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109/02/27 Motivating Behavioral Changes: Designing Computational Support to Promote Healthy and Safe Behaviors
Abstract:
According to behaviorism (an important approach in psychology), we are defined by what we do rather than what we think “internally”. Human behavior refers to the way a person acts or behaves; for example, how we drive, what we eat, our working and studying habits, etc. However, people might be unaware or overlook the risks of their unhealthy or unsafe behavior, such as drug use, drunk driving, texting while driving, or stealing. Moreover, they tend to cover up bad behaviors with lies, and therefore, not follow rules. Without learning how to avoid risky situations, they are easy to recommitting these destructive behaviors. Therefore, understanding human behavior and motivating them to change are of increasing importance in the context of promoting healthy and safe behaviors. 

Recently, mobile and wearable devices can be easily connected to the Internet to accumulate big data collected through these connected devices by leveraging services enabled by Internet-of-Things (IoT). So, more and more opportunities for designing computational support systems are emerging to promote people's healthy and safe behaviors through providing timely feedback. However, it requires to incorporate interdisciplinary approaches to understanding people's behavior and motivate them to change their behaviors. In this talk, I will share a few case studies collaborated with domain experts, which leverage technology to promote people's healthy and safe behaviors.