Decision Difficulty Research Articles

Interval valued inventory model for deterioration, carbon emissions and selling price dependent demand considering buy now and pay later facility

Uncertainty refers to a lack of precise knowledge or information about a particular event, situation, or outcome. It is an inherent characteristic of many real-world phenomena and is often associated with the presence of risk or ambiguity. Uncertainty can arise due to various factors, such as incomplete information, unpredictability, complexity, or variability of a system or process. In many cases, uncertainty can lead to difficulties in decision-making and pose challenges in planning, forecasting, and managing risks. There are different types of uncertainty, including epistemic uncertainty, which arises from the inherent randomness or variability of a system or process. This study encompasses the inclusion of all inventory parameters as uncertainty parameters, which are expressed in the form of intervals. Furthermore, demand for the product is taken into account in interval form. The conversion of the differential equation into an interval differential equation is carried out in order to account for the variability in demand within a certain interval. The utilisation of the centre-radius technique leads to the derivation of the related optimisation problem under a ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) payment scheme. In order to demonstrate the concept, a numerical case is selected and solved with the MATHEMATICA software and interval order relations. In the end, a comprehensive sensitivity analysis has been conducted to derive insightful conclusions pertaining to this study.

Judging the difficulty of perceptual decisions

Deciding how difficult it is going to be to perform a task allows us to choose between tasks, allocate appropriate resources, and predict future performance. To be useful for planning, difficulty judgments should not require completion of the task. Here, we examine the processes underlying difficulty judgments in a perceptual decision-making task. Participants viewed two patches of dynamic random dots, which were colored blue or yellow stochastically on each appearance. Stimulus coherence (the probability, pblue, of a dot being blue) varied across trials and patches thus establishing difficulty, |pblue −0.5|. Participants were asked to indicate for which patch it would be easier to decide the dominant color. Accuracy in difficulty decisions improved with the difference in the stimulus difficulties, whereas the reaction times were not determined solely by this quantity. For example, when the patches shared the same difficulty, reaction times were shorter for easier stimuli. A comparison of several models of difficulty judgment suggested that participants compare the absolute accumulated evidence from each stimulus and terminate their decision when they differed by a set amount. The model predicts that when the dominant color of each stimulus is known, reaction times should depend only on the difference in difficulty, which we confirm empirically. We also show that this model is preferred to one that compares the confidence one would have in making each decision. The results extend evidence accumulation models, used to explain choice, reaction time, and confidence to prospective judgments of difficulty.

Determination of progressive stages of type 2 diabetes in a 45% high-fat diet-fed C57BL/6J mouse model is achieved by utilizing both fasting blood glucose levels and a 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test.

Type 2 diabetes is considered one of the top ten life-threatening diseases worldwide. Following economic growth, obesity and metabolic syndrome became the most common risk factor for type 2 diabetes. In this regard, high-fat diet-fed C57BL/6J mouse model is widely used for type 2 diabetes pathogenesis and novel therapeutics development. However, criteria for classifying type 2 diabetes progressive stages in this mouse model are yet to be determined, led to the difficulty in experimental end-point decision. In this study, we fed C57BL/6J male mice with 45% high-fat diet, which is physiologically close to human high-fat consumption, and evaluated the progression of type 2 diabetes. After consuming high-fat diet for 4 weeks, mice developed metabolic syndrome, including obesity, significant increase of fasting plasma cholesterol level, elevation of both C-peptide and fasting blood glucose levels. By combining both fasting blood glucose test and 2-hour-oral glucose tolerance test, our results illustrated clear progressive stages from metabolic syndrome into pre-diabetes before onset of type 2 diabetes in C57BL/6J mice given a 45% high-fat diet. Besides, among metabolic measurements, accumulating body weight gain > 16.23 g for 12 weeks could be utilized as a potential parameter to predict type 2 diabetes development in C57BL/6J mice. Thus, these results might support future investigations in term of selecting appropriate disease stage in high-fat diet-fed C57BL/6J mouse model for studying early prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes.

Exploring Motivations Regarding Dietary Intake Intentions in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: Development and Validation of a Questionnaire.

The maintenance of stable blood glucose levels in gestational diabetes patients depends on their ability to make scientific decisions. Decision-making ability is influenced by factors such as preferences, knowledge acquisition, and risk perceptions. At present, problems such as irrational dietary structure, difficulties in decision-making, and poor adherence still exist in clinical practice. The key to guiding gestational diabetes patients in developing their scientific decision-making abilities lies in identifying the weak key points that affect their decision-making abilities. There is a lack of validated tools to assess these patients' perceptions of dietary intake. In this study, we aimed to develop and validate the Dietary Intake Perceived Motivation Questionnaire for Patients with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus with the purpose of accurately identifying the obstacles encountered by gestational diabetes mellitus patients in the development of their scientific decision-making abilities. In this study, 304 individuals with gestational diabetes were recruited from a public hospital in Wuxi, China. The questionnaire was developed in 3 stages, consisting of questionnaire development, a pilot study, and a formal test, and the validity and reliability of the questionnaire were tested and confirmed. The content validity index and exploratory factor analysis were completed by expert correspondence to indicate the validity of the content and structure. In addition, Cronbach's α was used to evaluate the internal consistency of each item of the questionnaire, and Spearman-Brown analysis was used to analyze the split-half reliability. In addition to the questionnaire, the study participants were asked to complete a general information questionnaire that included items on various demographic factors such as age, week of gestation, and mode of conception. The questionnaire was validated through principal component analysis, resulting in a 31-item questionnaire named the Dietary Intake Perceived Motivation Questionnaire for Patients with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus. This questionnaire explained 86.267% of the variance and demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach's α= 0.929). Our study determined that the questionnaire serves as a valuable tool in evaluating the motivation behind dietary intake in gestational diabetes patients.

Temporal dynamics of attitude decisions: A test of the iterative reprocessing model using event-related potentials

Although evaluative judgments are a central component of everyday decision making little is known about the temporal dynamics of the processes used to make them. The present study used the high temporal resolution of event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to test Cunningham and Zelazo's (2007) posited differences in the timing of attitude tag retrieval relative to stimulus categorization for ‘attitudes’ and ‘evaluations,’ as well as tenets of their Iterative Reprocessing (IR) loop model. Participants made agree/disagree decisions about their attitudes and You/Not You decisions about their autobiographical memories in separate reaction time (RT) tasks while brain activity was recorded from 32 scalp sites. A median-split analysis on RT was used to separate fast and slow decisions. Decisions about autobiographical stimuli produced the typical results in which retrieval and stimulus categorization occurred together just before the response regardless of decision difficulty. By contrast, the relative timing of tag retrieval and categorization differed with difficulty for attitude decisions as predicted by the model. Fast attitude decisions were processed similarly to fast You decisions with retrieval and categorization timing coupled to the response. Slow attitude decisions, however, differed because, while tag retrieval timing was the same as for fast attitude decisions, post-retrieval processing delayed stimulus categorization and a response by 450 msec. ERP activity over dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in the pre-response interval was asymmetrical, with greater activity for attitude and autobiographical decisions over left and right hemispheres, respectively, while amplitude and duration increased with decision difficulty for both. Slow attitude decisions alone elicited a reduced pre-response positivity, a correlate of goal-directed response selection. The results provide empirical support for key aspects of Cunningham and Zelazo's (2007) attitude-evaluation dichotomy and the timing of the posited component processes in their IR model as well as novel information about the roles of stored tags and reflective processes in different attitude decisions.

The Importance of α-Klotho in Depression and Cognitive Impairment and Its Connection to Glutamate Neurotransmission-An Up-to-Date Review.

Depression is a serious neuropsychiatric disease affecting an increasing number of people worldwide. Cognitive deficits (including inattention, poor memory, and decision-making difficulties) are common in the clinical picture of depression. Cognitive impairment has been hypothesized to be one of the most important components of major depressive disorder (MDD; referred to as clinical depression), although typical cognitive symptoms are less frequent in people with depression than in people with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder (BD; sometimes referred to as manic-depressive disorder). The importance of α-Klotho in the aging process has been well-documented. Growing evidence points to the role of α-Klotho in regulating other biological functions, including responses to oxidative stress and the modulation of synaptic plasticity. It has been proven that a Klotho deficit may contribute to the development of various nervous system pathologies, such as behavioral disorders or neurodegeneration. Given the growing evidence of the role of α-Klotho in depression and cognitive impairment, it is assumed that this protein may be a molecular link between them. Here, we provide a research review of the role of α-Klotho in depression and cognitive impairment. Furthermore, we propose potential mechanisms (related to oxidative stress and glutamatergic transmission) that may be important in α-Klotho-mediated regulation of mental and cognitive function.

Examining the effect of the future readiness psychoeducation program on gifted students' career decision-making competencies and future expectations

There is a great need for intervention programs related to career studies in today's world where the importance of career studies is increasing day by day. Gifted children also feel necessary to career guidance more due to many factors such as their special talents, multi-potentials and early career awareness. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of the "Turkish Science and Art Centers (SAC) Future Readiness Psychoeducation Program" developed for gifted middle school students who also continuing education in SAC. The aims of program are increasing career awareness, decreasing career decision making difficulties and effecting positively to future expectations. Thirty-two 7th grade students who were identified as gifted in Kilis province participated in the study. The study was designed in a pre-test post-test one-group quasi-experimental design. The data were analyzed using Mann Whitney U and Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test from non-parametric techniques according to group structure. Career Decision Difficulties Scale (CDDS), Adolescent Future Expectations Scale (FESA) and program evaluation form were used as data collection tools. When the results of the study were evaluated, it was seen that the career development program prepared for gifted students reduced their career decision-making difficulties and positively affected their future expectations. It was observed that gifted female students had higher career decision-making difficulties than male students, while there was no significant difference in terms of future expectations. When the evaluation form data and opinions of the participants were examined, it was seen that the satisfaction with the program was high, the activities could be enriched in terms of practice, and it would be more beneficial to spread the activities over a wider period of time and implement them as a single activity in each session.

One-year follow-up of a multifocal intraocular lens with optimized elevated phase shift.

To evaluate the standard outcomes of a multifocal intraocular lens (MIOL) with optimized elevated phase shift (EPS). ("Masked by journal requirement"). Retrospective observational. 41 patients, consecutively operated on cataracts or refractive lens exchange with the implantation of the Liberty 640PM (EPS 2.0) and followed during 12-months, were included in the analysis. Retrieved variables were visual acuities at far, intermediate and near distances, defocus curves (VADC), and prediction error of four formulas optimized for IOL Master 500 and Pentacam AXL Wave. Patient reported outcomes were also obtained for assessing spectacle independence, satisfaction, bothersome to dysphotopsia, difficulties in daily life tasks and decision to be operated with the same MIOL. Median monocular efficacy with best distance correction was 0, 0.1 and 0.1 logMAR at far, intermediate and near distances, respectively, with patients achieving binocularly a median of 0 logMAR at the three distances. VADC showed a depth of field of 3 D above 0.2 logMAR with a median increase of 0.07 logMAR from -1.5 D to -2.5 D. Complete spectacle independence was achieved at far distance whereas 97.6% and 85.4% was achieved at intermediate and near distances, respectively. 7.3% of patients were bothered by dysphotopsia and 92.6% of patients were likely to be operated again. EPS 2.0 restored patient's vision in the full range of field with a nearly monotone decrease of visual performance from far to near, achieving high rates of spectacle independence at all distances and with low positive dysphotopsia rates (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05735990).

Developing customer inspiration in XYZ retail stores

Many retailers have low sales due to the difficulty in the purchase decision of their customers. Previous research shows the lack of studies on the impact of store interiors on purchase decisions. Thisstudy aims to find out various visual merchandising factors that affect purchase intentions at XYZ retail stores and focuses on visual merchandising itself, as well as store environment and customerinspiration factors that affect customer behaviour. The non-probability sampling technique with analysing 140 respondents using an online questionnaire with SMART PLS was used to conduct this research. The results show that customer inspirations directly influence customers’ purchase intentions. Visual merchandising and store environment indirectly affect purchase intention as well, mediated by customer inspirations. The customer inspiration variable is in the good category in the XYZ store. It is recommended to use quick response in visual merchandising and develop a store environment virtually that can be connected to a customer’s device.

OCD symptoms are related to seeking and relying on external information even in neutral perceptual decisions

IntroductionDoubt and decision-making difficulties are very common in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). In the present study, we focused on a particular feature of decision-making in OCD – increased information-seeking. Based on the Seeking Proxies for Internal States and the Intolerance for Uncertainty theoretical frameworks, we hypothesized that OCD symptoms will be positively associated with information-seeking, even for neutral perceptual decisions. MethodFifty-eight UK participants were recruited via Prolific. They performed a perceptual decision-making task and completed questionnaires assessing OCD and associated variables. The perceptual task entailed locating the exact mid-point of a brightness continuum of a specific hue. Upon request, participants could obtain objective hints (purported responses of other participants), although hints incurred time-out penalties. ResultsConsistent with our hypothesis, OCD symptom levels predicted how many hints participants requested, even after controlling for anxiety and depression symptoms. Additionally, OCD symptoms were partially related to indecisiveness in the task. DiscussionOur findings suggest that obsessive-compulsive tendencies are related to indecisiveness and to seeking external information even in a neutral context. Moreover, OCD tendencies were related to finding external information desirable enough to justify mildly aversive penalties. This need for clarity and objectivity might account for the development of compulsions despite personal costs.

IDENTITY DISSOCIATION IN THE VIEW OF ISLAMIC PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SOLUTIONS OFFERED

The purpose of this study is to find out the views of Islamic psychology on multiple personalities (identity dissociation) and the solutions offered to treat individuals who experience this disorder. The type of research used is qualitative research with the literature study method, in which the researcher examines various kinds of literature and draws common threads in order to get results or conclusions. While the results of this study are consistent with Islamic psychology's view of multiple personality disorder as a psychiatric disorder that has a negative impact on the individual, such as difficulties in interpersonal relationships, difficulties in decision-making, anxiety disorders, depression, and uncontrolled and unstable behaviour at work, the solutions offered by providing therapy involving spiritual, psychological, and pharmacological aspects are promising. Ruqyah therapy, psychological therapy, pharmacological therapy, spiritual therapy, and combination therapy.

Supplemental Material for Patterns of Career Decision-Making Difficulties in 16 Countries: A Person-Centered Investigation

Supplemental Material for Patterns of Career Decision-Making Difficulties in 16 Countries: A Person-Centered Investigation

College Students' Struggles with Career Decisions and Their Personality

Students face challenges while selecting a career in Pakistan is very common. 99% students lack career counselling services in schools, colleges and universities. In the current study career decision-making difficulties faced by students in Peshawar was investigated when they plan to apply in a school, college and university and to evaluate what kind of assistance they need in their career choices related to their personality. Objective: To see how personality affect the decision-making of careers in students at high schools, colleges, and universities. Methods: The influence of personality traits (Extraversion and Neuroticism) on the decision-making of career difficulties was investigated using a causal-comparative study methodology. In Pakistan, 99 percent of pupils still need career guidance. As a result, three hundred and seventy-six (N=376) students were chosen from Peshawar's various schools, colleges, and universities. Two questionnaires were used to gauge the participants' responses: The career decision-making difficulties Questionnaire and Big Five Personality Inventory. Results: Findings suggest that most students needed help with professional decision-making and that a small percentage of students were satisfied with their selected disciplines. Conclusions: Students with high neuroticism and low extroversion had difficulty making professional decisions.

Modeling Multi-Generation Product Diffusion in the Context of Dual-Brand Competition and Sustainable Improvement

The diffusion of competition under the coexistence of multi-generation products has become one of the important challenges faced by enterprises in their daily and sustainable operations. At the same time, the competition between different brands has intensified the difficulty and complexity of decision making in the process of multi-generation product operations. Therefore, based on the Norton–Bass model diffusion process, this paper introduces two marketing variables: dynamic price and quality level. Then, this paper builds a multi-generation product diffusion model under dual-brand competition and analyzes the impact of the company’s revenue on launch time to market, pricing, quality, and technical levels. By using the system dynamics (SD) method (from the perspective of strong brand and weak brand enterprises), the competition diffusion model is built and simulated. The simulation indicates the following: (i) When enterprises have the same brand competitiveness, reducing the pricing level cannot obtain more revenue and instead diminishes the overall revenue of the industry. Raising the pricing level can obtain more revenue and also improve the revenue of competitors. (ii) When the competitive strengths of enterprises are different, strong brands tend to maintain stable pricing on the basis of improving the quality level (or slightly raising the price). Weak brands tend to raise the pricing of new products significantly on the basis of improving the quality level. (iii) The launch-time-to-market decision of new products is influenced by the degree of the product quality upgrade. Therefore, the frequency of releasing new products should trade off against the degree of technological upgrading of the product quality. This research provides a theoretical basis and new insights for new product launches and operation decisions of enterprises.

Effects of life design counselling on secondary students with career indecision in a resource-constrained community

ABSTRACT This study examined the effects of life design counselling on secondary students with career indecision in a resource-constrained community. Non-probability, purposive sampling was utilized to select 91 secondary students from two schools (intervention group: N = 17, mean age: 18.00; SD = 1.06; comparison group: N = 74; mean age: 17.41; SD = 1.47). A mixed-methods intervention within a pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental design was employed. Data was generated using the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale and the Career Decision Difficulties Questionnaire. The Mann-Whitney U test and related-samples Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test were used to examine the outcomes. The participants did not exhibit a decrease in career indecision after the intervention but there was an increase in their curiosity. The intervention should be repeated in longitudinal research with larger samples of diverse participants and different designs and assessment measures.

The Relationship between Self-Esteem, Self-Efficacy, and Career Decision-Making Difficulties: Psychological Flourishing as a Mediator.

Well-being associated with optimism, social support, and self-esteem is positively correlated with career decision. In this perspective, a rather recent concept of flourishing as an integrative notion incorporating these different resources, positive affect, and positive experience is particularly relevant to better understand the relations and correlations between self-evaluation, well-being, and career decision-making difficulties. The present study then examines the relationship between these possible difficulties, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and flourishing. One hundred and seventy-two higher education students participated in the study and completed a four-part questionnaire with the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire, the Flourishing Scale, the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, and the General Self-Efficacy Scale. The results highlight the mediation of psychological flourishing between personality dimensions-self-esteem and self-efficacy-and career decision difficulties and the fact that those who are most flourishing in their lives will also have the least difficulty in making a career decision. As for the practical implications, guidance counselors for students and young adults need to identify resources and difficulties they have to cope with. This study emphasizes the importance of guiding students in three areas: self-esteem, the perceived quality of social relations, and the meaning attributed to one's existence. Finally, the contribution of positive psychology to career development will be discussed.

Adopting Emotional Intelligence in Career Decision Making Difficulties

This article interests in exploring the role of adopting emotional intelligence (EI) in career decision making difficulties; meanwhile, discussing the examination of Bar-On Emotional Quotient inventory, and decision-making difficulties due to reviewing the literature and analyzing their discussions on both EI, and the three-career decision- making difficulties (lack of Readiness, Lack of Information, and Inconsistent Information). It shows the unique role of EI in career decision making difficulties, it offers new approaches toward finding new factors of EI in career decision making. Although, adopting EI has its significant role in decision- making but, still career decision making difficulties should be discussed more seriously in other cultures.

A fuzzy decision support model for online review-driven hotel selection by considering risk attitudes of customers

Online hotel reviews provide a vital information source for customers to select an optimal hotel, but a large amount of vague and unstructured information increases the difficulty of decision-making. From the perspective of customers’ risk attitudes, this paper proposes a novel fuzzy decision support model for hotel selection based on online reviews. Firstly, the useful information from online reviews is extracted by attribute extraction and sentiment analysis, and then this information is aggregated into the Probabilistic Linguistic Term Set (PLTS) by considering the weight of each review. Secondly, the improved linguistic scale functions are constructed from the perspective of customers’ risk attitude to convert PLTS into quantitative information. Thirdly, an integrated attribute weighting method is presented based on objective weights of the statistical measure and subjective weights of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique. Fourthly, an extended Combinative Distance-based Assessment (CODAS) method is developed to evaluate the performances of hotels. The effectiveness of the proposed model is verified by the practical case from TripAdvisor.com and the comparative analysis with the existing methods.

Career decision-making readiness among students’ in the system of higher education: career course intervention

Career decision-making is a complicated process in which students must understand themselves. In this paper, the influence of the implemented “Career development” course on the Toraighyrov University undergraduate students’ readiness for career decision-making was analyzed. The Career Decision-making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDMDQ) and it was used to test the hypothesis that by implementing “Career Development” course the level of students’ career decision-making readiness would increase. The participants were 104 students at Toraighyrov University, divided equally into the control and experimental groups (52 students each). The experimental group, unlike the control group, took the “Career Development” course for 15 weeks. Students were randomly chosen from humanities (psychology, education, journalism, and social work) and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (electrical engineering, computer science, and metallurgical engineering) fields. The average age of participants was 21 years. The results show that there is significant difference in pre-course and post-course testing in each of the career decision-making difficulties cluster: (1) Lack of Readiness; (2) Lack of Information and (3) Inconsistent information in experimental in comparison to control group.

A Longitudinal Examination of Four Processual Mechanisms in Career Decision Making

The dual-process theory of career decision making (DTC) proposes four processual mechanisms that explain the career decision-making process and outcomes. Although research has examined the validity of the four processual mechanisms using a cross-sectional dataset in China, the roles of the four mechanisms in career decision making cannot be fully established without longitudinal and cross-cultural analyses. Using a sample of U.S. college students ( n = 206), the current study examined the validity of the four processual mechanisms in explaining the joint operation of five major decision-making difficulties with subsequent career decidedness as the criterion. The results supported not only the standalone mechanisms of managing state and persistent decision uncertainty but also the joint mechanisms from managing state (persistent) uncertainty to managing persistent (state) uncertainty. Therefore, the current study adds evidence to the DTC, particularly regarding the scientific and practical necessity of differentiating between state and persistent decision uncertainty and between reducing uncertainty and reducing the threat of uncertainty. Additionally, the current study offers interesting implications for the interplay of major decision difficulties across different sociocultural contexts of China and the U.S.