Easy Question Research Articles

Editorial: The UK storms of winter 2013/2014

Editorial: The <scp>UK</scp> storms of winter 2013/2014

Blink or think: can further reflection improve initial diagnostic impressions?

Experienced clinicians derive many diagnoses intuitively, because most new problems they see closely resemble problems they've seen before. The majority of these diagnoses, but not all, will be correct. This study determined whether further reflection regarding initial diagnoses improves diagnostic accuracy during a high-stakes board exam, a model for studying clinical decision making. Keystroke response data were used from 500 residents who took the 2010 American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Internal Medicine Certification Examination. Data included time to initial response on each question, whether the answer was correct, and whether or not the resident changed her or his initial response. The focus was on 80 diagnosis questions that comprised realistic clinical vignettes with multiple-choice single-best answers. Cognitive skill (ability) was measured using overall exam scores. Case complexity was determined using item difficulty (proportion of examinees that correctly answered the question). A hierarchical generalized linear model was used to assess the relationship between time spent on initial responses and the probability of correctly answering the questions. On average, residents changed their responses on 12% of all diagnosis questions (or 9.6 questions out of 80). Changing an answer from incorrect to correct was almost twice as likely as changing an answer from correct to incorrect. The relationship between response time and accuracy was complex. Further reflection appears to be beneficial to diagnostic accuracy, especially for more complex cases.

Models of dataset size, question design, and cross-language speech perception for speech crowdsourcing applications

AbstractTranscribers make mistakes. Workers recruited in a crowdsourcing marketplace, because of their varying levels of commitment and education, make more mistakes than workers in a controlled laboratory setting. Methods for compensating transcriber mistakes are desirable because, with such methods available, crowdsourcing has the potential to significantly increase the scale of experiments in laboratory phonology. This paper provides a brief tutorial on statistical learning theory, introducing the relationship between dataset size and estimation error, then presents a theoretical description and preliminary results for two new methods that control labeler error in laboratory phonology experiments. First, we discuss the method of crowdsourcing over error-correcting codes. In the error-correcting-code method, each difficult labeling task is first factored, by the experimenter, into the product of several easy labeling tasks (typically binary). Factoring increases the total number of tasks, nevertheless it results in faster completion and higher accuracy, because workers unable to perform the difficult task may be able to meaningfully contribute to the solution of each easy task. Second, we discuss the use of explicit mathematical models of the errors made by a worker in the crowd. In particular, we introduce the method of mismatched crowdsourcing, in which workers transcribe a language they do not understand, and an explicit mathematical model of second-language phoneme perception is used to learn and then compensate their transcription errors. Though introduced as technologies that increase the scale of phonology experiments, both methods have implications beyond increased scale. The method of easy questions permits us to probe the perception, by untrained listeners, of complicated phonological models; examples are provided from the prosody of English and Hindi. The method of mismatched crowdsourcing permits us to probe, in more detail than ever before, the perception of phonetic categories by listeners with a different phonological system.

What did you do at work today?

[Extract] Many of us with children have been met with this question as we walk in the door after a busy day. It's usually not an easy question for a public health professional to answer. A medical practitioner can explain how they helped individuals with their health issues, patient by patient. A solicitor can talk about the legal needs of individuals, case by case. For a public health professional, the answer is generally more complicated and convoluted because we work at the population level and our outcomes often take years to achieve. In public health, we tend not to spend a lot of time dwelling on our successes. Yet, if it was not for public health professionals, thousands and possibly hundreds of thousands of Australians and New Zealanders would be spending this holiday season without a loved one. We can, and should, celebrate our successes. As you get ready for the festive season, take some time to reflect on some of these successes.

Morality for humans: ethical understanding from the perspective of cognitive science

What is the difference between right and wrong? This is no easy question to answer, yet we constantly try to make it so, frequently appealing to some hidden cache of cut-and-dried absolutes, whether drawn from God, universal reason, or societal authority. Combining cognitive science with a pragmatist philosophical framework in Morality for Humans: Ethical Understanding from the Perspective of Cognitive Science, Mark Johnson argues that appealing solely to absolute principles and values is not only scientifically unsound but even morally suspect. He shows that the standards for the kinds of person we should be and how we should treat one another-which we often think of as universal-are in fact frequently subject to change. And we should be okay with that. Taking context into consideration, he offers a remarkably nuanced, naturalistic view of ethics that sees us creatively adapt our standards according to given needs, emerging problems, and social interactions. Ethical naturalism is not just a revamped form of relativism. Indeed, Johnson attempts to overcome the absolutist-versus-relativist impasse that has been one of the most intractable problems in the history of philosophy. He does so through a careful and inclusive look at the many ways we reason about right and wrong. Much of our moral thought, he shows, is automatic and intuitive, gut feelings that we follow up and attempt to justify with rational analysis and argument. However, good moral deliberation is not limited merely to intuitive judgments supported after the fact by reasoning. Johnson points out a crucial third element: we imagine how our decisions will play out, how we or the world would change with each action we might take. Plumbing this imaginative dimension of moral reasoning, he provides a psychologically sophisticated view of moral problem solving, one perfectly suited for the embodied, culturally embedded, and ever-developing human creatures that we are.

Impression formation of tests: retrospective judgments of performance are higher when easier questions come first.

Four experiments are reported on the importance of retrospective judgments of performance (postdictions) on tests. Participants answered general knowledge questions and estimated how many questions they answered correctly. They gave higher postdictions when easy questions preceded difficult questions. This was true when time to answer each question was equalized and constrained, when participants were instructed not to write answers, and when questions were presented in a multiple-choice format. Results are consistent with the notion that first impressions predominate in overall perception of test difficulty.

Is National Emergency Access Target dumbing down emergency physicians?

Is National Emergency Access Target dumbing down emergency physicians?

A Savage Sequence: ST-segment Elevations with Pulmonary Embolism

Serial electrocardiograms (ECGs) proved that aside from pulmonary embolism, the patient had experienced a myocardial infarction—even though no acute coronary occlusion existed. A 61-year-old man was brought to the emergency department because of fever and an altered level of consciousness. His past medical history included mental retardation and congenital cerebral palsy in the form of spastic quadriplegia, which caused him to be completely bedridden for his entire life. He had always been able to answer easy questions by uttering sounds, but 3 days prior to admission, he became totally unable to respond.

Equality in education: The digital divide

Equality in Alberta education in terms of access to technology, better known as the digital divide, is analyzed and explored in this research study. The question as to whether each child should have equal opportunity to the same quality education is an easy question to answer. However, there are discrepancies and inequalities that remain within our system, and as a result, quality education for learners is being affected. Data for this study was collected through a Google Forms online survey and was sent out via social media. Various interviews were also conducted. The findings suggest that parents, post-secondary students, and other members of society are concerned about equality in education as well as the use of technology in the elementary classroom.

Becoming Another

Becoming Another Judith Podell (bio) My Brother’s Name Laura Krughoff Scarletta Press www.scarlettapress.com 241 Pages; Print, $14.95 Due to desperate circumstances (medical bills, love and/or unemployment) X takes on a transgressive identity, subverts convention and embarks on a perilous journey of self-discovery (see: Breaking Bad, Breaking the Waves, Tootsie). That the set-up might strain credibility at first is small price to pay for the rich dramatic possibilities, especially when X is a woman passing as a man. In Laura Krughoff’s provocative and compelling debut novel, Jane Field informs us: I am standing the line of life for my brother—I am holding his place. I am helping John remember who he was once so that one day he’ll get well and become that guy again. The hospitals and doctors and medications have kept him unhinged for years, so here, on our own, we’re trying a novel approach. Krughoff gets off to a fast start, perhaps too fast, but the authority in Jane’s voice carries us. “I did not grow up in my brother’s shadow. I grew up in his light.” she says. It is her turn to shelter him. Schizophrenic, off his meds, and living in the family basement, John has been setting traps for his terrified mother (dead goldfish in the yogurt, rubber cement in the flour) who he accuses of trying to poison him. The only person he trusts is Jane, whose life has been on hold since high school. At 20, she works at a coffee shop and takes classes at the local community college. Half her wardrobe comes from John’s cast-off concert T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts. Brother and sister look remarkably alike. At least they did, until the years of mania and drugs obliterated John’s lean good looks. Assuming John’s identity is his idea, not hers. That clerk job at Stew’s Music is perfect for him, except he’s still too sick to work. It would be the perfect job for Jane, who’s a musician in her own right, a drummer just like her brother. There’s that credibility factor, John tells her and she believes him. Would boys read Harry Potter books if the author was Joanne Rowling? Quick quiz: name all the women drummers in rock bands. Besides, how hard can it be to pass for some dude who knows a lot about music if you’ve got the bones for it and your whole social life has been hanging out with your brother’s drummer friends? “I saw your ad in the paper yesterday morning,” I said, except it didn’t feel like I said it. It felt like something being said by a laidback kid I’d never met. I liked that kid. I had a glimmer of how it must have felt to be John. I felt braver than I’d felt in a long time. The interview is five easy questions. Favorite musician? John’s answer would have been Led Zeppelin’s drummer but Jane names her drum teacher’s favorite, Art Blakely. As John she gets the job and an invitation to sit in with the store manager’s band. Would Sean have invited Jane to sit in? At the very least she’d have to ask, and Jane is too shy to ask. Will Jane be able to pass for John on a date? “I’ll tell you everything you’ll need to know and then I’ll watch the whole thing. I’ll go with you. I’ll sneak right through the trap door in your brain,” John assures her as he preps Jane for John/Jane’s date with April, a pretty girl who has a small blue star tattoo on her neck. April, who blurs the line between who Jane is and who she pretends to be? With story-telling smarts and fearless compassion Krughoff captures the dark poetry of paranoia, evokes the sense of heightened reality that comes from proximity to madness, and conveys the emotional truth obscured by clichés like ‘Co-dependent’ and ‘family dysfunction.’ My Brother’s Name would...

Free Speech and Instrumental Music

This Article critically examines what would seem to be, but is not, an easy free speech question: whether instrumental music falls within the scope of the First Amendment. The Supreme Court has long recognized that musical expression is “speech,” but has never analyzed why this is the case. Similarly, scholarly literature is surprisingly bereft of any comprehensive examination of whether there are sound theoretical or doctrinal foundations for treating purely instrumental music as a form of constitutionally protected expression. This Article engages this question comprehensively, and argues that there are two strong claims for the coverage of instrumental music under the First Amendment. First, instrumental music can be understood as speech because of its central role in expressing cultural, religious, nationalist, and other social values that might otherwise be at risk of government control and orthodoxy. Second, music serves a unique communicative function as a facilitator of emotional expression, experience, and autonomy. In examining these claims, the Article first surveys existing judicial and scholarly treatments of music as speech to illustrate how our understanding of the expressive value of instrumental music has been undertheorized. It then briefly catalogues historical and contemporary instances of instrumental music censorship by governments and other powerful institutions both within the United States and in other nations. First Amendment theory does not offer an obvious explanation for why instrumental music should be protected. Thus, the Article next considers the three dominant theoretical justifications for protection of expression-promotion of democratic self-governance; facilitation of the search for truth; and protection of autonomy through self-realization-and explores the possibilities for and limits of employing any of these three theories to justify protection of instrumental music. To truly understand how these speech theories might apply, however, one must first comprehend the nature of instrumental musical expression. Accordingly, this Article next discusses exactly what it is that instrumental music expresses and how it does so, and examines how those conceptualizations fit within the frameworks of the three dominant speech theories. This Part concludes with an elaboration of the claim that music is like speech because of its unique power to convey cultural and other social values and promote emotional expression and experience in its composers, performers, and listeners. Music, then, falls within both the truth-seeking and self-realization justifications for the First Amendment. In contrast, theoretical explanations for free speech grounded in democracy do not map well onto non-lyrical musical expression. Finally, this Article argues that a better understanding of the relationship between instrumental music and the First Amendment may illuminate free speech theory more broadly. First, it moves the recent discourse on First Amendment “coverage” forward by examining a context that requires consideration of nonrepresentational expression in its purest form. Second, clarification about the valid justifications for coverage of instrumental music has important ramifications for how we think about the regulation of other artistic expression as well as other types of nonverbal expression, such as non-obscene pornography and subliminal advertising.

Metacognitive effects of initial question difficulty on subsequent memory performance

In two experiments, we examined whether relative retrieval fluency (the relative ease or difficulty of answering questions from memory) would be translated, via metacognitive monitoring and control processes, into an overt effect on the controlled behavior-that is, the decision whether to answer a question or abstain. Before answering a target set of multiple-choice general-knowledge questions (intermediate-difficulty questions in Exp. 1, deceptive questions in Exp. 2), the participants first answered either a set of difficult questions or a set of easy questions. For each question, they provided a forced-report answer, followed by a subjective assessment of the likelihood that their answer was correct (confidence) and by a free-report control decision-whether or not to report the answer for a potential monetary bonus (or penalty). The participants' ability to answer the target questions (forced-report proportion correct) was unaffected by the initial question difficulty. However, a predicted metacognitive contrast effect was observed: When the target questions were preceded by a set of difficult rather than easy questions, the participants were more confident in their answers to the target questions, and hence were more likely to report them, thus increasing the quantity of freely reported correct information. The option of free report was more beneficial after initial question difficulty than after initial question ease, in terms of both the gain in accuracy (Exp. 2) and a smaller cost in quantity (Exps. 1 and 2). These results demonstrate that changes in subjective experience can influence metacognitive monitoring and control, thereby affecting free-report memory performance independently of forced-report performance.

Unpriming or Strategizing?: A Critique of Sparrow and Wegner

When asked to randomly select answer choices on easy multiple choice questions, people select more correct answers than expected by chance. Sparrow and Wegner showed that this tendency was eliminated if participants answered questions correctly before answering randomly. They argued that answering a question correctly unprimes the tendency to choose the correct answer, thereby reducing the correct response rate close to the chance level of.5. An alternative explanation, consistent with these results, is that answering questions correctly provides a baseline, which allows participants to strategize, i.e., to match and mismatch equal numbers of their purportedly random responses to the baseline response. Three studies showed that the presence of a baseline, even when unpriming is not feasible, led to lower correct response rates than those obtained in a condition in which no baseline was available. Furthermore, the presence of a baseline led to more nonrandom sequences of correct and incorrect responses. One specific sequence–alternating correct and incorrect answers–mediated the relation between the presence of a baseline and lower correct response rate. These findings suggest that strategizing, not unpriming, accounts for Sparrow and Wegner’s results.

Analysis and Evaluation of Final Examination Paper of Medical Record Informatics

Objective. To objectively evaluate the quality and effectiveness of teaching and identify the problems in the teaching process, and to carry out the comprehensive analysis and evaluation of the final examination paper of medical record informatics. Method. The final examination paper of medical record informatics is analyzed through the education survey. Result. The average score of the examination paper is 70.6, and the examination results obey normal distribution. The examination paper has the features of moderate difficulty, general discrimination and good reliability. The proportion of easy questions is too large, and the proportion of the relatively difficult questions should be increased. Conclusion. The proportion of the relatively difficult questions on the examination paper should be increased promptly, so that the examination paper with moderate difficulty can objectively reflect the actual level of the students, thereby improving the quality of teaching.

Discussion with the doctors on clinical work

How to make a surgeon? It's not an easy question to answer for some of the graduates with doctor degree (Ph.D.).Because the lack of systemic training and stringent qualification exams in the filed of surgery in our country,Ph.D.need to improve their clinical ability and also shift their roles when they are entering the world of surgery.In this article,the author would like to discuss the way to help Ph.D.in accelerating their changing process from a Ph.D.to a capable confident surgeon based on the author's personal experience.Ph.D.are suggested to improve themselves in the following ways:study like a humble student,learn how to improve oneself through observation,practice diligently on basic technique skills,be brave in surgical practicing,read and write as much as you can,and last but not least cultivate your professionalism. Key words: Surgeons ; Doctor degree ; Clinical work

Leadership is about what we deliver

Purpose – This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach – This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings – Want an easy question with an obvious answer? Well, here is one: “What is leadership?” Surely those in leadership positions, or those who aspire to them, will not be too tongue-tied to quickly come up with an impressive response. After all, if they need a reminder of an eloquent explanation, there are millions of articles about the subject to help them out. Let's start again. Do you want a question that is, far from being easy and obvious to answer, quite mystifying in its complexity and profundity? Well here is one: “What is leadership?” The easy answer is that there is not an easy answer. The more you delve into the intricacies of the subject, the more you get tangled up in the jungle that is leadership. Practical implications – The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations. Originality/value – The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to digest format.

Quantifying overconfidence in experimental finance

This paper illustrates the difficulties in quantifying overconfidence in experimental finance and suggests a procedure for the development of a reliable overconfidence measurement instrument. Following the outlined two–stage procedure a sample measure of overconfidence is developed. First, a pilot test is conducted to divide the initial 50 items into three difficulty levels: hard, moderate and easy questions. In the second stage a final instrument with six questions of each difficulty level was compiled and tested. Reliability of the final instrument was assessed.

Time for Introspection?

Time for Introspection?

Item Analysis an Effective Tool for Assessing Exam Quality, Designing Appropriate Exam and Determining Weakness in Teaching

Introduction: Item analysis is an integrate component of course assessment which helps observe the item characteristics and improve the quality of the course exam. It also provides a guide for improving the teaching method to enhance the students' learning outcomes. However, item analysis results may not be applied to adjust the way teachers teach and improve the items characteristics. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of item analysis in improving assessment and teaching quality. Methods: The Item characteristics of the final exam for kinesiology course for physiotherapy students in 2 semesters were studied. Improved and good multiple choice questions (MCQs) were then conducted for another semester, followed by application of both good MCQs and improved teaching for the other semester. The item characteristics were compared to observe any effect of good MCQs and teaching on educational performance. Results: The good MCQs along with the improved teaching were associated with the greater mean score and the students who passed the exam rather than those with only good MCQs. The percentage of easy questions (42.5%) in students who received good MCQs and improved teaching compared with those (15%) who only received good MCQs indicated that the improved pool of questions were shifted from medium to easier questions. Conclusion: We concluded that the item analysis should be followed by revised and improved teaching method. It appears that improved item characteristics are associated with improved teaching method and possibly with an improvement in students' learning.

Dr Fisher's Casebook: The Shoulders of Giants

SignificanceVolume 10, Issue 5 p. 20-20 FeaturesFree Access Dr Fisher's casebook: The shoulders of giants First published: 29 October 2013 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1740-9713.2013.00692.xAboutSectionsPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat In June this year, Significance published extracts from G. E. P. Box's memoir An Accidental Statistician1, inspiring me to order a copy. When it arrived, I remarked to my significant other that each chapter began with a quote from Alice in Wonderland. “You've found a fellow spirit, then”, she replied, or words to that effect. I recommend An Accidental Statistician (I also of course recommend Alice), but I was startled to read a foreword from the publishers which claimed that the great man had published not only 12 books but also more than 2000 journal articles. That impressive tally would leave me trailing far behind. Over a 40-year career it would work out at pushing one a week. Curiouser and curiouser, cried Alice. Was it possible? I had to check and, after a diligent search of the Web of Science and multiple G. Boxes, I concluded that 200 was a better estimate. Always check the data. Those zeros can be tricky. This led me to wonder how many papers my great namesake, R. A. Fisher, father-in-law of George Box, had on the same database. This was not an easy question, as it turned out that there are many more R. A. Fishers than G. Boxes beavering away in the world of research. But moving back through the archive, I was drawn to one of our Fisher's last publications, simply entitled “Biometry”2. The World Wide Web is a wonderful thing; I was able to download “Biometry” from JSTOR, and it was a fascinating read. In this paper, originally delivered in 1948 but published in a memorial volume in 1964, Fisher argued that the first great revolution in thought was when the ancient Greeks developed geometry – earth measurement. This was the true origin of mathematics, the notion of proof being able to demonstrate things beyond dispute, and of deductive reasoning, going from the general to the particular. Thought continued in much the same way for more than 2000 years, until the development of biometry – life measurement. Fisher thought that our founding father was Galton, a man who was interested in variability in many spheres. For Fisher, variation was the key to statistics: we should be interested in distributions, not in central tendency. The example he gave is worth quoting, if only for its contemporary relevance: Then again, we still have the administrative compromise, such as “A fair wage is one sufficient to maintain in decency a wife and three children”, and it is with pained surprise, and with great reluctance, that the administrator learns to admit that such a decision will leave half the real children of the country, belonging to families of four or more, insufficiently provided for, and that at the same time it saddles the wage fund with providing for about twenty million non-existent children. In this aspect family allowances constitute an elementary recognition of the unwelcome fact of biological variability. A nice knockdown argument”, as Carroll's Humpty Dumpty put it. No doubt one that particularly appealed to a father of eight! (Interesting also that in his day half the children of the country belonged to families of four or more.) Fisher thought that biometry was the opposite of geometry, in that it led to inductive reasoning, from the particular to the general. When we interpret data from a sample and draw conclusions about a population, we draw from a few people, or bees, or blue whales, or flamingos, or hedgehogs, or mad hatters or tea parties or March hares or even dormice, a conclusion about the world. As so often, Fisher was right. Statistics is really at the very forefront of human development. References 1Box, G. E. P. (2013) An Accidental Statistician. Chichester: Wiley. Wiley Online LibraryGoogle Scholar 2Fisher, R. A. (1964) Biometry. Biometrics, 20, 261– 264. CrossrefWeb of Science®Google Scholar Volume10, Issue5October 2013Pages 20-20 ReferencesRelatedInformation