Cognitive Barriers and Energy Efficiency

On Wednesday November 30, 2011, Dr. Elke U. Weber gave a talk at ASU’s Tempe campus entitled “Our Energy-Efficiency Paradox: Psychological Barriers to ‘No-Brainer’ Solutions.” Dr. Weber is the Founder and Co-Director of the Center for the Decision Sciences (CDS) and the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions (CRED) and is Jerome A. Chazen Professor of International Business at Columbia University.

During the talk, Dr. Weber highlighted psychological reasons for the way we paradoxically hesitate to adopt more energy-efficient, sustainable, environmentally-friendly methods of living on a large scale when they seem to be “no-brainer” solutions to our culminating energy-related issues. Weber argued that by learning to recognize and thus identify these psychological issues, we will be able to overcome these cognitive limitations and adopt what she calls “win-win-win” solutions.

Weber started off by listing a variety of energy-related solutions that seemingly go undeveloped, are under-represented, and are underrated. Rather than trying to find solutions to each of these issues, she argues that they are related. They are symptomatic of a larger cognitive problem, and until the cognitive problem is addressed, the symptoms will continue to present themselves socially and culturally in a variety of ways.

Some of these issues are a marketing problem, stemming from language and negative perceptions of words. One example Weber used was the way surveys revealed that more surveyors are opposed to a “carbon tax” rather than a “carbon offset” even though descriptions provided to surveyors were identical to each other. The word “tax,” especially for an American group, carries a more negative connotation, and when it is used, it triggers a cognitive act of arguing against oneself in favor of the opposing side (in this case, no carbon tax).

Weber used the audience in an example of one psychological experiment. You can test yourself before continuing on in this post to see what results you produce. Read the instructions below before playing the video.

In this video is a group of students passing two basketballs back and forth; some are wearing black shirts and the others are wearing white shirts. Pay attention only to the students in white shirts. Count the number of times they pass the ball to each other, whether they bounce pass the ball or they pass it without bouncing it. You may now watch the video. 

When finished, continue below.

How many passes did you count? There should be 15. Did you see the gorilla?

This video showcases the “Selective Attention Test,” and is the result of a Harvard study done some years ago. Half of the responders in the Harvard study saw the gorilla. Similar results were produced in Weber’s audience. What this experiment reveals is that not only are we missing much of what goes on around us but that we also have no idea how much we are missing. This offers one explanation as to why these energy-efficiency no-brainer solutions go unutilized when they seem so blatantly obvious. As Weber noted in her talk, we are facing lots of invisible gorillas. You can read more about the Invisible Gorilla Experiment here.

Overall, it was a fascinating and insightful look at the psychology of environmental, sustainable, and energy-related issues and solutions. It allowed a new way of investigating the complexity of the “green mindset.”

Dr. Weber is part of an interdisciplinary group of decision scientists, economists, and psychologists who are exploring reasons why the brain has such a hard time being “green.” So far, their findings may be just as crucial or more so than technological advances to address energy-related issues and sustainability. You can read an in-depth account of their findings and opinions in this article featured in the New York Times: "Why Isn't the Brain Green?"

Written by Sydney Lines, ASU LightWorks