Hypothetical Contexts Research Articles

"Water or not water: That is the question." Analysis of costs and consumption of the operating theaters in a greener perspective.

To compare the amounts of water and plastic used in surgical hand washing with medicated soaps and with alcohol-based products and to compare costs and consumption in a year, based on scheduled surgical activity. This retrospective study was carried out at Udine's Gynecology Operating Block from October to November 2022. We estimated the average amount of water with a graduated cylinder and the total cost of water usage based on euros/m3 indicated by the supplier; for each antiseptic agent we collected the data relevant to wash time, amount of water and product used per scrub, number of handscrubs made with every 500 mL bottle and cost of a single bottle. We put data into two hypothetical contexts, namely WHO guidelines and manufacturers' recommendations. Data were subjected to statistical analysis. The daily amount of water using povidone-iodine, chlorhexidine-gluconate and alcohol-based antiseptic agents was 187.6, 140.7 and 0 L/day (P value = 0.001), respectively; A total of 69 000 L/year of water would be saved if alcohol-based products were routinely used. A single unit of an alcohol-based product allows three times as many handscrubs as any other product (P value = 0.001) with consequent reduction in plastic packaging. Despite the cost saving being negligible, choosing alcohol-based handrub over medicated soap handrub - on equal antiseptic efficacy grounds - could lead to a significant saving of water and plastic, thus making our operating theaters more environmentally friendly.

Trends in Accuracy and Appropriateness of Alopecia Areata Information Obtained from a Popular Online Large Language Model, ChatGPT

Background: Patients with alopecia areata (AA) may access a wide range of sources for information about AA, including the recently developed ChatGPT. Assessing the quality of health information provided by these sources is crucial, as patients are utilizing them in increasing numbers. Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate appropriateness and accuracy of responses to common patient questions about AA generated by ChatGPT. Methods: Responses generated by ChatGPT 3.5 and ChatGPT 4.0 to 25 questions addressing common patient concerns were assessed by multiple attending dermatologists in an academic center for appropriateness and accuracy. Appropriateness of responses by both models for use in two hypothetical contexts as follows: (1) for patient-facing general information websites, and (2) for electronic health record (EHR) message drafts. Results: The accuracy across all responses was 4.41 out of 5. Accuracy scores of responses ChatGPT 3.5 responses had a mean of 4.29, whereas those generated by ChatGPT 4.0 had mean accuracy score of 4.53. Assessments ranged from 100% of responses rated as appropriate for the general question category to 79% questions about management for an EHR message draft. Raters largely preferred responses generated by ChatGPT 4.0 versus ChatGPT 3.5. Reviewer agreement was found to be moderate across all questions, with a 53.7% agreement and Fleiss’ κ co-efficient of 0.522 (p value <0.001). Conclusions: The large language model ChatGPT outputted mostly appropriate information for common patient concerns. While not all responses were accurate, the trend toward improvement with newer iterations suggests potential future utility for patients and dermatologists.

Конкретно: синтактика без семиотики?

I discuss the relation of linguistics and semiotics on the basis of the Old Russian discourse particle TI1 ‘indeed’, ‘verily’, ‘truly’ discovered by Andrej A. Zaliznjak in 1993. Linguistics and semiotics are different research programmes: the first one deals with specific features of language structures, while the second one discusses general characteristics of all sign systems, from a perspective of interpreting most or all of them as secondary respective to natural language. Formal models of language deal with classes of elements and predict their positions. Lexicographic descriptions provide instructions to the use of particular language items treated as signs with their concepts and syntactics. Functional words including discourse particles allow both approaches. The existence of Old Russian particle TI1 as has been proved by Zaliznjak on the basis of formal conditions, constraining the position of this particle in the clausal structure. Meanwhile, Zaliznjak failed to provide a lexicographical description of TI1 and reliable external parallels from other languages. I argue that TI1 is a marker of verification with the meaning ‘p really takes place’. The view that TI1 expressed enhanced indicativity is not tenable, since this particle was licensed in hypothetical contexts and combined with the optative marker. It is essential to identify the lexicographic type of a functional word in order to get its full syntactics.

Development of the Italian versions of the FREE Scale and the CSI. Theoretical considerations and preliminary analysis.

The Flexible Regulation of Emotional Expression (FREE) Scale assesses the ability to enhance and suppress displayed emotions among a range of hypothetical contexts. The Context Sensitivity Index (CSI) measures the ability to perceive cues to contextual demands across different situations. This study aimed to present the first step of the adaptation and validation to the Italian context of the FREE and the CSI scales. A sample of 120 Italian students took part in this first step. Six focus groups were conducted to explore the Context sensitivity, Emotional Flexibility, and Flexible Regulation of Emotional Expression constructs in the Italian context. Verbatim transcripts were analyzed with T-LAB software and two kinds of analyses were performed. Results of the Thematic Analysis of Elementary Contexts showed four clusters: "emotional flexibility", "emotion management", "emotion regulation", and "context sensitivity". Results of Factorial Analysis of Correspondences indicated three factors with the first two factors explaining about 80% of the variance. Factor 1, which opposed "emotional flexibility" and "context sensitivity" at its negative pole; "emotion management" and "emotion regulation" at its positive pole, was named "Cognitive and emotive functions of mind". Factor 2, which opposed "context sensitivity" and "emotion regulation" on the positive pole, "emotional flexibility" and "emotion management" on the negative pole, was named "Elaboration-adaptation as aim of the subject". Preliminary results obtained through a qualitative approach supported the validity of the flexible regulation of emotional expression and the context sensitivity constructs in the Italian context. These results will be tested with a quantitative approach in the next steps of this research.

Obrazy rodziców w poradnikach dla nauczycieli. Raport z badań wstępnych

The article attempts to identify the images of parents presented in the selected teachers’ guides. Based on a content analysis of these guides, the author identified two ways of presenting parents: first portraying parents as difficult, demanding and confrontational, and second presenting them as partners of the school. The conducted analysis also shows two approaches to building relationships between teachers and parents: first based on a strategy of conflict and confrontation with parents, and second based on a positive attitude towards parents and a joint work of teachers and parents for the benefit of children. In conclusions the author attempts to search for the hypothetical contexts of constructing the images of parents and their relationships with the school presented in the teachers’ guides.

Classroom Context Influence on Pre-Service Teacher Pupil Control Ideology

The purpose of this experimental study is to examine the extent to which changes in a classroom scenario influence participant reports of pupil control ideology (PCI). Pre-service teacher participants (n = 83) completed a measure of PCI. They were then randomly assigned into hypothetical classroom contexts (low time, low physical resources, and control conditions). An ANOVA procedure was used to examine group differences in PCI. Results of this study indicate that participants in the low time condition exhibited statistically significantly more custodial PCI than participants in the control condition, while participants in the low resources condition exhibited a near significant mean difference from participants in the control condition. Implications for practice are reported.

Intonational variation in third party complaints in Spanish

Very little previous research has addressed the prosodic characteristics of third party complaints. This paper discusses an utterance and word level intonational analysis of this speech act in four speakers of Mexican Spanish. The effect of social distance/ power relationships was incorporated into the study by creating an experimental data elicitation task in which participants addressed identical complaints to a friend, as well as a boss, based on a series of hypothetical contexts. Major global findings revealed that all speakers significantly increased their fundamental frequency (F0) mean when directing their complaints to friends, however, only two speakers significantly expanded their F0 range in the same circumstance. Locally, peaks and valleys were manifested at significantly higher levels across the board when addressing friends. Finally, while speakers produced complaint contours of similar overall shape regardless of hearer, individual variation was present in the form of circumflex versus suppressed utterance-final F0 configurations. Overall, the relatively small data set initiated preliminary thoughts on the application of both cross-linguistic and language- and dialect-specific intonational concepts to complaints while also emphasizing the importance of relationships between interlocutors for future studies.

(Inter)Active Learning Tools and Pedagogical Strategies in Educational Leadership Preparation

This article presents three types of (inter)active learning pedagogical tools to better prepare future administrators for complex, real-world tasks. We propose a framework of narrative linearity and responsiveness to examine digital cases, digital simulations, and clinical simulations as bridging pedagogies from abstract class-based methods to fully immersive internships. We illustrate how these characteristics influence learner interaction with the rich, hypothetical contexts these tools offer. A specific example is presented for each tool, and their cognitive demands on the learner are discussed. We raise implications for their use at the course and program levels.

Life-Cycle Assessment as a decision-support tool for early phases of urban planning: evaluating applicability through a comparative approach

While ambitious environmental objectives are being set for new constructions in Switzerland, the assessment of urban-scale projects and comparison of their performance to national targets are made possible by a growing number of life-cycle assessment (LCA) tools. However, previous research emphasizes the lack of existing tools to support the decision-making process at the early design stage, characterized by a low level of project details. This paper presents a comparison between three LCA tools. The first, stemming from a research and development project (SETUP), is an exploration tool relying on a database of urban-level scenarios and their environmental performance, able to convert district targets (e.g. 2000-Watt society objectives) into specific sub-targets at the building or component levels. The other two are online LCA tools currently available to practitioners (Sméo and Calculation tool for 2000-Watt-society-sites RH II ), that allow assessing the project and verifying its compliance with a given target. Each tool was applied to a low-carbon case study, the blueFactory district in Fribourg (Switzerland), in two hypothetical contexts corresponding to the schematic and detailed project development phases, characterized by different levels of details. When used for the assessment of a project at a more advanced development stage with a high resolution of detail, findings indicate that Smeo and RH II provide similar environmental performance results. However, in early planning stages, SETUP shows better abilities to support decision-making by providing ranges of results and highlighting uncertainties and the influence of design parameters that have not yet been fixed.

The effects of potentially real and hypothetical rewards on effort discounting in a student sample

The primary aim of the present study was to investigate the functional form of discounting of monetary rewards by physical effort in potentially real and hypothetical contexts. Individuals (N = 142) completed the assessments with hypothetical and potentially real effort discounting tasks, and their hypothetical or potentially real consequences. The data obtained from the experiment reported here suggest that hypothetical conditions yield patterns of discounting that mirror those for potentially real effort tasks and outcomes. However, this finding also leaves open the possibility that the degree of discounting may change together with the repeated exposure to the consequences of decisions, or the counterbalanced order of hypothetical and potentially real tasks.

Modeling and Simulation of Skill Decay at the Organizational Team Level

When building teams, organizations select individuals capable of acquiring and maintaining skills required for team success. Often, teams undergo a period of skill non-use that can result in skill decay during the lifespan of the team. Despite this reality, researchers have failed to create a comprehensive model that can predict complex skill decay at multiple levels within an organization. McDermott and colleagues (2016) proposed an equation to address this gap. Using simulation data, the present paper applies this equation to model expected skill decay in three hypothetical contexts: simple, mid-range, and complex engineering design cases. The model predicts team-level skill decay in a holistic manner by integrating factors from task, environment, and team characteristics. Results indicate that, while novel for its integration mechanisms, the model maintains strong congruency with previous literature for individual factors. We discuss ways that organizations may reduce complex skill decay as well as future research directions.

Decisions to Attend and Drink at Party Events: The Effects of Incentives and Disincentives and Lifetime Alcohol and Antisocial Problems.

Alcohol use disorders are associated with patterns of impulsive/risky decision making on behavioral economic decision tasks, but little is known about the factors affecting drinking-related decisions. The effects of incentives and disincentives to attend and drink at hypothetical alcohol-related party events as a function of lifetime (LT) alcohol and antisocial problems were examined in a sample of 434 young adults who varied widely in LT alcohol and antisocial problems. Moderate and high disincentives substantially discouraged decisions to attend the party events and were associated with decisions to drink less at the party events. High versus low party incentives were associated with more attendance decisions. LT antisocial problems were associated with being less deterred from attending by moderate and high disincentives. LT alcohol problems were associated with greater attendance at high party incentive contexts. LT alcohol problems were associated with drinking more at the majority of events; however, the results indicate that young adults with high levels of alcohol problems moderate their drinking in response to moderate and high disincentives. Finally, attendance and drinking decisions on this hypothetical task were significantly related to actual drinking practices. The results suggest that antisocial symptoms are associated with a reduced sensitivity to the potential negative consequences of drinking, while alcohol problems are associated with a greater sensitivity to the rewarding aspects of partying. The results also underline the value of directly assessing drinking-related decisions in different hypothetical contexts as well as assessing decisions about attendance at risky drinking events in addition to drinking amount decisions.

Underestimated Habits: Hypothetical Choice Design in Consumer Research

AbstractConsumer habits critically impact marketing decisions, but they may be misrepresented. Two studies show the effect of habit on consumer behavior is systematically underestimated when measured in hypothetical scenarios. Participants chose between unhealthy and healthy meals (study 1) or grocery items (study 2). Vouchers to food chains representing these items were raffled between participants. In the hypothetical choice condition, participants’ choices had no impact on their compensation. In the real choice condition, participants’ choices determined which voucher they would receive. In the hypothetical choice condition, the habit to buy healthy food was positively related to the sum of healthy choices. However, as hypothesized, in the real choice condition this relationship was considerably stronger. We suggest that hypothetical contexts misrepresent the contextual cues that trigger habitual behavior. Findings suggest that consumer research in domains sensitive to habits should prefer behavioral m...

Having and Doing Gender: Young Adults’ Expression of Gender when Resolving Conflicts with Friends and Romantic Partners

A communal orientation focusing on others is consistent with stereotypes of women’s social roles and personality traits, whereas an agentic orientation focusing more exclusively on oneself is consistent with men’s roles and traits. Using survey methods, we drew from Sandra Bem’s ideas to investigate whether gender differences in endorsement of communal and agentic conflict-management strategies varied depending on the peer relationship context. When gender differences were found, we investigated whether they were accounted for by masculine and feminine personality traits. College students (N = 116; 49 men and 67 women, 18–24 years-old) from the U.S. mid-Atlantic region rated stereotyped masculine and feminine traits as well as communal and agentic strategies for resolving hypothetical contexts in three peer contexts: same-gender friend, other-gender friend, and other-gender romantic partner. When conflicts involved a same-gender friend, women rated communal strategies higher than did men, but men’s and women’s ratings of communal strategies were similar in the other peer contexts. When conflicts involved an other-gender friend or romantic partner, women rated agentic strategies higher than did men, but men’s and women’s ratings of agentic strategies were similar when the conflict involved a same-gender friend. Women’s greater endorsement of communal strategies for managing conflicts with a same-gender friend was partially explained by their being more likely than men to endorse stereotypical feminine personality traits. Results are discussed in light of Bem’s (1974) once revolutionary, but still relevant, ideas that situational demands influence behavioral expressions of gender and that gender is a multidimensional construct.

Building Science: Synthetic Biology and emerging technologies in architectural research

The paper examines the concept of Building Science through the role of emerging scientific research and technologies. The paper takes as its starting point the Technology Readiness Strategy which is a way of judging the state of a technology in terms of its readiness for environmental deployment and relevance to industry. The paper argues that this model is limited and uses the example of Synthetic Biology to argue for a type of building science which is both speculative and grounded and which may not lead to immediate or short-term applications but is driven by hypothetical contexts and imagined futures. The paper argues that both scientific knowledge and architectural research may be enhanced through deeper collaboration and gives the example of a project to develop a genetically engineered mechanical sensing bacteria capable of making materials which respond to physical forces in their environment. The paper suggests that, while initiated with an application domain in mind, the knowledge gained from the project has pointed to alternative avenues for creative design explorations. The paper concludes that an alternative form of Building Science may be possible in which the term ‘building’ is both a verb and a noun.

Measuring ability to enhance and suppress emotional expression: The Flexible Regulation of Emotional Expression (FREE) Scale.

Flexibility in self-regulatory behaviors has proved to be an important quality for adjusting to stressful life events and requires individuals to have a diverse repertoire of emotion regulation abilities. However, the most commonly used emotion regulation questionnaires assess frequency of behavior rather than ability, with little evidence linking these measures to observable capacity to enact a behavior. The aim of the current investigation was to develop and validate a Flexible Regulation of Emotional Expression (FREE) Scale that measures a person's ability to enhance and suppress displayed emotion across an array of hypothetical contexts. In Studies 1 and 2, a series of confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the FREE Scale consists of 4 first-order factors divided by regulation and emotional valence type that can contribute to 2 higher order factors: expressive enhancement ability and suppression ability. In Study 1, we also compared the FREE Scale to other commonly used emotion regulation measures, which revealed that suppression ability is conceptually distinct from suppression frequency. In Study 3, we compared the FREE Scale with a composite of traditional frequency-based indices of expressive regulation to predict performance in a previously validated emotional modulation paradigm. Participants' enhancement and suppression ability scores on the FREE Scale predicted their corresponding performance on the laboratory task, even when controlling for baseline expressiveness. These studies suggest that the FREE Scale is a valid and flexible measure of expressive regulation ability. (PsycINFO Database Record

Modus Ponens Defended

Is modus ponens for the indicative conditional valid? McGee [1985] famously presents several alleged ‘counterexamples’ to this rule of inference. More recently, Kolodny and MacFarlane [2010] and Willer [2010] argue that this rule is unreliable in some hypothetical contexts. But none of these attacks undermine an informational conception of logic on which modus ponens is valid.

Diminished or Just Different? A Factorial Vignette Study of Privacy as a Social Contract

A growing body of theory has focused on privacy as being contextually defined, where individuals have highly particularized judgments about the appropriateness of what, why, how, and to whom information flows within a specific context. Such a social contract understanding of privacy could produce more practical guidance for organizations and managers who have employees, users, and future customers all with possibly different conceptions of privacy across contexts. However, this theoretical suggestion, while intuitively appealing, has not been empirically examined. This study validates a social contract approach to privacy by examining whether and how privacy norms vary across communities and contractors. The findings from this theoretical examination support the use of contractual business ethics to understand privacy in research and in practice. As predicted, insiders to a community had significantly different understandings of privacy norms as compared to outsiders. In addition, all respondents held different privacy norms across hypothetical contexts, thereby suggesting privacy norms are contextually understood within a particular community of individuals. The findings support two conclusions. First, individuals hold different privacy norms without necessarily having diminished expectations of privacy. Individuals differed on the factors they considered important in calculating privacy expectations, yet all groups had robust privacy expectations across contexts. Second, outsiders have difficulty in understanding the privacy norms of a particular community. For managers and scholars, this renders privacy expectations more difficult to identify at a distance or in deductive research. The findings speak directly to the needs of organizations to manage a diverse set of privacy issues across stakeholder groups.

A Test of Cheap Talk in Different Hypothetical Contexts: The Case of Air Pollution

We explore the influence of a neutral cheap talk script in three typical scenarios used in the contingent valuation literature devoted to the valuation of air pollution effects. We show that cheap talk has a varying effect on both Willingness to Pay (WTP) and protest responses, depending on the scenario implemented. The main results are that it decreases WTP while increasing protest responses in one scenario, has no effect in another, and that some respondents’ characteristics and background make them more sensitive to the script. The crucial role of the scenario is confirmed.

ERPs reveal sensitivity to hypothetical contexts in spoken discourse

We used event-related potentials to examine the interaction between two dimensions of discourse comprehension: (i) referential dependencies across sentences (e.g. between the pronoun 'it' and its antecedent 'a novel' in: 'John is reading a novel. It ends quite abruptly'), and (ii) the distinction between reference to events/situations and entities/individuals in the real/actual world versus in hypothetical possible worlds. Cross-sentential referential dependencies are disrupted when the antecedent for a pronoun is embedded in a sentence introducing hypothetical entities (e.g. 'John is considering writing a novel. It ends quite abruptly'). An earlier event-related potential reading study showed such disruptions yielded a P600-like frontal positivity. Here we replicate this effect using auditorily presented sentences and discuss the implications for our understanding of discourse-level language processing.