'Behavioural Science without the BS' workshop (individual)
A 4-week, in-person workshop for professionals, teaching you the psychological insights you need to make change and coaching you through applying it in your work
a UCL Behavioural Insights Hub course - other training / workshops.
- Structure / dates: One full day per week, every Wednesday, over four weeks:
20th May / 27th May / 3rd June / 10th June. - Price: Early Bird £2790 pp, with further discounts available (see full price list further down).
- Location: In Person - @UCL, London.
Contact us to enquire or book your place. Prefer a chat? Schedule a call.
Overview:
This four-week course challenges outdated behavioural science narratives that portray the human mind as fundamentally biased and in need of correction through simplistic “nudge”-style interventions. Instead, it draws on insights from UCL academics to present a more accurate view of the mind as highly sophisticated and capable of solving problems of immense complexity, far beyond modern AI. Delegates gain a deeper understanding of how and why biases arise, rather than relying on checklists to avoid them, and are introduced to practical frameworks for diagnosing and addressing behavioural and social challenges at work such as COM-B, EAST and habit theory. The programme covers social influence and persuasion, risk and uncertainty, and causal thinking for impact assessment. The course also integrates an applied component in which delegates bring a real workplace problem and, through coaching and structured homework over four weeks, develop and refine solutions with expert feedback to ensure meaningful, practical outcomes.
Key takeaways:
- Get a solid grounding in key behavioural science topics from real experts, including heuristics and biases, risk and uncertainty and influence and persuasion.
- Learn psychological frameworks you can apply as lenses to diagnose and solve social / psychological / behavioural challenges at work.
- Coaching: apply your learning to your work - by bringing a problem / challenge you are facing, we will work with you across the course to apply the lessons, to diagnose the issue and find a solution.
The course was fantastic - really engaging, energetic and packed with useful and real life insights. Our whole team took a lot from it and will benefit in day to day and work life. The facilitators were exceptional, super knowledgeable and friendly. I’d highly recommend!
- Early Bird Rate: £2,790pp (standard fee: £3,100)
- Early Bird Partners & Discounted Sector: £2,511pp (extra 10% off). This includes:
- UCL Alumni
- If you have attended a previous Changing Minds workshop or have completed a BIX project with our students
- Public or third sector
- Small business (<5 employees) - Additional 10% off for group bookings of 2+ people. Contact Pia Horbacki for details
Mailing List Bonus - If you join / are on our mailing list you get an extra 10% off!
Ready to Book? Once on the booking page select the relevant price option. If a validation code is required, or if you need further information on group bookings, please contact Pia Horbacki.
Day 1 - 20th May (Dr Stephen Dewitt, course lead)
- Introduction to behavioural science & the cognitive model of the mind.
Overview of the two intertwining fields of cognitive and behavioural science over the last 50 years, laying out modern ideas about how the human mind works and leading to the meteoric rise of applied behavioural science. - Frameworks for diagnosing and improving psychological, social and communication problems at work and crafting interventions - COM-B, EAST and Habit Theory.
With an understanding of the human mind delegates are now equipped to think about how to shape behaviour and intervene. In this session we look at popular frameworks from different disciplines, and find that they come with different perspectives which provide alternate lenses through which we can view problems and find solutions.
Day 2 - 27th May (Dr Alicia Melis)
- Social Influence, Persuasion & Social Norms
Most of the behaviours we aim to influence take place in social environments. This session explores how people’s decisions, preferences, and actions are shaped by others, often in subtle but predictable ways. We examine core principles of social influence, including social proof, consistency, messenger effects, and the power of social norms. Drawing on behavioural science research and real-world case studies, participants will learn how these mechanisms can be used to design effective and ethical behaviour change interventions, and where their limits lie. - Cooperation, Public Goods & Prosocial Behaviour
Why is cooperation so difficult, even when everyone benefits? This session will unpack the core dilemma of collective action and the psychology of cooperation: free-riding, trust, reciprocity, fairness, identity, and reputation. Participants will explore the motivational foundations of prosocial behaviour and the mechanisms that help groups overcome social dilemmas. Drawing on case studies we will review some practical insights for designing environments that foster cooperation rather than undermine it.
Day 3 - 3rd June (Prof Adam Harris)
- Heuristics and biases.
We will show how the mind uses its strengths to make judgments and inferences. These ‘heuristics’, sometimes lead to (predictable) ‘biases’. These heuristics and biases will be demonstrated through demonstrations, and strategies for avoiding pitfalls will be introduced. - Decision making: Value, risk and uncertainty.
We will introduce the most well-known model describing how people make decisions under risk and uncertainty (Prospect Theory), drawing out lessons for understanding our own decision making (e.g., how an aversion to losses pervades much of our decision making). We will show how information can be gleaned from the way the information is presented, as well as what is presented (framing). Such an understanding is important when applying behavioural science insights.
Day 4 - 10th June (Prof David Lagnado)
- Advanced causal thinking & applying the ‘causal lens’ to problems.
Knowledge of cause and effect is vital to our ability to predict, control and explain the world. It helps us diagnose diseases, build bridges and decide guilt. In this session we explore how people assign causality and responsibility in social situations. We discuss the crucial role of counterfactuals, the difficulty in allocating causality amongst multiple agents, and the dangers of defensive decision-making. - Impact assessment & generalising interventions to new contexts.
In this session delegates will be stepped through thinking about their problem (or interventions generally) through a causal lens, including the concepts of barriers and enablers and the problems of intervening in complex systems and generalising interventions to a new context.
Each day will open and close with coaching work with the course lead + 2 * 2-hour content sessions with the week's academic.
9:30-10:30 — Morning coaching
10:30-12:30 — Session 1 with week's academic
12:30-1:30 — Lunch (provided)
1:30-3:30 — Session 2 with week's academic
3:30-4:30 — Afternoon coaching
- Professionals interested in designing behaviour-change interventions in their organization: policy-makers, program managers, product designers, consultants.
- Any professionals interested in learning more about human behaviour and psychology, particularly those in innovation, insights, behaviour or communication related roles.
- Executives, leaders, managers and high level decision makers.
Weekly homework will involve:
- Reading: 1 * academic paper or free book chapter from weekly academic, to be discussed the following week.
- Homework / activity: this will involve trying something out in the workplace related to the weekly theme, or the delegate’s individual problem, to report back the following week.
Communication: during the course communication will take place within a google chat ‘space’, where course leaders will provide resources and delegates can discuss the content of each week. Dummy google accounts for use during the course can be provided if needed.
Take home materials: Delegates will be provided with UCL BIH binders. Each week delegates will be given handouts to go in their binders summarising key lessons to take back to their workplace and share with colleagues at the end of the course. They will also be provided with handouts that help them diagnose and work through the problem they bring to the course, providing a concrete reminder of their plan to implement at the end of the course. We encourage delegates, after the course, to give a presentation on their plan to their team at a relevant staff meeting.
Course completion: Delegates will be provided with a UCL stamped course completion certificate for CPD logging.
Email us to enquire. Prefer a chat? Schedule a call.
I enjoyed the Changing Minds course immensely and have learnt several concepts which can be implemented in my research with private sector, governments and communities.
This course was an excellent taster in bringing the worlds of cutting edge practical behavioural science and corporate life together! I highly recommend it!
Meet the tutors
Dr Stephen Dewitt
Stephen Dewitt (BIH Director) studies how people reason, make decisions and solve problems both as individuals and in groups. He has worked with a large number of organisations in training and consultancy roles, including US Intelligence, HM Land Registry, Southern Water, Santander and Coventry Building Society.
Email: s.dewitt@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Alicia Melis
Alicia Melis (BIH Deputy Director) investigates the psychology supporting teamwork and prosocial behaviour. She works with children and with chimpanzees to explore how our social skills develop, and how insights from our closest-living primate relatives can inform our understanding of human behaviour.
Professor Dave Lagnado
Dave Lagnado studies how people make decisions in an uncertain and changing world, with a focus on causality. He has written two books, Straight Choices and Explaining the evidence: How the mind investigates the world. Dave has worked with US intelligence, UK government, and various financial and tech companies, such as BlackRock, Nokia and Huawei.
Professor Adam Harris
Adam Harris’s research focusses on effective decision-making, and communicating risk and uncertainty. He has worked with several organisations, including the British Geological Survey, the Food Standards Agency, the Football Association, the Met Office and DSTL.
UCL Behavioural Insights Hub Partners & Clients
