The behavioural sciences explore the cognitive processes within organisms and the behavioural interactions between organisms in the natural world. It involves the systematic analysis and investigation of human and animal behaviour through naturalistic observation, controlled scientific experimentation and mathematical modeling. It attempts to accomplish legitimate, objective conclusions through rigorous formulations and observation.[1] Examples of behavioural sciences include psychology, psychobiology, anthropology, economics, and cognitive science. Generally, behavioural science primarily seeks to generalise about human behaviour as it relates to society and its impact on society as a whole.[2]
Insights from several pure disciplines across behavioural sciences are explored by various applied disciplines and practiced in the context of everyday life and business.[4]
Consumer behaviour, for instance, is the study of the decision making process consumers make when purchasing goods or services. It studies the way consumers recognise problems and discover solutions. Behavioural science is applied in this study by examining the patterns consumers make when making purchases, the factors that influenced those decisions, and how to take advantage of these patterns.
Organisational behaviour is the application of behavioural science in a business setting. It studies what motivates employees, how to make them work more effectively, what influences this behaviour, and how to use these patterns in order to achieve the company's goals. Managers often use organisational behaviour to better lead their employees.
Using insights from psychology and economics, behavioural science can be leveraged to understand how individuals make decisions regarding their health and ultimately reduce disease burden through interventions such as loss aversion, framing, defaults, nudges, and more. The University of Pennsylvania's Center for Health Incentives & Behavioral Economics uses behavioural science to inform health policy; improve health care delivery; and increase healthy behaviour in areas such as physical activity, vaccine uptake, medication adherence, smoking cessation, and food choice.[5]
The terms behavioural sciences and social sciences are interconnected fields[6] that both study systematic processes of behaviour, but they differ on their level of scientific analysis for various dimensions of behaviour.[7]
Behavioural sciences abstract empirical data to investigate the decision process and communication strategies within and between organisms in a social system. This characteristically involves fields like psychology, social neuroscience, ethology, and cognitive science. In contrast, social sciences provide a perceptive framework to study the processes of a social system through impacts of a social organisation on the structural adjustment of the individual and of groups. They typically include fields like sociology, economics, public health, anthropology, demography, and political science.[1]
Many subfields of these disciplines test the boundaries between behavioural and social sciences. For example, political psychology and behavioural economics use behavioural approaches, despite the predominant focus on systemic and institutional factors in the broader fields of political science and economics.
Behavioural Science began being studied predominantly in the early 1900s. One of the pioneers of the study is John B Watson. He began teaching as a professor of psychology at Johns Hopkins University in 1908. In 1915 he served as the president of the American Psychological Association (APA). Some of his methods in studying behavioural science have been controversial. One of these instances was the "Little Albert" experiment. This experiment was to condition a child to fear a white rat. The fear also translated to other furry white things. This was done by associating the objects with a loud clanging noise. A point that drew controversy is that the child was never de-conditioned. In 1957 he received the APA's Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions and discoveries.
In 2009, behavioural scientists conducted a report on loss aversion (Gächter et al., 2009). The research concluded that the pain of losing is psychologically twice as powerful as the pleasure of gaining. Behavioural scientists use loss aversion now in studying human behaviour. It has helped show why in some instances penalty frames are more effective than reward frames in motivating human behaviour.
^ abKlemke, E. D., Hollinger, R., and Kline, A. D., (1980), Introduction to the book in 'Introductory Readings in the Philosophy of Science': Buffalo, New York, Prometheus Books p 11-12
^"Definition of BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
^. BusinessDictionary.com. Archived from the original on 15 October 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
^Hallsworth, Michael (2023). "A manifesto for applying behavioural science". Nature Human Behaviour. 7 (3): 310–322. doi:10.1038/s41562-023-01555-3. PMID 36941468.
^"Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (CHIBE)". Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics. Retrieved 2021-06-23.
^Dristi, Adhikari (2016). "Exploring the Differences Between Social and Behavioral Science". Behavioral Development Bulletin. 21 (2): 128–135. doi:10.1037/bdb0000029.
^"Definition of BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE". www.Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
Selected bibliographyEdit
George Devereux: From anxiety to method in the behavioral sciences, The Hague, Paris. Mouton & Co, 1967
Fred N. Kerlinger (1979). Behavioural Research: A Conceptual Approach. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. ISBN0-03-013331-9.
E.D. Klemke, R. Hollinger & A.D. Kline, (eds.) (1980). Introductory Readings in the Philosophy of Science. Prometheus Books, New York.
Media related to Behavioural sciences at Wikimedia Commons
October 22, 2023
behavioural, sciences, field, economics, behavioural, economics, movement, within, psychology, behaviourism, journal, systems, research, behavioral, science, behavioural, sciences, explore, cognitive, processes, within, organisms, behavioural, interactions, be. For the field in economics see Behavioural Economics For the movement within psychology see Behaviourism For the journal see Systems Research and Behavioral Science The behavioural sciences explore the cognitive processes within organisms and the behavioural interactions between organisms in the natural world It involves the systematic analysis and investigation of human and animal behaviour through naturalistic observation controlled scientific experimentation and mathematical modeling It attempts to accomplish legitimate objective conclusions through rigorous formulations and observation 1 Examples of behavioural sciences include psychology psychobiology anthropology economics and cognitive science Generally behavioural science primarily seeks to generalise about human behaviour as it relates to society and its impact on society as a whole 2 Contents 1 Categories 2 Applications 3 Differentiation from social sciences 4 History 5 See also 6 References 7 Selected bibliography 8 External linksCategories EditThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed February 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message Behavioural sciences include two broad categories neural Information sciences and social Relational sciences Information processing sciences deal with information processing of stimuli from the social environment by cognitive entities in order to engage in decision making social judgment and social perception for individual functioning and survival of organism in a social environment These include psychology cognitive science behaviour analysis psychobiology neural networks social cognition social psychology semantic networks ethology and social neuroscience 3 On the other hand Relational sciences deal with relationships interaction communication networks associations and relational strategies or dynamics between organisms or cognitive entities in a social system These include fields like sociological social psychology social networks dynamic network analysis agent based model behaviour analysis and microsimulation Applications EditInsights from several pure disciplines across behavioural sciences are explored by various applied disciplines and practiced in the context of everyday life and business 4 Consumer behaviour for instance is the study of the decision making process consumers make when purchasing goods or services It studies the way consumers recognise problems and discover solutions Behavioural science is applied in this study by examining the patterns consumers make when making purchases the factors that influenced those decisions and how to take advantage of these patterns Organisational behaviour is the application of behavioural science in a business setting It studies what motivates employees how to make them work more effectively what influences this behaviour and how to use these patterns in order to achieve the company s goals Managers often use organisational behaviour to better lead their employees Using insights from psychology and economics behavioural science can be leveraged to understand how individuals make decisions regarding their health and ultimately reduce disease burden through interventions such as loss aversion framing defaults nudges and more The University of Pennsylvania s Center for Health Incentives amp Behavioral Economics uses behavioural science to inform health policy improve health care delivery and increase healthy behaviour in areas such as physical activity vaccine uptake medication adherence smoking cessation and food choice 5 Other applied disciplines of behavioural science include operations research and media psychology Differentiation from social sciences EditThe terms behavioural sciences and social sciences are interconnected fields 6 that both study systematic processes of behaviour but they differ on their level of scientific analysis for various dimensions of behaviour 7 Behavioural sciences abstract empirical data to investigate the decision process and communication strategies within and between organisms in a social system This characteristically involves fields like psychology social neuroscience ethology and cognitive science In contrast social sciences provide a perceptive framework to study the processes of a social system through impacts of a social organisation on the structural adjustment of the individual and of groups They typically include fields like sociology economics public health anthropology demography and political science 1 Many subfields of these disciplines test the boundaries between behavioural and social sciences For example political psychology and behavioural economics use behavioural approaches despite the predominant focus on systemic and institutional factors in the broader fields of political science and economics History EditThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed February 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message Behavioural Science began being studied predominantly in the early 1900s One of the pioneers of the study is John B Watson He began teaching as a professor of psychology at Johns Hopkins University in 1908 In 1915 he served as the president of the American Psychological Association APA Some of his methods in studying behavioural science have been controversial One of these instances was the Little Albert experiment This experiment was to condition a child to fear a white rat The fear also translated to other furry white things This was done by associating the objects with a loud clanging noise A point that drew controversy is that the child was never de conditioned In 1957 he received the APA s Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions and discoveries In 2009 behavioural scientists conducted a report on loss aversion Gachter et al 2009 The research concluded that the pain of losing is psychologically twice as powerful as the pleasure of gaining Behavioural scientists use loss aversion now in studying human behaviour It has helped show why in some instances penalty frames are more effective than reward frames in motivating human behaviour See also Edit nbsp Psychology portal nbsp Science portalBehaviour Human behaviour List of academic disciplines Science Fields of science Natural sciences Social sciences History of science History of technologyReferences Edit a b Klemke E D Hollinger R and Kline A D 1980 Introduction to the book in Introductory Readings in the Philosophy of Science Buffalo New York Prometheus Books p 11 12 Definition of BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE www merriam webster com Retrieved 19 March 2018 What are behavioral sciences definition and meaning BusinessDictionary com Archived from the original on 15 October 2018 Retrieved 23 December 2017 Hallsworth Michael 2023 A manifesto for applying behavioural science Nature Human Behaviour 7 3 310 322 doi 10 1038 s41562 023 01555 3 PMID 36941468 Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics CHIBE Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics Retrieved 2021 06 23 Dristi Adhikari 2016 Exploring the Differences Between Social and Behavioral Science Behavioral Development Bulletin 21 2 128 135 doi 10 1037 bdb0000029 Definition of BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE www Merriam Webster com Retrieved 23 December 2017 Selected bibliography EditGeorge Devereux From anxiety to method in the behavioral sciences The Hague Paris Mouton amp Co 1967 Fred N Kerlinger 1979 Behavioural Research A Conceptual Approach New York Holt Rinehart amp Winston ISBN 0 03 013331 9 E D Klemke R Hollinger amp A D Kline eds 1980 Introductory Readings in the Philosophy of Science Prometheus Books New York Neil J Smelser amp Paul B Baltes eds 2001 International Encyclopedia of the Social amp Behavioral Sciences 26 v Oxford Elsevier ISBN 978 0 08 043076 8External links Edit nbsp Media related to Behavioural sciences at Wikimedia Commons Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Behavioural sciences amp oldid 1176554197, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
