Episode 164: Dr Sarah Memmi Pt 1: Choice Architecture

Dr Sarah Memmi is a behavioral scientist. She teaches at the University of Louisville in Kentucky where she’s an Assistant Professor of Marketing in the College of Business. Her main area of research is how people pursue goals; how they handle conflicts between multiple goals, and how they manage their personal resources (time, money). She also teaches in the University of Louisville’s unique equine business program.

Sarah is a lifelong horse person. In September 2021 we had a long conversation with Sarah about that part of her life. In this second round we are focusing more on her research. In Part 1 of a three part conversation we are talking about control and choices.

In the positive reinforcement community we talk about control being reinforcing and we are drawn to training strategies that give our animal learners choice. The challenge is finding the right balance for choice. No choice is restricting, but too much choice can be paralyzing. So how do you find the balance, and how do you learn how to make good choices? That’s what we explore in this podcast.