Ever wonder why some tasks feel inexplicably difficult? Whether it is the convoluted process of filling out some government form or the frustrating hoops you’re made to jump through when unsubscribing from a service, the answer is a dark behaviour science principle called ‘sludge’. Sludge is anything that adds unnecessary friction to seemingly simple tasks, making them more complicated than they need to be.
Intentional or unintentional, sludge is everywhere and this month’s writers- Jacob SB and Jared Pickett won’t have any of it. Read this extremely entertaining piece on Sludge 101 to learn more about what makes behaviour scientists tick.
The articles explains what a sludge is and the qualifying conditions for calling something sludge.
For something to qualify as a sludge, it must meet two criteria:
Friction: that makes it harder to do something.
Bad Outcomes: it makes your life worse.
In the article, the authors also provide interesting examples of sludge
Making It Hard To Get Financial Aid
In the US, when students applied for financial aid they had to fill out a form with over 100 questions!
One study found that of those who didn’t fill out the form:
1 in 10 didn’t fill it out because it was too much work or too time-consuming.
1 in 5 couldn’t finish it because they didn’t have enough information.
Thankfully this unintentional sludge has recently been eliminated, the form has now been cut down to between 14 and 40 questions.
Making It Hard To Cancel Your Prime Subscription
A few years ago Amazon made it harder to cancel a subscription to their Prime service. If you wanted to quit the service, you had to answer a bunch of extra questions and click through additional parts of the site. This intentional use of sludge led to 14% fewer cancellations (along with a lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission).
Read Sludge 101 for more insights on this topic!
We are excited to introduce our monthly Behavioural Buzz Contest a unique challenge designed to spark your creativity and deepen your understanding of behavioural science. Each month, you will get a chance to illustrate a behavioural science principle through a creative medium!
The theme for the month of June is Social Proof!
Take a photo that demonstrates the principle of Social Proof and send it to us in a shareable format by 15th of June.
Submission Guidelines:
Deadline: Submissions are due by the 15th of June.
Format: Ensure your photo is in a shareable format (e.g., JPEG, PNG).
How to Submit: Upload your submission on the Google Form given below along with your basic details
Rewards: The best submission will be featured in the next month's issue of our newsletter and will receive a special prize.
We can't wait to see how you bring behavioural science to life through your images!
📝 Can Behaviour Science help us Save the Planet?This article delves into the use of negative social proof in order to deter undesired behaviours. Long story short- it doesn’t work. Highlighting the unintended consequences of using negative social proof with evidence from a variety of experiments, the article goes on to suggest some methods that actually work. Check it out to find out what those are.
📝 Testing Theory of Mind in LLMs and HumansThe Theory of Mind is the human cognitive ability to attribute mental states- beliefs, intents, desires, emotions to oneself and others. It is a crucial part of social cognition that facilitates empathy, social interactions and effective communication. This research paper tested The Theory of Mind in LLMs like GPT4 and LLaMA2 using a variety of established tests. The results- surprising or scary, you decide-
🎧 Innovation 2.0: Shortcuts and Speed BumpsStarting new projects is fun. Brainstorming sessions go wild as you and your colleagues bounce ideas off of each other filling the white board with infinite potential. However, this ideation doesn’t always lead to execution. This episode of the Hidden Brain invites psychologist Bob Sutton to talk about the science of execution and discusses practical advice to transform ideas to reality.
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Brought to you with 💛 from India Behavioural Economics Network (Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter) and Beyond Nudge Consulting (Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter)
Editors: Junofy Anto Rozarina and Abhishek Chauhan
Wow ! Very insightful!