Unlocking Behaviour Change
Episodes
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 43: Are you feeling comfortable?
17 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 42: What possible reasons could people have to change their behaviour?
10 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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: becau...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Episode 41: Using CACTIS to apply the COM-B model
03 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
How can we make practical use of the COM-B (Capability, Opportunity, Motivation - Behaviour) Model when developing behaviour change interventions? The...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 40: How COM-B can help understand and tackle the intention-action gap
24 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 39: Unpacking features of motivation in the COM-B model
17 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 38: More on COM-B 2.0 - awareness of the behaviour, descriptive and prescriptive norms and formal social rules ...
10 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Why does Robert keep hitting tennis drop shots into the net? How does ‘Atomic/Individual COM-B’ affect ‘Population COM-B’? Robert continues hi...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 37: Previewing COM-B 2.0
03 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 'classi...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Episode 36: Introduction to the COM-B model Part 2 - how the components interact
27 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 35: An introduction to the COM-B Model of behaviour
20 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Having finished their series on decision-making, Robert and Jamie start a new series that delves into a widely used model of human behaviour, designed...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 34: Key lessons about real-world decision making
13 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
It’s the last episode of the season! Robert and Jamie go on a whistle-stop tour through the FACET framework for understanding real-world decision-ma...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 33: How to decide whom to trust as an expert
06 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
How do you spot a ‘dubious’ expert? What signs should you look out for? What counts as reliable evidence? And ultimately . . . who can you trust? ...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 32: Embrace 'the power to disbelieve'
29 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This is the first of a two-part episode on how best to use advice and information from so-called 'experts'. When and how much should we trust them? Wh...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 31: The benefits and pitfalls of democratic decision-making
22 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How do democracies work? Can there ever be a perfect voting system? What is the difference between desire and willingness? Deep dive with Robert and J...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 30: Groupthink, risky shift and nuclear war!
16 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Robert gets it the wrong way round, citing the Cuban Missile Crisis as an example of how groupthink brought the West to the brink of n...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 29: The ebb and flow of group decision making
09 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Crucial decisions that affect our lives are made in 'groups', which technically can range from two or more people, as in the flight crew of a commerci...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 28: What are 'ontologies' and why they will be at the heart of behavioural science?
02 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Robert was fed up with asking for a flat white and getting heaven knows what, so with the help of his AI friend, Claude, he created an 'ontology' of m...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 27: The desire to believe ...
25 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Robert argues that we should assume people pretty much always believe things because we want or need to believe them. Some of us value evidence and tr...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 26: Explaining decisions, 'optics' and the 'lose-change/win-stay' heuristic
18 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jamie has been watching Celebrity Traitors while Robert has been learning about Cicero. In this episode, the duo talk about why it can be stressful to...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 25: Hot decisions
11 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Decisions can be stressful – sometimes so stressful that we procrastinate or even avoid making them at all. In this episode, Robert and Jamie explor...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 24: Emotions and decision-making
04 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What role do emotions play in our decision-making? In this episode in the series discussing 'real-world' decision-making, we talk about threats, oppor...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 23: Loads more biases and why we shouldn't always eat everything left on our plate
28 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we talk about how we tend to overstimate the likelihood of things we can easily imagine, overly assume that people who are good at on...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Episode 22: False dichotomies and black and white thinking
21 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s one of the oldest debates in science: nature vs nurture – but where does the truth lie? Robert and Jamie discuss false dichotomies and black-...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 21: Believing what we want or need to believe
14 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone has biases, but what exactly is a bias? When do they work for us, and when are they maladaptive? In this episode, Jamie and Robert explore mo...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 20: Notice the difference!
07 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Robert has an update on recent research into changes in mental rigidity as we age, and Jamie searches for silver linings. The duo go ...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 19: Wine O-Clock, choosing solar panels and creativity
30 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jamie has attended a wine-tasting, and Robert extrapolates insights into how we elaborate our ‘schemas’. The duo also discuss the complexities of ...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 18: Schemas, Influencers & AI
23 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Robert and Jamie explore the work of the famous psychologist Jean Piaget. They talk about ‘schemas’ and how we ‘assimilate’ and ‘...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 17: Starting strong - ending strong
16 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We all know first impressions are important, but why? And what about final impressions? Robert offers some practical advice, including how to make you...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 16: How we form impressions
09 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How do our beliefs shape our perceptions? And how do our wants and needs affect our beliefs about what is true? What happens when our expectations are...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 15: Time to stop smoking ...?
02 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What is 'temporal discounting' and how does it influence decisions to stop smoking and decisions about what clinical interventions are worth paying fo...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Episode 14: Enacting real world decision - the case of smoking cessation
26 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Robert and Jamie talk through the knotty business of enacting decisions. Robert emphasises that for decisions such as stopping smoking, acting on the ...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 13: Comparing the options in real-world decision-making - the case of smoking cessation
19 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jamie & Robert continue exploring the cluster of decisions around stopping smoking. They discuss 'decision-making rules' and how our personalities...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 12: How was assess options in decision-making - the case of smoking cessation
16 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Robert and Jamie continue exploring how the FACET (Frame, Assess, Compare, Enact and Time) framework for understanding decision-making works in the re...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 11: Applying the FACET framework to decisions about stopping smoking
05 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Robert and Jamie start to apply the FACET framework for analysing real-world decision-making to an important and very common cluster ...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 10: Extra time
29 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this wide-ranging episode, Robert and Jamie begin by discussing AI music before exploring time management, personal versus professional mindsets, a...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 9: It's about time
22 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Hurry hurry hurry! Offer ends soon! Robert and Jamie take a ‘random walk’ through time, the final component of the FACET Framework of decision-mak...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 8: Enacting and evaluating decisions
15 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It is one thing to form an intention to act but what happens next? This episode discusses the all-important challenges and pitfalls that confront deci...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 7: How we compare decision options
08 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week Robert and Jamie look at ‘C’ in the FACET framework: Comparing. Robert dispels a common myth about interviewing and also offers advice o...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 6: How we assess decision options
01 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How do we assess options when making a decision? Continuing their exploration of the FACET framework, Robert and Jamie focus on A: Assessing. They tal...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 5: How decisions are 'framed' and why it is important
23 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 unp...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 4: Introducing the FACET framework for understanding and analysing decisions
17 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This episode introduces a new framework for understanding and analysing decision-making. It is the first public airing of this framework - so quite a ...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 3: Hot and cool decisions & much more!
10 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 a...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 2: So ... what is a decision?
03 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What exactly is a decision? How much should we focus on the process versus the outcome? When should we trust our intuition? Join Professor Robert West...
Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 1: What this podcast series is all about
22 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to the Unlocking Behaviour Change (UBC) podcast – a show all about psychology and changing behaviour. Meet your hosts: Professor Robert West...