Unlocking Behaviour Change
Robert West
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What are Behaviour Change Techniques?
What is a ‘behaviour change technique’ (BCT)? How does the way you deliver a technique affect the outcome? What is the difference between a thought and a behaviour? Join Robert and Jamie as they…
We have to talk about AI
AI - curse or cure, or both or neither? Most behavioural researchers are using AI in some aspects of their work. But are the benefits outweighing the costs? How can we do it most productively, and…
Where do values come from and where do they go?
Robert and Jamie ask the deepest questions imaginable . . . At least according to AI chatbots. Where do our values and moral intuitions come from and what do we do with them? Why are ideas that seem…
What role do values play in our behaviour?
Is stealing always bad? Are we all hypocrites? What do we do when our morals conflict with our own self-interest? Join Robert and Jamie as they discuss values, ethics and judgements, exploring ideas…
Justice is in the eye of the beholder
Our sense of justice plays a huge role in our moral judgements and our behaviour. But there are many different versions of justice - what is justice for one person is gross unfairness for another. In…
Power struggles and group identity
Robert and Jamie continue to explore sources of likes and dislikes (in the broadest sense) and in this episode move on to 'power' and how that relates to leadership. Robert reflects on the idea that…
The extraordinary motivating force of 'purpose' and 'transcendence'
Humans appear to need some kind of purpose to our existence. It might be directed at spiritual enlightenment, furthering the well-being of the species, personal growth, getting good at something, or…
The mysterious power of 'craving' and its role in addiction
What are cravings and what causes them? Craving is weird. You'd think that the more we enjoy something the more we would crave it. Not so. We crave things we don’t even like! As part of the series on…
Never underestimate the importance of being 'amused' as a motivational force
What would life be like without entertainment? Is beauty integral to a good life? Is all art subjective? As part of their wide-ranging look at what people do and do not like, Robert and Jamie explore…
Matters of life and death
Staying alive is terribly important to us . . . under certain circumstances. Why do we behave in ways that actually damage our bodies and shorten our lifespan? Robert and Jamie discuss what is going…
How important are 'agency' and 'understanding' as drivers of our behaviour?
Robert continues to explore the different factors that act as sources of liking and disliking and has asked his AI friend Claude to review his list and suggest how these could be usefully grouped.…
Lots of things motivate our behaviour: Robert has been making a list ...
Robert has been busy making a list of things we like and things we dislike... Or do we? One person’s meat is another person’s poison. The duo also discuss drinking culture, life and death, and…
How pleasure and comfort versus pain and discomfort drive our behaviour
So much of what we do stems from anticipated comfort, pleasure or satisfaction, or relief from pain or discomfort. So a really important target when trying to change behaviour is creating these…
What makes us accept that changing our behaviour is a good idea?
As part of their exploration into the updated COM-B and the CACTIS tool, Robert and Jamie discuss one of the big reasons for changing behaviour: because people think it's a good idea! But there is so…
CACTIS: A tools for developing behaviour change interventions using the COM-B model
How can we make practical use of the COM-B (Capability, Opportunity, Motivation - Behaviour) Model when developing behaviour change interventions? The answer is the CACTIS (COM-B Assessment To…
How the COM-B model helps us understand the intervention-action gap
Robert has been wondering whether the updated COM-B is enough of an advance to merit the label COM-B 2.0! But more importantly, Robert and Jamie drill down on the concept of 'intention' and explore…
How identity and imagination can turn 'should' into 'want'.
This week Jamie has been playing Animal Crossing and Robert has been trying not to eat chocolate biscuits. Also, Robert offers tips on making marginal but meaningful changes to behaviour as the duo…
The COM-B model in detail
Why does Robert keep hitting tennis drop shots into the net? How does ‘Atomic/Individual COM-B’ relate to ‘Aggregate/Population COM-B’? Robert continues his preview of COM-B 2.0 while Jamie wonders…
Updating the COM-B model in the light of experience
An updated version of the COM-B model is nearly ready to roll. It clarifies some things and expands others. It is 'backwardly compatible' with 'classic COM-B'. This episode is the first of several…
How capability, opportunity and motivation interact to influence behaviour
You can do it! Or . . . can you? When does believing in your own abilities help you achieve your goals? In this episode, Robert and Jamie explore how the different elements of the COM-B model…
Frequently Asked Questions
Unlocking Behaviour Change has published 55 episodes since May 2025, covering topics in Health & Fitness, Mental Health.
Unlocking Behaviour Change is currently highly active with new episodes weekly. Average episode length is 27m.
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