Week 6 Flashcards
(22 cards)
What is the original definition of a nudge?
“A nudge, as we will use the term, is any aspect of the choice architecture that alters people’s behavior in a predictable way without
forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives. To count as a mere nudge, the intervention must be easy
and cheap to avoid. Nudges are not mandates. Putting fruit at eye level counts as a nudge. Banning junk food does not.”
What is libertarian paternalism?
Paternalism: “it tries to influence choices in a way that will make choosers better off, as judged by themselves”
Libertarian “people should be free to opt out of specified arrangements if they choose to do so”
What is the working definition of nudging?
Nudging is an umbrella term for deliberate and predictable methods of
changing people’s behavior by modifying the cues in the physical
and/or social context in which they act. It uses these cues to activate
nonconscious thought processes involved in human decision‐making.
Nudging implies that none of the choices should be difficult to avoid,
made mandatory, incentivized economically or socially, and made
significantly more costly in terms of time or trouble
What does the M in mindspace stand for?
Messenger
What does the I in mindspace stand for?
Incentives
What does the N in mindspace stand for?
Norms
What does the D in mindspace stand for?
Defaults
What does the S in mindspace stand for?
Salience: Our attention is drawn to what is novel and seems relevant to us.
Our attention is drawn at things that are:
- Simple
- Accessible
- Novel (contrast)
What does the P in mindspace stand for?
Priming: Our acts are often influenced by sub-conscious cues.
We can subconsciously be influenced by:
- Words
- Sights
- Smells
What does the A in mindspace stand for?
Affect: Emotional associations can powerfully shape our actions.
What does the C in mindspace stand for?
Commitment: We seek to be consistent with our public promises, and reciprocate acts’
Commitment is a powerful tool to use, for example:
* Commitment contracts
* Public commitments (i.e. oaths)
* Reciprocity (committing to returning the favor)
What does the E in mindspace stand for?
Ego: We act in ways that make us feel better about ourselves.
What is an easy definition of nudging?
Changing elements in the choice architecture (the environment in which we make choices) without changing incentives or affecting freedom of choice.
What are some arguments for nudging?
- There is no such thing as no choice architecture or a neutral design. The way in which choices are presented will inevitably affect choice, even if no one deliberately designed it. If the alternative is that choice architecture is designed with profit in mind, or by pure chance – Liberian paternalism seems warranted. In other words: it is preferable that a government or agent with our best interest in mind designs the choice architecture to promote that interest.
- Nudging is liberty preserving – you can
always reject the behaviour it is designed to
promote. No incentives are significantly changed
(otherwise it is not a nudge). Everyone is free to do what they want.
What are some arguments against nudging?
- Nudging is manipulative – it is playing on our weaknesses, and works best in the dark.
- Nudging is paternalistic, as we can not judge if we are making people better off (as preferred by themselves).
When are nudges considered manipulative?
When they are using automatic thinking and non-transparent
What does ecological rationality say?
What is rational depends on the task and environment, and not on ‘laws’ or ‘axioms’. Rational decision makers use fast-and-frugal heuristics, i.e. simple decision rules that work very well in many contexts.
Where does boosting come from?
We are actually very intelligent and rational, as we are able to act fast on the basis of incomplete information. We need to empower people to use
effective decision strategies!
Why are nudge and boost seen as competitors?
Nudge:
- De-bias
- By using people’s biases and heuristics
- Through changes in the choice representation
- To steer towards the truly preffered choice
Boost:
- Re-bias
- By replacing outdated biases and heuristics and/or filling of highly consequential knowledge gaps
- Through changes in the choice representation, training (environment or DM-skills & strategies)
- To help people understand better and learn new skills
What is a definition of boosting?
A boost is an intervention that targets
competences, by enlisting human cognition,
the environment or both
What are examples of boosting?
- Natural frequency training: This includes absolute and relative risks. For example, your chance of death decreases with 30%. But this can be from 10 out of 20 to 7 out of 20 or from 10 out of 2000 to 7 out of 2000. So absolute risk is more useful at communicating the true impact of an intervention.
- Fast and frugal decision trees: Instead of using very long questionaires, you can use fast and frugal decision trees, so you change the environment.
What kind of challenges may you face when applying social sciences in policies?
- Sometimes public goals have contradictory implications
- Sometimes the individual autonomy and group well-being contradict
- Line between objective facts and ideology not clear
- Sometimes time limitations unrealistic science <-> policy
- Research used in colliding interests between stakeholders
