Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Robert West

@robertjwest.bsky.social

2K followers 600 following 57 posts

Based at UCL. Researching tobacco use, human motivation and application of AI to behavioural science. Co-founder of Behaviour Change Wheel and COM-B model.

Videos

Robert, Rob, Bob, or Bobby West may refer to:Robert West (chemist), American professor of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Robert West (painter), Irish artist, draughtsman, and teacher Robert West (politician), BNP politician and founder of the Christian Council of Britain Robert West (boxer), American boxer Robert West, American football player Robert Lucius West, Irish artist, draughtsman and teacher Robert Van Osdell West Jr., American entrepreneur in the oil and gas business Robert West (psychologist), professor of health psychology at University College London Bob West, American actor Bob West, character in 1977 British comedy Adventures of a Private Eye Rob West, a candidate in the Ontario New Democratic Party candidates, 1987 Ontario provincial election Robbie West, Australian rules footballer Bobby West (boxer), American boxer, opponent of Mark Kaylor in 1983 Bobby West (musician), pianist/composer on 1972 American album A Possible Projection of the Future / Childhood's End .. more

Chemistry 46%

Materials science 16%

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Reposted by Robert West

Joe Gitchell @jgitchell.bsky.social · 2d

Bigly recommend listening to the Unlocking Behaviour Change 'cast from #JamieWest (not sure of his blewski handle) and @robertjwest.bsky.social.

Lots of info and insight, entertainingly and efficiently conveyed.

#ChickenSexing

youtu.be/J0y2Bo4glfk?...

Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 20: Notice the difference!

YouTube video by Unlocking Behaviour Change

youtu.be

1 2

Reposted by Robert West

Daniel Kotz @danielkotz.bsky.social · 28d

Robert West explaining the use of ontologies to support research on #nicotine and #tobacco use at the SRNT-E conference addictovocab.org @robertjwest.bsky.social

1 2

Reposted by Robert West

Behavioural Research UK (BR-UK) @behaviourresuk.bsky.social · Aug 5

👥📚 And are you interested in applying AI to your own behavioural research? Join our drop-in advice sessions with our AI webinar speakers @jannahastings.bsky.social , @robertjwest.bsky.social, and @susanmichie.bsky.social Michie beginning in September.
Sign up to a session today!

Section 4: BR-UK AI Help Desk | Behavioural Research UK (BR-UK) | Usher Institute

A soon-to-come initiative of bi-monthly online advice sessions supporting researchers in navigating this fast-evolving space.

usher.ed.ac.uk

2 3

Reposted by Robert West, John Drury

Shayoni Lynn @shayonislynn.bsky.social · Aug 3

#BehaviouralScience is not always about nudging. The authors @susanmichie.bsky.social @robertjwest.bsky.social argue "tackling the challenges facing humanity requires a collective, capacity-building approach" that boosts competences, opportunities, & motivations for individuals to act together.

Moving from nudging to boosting: empowering behaviour change to address global challenges | Behavioural Public Policy | Cambridge Core

Moving from nudging to boosting: empowering behaviour change to address global challenges

www.cambridge.org

11 22

Reposted by Robert West

Sarah Jackson @drsarahejackson.bsky.social · Jul 18

Our new paper provides up-to-date evidence on cigarette consumption across Great Britain.

🟡~28.6 billion cigarettes are smoked each year.

🟡There are persistent disparities across socioeconomic groups, regions, and nations.

academic.oup.com/ntr/advance-... @ntrjournal.bsky.social

1 2 8

Reposted by Robert West

Nick Hopkinson @copddoc.bsky.social · Dec 21

Taking virtue ethics for a spin. #PhilippaFoot

Reposted by Robert West

Akira Miyake @amiyake.bsky.social · Dec 27

Another paper that had a big impact on my thinking in 2024: a meta-analysis showing that behavioral change interventions targeting HABITS may be more effective than those targeting knowledge/beliefs/attitudes (@natrevpsych.bsky.social again!). Habit really matters! #psychology (a short 🧵1/3)

Determinants of behaviour and their efficacy as targets of behavioural change interventions - Nature Reviews Psychology

Changing behaviours might be central to responding to societal issues such as climate change and pandemics. In this Review, Albarracín et al. synthesize meta-analyses of individual and social-structur...

www.nature.com

7 19 71

Reposted by Robert West

Simon Christmas @simonxmas.bsky.social · Dec 28

Weird logic in the abstract, no? “We found that, across pointy metal objects in general, hammers were more effective than screwdrivers. Builders should therefore use hammers.” (Also, isn’t it a good idea to get someone to consent - knowledge, attitude, emotion - before you tinker with their habits?)

Reposted by Robert West

Akira Miyake @amiyake.bsky.social · Dec 28

You're right about the relevance of behavior, population, and context, so it's important to keep them in mind in interpreting the results of this NRP paper. At least they reported separate results for (b) heath and (c) environmental behaviors.

Figure 2 from the Albarracin et al. (2024) review

https://www.nature.com/articles/s44159-024-00305-0

Conclusions of our synthesis of meta-analyses of behaviour change interventions for all behaviours (panel a), health behaviours (panel b) and environmental behaviours (panel c). In all panels, individual targets of change are presented on the left and social-structural targets of change are presented on the right. Vertically, targets of change are organized from least to most effective based on the average effect sizes for each behavioural target (Fig. 1b; Supplementary Figs. 1 and 2), and grouped based on whether effects are negligible, small, medium or large (Table 1). Only meta-analyses that excluded extreme publication bias are included (Supplementary Note 1).

Reposted by Robert West

Brian Klaas @brianklaas.bsky.social · Jan 1

This is amazing: it’s incredibly windy in the UK right now, so only about 10% of the National Grid is currently being powered by fossil fuels.

34 350 1.4K

Reposted by Robert West

Lynn Becker @cmgiulini.bsky.social · Jan 5

Who could have imagined a year ago the emergence of someone actually more dangerous than Donald Trump? How man-child Elon Musk exploits X and aligns with Authoritarians and Neo-Nazis to realize his intertwined goals of becoming unelected King of the World and its first trillionaire. wapo.st/3BTZShE

Elon Musk goes global with his playbook for political influence

The X owner and tech billionaire has boosted far-right figures in Britain, Germany and Canada with a blizzard of social media posts in recent days.

wapo.st

3 5

Reposted by Robert West

Nick Hopkinson @copddoc.bsky.social · Jan 14

Further evidence of the need to integrate smoking cessation services into lung cancer screeing programmes.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... @btsrespiratory.bsky.social @ashorguk.bsky.social @ncsct.bsky.social #LungSky

Smoking Cessation Interventions in the Lung Cancer Screening Setting

This randomized clinical trial evaluates the effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions of varying intensities in the lung cancer screening setting.

jamanetwork.com

2 1

Reposted by Robert West

Science News @scinews.bsky.social · Jan 22

Cool Tech #DeepRobotics #Hangzhou

5 14

Reposted by Robert West

Behavioural Research UK (BR-UK) @behaviourresuk.bsky.social · Mar 5

We are a week away from the second webinar in our AI in behavioural research series, focusing on Analytical AI, covering its use in classifying knowledge, reasoning, and making predictions from data.
📅 11:30am, 12 March 2025.
Sign up below: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

A blue and grey slide with the text 'Using Analytic AI to improve Behavioural Research'. Dr Janna Hastings Universities of St. Gallen and Zurich. Professor Susan Michie, University College London and Professor Robert West, University College London' What you'll learn: What analytical AI is
How it can classify knowledge, undertake reasoning and make predictions from data
Understand how ontologies and machine learning can build tools to identify studies relevant to a research question, capture key information, and to use those data to make predictions of outcomes in novel intervention scenarios

1 4 5

Substack

Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 6: How we assess options when making decisions

This podcast episode looks at how we sometimes analyse pros and cons and sometimes engage in pattern matching. And it looks into the potentially deadly 'confirmation bias' and how to avoid it. This podcast episode looks at how we sometimes analyse pros and cons and sometimes engage in pattern matching. And it looks into the potentially deadly 'confirmation bias' and how to avoid it.

Reposts 0 Jul 10

Substack

Understanding Human Values: A Brief Introduction

Human values and their role in our emotions, desires and behaviours. This article provides a brief introduction to human values, their classification, and their role in emotions, desires, and behaviour. It draws on the work of major scholars in the field of values, including Shalom Schwartz, Milton Rokeach, Ronald Inglehart and Geert Hofstede. A list of readings is provided at the end of the article.

Reposts 0 Jul 8

Substack

UBC Podcast Episode 5: Understanding decision framing … asking the right question

Where’s the best place to go on holiday? What should I do with my life? Why is the way we frame decisions so vital? In this episode, we continue unpacking the FACET framework, focusing on F: Frame. Where’s the best place to go on holiday? What should I do with my life? Why is the way we frame decisions so vital? In this episode, we continue unpacking the FACET framework, focusing on F: Frame.

Reposts 0 Jul 3

Substack

Introducing FACET – a framework for understanding real-world decision-making

This episode introduces a new framework for understanding and analysing decision-making. It is the first public airing of this framework - so quite a big deal!! This episode introduces a new framework for understanding and analysing decision-making. It is the first public airing of this framework - so quite a big deal!!

Reposts 0 Jul 1

Substack

UBC Podcast Episode 3: Hot & Cool Decisions … and much more

Jamie and Robert West discuss psychology and behaviour. The first series of episodes is about 'real world' decision-making. Jamie and Robert West discuss psychology and behaviour. The first series of episodes is about 'real world' decision-making.

Reposts 0 Jun 30

Substack

UBC Podcast Episode 2: So ... what is a decision?

Jamie and Robert West discuss psychology and behaviour. The first series of episodes is about 'real world' decision-making. This episode sets out the landscape by discussing what exactly is a decision ROBERT AND JAMIE WEST

Reposts 0 Jun 29

Substack

Welcome to the Unlocking behaviour Change Podcast: Episode 1

Reposts 0 Jun 27

Robert West @robertjwest.bsky.social · Jun 24

Just released a new episode of the Unlocking Behaviour Change podcast. This series is tackling decision-making and this episode is all about the importance of the way that decisions are 'framed' (e.g., Shall I do X or not? which of X, Y or Z shall I choose?) www.podbean.com/ep/pb-rdhpx-...

Understanding decision ‘framing’: asking the right question

www.podbean.com

1 4

Robert West @robertjwest.bsky.social · Jun 17

I've just launched the latest episode in the Unlocking Behaviour Change podcast series, and it is the very first public airing of a new general framework for understanding and analysing real-world decisions - called FACET. So do check it out and leave comments. www.podbean.com/ep/pb-tgudh-...

Introducing FACET: A framework for understanding and analysing real-world decision-making

This episode introduces a new framework for understanding and analysing decision-making. It is the first public airing of this framework - so quite a big deal!! FACET stands for Frame (the way we appr...

www.podbean.com

1 4

Robert West @robertjwest.bsky.social · Jun 15

The Human Behaviour Change Project 'Prediction Tool' has just had a revamp. It uses interpretable machine learning applied to rich ontologised data extracted from ~500 RCTs to predict smoking cessation outcomes in novel scenarios. Here's a link to a video about the tool youtu.be/fUvfXmeZhnM

Instructions on how to use the HBCP Prediction Tool

YouTube video by Human Behaviour Change Project

youtu.be

1 6

Reposted by Robert West

Human Behaviour Change - APRICOT @hbcproject.bsky.social · Jun 11

Can't wait for the launch of APRICOT? 🍑

We got you covered: Here, Robert West is introducing himself and giving you a small peak into what he will be speaking about at the launch.

Don't forget to register:
🗓️ 17 June 2025
⏰ 3:30 PM (UK Time)
🎥 Online
👉 Register now: ucl.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

1 6 4

Robert West @robertjwest.bsky.social · Jun 10

Just posted the 3rd podcast in the Unlocking Behaviour Change series. This first series of podcasts is being done while Jamie West and I finalise our new book on decision making, so comments are very welcome ... here's a link to the podcast www.podbean.com/ep/pb-yavwn-...

Hot and cool decisions & much more!

What are hot and cold decisions? How important is it to appreciate when decisions are reversible? In an uncertain world, sometimes we have to get on and make a decision and then make it work. Join Rob...

www.podbean.com

2 4

Reposted by Robert West

UCL Centre for Behaviour Change @ucl-cbc.bsky.social · Jun 3

We also have the last few places remaining on our Principles & Practice of Systems Mapping course on 3 July!
🔗https://www.ucl.ac.uk/behaviour-change/advanced-modules-behaviour-change
@viviantonop.bsky.social @robertjwest.bsky.social

1 2

Reposted by Robert West

UCL Centre for Behaviour Change @ucl-cbc.bsky.social · Jun 3

Looking for other advanced training? On 1 July join Prof @robertjwest.bsky.social for an in-depth guide to decision-making and motivation, with plenty of time for discussion and interactivity.
🔗https://www.ucl.ac.uk/behaviour-change/advanced-modules-behaviour-change

1 1 2

Reposted by Robert West

UCL Centre for Behaviour Change @ucl-cbc.bsky.social · Jun 3

🧠 Bonus for early birds!
Register early for the BCTO training and get first access to a free workshop with Prof @robertjwest.bsky.social on the CACTISS Tool - a practical, step-by-step method to identify aspects of capability, opportunity & motivation to target - and how to use it to select BCTs.

1 1 1

Reposted by Robert West

UCL Centre for Behaviour Change @ucl-cbc.bsky.social · Apr 23

🚨 New article on 'Moving from nudging to boosting: empowering behaviour change to address global challenges' by Ralph Hertwig, @susanmichie.bsky.social, @robertjwest.bsky.social & Stephen Reicher.
🔗You can read it here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Quote from article: "the widely adopted 'nudge' approach epitomizes an individualistic, deficit model of human cognition and motivation...we argue that tackling the challenges facing humanity requires a collective, capacity-building approach – one that boosts the competences, opportunities, and motivations of individuals to act together.

7 21