February 2024 - BehSci - University of Stirling Mailing Lists

Fwd: The 48th SABE/IAREP Joint Conference - Celebrating Methodological Plurality in Behavioral Economics and Economic Psychology
by David Comerford 28 Feb '24

28 Feb '24

Further to Leo's message about our Stirling event on May 2, here is another great opportunity for behavioural scientists that is coming to Scotland this summer (Dundee, August 19-22, 2024) Sent from Outlook for Android<https://aka.ms/AAb9ysg> ________________________________ From: Andrzej Kwiatkowski (Staff) <a.kwiatkowski(a)dundee.ac.uk> Sent: Monday, February 26, 2024 11:39:11 AM To: David Comerford <david.comerford(a)stir.ac.uk> Subject: The 48th SABE/IAREP Joint Conference - Celebrating Methodological Plurality in Behavioral Economics and Economic Psychology You don't often get email from a.kwiatkowski(a)dundee.ac.uk. Learn why this is important<https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification> CAUTION: This email originated from outside University of Stirling. Do not follow links or open attachments if you doubt the authenticity of the sender or the content. ________________________________ Dear David, I hope you are well. I would like to bring your attention to the 48th SABE/IAREP joint conference that we are organizing this year in Dundee. If you have any colleagues, PHD students or any other contacts who could be interested in this event, I would be grateful if could share with them the conference details below. Many thanks, Andrzej [University of Dundee shield logo]<http://uod.ac.uk/sig-home> Andrzej Kwiatkowski Senior Lecturer, Head of Economic Studies School of Business, University of Dundee +44 (0)1382 384372 | a.kwiatkowski(a)dundee.ac.uk<mailto:a.kwiatkowski@dundee.ac.uk> [University of Dundee Facebook]<http://uod.ac.uk/sig-fb> [University of Dundee Twitter] <http://uod.ac.uk/sig-tw> [University of Dundee LinkedIn] <http://uod.ac.uk/sig-li> [University of Dundee YouTube] <http://uod.ac.uk/sig-yt> [University of Dundee Instagram] <http://uod.ac.uk/sig-ig> [University of Dundee TikTok] <http://uod.ac.uk/sig-tt> Higher Educational Institution of the Year - The Herald HE Awards 2023<http://uod.ac.uk/sig-strapline> University of Dundee, Nethergate, Dundee, Scotland, UK, DD1 4HN [A green and white logo Description automatically generated] 48th SABE/IAREP Joint Conference - Celebrating Methodological Plurality in Behavioral Economics and Economic Psychology The School of Business, University of Dundee are delighted to extend an invitation to the 48th SABE/IAREP joint conference, hosted by the School of Business, University of Dundee The conference will be held at the Dalhousie Building, University of Dundee, Scotland, from August 19-22, 2024. About the Conference The annual conference of SABE/IAREP is a convergence of leading academics, policymakers, and practitioners from diverse fields such as psychology, economics, business administration, marketing, consumer behavior, and related disciplines. This gathering provides a platform for knowledge exchange, collaborative discussions, and insights that shape the future of behavioral economics and economic psychology. Conference Highlights * Venue: Dalhousie Building, University of Dundee, Scotland * Dates: August 19-22, 2024 * Focus: Celebrating Methodological Plurality in Behavioral Economics and Economic Psychology Key Themes This year, we emphasize the diversity of robust methodologies within and across disciplines. We welcome submissions on a wide range of topics related to behavioral economics and economic psychology. The conference will explore various aspects, including: * Diverse experiment methodologies, both classroom and field-based. * Varied theoretical approaches encompassing economic, psychological, sociological, cultural, and institutional factors. * Robust narrative articulation, spanning from non-mathematical to highly quantitative presentations. * Different toolboxes, from bounded rationality to heuristics and biases. * Various approaches to correcting market failures and decision-making errors, including institutional adjustments, policy interventions, and nudging strategies. Keynote Speakers Distinguished speakers include: * Catherine Eckel, Texas A&M University * Rachel E. Kranton, Duke University * Professor Fred van Raaij, Tilburg University, The Netherlands * Daniel Read, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick * Martin Kocher, University of Munich, Austria Call for Submissions We invite you to contribute to the conference by submitting abstracts and proposals on topics aligned with behavioral economics and economic psychology. Your insights and contributions will play a pivotal role in fostering discussions on the multifaceted aspects of our field. The deadline for abstract submission is 5pm (UK Time) on Monday 18th March 2024. For more details and to submit your contributions, please visit the Conference Website<https://congresshub.uk/event/sabe-iarep-dundee-2024/>. We look forward to your participation in this enriching event that promises to be a celebration of methodological diversity and interdisciplinary collaboration. Best regards, Conference Organizing Team School of Business, University of Dundee The University of Dundee is a registered Scottish Charity, No: SC015096 ________________________________ Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159

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Presentation at Scottish Behavioural Science Conference on May 02?
by Leonhard Lades 26 Feb '24

26 Feb '24

Hi all, We'll host the first (I think) Scottish Behavioural Science Conference on May 02. Do you like to present something? Just drop me a quick message and I can add your name to the website. It could be a single paper or a stream of research you are working on and that you would like to share with the community. I will be asking for presentation titles soonish so you could already include one. This will be a networking event with enough time to chat and we will schedule rather short presentations. https://behsci.stir.ac.uk/2024/01/29/scottish-behavioural-science-conferenc… Scottish Behavioural Science Conference (May 02, 2024) | Stirling Behavioural Science Centre<https://behsci.stir.ac.uk/2024/01/29/scottish-behavioural-science-conferenc…> We are glad to announce a Scottish Behavioural Science Conference on Thursday, May 02, 2024 at the University of Stirling. The purpose of the conference is to develop links between behavioural scientists (e.g., from behavi behsci.stir.ac.uk And please let me know if you know of anybody else who should present and feel free to share the webpage (we will add a registration link soon)! All the best, Leo ________________________________ Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159

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Online talk tomorrow 1.30pm Alycia Chin (Securities and Exchange Commission)
by David Comerford 26 Feb '24

26 Feb '24

Tomorrow at 1.30 the Behavioural Science Centre is delighted to host an online talk from Alycia Chin<https://www.sec.gov/biography/chin-alycia> of the SEC. Teams link here<https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_ODI3NTE3Y2ItNDMxZC00…>. Title: Beliefs about the Stock Market: Framing Effects in Subjective Expectations Abstract Financial models argue that investment decisions partially depend on expectations about stock market returns. However, reported expectations – like any other survey responses – may depend on the wording of the questions eliciting those expectations. In the current research, we explore a relatively novel “probability” framing effect. Across 3 studies, respondents appear to hold significantly different beliefs about future stock market performance depending on whether they report the probability the stock market will go up or down, with a difference in beliefs of up to 15 percentage points. The direction of the difference is the opposite of most framing effects that display descriptions of attributes, with participants who are asked about stock market declines appearing more optimistic. We find this “probability” framing effect moderates with subjective numeracy and financial literacy; however, not with survey experience, as differences in beliefs persist over repeated survey administration for many months. We rule out several potential explanations for this effect, and discuss implications of a “probability” framing effect for future researchers and survey designers to consider. Keywords: stock market, subjective expectations, framing effect Prof. David Comerford Economics Division<https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/faculties/stirling-management-school/our-resea…>, Stirling Management School, University of Stirling, FK9 4LA. (+44 / 0) 75-42-188-166 Director, Behavioural Science Centre<https://behsci.stir.ac.uk/> Program Director, MSc Behavioural Science<https://www.stir.ac.uk/courses/pg-taught/behavioural-science/> Recent publications: Bridger, E. K., Tufte-Hewett, A., & Comerford, D. A. (2023). Perceived health inequalities: are the UK and US public aware of occupation-related health inequality, and do they wish to see it reduced?. BMC Public Health, 23(1), 2326. Comerford, D. A., Tufte-Hewett, A., & Bridger, E. K. (2023). Public preferences to trade-off gains in total health for health equality: Discrepancies between an abstract scenario versus the real-world scenario presented by COVID-19. Rationality and Society, 10434631231193599. ________________________________ Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159

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risk judgment mini-conference now in C2X4
by David Comerford 22 Feb '24

22 Feb '24

Hi all, Due to popular demand(!), we have moved to a bigger room for tomorrow's risk judgment mini-conference. We are now in 2x4 of the Cottrell building If you cannot make it inperson then here is a Teams link: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3aFEiRQmaO77cZmh9sZiplM6k1sttL… Looking forward to seeing you at 11.30, A reminder of the talks is appended below Dave At 11.30 Philip Ebert (Stirling) will present on "End user and forecaster interpretations of the European avalanche danger scale: a study of avalanche probability judgements in Scotland" at 12.15 Martina Barjakova (University of Milano-Bicocca) will present on "Delayed synergies are harder to see: an experimental investigation of factors influencing synergistic judgements of health risks" Abstracts below: End user and forecaster interpretations of the European avalanche danger scale: a study of avalanche probability judgements in Scotland We investigate Scottish end users’ risk perception ( N = 678) of the five point European Avalanche Danger Scale by eliciting numerical probability judgements. Our main findings are that end users’ risk perception of the danger scale increases linearly rather than exponentially (as intended by the avalanche services), confirming recent findings by Morgan, Haegeli, Finn, and Mair (2023) who used a different scale and a North American user group. Second, we find significant differences in the perceived probability of avalanches relative to a given avalanche danger level depending on whether respondents are asked by a frequency or a percentage chance response format. More specifically, we find that a frequency format elicits lower estimates and, in some cases, a higher variance. Third, we find that individual characteristics of end users (such as outdoor sport experience, age, gender, avalanche education, and having experienced an avalanche) has little explanatory power to predict their interpretation of the avalanche danger scale. Finally, using a small scale sample (N = 19) of professional avalanche forecasters in Scotland, we find that there is little expected and actual overlap between end users and professional forecasters in their numerical interpretation of the danger scale. We summarise our findings by identifying important lessons for strategies to improve avalanche risk understanding and its communication. Delayed synergies are harder to see: an experimental investigation of factors influencing synergistic judgements of health risks When certain health hazards are combined, they produce synergies. In other words, they lead to risks that are greater than the sum of risks presented by each factor separately. For instance, smoking and radon exposure interact synergistically to increase lung cancer risk. Without doubt, how people judge such risk combinations is important – and previous research showed mostly underestimation of synergistic risks. Our previous research instead suggests that people are better at judging certain synergistic risks as such than others. In the current pre-registered study, we aim to understand why this is the case. In particular, we experimentally test whether the likelihood of judging a combination of risk factors as synergistic depends on the outcome being immediate or delayed, binary or continuous, or whether knowledge about the outcome plays a role. We find that synergistic judgements are much more likely for immediate outcomes compared to the delayed ones. Thanks to the structure of our data, we are also able to shed light on the possible mechanism for this. In particular, our data suggest that this result is due to the difference in how much weight people give to the single risk factors for immediate vs delayed outcomes, not to how they evaluate the combination of risk factors. Our study furthermore tests for the effects of format of the task. We find that synergistic judgements are more likely if natural frequencies and partitive probabilities are used, as opposed to non-partitive (single-case) probabilities. These results have important implications for communications concerning synergistic health risks. Prof. David Comerford Economics Division<https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/faculties/stirling-management-school/our-resea…>, Stirling Management School, University of Stirling, FK9 4LA. (+44 / 0) 75-42-188-166 Director, Behavioural Science Centre<https://behsci.stir.ac.uk/> Program Director, MSc Behavioural Science<https://www.stir.ac.uk/courses/pg-taught/behavioural-science/> Recent publications: Bridger, E. K., Tufte-Hewett, A., & Comerford, D. A. (2023). Perceived health inequalities: are the UK and US public aware of occupation-related health inequality, and do they wish to see it reduced?. BMC Public Health, 23(1), 2326. Comerford, D. A., Tufte-Hewett, A., & Bridger, E. K. (2023). Public preferences to trade-off gains in total health for health equality: Discrepancies between an abstract scenario versus the real-world scenario presented by COVID-19. Rationality and Society, 10434631231193599. ________________________________ Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159

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Behavioural Science thesis development session - rm 2A75, 1pm tomorrow
by David Comerford 20 Feb '24

20 Feb '24

Hi all, If you have a topic / theory that you would like to highlight to students as one that has particular potential to develop then please let me know. Generally our students come with an interest in topics but are less fixed regarding the specific theories they apply to that topic. So if you have a theory / method you wish to gather data on then there may be an opportunity to develop a fruitful collaboration through an MSc dissertation. Our MSc students will be presenting their ideas around dissertation topics tomorrow at 1pm in rm 2a75. We will have 12 students presenting, each for 5 mins + 2mins feedback from the floor. If you can pop in for any presentations between 1-3pm then I am sure students will greatly appreciate it. Best wishes, Dave Prof. David Comerford Economics Division<https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/faculties/stirling-management-school/our-resea…>, Stirling Management School, University of Stirling, FK9 4LA. (+44 / 0) 75-42-188-166 Director, Behavioural Science Centre<https://behsci.stir.ac.uk/> Program Director, MSc Behavioural Science<https://www.stir.ac.uk/courses/pg-taught/behavioural-science/> Recent publications: Bridger, E. K., Tufte-Hewett, A., & Comerford, D. A. (2023). Perceived health inequalities: are the UK and US public aware of occupation-related health inequality, and do they wish to see it reduced?. BMC Public Health, 23(1), 2326. Comerford, D. A., Tufte-Hewett, A., & Bridger, E. K. (2023). Public preferences to trade-off gains in total health for health equality: Discrepancies between an abstract scenario versus the real-world scenario presented by COVID-19. Rationality and Society, 10434631231193599. ________________________________ Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159

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mini-workshop on risk perception and risk communication Friday Feb 23 11.30 - 1pm, 2b46
by David Comerford 16 Feb '24

16 Feb '24

Hi all, The Behavioural Science Centre is running a mini-workshop on risk perception and risk communication Friday Feb 23 11.30 - 1pm, Cottrell bldg 2b46. We will have two speakers presenting related papers back-to-back At 11.30 Philip Ebert (Stirling) will present on "End user and forecaster interpretations of the European avalanche danger scale: a study of avalanche probability judgements in Scotland" at 12.15 Martina Barjakova (University of Milano-Bicocca) will present on "Delayed synergies are harder to see: an experimental investigation of factors influencing synergistic judgements of health risks" Abstracts below: End user and forecaster interpretations of the European avalanche danger scale: a study of avalanche probability judgements in Scotland We investigate Scottish end users’ risk perception ( N = 678) of the five point European Avalanche Danger Scale by eliciting numerical probability judgements. Our main findings are that end users’ risk perception of the danger scale increases linearly rather than exponentially (as intended by the avalanche services), confirming recent findings by Morgan, Haegeli, Finn, and Mair (2023) who used a different scale and a North American user group. Second, we find significant differences in the perceived probability of avalanches relative to a given avalanche danger level depending on whether respondents are asked by a frequency or a percentage chance response format. More specifically, we find that a frequency format elicits lower estimates and, in some cases, a higher variance. Third, we find that individual characteristics of end users (such as outdoor sport experience, age, gender, avalanche education, and having experienced an avalanche) has little explanatory power to predict their interpretation of the avalanche danger scale. Finally, using a small scale sample (N = 19) of professional avalanche forecasters in Scotland, we find that there is little expected and actual overlap between end users and professional forecasters in their numerical interpretation of the danger scale. We summarise our findings by identifying important lessons for strategies to improve avalanche risk understanding and its communication. Delayed synergies are harder to see: an experimental investigation of factors influencing synergistic judgements of health risks When certain health hazards are combined, they produce synergies. In other words, they lead to risks that are greater than the sum of risks presented by each factor separately. For instance, smoking and radon exposure interact synergistically to increase lung cancer risk. Without doubt, how people judge such risk combinations is important – and previous research showed mostly underestimation of synergistic risks. Our previous research instead suggests that people are better at judging certain synergistic risks as such than others. In the current pre-registered study, we aim to understand why this is the case. In particular, we experimentally test whether the likelihood of judging a combination of risk factors as synergistic depends on the outcome being immediate or delayed, binary or continuous, or whether knowledge about the outcome plays a role. We find that synergistic judgements are much more likely for immediate outcomes compared to the delayed ones. Thanks to the structure of our data, we are also able to shed light on the possible mechanism for this. In particular, our data suggest that this result is due to the difference in how much weight people give to the single risk factors for immediate vs delayed outcomes, not to how they evaluate the combination of risk factors. Our study furthermore tests for the effects of format of the task. We find that synergistic judgements are more likely if natural frequencies and partitive probabilities are used, as opposed to non-partitive (single-case) probabilities. These results have important implications for communications concerning synergistic health risks. Prof. David Comerford Economics Division<https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/faculties/stirling-management-school/our-resea…>, Stirling Management School, University of Stirling, FK9 4LA. (+44 / 0) 75-42-188-166 Director, Behavioural Science Centre<https://behsci.stir.ac.uk/> Program Director, MSc Behavioural Science<https://www.stir.ac.uk/courses/pg-taught/behavioural-science/> Recent publications: Bridger, E. K., Tufte-Hewett, A., & Comerford, D. A. (2023). Perceived health inequalities: are the UK and US public aware of occupation-related health inequality, and do they wish to see it reduced?. BMC Public Health, 23(1), 2326. Comerford, D. A., Tufte-Hewett, A., & Bridger, E. K. (2023). Public preferences to trade-off gains in total health for health equality: Discrepancies between an abstract scenario versus the real-world scenario presented by COVID-19. Rationality and Society, 10434631231193599. ________________________________ Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159

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PhD lab sessions: Agenda change
by Till Stowasser 05 Feb '24

05 Feb '24

Dear PhD lab, Apologies – I meant to write this e-mail last week already, but I ran out of hours in a day. :-) This is a quick update for everyone who wasn’t at last week’s lab. During the last lab session, we decided that 1. We will give the hidden curriculum sessions more structure. * Rather than you preparing questions about certain topics and us supervisors answering them in a fireside chat-type format, we will convert these sessions into a book club * We can alternate book club sessions with sessions in which a student presents their progress * We will use Hector’s suggested reading (Marc Bellemare (2022) Doing Economics: What You Should Have Learned in Grad School ― But Didn’t) for this * Please reach out to Hector, if you’d like a pdf version of the book * There are 5 Chapters (not counting the Introduction) * Ch 2: Writing Papers * Ch 3: Giving Talks * Ch 4: Navigating Peer Review * Ch 5: Finding Funding * Ch 6: Doing Service * So there are 5 book club sessions we can run throughout the term * Proposed structure: * Everyone reads the respective chapter ahead of the book club * One PhD student gives a 15-20 minute presentation about the chapter as a discussion starter * We then discuss the boom chapter together and supervisors can offer their own views and experiences on the respective topic that way * The first book club session will take place next week, 15th of February * To prepare, please read: Chapter 2 – Writing Papers * Katie kindly volunteered to give the first presentation on this * Kevin will give the presentation on Chapter 3 – Giving Talks, either end of February or after the Reading Week (mid March) 2. This Wednesday, Jasmine will use the PhD lab as a dry run for her upcoming annual review presentation. See you Wednesday! Best, Till ________________________________ Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159

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"Scottish Behavioural Science Conference" in Stirling (Thursday, May 02, 2024)
by Leonhard Lades 05 Feb '24

05 Feb '24

Hi all, Here is a date for your calendar: On May 02, 2024 we are hosting a "Scottish Behavioural Science Conference". We would like to invite everybody in Scotland (and with links to Scotland) working on the edge of economics and psychology (and related disciplines such as philosophy) to Stirling to meet each other. It will be a networking event with relatively short presentations and time to talk about research, projects, grants, joint seminars, etc. Here is the website (work in progress): https://behsci.stir.ac.uk/2024/01/29/scottish-behavioural-science-conferenc… I am currently looking for behavioural scientists at other Scottish Universities to invite, having an eye on gender balance. Do you know of people who might be interested? And do you like to present as well? (Please note that I would like to wait adding presenter names from Stirling until we have some more presenters from other universities to signal that it should be a Scotland-wide event.) All the best and looking forward to hearing from you, Leo

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