BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

Behavioral Sciences is a field of study that primarily

concern the understanding, prediction, and control of
behavior.
 Definition
 Behavior is a response of an individual or group to an
action, environment, person, or stimulus.
 1. Behavior is everything a person does.
 2. Behaviors is ●
 that can be observed
 • that can be heard/seen
 • that can be measured
 Behavior is the function of person’s characteristics and the
characteristics of surrounding environment
  It is more focused on human behavior that
develop out of interpersonal relations.
Although many disciplines contribute to the
science of behavior, a number of them are so
overwhelmingly concerned with past or
present behavior that they can be classed
together as the behavioral sciences.
 These disciplines include:
 Anthropology
 Education
 Political science
 Psychiatry,
Psychology
 Sociology
 Investigators who work in these areas
systematically and experimentally focus their
attention on human behavior as it influences
and is influenced by the behavior and needs
of other people.
 THE CONNECTION BETWEEN SOCIAL SCIENCE AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE:

The social sciences study the functioning and

institutions of human society. This is a broader
category of disciplines which includes the
behavioral sciences.
  Such disciplines are: • Economics • Law •
History • Geography
CAUSES OF INDIVIDUAL
BEHAVIOR
  • Inherited characteristics
 • Learned characteristics

  Perception is a way of regarding, understanding, or interpreting

something; a mental impression.
  Perception Perception is the understanding in one’s own
perspective and situation.
  Personality is the combination of characteristics or qualities
that form an individual's distinctive character.
 Attitude is a settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or
something, typically one that is reflected in a person's behavior.
 Values are the moral principles and beliefs or accepted
standards of a person or social group. -Values are a person's or
society’s beliefs about good behavior and what things are
important.
MECHANISM OF BEHAVIOR
 Behavior Intention Personal Attitude Norms Beliefs Direct
Observation Information from various sources. eg TV infer basing on
information Belief about an object or person Belief about some
performing Belief about some performing with knowledge of
‘approval’/ ‘disapproval’ of people, or things Our actions are
determined by our behavior.
 Behavior is influenced by attitude and norms; which again depend
on our beliefs, learnt through observation, information from various
sources, including education and inferences drawn from any
information interacting with past experiences. Similarly behavior
can be changed by providing appropriate education
  Suppose you have a patient sitting in front of you. She is a 58-year-
old woman who works a lot and reports a high level of daily stress.
She is hypertensive, smoker for more than 30 years, is overweight
and has not been exercising regularly. She came to see you because
of low back pain and poor sleep. As a healthcare professional, you
want to help her.
THE USE OF BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE APPLICATION :

 A major application of behavioral science has

been in the prediction of human behavior.
 Examples : • polling and testing (political
and marketing surveys, questionnaires,
attitude tests) • psychological and industrial
(tests of aptitude, ability, achievement, and
personality)
CATEGORIES OF BEHAVIORAL
SCIENCES
 Categories of behavioral sciences includes
two broad categories:
 1.neural-decision sciences
 2.social-communication sciences

 Decision Sciences Decision sciences involves

those disciplines primarily dealing with the
decision processes and individual functioning
used in the survival of organism in a social
environment.
  This includes:
 1. Psychology
 2. cognitive science
 3. organization theory,
 4. psychobiology,
 5. management science,
 6. operations research
 7. social neuroscience.
 Communication sciences Communication
sciences include those fields which study the
communication strategies used by organisms
and its dynamics between organisms in an
environment.These fields are:
 1. anthropology
 2. organizational behavior
 3. organization studies
 4. sociology
 5. social networks
 Behavioral science is a branch of social science
that derives its concepts from observation of
the behavior of living organisms.
Broadly defined, behavioral science is the study
of human habits, actions, and intentions.
Combining knowledge of sociology, psychology
and anthropology with strong observation,
research, and communication skills, a
behavioral scientist works with communities
and individuals examining behavior and
decision-making.
IMPORTANCE
 Relevance and importance of Behavioral Science to Health &
Medicine Relevance is demonstrated in the: -Aetiology of illness,
-Presentation of illnesses, -Delivery of health care, -Aspects of
social and psychological treatment.
 Behavioral and social factors are important in planning for health
care with assessment and treatment of both physical and
psychiatric disorder. -Cultural factors play a role in the behavior of
the patient and treatment. -Psychological tests help in the
psychiatric diagnosis.
 Systematic study of psycho-social phenomena (including problems)
in health and disease -Investigating and understanding psycho-social
crises related to health and disease (e.g., disease outbreak)
-Explaining social responses to poverty, exclusion, marginalization,
prejudice and discrimination which influences healthcare services.
-Address the issues of healthcare provider - patient relationship