When it became clear that the world was about to change from the global pandemic, the Psychonomic Society went into action. The Governing Board Chair, Jim Pomerantz, contacted me (I think because I am the Editor-in-Chief of a PS journal, Learning & Behavior) to suggest that we might be able to help stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, as all parts of society face dramatic challenges. I contacted the editors of the major journals in the field that focus on learning. We began by having a zoom meeting to brainstorm about what behavioral science could uniquely contribute to counter the growing pandemic, despite the increasing volume of messaging on this topic directed at the public. The key insight is that the novel coronavirus is spread, in part, by human behavior.
If you examine the guidance provided from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO), almost all of their recommendations are about changing human behavior to mitigate the spread of the virus. Behavioral scientists are experts in changing human behavior. The group of editors helped identify experts in the field who primarily focused on behavior analysis and behavior modification. We invited them to join our group. We called our effort the Behavioral Response to COVID-19 Working Group. Over time we have added colleagues to the working group with expertise in perception, action, and cognition as well as prospective memory.
From our brainstorming session, we wanted to identify what we, as behavioral scientists, could uniquely contribute to the effort to stem the growing pandemic. Our goal was to identify what we could do immediately, in a couple of days. In retrospect, it took a little longer to complete our first product, 2 weeks instead of a couple of days. Our first product was focused on evidence-based recommendations to reduce face touching. Touching your face could bring the virus to your eyes, nose, or mouth, which may lead to infection. Laura Mickes volunteered her digital design skills to produce our first infographic (pictured below).
Suparna Rajaram spearheaded the effort to get the English version of our text translated into languages from around the world. This effort leveraged contacts with colleagues around the world. The idea was to crowdsource translations by asking native speakers to translate from English, and then send the draft to other native speakers to check the nuances of the translations. We have two dozen translations so far, and we are keen to share it with colleagues around the world, who can share it in their social networks.
Jim Pomerantz spearheaded the effort to get the media to pick up our message, including NBC and Fox and many newspapers. And we asked everyone in the working group to send the infographic to their own social networks. We hoped that our message would spread around the world like a virus.
Our next project started a couple of days later. We set out to develop evidence-based recommendations to promote successful social distancing. Maintaining at least 6 ft or 2 m between you and anyone you encounter outside your home is a key ingredient to reduce the rate of spread of the virus and prevent overwhelming health care service. This project took a little less than 3 weeks, and it included a new infographic (pictured below) and a video. Laura Mickes designed the infographic and the video. Suparna Rajaram again spearheaded the effort to get our second infographic translated into languages from around the world. We have almost two dozen translations so far.
We next started to work on a third project, focused on developing evidence-based recommendations to promote handwashing. Frequent hand washing for at least 20 seconds is recommended to reduce the spread of the virus. We are currently working on the handwashing infographic, and we hope to complete it 2 weeks after we started.
I am more convinced than ever that behavioral scientists have a role to play to help stem the pandemic. As many localities begin to lift lockdown restrictions, it will be more important than ever to adhere to social distancing and hygiene recommendations from the CDC and WHO. Our success in preventing a resurgence of COVID-19 cases and deaths depends on changing human behavior.
Reflecting on this experience, I wonder how someone who develops animal models of memory got pulled so far from my comfort zone and area of expertise. I suspect that many of my colleagues in the working group have had a similar experience, except for the small subset of our group that actually does research on behavior modification including face touching and hand washing. Many of us are academics at universities that closed campus, sent students home, locked buildings, halted most research, and migrated to a crash course in online instruction. Almost all of us are mainly confined to our homes, many of us with young children who also abruptly transitioned to online instruction. Some likely have family members who are especially vulnerable to COVID-19, and some may be caring for ill family members. In this time of great stress and anxiety, it is possible to take some solace from trying to contribute to society by leveraging the expertise of behavioral science. I hope that focusing on how to make a difference will sustain us as we face challenges ahead.
