High-stakes Conditions Research Articles

Paper-based and computer-based admission tests for medicine – are they equivalent?

Admission tests are among the most widespread and effective criteria for student selection in medicine in Germany. As such, the Test for Medical Studies (TMS) and the Hamburg Assessment Test for Medicine, Natural Sciences (HAM-Nat) are two major selection instruments assessing applicants’ discipline-specific knowledge and cognitive abilities. Both are currently administered in a paper-based format and taken by a majority of approximately 40,000 medicine applicants under high-stakes conditions yearly. Computer-based formats have not yet been used in the high-stakes setting, although this format may optimize student selection processes substantially. For an effective transition to computer-based testing, the test formats’ equivalence (i.e., measurement invariance) is an essential prerequisite. The present study examines measurement invariance across test formats for both the TMS and HAM-Nat. Results are derived from a large, representative sample of university applicants in Germany. Measurement invariance was examined via multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis. Analyses demonstrated partial scalar invariance for both admission tests indicating initial evidence of equivalence across test formats. Generalizability of the results is examined, and implications for the transition to computer-based testing are discussed.

Relieving the Pressure: Team Familiarity Attenuates External Conformity Pressure on Team Member Decisions

Decisions in organizations are often made by individuals acting as members or representatives of teams, and such decisions may be unduly influenced by the preferences of people outside their teams. In these instances of external conformity pressure, we argue that the familiarity of the decision maker's team provides social belonging and affiliation that alleviates this pressure. Whereas previous research has argued that social belonging from familiarity may drive within-group conformity when pressure comes from other team members (e.g., groupthink), we highlight that familiarity can instead help team members withstand pressure to conform when this pressure comes from outsiders. Moreover, we expect team familiarity to be especially important in high-stakes conditions, in which there are significant consequences associated with decisions. We examine our predictions in an archival sample of officiating crews making decisions about penalty calls during National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) American football games and in a laboratory experiment of team members making decisions about the quality of someone else's work product. Findings from these studies suggest that: (1) members of familiar teams are less likely to conform to the preferences of outsiders than those in unfamiliar teams; (2) team familiarity is particularly important when making high-stakes decisions; and (3) team familiarity gives team members a greater sense of belonging, which enables them to better withstand external conformity pressure.

Can Faking Be Measured With Dedicated Validity Scales? Within-Subject Trifactor Mixture Modeling Applied to BIDR Responses.

A sample of 516 participants responded to the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR) under answer honest and instructed faking conditions in a within-subjects design. We analyze these data with a novel application of trifactor modeling that models the two substantive factors measured by the BIDR-self-deceptive enhancement (SDE) and impression management (IM), condition-related common factors, and item-specific factors. The model permits examination of invariance and change within subjects across conditions. Participants were able to significantly increase their SDE and IM in the instructed faking condition relative to the honest response condition. Mixture modeling confirmed the existence of a theoretical two-class solution comprised of approximately two thirds of "compliers" and one third of "noncompliers." Factor scores had good determinacy and correlations with observed scores were near unity for continuous scoring, supporting observed score interpretations of BIDR scales in high-stakes settings. Correlations were somewhat lower for the dichotomous scoring protocol. Overall, results show that the BIDR scales function similarly as measures of socially desirable functioning in low- and high-stakes conditions. We discuss conditions under which we expect these results will and will not generalize to other validity scales.

Personality in anaesthesiologists, a systematic review of the literature.

As a central part of their job, anaesthesiologists often have to perform demanding tasks under high-stakes conditions. Yet, some anaesthesiologists seem better able to deal with the demands of the profession than others. This review aims to answer the following questions. What are the necessary or desirable qualities of an anaesthesiologist? Which personality traits or characteristics have been found in anaesthesiologists? How does personality relate to job performance and work stress among anaesthesiologists? Systematic review of studies that examined anaesthesiologists' personality or personality characteristics. We performed our synthesis in terms of the five-factor model of personality. The search was conducted in the PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science databases. Literature was included until December 2020. We included qualitative and quantitative studies that examined anaesthesiologists' personality; also, we included studies that focused on anaesthesiologists' stress, performance or mental health but only if these topics were examined from the perspective of personality. We included 6 qualitative and 25 quantitative articles. Synthesis of the qualitative articles revealed two classes of desirable technical and nontechnical personality characteristics. Synthesis of the quantitative articles suggested that anaesthesiologists do not essentially differ from other medical specialists. Moreover, our synthesis revealed several personality traits that predict good performance, low stress and good mental health among anaesthesiologists: lower Neuroticism, higher Extraversion, higher Openness and higher Conscientiousness. Those personality traits that predict performance, stress or mental health in anaesthesiologists, also predict performance, stress or mental health in other high demand/high stakes environments (both medical and nonmedical). The ideal anaesthesiologist would be lower on Neuroticism, higher on Extraversion and higher on Conscientiousness.

Impaired Arbitration Between Decision-Making Strategies in Alcohol and Cannabis Users: A Preliminary Computational Modeling Study

Recent advances in reinforcement learning dissociate between habitual processing and goal-oriented planning via the engagement of computationally cheap model-free (habit) and costly model-based (goal-directed) control, whereby the reliance of model-based control is increased under high stakes conditions. Addicted individuals purportedly rely more on model-free control; however, it remains to be studied how they arbitrate between model-free and model-based control under higher stakes of reward.

Tradeoffs of Inclusion: Development in Ancient Athens

Inclusive institutions play an important role in development. But how do inclusive institutions emerge? Inclusion is always the product of a tradeoff. The existing literature focuses on the tradeoffs that yield an extension of the franchise, which requires costly power-sharing agreements. This article uses evidence from ancient Athens to show that meaningful forms of welfare-enhancing inclusion need not await the historically infrequent and high-stakes conditions that compel dominant elites to share power. In the 4th century BCE, the Athenians extended access to economic, social, and legal institutions to selected categories of non-citizens. They did not, however, extend the franchise. The Athenian tradeoff between political and other forms of inclusion was a response to the conflicting demands of social order and growth. While falling short of full political inclusion, the tradeoff was nonetheless conducive to political and economic development.

Development of corticostriatal connectivity constrains goal-directed behavior during adolescence

When pursuing high-value goals, mature individuals typically titrate cognitive performance according to environmental demands. However, it remains unclear whether adolescents similarly integrate value-based goals to selectively enhance goal-directed behavior. We used a value-contingent cognitive control task during fMRI to assess how stakes—the value of a prospective outcome—modulate flexible goal-directed behavior and underlying neurocognitive processes. Here we demonstrate that while adults enhance performance during high stakes, adolescents perform similarly during low and high stakes conditions. The developmental emergence of value-contingent performance is mediated by connectivity between the striatum and prefrontal cortex; this connectivity selectively increases during high stakes and with age. These findings suggest that adolescents may not benefit from high stakes to the same degree adults do—a behavioral profile that may be constrained by ongoing maturation of corticostriatal connectivity. We propose that late development of corticostriatal connectivity sets the stage for optimal goal-directed behavior.

Team trust over time: Modeling reciprocal and contextual influences in action teams

Team trust is increasingly being recognized as important for team performance, but little is currently understood about how it develops and evolves over the course of a team's lifespan. Because trust and related team constructs are inherently dynamic, this represents a critical gap in the literature that needs to be addressed before team trust can be fully understood and effectively facilitated in practice. Of particular relevance to these gaps are action teams – those that come together to perform under time-constrained, yet often high-stakes conditions. While scholars have begun to explore how trust develops in these contexts, little is understood about how it evolves over time. As such, we propose a theoretical model of team trust in action teams that incorporates its dynamic nature, models the reciprocal relationship between team trust and team performance, delineates unique mediating pathways based on the team's progression in the multiphasic performance cycle, and considers the role of moderating influences that may strengthen or attenuate the impact of performance feedback on subsequent team trust. Specific research implications are discussed, providing a rich foundation for future empirical studies, and ultimately, the generation of evidence-based interventions for facilitating trust as teams cycle through multiple performance episodes over time.

The Effect of Stakes on Accountability Test Scores and Pass Rates

ABSTRACTStudents may not fully demonstrate their knowledge and skills on accountability tests if there are no stakes attached to individual performance. In that case, assessment results may not accurately reflect student achievement, so the validity of score interpretations and uses suffers. For this study, matched samples of students taking state accountability tests under low-stakes and high-stakes conditions were used to estimate the effect of stakes on test performance and subsequent pass rates. Across five assessments, expected performance was greater under high-stakes conditions, with effect sizes ranging from 0.41 to 0.50 standard deviations and with students of lower ability tending to be slightly more affected by stakes. Depending on where cut scores were set, pass rates differed by up to 30% when comparing the low- and high-stakes conditions.

Spontaneous eye blink rate (EBR) predicts poor performance in high-stakes situations

Although the existence of ‘choking under pressure’ is well-supported by research, its biological underpinnings are less clear. In this research, we examined two individual difference variables that may predict whether people are likely to perform poorly in high-incentive conditions: baseline eye blink rate (EBR; reflecting dopamine system functioning) and baseline anterior hemispheric asymmetry (an indicator of goal-directed vs. stimulus driven processing). Participants conducted a switch task under control vs. incentive conditions. People low in EBR were generally capable of improving their performance when incentives were at stake, whereas people high in EBR were not. Hemispheric asymmetry did not predict performance. These findings are consistent with the idea that suboptimal performance in high-stakes conditions may stem from the neuromodulatory effects of dopamine.

Decision Making Roles and Responsibility for Environmental Water in the Murray-Darling Basin

The current debate around environmental water in the Murray-Darling Basin has focused on how much water the environment needs (what should the sustainable diversion limits be) and how this water should be recovered. Now that the Murray-Darling Basin Plan has set these targets, discussion will quickly move to implementation and the governance arrangements for this water; that is, what parties are involved, what are their responsibilities, how are they accountable and how do they interact? While the agencies involved in environmental water management and their respective roles are broadly understood, the detail around accountability, interaction between agencies and assessment of success has potential for improvement. Massive public expenditure in water recovery and management requires high levels of accountability, and in such high stakes conditions, confusion can breed mistrust. This paper documents agency roles and existing governance models and proposes features of a governance model for environmental water management to enhance accountability, trust and efficiency.

Low-Stakes Opportunism

In this research, the authors develop a theory addressing why people act opportunistically when the stakes (i.e., payoffs) are low. Transaction cost theory suggests that opportunistic behavior is more likely under high-stakes conditions. The authors identify rapport as an important moderator of this relationship. Through a series of three studies, they find that high-stakes opportunism appears to occur only when rapport is low. In contrast, when rapport is high, this relationship reverses, such that opportunism is actually more likely when the stakes are low than when they are high. The authors attribute these findings to differences in reasoning and find that when rapport is high and the stakes are low, people are better able to justify their actions by employing morally malleable reasoning. Thus, this research offers insights into an important form of opportunism that has been largely absent from transaction cost theory.

Low Stakes Opportunism

In this research, the authors develop a theory for why people act opportunistically when the stakes (i.e., payoffs) are low. Transaction cost theory suggests that opportunistic behavior is more likely under high stakes conditions. The authors identify rapport as an important moderator of this relationship. Through a series of three studies, they find that high stakes opportunism appears to occur only when rapport is low. In contrast, when rapport is high, this relationship reverses, such that opportunism is actually more likely when the stakes are low than when the stakes are high. The authors attribute these findings to differences in reasoning and find that when rapport is high and the stakes are low, managers are better able to justify their actions by employing morally malleable reasoning. Thus, this research offers insights into an important form of opportunism that has been largely absent from transaction cost theory.

From oppositional readers to positional producers: the making of black female heroism in Coffy

This essay explores the production history and textual relations of Coffy (Jack Hill, 1973), an exploitation film starring Pam Grier about a black female vigilante which briefly topped Variety's chart of highest grossing films in America. The relative simplicity of Coffy's production context – a bottom-line exploitation picture from American International Pictures written and directed by white male hired-hand Jack Hill – combined with the heightened images of sex and race in the film's textual representation, offers a revealing site for exploring the encoding processes of filmic identity politics. Scholarly unease about the film's representational politics has given rise to readings that rely heavily on ‘oppositional gazes’ to account for Coffy's popularity and appeal. This essay, by contrast, examines the film's positional producers, considering the generic, commercial and creative determinants of the film production. In turn, it examines how these determinants fed into the representation of Coffy's heroine, focusing on her class status, fighting heroism and sexuality. I argue that, through her collaboration with Jack Hill, Pam Grier had more agency in the shaping of her own emerging screen image than has previously been acknowledged. By combining established ideas from feminist and black film studies with cultural industries approaches, I argue that compelling narratives like Coffy, about individuals from oppressed groups, are often informed and energized by the unequal, high-stakes conditions of their own determination.

Trust as Defined by U.S. Army Soldiers

U.S. Army teams operate under high stakes conditions where the potential for error and disaster is a possibility. For these teams, trust becomes an important factor in team processes. However, it is unknown whether current definitions of trust generalize to the U.S. Army. Therefore, the current research seeks to explore the dynamics of trust as defined by the U.S. Army. Sixty Soldiers from a Military Intelligence program across TRADOC installations rated various definitions of trust and ranked ordered three definitions. Results indicated that Soldiers reported integrity and dependability of another person as key requirements in a trusting relationship, and identified the expected cooperation of another person as the definition that least fit their own beliefs about trust. Integrity and dependability were most commonly ranked components of trust. Implications for trust development and training for the U.S. Army are explored.

Trust as Defined by U.S. Army Soldiers

U.S. Army teams operate under high stakes conditions where the potential for error and disaster is a possibility. For these teams, trust becomes an important factor in team processes. However, it is unknown whether current definitions of trust generalize to the U.S. Army. Therefore, the current research seeks to explore the dynamics of trust as defined by the U.S. Army. Sixty Soldiers from a Military Intelligence program across TRADOC installations rated various definitions of trust and ranked ordered three definitions. Results indicated that Soldiers reported integrity and dependability of another person as key requirements in a trusting relationship, and identified the expected cooperation of another person as the definition that least fit their own beliefs about trust. Integrity and dependability were most commonly ranked components of trust. Implications for trust development and training for the U.S. Army are explored.

Mathematics Anxiety and the Affective Drop in Performance

The authors provide a brief review of the history and assessment of math anxiety, its relationship to personal and educational consequences, and its important impact on measures of performance. Overall, math anxiety causes an “affective drop,” a decline in performance when math is performed under timed, high-stakes conditions, both in laboratory tests as well as in educational settings. This means that math achievement and proficiency scores for math-anxious individuals are underestimates of true ability. The primary cognitive impact of math anxiety is on working memory, particularly problematic given the important role working memory plays in math performance. The authors conclude with a discussion of risk factors for math anxiety and some factors to be kept in mind when working with math-anxious students.

Learning in High Stakes Ultimatum Games: An Experiment in the Slovak Republic

This paper reports an experiment involving an ultimatum bargaining game, played in the Slovak Republic. Financial stakes were varied by a factor of 25, and behavior was observed both when players were inexperienced and as they gained experience. Consistent with prior results, changes in stakes had only a small effect on play for inexperienced players. But the present experimental design allows us to observe that rejections were less frequent the higher the stakes, and proposals in the high stakes conditions declined slowly as subjects gained experience. This Slovak experiment is the first to detect a lower frequency of rejection when stakes are higher and this can be explained by the added power due to multiple observations per subject in the experimental design. A model of learning suggests that the lower rejection frequency is the reason that the proposers in the higher stakes conditions of the ultimatum game learn to make lower offers.

Can Test Scores Remain Authentic When Teaching to the Test?

Although some educators have suggested authentic tests as a solution to the problem of artificially inflated scores from teaching to paper-and-pencil tests, we argue that teaching to the test under high-stakes conditions could be more problematic with the new forms of assessment. The wide range of methods that can potentially be used in authentic assessments introduce a method variance that is not part of the construct to be measured. As a consequence, teaching the specific methods used in the assessment potentially invalidates the uses and interpretations that can be made from the test scores by narrowing the definition of the construct measured.