Prevention Institute of California, analyzed data on 6,235 American and Canadian breast cancer patients from the Breast Cancer Family Registry, a National Cancer Institute-funded program that has collected clinical and questionnaire data on enrolled participants and their families since 1995. Women were sorted into four quartile groups based on the amount of isoflavone they were estimated to have consumed, calculated from self-reported food frequency questionnaires. Mortality was examined after a median follow-up of 9.4 years.

The team found a 21 percent decrease in all-cause mortality among women in the highest quartile of intake, when compared to those in the lowest quartile. The association between isoflavone intake and reduced mortality was strongest in women with tumors that lacked estrogen and progesterone receptors. Women who did not receive endocrine therapy as a treatment for their breast cancer had a weaker, but still significant association. No associations were found for women with hormone-receptor-positive tumors and for women who received endocrine therapy.

While the study categorized women in the highest quartile as those who consumed 1.5 milligrams or more of isoflavone per dayequivalent to a few dried soybeansthe authors caution that individuals tend to underestimate their food intake when filling out questionnaires.

The comparisons between high and low consumption in our study are valid, but our findings should not be interpreted as a prescription, Zhang said. However, based on our results, we do not see a detrimental effect of soy intake among women who were treated with endocrine therapy, which has been hypothesized to be a concern. Especially for women with hormone-receptor-negative breast cancer, soy food products may potentially have a beneficial effect and increase survival.

The large size and diverse racial/ethnic makeup of the Breast Cancer Family Registry allowed the researchers to evaluate mortality risk across different subtypes of breast cancer and subgroups of patients, and adjust for confounding factors. However, the authors note that dietary isoflavone intake was correlated with socioeconomic and lifestyle factors, which may also play a role in lowering mortality. In particular, women who consumed higher levels of dietary isoflavone were more likely to be Asian Americans, young, physically active, more educated, not overweight, never smokers, and drink no alcohol. Although the team controlled for these factors in the analyses, the possibility of a partial confounding effect on the associations identified in the study cannot be ruled out.

Whether lifestyle factors can improve survival after diagnosis is an important question for women diagnosed with hormone-receptor negative breast cancer, a more aggressive type of breast cancer. Our findings suggest that survival may be better in patients with a higher consumption of isoflavones from soy food, John said.

Additional authors on this study are Danielle E. Haslam, nutritional epidemiology doctoral candidate at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, Mary Beth Terry, Ph.D., professor of epidemiology at Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, Julia A. Knight, Ph.D., professor of epidemiology at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto and senior investigator at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health System in Toronto, Irene L. Andrulis, Ph.D., professor of molecular genetics at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto and senior investigator at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health System in Toronto, Mary Daly, M.D., Ph.D., chair and professor in the department of clinical genetics and director of risk assessment program at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Saundra S. Buys, M.D., medical director of Huntsman Cancer Institute's high risk breast cancer clinic and a professor in the department of medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine.

This work was supported by an award from National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (CA164920).

Zhang, F. F., Haslam, D. E., Terry, M. B., Knight, J.A., Andrulis, I. L., Daly, M., Buys, S.S., and John, E. M. (2017). Dietary isoflavone intake and all-cause mortality in breast cancer survivors: the Breast Cancer Family Registry. Cancer. Published online: March 6, 2017. DOI: 10.1002/cncr.30615. URL upon publication: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/cncr.30615

About the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University

The Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University is the only independent school of nutrition in the United States. The schools eight degree programs which focus on questions relating to nutrition and chronic diseases, molecular nutrition, agriculture and sustainability, food security, humanitarian assistance, public health nutrition, and food policy and economics are renowned for the application of scientific research to national and international policy.

###

Excerpt from:
Isoflavones in Food Associated with Reduced Mortality for Women with Some Breast Cancers - Newswise (press release)

By suggesting low-cost adjustments to existing programs, the new team is showing how a better understanding of human behavior can improve performance across government.

People do strange things.

To help explain why, in February, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney's Policy Office launched GovLabPHL, a multi-agency team for developing "innovative and evidence-based practice" in city government.

The team aims to increase participation in government services and remove barriers to access by studying the minds and actions of its citizens. Born initially out of a Living Cities grant awarded to the city in September 2014, GovLabPHL codifies and expands the creation of a team that puts human behavior first. Now with workshops, a 10-month speaker seriesand six projects underway covering topicsfrom bike share to littering the team is gaining interest from agencies across the city thatwant the low-cost human-centric treatment.

Prior to the formal launch of the team, GovLabPHL proved its efficacy by targeting the Department of Revenue's senior citizen water bill discount program. There were some who were eligible but no matter what the city did, it couldn't get those residentsto apply. The team did research and put out surveys to discover that people thought the paperwork was too confusing. So the city began sending out paperwork with pre-populated fields. It tried different sized envelopes to see which people responded to most. Ittried hand-writing addresses on the envelopes instead of printing them. The team found what worked and that became the new way of doing things.

Agencies are interested because the team is finding low-cost tweaks to improve theirmissions without turning anyone's office upside down, explained Anjali Chainani, director of policy at the mayor's office.

"We want to ensure we're getting our best return on investment, and what that means is that we have people on the ground from the front lines all the way through to the service delivery folks that are engaged in the process of how that program or how that service is actually being designed," Chainani said.

Six projects underway now include:

Chainani reported that about 20 other agencies have expressed interest in partnering with the team and its allies. GovLabPHL pairs behaviorists from five universities who are donating their time to help agencies achieve their program goals. The five partner universities are University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, Drexel University, Princeton University, and Swarthmore College.Dan Hopkins from University of Pennsylvania and Syon Bhanot from Swarthmore College are the program's lead academic partners.

The program can be broken into three components helping citizens and city employees to learn, piloting new programs and increasing engagement.

"We want to work with behavioral scientists and design experts in looking at the barriers we may unknowingly put up that may prevent residents from connecting with the city or engaging with a particular program," she said. "If there's a messaging campaign already invested in and going out, we layer that with design methods and we layer it with behavioral science to really look at what evidence has already told us about what motivates people's actions and how to keep people engaged."

Philadelphia follows similar programs launched in cities and federal agencies under the Obama administration. The Social and Behavioral Sciences Team (SBST), a subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council, includes more than a dozen federal departments and agencies who completed more than 30 pilots. The United Kingdom runs a similar office called The Behavioral Insights Team. The Office of the City Administrator's Lab @ DC has embedded more than 30 researchers inside Washington, D.C., government.

"There are so many triggers in our environment that lead us to take a specific action that we don't really pay attention to and then there are equally enough things that we just ignore because there's mass information that comes to us," Chainani said. "We're looking to really be innovative in a government that's investing all this money in these programs, and is really able to reach a level that is comfortable for the citizens and where they feel comfortable approaching the city and applying for these programs."

Editor's Note: Minor edits were made to quotes for readability.

Original post:
Philadelphia launches GovLabPHL to improve agency performance with behavioral science - StateScoop (registration)

Posted by Carly Burgess on March 3, 2017 Leave a Comment

Jesse Tucker/Collegian

Miriam Ticktin, associate professor of anthropology at the New School for Social Research in New York and co-director of the Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility, spoke to a crowd of faculty members and students about the politics of migration and border walls during her lecture on March 2.

The talk, titled Border Walls and the Politics of Becoming Non-Human, was sponsored by the anthropology department as a part of the Social Science Matters lecture series coordinated by the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Elizabeth Krause, a professor in the department of anthropology at the University of Massachusetts, began the event by explaining the goal of the lecture series, which focuses on migration.

Our goal is to add perspective to the national conversation on migration, Krause said.

She went on to talk about the tense political environment in the U.S. regarding immigration policy, citing the recent immigration ban and initiative to build a border wall on the border with Mexico.

Krause then introduced Ticktin, who has published two books and over 30 peer-reviewed articles on humanity.

Ticktin started her lecture by talking about the ways in which border walls not only work to defend certain territories, or keep things in place, but also to decide who belongs and who does not. As being tied to both racism and white supremacy, border walls, along with their developing technology, both define and redefine how certain bodies should be treated.

Ticktin stated that border walls are not new, but were popular even before President Donald Trump brought them to the forefront of the U.S. political agenda.

Fifteen new border walls were built in 2015, said Ticktin. Trump comes very late to the game on this.

She went on to talk about how U.S. quarantine and inspection stations at the U.S-Mexico border reshape border walls in a way that makes humans synonymous with pests. In other words, humans are becoming treated like animals who contain some sort of threat or disease.

Ticktin emphasized the importance of how borders walls are being designed. She mentioned how U.S environmental groups, in an attempt to protect wildlife zones at border walls, pushed the government to create small openings in border walls for the safe passage of animals.

While people continue to show great concern about the safety and livelihood of animals, migrants and refugees are not receiving this same sympathy and treatment.

Here, Ticktin stressed, the design of the wall determines which lives matter.

Additionally, Ticktin mentioned that although current policies allow for the easy flow of goods across borders, its not comparable when it comes to people.

Goods pass across borders more easily than people, Ticktin said.

Cary Speck, a graduate student at UMass studying anthropology, came to the event interested in hearing what Ticktin had to say. Considering his current research on refugees and forced migration in central Europe, Speck found the talk relevant to his studies.

Its nice to see a comparative perspective, said Speck.

Toward the end of her lecture, Ticktin talked about the new border wall being built in Calais, France, near what was once the Calais migrant camp, also known as the Jungle. This refugee camp was bulldozed and replaced with a container camp designed to house migrants in shipping containers normally used to transport goods.

Ticktin criticized container camps as limiting the mobility, individuality and freedom of migrants, while also hiding why these people are there in the first place.

The choice to use containers for migrants is politically meaningful, said Ticktin.

Ticktin ended her talk with a message of hope and positivity. As a proponent of open borders, Ticktin pushed the audience to be creative and imagine how borders can be reconsidered in a different form and facilitate new interactions between people and countries.

Lets take what we have and turn it into entirely something new, Ticktin said.

Shawn Provost, a senior majoring in civil engineering and political science, mentioned he saw the information for the event online and felt compelled to attend because of whats taking place in the U.S.

Its very relevant with whats happening in the new administration, said Provost.

Carly Burgess can be reached at cburgess@umass.edu.

Filed under Campus News, Headlines, News, Politics, Scrolling Headlines Tagged with amherst, cary speck, department of anthropology, elizabeth krause, Massachusetts, miriam ticktin, shawn provost, UMass, umass amherst, University of Massachusetts

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Ticktin discusses the politics of border walls as part of Social Science Matters series - The Massachusetts Daily Collegian

Ad will collapse in seconds CLOSE bad science March 2, 2017 03/02/2017 11:26 a.m. By Jesse Singal

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Late in January, the researchers Jordan Anaya, Nick Brown, and Tim van der Zee identified some fairly baffling problems in the research published by Cornell Universitys Food and Brand Lab, one of the more famous and prolific behavioral-science labs in the country, and published a paper revealing their findings. As I wrote last month, the problems included 150 errors in just four of [the] labs papers, strong signs of major problems in the labs other research, and a spate of questions about the quality of the work that goes on there.

Brian Wansink, the labs head and a big name in social science, was a co-author on all those papers, and refused to share the underlying data in a manner that could help resolve the situation, though he did announce certain reforms to his labs practices, and said he would be hiring someone uninvolved with the original papers to reanalyze the data. Wansink, whose lab is known for producing a steady stream of catchy, media-friendly findings about how to nudge people toward healthier eating and habits in general, has also openly admitted to a variety of data slicing-and-dicing methods that are very likely to produce misleading and overblown results.

Wansinks problems just got a lot worse. Today, Brown, a Ph.D. student at the University of Groningen, published a blog post highlighting many more problems with Wansinks research practices. First, it appears that over the years, Wansink has made a standard practice of self-plagiarism, regularly taking snippets of his text from one publication and dropping them into another a practice that, while not as serious as outright data fraud or plagiarizing someone elses material, is very much frowned upon. And sometimes it was more than snippets. Brown includes the following image of one Wansink article in which all of the yellow material (plus three of the four figures, which Brown said he couldnt figure out how to highlight) is lifted from Wansinks own previously published work:

In another instance, Brown writes, Wansink appears to have published the same text as two different book chapters at around the same time. Each chapter is around 7,000 words long, he writes. The paragraph structures are identical. Most of the sentences are identical, or differ only in trivial details.

Brown both offers a compelling case that this sort of self-plagiarism was a pattern for Wansink, and that he may have engaged in more serious misconduct as well. Summing up Browns findings in The Guardian, Chris Chambers and Pete Etchells write:

Its important to note that Wansink published these studies before coming to the Food and Brand Lab, but still this is entirely bizarre. Its a really, really hard thing to explain, and Occams razor doesnt point to any explanations that dont involve, at best, negligence that would likely derail the careers of most young researchers, and at worst outright data fraud.

Its now even more urgent for Wansink and Cornell to offer up a meaningful response to this steady drumbeat of serious allegations. As I argued last month, 150 errors in four papers would on its own be a reason not to trust anything produced by the Food and Brand Lab not until Wansink can explain exactly what happened. Now, though? What possible reason is there to trust this labs output at all, let alone for journalists to continue to publicize its findings?

Up to this point, it appears Cornell has given Wansink near-full discretion over how to handle all this. While Cornell encourages transparent responses to scientific critique, we respect our facultys role as independent investigators to determine the most appropriate response to such requests, absent claims of misconduct or data sharing agreements, John J. Carberry, the universitys head of media relations, said in a statement emailed to Science of Us last month.

That sentence has not aged well. Maybe its time for Cornell to seize the reins rather than act as though whats going on here is just normal scientific back and forth that Wansink can address on his own. Until the universitys administrators do, this growing scandal will continue to inflict serious damage on Cornells reputation as a research university.

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If you dont satisfy their teleological needs, theyre just going to ask again.

In fact, cash rewards actually make people less motivated.

He told doctors his brothers had planted a device in his mouth after a root canal, and were using it to make him their puppet.

Because its so wrong to not have kids, right?

Fascinating.

Less violence, more money.

To Sebastian Gorka, were engaged in a war against an implacable, monolithic foe its as simple as that. This is a silly and dangerous idea.

It was a test of their cognitive abilities.

When fictional characters barge into your everyday life.

The fruit still appears red because of a phenomenon known as color constancy.

Not just the shivers, not quite disgust.

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More:
Cornell's Food and Brand Lab Appears to Be Melting Down - New York Magazine

Daily Free Press (subscription)

Harvard professor describes behavioral science's effect on environmental awareness Daily Free Press (subscription) The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for International Studies held a talk on Monday, featuring Harvard Law School Professor Cass Sunstein, who spoke about how behavioral science and nudges, or subtle subliminal implications, affect ...

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Harvard professor describes behavioral science's effect on environmental awareness - Daily Free Press (subscription)

Anyone who has tried dieting knows that one of the biggest challenges is fighting hunger. Sometimes that healthy lunchtime salad just doesnt work and you start eyeing the office doughnuts. MealEnders hopes to alleviate that problem with lozenges that are meant to curb your enthusiasm for food using behavioral science. The seemingly miraculous product will be showcased on an upcoming episode of Shark Tank, though it hasnt yet been revealed whether any of the investors will bite.

They are signaling lozenges that combine behavioral psychology and sensory science to help you beat overeating, master portion control and curb snacking, Mark Bernstein the CEO and founder of San Francisco-based MealEnders told Forbes. There are no other products on the market that simply and safely help you stop.

The science behind MealEnders, which youre supposed to pop into your mouth when youve finished eating a reasonable amount of food, is simple. The small lozenges are comprised of two components: a sweet outer layer that is meant to emulate a meal-ending dessert, which triggers the reward center of the brain, and a second cooling layer that is supposed to engage the trigeminal nerve, responsible for the motor function of chewing among other things, and prevent overeating.

Though Bernstein is seeking capital for expansion on Shark Tank, his product has been out since 2015 and has decidedly mixed reviews. Some say the behavioral science works, but others say the product is a glorified chocolate breath mint thats all hype with few results.

The lozenges, which come in four flavors chocolate mint, cinnamon, mocha, and citrus cost $16.95 for a package of 25.

See more here:
This Lozenge Claims to Cure Your Overeating Habits - The Daily Meal

February 28, 2017 --

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) February 28, 2017

Motimatic, a mission-driven startup that pairs behavioral science with leading-edge advertising techniques to deliver motivational content to college students, today announced that it has secured $3.4 million in Series A funding, led by two of the nation's leading education-focused venture capital firms, University Ventures and New Markets Venture Partners.

With college graduation rates at less than 55 percent, colleges and universities are under increasing pressure to improve student persistence and completion. Motimatic's technology appliestheories of behavior change currently used in commercial advertising and social impact campaignsto increaseengagement and improve student outcomes.

Inspired by decades of experience in education and online advertising, as well as recent research on motivation and persuasion, Motimatic delivers behavioral science-based messages to students through the social media and digital communications networks they already use, including Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter, as well as through SMS and email. The messages, designed to encourage students to persist and engage in their coursework, appear in place of the online advertising that students would normally encounter on social media sites.

In the past few months, Motimatic has experienced significant growth, adding seven new university customers and more than 10,000 students. The first major study of Motimatic's impact, completed last fall with a group of 3,318 online students, found that the number of students who persisted in their studies after one year was 9% greater in the Motimatic group than in a comparison group that did not receive Motimatic messages.

?Colleges and universities are grappling with the challenge of keeping pace with students' shifting digital engagement and consumption habits," said Alan Tripp, co-founder and CEO of Motimatic. ?Motimatic's system streamlines this process, enabling higher ed institutions to reach students through the familiar channels they are already using."

Motimatic's turnkey system optimizes the distribution of motivational messages to specific students, drawing upon a library of more than 1,000 messages. The system personalizes the experience of each student based on academic and demographic characteristics to provide the type of targeted encouragement that has the greatest likelihood of impacting persistence and completion.

The funding round was led by University Ventures and New Markets Venture Partners, with additional participation from GSV, the Jefferson Education Accelerator, and Mike McCaffery, former CEO of the Stanford Management Corporation, which oversees the endowment at Stanford University.

?Motimatic's approach is unique in that it is both rooted in groundbreaking behavioral science and tailored to the digital culture of today's students," said Troy Williams, Managing Director of University Ventures. ?Unlike many other services that are trying to solve the student retention and persistence problem, Motimatic requires no new staff or staff time on the part of universities. It's truly turnkey and delivers results. We are excited to join them in their efforts to provide students with much-needed out-of-class support."

?As post-traditional students become the 'new normal' in higher education, these students face increasing financial, family and workforce demands, putting them at much higher risk of disengaging or dropping out. In order to respond, colleges and universities must look for innovative, evidence-based approaches to encourage and support students where they are," said Jason Palmer, General Partner at New Markets Venture Partners, who previously led the postsecondary innovation portfolio at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. ?Motimatic and its university partners have developed a pioneering system to engage this new generation of students and improve their likelihood of graduating."

About Motimatic Motimatic is an automatic motivation system for educational institutions seeking to improve student retention and completion. Our technology blends the latest advances in advertising technology and behavioral science to deliver motivating messages to students in place of commercial messages that they'd typically encounter on social media networks like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, as well as SMS and email. Nearly half of students who begin college never finish. Working with a wide range of educational institutions, Motimatic has the potential to increase student retention by more than 9% over the course of a year. Setting Motimatic up requires no new systems, and students do not have to "like", "follow" or download anything to receive messages. Motimatic is backed by leading venture capital firms, including University Ventures and New Markets Venture Partners.

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/03/prweb14105652.htm.

Source:PRWEB.COM Newswire. All Rights Reserved

Link:
Behavioral Science Startup Secures $3.4 Million in Series A ... - IT Business Net

Eleven St. Marys junior high students competed in the Regional Science Fair and brought home a variety of ribbons and awards.

Eleven St. Marys junior high students competed in the Regional Science Fair in Mankato on Saturday, Feb. 19 and brought home a variety of ribbons and awards. Eight students were awarded Purple and White Ribbons, earning advancement to the Minnesota State Science and Engineering Fair in Minneapolis March 25 to 27.

The three seventh grade students will advance to State, and each earned additional awards.

Natalie MartiTurn Milk into Plastic: Purple and White Ribbons, Broadcam Masters award, Most Outstanding Exhibits in Materials Science, Naval Science Excellence Award, Thin Film Scholar Award.

Maddie HoseThe Effects of the Angle of the Sun on Solar Power: Purple and White Ribbons, Thin Film Scholar Award, CSETAchievement Award for Energy.

Sophie KyllonenThe Effects of Straw Diameter on the Strength of a Mechanical Hand: Purple and White Ribbons, Broadcam Masters award, Naval Science Excellence Award, Thin Film Scholar Award.

Five eighth grade students also advance to state (the Purple and White Ribbon award winners.)

Braden HansenThe Power of Geothermal Energy: Purple and White Ribbons.

Anthony HelgetHydraulics: Purple and White Ribbons.

Patrick Hoffmann and Jacob LuxConverting a Four Stroke Engine to an Air Compressed Engine: Blue Ribbon.

Joey FischerPsychological Tendencies: Purple and White Ribbons, American Psychological Association for Research Award.

Regina SurprenantElectromagnetic Radiations Effect of Phaseolus vulgaris: Red Ribbon.

John BalkoElectric Motor Performance with Batteries: Purple and White Ribbons.

Abby St. PeterThe Effects of Stress on Short Term Memory: Purple and White Ribbons, CSET Achievement Award for Behavioral Science.

See the original post here:
Success at Regional Science Fair, several students headed to State - Crookston Daily Times

Oxytocin the "love hormone" perhaps best known for stimulating bonding between mothers and newborns, or between romantic partners may also play a role in dads' empathy toward their toddlers, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that fathers who were given a boost of oxytocin via a nasal spray, and then were shown a picture of their 1- or 2-year-old sons or daughters, showed higher levels of activity in regions of the brain linked with empathy and reward, compared with fathers who did not receive a dose of oxytocin.

This increased activity in the men's brains may elicit greater feelings of empathy and reward processing, and may motivate fathers to become more involved in caring for their children, said study author James Rilling, a professor of anthropology and psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University in Atlanta.

"It may also help fathers to interact with their children in a sensitive and emotionally responsive way," Rilling told Live Science. [11 Interesting Effects ofOxytocin]

The new findings were published Feb. 17 in the journal Hormones and Behavior.

Previous research has shown that oxytocin is released when people snuggle up or bond socially. The hormone is produced by the pituitary gland in the brain, in people of both sexes.

"Most people still think of oxytocin as a female hormone," Rilling said. Although the role of oxytocin has been better studied in women, in recent years researchers have started to investigate its potential effects in men.

It's well known that pregnant women experience a big release of oxytocin during labor, which promotes uterine contractions, as well as during breast-feeding, which stimulates the flow of breast milk, Rilling said. These dramatic hormone changes in pregnant and nursing women are believed to help prepare them for becoming mothers and caregivers, he said.

The new research represents one of the first forays into understanding what the hormone does in human males, and the findings provide evidence of oxytocin having a definite effect on fathers, too, Rilling told Live Science. [5 Ways Fatherhood Changes a Man's Brain]

There have been only a couple of human studies to date that have explored the role of oxytocin in the brains of fathers, Rilling said. In one study, done in 2014, oxytocin levels were shown to be higher in men who were married and had children, compared with men who were neither married nor fathers. In another study, done in 2010, oxytocin levels were found to increase in men over their first six months of fatherhood.

In the new study, researchers looked at 30 fathers of 1- or 2-year-old children. Half of the dads were given either a dose of oxytocin as a nasal spray or a placebo before undergoing a brain scan. The other 15 men, meanwhile, were given a dose of another pituitary hormone, called vasopressin, which is also involved in social bonding, or a placebo before the brain scan. The amount of oxytocin given to the men was thought to be within the range usually present in fathers.

The researchers then measured the men's brain activity with an MRI, to compare their responses to seeing a photo of their own child, a photo of an unknown child of a similar age, or a photo of an unknown adult. They also measured the men's reaction to hearing an infant's cry (but the sound was not the cry of their own child).

The results showed that fathers who were given oxytocin but not vasopressin had increased activity in brain regions involved in reward, empathy and attention, but only when shown a photo of their own child and not in any of the other scenarios of the experiment. [7 Baby Myths Debunked]

The findings show that there are dramatic hormonal changes in men that prepare them for becoming fathers, Rilling said, and oxytocin is one of the hormones involved in this process.

However, Rilling cautioned that not all fathers may experience these hormonal changes. For example, he said, other studies have found that testosterone levels in men can decrease when they become parents, but only if they are actively involved in caregiving.

Hormonal changes, such as a boost in oxytocin and a decrease in testosterone, in fathers can have big benefits: They can prepare men to be more interactive with their infants, and care for them in a sensitive and compassionate way, Rilling said.

The exact mechanism of how these changes in hormone levels occurs is not yet known, Rilling said. He speculated that there could be some cues coming from the baby, such as the infant's appearance, smell or touch, that stimulate oxytocin production in fathers. These hormone changes may tweak the brain function of fathers and motivate them to get more involved in caregiving, which could possibly perpetuate a positive cycle of the father's involvement, he said.

Although more research needs to be done to understand the brain mechanisms involved in this process, the study results may someday be helpful to men who suffer from deficits in paternal motivation due to drug dependence or postpartum depression, Rilling said.

Studies can explore whether giving these men oxytocin could potentially increase their ability to engage with their children, he said.

Originally published on Live Science.

Go here to read the rest:
'Love Hormone' May Help Dads Bond with Toddlers - Live Science

Bumble bees are surprisingly quick innovators.

Creative commons

By Virginia MorellFeb. 23, 2017 , 2:00 PM

Bumble bees may have small brains, but that doesnt mean theyre not inventive. A new study shows that the insects can innovate to solve complex problems, quickly figuring out a better way to get a sugar reward. Such mental flexibility may help bees overcome human-caused changes to their environment.

Its a cool study, and both the authors and the bees deserve credit for their innovativeness, says Dhruba Naug, a behavioral ecologist at Colorado State University in Fort Collins.

Bumble bees have already proven themselves remarkable animals. They possess complex navigational skills, rudimentary culture, and emotions. They can even use tools: Scientists have shown that the insects can learn to pull a stringand so get a sugary rewardby watching another bee perform the task. Although bees dont pull strings in the wild, they do sometimes pull or push aside flower petals and parts that may resemble strings.

That made us wonder if bees could learn to do something with an object they had never encountered in their evolutionary history, says Olli Loukola, a behavioral ecologist at Queen Mary University of London, an author on the string work.

So in the new study, Loukola and colleagues made the bees forage for sugar water by moving a small, yellow ball to a specific target (as in the video above)something far removed from what the insects do in the wild. The scientists first trained the bees to know that the ball had to be in a target location in order to yield sugar water. Then each insect was shown three yellow balls placed at varying distances from the target. Some bees watched a previously trained bee move the farthest ball to the target and get a reward. Other bees watched a ghosta magnet beneath the platformmove the farthest ball. And a third group didnt see a demonstration; they simply found the ball already at the target with the reward.

In separate tests, each bee was subsequently challenged to move one of the three balls to the target within five minutes. The 10 bumble bees that watched a sister perform the task were the most successful, the scientists report today in Science. They also solved the task faster than those that watched the ghost or didnt see a demonstration. Some of the latter bees solved the task entirely on their own.

The bees quickly figured out a better way to move the ball, too. Although those that watched the demonstrator initially pushed the ball to the target, in subsequent trials, they walked backwardand pulled the ballan unexpected and innovative change, the scientists say.

The bees also displayed inventivenesswhen deciding which ball to move. Although the demonstrator bees always moved the farthest ball (because the others were glued in place), most of the observer bees chose instead to move the ball that was closest to the target. When the researchers replaced the yellow ball that was closest to the target with a black ball, most of the bees moved it for the rewardshowing that they understood the general principle of the task: Move a ball to the center, not move only a yellow ball.

These bees solved the problem more effectively, and showed that they could generalize the solution to new situations, says Anne Leonard, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Nevada in Reno, who was not involved in the study.

This flexibility could help bumble bees in the wild, which face widespread population declines. It suggests that bees may be able to respond quickly to novel problems that arise in their environment, such as the introduction of new flowering plants and the loss of familiar ones, says Daniel Papaj, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

Most importantly for the studys researchers, It puts the final nail in the coffin of the idea that small brains constrain insects cognitive abilities, says co-author Lars Chittka, a behavioral ecologist also at Queen Mary University of London. Theres more going on beneath that exoskeleton than we think.

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Bumble bees are surprisingly innovative - Science Magazine

New behavioral therapy to support Japanese mothers of children ... Science Daily Researchers have successfully adapted a parent-training program for ADHD for use with families in Japan, where ADHD-specific behavioral interventions are ... and more »

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New behavioral therapy to support Japanese mothers of children ... - Science Daily