NOTE: Due to copyright constraints, this session will only be available live. It will not be recorded.

Have you ever wondered why people who desperately want to adopt healthier lifestyles don’t stick with them once their initial burst of motivation fades? People logically understand the importance of creating healthy habits (better health, weight loss, disease prevention, etc.), and yet this understanding often does not prevent them from struggling to change behavior related to these habits.

In this provocative opening session, Michelle Segar will showcase the science for a new paradigm to better foster sustainable behavior change. You will examine why logic-based reasons for behavior change keep people stuck in cycles of starting and stopping but not behavioral sustainability. Via a science-based story, you will learn a novel approach to promoting self-care, health, and wellness behaviors, and you will discover how this approach can be applied across multiple organizational and individual contexts. You will leave this session with a more strategic way to design for and promote sustainable behavior change.

Neuroscience (aka brain-based learning) is one of the hottest topics in training and education. Over 40,000 neuroscience studies have been published in scientific journals. Learning practitioners are drawn to this research as a source of wisdom for their learning designs. Yet despite its promise, neuroscience is a fairly young field. Questions remain. Are neuroscience findings valid? Are they relevant to learning design? Are they useful?

In this session, noted research translator Will Thalheimer will review the research on neuroscience. You will explore research that debunks common myths, and you’ll pinpoint misconceptions related to brain-based learning. You will also receive practical suggestions for how to approach neuroscience recommendations.

Most learning programs have the goal of supporting behavior change, even a change as simple as getting people to do their job better. Organizational learning traditionally measures desired outcomes in terms of “learning objectives,” which are fairly straightforward to identify. In contrast, identifying the root cause of behavior change problems is considerably more complex.

 In this session, Julie Dirksen will examine the differences between analyzing learning objectives and diagnosing behavior change problems. You will explore behavior change from multiple angles, including why people do what they do today, why they may resist changing their behavior tomorrow, and more. You will leave this session with strategies you can use to diagnose behavior change problems in the organizations you support. 

Have you ever wanted to pick the brain of an expert on brain science and behavior change? Now’s your chance!

In this closing session for day one of the Science of Behavior Change Summit, moderator David Kelly will be joined by three speakers who will further examine the science behind their work and discuss how it can be applied to organizational learning. The floor will also be open to attendees, allowing you to share your own experiences and ask your own questions of the panel.

There are many well-entrenched practices associated with training. As the body of knowledge about neuroscience and the science of behavior change continues to grow, the effectiveness of some of our current practices comes into question.

 In this session, professor Art Kohn will examine how today’s cutting-edge advancements in science are making training more effective at Google. You will examine how the brain uses metaphor and emotion to encode information. You will learn how to improve attention spans by understanding levels of consciousness, and discover how to design effective follow-up training by tapping into the mnemonic principles of memory. You will leave this session with an understanding of how the brain controls learning and memory, and how Google is applying this knowledge to create engaging eLearning. 

Playing games is the prototypical example of an intrinsically motivating activity, and motivation in behavior change is a pivotal issue. For example, billions of dollars are spent each year to move our behaviors in a healthier direction and avert conditions such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other costly and painful afflictions. Leveraging the motivational dynamics of gameplay to energize and sustain people through behavior change is a challenging yet profound solution.

In this session, Dustin DiTommaso will double-tap into the techniques game designers use to motivate, engage, and reward players. You will examine the theory and evidence-based methods and models for how games and play can shape our psychological processes, influencing behavior and subjective well-being. You will also explore the delicate balance of challenge and reward, competition and social support, goal setting and scaffolding, and meaningful feedback in game design for behavior change.

NOTE:  Due to a family emergency, the original speaker, Dustin DiTomasso is unable to present this session. Julie Dirksen will be presenting the session.

Don’t you just love it when people motivate you to change your behavior? Do you relish the prospect of a good, long look in the mirror? If you said no to either of these questions (or if you hear this from people you are trying to help), you might want to learn more about participatory story work. Working with stories is an ancient and universal—but recently neglected—way for people to surprise and motivate themselves by playfully and obliquely looking back over their experiences to discover lessons they never noticed they learned and energy they never knew they had. By paying serious yet creative attention to the ground truth of their experiences, they can open their eyes and nudge their ornery selves in a better direction.

This session will introduce you to the growing field of participatory narrative inquiry, which helps groups of people explore their experiences to surprise themselves with new insights and new energy for positive change. You’ll explore foundational concepts, learn from war stories of eye-opening projects, and gain effective story-based activities you can use right away.