The Behavioral State Model (Part 3)

Ability is one of the six elements that makes up Identity.

Ability is a measure of how easy it is for someone to perform a behavior, independent of the environmental circumstances.

For example, it may be easy for you to do 10 pull-ups, but you may be in an environment without a pull-up bar. The physical environment you’re in is preventing you from doing this behavior, but the behavior is still easy for you. You still have a high level of ability to do that behavior.

It’s important for us to disentangle these two things, since it will change our behavior change approach.

If Ability is low, environmental tweaks or changes will not make a big difference. The behavior is unlikely to occur no matter the circumstances. If Ability is high but the behavior is not occurring, then a simple environmental tweak might cause a significant change.

The Subcomponents of Ability

Ability can be broken down into two primary sub-components:

1. Physical Ability

2. Cognitive Ability

Physical Ability

One’s ability to move their body in order to achieve things.

Examples:

• Ability to run

• Ability to lift >30 pounds

• Ability to reach an object 8 feet above the ground

• Ability to exercise more than 15 minutes

• Ability to touch the top of an iPhone Max while holding phone

• Ability to ride a bike

Cognitive Ability

Our ability to understand, retain, and manipulate information.

Examples:

• Ability to do algebra

• Ability to do calculus

• Ability to read English

• Ability to memorize a 7-digit string within 2 seconds

• Ability to understand a scientific article

• Ability to calculate an interest payment in one’s head without paper or pencil

• Ability to understand a new computer interface

Certain Abilities Can Change Over Time

Looking over these lists, you may have noticed than some of these things are fairly fixed while others can change. For example, by the time you’re an adult your height is unlikely to change in any significant way. Thus, your ability to reach objects at a certain height are, more or less, fixed. However, your ability to exercise for a certain amount of time can be modified through training.

When designing for behavior change, it’s important for us to keep this in mind. Certain types of abilities are stuck in stone, while others can be increased. If we have enough time with a person or group, we can increase certain abilities to a point where they no longer act as limits on behavior.

Positive and Negative Ability

Abilities can be thought of as positive or negative.

A positive ability is one that encourages behavior. For example, a talent is a positive ability. It makes a certain type of activity exceedingly easy. It reduces the friction for a certain type of activity so much that it’s much more likely to occur.

A negative ability is a shortcoming that acts as a break on an activity. It prevents a behavior from occurring. If a low level of ability (a negative ability) is preventing a behavior from occurring, then one needs to ask two questions:

1. Can this ability be modified?

2. If yes, then how can I increase it enough so that it no longer prevents behavior from occurring?

Removing the Barriers

If there is a single barrier preventing the desired behavior, it will not occur.

This is why the most important part of any Ability analysis is to first understand whether there are any shortcomings that will prevent the desired behavior from occurring.

If there is an Ability Barrier, then we need to ask ourselves whether we need the behavior to change now, or if our behavior change goals are more long-term. If they’re long term, then it’s possible for us to train the individual(s) in question and eliminate any Ability Barriers.

Taking Advantage of Talent

If no barriers exist, then the next question is whether this individual or group has a particular talent or high level of skill in a particular area. If so, this can inform our approach.

For example, let’s say we’re trying to help someone lose weight by excising more often. Our original plan was to get them to start a Crossfit routine, but we discovered that they actually are very good at soccer. In that case, it would be more beneficial to have them engage in an activity that fits with their skillset. It will not only be easier for them, but it will be more enjoyable.

Ability Mapping

Given all this, here is how I recommend you analyze an individual or group’s ability.

First, write out either the specific behavior you are interested in encouraging or the general area that you’d like to influence.

For example:

• Running 5 miles

• Running for 30 minutes

Or

• Exercising

• Strength development

Once you’ve written out either the specific behavior or the activity area, you then want to create an Ability Map.

An Ability Map is a comprehensive list of all the physical and cognitive components of ability that are relevant to the specific behavior or activity area. Here’s an example for meditation.

Meditation

Physical Ability:

• Flexibility

• Ability to sit in a lotus position

• Circulation

• Back strength

• Breathing ability (e.g., ability to breathe deeply, breathe through the nose, etc.)

• Alertness (Are there any sleep issues?)

• Chronic pain (Are there any chronic pain issues?)

Cognitive Ability:

• Attention span

• Willpower

• Interoception

• Understanding of abstract, psychological concepts and instructions

• Language comprehension (written and verbal)

Depending on the target audience, additional factors like hearing ability and eyesight may also be relevant. For instance, if you're designing a program for seniors, hearing and eyesight could be significant constraints that require a tailored approach.

In this context, I've highlighted what I believe are the most common "Ability Barriers" for the average American.

Physical Barriers

The primary physical obstacles for the average American include pain, back strength, alertness (potentially worsened by sleep issues), and flexibility constraints that may prevent traditional meditative postures.

Cognitive Barriers

The main cognitive challenges are likely to be a short attention span, limited willpower, issues with interoception, and a potential mismatch between educational level and the complexity of the concepts being communicated. Meditation can be abstract.

To encourage meditation, it's crucial to adapt the practice to overcome these Ability Barriers.

For instance, you could suggest sitting with the back against a comfortable chair to bypass issues related to flexibility, lotus position, circulation, and back strength. To avoid exacerbating sleepiness or low alertness, you wouldn't recommend lying down or closing the eyes. To mitigate breathing issues, you might advise meditating earlier in the day when histamine levels are lower—likely some time after coffee and breakfast, when alertness is higher but histamine is still low.

To accommodate cognitive limitations, you could start with brief meditation sessions—perhaps just 1 or 2 minutes—as the average untrained person has a limited attention span. The instructional materials should also be as straightforward and non-abstract as possible.

By identifying and addressing these key physical and cognitive components, we can more effectively shape the behavior and communication strategies for our subjects. Even minor adjustments like these can sometimes make the difference between a failed and successful behavior change attempt.

To Summarize

• Ability is a measure of how easy it is for someone to perform a behavior, independent of the environmental circumstances.

• Ability can be divided into Physical Ability and Cognitive Ability.

• Physical Ability refers to one's ability to move their body to achieve things.

• Cognitive Ability is the ability to understand, retain, and manipulate information.

• Certain abilities can change over time, while others are more fixed.

• Positive ability encourages behavior, while negative ability acts as a barrier to behavior.

• It is important to identify any Ability Barriers that may prevent the desired behavior from occurring.

• Ability Barriers can be modified through training if long-term behavior change is the goal.

• Talent or high skill in a particular area can inform the approach to behavior change.

• An Ability Map can help analyze an individual or group's ability by listing relevant physical and cognitive components

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P.P.P.S. If you have a behavior change problem you've been struggling to solve, shoot me a note at [email protected]. I’ve done more behavior-change work than anyone I know (15 years so far…) and would love to help.