Decisions In Everyday Life Research Articles

食品処分における消費者の情報処理プロセスの解明

One of the ways to reduce household food waste is to augment consumers' decision-making ability to more accurately judge when to dispose of edible food items. To encourage more efficient disposition decisions, it is necessary to understand the basis of these decisions in everyday life. However, there are few studies of consumer information processing in disposition decisions addressing questions such as how consumers examine food attributes. I provided a framework based on the consumer information processing model and the concept of decision strategies. Using this framework and the think-aloud protocol, I collected data on consumers' household disposition behavior and analyzed them.The results highlight four dynamics of disposition decisions. First, people usually examine only a few attributes, and employ simplified decision strategies. Following this, it is not useful to display detailed information on food packages to encourage specific disposition decisions. Second, people tend to keep as many food items as possible, and only when the need for disposal arises, do they justify their decision with new reasons. This means that people feel guilty when they dispose of food items. Third, people often examine expiry labels or storage periods and use these as their primary reference point. Clearly, this type of information plays an important role in disposition decisions. Fourth, people often build upon the expiry date reference by using their knowledge of the properties of each food item. In general, these dynamics suggest that if consumers have better knowledge of a wider range of food items, they can leverage this information to more efficiently judge the optimal disposition timing and necessity.

Modeling the Evolution of Beliefs Using an Attentional Focus Mechanism.

For making decisions in everyday life we often have first to infer the set of environmental features that are relevant for the current task. Here we investigated the computational mechanisms underlying the evolution of beliefs about the relevance of environmental features in a dynamical and noisy environment. For this purpose we designed a probabilistic Wisconsin card sorting task (WCST) with belief solicitation, in which subjects were presented with stimuli composed of multiple visual features. At each moment in time a particular feature was relevant for obtaining reward, and participants had to infer which feature was relevant and report their beliefs accordingly. To test the hypothesis that attentional focus modulates the belief update process, we derived and fitted several probabilistic and non-probabilistic behavioral models, which either incorporate a dynamical model of attentional focus, in the form of a hierarchical winner-take-all neuronal network, or a diffusive model, without attention-like features. We used Bayesian model selection to identify the most likely generative model of subjects’ behavior and found that attention-like features in the behavioral model are essential for explaining subjects’ responses. Furthermore, we demonstrate a method for integrating both connectionist and Bayesian models of decision making within a single framework that allowed us to infer hidden belief processes of human subjects.

The effectiveness of health literacy interventions on the informed consent process of health care users: a systematic review protocol.

REVIEW QUESTION / OBJECTIVE The aim of this systematic review is to establish the best available evidence of the effectiveness of health literacy interventions on the informed consent process for health care users. The specific review question is: What is the effectiveness of health literacy interventions on health care users' informed consent to health procedures processes? INCLUSION CRITERIA Types of participants This review will consider all studies that include adults (18 years or over) receiving care or adults who are proxies of incompetent health care users or of children (parents or guardians) who have been actively involved in an informed consent process regarding health care procedures. Participants may be healthy or may have any kind of physical disability, be recruited in any type of health care environment, including acute (hospital), primary care, psychiatric and aged care, in any health specialty, including medicine, dentistry and pharmacy. Studies whose participants have cognitive impairment will be excluded. Studies on informed consent processes for research participants will be also excluded. Types of intervention(s) The interventions, methods, and strategies will be included if: - they aim to improve the informed consent process related to health issues among health care users or their proxies, - they are designed taking into consideration health literacy as a main concept, and - the intervention is provided by any health care provider. Such interventions my focus on either the material provided (e.g. readability, processability), or the supportive procedure of informed consent (e.g. video) in order to decrease the health literacy TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS

Usage of methods, which develop skills of entrepreneurship, during financial field lectures at Siauliai State College

Entrepreneurship – can be defined as a person's ability to implement their ideas, which manifests itself through this innovation, creativity, self-confidence, openness to innovation, the ability to plan, lead, take risks. Entrepreneurship education goal – to develop students' skills necessary for them as individuals and as members of society to live independently and positively affect their families and society, enabling them to take responsibility and the ability to live in a society based on a market economy. It is necessary to develop these entrepreneurial skills competencies: 1) the ability to solve problems; 2) the ability to build relationships; 3) self-confidence; 4) personal initiative showing. 
 Entrepreneurial skills are needed on a daily basis in all areas of life: seeking employment, working, building a business and making important decisions in everyday life. It is important that colleges have developed entrepreneurial environment, encouraging student initiative, implemented design training, strengthening the link between theory and practice, a more flexible organization of teaching and learning. 
 The aim – to reveal the importance of methods, used for developing entrepreneurship skills in financial field lectures. The study was conducted in Siauliai state college. In the study were prepared a questionnaire for students. The study were interviewed a total of 100 students. 
 Upon analysis of the data suggests that in order to develop entrepreneurial competence, students are motivated and willing to try out new techniques. All the students understand what they lack knowledge and skills as well as what problems they could encounter. Active methods cover preparations of business plans, visits at business company, projects, computer modelling, imitation of role.

Diagnosis and surgical treatment of postprostatectomy stress incontinence: recommendation of the working group Urologische Funktionsdiagnostik und Urologie der Frau

Today, for the surgical treatment of postprostatectomy incontinence, several treatment options are available, e.g., adjustable and functional sling systems, artificial sphincter, bulking agents, and balloons. However, no recommendations in terms of specific diagnostic tools and differentiated treatment options for everyday life are available. Our aim is to provide some clinically relevant recommendations for the necessary diagnostic workup and different treatment options of postprostatetectomy incontinence to support clinical decisions in everyday life. Treatment selection should be based on contraindications. However, there is a broad overlap of the various surgical options.

Self-determination of pupils with intellectual disabilities in Norwegian secondary school

This article examines how the self-determination of pupils with intellectual disabilities is practised in secondary school in Norway and discusses possible challenges connected to this practice. The argumentation builds on the fieldwork of qualitative interviews (N = 55) and participant observations in schools in Norway (pupils 13–16 years old). The pupils attend a variety of educational settings, including ordinary classes at mainstream schools, the department of special education at mainstream schools and special education schools. The study reveals considerable variations in the pupils’ opportunities to practise self-determination. While the self-determination of pupils with intellectual disabilities is rather extensive when it comes to their influence over informal and minor decisions in everyday life at school, it is very limited when it comes to formal and major decisions. Furthermore, the implementation of the pupils’ self-determination is primarily spontaneous and seldom anchored in the pupils’ Individual Education Plans. Such an implementation practice limits the pupils’ opportunities to participate in democratic processes, learning and social interaction.

A Self-regulating Information Acquisition Algorithm for Preventing Choice Regret in Multi-perspective Decision Making

In a world filled with an increasing number of choices people must carefully select the information they acquire in order to make sound decisions that they will not regret in the future. This ranges from everyday life decisions to those made by experts in the business world. The authors introduce a novel information acquisition algorithm based on the value that information has when preventing a decision maker from regretting his or her current decision. The main features of the model include the capacity to account for different risk attitudes of the decision maker as well as his or her forward-looking behavior, the ability to assess choice objects (projects or products) defined by multiple characteristics and a self-regulation mechanism for the information acquisition process, even in the absence of information acquisition costs. The main properties of the algorithm are examined numerically.

Cognitive predictors of medical decision-making capacity in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.

Impaired capacity to make decisions in everyday life and situations of medical treatment is an inevitable consequence of the cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The objective of this study was to identify the most powerful cognitive component(s) that best predicted medical decision-making capacity (MDMC) in patients with AD and mild cognitive impairment. Three groups of subjects participated in the study: patients with AD (n = 20), mild cognitive impairment (n = 21), and healthy control subjects (n = 33). MDMC was assessed by the linguistic instrument for medical decision-making (LIMD) and related to demographics and 27 cognitive test measures. The cognitive tests were found to aggregate into four components using a principle component analysis. The four components, which correspond to verbal knowledge, episodic memory, cognitive speed, and working memory, accounted for 73% of the variance in LIMD according to a stepwise regression analysis. Verbal knowledge was the most powerful predictor of LIMD (beta = 0.66) followed by episodic memory (beta = 0.43), cognitive speed (beta = 0.32), and working memory (beta = 0.23). The best single test as shown by the highest correlation with LIMD was Reading speed (R = 0.77). Multiple factors are involved in MDMC in subjects with cognitive impairment. The component of verbal knowledge was the best predictor of MDMC and Reading speed was the most important single cognitive test measurement, which assessed both rapid Reading and understanding of text.

Health literacy: a critical concept for public health

Health literacy: a critical concept for public health

A Model for Haptic Aesthetic Processing and Its Implications for Design

Research in aesthetics typically focuses on static stimuli or stimulus properties from the visual domain leaving unanswered a great many questions on haptic aesthetics. This paper aims to give a short impression of the relevance of aesthetics for design and everyday-life decisions, then focuses on phenomena concerning haptic aesthetics in particular, for instance, top-down processes and mere exposure effects. Based on empirical findings and theoretical considerations with regard to haptic research, the paper develops a functional model of haptic aesthetics, which is explained step by step. This model assumes a continuous increase of elaborative processing through three subsequent processing stages beginning with low-level perceptual analyses that encompass an initial, unspecific exploration of the haptic material. After a subsequent, more elaborate, and specific perceptual assessment of global haptic aspects, the described process enters into deeper cognitive and emotional evaluations involving individual knowledge on the now specified haptic material. The paper closes with an applied view on design issues to explicate the importance of integrating haptic aesthetics into corresponding approaches.

Collective enumeration.

Many joint decisions in everyday life (e.g., Which bar is less crowded?) depend on approximate enumeration, but very little is known about the psychological characteristics of counting together. Here we systematically investigated collective approximate enumeration. Pairs of participants made individual and collective enumeration judgments in a 2-alternative forced-choice task and when in disagreement, they negotiated joint decisions via verbal communication and received feedback about accuracy at the end of each trial. The results showed that two people could collectively count better than either one alone, but not as well as expected by previous models of collective sensory decision making in more basic perceptual domains (e.g., luminance contrast). Moreover, such collective enumeration benefited from prior, noninteractive practice showing that social learning of how to combine shared information about enumeration required substantial individual experience. Finally, the collective context had a positive but transient impact on an individual's enumeration sensitivity. This transient social influence may be explained as a motivational factor arising from the fact that members of a collective must take responsibility for their individual decisions and face the consequences of their judgments.

High-Resolution EEG Analysis of Power Spectral Density Maps and Coherence Networks in a Proportional Reasoning Task

Proportional reasoning is very important logical skill required in mathematics and science problem solving as well as in everyday life decisions. However, there is a lack of studies on neurophysiological correlates of proportional reasoning. To explore the brain activity of healthy adults while performing a balance scale task, we used high-resolution EEG techniques and graph-theory based connectivity analysis. After unskilled subjects learned how to properly solve the task, their cortical power spectral density (PSD) maps revealed an increased parietal activity in the beta band. This indicated that subjects started to perform calculations. In addition, the number of inter-hemispheric connections decreased after learning, implying a rearrangement of the brain activity. Repeated performance of the task led to the PSD decrease in the beta and gamma bands among parietal and frontal regions along with a synchronization of lower frequencies. These findings suggest that repetition led to a more automatic task performance. Subjects were also divided in two groups according to their scores on the test of logical thinking (TOLT). Although no group differences in the accuracy and reaction times were found, EEG data showed higher activity in the beta and gamma bands for the group that scored better on TOLT. Learning and repetition induced changes in the pattern of functional connectivity were evident for all frequency bands. Overall, the results indicated that higher frequency oscillations in frontal and parietal regions are particularly important for proportional reasoning.

What we say and what we do: The relationship between real and hypothetical moral choices

Moral ideals are strongly ingrained within society and individuals alike, but actual moral choices are profoundly influenced by tangible rewards and consequences. Across two studies we show that real moral decisions can dramatically contradict moral choices made in hypothetical scenarios (Study 1). However, by systematically enhancing the contextual information available to subjects when addressing a hypothetical moral problem—thereby reducing the opportunity for mental simulation—we were able to incrementally bring subjects’ responses in line with their moral behaviour in real situations (Study 2). These results imply that previous work relying mainly on decontextualized hypothetical scenarios may not accurately reflect moral decisions in everyday life. The findings also shed light on contextual factors that can alter how moral decisions are made, such as the salience of a personal gain.

Our favourite irrationalities

Ariely is one of the young researchers who are at the forefront of the discipline called behavioral economics. Behavioral economics tends to question the basic assumptions of economic theory such as rationality and the infinite cognitive ability of the actor and the stability and fixed nature of our preferences. In connection with these, such general laws as supply and demand also come under scrutiny. The starting point of these researchers is that one should ask how people actually behave and make decisions in everyday life, not how they should behave according to mainstream economic theory.

Pricing practices in Victorian America: evidence from a satirical point of view

PurposeThis paper seeks to investigate how consumers in Victorian America related prices to quality and value in deliberations about urban life, housing, and a newly‐emerging consumerism. The objectives are to understand pricing practices of firms and the behavior and perception of prices by consumers in Victorian American and to determine whether Victorian pricing practices could provide important insights for twenty‐first century theory and practice.Design/methodology/approachThe paper conducted a qualitative content analysis of pricing highlighted in a large sample of three cartoons appearing weekly in Puck and Judge. In these preeminent satirical magazines of the 1880‐1910 era, the authors found cartoons to be reflective of pricing practices and resultant consumer behavior of that era.FindingsThe paper confirms even on a satirical research basis that Victorian households indeed experienced price‐related stresses in urban life, housing decisions, and in daily consumption. It also reveals that during industrial revolution, rapid urbanization, waves of immigration, and a stratification of wealth, price is not only money but also time, effort, and psychic energy.Originality/valueThe study confirms that pricing has long influenced consumer decision making and that, even historically, price was perceived primarily as a sacrifice to obtain a product. The study uses archival data to underscore the fact that product prices are evaluated in terms of consumers' everyday life decisions.

Overcoming decision flaws from framing

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the harmful effects of framing and suggests ways to improve decisions.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses a number of real life examples of catastrophic failures of decision making by obviously intelligent and experienced people and compares them with less dramatic but common errors of judgement most people make. The way a problem is presented often determines the choices we make and that we are inconsistent. It explains this phenomenon using Kahneman and Tversky's Nobel Prize winning work in behavioural economics.FindingsAll human beings are susceptible to decision flaws from framing. It is possible to recognise signs of the way we may be framing a decision situation and adopt strategies to sidestep the hazards of wrong choice.Practical implicationsBy adopting methods suggested in this paper, individuals can make better decisions in everyday life. Managers can make appropriate choices rather than take too little risk or too much. Organisations can train senior managers in decision strategies and adopt group processes that reduce the risk of flawed decisions.Originality/valueThe paper provides insight into errors all human beings are prone to, no matter how intelligent or experienced they are. Using everyday examples Indian managers are familiar with, the paper highlights the need to improve thinking.

Loss aversion in perceived ownership: An fMRI study of economic decision making

Event Abstract Back to Event Loss aversion in perceived ownership: An fMRI study of economic decision making Corinna Buerger1*, Julia Weghmann2 and Bernd Weber1 1 University of Bonn, Center for Economics and Neuroscience, Germany 2 Maastricht University, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Netherlands Objective: Economic decisions in everyday life are influenced by affective components rather than rational thought. Ownership, even being only virtual, influences our valuation of everyday goods. The discrepancy between the price accepted to sell the good and the amount one is willing to spend for an equivalent item is recognized as a measure for the endowment effect. We aimed at a consolidation of previous findings using individually chosen highly salient stimuli (DVD movies). We hypothesized the ventral striatum including nucleus accumbens to show significant BOLD-activity in response to buying opportunities, reflecting expected reward and orbitofrontal cortex activity to be correlated with subjective value. Further we expected amygdala activation to show interindividual differences in loss aversion. Methods: Thirty-five subjects (age 22 - 58, 18 male) participated in the study. Each of them was scanned on a 1.5T Siemens Avanto while engaging in a transaction paradigm. Eighty DVD Covers of previously individually chosen movies were presented in either a buying or selling condition. Subjects were asked to state their maximum price willing to pay and their minimum price to accept when selling. Functional data was analyzed using SPM8. Both conditions were contrasted and parametrically modulated by either wta (selling condition) or wtp (buying condition) and the difference between wta and wtp as a measure of the endowment effect. Results: As expected, we found ventral striatal activation when buying. This was modulated by wtp, with higher prices evoking increasing activation. We found orbitofrontal activity in both conditions, also correlated with absolute prices. Interestingly, this was more pronounced in subjects when selling than in buying. Behavioral data showed a substantial difference between wta and wtp, suggesting a strong endowment effect. This was accompanied by amygdala activation, indicating fear of losing apparently owned goods. Conclusions: These results confirm the involvement of the ventral striatum and orbitofrontal cortex in value processing in everyday economic decision making. The strong endowment effect hints at a difference in valuation depending on the perceived status of ownership. Keywords: Economic decision making, Endowment effect, loss aversion, Perceived ownership, Willingness to accept, Willingness to pay Conference: Decision Neuroscience From Neurons to Societies, Berlin, Germany, 23 Sep - 25 Sep, 2010. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: Decision Making and Disorders Citation: Buerger C, Weghmann J and Weber B (2010). Loss aversion in perceived ownership: An fMRI study of economic decision making. Front. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: Decision Neuroscience From Neurons to Societies. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2010.82.00031 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 19 Aug 2010; Published Online: 07 Sep 2010. * Correspondence: Dr. Corinna Buerger, University of Bonn, Center for Economics and Neuroscience, Bonn, Germany, Corinna.Buerger@med.uni-heidelberg.de Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Corinna Buerger Julia Weghmann Bernd Weber Google Corinna Buerger Julia Weghmann Bernd Weber Google Scholar Corinna Buerger Julia Weghmann Bernd Weber PubMed Corinna Buerger Julia Weghmann Bernd Weber Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Dual processing and diagnostic errors

In this paper, I review evidence from two theories in psychology relevant to diagnosis and diagnostic errors. "Dual Process" theories of thinking, frequently mentioned with respect to diagnostic error, propose that categorization decisions can be made with either a fast, unconscious, contextual process called System 1 or a slow, analytical, conscious, and conceptual process, called System 2. Exemplar theories of categorization propose that many category decisions in everyday life are made by unconscious matching to a particular example in memory, and these remain available and retrievable individually. I then review studies of clinical reasoning based on these theories, and show that the two processes are equally effective; System 1, despite its reliance in idiosyncratic, individual experience, is no more prone to cognitive bias or diagnostic error than System 2. Further, I review evidence that instructions directed at encouraging the clinician to explicitly use both strategies can lead to consistent reduction in error rates.

SenseWeb: An Infrastructure for Shared Sensing

Web 2.0 is an emerging paradigm for applications and user interactions. In this article, Aman Kansal, Suman Nath, Jie Liu, and Feng Zhao from Microsoft Research discuss the development of SenseWeb, a peer-produced sensor network environment, used for everyday life decisions.

Association of Traffic Behavior with Personality and Platelet Monoamine Oxidase Activity in Schoolchildren

Purpose Estimations, attitudes and behavioral decisions in everyday life, including traffic-related situations, are influenced by personality traits. It is known that that there is a strong link between certain personality traits, particularly impulsivity, and central serotonergic functioning. This study examined associations between traffic behavior, personality and platelet monoamine oxidase activity, a marker of central nervous system serotonergic neurotransmission, in schoolchildren. Methods Participants were 483 schoolchildren (aged 15.3 ± .5 years) who filled in questionnaires on traffic behavior and personality. Platelet monoamine oxidase activity was measured radioenzymatically. Results Simple logistic regression analysis revealed that subjects with riskier traffic behavior had higher impulsivity (both adaptive as maladaptive facets) as well as lower Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. In multiple logistic regression analysis, many of these associations became nonsignificant, but the high traffic risk group was more likely to have lower Agreeableness and lower platelet MAO activity. Low platelet MAO activity was a significant predictor of risky traffic behavior only in girls who were also influenced by higher Excitement Seeking. Smoking was an independent predictor of all groups with high traffic risks. Conclusion Risky traffic behavior in schoolchildren is associated with basic personality dimensions, most consistently with Agreeableness, and with different aspects of impulsivity. Some of these traits, particularly in girls, may be related to central serotonergic neuronal activity.