Day 6: Biased processing and behavior change

What is conservation psychology?

The study of human thought about the environment and conservation, focusing on the individual, including values, beliefs, attitudes, and norms.

Why is understanding cognitive bias important for conservation?

It helps explain why people behave the way they do, predict how conservation work will be perceived, and work more effectively with stakeholders.

System 1 thinking

Quick, automatic processing that requires less effort but is more prone to bias.

System 2 thinking

Slow, deliberate processing that requires more effort and is generally more logical.

System 1 vs. System 2

System 1 is fast and automatic; System 2 is slower and deliberate. System 1 is more prone to bias, while System 2 requires greater effort.

What is rational choice theory?

The idea that people have stable preferences and accurately weigh the expected costs, benefits, and probabilities of alternative options.

What is cognitive bias?

A tendency to draw potentially incorrect conclusions through shortcuts in reasoning.

Why do people use cognitive shortcuts?

To manage limited information, make decisions quickly, simplify memories, and handle complex situations.

How can people respond to not having enough information?

They may assume they know what others think, find patterns in sparse data, and fill knowledge gaps with stereotypes, generalities, and anecdotes.

How can the need to act quickly contribute to bias?

People may prefer simple options, stick with things they have invested in, and try to preserve their autonomy or group status.

How do people simplify or distort memories?

They reduce events to key elements, discard specifics to form generalities, and remember events differently depending on how they experienced them.

How can having too much information contribute to bias?

People notice information that is repeated or already in memory, notice others' flaws more easily than their own, and focus on details that confirm existing beliefs.

How does direct experience affect perceptions?

Direct experience is often more impactful than hypothetical problems, and people may struggle to understand abstract or distant issues.

Why can doom-and-gloom conservation messaging fail?

Presenting large challenges without solutions can lead to apathy rather than action.

What is biased processing?

Information consistent with existing attitudes and beliefs is accepted readily, while contradictory evidence is often discounted.

What is confirmation bias?

The tendency to seek information that reinforces preconceptions, often connected to identity, political ideology, or demographics.

How does identity influence bias?

Bias can be shaped by in-group/out-group distinctions, political ideology, worldviews, and social identity.

What is selective exposure?

Filtering out information that conflicts with one's existing views.

What is selective perception?

Interpreting or altering the meaning of information that conflicts with one's views so it seems consistent with them.

What is selective retention?

Being more likely to remember information that supports one's existing views.

How can strong attitudes affect information processing?

They can lead to biased reception and evaluation of information, resulting in minimal attitude change even when people encounter opposing evidence.

Does bias mean a person is always wrong?

No. Bias means a person may process information or behave less rationally; cognitive shortcuts help make complicated situations manageable.

How might cognitive bias affect a wildlife management decision?

A manager may make assumptions about people's concerns, give extra weight to information supporting an initial impression, or choose a simple solution without gathering enough context.

What is the role of communication in addressing bias?

Understand the audience, frame communication to align with existing beliefs, consider whether people will use System 1 or System 2 processing, and make messages clear and connected to people's experiences.

What is status quo bias?

The tendency to prefer doing what one has always done.

What is anchoring?

Relying on an initial piece of information when making subsequent judgments.

What is issue framing?

Presenting an issue in a particular way to influence how people interpret it; in the lecture's example, it involves highlighting potential losses from not taking an action.

What is a decoy in behavioral decision-making?

An option designed to make the desired option look better by comparison.

How can a decoy influence a decision?

Adding a less attractive comparison option can make the preferred option appear to offer better value.

What caution did the lecture give about loss-framed conservation messages?

A preliminary finding showed people were less likely to leash their dogs near nesting shorebirds after viewing a loss-framed sign, suggesting that loss framing can backfire.

What does the shorebird sign example teach about behavior-change messaging?

A message that seems persuasive in theory may produce an unintended behavior. Conservationists should test messages and measure actual outcomes.

How can conservationists use behavioral insights ethically?

They can design clearer, more effective communication and interventions without changing the truth or relying on deceit.

What is the overall takeaway of the lecture?

Everyone is subject to bias. Understanding cognitive biases and using effective communication and behavioral interventions can help address them in conservation.