UCL Executive Programme Behavioural Science
An innovative online course for business professionals interested in applying cutting-edge behavioural science to real world problems.
Course Title: Changing Minds: Influence
About the course
- Who do we believe?
- How can your message backfire?
- What changes people’s behaviour?
The course takes place over 2 weeks offering a challenging and immersive learning experience in behavioural science. Combining live online classes with resources to complete at your own pace, you will learn to apply key insights to everyday contexts and problems in your organisation.
The course covers
- The power and limits of social influence
- The rules of social relationships and why brands and organisations need to follow them
- Getting to grips with neuromarketing
- Why everyone is biased and what you can do about it
Course dates
1 / 8 / 15 June 2022
- Meet your instructors and colleagues
- Introduction to social influence
- Participate in live online experiments
- How to influence others
- Make better group decisions
- Neuromarketing: Fact versus fiction
- Rules of social relationships
- Avoid the pitfalls of the blame game
- Why we are all biased and what can you do about it
- Arm yourself with cutting-edge insights from experts in social and behavioural science
- Discover how people perceive other people, and how these processes influence decision-making
- Spot the difference between neuroscience and neurobollocks
- Help your organisation to thrive by implementing the rules of relationships
- Detect and disrupt bias within your organisation
- Build your collaborative network with contemporaries from diverse sectors
Our People
Alicia Melis
Dr Melis is Associate Professor in behavioural science and decision-making. Incorporating insights from psychology, behavioural economics and anthropology, she investigates the psychology supporting teamwork and prosocial behaviour. Alicia works with human children and with chimpanzee populations in East Africa to explore how our social skills develop, and how insights from our closest-living primate relatives can inform our understanding of human behaviour.
Daniel Richardson
Professor Richardson examines how individuals' thought processes are related to the people around them. Daniel has authored two popular science books: Man vs Mind and A Dummies Guide to Social Psychology; and has worked with companies such as Audible, Heineken, and Vue cinema, using physiological sensors and experimental techniques to understand consumer experience.
David Lagnado
Professor Lagnado studies how people make decisions in an uncertain and changing world. He draws on his training in psychology, philosophy and AI, and an earlier career as a jazz musician. He has co-authored a textbook on the psychology of decision-making – Straight Choices - and has a new book on evidential reasoning - Explaining the evidence: How the mind investigates the world. He has helped US intelligence, UK government, and various financial and tech companies, such as BlackRock, Nokia and Huawei, develop methods to improve reasoning and decision-making.
Lasana Harris
Professor Harris is a cognitive neuroscientist and social psychologist who explores how people think about other minds. His research explores this crucial social cognitive ability in several domains. He has consulted with a range of public and private sector organisations, including Public Health England, Unilever, the NAACP Legal Defence Fund, and the US Military
Nichola Raihani
Professor Raihani is a Royal Society University Research Fellow and Professor of Evolution and Behaviour. She studies the evolution of social behaviour, and specifically focusses on the intricacies of human social behaviour. Nichola has worked in the Kalahari Desert, the Australian outback and the Great Barrier Reef; and is the author of The Social Instinct: How Cooperation Shaped the World (published in 2021). She has worked with a variety of companies, including JustGiving, International Hotel Group and Ogilvy.
Stephen Dewitt
Dr Dewitt studies how people reason, make decisions and solve problems both as individuals and in groups. He has worked with many organisations to improve the quality and efficiency of decision making, including HM Land Registry and Southern Water. He is currently working on books on belief updating and reasoning in a complex world.
This course is aimed at people who:
- Occupy consumer-facing roles
- Design behaviour-change interventions
- Work in advertising and brand-management
- Work in performance management, including human resources
This includes:
- Online resources (4-5 hrs/week self-paced work), including: pre-recorded videos, recommended reading. podcasts and videos
- 3 live online sessions: 1 8, 15 June 2022
- Virtual networking opportunities
Participant feedback
Celine Chew, Straits Interactive, Head of Learning and Development: The inaugural program "Changing Minds" exceeded all expectations. The presenters/researchers were all fun, engaging. The content was interesting, relevant, more importantly current and provided food for thought.
Lindsay Schreiber, senior data and analytics manager: This course was an excellent taster in bringing the worlds of cutting edge practical behavioural science and corporate life together! I highly recommend it!
Kristen Hyde, Content Strategist and Community Insights Specialist: The Changing Minds: Influence course is perfect for professionals with a hunger for learning more about the psychology behind why people make choices. If you work in Marketing, Advertising, Human Resources, Legal - any role where you are working directly with people - you will benefit from this course's teaching in understanding how and why people tick.
Pete Dyson, Department for Transport, Principal Behavioural Scientist: A brilliantly curated course, delivered with a lot of care and attention.
