'Thinking, Fast and Slow' and the architecture for a new theory of health behaviour

Jaikishan Desai
Health Services Research Centre School of Government Victoria University of Wellington

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Daniel Kahneman
Eugene Higgins Professor of Psychology Emeritus at Princeton University Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences 2002
From the book jacket: a landmark book in social thought Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan Daniel Kahneman is among the most influential psychologists in history .. His work has

reshaped social psychology, cognitive science, the study of reason and of happinessThe appearance of Thinking, Fast and Slow is a major event. Steven Pinkner, Harvard
University and author of How the Mind Works

. It will change the way you think, on the job, about the world, and in your life.

Richard Thaler, Professor of Economics, University of Chicago

Thinking, Fast and Slow is a masterpiece a brilliant and engaging intellectual saga by one

of the greatest psychologists and deepest thinkers of our time Daniel Gilbert,
Professor of Psychology, Harvard University and author of Stumbling on Happiness Chicago and co-author of Freakonomics and SuperFreakonomics

This book is a must-read for anyone with a curious mind. Steven Levitt, University of

What is Thinking, Fast and Slow (TFS) about and what does it have to do with health behaviour?
TFS is an invitation to rethink thinking and rethink how we explain human

behaviour

Health behaviour (i.e. staying alive and healthy, in that order) is the most

important dimension of human life

As we say in Hindi & Urdu / Jaan hai to jahaan hai (transl. Only if you are alive, do things matter)

Changing health behaviour is probably the key, and the ultimate hurdle, in

improving efficiency of any health system; just re-orienting healthcare delivery is not enough you have to get people to do what is best for themselves

The Plan for this talk

Overview of TFS

Summarize existing theories of health behaviour

Constructing a theory of health behaviour from scratch
What is health physical and mental?
What are the actions that serve health maintenance? How should these be modelled?

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Part I: Two systems Part II: Heuristics and Biases

Part III: Overconfidence

Part IV: Choices Part V: Two selves

TFS: Two systems

Fast thinking (intuitive) System 1 operates automatically

and quickly, with little or no effort or no sense of voluntary control

Slow thinking (reasoning) System 2 allocates attention

to the effortful mental activities that demand it, including complex computations. The operations of System 2 are often associated with the subjective experience of agency, choice, and concentration

System 1 continuously generates suggestions for System 2:

impressions, intuitions, intentions and feelings. If endorsed by System 2, impressions and intuitions turn into beliefs, and impulses turn into voluntary actions

Examples of System 1 & 2

System 1
Detect that one object is more

System 2
Brace for the starter gun in a

distant than another Orient to the source of a sudden sound Complete the phrase bread and. Make a disgust face when shown a horrible picture Detect hostility in a voice

race Focus attention on the clowns in the circus Focus on the voice of a particular person in a crowded and noisy room Look for a woman with white hair

More on the two systems

Control of attention is shared by the two systems Attention (much more so than time and money) is a limited

resource Division of labour is highly efficient: it minimizes effort and optimizes performance System 2 is mobilized when a question arises for which System 1 does not offer an answer But system 1 has biases (systematic) and it cannot be turned off One of the tasks of System 2 is to overcome the impulses of System 1 it is in charge of self-control

Characteristics of System 1 (1)

Generates impressions, feelings and inclinations; when endorsed by System 2 these

become beliefs, attitudes and intentions.

Operates automatically and quickly, with little or no effort, and no sense of voluntary

control.
Can be programmed by System 2 to mobilise attention when a particular pattern is detected

(search)
Executes skilled responses and generates skilled intuitions, after adequate training Creates a coherent pattern of activated ideas in associative memory Links a sense of cognitive ease to illusions of truth, pleasant feelings, and reduced vigilance

Distinguishes the surprising from the normal

Infers and invents causes and intentions Neglects ambiguity and suppresses doubt Is biased to believe and confirm Exaggerates emotional consistency (halo effect) Focuses on existing evidence and ignores absent evidence

Characteristics of System 1
Generates a limited set of basic assessments Represents sets by norms and prototypes, does not integrate Matches intensities across scales (e.g., size to loudness) Computes more than intended (mental shotgun) Sometimes substitutes an easier question for a difficult one (Heuristics)

Is more sensitive to changes than to states (prospect theory)

Overweights low probabilities Shows diminishing sensitivity to quantity (psychophysics) Responds more strongly to losses than to gains (loss aversion) Frames decision problems narrowly, in isolation from one another

Why System 1 & 2: Evolutions role

So the gist of TFS is .

We function in a stimuli-rich environment We react to these stimuli automatically (reflexively) and

with reasoning (reflectively), often not even noting the nonconscious bits This reflexive-reflective mix is largely efficient in use of limited attentional resources, but it can lead to errors in decision-making The reflexive dimension can be trained through repeated reflective actions, but it is hard work and we should not expect to train it for every type of action

What is less clear in TFS

(or I have just missed it - so far)
What explains differences in the reflexive-reflective mix (of

deliberation).
Between different types of actions for the same person

Between different people for the same type of action

Over time for the same type of action and same person

What is the role of motivations & goals

In overriding system 1 impulses System 2s self-control does

that In ordering reflexive-reflective mix for different actions

A breather
Pavlovs pooch on Freuds couch

Source: http://www.newyorker.com/humor/issuecartoons/2012/04/16/cartoons_20120409#slide=13

The architecture for a theory of health behaviour

A. The phenomenon of interest ---- health
Lets look at this closely, and see what we know, what we do not know,

and what we cannot reasonably know in our day-to-day lives

B.

The behaviours that, directly and indirectly, influence health

The everyday activities - eating, drinking, physical exertion, maintaining

personal and public hygiene, and socializing that keep us chugging along The less-frequent activities which involve using professional services to prevent illness and injury, and to cure and manage ailments when they occur.

How do we mix these ingredients?

A. What is health?
WHO (1948 constitution) defines good health as:

A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity
LANCET (2009): should really be about ability to adapt Survey measurement (HrQoL) self-assessment of different

physical, psychological, social domains

SF-36: physical functioning, role limitations due to physical problems,

social functioning, bodily pain, general mental health, role limitations due to emotional problems, vitality, general health perceptions EQ5D: mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, anxiety/depression

What is physical health (PH)?

The human body
Cells (adults ~ a trillion cells) & tissues (epithelial, connective, muscle, nerve) Organ systems (skeletal, muscular, circulatory, nervous, respiratory, digestive, excretory, endocrine,
reproductive, lymphatic/immune)

Measurement/assessment
no single measure of health stock (body) or functioning Multiple measures - of organ systems, components & functioning

Complexity of Information
multiple markers (variables) & system functioning reflects their interaction,

with competitive, collaborative, and compensatory aspects

What we rely on (at this point) is, therefore, markers of outward

appearance, symptoms, and functioning

(http://quantifiedself.com/)

New technologies taking us to more quantification at an individual level

Quantifying health

Economist (March 3rd 2012): The quantified self: Counting every moment Technology and health: Measuring your everyday activities can help improve your quality of life, according to aficionados of selftracking Ted talks conversation: A periodic table of all the gadgets still to be invented (20 examples):
1. Teeth. Toothbrush that measure fluoride and remembers the cavities, discoloration and notifies us of bad breath 2. Eyes. Glasses that monitor our eyesight and advise correction 3. Hair. Comb that screens the follicles, report on dandruff density, scan for fungus or lice, and count the hairs (hair loss) 4. Bottom. Toilets that test excrements both liquid and solid. Feces graded following the Bristol Stool scale. 5. Chest. Airports scanners that broadcast their results to our phone 6. Body. Clothes that are smart because the fibers compute 7. Underbelly. A new field of underwearables that integrate markers for early detection of cancers or other anomalies 8. Forearms. Shirts that screen the microbiome on your forearms (40x more than our own cells) 9. Neck. Collars that chemically analyse our sweat 10. Ear. Earphones that measure our hearing and that analyze our emotional level while we are listening ('total communication is bidirectional) 11. Heart. Pacemaker and stent that broadcast data to our cardiologist plus ECG (CORVENTIS) 12. Nose. Tissues that examine snot and mucus when we blow our nose 13. Chin. Razors that plot the surface of the skin looking for acne 14. Lips. Balm that scans for cold sores. 15. Tongue. Tongue scrapers that screen salivary microbes 16. Back. Chairs that plot our posture and broadcast data for our spine 17. Nails. Nail cutters that determine the quality of our nails and count the ridges 18. Feet. Step counter (FITBIT) 19. Back arm. Blood pressure measurement (IHEALTH99) 20. Pulse. Heart rate (GARMIN) 21. Brain. Electrical activity that conveys brain waves

http://www.ted.com/conversations/53/make_a_periodic_table_of_gad.html

An analysts view of PH over the life cycle

Healthiness (objective overall measure of health) Red: individuals health possibilities frontier Black: individuals actual, realized health

Normal

Shock Post-shock

zygote

Birth childhood/adoles. ------- adulthood --------------- old age --------------- death

Age

An individual managing his/her own health

Healthiness (objective overall measure of health)

Blue: individuals reference (group) health profile Black: individuals actual, realized health

Current PH black box

zygote

Info. on past health & genetics Health knowledge in society (average)

Birth childhood/adoles. --------------- adulthood --------------- old age --------------- death

Age

Characteristics of physical health

Changes over the life cycle
predictable age-pattern of growth, aging, death less predictable are diseases but with age-sex specificity unpredictable accidents and injuries

Limited observability of true health status (biological)

Observe only markers - of outward appearance, symptoms, and functioning.

Health changes very slowly (aging, but even illness)

Homeostatis (maintaining internal balance) Dynamic allostatic regulation

Plasticity or adaptability to external environment, internal changes,

and shocks

Do these features have any behavioural implications?

What is mental health?

Mental health is described by WHO as:

... a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community (WHO 2001a, p.1).
DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) orientation Comprehensive approach based on subjective well-being Hedonic (feelings of happiness, satisfaction, and interest in life) Eudaimonic (effective functioning as an individual and in society) psychological well-being (self-acceptance, personal growth, purpose in life,

positive relations with others, autonomy, and environmental mastery) social well-being (social integration, social contribution, social coherence, social actualization, and social acceptance) Perhaps simpler set = happiness, satisfaction, resilience (stability) self-coherence, adaptability

Mental health over the life cycle

Healthiness

Birth childhood/adoles. ------- adulthood --------------- old age --------------- death

Age

Characteristics of mental health

Is there a predictable age profile?
In terms of resilience (to ups and downs) perhaps a growth phase, and then a long stable

phase till dementia in old age

What is the enduring part in this, i.e. a slow-changing endowment?

Lot of evidence points to personality traits, disposition

What are the sources of shocks to MH?

Changes in physical health Changes in life circumstances

Strong need to maintain coherence, stability, and resolve cognitive dissonance

Necessary for effective day-to-day functioning survival

Is MH similar to PH? - Possibly

adaptability Slow change (because of need for coherence and stability) limited observability of actual brain & psychological functioning shocks

So ..what can we go with.

1. 2.

Health = physical health (PH) & mental health (MH) Both PH & MH must function within a stress environment
- PH: organic stress from virus, bacteria, fungus, prions - MH: internal dynamics (aspirations, actualizations) & social interactions

3.

4.

4.

5.

We know relatively little about our own PH & MH, constructing and discovering it along the way PH & MH interact continuously - poor PH (illness) -> unhappiness - poor MH (depression) -> illness Survival and healthiness is about both PH & MH - PH has precedence because without biological survival there is no psychological survival and the selfish gene cannot reproduce - but when biological survival is not threatened MH is the main objective & often we compromise future (and even immediate) PH for higher MH (immediate) So perhaps what we have is two types of interactions
- Between PH & MH - Between the present and the future

6.

AND managing health is all about managing these interactions WITH limited information

B. Health Behaviour
1.

Health-producing behaviour (basics of daily life) eating, physical exertion, personal hygiene, social interaction
Multiple actions

Regular occurrence
Spatial and temporal dispersion within a day Biological imperative with behavioural modification Varied satisfaction/utility on their own

2.

Health-care behaviour (use of professional products & services)

Episodic

Typically external (market purchased or provided)

Medication regular occurrence

How should we characterize behaviour?

My conceptualization Pre-TFS of all behaviour
Behaviour = Collection of same-objective actions Varied levels of deliberation of actions (CHN) because of limited attention

resources

Consciously deliberated (C) incentive sensitive Habits (H) Non-consciously processed action (N)

Affective dimension to every action influences N & C Social context to every action

Post-TFS
Actions have varying degrees of deliberation - System 1 & 2 Action context, self-control, cognitive strategy determine system 1-2 mix

For health behaviour - which one is more relevant when?

Thinking about Health Behaviour

Actions
Varied health-producing (HP) and healthcare (HC) Regular (day-to-day) & episodic Actions subject to varying degrees of conscious deliberation HP more system 1 oriented (habits and non-conscious) HC more system 2 oriented (deliberative) One health action has carry-over effects to actions in the future biologically, and psychologically

Influence of health on health behaviour varies with health status

During normal phases of life cognitive context: ease Actions are mainly HP and habit-driven because slow changing health markers are easily ignored (visual illusion), and limited attention is focussed on other activities that provide utility Actions may be sub-optimal for health but homeostasis and allostatis makes appropriate biological changes to accommodate & change occurs slowly In reaction to health shocks survival threat In the immediate term System 1 takes over and assigns priority to self-protective actions Later HC use with deliberation depending on incentives and resources post-shock adjustment establishment of a new normal Back to a cognitive ease context so mainly HP some HC if necessary but if regular occurrence with limited impact easy to not adhere to