How do I help students make good choices?
The way you present options can affect what they pick. I answered questions about this topic for as a :
Everyone wants to make good decisions. What prevents that from happening?
We have a hidden partner whenever we make a choice, and that partner has made decisions about how to present the options to us. Think of a web page鈥攖he designer has decided where to put different buttons, the order of things, and the colors used. Or think about parents presenting choices to their kids. They鈥檙e making decisions about what to offer and what not to offer and how to describe them鈥攁ll of that is what鈥檚 called 鈥渃hoice architecture.鈥� It鈥檚 the way that we present options and how that will influence what they choose.
What should parents and teachers know about choice architecture?
Most people underestimate the power of choice architecture鈥攜ou probably don鈥檛 realize how much you can influence kids鈥� decisions. For example, if you give kids a list verbally, they鈥檙e going to remember the first few items better than the later ones. If the list gets long enough, the first few start disappearing, and they start remembering the last items. And that affects what they choose.
But there鈥檚 a lot we can鈥檛 control鈥攃hoice sets are often determined almost automatically. When teens think about colleges, for example, they think about the colleges their parents attended. They think about the small set that kids in their neighborhood attended. That might be OK, but thinking more broadly to generate new options is an important skill.
What鈥檚 a pitfall that people should be aware of when they鈥檙e making decisions?
People tend to focus too much on the here and now, not on what will happen in the future. Let me give you an example. Would you rather have $5 now or $10 in two weeks? Most people naturally think, 鈥淥h, what am I going to do with that $5?鈥濃�攁nd that obliterates their ability to think about the future. It鈥檚 something psychologists call 鈥渋nterference.鈥� By thinking about the fact that I can go out and get a hamburger now, I don鈥檛 think about the fact that I can get two hamburgers later on.
But if you think about the delayed option first鈥攚hat will it be like to have $10 in two weeks?鈥攁 whole new world of possibilities shows up. And then when you say you could have $5 now, people say, 鈥淥h, I鈥檝e already thought about the $10 later. That鈥檚 better.鈥� So the order in which you consider things actually makes a big difference in what they look like to you.
How can we help kids think about the future when they make decisions?
Here鈥檚 one way I did it. My nephew came over to do some yardwork with me, and it was fun. We hung out and went out to lunch afterward. Then I said, 鈥淚 want to pay you, of course. I can give you $40 per hour as a high school graduation present in a year. Or I can give you $20 per hour now.鈥�
He didn鈥檛 have to calculate interest rates to realize that the money would be a lot more useful for him after he graduated, when he鈥檇 need it for college. Also, I didn鈥檛 say he could pick only one or the other. So he took half of the money now and half of it later. Presenting the choice that way helped him become more patient鈥攕omething he really appreciated a year later.
