Understanding Behavioral Science

Behavioral Science in the Wild helps managers understand how best to incorporate key research findings to solve their own behavior change challenges in the real world – from lab to field. Behavioral Science in the Wild helps managers to implement research findings on behavioral change in their own workplace operations and to apply them to business or policy problems. As the second book in the Behaviourally Informed Organizations series, Behavioral Science in the Wild takes a step back to address the "why" and "how" behind the origins of behavioral insights, and how best to translate and scale behavioral science from lab-based research findings. Governments, for-profit enterprises, and welfare organizations have increasingly started relying on findings from the behavioral sciences to develop more accessible and user-friendly products, processes, and experiences for their end-users. While there is a burgeoning science that helps us to understand why people act and make the decisions that they do, and how their actions can be influenced, we still lack a precise science and strategic insights into how some key theoretical findings can be successfully translated, scaled, and applied in the field. Nina Mažar and Dilip Soman are joined by leading figures from both the academic and applied behavioral sciences to develop a nuanced framework for how managers can best translate results from pilot studies into their own organizations and behavior change challenges using behavioral science.

What do evolutionary science and contextual behavioral science have in common? Edited by David Sloan Wilson and Steven C. Hayes, this groundbreaking book offers a glimpse into the histories of these two schools of thought, and provides a sound rationale for their reintegration. Evolutionary science (ES) provides a unifying theoretical framework for the biological sciences, and is increasingly being applied to the human-related sciences. Meanwhile, contextual behavioral science (CBS) seeks to understand the history and function of human behavior in the context of everyday life where behaviors occur, and to influence behavior in a practical sense. This volume seeks to integrate these two bodies of knowledge that have developed largely independently. In Evolution and Contextual Behavioral Science, two renowned experts in their fields argue why ES and CBS are intrinsically linked, as well as why their reintegration—or, reunification—is essential. The main purpose of this book is to continue to move CBS under the umbrella of ES, and to help evolutionary scientists understand how working alongside contextual behavioral scientists can foster both the development of ES principles and their application to practical situations. Rather than the sequential relationship that is typically imagined between these two schools of thought, this volume envisions a parallel relationship between ES and CBS, where science can best influence positive change in the real world.

Understanding Statistics in the Behavioral Sciences is designed to help readers understand research reports, analyze data, and familiarize themselves with the conceptual underpinnings of statistical analyses used in behavioral science literature. The authors review statistics in a way that is intended to reduce anxiety for students who feel intimidated by statistics. Conceptual underpinnings and practical applications are stressed, whereas algebraic derivations and complex formulas are reduced. New ideas are presented in the context of a few recurring examples, which allows readers to focus more on the new statistical concepts than on the details of different studies. The authors' selection and organization of topics is slightly different from the ordinary introductory textbook. It is motivated by the needs of a behavioral science student, or someone in clinical practice, rather than by formal, mathematical properties. The book begins with hypothesis testing and then considers how hypothesis testing is used in conjunction with statistical designs and tests to answer research questions. In addition, this book treats analysis of variance as another application of multiple regression. With this integrated, unified approach, students simultaneously learn about multiple regression and how to analyze data associated with basic analysis of variance and covariance designs. Students confront fewer topics but those they do encounter possess considerable more power, generality, and practical importance. This integrated approach helps to simplify topics that often cause confusion. Understanding Statistics in the Behavioral Sciences features:*Computer-based exercises, many of which rely on spreadsheets, help the reader perform statistical analyses and compare and verify the results using either SPSS or SAS. These exercises also provide an opportunity to explore definitional formulas by altering raw data or terms within a formula and immediately see the consequences thus providing a deeper understanding of the basic concepts. *Key terms and symbols are boxed when first introduced and repeated in a glossary to make them easier to find at review time. *Numerous tables and graphs, including spreadsheet printouts and figures, help students visualize the most critical concepts. This book is intended as a text for introductory behavioral science statistics. It will appeal to instructors who want a relatively brief text. The book's active approach to learning, works well both in the classroom and for individual self-study.

Presents papers which were discussed at the Arden House Conference—a conference held to establish a working relationship between sociologists at the Russell Sage Foundation and journalists of the Graduate School of Journalism of Columbia University. Both behavioral science and journalism have for a long time been concerned with some of the same major national social problems—juvenile delinquency, urban problems, race and minority group relations, international tensions, and labor relations. These papers touch on some of the barriers to communication and point to possible ways of breaking through those barriers.

Behavioral psychology is the scientific study of the behavior exhibited by humans. The behavior is mostly observed in reaction to specific situations. Behavioral psychology integrates principles of philosophy and psychology. This book presents the complex subject of behavioral psychology in the most comprehensible and easy to understand language. From theories to research to practical applications, case studies related to all contemporary topics of relevance to this field have been included herein. It will help the readers in keeping pace with the rapid changes in this field.