6 psychological tricks that make learning stick power point
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
Sebastian Bailey, PhD President, Mind Gym Inc. @DrSebBailey #Mindgym
Six psychological tricks that make learning stick
© Mind Gym
How do you increase
the quit rate of
smokers?
01
2
© Mind Gym
Old habit, new habit
3
01
Source: Prochaska, J. et al. (2001) A Transtheoretical
Approach To Changing Organizations. Administration and
Policy in Mental Health, 28 (4), 247-261
Persisting Contemplating Preparing Acting Maintaining
“I enjoy
smoking.”
“Maybe I
should
give up.”
“I’m definitely
going to
quit, and I
know how.”
“I’ve quit,
it’s hard, but
I’ve quit.”
“I’ve not
smoked for
more than
6 months.”
© Mind Gym
Decision in the balance
4
Pros
Cons
Source: Prochaska, J. O., Norcross, J. C., & DiClemente, C. C.
(1995). Changing for good. New York: Avon Books.
01
60
T S
core
s
PE C P A M
Quitting smoking
50
40
52
51
45
52
© Mind Gym
Decision in the balance
5
60
50
40
T S
core
s
PE C P A M
Quitting Smoking
60
50
40
T S
core
s
PE C P A M
Using sunscreen
60
50
40
T S
core
s
PE C P A M
Weight control
60
50
40
T S
core
s
PE C P A M
Exercising
Pros
Cons
Source: Prochaska, J. O., Norcross, J. C., & DiClemente, C. C.
(1995). Changing for good. New York: Avon Books.
01
At the Acting stage
the pros outweigh
the cons
At the Persisting
stage, the cons
outweigh the pros
© Mind Gym
How to apply this trick
6
Think habit change as much as learning and recognize the stages of change
Don’t rush people from persisting to acting and expect much change
Encouraging belief in the value of change is as important as building the capability for change
01
© Mind Gym 7
02 How do you get a
group of know-it-all
MBA graduates to
do as they’re told?
© Mind Gym 8
© Mind Gym
Harnessing positive stress
9
Strong
Weak
Perf
orm
ance
Low High Arousal
02
© Mind Gym
Have you had your shots?
10
02
Recommend
only
Recommend
only
13
0
Fear
Importance of shots
Fear
Intention to get shots
Source: Leventhal, H., Singer, R., & Jones, S. (1965). Effects of
fear and specificity of recommendation upon attitudes and
behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2(1),
20.
11.9 11.3
8.7
7.0
© Mind Gym
Control or
Fear alone
Have you had your shots?
11
3.3%
33%
Fear &
Explicit steps
% o
f p
eo
ple
se
ekin
g v
accin
atio
ns
02
Source: Leventhal et al. (1965)
© Mind Gym 12
How to apply this trick
Schedule learning just before or after a challenging experience
Sell the need – and the personal consequence of not developing
Make the call to action, and the steps to solve the problem, clear and explicit
02
© Mind Gym 13
03 How do you get
people to donate
more money to a
charity?
© Mind Gym
Save the children
14
$1.43 $2.38
03
Source: Small, A. et al. (2007). Sympathy and Callousness: The Impact
of Deliberative Thought on Donations to Identifiable and Statistical
Victims. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.
© Mind Gym
Stats vs. Stories 03
5 in 100 remembered a statistic 63 in 100 remembered a story
15
© Mind Gym
7
6
5
4
3
Me
an
“a
ccu
racy”
ratin
g
Why rhyme is sublime 03
Source: McGlone, M. S., & Tofighbakhsh, J. (2000). Birds of a
feather flock conjointly (?): Rhyme as reason in
aphorisms. Psychological Science, 11(5), 424-428.
Original (rhyme) Modified
Woes unite foes e.g. Woes unite enemies
16
© Mind Gym 17
How to apply this trick
Don’t just tell, use stories that sell
Stats and number will cause slumber
While rhyme and emotion will win devotion
03
© Mind Gym 18
04 How do you get job
seekers to improve
their resume?
© Mind Gym
Where and when matters
Group 1
Group 2 Think in advance about
where, when and how they
were going to get started
with the task of improving
their resume
(implementation intention)
Were asked to commit to
completing it (goal intention)
Results:
80% of participants who
considered where, when
and how they would update
their resume did so
20% of participants who
committed to updating their
resume did so
Only
04
19 Source: Oettingen, Gabriele, Gaby Hönig, and Peter M. Gollwitzer.
"Effective self-regulation of goal attainment." International Journal of
Educational Research33.7 (2000): 705-732.
© Mind Gym
Where and when matters
Group 1
Group 2
The intention to perform a
certain action at a given time
and place
e.g. I will do as many math puzzles
as possible each Wednesday at 9am
Adding an "if-then" plan (" ... and
if situation x arises, I will perform
behavior y") to goal intentions
e.g. If it is Wednesday at 9am,
I will do as many math puzzles
as possible.
8 hrs
Participants deviated from
their desired time by an
average of:
1½ hrs
Participants deviated from
their desired time by an
average of:
04
Results:
20 Source: Oettingen, Gabriele, Gaby Hönig, and Peter M. Gollwitzer.
"Effective self-regulation of goal attainment." International Journal of
Educational Research33.7 (2000): 705-732.
© Mind Gym
And create social support
21
03
But don’t kid yourself
that sharing the goal
is progress
This creates a feeling
of accountability
© Mind Gym 22
How to apply this trick
Use implementation intentions to drive transfer
Use if… then… statements
Get people to tell others about their commitment
04
© Mind Gym 23
05 How do you get
drivers to notice
bicyclists?
© Mind Gym
Test your awareness
24
05
© Mind Gym
Getting to the ‘right’ solution
No hint
100%
0%
% s
ug
ge
sting
th
e ‘rig
ht’
so
lutio
n
Hint
05
20%
Failure in
opportunity
recognition
Source: Gick & Holyoak (1980)
92%
25
© Mind Gym 26
How to apply this trick
Use cues and prompts in the real world to focus attention
Set specific ‘missions’ built into the workflow
Develop the participants’ mindfulness as part of the experience
05
© Mind Gym 27
06 What makes a
psychology professor
behave like a soccer
hooligan?
© Mind Gym 28
© Mind Gym
Primed behavior
29
06
Professors Assistants No prime
Source: Dijksterhuis and van Knippenberg (1998), Journal of
Personality and Social Phycology, Vol. 74, No. 4, 865-877
© Mind Gym
Priming in practice
30
Now listen to this:
Did you understand anything? ‘It's fun to smoke marijuana.
It's fun to smoke marijuana.
It's fun to smoke marijuana.
It's fun to smoke marijuana.’
Listen to this clip:
© Mind Gym 31
How to apply this trick
Use priming to increase the participants’ view of themselves as great learners
Develop tools to support participants in their problem solving
Prompt participants to adopt the right ‘thinking frame’ for the problem at hand
06
© Mind Gym
Six tricks that make learning stick
Build belief in the early stages of change
Create emotional arousal
Use stories over facts
Use written, shared, implementation intentions
Set specific ‘missions’ built into the workflow
Prime the right mindset by providing tools
32
01
02
03
04
05
06
© Mind Gym
Toolkit for coach (ideally
manager) increases social
support and accountability.
Instructor led session with
a strong focus on solving a
real world problem. Shares
general principles
(supporting far transfer) and
allows for practice.
Why the bite size methodology makes
learning stick
33
Engagement campaign
that creates interest, anxiety
and perceived relevance.
Diagnostic that increases
perceived value to
the individual. Creates
optimal arousal.
Distributed practice (i.e. distributing
experiences) increases performance
by 17%.
Mission: Application task
built into the participants
workflow. Solves issues of
opportunity recognition and
time to apply.
Pledge: Very specific focus on
transfer, using relapse prevention
techniques, like implementation
intentions, and social pressure.
Booster: After-action review,
where participants share
stories of success, failure
and learning from transfer
attempts. Increases feeling
of accountability and
resilience.
Participant toolkit acts as
‘scaffolding’ for the learning.
It primes the right mindset
and prompts transfer.
Toolkit
1 million Participants
1,200 Companies
250 Coaches
30 Languages
40 Countries
2013 Learning Company
of the Year
New York
London
Dubai
Singapore
Sebastian Bailey, PhD President, Mind Gym Inc. @DrSebBailey #Mindgym