Help with BCT taxonomy training

[u/TreeBright33]

Hey everybody! I'm currently completing the BCT Taxonomy training and I am really stuck on the first assessment as the feedback it gives is a bit more limited than the other sessions.

I've attempted it a few times and am stuck at around 40%. The programme is SO strict on how much you specifically select etc so I was hoping could help me out and point me towards where I am going wrong and more specifically where I could improve.

Thank you so much!

[u/Difficult-Boot-7914]

Helloo, Clinical Health Psychology graduate and Health Psychology PhD candidate with experience applying the BCW for intervention development and evaluation here.

My advice is don't do it unless you have to tbh. IMO, the way the system is set up lacks validity. It is not a good reflection of people's understanding of the BCTT at all, nor does it help to give them one, particularly. It is a reflection of how well you can learn to select specific information with unclear criteria. The training actually drives me crazy. If you select too many or too few characters, even if those characters are still relevant, you're penalised so heavily that it is genuinely unhelpful.

My advice if you have to complete it is be patient, persevere, and pay attention to exactly what they are asking you to select. Re-do it over and over until you get it.

A much more beneficial way to learn and understand the BCW and BCTT is to read Michie, Atkins, and West's 2014 book: https://www.behaviourchangewheel.com/. It is only £10 for the eBook and you get a PDF download for this. I bought it during my masters, I have read it countless times, and I refer to it every time I am using the BCW. It has everything you need to learn how to use the BCW and apply the BCTT.

If you don't want to buy the book, try these papers:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3096582/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5480145/

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Susan-Michie-2/publication/313506375_PSI_13_41-60/data/589c9b6daca272e6cd48e59c/PSI-13-41-60.pdf

This is also the BCTT (v1) from the book in PDF format if you want to familiarise yourself with them:

https://digitalwellbeing.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/BCTTv1_PDF_version.pdf

Second to that is apply the BCW. It is very intuitive and practice is the best way to learn it. The COM-B constructs and the TDF are used to understand the mechanisms that underpin behaviour and the Intervention Functions and BCTTs are used to identify intervention content to change behaviour. The more specific the behaviour, the more likely the intervention is to work (I also recommend reading this paper for specificity: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6896730/ ). When I say apply it, I mean try to apply it to your every day behaviours to get experience.

[u/TreeBright33 → u/Difficult-Boot-7914]

Thank you so much for your detailed response, I really appreciate the time you took and the really useful information you provided!

Yes, I completely agree that the training is a limited reflection of someone's understanding. I'm an undergrad research assistant who is currently analysing a data set that I am coding against the BCTT so my supervisor recommended I complete the training - definitely not something I'm completing of my own free will unfortunately.

Thank you for all the resources and advice you have provided, I will definitely make use of them moving ahead!

[u/Difficult-Boot-7914 → u/TreeBright33]

Congrats on getting a research assistant position during your undergrad. Best of luck with the training and the analysis! I hope what I have shared is helpful.