Heuristic Principles Research Articles

Patient-facing communication for cytopathologists: A framework for disclosing diagnostic error.

Medical errors are a major source of harm to patients. Regulatory bodies mandate and patient safety experts advocate the disclosure of medical errors to patients to promote transparency and to create accountability for improving health care processes. Although pathologists regularly report errors-either to pathology or clinical colleagues or via internal safety reporting systems-few pathologists directly disclose those errors to patients. Yet many pathologists are interested in participating in the direct disclosure of medical errors to patients and may even be mandated to do so. When surveyed on why they do not directly disclose errors to patients, pathologists commonly cite a lack of confidence and a lack of training. Another barrier cited is the lack of a preexisting relationship between the pathologist and the patient. With respect to this last barrier, cytopathologists have a distinct advantage over surgical or clinical pathologists, as many cytopathologists regularly interact with and develop a rapport with patients when they are performing fine-needle aspiration (FNA) procedures. To improve the safety culture in pathology, direct error disclosure practices must be developed, supported, and strengthened. It is critical for cytopathologists to be comfortable with disclosing errors to patients. Being comfortable with disclosing an error, however, requires training, practice, and advance reflection. Using a practical, case-based format centered around FNA examples, this article addresses how to disclose a medical error to a patient. It provides a framework, heuristic principles, and structured conversation systems and talking points to guide the inexperienced pathologist to find his or her voice in a challenging disclosure conversation.

ANALISIS USABILITY MENGGUNAKAN METODE HEURISTIC EVALUATION PADA APLIKASI TOKO ONLINE

This study tries to analyze the Usability of the Shopee applications based on the heuristic evaluation method in order to determine the shortcomings of the Shopee applications based on ten heuristic principles. The purpose of this study is to determine the level of user satisfaction in the Shopee applications, as well as to provide advice to those concerned in this case the Shopee applications by recommending the results of the usability evaluation test on the Shopee applications. In this study, the method used to perform Usability analysis on the Shopee applications is by using a questionnaire via Google Form, from the questionnaire a calculation basis is to determine Usability or the user interface in using the Shopee applications. Based on the results of the average percentage of respondents using the heuristic evaluation method on the Shopee applications, the Shopee application has a percentage value of 97.35%. From these results it is known that the level of Usability on the Shopee applications is very good.

BISHOP'S AND MONASTERY SPHRAGES OF 1690 – 1735, AS A SOURCE FOR THE STUDY OF HISTORY OF MARAMOROSH ORTHODOX DIOCESE AND THE MARAMOROSH UNION VICARIATE

The article examines sphragistic sources directly related to the activities of the Maramorosh Orthodox Diocese and the Maramorosh Union Vicariate of the late XVII – first half of the XVIII century. With the help of auxiliary disciplines, the authors attempt to fill in the "white spots" in the pages of church history of the region. The period of the history of the Mukachevo diocese chosen for study is characterized by the institutional development of two new dioceses, which separated from the ancient Mukachevo diocese - Mukachevo Greek Catholic and the new – Maramorosh Orthodox Diocese. As a result of the active proselytizing activity of the episcopate in 1723, the former of these units created a union vicariate in the Maramorosh County, which in time acquired the status of a diocese. The active development phase of both ecclesiastical units lasted from 1690 to 1730. During this period, vital institutional processes took place, which contributed to forming and establishing two countег centers. The results of the research article innovatively present the vision and analysis of sources that are inextricably linked to the formation of two church centers. Based on the elaborated episcopal and monastic sphragis, new adjustments are made to the existing paradigms of administration and management of dioceses. The detailed methodology opens a wide field for discussion and further study of the history of the Church in Transcarpathia in this period. The principles of heuristics used in the study allow us to look in a new way at individual processes in the construction of ecclesiastical centers. These include episcopal ordinations of monks, de facto jurisdictional statuses of vicars, processes of concluding land lease and loan agreements, monastic epistolary heritage, diocesan activities to open new monasteries and renovate the leading segment of existing ones, the reaction of parishes during the introduction of the union in Maramorosh, etc. At the same time, the analysis of monastic and episcopal sphragis also allows for a broader analysis and research of the specific topic of the development of the document flow of dioceses, the legal component in the formation of dioceses, and the formation of their church-canonical status. In addition, the topic significantly develops sphragistics directly as a science in terms of its narrow specialization in the study of church-administrative components and their development. Discovered and processed documents state the fact that church sphragistics in this period was in the process of self-development, identification, verification, improvement, and legitimacy, which required the then church situation.

Simple heuristics to run a research group.

Collaboration between researchers has become increasingly common, enabling a level of discovery and innovation that is difficult if not impossible to achieve by a single person. But how can one establish and maintain an environment that fosters successful collaboration within a research group? In this case study, I use my own experience when directing the ABC Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin. I first describe the heuristic principles for setting up a research group, including (i) common topic and multiple disciplines, (ii) open culture, (iii) spatial proximity, and (iv) temporal proximity. Then I describe heuristics for maintaining the open culture, such as setting collective goals, including contrarians, distributing responsibility, making bets, the cake rule, and side-by-side writing. These heuristics form an "adaptive toolbox" that shapes the intellectual and social climate. They create a culture of friendly but rigorous discussion, embedded in a family-like climate of trust where everyone is willing to expose their ignorance and learn from the other members. Feeling accepted and trusted encourages taking the necessary risks to achieve progress in science.

The Evolution of Search: Three Computing Paradigms

Search is probably the most common activity that humans conduct all the time. A search target can be a concrete item (with a yes or no answer and location information), an abstract concept (such as the most important information on the Web about Xindong Wu), or a plan/path for a specific target with an objective function (like flight scheduling with a minimal travel time), among others. In this article, we propose a Universal Connection Theorem (UCT) to suggest that all physical objects/items in the universe are connected through explicit or implicit relationships. Search is to explore the relationships, using different computing methods, to retrieve relevant objects. Under the UCT theorem, we summarize mainstream search approaches into two categories from the user perspective, deterministic search vs. abstract search, and further distinguish them into three computing paradigms: planning based search, data driven search, and knowledge enhanced search. The planning based paradigm explores search as a planning process in a large search space, by graph traversing with heuristic principles to locate optimal solutions. The data driven paradigm seeks to find objects matching the user's query from a large data repository. Indexing, hashing, information retrieval, and recommendations are typical strategies to tackle the data volumes and select the best answers for users’ queries. The knowledge enhanced search does not aim to find matching objects, but to discover and then meet user's search requirements through knowledge mining. The evolution of these three search paradigms, from planning to data engineering and knowledge engineering, provides increasing levels of challenges and opportunities. This article elaborates the respective principles of these paradigms.

A heuristic underlies the search for relief inDrosophila melanogaster

Humans rely on multiple types of sensory information to make decisions, and strategies that shorten decision‐making time by taking into account fewer but essential elements of information are preferred to strategies that require complex analyses. Such shortcuts to decision making are known as heuristics. The identification of heuristic principles in species phylogenetically distant to humans would shed light on the evolutionary origin of speed–accuracy trade‐offs and offer the possibility for investigating the brain representations of such trade‐offs, urgency and uncertainty. By performing experiments on spatial learning in the invertebrate Drosophila melanogaster, we show that the fly's search strategies conform to a spatial heuristic—the nearest neighbor rule—to avoid bitter taste (a negative stimulation). That is, Drosophila visits a salient location closest to its current position to stop the negative stimulation; only if this strategy proves unsuccessful does the fly use other learned associations to avoid bitter taste. Characterizing a heuristic in D. melanogaster supports the view that invertebrates can, when making choices, operate on economic principles, as well as the conclusion that heuristic decision making dates to at least 600 million years ago.

Church-administrative activities of Mukachevo «quasi»-bishop Ivan Joseph Godermarsky by the documents of State Archives in Transcarpathian Region

The administrative activities of the bishop-nominee Ivan Joseph Godermarsky (1706–1716) is quite fully covered in the domestic historical literature. However, due to the lack of sources from local State Archives in Transcarpathian region presented in these publications– the topic remains open for further, scrupulous research. The aim of the research is to reconstruct church-administrative activities of Mukachevo «quasi»-bishop Ivan Joseph Godermarsky after discovery of the materials of the State Archives in Transcarpathian region. The methodological basis of the study are the principles of heuristics, interdisciplinary and documentary analysis, historicism, objectivity and synthesis. The principle of heuristics makes it possible to introduce the discovered documents into the scientific circulation, thanks to which the constant knowledge about the activities of the «quasi»-bishop Godermarsky is significantly expanded. The interdisciplinary approach considerably enriches the narrow framework of the bishop's church-administrative service and offers a more objective description of the bishop's activities. The principle of historicism makes it possible to reproduce the chronology and certain aspects of the bishop's rule in the context of church-political relations in the region. The objectivity of the research is expressed in unbiased coverage of the bishop's activities. Scientific analysis and synthesis allow us to determine the place and role of the bishop-nominee in the history of the development of Mukachevo Greek-Catholic Eparchy in the first quarter of the 18th century. Scientific novelty of the research. Today, more and more often, permanent knowledge about the formation and development of both Mukachevo Greek Catholic and Máramaros Orthodox Eparchies is updated with new documents and relevant research. The proposed research primarily introduces new sources into the scientific circulation, which significantly supplement the historical past of the ecclesiastical Transcarpathia with new data. Secondly, the research presents separate documents released from the field of view of the predecessors, the introduction of which to the scientific world today corrects permanent conclusions and allows to expand the thematic range of research related to the activities of Mukachevo and Máramaros Episcopates in the first half of the 18th century. The practical significance of the obtained results will contribute to a comprehensive study of both the ecclesiastical past of the Orthodox and Greek Catholic Churches in Transcarpathia in the 18th century, as well as a comprehensive study of the ecclesiastical history of Ukraine in general. Conclusions. The activities of the «quasi»-bishop Ivan Joseph Godermarsky vividly demonstrate another «black day» in the post-Union development of Mukachevo Greek Catholic Eparchy. During his reign, the bishop-nominee, due to personal ambitions, brought more problems to the eparchy than benefits that would contribute to the formation of an ecclesiastical unit. At the same time, his church-administrative activity contributed to the spread of the union in the eparchy and the jurisdictional incorporation of the Orthodox parishes of Ugochansky and Máramaros counties.

Perbandingan Metode Evaluasi Usability Antara Heuristic Evaluation dan Cognitive Walkthrough

Usability evaluation is needed to identify and analyze usability problems in an application. This study will compare the results of usability evaluation with Heuristic Evaluation and Cognitive Walkthrough methods on the SIMRS Del Egov Center web from the aspects of usability problems found, the level of usability problems, and end user responses that will be evaluated using usability testing to find a more effective method of finding usability problems. Heuristic Evaluation will refer to the 10 heuristic principles proposed by Jacob Nielsen, while Cognitive Walkthrough, the expert will follow the task provided by the researcher. The results showed that the results of the evaluation conducted by Heuristic Evaluation found more usability problems in aspects: efficiency, memorability and satisfaction, while Cognitive Walktrough found more usability problems in aspects: learnability and error. In the severity rating aspect, Cognitive Walktrough is more effective in finding usability problems with a higher severity level, with an average of 3, while heuristic evaluation with an average of 2. In the aspect of end user responses to websites based on usability testing, Heuristic Evaluation has a SUS score which is higher at 57, while Cognitive Walktrough has an SUS score of 54.5. This shows that based on these three aspects, the Heuristic Evaluation method is better at finding usability problems in the SIMRS Del Egov Center application study object.

Evaluation of a High-Risk Clinical Guideline through implementation of Usability Evaluation

This paper des cribes the use of heuristic evaluation on a clinical guideline for the treatmentof diabetic ketoacidosis, a medical emergency. After an hour of instruction, two novices tousability testing applied a heuristic tool revealing numerous usability issues in the dom ainsof metaphor, organization, typology and layout. When compared to Nielsen’s principles ofheuristics, the findings identified multiple sources of potential error. A dditionally, thispaper demonstrates that novices to usability testing can perform effective heuristicevaluation with limited training and the use of a heuristic tool. The findings will guideredesign of the studied guideline as well as prompt and more readily accessible usabilitytesting of other high-risk and high-volume clinical guidelines.

FairLOF: Fairness in Outlier Detection

An outlier detection method may be considered fair over specified sensitive attributes if the results of outlier detection are not skewed toward particular groups defined on such sensitive attributes. In this paper, we consider the task of fair outlier detection. Our focus is on the task of fair outlier detection over multiple multi-valued sensitive attributes (e.g., gender, race, religion, nationality and marital status, among others), one that has broad applications across modern data scenarios. We propose a fair outlier detection method, FairLOF, that is inspired by the popular LOF formulation for neighborhood-based outlier detection. We outline ways in which unfairness could be induced within LOF and develop three heuristic principles to enhance fairness, which form the basis of the FairLOF method. Being a novel task, we develop an evaluation framework for fair outlier detection, and use that to benchmark FairLOF on quality and fairness of results. Through an extensive empirical evaluation over real-world datasets, we illustrate that FairLOF is able to achieve significant improvements in fairness at sometimes marginal degradations on result quality as measured against the fairness-agnostic LOF method. We also show that a generalization of our method, named FairLOF-Flex, is able to open possibilities of further deepening fairness in outlier detection beyond what is offered by FairLOF.

The problem of the present in West Africa: Introducing a conceptual framework

The practice of anticipation and futures literacy in postcolonial West Africa requires a conceptual framework capable of capturing and articulating recurrent phenomena from the past in the region’s postcolonial present-present. For this purpose, this article theorizes and operationalizes a framework termed the past futures framework (PFF). In this article, past futures are defined as final versions of anticipations that have completely manifested in the present-present, but now exist in the past. The theorization of the PFF builds on the combination of some heuristic principles of historical time, the Futures Literacy Framework (FLF) and the Discipline of Anticipation (DOA). Further, the operationalization of the past futures framework is achieved using the case study of Biafran secessionism in West Africa. Finally, the article argues that a core novelty of the past futures framework lies in its use for revisiting and decolonizing the present, with the aim of mitigating inattentional blindness in foresight practices that sustains conditions for the continual recurrence of past phenomena in the present-present within the region of West Africa.

How experimental methods shaped views on human competence and rationality.

Within just 7 years, behavioral decision research in psychology underwent a dramatic change: In 1967, Peterson and Beach (1967) reviewed more than 160 experiments concerned with people's statistical intuitions. Invoking the metaphor of the mind as an intuitive statistician, they concluded that "probability theory and statistics can be used as the basis for psychological models that integrate and account for human performance in a wide range of inferential tasks" (p. 29). Yet in a 1974 Science article, Tversky and Kahneman rejected this conclusion, arguing that "people rely on a limited number of heuristic principles which reduce the complex tasks of assessing probabilities and predicting values to simple judgmental operations" (p. 1124). With that, they introduced the heuristics-and-biases research program, which has profoundly altered how psychology, and the behavioral sciences more generally, view the mind's competences and rationality. How was this radical transformation possible? We examine a previously neglected driver: The heuristics-and-biases program established an experimental protocol in behavioral decision research that relied on described scenarios rather than learning and experience. We demonstrate this shift with an analysis of 604 experiments, which shows that the descriptive protocol has dominated post-1974 research. Specifically, we examine two lines of research addressed in the intuitive-statistician program (Bayesian reasoning and judgments of compound events) and two lines of research spurred by the heuristics-and-biases program (framing and anchoring and adjustment). We conclude that the focus on description at the expense of learning has profoundly shaped the influential view of the error-proneness of human cognition. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Boulez – Xenakis: Two Converging Musical Heuristics

What is heuristics? The methods of imagination that prepares for invention and discovery, by accepting that all arguments are good if they can succeed in achieving the proposed goals. A principle is deemed to be heuristic, therefore, when it is considered not on the basis of the truth it supports but by the fact that it contributes wholly or partly to the realisation of some project. In order to compose a work, the creator has a certain number of dominant ideas, which function as pivots or fixed points around which the piece develops. The value of these ideas, which sometimes take the form of theories borrowed from the physical or mathematical sciences, is justified a posteriori, by the realisation of the works that emerge from them, and not a priori: the experimental or logical truth of what they assert, even if confirmed by experimental reality, is put here in brackets. These principles count as opinions for the composer; they are the heuristic principles of creation. The aim of this paper is to analyse the principles that operate as the driving force behind the creation of Boulez and Xenakis.

Swarm Intelligence Algorithms in Text Document Clustering with Various Benchmarks.

Text document clustering refers to the unsupervised classification of textual documents into clusters based on content similarity and can be applied in applications such as search optimization and extracting hidden information from data generated by IoT sensors. Swarm intelligence (SI) algorithms use stochastic and heuristic principles that include simple and unintelligent individuals that follow some simple rules to accomplish very complex tasks. By mapping features of problems to parameters of SI algorithms, SI algorithms can achieve solutions in a flexible, robust, decentralized, and self-organized manner. Compared to traditional clustering algorithms, these solving mechanisms make swarm algorithms suitable for resolving complex document clustering problems. However, each SI algorithm shows a different performance based on its own strengths and weaknesses. In this paper, to find the best performing SI algorithm in text document clustering, we performed a comparative study for the PSO, bat, grey wolf optimization (GWO), and K-means algorithms using six data sets of various sizes, which were created from BBC Sport news and 20 newsgroups. Based on our experimental results, we discuss the features of a document clustering problem with the nature of SI algorithms and conclude that the PSO and GWO SI algorithms are better than K-means, and among those algorithms, the PSO performs best in terms of finding the optimal solution.

Barriers and Enablers to the Implementation of Intelligent Guidance Systems for Patients in Chinese Tertiary Transfer Hospitals: Usability Evaluation

Since the early 2000s, information systems have been widely employed across hospitals in China, changing the way in which the processes are managed, improving customer satisfaction and strengthening business competence. Intelligent guidance systems for patients (IGSP), which resemble humanoid characteristics using artificial intelligence, assist patients in wayfinding, obtaining medical guidance, consultations, and other medical services, and can improve user experiences before, during, and after hospital visits. However, despite their widespread adoption, usability studies on such systems are scarce. To date, there is no practical or standardized measurement for system usability, leading to difficult inspection, maintenance, and servicing processes. In this article, we aim to determine the usability deficiency of IGSP and understand how various factors influence user satisfaction during their use. We employ the requirements set out in the ISO9241-11:2018 standard using two inspection methods with three experts and 346 valid end-users. First, a heuristic evaluation method is employed to detect usability problems and to demonstrate the violations of Nielsen's ten heuristic principles. Second, a system usability scale is applied to evaluate participants’ satisfaction toward IGSP. Finally, the analysis of variance tests and multiple linear regression analyses is performed to establish the correlations between the user satisfaction and characteristics. The results show that a total of 78 problems violated the heuristic principles 169 times. These are divided into five categories: voice interaction, in-hospital navigation, medical consultation, interactive interface design, and miscellaneous. This article contributes to the existing literature on new technologies in healthcare organizations, demonstrating that IGSP can improve customer satisfaction during hospital visits.

Design for values and the city

ABSTRACT This paper undertakes a critical and constructive investigation into the applicability of value sensitive design (VSD) and design for values (DfV) methodologies for urban technologies, as a means to envision and enact responsible urban innovations. In particular, this paper focuses on the identification and analysis of values in urban technologies. First, an important methodological critique is highlighted, namely the vague articulation of ‘values' in VSD and DfV discourse. Next, cities are characterized as open, dynamic, and evolving systems, with ‘urban technologies’ as co-shapers of this process. This highlights the unique conditions requiring attention in order to arrive at a robust understanding of the relationship between values and urban technologies. Finally, these insights are combined to propose and sketch six heuristic principles aimed at surfacing and analysing values in urban technologies, offering a refinement of value-sensitive methodologies for the context of urban technological innovation.

Usability Evaluation of Hospital Information System According to Heuristic Evaluation

Introduction: There are various applications and health information systems which have been developed to promote the effective retrieval of patient information, statistics, research, and education. Therefore, there is a need to design them in consistency with scientific principles of usability. To this end, the usability of hospital information sub-systems employed at the hospitals of Ahvaz were compared using heuristic evaluation method. The objective of the study was to assess the usability of hospital information system according to heuristic evaluation.Material and Methods: Six trained evaluators, independently determined the ADT subsystem, HIM subsystem, and NIS according to Nielsen’s 10 Heuristic Principles. Since more than half of the hospitals (about 54%) employed Sib application, no specific sampling method was used. After combining the usability problems, the average severity ratings of the problems were calculated, and then the subsystems were compared.Results: The number of the usability problems of the ADT information subsystem, HIM subsystem, and NIS were 40, 39, and 37, respectively. After merging the problems, the features of “user control and freedom” with 20 cases and “flexibility and efficiency of use” with six cases had the highest and the lowest inconsistencies with usability principles. The average severity ratings of the problems also varied between 1.7 and 3.Conclusion: Heuristic evaluation method is regarded as one of the approaches appropriate to identify usability problems in health information systems. Thus, it is advisable to utilize this method to modify the design of the systems and to improve their efficiency before their implementation in order to increase user satisfaction.

A Web-Based Self-Management Support Prototype for Adults With Chronic Kidney Disease (My Kidneys My Health): Co-Design and Usability Testing.

BackgroundSupporting patients to self-manage their chronic kidney disease (CKD) has been identified as a research priority by patients with CKD and those who care for them. Self-management has been shown to slow CKD progression and improve the quality of life of individuals living with the disease. Previous work has identified a need for a person-centered, theory-informed, web-based tool for CKD self-management that can be individualized to a patient’s unique situation, priorities, and preferences. We addressed this gap using an integrated knowledge translation method and patient engagement principles.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to conduct systematic co-design and usability testing of a web-based self-management prototype for adults with CKD (nondialysis and nontransplant) and their caregivers to enhance self-management support.MethodsA multistep, iterative system development cycle was used to co-design and test the My Kidneys My Health prototype. The 3-step process included creating website features and content using 2 sequential focus groups with patients with CKD and caregivers, heuristic testing using the 10 heuristic principles by Nielsen, and usability testing through in-person 60-minute interviews with patients with CKD and their caregivers. Patients with CKD, caregivers, clinicians, researchers, software developers, graphic designers, and policy makers were involved in all steps of this study.ResultsIn step 1, 18 participants (14 patients and 4 caregivers) attended one of the 2 sequential focus groups. The participants provided specific suggestions for simplifying navigation as well as suggestions to incorporate video, text, audio, interactive components, and visuals to convey information. A total of 5 reviewers completed the heuristic analysis (step 2), identifying items mainly related to navigation and functionality. Furthermore, 5 participants completed usability testing (step 3) and provided feedback on video production, navigation, features and functionality, and branding. Participants reported visiting the website repeatedly for the following features: personalized food tool, my health care provider question list, symptom guidance based on CKD severity, and medication advice. Usability was high, with a mean system usability score of 90 out of 100.ConclusionsThe My Kidneys My Health prototype is a systematically developed, multifaceted, web-based CKD self-management support tool guided by the theory and preferences of patients with CKD and their caregivers. The website is user friendly and provides features that improve user experience by tailoring the content and resources to their needs. A feasibility study will provide insights into the acceptability of and engagement with the prototype and identify preliminary patient-reported outcomes (eg, self-efficacy) as well as potential factors related to implementation. This work is relevant given the shift to virtual care during the current pandemic times and provides patients with support when in-person care is restricted.

Heuristic Evaluation of Peruvian Government Web Portals, used within the State of Emergency

The development of web platforms is very abundant at present, this event has developed exponentially due to the state of emergency. Therefore, there is a need to evaluate the quality of these platforms to ensure a good user experience, especially if these platforms are governmental. Currently, there are several platforms that have been developed by governments of different nations, which are related to the theme of covid-19; which should be evaluated from a heuristic perspective to detect usability problems that can occur when users interact with a product and identify ways to solve them. This article presents a heuristic evaluation of Peruvian government web portals, used within the state of emergency; for this purpose, a heuristic evaluation is carried out using a list of 15 heuristic principles, proposed by Toni Granollers, from two government platforms: Aprendo en casa and Covid19 Minsa. In this way, it was identified that the Peruvian platform Aprendo en casa has fewer usability problems compared to the Covid19 Minsa platform. Therefore, there is a need to renew or update the Covid19 Minsa platform using the results of the heuristic evaluation performed; on the other hand, although a heuristic evaluation of these Peruvian government platforms is being carried out, it is recommended to continue with a research that uses other usability evaluation methodologies for other platforms of daily use, such as the S/ 380 bonus platform, Bonus for independent or AFP withdrawal.

On the nature of roots

Abstract This paper offers a review of a current understanding of the content and the form of linguistic roots. It first updates and buttresses the case against semantic content of uncategorised roots and for Late Insertion of roots; then it investigates how native speakers identify roots. More specifically, the idea that roots may be polysemous or may encode the shadow of a denotation, namely the common denominator of the denotations of words derived from it, is refuted on the basis of conceptual and empirical arguments from a number of languages. Subsequently, the existence of a spectrum of content to which roots belong, with roots ranging from contentless to semantically specific and concrete, is also shown to be illusory, and to result from the actual productivity, hence diversity, of the words derived from it. Arguments for Late Insertion of roots are then reviewed and updated, divorcing roots from the forms that realise them. These arguments are systematically combined with the semantic contentlessness of roots in support of Acquaviva’s analysis of them as abstract indices, i.e. as the syntax-internal criteria of lexical identity. This account is taken to its logical conclusion in the final section: if roots are indeed abstract indices, then they cannot be identified either by the semantic content they realise within grammatical structures or by their forms. An account is therefore advanced according to which roots are identified just once by native speakers over their lexicon at a given moment and on the basis of three heuristic principles: one form-based, one based on the feature content and the exponence of the structures in which roots are embedded, and one taking care of root suppletion.