Foundations of Behavioral Science
Explore the expanding applications of behavioral insights across sectors, with a focus on theories, implementation methods, and policy through scientific and real-world examples.
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Course Description
Gain a deep understanding of how behavioral science is applied across industries to influence decision-making and policy. This course explores key theories, real-world applications, and the effectiveness of behavioral interventions, with a special focus on policy. By the end of the course, learners will be equipped to assess, implement, and evaluate behavioral insights in various professional contexts.
- Examine fundamental theories and methods of behavioral science, including rational choice theory, prospect theory, and behavioral interventions.
- Analyze real-world applications of behavioral science, exploring successes and failures across management, finance, and public policy.
- Evaluate behavioral interventions such as nudges, financial penalties, and social norms, assessing their impact on decision-making and public policy.
- Identify opportunities for applying behavioral insights to solve challenges in finance, the environment, and other industries.
What You Will Learn
By the end of this course, learners will:
- Have a strong understanding of the fundamentals of applied behavioral science.
- Understand the core theories and methods of behavioral science.
- Explore successes and failures of behavioral science applied in the real world.
- Identify opportunities for behavioral applications in health, environment, finance, management, and public service.
- Analyze and identify opportunities for behavioral interventions and evaluate attempted implementation.
- Module 1: Introduction to Behavioral Science
This lecture introduces the core concepts of behavioral science for public policy, focusing on how individuals make decisions, the influence of behavioral economics, and the application of rational choice theory, while highlighting the complexities of human behavior in real-life contexts​.
- Module 2: Behavioral Science Fundamentals
This module explores the transition from fundamental theories in behavioral science to real-world applications, highlighting key concepts like prospect theory, nudges, and behavioral interventions.
- Module 3: Behavioral Science and Policy
This module explains how behavioral interventions like nudges, financial penalties, and social norms can influence public policy and personal decision-making, emphasizing the importance of understanding unintended consequences.
- Module 4: Behavioral Science and Healthcare
This module delves into health behaviors and decision-making processes, exploring key behavioral science concepts and real-world case studies. It emphasizes the impact of interventions on public health, highlighting marginal behavior shifts and their significance.
- Module 5: Solving Major Challenges with Behavioral Science
This module explores how behavioral science addresses major challenges in different industries. It includes a variety of case studies, and you will engage with reflective questions through various learning activities.
Instructors
Dr. Kai Ruggeri is a professor in the Department of Health Policy & Management at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. He studies fundamental questions of population behavior and decision-making, primarily in the fields of finance and health. He focuses on how integrating behavioral evidence into policies can reduce inequalities and benefit the well-being of entire populations.
His recent projects involve behavioral policy studies that focus on large-scale data related to economic choices and their outcomes, which have been widely covered in the media around the world. Collaborating partners include local and national governments, non-profit organizations, industry, and other academic institutions, in New York, across the US, and abroad. Kai joined Columbia in 2017 after founding the Policy Research Group at the University of Cambridge, which he joined in 2011.
At Columbia Mailman, he teaches courses in analytics, behavior and decision-making, public policy, and managerial economics. Kai also founded and directs the Global Behavioral Science (GLOBES) program at Columbia. He is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Business Research in the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge, as well as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences. Kai completed his PhD at Queen's University, Belfast, in Northern Ireland. He is an Officer in the US Air Force and the New York Air National Guard.