Intuitive Judgments Research Articles

Signs and symptoms in hospitalized children and adolescents' triggering nurses' awareness – A qualitative study across Denmark and Norway

BackgroundAssessment of signs and symptoms in hospitalized children presents unique challenges due to the children's age-related differences, such as vital signs and the broad range of medical conditions that affects children. Early detection of clinical changes in children is crucial to prevent deterioration, and while standardized tools exist, there is a growing recognition of the need to consider subjective factors based on experienced nurses' knowledge and intuition. ObjectiveTo explore which signs and symptoms, apart from vital signs, that trigger nurses' concern regarding deterioration of hospitalized children and adolescents. DesignThis study used a descriptive qualitative design. SettingsThe study was conducted at three pediatric departments in Denmark and a nursing department of a university in Norway, offering post graduate education programs for health care professions working with children and adolescents throughout Norway. ParticipantsA total sample of 29 registered nurses with varying levels of experience participated. MethodFour focus group interviews were used to collect data and analyzed with inductive content analysis approach. ResultsNurses' knowledge about children's clinical conditions is influenced by the nurses experience, their use of senses like touching the child with their hands, and the use of various approaches. Information from parents about the child's normal behavior are considered valuable. These sources of information, often difficult to verbalize, might be referred to as intuition or “gut feeling” and often guides the nurses' actions when vital signs appear normal, and nurses rely on their senses to assess the child's condition. Specific indicators triggering concern include changes in respiration, circulation, level of consciousness, and facial expressions. Challenges arise from nighttime assessments, interactions with parents, the presence of electronic devices, and children's ability to compensate. Clinical experience is a significant factor in nurses' ability to recognize changes in in the child's condition. ConclusionThis study highlights the multifaceted nature of nurses' assessments of clinical conditions in hospitalized children. Nurses draw on their experiences, intuition, and interactions with parents to complement vital signs-based assessments. Their intuition, or “gut feeling” serves as a valuable tool when vital signs do not fully capture the child's clinical status. Specific signs and symptoms that trigger nurses' concern, along with the challenges they face, contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the complexity of assessing children's clinical conditions. These findings, emphasize the role of nurses in early recognition of clinical deterioration in hospitalized children and the need for assessments that go beyond vital signs. Tweetable abstractBoth objective assessments and intuitive clinical judgment play an important role in identifying potential deterioration in pediatric patients.

Eye-Gaze Patterns and Motivational Factors Influence Intuitive Physical Judgments

Eye-Gaze Patterns and Motivational Factors Influence Intuitive Physical Judgments

Opium in science and society: numbers and other quantifications

AbstractIn science and beyond, quantifications are omnipresent when it comes to justifying judgments. Which scientific author, hiring committee-member, or advisory board panelist has not been confronted with page-long publication manuals, assessment reports, evaluation guidelines, calling for p-values, citation rates, h-indices, or other numbers to judge about the ‘quality’ of findings, applicants, or institutions? Yet, many of those of us relying on and calling for quantifications may not understand what information numbers can convey, and what not. Focusing on the uninformed usage of bibliometrics as worrisome outgrowth of the increasing quantification of science, in this opinion essay we place the abuse of quantifications into historical contexts and trends. These are characterized by mistrust in human intuitive judgment, obsessions with control and accountability, and a bureaucratization of science. We call for bringing common sense back into scientific (bibliometric-based) judgment exercises. Despite all number crunching, many judgments—be it about empirical findings or research institutions—will neither be straightforward, clear, and unequivocal, nor can they be ‘validated’ and be ‘objectified’ by external standards. We conclude that assessments in science ought to be understood as and be made as judgments under uncertainty.

Conspiracy theories and the epistemic power of narratives

ABSTRACT We often turn to comforting stories to distract ourselves from emotionally painful truths. This paper explores a dark side of this tendency. I argue that the way false conspiracy theories are disseminated often involves packaging them as part of narratives that offer comforting alternatives to ugly truths. Furthermore, I argue that the way these narratives arouse and resolve our emotions can be part of what causes people to believe conspiracy theories. This account helps to bring out some general implications about the power of narratives for misleading people into believing misinformation: I argue that narratives can cause intuitive judgments of truth that are especially difficult to dispel through critical reflection. I also sketch some practical implications for how the media can better frame their reports about both conspiracy theories and factual narratives.

Moral trade-offs reveal foundational representations that predict unique variance in political attitudes.

Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) explains variation in moral judgements on the basis of multiple innate, intuitive foundations and has been subject to criticism over recent years. Prior research has tended to rely on explicit self-report in the Moral Foundations Questionnaire (MFQ). In contrast, we seek to capture intuitive choices between foundations in a novel task - the Moral Foundations Conflict Task (MFCT). Across four studies, responses on this task reflect foundations measured by the MFQ (study 1), are not altered under cognitive load or reduced cognitive control (studies 2a and 2b); and explain unique variance in political orientation and related constructs (study 3). Furthermore, using responses and response times generated on the MFCT, we present a computationally explicit model of foundation-related intuitive judgements and show that these patterns are consistent with the theoretical claims of MFT. These findings show that the MFCT outperforms the MFQ and can contribute to the understanding of moral value conflicts, furthering debate on the nature of moral values.

Semantic versus perceptual priming: dissecting their impact on intuitive judgments of semantic coherence.

This research explores the mechanisms underlying the intuitive processing of semantic coherence, focusing on the effects of semantic and perceptual priming on semantic coherence detection. Two studies examined how these priming types influence individuals' abilities to discern semantic incoherence. In Study 1, we used solutions to semantically coherent triads as primes, finding that such priming significantly improves participants' accuracy and confidence in identifying incoherent elements within word tetrads. These results corroborate the hypothesis that intuitive judgments in linguistic tasks are closely tied to the processing fluency elicited by semantic connections. In Study 2, we show that perceptual priming does not significantly enhance accuracy, albeit it does increase the confidence with which individuals make their judgments. Distinct effects of semantic and perceptual priming on intuitive judgments highlight the complex interplay between processing fluency and affect in shaping intuitive judgments of semantic coherence. We discuss the nuanced roles of semantic and perceptual factors in influencing the accuracy and confidence of intuitive decisions.

Expanding Qualitative Research Horizons: The Development and Application of Intuitive Field Research (IFRes)

This article is a study introducing a new qualitative research methodology - Intuitive field research or IFRes - involving words and the narrative and relying on the experience and intuition of the [experienced practitioner] researcher (Stein, 2019). Though similar, it is different to autoethnography as the latter’s focus is seen to be on culture (ethnography) whilst IFRes may focus on any aspect – including, also, machine-type interactions. IFRes is a six-step process, described herein, which seeks to take advantage of considerable previous work experience, in the field, to answer a research question posed following a literature review. It is an iterative process which seeks to perfect the knowledge produced (Baldacchino, Ucbasaran & Cabantous, 2023). Intuitive Field Research (IFRes) emerges as a pioneering qualitative research methodology that capitalizes on the nuanced intuition and rich field experiences of researchers to uncover deep insights into complex phenomena (Stein, 2019). Distinct from autoethnography, IFRes introduces a structured six-step process designed to systematically harness and refine these insights for academic and practical application. Originating at the University of Aveiro, this method represents a significant departure from conventional research methodologies by valuing experiential knowledge and intuitive understanding as critical components of the research process. In the context of business and management, IFRes holds particular promise for addressing the intricate challenges of contemporary business environments. These environments demand an agile and nuanced understanding that transcends traditional quantitative analyses, making the case for methodologies that can capture the subtleties of consumer behavior, organizational culture, and innovation dynamics. By enabling researchers and practitioners to integrate their intuitive judgments with rigorous academic inquiry, IFRes offers a unique approach to exploring and solving pressing business and academic issues. This article delineates the foundation of IFRes, its methodological underpinnings, and its potential applications within business and management, illustrating how intuitive insights can drive innovation, strategic decision-making, and transformative organizational practices. Through this expanded lens, IFRes not only contributes to academic discourse but also provides practical frameworks for businesses seeking to navigate the complexities of modern markets and organizational challenges. A practical example of applying Intuitive Field Research (IFRes) in business and management could involve a multinational corporation seeking to enhance its customer experience across diverse markets. By employing IFRes, the corporation's research team could immerse themselves in different cultural contexts, using their intuition and experience to gather nuanced insights into consumer behavior and preferences (Gorry & Westbrook, 2013). This approach would allow them to identify subtle, culturally specific factors influencing customer satisfaction that traditional surveys or data analysis might miss. These insights could then inform tailored strategies for each market, leading to improved customer engagement and loyalty. This example illustrates how IFRes' emphasis on intuitive understanding, combined with rigorous analysis, can address complex challenges in global business environments, leading to innovative solutions and competitive advantages. This article on Intuitive Field Research (IFRes) significantly impacts research by offering a novel method that blends intuitive insights with rigorous academic inquiry. It addresses the need for methodologies that go beyond traditional quantitative analysis to capture the complexities of human behavior and organizational dynamics (Ganzarain, Ruiz & Igartua, 2019). By emphasizing experiential knowledge and intuitive judgment, IFRes empowers researchers and practitioners to uncover deeper understandings of complex issues. This approach fosters innovation, enhances strategic decision-making, and facilitates transformative practices in various fields, thereby enriching academic discourse and offering practical solutions for real-world challenges.

Normative Case Studies and Thought Experiments: How They Differ and Why We Need Both

AbstractThought experiments and normative case studies can play different and complementary roles in moral and political philosophizing. Thought experiments help us to sculpt and refine normative concepts and alert us to contradictions between intuitive judgments and basic principles, or among intuitive judgments, thus informing our reflective equilibrium about what fundamentally matters. Normative case studies assist us in judging how to trade off conflicting values in specified circumstances. Engaging with a sufficient number of well‐wrought normative case studies can thus inform our ultimate judgments about the relative weights of different values.

On the Pragmatic Functions of the Idiomatic Expression ‘Tamam’ in Jordanian Arabic

This study investigates the pragmatic functions of the idiomatic expression Tamam (lit. ‘complete’) as used by university students who speak Jordanian Arabic (JA). To this end, the researchers developed an electronic questionnaire that contained 14 different situations/contexts, each illustrating one pragmatic function as identified and determined by the researchers. The questionnaire was distributed electronically via the WhatsApp application to 164 BA Jordanian students at The University of Jordan. The students were requested to pass intuitive judgements on the acceptability of these situations and related functions. The results showed that nine of the proposed functions were accepted by 70 per cent or more of the subjects, while five were accepted by 51-68 per cent. The former set of functions included expressing approval, seeking confirmation, showing understanding, expressing appreciation, showing joy and pleasure, showing tolerance, expressing sadness and submission, reassuring, and checking the attention of the addressee. The latter included expressing dissatisfaction, ending a conversation and expressing impatience, ridiculing/mocking, threatening, and expressing shock and disappointment. The study recommends that future research may examine the acceptability of such scenarios and functions among older generations (45+) with the aim of comparing the two aforementioned groups. Future research may also investigate the pragmatic functions of other idiomatic expressions in JA and other Arabic dialects.

Influence of stress on athletes' intuitive moral judgments in sports: The moderating role of self-control

We conducted two experiments to explore whether moral judgments occur intuitively in sports scenarios, and whether such judgments are influenced by stress and self-control. In Experiment 1 we verified the existence of intuitive moral judgment in sports scenarios, then in Experiment 2 we identified the moderating effect of self-control. Results of a survey with Chinese collegiate athletes showed that under the condition of low stress, there was no significant difference between individuals with strong and weak self-control regarding the accuracy rate of intuitive moral judgment in sports scenarios. Under the condition of high stress, however, individuals with strong self-control were more inclined than were those with weak self-control to intuitively make a judgment that was moral in sports scenarios. Therefore, in sports scenarios stress exerts an influence on intuitive moral judgment, and the degree to which this influence applies is moderated by individual self-control. This finding has positive implications for reducing unethical behavior among athletes in sporting contexts.

Reflective equilibrium in practice and model selection: a methodological proposal from a survey experiment on the theories of distributive justice

In political philosophy, reflective equilibrium is a standard method used to systematically reconcile intuitive judgments with theoretical principles. In this paper, we propose that survey experiments and a model selection method—i.e., the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC)-based model selection method—can be viewed together as a methodological means of satisfying the epistemic desiderata implicit in reflective equilibrium. To show this, we conduct a survey experiment on two theories of distributive justice, prioritarianism and sufficientarianism. Our experimental test case and AIC-based model selection method demonstrate that the refined sufficientarian principle, a widely accepted principle of distributive justice, is no more plausible than the prioritarian principle. This tells us that some changes of certain intuitions revolving around sufficientarianism should be examined (separately) based on the findings of the survey experiment and AIC model selection. This shows the potential of our approach—both practically and methodologically—as a novel way of applying reflective equilibrium in political philosophy.

The significance of the cartographic sign: influences of symbol shape on intuitive judgments

ABSTRACT Some of the maps we encounter in our daily lives have become simpler and smaller, to the extent that they may employ only a single symbol to depict a particular incident. As maps and their symbols are never neutral, research on visual semiotics emphasizes the importance of exploring the implicit, connotative effects of signs on human responses. This study, therefore, aimed to assess the influence of simple monothematic web maps on map users’ judgments. It examined how the severity of negative geospatial events was perceived when represented by cartographic point symbols that varied in shape. In total, 72 maps (12 negative topics, each depicted by six map symbols) were rated by 82 participants. The results showed that asymmetric star symbols led to the highest estimates of the events’ perceived severity, followed by symmetric star symbols. Triangle and rhomb led to the lowest ratings. Circle and square showed the most variable results: they led to high and low ratings depending on the map topic. The findings demonstrate that map symbols influence how people imagine geospatial events. These findings call for a more vigorous focus on the connotative meanings of visual signs in cartographic research and practice.

Moral Relevance Approach for AI Ethics

Artificial intelligence (AI) ethics is proposed as an emerging and interdisciplinary field concerned with addressing the ethical issues of AI, such as the issue of moral decision-making. The conflict between our intuitive moral judgments constitutes an inevitable obstacle to decision-making in AI ethics. This article outlines the Moral Relevance Approach, which could provide a considerable moral foundation for AI ethics. Taking moral relevance as the precondition of the consequentialist principles, the Moral Relevance Approach aims to plausibly consider individual moral claims. It is not only the common ethical target shaping our moral consensus but also the inherent moral ability connecting others with us.

Topology optimization of steady Navier-Stokes flow using moving morphable void method

In order to explicitly and smoothly implement fluid-based topology optimization for improving the performance and manufacturing efficiency of flow systems, the moving morphable void (MMV) method is employed to optimize the steady-state navier-stokes (NS) flow for minimizing the dissipation energy under a volume constraint. To this end, a MMV-based Brinkman term is proposed to penalize the velocity in solid area, which can expand the region controlled by the NS flow equilibrium equation from fluid to whole design domain, and can also establish the relationship between design variables and governing equations. Then, a MMV-based optimization model of NS flow is proposed and the design variables are updated by the method of moving asymptotes according to the sensitivity analysis. In benchmark examples, we can precisely track the topology boundary with detailed geometric information without the intuitive geometric judgement error. Also, by means of contrasting the results of proposed method with previous work, the effectiveness and advantages of the MMV method can be confirmed.

Behavioural Analysis and Regulatory Impact Assessment

Abstract Regulatory impact assessment (RIA) is an appraisal tool to bring evidence to bear on regulatory decisions. A key property of RIA is that is corrects errors in reasoning by pushing regulators towards deliberative thinking to override intuitive judgments. However, the steps for regulatory analysis suggested by international organisations and governmental handbooks do not handle two sources of bias and barriers that are well documented in the literature on behavioural insights. First, bias enters the process via knowledge production during the analytical process of assessment. Second, bias affects knowledge utilisation when regulators “read” or utilise the results of RIA. We explore these two pathways by focusing on drivers of behaviour rather than lists of biases. The conclusions reflect on the limitations of current practice and its possible improvement, making suggestions for an RIA architecture that is fully informed by behavioural analysis.

La intuición como fuente de evidencia en filosofía: La visión mínima

In the past two decades, there has been a sudden increase of inquiry within the branch of analytic philosophy on the nature and role of intuition in philosophy. Philosophers began to investigate what intuition is, how it should be defined, what role it plays in philosophy, what its epistemic status is and many more. There is also a growing number of philosophers arguing that the whole debate rests on a mistake: intuition in philosophy plays no role whatsoever and philosophers do not use it as (a source of) evidence for their philosophical claims. This strategy is often conducted by differentiating among the two senses in which intuition is supposed to play an evidential role in philosophy. Intuition, thus, can be understood as a state of intuiting something or a propositional content that is intuited. Intuition in the first sense, the argument goes, cannot be treated as evidence as it would present the risk of psychologizing evidence in philosophy. If, however, we take intuition as evidence in the second sense, there is nothing distinctive about it: ultimately, all evidence in philosophy is of propositional nature, regardless of the intuitiveness of a given proposition. In my paper, I argue that this strategy fails and propose, instead, the view on intuition that, firstly, explains why the aforementioned distinction does not render the intuitiveness of the content irrelevant to its epistemic status, secondly, is in accord with the current findings in psychology, and, thirdly, is minimal enough to allow the different views of intuitions to be incorporated under that umbrella. In particular, I argue that it is an intuitive judgment, characterized by its non-inferentiality and defeasibility, that serves as evidence for particular philosophical claims, while its source is an intuition understood as a state of non-propositional character that can be examined empirically.

Usability of CEFR Companion Volume scales for the development of an analytic rating scale for academic integrated writing assessment

"Successful academic writing from sources requires a broad range of competencies. When writing from sources, students are expected to mine source texts for relevant ideas, present these ideas with precision and in necessary depth, have efficient paraphrasing skills and the knowledge of proper source attribution. In order to assess the combination of these skills in writing and to provide diagnostic feedback to the learners, there is a need to design a rating scale where the required skills are operationalized in separate criteria (Knoch 2011). However, this endeavour may be challenging due to the complex nature of the academic integrated writing construct. This article describes the process of analytic rating scale development in the context of German higher education (HE). We address the issues of construct complexity and the operationalization of the construct elements in rating scale criteria by a combination of theory-based, descriptor-based, empirical, and intuitive approaches to scale development (e.g., Chan, Chihiro and Taylor 2015; Kuiken and Vedder 2021), with a particular focus on the usability of relevant scales from the CEFR Companion Volume (CEFR/CV; Council of Europe 2020). Besides the CEFR scales, we also explore the usability of existing scales for integrated writing and relevant taxonomies (e.g., Keck 2006; Shi 2004). Finally, we present qualitative insights of intuitive expert judgement from a workshop with four content experts who trialled and refined the first draft of the rating scale. The ensuing validation of the rating scale is, however, beyond the scope of this paper and the mixed-methods validation study will be reported elsewhere. The rating scale development reported here was part of the DFG-funded research project Modelling of academic integrated linguistic competencies, conducted at the University of Bremen and the Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education in Frankfurt. The project aim was to evaluate the academic-linguistic preparedness of students taking up English-medium studies in Germany by employing authentic integrated writing tasks and valid assessment procedures. The article offers insights into challenges and critical considerations when developing CEFR-based rating scales for integrated writing, focusing on valid rating criteria, bands, and adapting existing descriptors. "

Using a theory-based, customized video game as an educational tool to improve physicians’ trauma triage decisions: study protocol for a randomized cluster trial

Background Transfer of severely injured patients to trauma centers, either directly from the field or after evaluation at non-trauma centers, reduces preventable morbidity and mortality. Failure to transfer these patients appropriately (i.e., under-triage) remains common, and occurs in part because physicians at non-trauma centers make diagnostic errors when evaluating the severity of patients’ injuries. We developed Night Shift, a theory-based adventure video game, to recalibrate physician heuristics (intuitive judgments) in trauma triage and established its efficacy in the laboratory. We plan a type 1 hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial to determine whether the game changes physician triage decisions in real-life and hypothesize that it will reduce the proportion of patients under-triaged.MethodsWe will recruit 800 physicians who work in the emergency departments (EDs) of non-trauma centers in the US and will randomize them to the game (intervention) or to usual education and training (control). We will ask those in the intervention group to play Night Shift for 2 h within 2 weeks of enrollment and again for 20 min at quarterly intervals. Those in the control group will receive only usual education (i.e., nothing supplemental). We will then assess physicians’ triage practices for older, severely injured adults in the 1-year following enrollment, using Medicare claims, and will compare under-triage (primary outcome), 30-day mortality and re-admissions, functional independence, and over-triage between the two groups. We will evaluate contextual factors influencing reach, adoption, implementation, and maintenance with interviews of a subset of trial participants (n = 20) and of other key decision makers (e.g., patients, first responders, administrators [n = 100]).DiscussionThe results of the trial will inform future efforts to improve the implementation of clinical practice guidelines in trauma triage and will provide deeper understanding of effective strategies to reduce diagnostic errors during time-sensitive decision making.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov; NCT06063434. Registered 26 September 2023.

When being unattractive is an advantage: effects of face perception on intuitive culpability judgments

This experiment explored the influence of facial attractiveness and trustworthiness on guilty judgments. We recruited 128 participants, randomly assigned to high and low time pressure conditions to act as judges in a simulated blind-date swindle case. Participants judged nine male faces from the Chicago Face Database with three attractiveness levels (unattractive, neutral and attractive), featuring a 2 × 3 mixed factorial design, with consistent standardized average levels of face trustworthiness. We also assessed participants’ self-reported processing styles (rational vs. experiential) using the Rational Experiential Inventory. Notably, participants predominantly judged unattractive faces as innocent, indicating an ugly leniency effect. Our results suggest the primacy of perceived face trustworthiness over attractiveness in guilt judgments for cases where the accused’s physical appearance might facilitate the crime’s success. This highlights the importance of examining the contribution of perceived trustworthiness to guilt judgment biases, and adds to growing evidence exploring extrajudicial factors in criminal verdicts.

Quantitative methods for group bibliotherapy research: a pilot study

Background Bibliotherapy is under-theorized and under-tested: Its purposes and implementations vary widely, and the idea that ‘reading is good for you’ is often more assumed than demonstrated. One obstacle to developing robust empirical and theoretical foundations for bibliotherapy is the absence of analytical methods capable of providing sensitive yet replicable insights into complex textual material. This pilot study offers a proof-of-concept for new quantitative methods including VAD (valence–arousal–dominance) modelling of emotional variance and doc2vec modelling of linguistic similarity. Methods VAD and doc2vec modelling were used on conjunction with qualitative coding to analyse transcripts of reading-group discussions plus the literary texts being discussed, from two reading groups each meeting weekly for six weeks (including 9 participants [5 researchers (3 authors, 2 collaborators), 4 others] in Group 1, and 8 participants [2 authors, 6 others] in Group 2). Results In-text–discussion similarity was inversely correlated with emotional volatility in the group discussions (arousal: r = -0.25; p = ns; dominance: r = 0.21; p = ns; valence: r = -0.28; p = ns). Enjoyment or otherwise of the texts was less significant than other factors in shaping the significance and potential benefits of participation. (Texts with unpleasant or disturbing content that strongly shaped subsequent discussions of these texts were still able to sponsor ‘healthy’ discussions of this content.) Conclusions Our methods and findings offer for the field of bibliotherapy research both new possibilities for hypotheses to test, and viable ways of testing them. In particular, the use of natural language processing methods and word norm data offer valuable complements to intuitive human judgement and self-report when assessing the impact of literary materials. We also share observations on facilitation protocols, interpretative practices, and how our group reading model differs from other trials of group reading for wellbeing.