Behavioural sciences
Scope
Scope
-----

The behavioural sciences encompass both natural and social scientific disciplines, including various branches of psychology, neuroscience and biobehavioural sciences, behavioural economics and certain branches of [criminology](/wiki/Criminology "Criminology"), [sociology](/wiki/Microsociology "Microsociology") and [political science](/wiki/Political_psychology "Political psychology").Loewenstein, G., Rick, S., \& Cohen, J. D. (2008\). Neuroeconomics. *Annu. Rev. Psychol.*, *59*(1\), 647\-672\.Bavel, J. J. V., Baicker, K., Boggio, P. S., Capraro, V., Cichocka, A., Cikara, M., ... \& Willer, R. (2020\). Using social and behavioural science to support COVID\-19 pandemic response. *Nature human behaviour*, *4*(5\), 460\-471\. This interdisciplinary nature allows behavioural scientists to coordinate findings from [psychological experiments](/wiki/Experimental_psychology "Experimental psychology"), [genetics](/wiki/Genome-wide_association_study "Genome-wide association study") and [neuroimaging](/wiki/Functional_neuroimaging "Functional neuroimaging"), self\-report studies, [interspecies](/wiki/Comparative_psychology "Comparative psychology") and cross\-cultural comparisons, and [correlational and longitudinal designs](/wiki/Longitudinal_study "Longitudinal study") to understand the nature, frequency, mechanisms, causes and consequences of given behaviours.Mallio, C. A., Buoso, A., Stiffi, M., Cea, L., Vertulli, D., Bernetti, C., ... \& Beomonte Zobel, B. (2024\). Mapping the Neural Basis of Neuroeconomics with Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Narrative Literature Review. *Brain sciences*, *14*(5\), 511\.

Chicago
With respect to the applied behavioural science and behavioural insights, the focus is usually narrower, tending to encompass [cognitive psychology](/wiki/Cognitive_psychology "Cognitive psychology"), [social psychology](/wiki/Social_psychology "Social psychology") and [behavioural economics](/wiki/Behavioral_economics "Behavioral economics") generally, and invoking other more specific fields (e.g. health psychology) where needed. In applied settings behavioural scientists exploit their knowledge of cognitive biases, heuristics, and peculiarities of how decision\-making is affected by various factors to develop behaviour change interventions or develop policies which 'nudge' people to acting more auspiciously (see Applications below).

### Future and emerging techniques

Robila explains how using modern technology to study and understand [behavioral patterns](/wiki/Behavioral_pattern "Behavioral pattern") on a greater scale, such as [artificial intelligence](/wiki/Artificial_intelligence "Artificial intelligence"), machine learning, and greater data has a future in brightening up behavioral science assistance/ research. Creating cutting\-edge therapies and interventions with immersive technology like virtual reality/ [AI](/wiki/Artificial_intelligence "Artificial intelligence") would also be beneficial to behavioral science future(s). These concepts are only a hint of the many paths behavioral science may take in the future. 


What are some future techniques that can benefit behavioral science?