BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE TALKS

Introduction to Behavioral Science

Introduction to Behavioral Science
This talk gives an overview of the world of behavioral science, the work at the Harvard Decision Science Lab, shares lab study examples and real-world applications by the public and private sectors. You will learn how to design an observational and experimental study and practice your learning.

Alki Iliopoulou, Director, Harvard Decision Science Lab

Sponsors: Harvard Clubs of Merrimack Valley, North Shore, Concord, and the Harvard Kennedy School, NE Alumni Association

Lunch with Harvard Law School Professor Cass Sunstein

Join us for a virtual chat with renowned Harvard Law School professor Cass Sunstein as he dives into the world of behavioral economics and its application today.

About: Cass R. Sunstein, Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard Law School, was Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Obama administration. He was the recipient of the 2018 Holberg Prize, one of the largest annual international research prizes awarded to scholars who have made outstanding contributions to research in the arts and humanities, social science, law, or theology. He is the author of The Cost-Benefit Revolution, How Change Happens (both published by the MIT Press), Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness (with Richard H. Thaler), and other books.

Confronting COVID-19: Nudge and Sludge with Professor Cass Sunstein

What can officials and citizens across the world do to slow down the spread of coronavirus? How effective are nudges in this case and what behavioral barriers – or sludge – need to be removed?

Speaker: Professor Cass Sunstein, Robert Walmsley University Professor, Harvard Law School; Co-author – with Nobel laureate Richard Thaler - of Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness; former Senior Advisor to President Obama.

Chair: Alki Iliopoulou, Director, Harvard Decision Science Lab

Cosponsored: The Harvard Club of Merrimack Valley and The Harvard Kennedy Alumni Association of New England.

EVIDENCE ON BEHAVIOR DURING COVID-19

In this talk, we are fortunate to hear Cristina present for the first time newly found evidence their center collected from nine countries (Italy, Spain, Germany, England, China, S. Korea, Mexico, Colombia, US) around the world on behaviors during COVID-19.

Cristina Bicchieri is the S. J. P. Harvie Chair of Social Thought and Comparative Ethics, and Professor of Philosophy and Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the director of the Master of Behavioral and Decision Sciences, the Philosophy, Politics and Economics Program, the Behavioral Ethics Lab, and the Center for Social Norms and Behavioral Dynamics. She has published more than 100 articles and several books, among which are The Grammar of Society: the Nature and Dynamics of Social Norms, Cambridge University Press, 2006 and Norms in the Wild: How to Diagnose, Measure and Change Social Norms, Oxford University Press 2016. She works on social norms measurement and behavioral/field experiments on norm change, cooperation and fairness on social networks. Her most recent work looks at the role of trendsetters in social change, and how network structures facilitate or impair behavioral changes.

Host: Alki Iliopoulou, Director, Harvard Decision Science Lab
Co-sponsored:
Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Association, NE
Harvard Club of Merrimack Valley

THE SCIENCE OF RELATIONSHIPS

Rick is a relationship expert, a clinical psychologist that specializes in the science of relationships. This session will be a Q&A to give the opportunity to attendees to ask any questions about relationships. Rick will be answering your questions based on scientific findings and his many years of experience working with couples and applying research.

Host: Alki Iliopoulou, Director, Harvard Decision Science Lab

Co-sponsored:

Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Association, NE

Harvard Decision Science Lab

Pre-Suasion with Father of Persuasion Robert Cialdini

We are honored to host the father of persuasion and author of the bestseller book "Influence", Robert Cialdini! Here is an introduction if you are not familiar with his work. 

What separates average persuaders from extraordinarily successful ones?

 Using the same combination of rigorous scientific research and accessibility that made his Influence an iconic bestseller, Robert Cialdini explains how the best communicators capitalize on “privileged moments” in which audiences become receptive to a message before they experience it.  Optimal persuasion is achieved through optimal pre-suasion.  To change behavior in others, savvy pre-suaders know that “it’s what you do before you do what you do” that’s important.

Bio

Robert Cialdini is Regents’ Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University. He is the author of three New York Times bestsellers including Influence and his newest book, Pre-Suasion.

Robert Cialdini is recognized as a pioneer for his rigorous scientific studies, publishing, and popular speaking programs exploring the psychological factors that lead us to agree to requests.  

Among his many honors and awards, Robert Cialdini has been elected president of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology and to membership in the National Academy of Sciences as well as the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Robert Cialdini is a popular media guest and a frequent corporate keynote speaker throughout the world.  He is president and CEO of INFLUENCE AT WORK which provides programs on the ethical use of the science of influence.

Cialdini attributes his long-standing interest in the intricacies of social influence to being raised in an entirely Italian family, in a predominantly Polish neighborhood, in a historically German city (Milwaukee), in an otherwise rural state.

What Makes A Good Life? Lessons from the Longest Study On Happiness with Dr. Robert Waldinger (HMS)

What keeps us happy and healthy as we go through life? If you think it's fame and money, you're not alone – but, according to psychiatrist Robert Waldinger, you're mistaken. As the director of an 80-year-old study on adult development, Waldinger has unprecedented access to data on true happiness and satisfaction. In this talk, he shares three important lessons learned from the study as well as some practical, old-as-the-hills wisdom on how to build a fulfilling, long life.

Bio:
Robert Waldinger is a Harvard psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and Zen priest. As director of the longest study on adult life and happiness, he has learned some surprising things about what the good life actually looks like.