Robert West
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robertjwest.bsky.social
Robert West
@robertjwest.bsky.social
2K followers 600 following 60 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.

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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 Replies Media Videos

robertjwest.bsky.social
Robert West @robertjwest.bsky.social · 14d
This will be a big one! www.linkedin.com/pulse/regist...
Registration for the Building Capability in Behavioural Research Conference 2026 Opens Today!
We are delighted to announce the Building Capability in Behavioural Research 2026 Conference will take place in the Teaching and Learning Building at the University of Birmingham. In partnership with ...
www.linkedin.com

robertjwest.bsky.social
Robert West @robertjwest.bsky.social · 19d
A flat white by any other name …
open.substack.com/pub/robertwe...
A flat white by any other name …
Why we need an ontology of milk-containing coffee drinks and other things ...
open.substack.com

robertjwest.bsky.social
Robert West @robertjwest.bsky.social · 19d
I've just heard what may be the funniest line ever in a detective story. It's in the brilliant Anthony Horowitz' novel 'Close to Death' whose audiobook is brightening up my gym experience. It is 'There was so much blood, even the police dog threw up.'

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A flat white by any other name …

Why we need an ontology of milk-containing coffee drinks and other things ... Earlier today, I was in one of my absolute favourite cafes (Cinnamon Village in Tufnell Park, North London in case you live nearby) reflecting on superb fidelity of its coffees to the names given them and the fact that another café less than a mile away had the previous week served me what was supposed to be a cortado but was the wrong size, wrong foam …

Reposts 0 21d

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Unlocking Behaviour Change Podcast Episode 7: C is for Comparing

This is an edited transcript of Episode 7 of my and Jamie West's podcast in which we are currently exploring 'real-world' decision-making. This is an edited transcript of Episode 7 of my and Jamie West's podcast in which we are currently exploring 'real-world' decision-making.

Reposts 0 21d

Reposted by Robert West

jgitchell.bsky.social
Joe Gitchell @jgitchell.bsky.social · Oct 7
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

Reposted by Robert West

danielkotz.bsky.social
Daniel Kotz @danielkotz.bsky.social · Sep 11
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

Reposted by Robert West

behaviourresuk.bsky.social
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

Reposted by Robert West, John Drury

shayonislynn.bsky.social
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

Reposted by Robert West

drsarahejackson.bsky.social
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

Reposted by Robert West

copddoc.bsky.social
Nick Hopkinson @copddoc.bsky.social · Dec 21
Taking virtue ethics for a spin. #PhilippaFoot

Reposted by Robert West

amiyake.bsky.social
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

Reposted by Robert West

simonxmas.bsky.social
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

amiyake.bsky.social
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

brianklaas.bsky.social
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.

Reposted by Robert West

cmgiulini.bsky.social
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

Reposted by Robert West

copddoc.bsky.social
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

Reposted by Robert West

scinews.bsky.social
Science News @scinews.bsky.social · Jan 22
Cool Tech #DeepRobotics #Hangzhou

Reposted by Robert West

behaviourresuk.bsky.social
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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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 27

robertjwest.bsky.social
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
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. We...
www.podbean.com

robertjwest.bsky.social
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

robertjwest.bsky.social
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

Reposted by Robert West

hbcproject.bsky.social
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...