PB405      One Unit
Foundations in Behavioural Science

This information is for the 2025/26 session.

Course Convenor

Availability

This course aims to introduce students to the main concepts and methods of behavioural science, drawing on the most recent evidence from economics, psychology, and (behavioural) public policy to describe, predict, and change human behaviour. To achieve this aim, the course will focus on a variety of topics integral to the discipline, such as: 1) what is behavioural science?; 2) choices under risk and uncertainty; 3) intertemporal decisions and social and moral preferences; 4) biases, heuristics, and rules of thumb; 5) the role of emotions in decision-making; 6) norms in decision-making; 7) dual-process models of behaviour; 8) the power of nudges; 9) compensating behaviours; and 10) ethical considerations.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn and Winter Term.

Students will be expected to attend two strands of teaching for PB405:

• the PB405 core lectures with accompanying seminars (15 hours of lectures and 15 hours of seminars during AT).
• a seminar series titled ‘Behavioural Science, Applied Psychology and the Wider World’, which examines the application of behavioural science concepts and methods across all sectors (government, business, and NGOs) (approx ten hours of seminars in both AT and WT).

Students will be expected to complete one formative assignment, to be submitted in AT.

Books

• Kahneman, D. (2012). Thinking, Fast and Slow. Penguin.
• Kahneman, D., O. Sibony, & C. R. Sunstein (2021). Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgement. William Collins.
• Thaler, R. H., & C. R. Sunstein (2021). Nudge: The Final Edition. Allen Lane.
• List, J. A. (2022). The Voltage Effect. Penguin.

Journal articles

• Bhargava, S., & G. Loewenstein (2015). Behavioral Economics and Public Policy 102: Beyond Nudging. American Economic Review, 105(5), 396-401.
• Cowen, A. S., & D. Keltner (2017). Self-report captures 27 distinct categories of emotion bridged by continuous gradients. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(38), E7900-E7909.
• Daly, M., C. P. Harmon, & L. Delaney (2010). Psychological and Biological Foundations of Time Preference. Journal of the European Economic Association, 7(2-3), 659-669.
• Delaney, L., & O. Doyle (2012). Socioeconomic differences in early childhood time preferences. Journal of Economic Psychology, 33(1), 237-247.
• DellaVigna, S. (2009). Psychology and Economics: Evidence from the Field. Journal of Economic Literature, 47(2), 315-72.
• DellaVigna, S., & E. Linos (2022). RCTs to Scale: Comprehensive Evidence From Two Nudge Units. Econometrica, 90(1), 81-116.
• Dolan, P., M. Hallsworth, D. Halpern, D. King, R. Metcalfe, & I. Vlaev (2012). Influencing behaviour: the mindspace way. Journal of Economic Psychology, 33(1), 264-277.
• Dolan, P., & M. M. Galizzi (2015). Like ripples on a pond: Behavioral spillovers and their implications for research and policy. Journal of Economic Psychology, 47, 1-16.
• Falk, A., A. Becker, T. Dohmen, B. Enke, D. Huffman, & U. Sunde (2018). Global Evidence on Economic Preferences. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 133(4), 1645-1692.
• Hertwig, R., & T. Grüne-Yanoff (2017). Nudging and Boosting: Steering or Empowering Good Decisions. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12(6), 973-986.
• Hertwig, R., & M. D. Ryall (2020). Nudge Versus Boost: Agency Dynamics Under Libertarian Paternalism. Economic Journal, 130(629), 1384-1415.
• Krpan, D., M. M. Galizzi, & P. Dolan (2019). Looking at Spillovers in the Mirror: Making a Case for “Behavioral Spillunders”. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1142.
• Loewenstein, G., E. U. Weber, C. K. Hsee, & Welch, N. (2001). Risk as feelings. Psychological Bulletin, 127, 267-286.
• Thaler, R. H., & C. R. Sunstein (2003). Libertarian Paternalism. American Economic Review, 93(2), 175-179.
• Tversky, A., & D. Kahneman (1974). Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases. Science, 185(4157), 1124-1131.
• Weber, E. U., & E. J. Johnson (2009). Mindful Judgment and Decision Making. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 53-85.

Exam (70%), duration: 120 Minutes in the January exam period

Essay (30%, 2000 words)