Judgment Process Research Articles

Italian translation and cultural adaptation of the Agitated Behavior Scale (ABS-I) in patients with acquired brain injuries.

The objective of this study was to produce a cross-cultural adaptation in Italian of the Agitated Behavior Scale (ABS), originally developed in English, as the first of two stages that also include cross-cultural validation and allow a clinical scale to be used in the proper setting such as rehabilitation units. In order to adapt the ABS scale to a different cultural environment, five consecutive steps were performed: (1) forward translations (n = 8), (2) synthesis of the 8 forward translations to obtain a first shared italian version (ABS_I_trial), (3) back translations (n = 3), (4) creation of an expert committee to evaluate forward and back translations and finally (5) the cognitive debriefing. After the five steps, including forward translations and back translations, the process of committee verification and judgement and the evaluative step of cognitive debriefing, high comprehensibility of all items was found, resulting in an Italian translation version of ABS suitable for application in a clinical setting. ABS translation was produced by means of a standardized procedure aimed at minimizing cross-cultural gaps. The expert committee evaluated the version produced as highly understandable in Italian. Further steps, such as the subsequent validation of its psychometric properties, are needed to employ this translation in a clinical setting.

Ownership and Objectivity: Judging Varieties for Plant Breeder's Rights in Australia

To receive intellectual property protection under the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, new plant varieties must pass a Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability (‘DUS’) trial proving that they are distinct from existing varieties, uniform in their relevant characteristics, and stable across generations. This article examines how this scientific-legal judgement process occurs in Australia, contrasting its relatively decentralised approach with the centralised assessment systems used in most European countries. I argue that the pursuit of objective judgement is the central tenet of the plant breeder’s rights systems, and that calls to increase objectivity with technological changes can obscure embedded value judgement and power relations. The DUS criteria serve to reinforce this objectivity, and to discipline mutable and heterogenous plant life into a form which approximates a consistent and identifiable object – a necessity for the operation of intellectual property law, despite consequences for agricultural genetic diversity and resilience.

Group Health & Wellness Coaching: development and validation of the required competencies

BackgroundAs the popularity and demonstrated effectiveness of Health and Wellness Coaching (HWC) continue to grow to address chronic disease prevalence worldwide, delivery of this approach in a group format is gaining traction, particularly in healthcare. Nonetheless, very little empirical work exists on group coaching and there are currently no published competencies for Group Health and Wellness Coaching (GHWC).MethodsWe used a well-established two-phase (Development and Judgment) process to create and validate GHWC competencies with strong content validity.ResultsSeven highly qualified Subject Matter Experts systematically identified and proposed the GHWC competencies, which were then validated by 78 National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coaches (NBC-HWCs) currently practicing GHWC who rated the importance and use frequency of each one. The validation study led to 72 competencies which are organized into the structure and process of GHWC.ConclusionsGHWC requires not only coaching skills, but significant group facilitation skills to guide the group process to best support members in maximizing health and well-being through self-directed behavioral change. As the presence of HWC continues to grow, it is imperative that GHWC skill standards be accepted and implemented for the safety of the public, the effectiveness of the intervention, and the value analysis of the field. Such standards will guide curriculum development, allow for a more robust research agenda, and give practical guidance for health and wellness coaches to responsibly run groups. High quality standards for GHWC are particularly needed in health care, where a Level III Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) code for GHWC has been approved in the United States since 2019 and reimbursement of such has been approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid for 2024.

Cultural Mistrust: Comparing Black Student and Faculty Experiences at HBCUs and HWCUs

ABSTRACT There is constant debate over the contributing factors that produce disproportionate outcomes in higher education between Black and White students. This study utilizes a symbolic interactionist theoretical framework and a qualitative phenomenological approach that pulls from the individualized and collective experiences of faculty, administrators, and Black students at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and historically White colleges and universities (HWCUs), and examines their cultural and social experiences. Findings from this study highlight the cultural mistrust (CM) of Black students for White faculty at HWCUs, which complicates relationship-building processes. It also highlights Black students’ heavy reliance on communication for relationship-building with faculty/administration, which leads to them being more “culturally trusting” and maintaining a more rigorous, judgmental process of determining whether to continue to trust and create relationships with faculty. Although cultural familiarity and cultural environments lessened the CM of Black students at HBCUs, it was still a significant factor pertaining to White professors’ perceptions of Black students. Data from this study can possibly enable faculty/administration and policy-makers to develop and implement strategies for increasing positive experiences for Black students that lessen retention, increase matriculation and graduation rates, self-esteem and lead to better career opportunities.

Mixed‐effects regression weights for advice taking and related phenomena of information sampling and utilization

AbstractAdvice taking and related research is dominated by deterministic weighting indices, specifically ratio‐of‐differences‐based formulas for investigating informational influence. Their arithmetic is intuitively simple, but they pose several measurement problems and restrict research to a particular paradigmatic approach. As a solution, we propose to specify how strongly peoples' judgments are influenced by externally provided evidence by fitting corresponding mixed‐effects regression models. Our approach explicitly distinguishes between endogenous components, such as updated beliefs, and exogenous components, such as independent initial judgments and advice. Crucially, mixed‐effects regression coefficients of various exogenous sources of information also reflect individual weighting but are based on a conceptually consistent representation of the endogenous judgment process. The formal derivation of the proposed weighting measures is accompanied by a detailed elaboration on their most important technical and statistical subtleties. We use this modeling approach to revisit empirical findings from several paradigms investigating algorithm aversion, sequential collaboration, and advice taking. In summary, we replicate and extend the original finding of algorithm appreciation and initially demonstrate a lack of evidence for both systematic order effects in sequential collaboration as well as differential weighting of multiple pieces of advice. In addition to opening new avenues for innovative research, appropriate modeling of information sampling and utilization has the potential to increase the reproducibility and replicability of behavioral science. Furthermore, the proposed method is relevant beyond advice taking, as mixed‐effects regression weights can also inform research on related cognitive phenomena such as multidimensional belief updating, anchoring effects, hindsight bias, or attitude change.

Iterative physical optics method based on efficient occlusion judgment with bounding volume hierarchy technology

This paper builds a binary tree for the target based on the bounding volume hierarchy technology, thereby achieving strict acceleration of the shadow judgment process and reducing the computational complexity from the original O(N3) to O(N2logN). Numerical results show that the proposed method is more efficient than the traditional method. It is verified in multiple examples that the proposed method can complete the convergence of the current. Moreover, the proposed method avoids the error of judging the lit-shadow relationship based on the normal vector, which is beneficial to current iteration and convergence. Compared with the brute force method, the current method can improve the simulation efficiency by 2 orders of magnitude. The proposed method is more suitable for scattering problems in electrically large cavities and complex scenarios.

Reflective Clinical Judgment Questions to Educate the Next Generation of Nurses.

The complexity of health care requires entry-level nurses to have competent clinical judgment skills. In response, a nursing program created Reflective Clinical Judgment Questions (RCJQ) to guide students in the development of clinical judgment. The RCJQ incorporates the Clinical Judgment Measurement Model, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing's action questions, and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's core competencies for professional nursing education. The RCJQ includes cognitive process questions and self-reflection questions aligned to the prelicensure subcompetencies to direct student thinking and build a routine for clinical decision making. The RCJQ provides faculty with a framework to teach clinical judgment and incorporates self-reflective questions to guide decision making for safe and effective client care. The RCJQ streamlines the clinical judgment process and guides students to achieve essential outcomes in classroom, clinical, and simulation settings to prepare for clinical practice. [J Nurs Educ. 2024;63(3):182-185.].

Appraisal Theory: Can It Be Applied to Visual Images in Isolation to the Text?

The role of women in Saudi society is changing, but even the process of reform is subject to multiple interpretations. This makes the role of resemiosis when interpreting visual media particularly important, perhaps more than a direct focus on the semiotic modes adopted. Appraisal Theory captures this judgement process in terms of emotions experience by the reader/viewer and how the wider context such as the full news article, or even just the headline, forms a part of this process. This argues that in contested situations resemiosis is a critical part of the process and sometimes the apparent interpretation of a single image (intersemiosis) can be different to the interpretation of the whole. In these cases, it is not just that different semiotic modes carry different meanings but that a focus on one in isolation can be misleading as to the overall intent.

An agent-based modelling framework for performance assessment of search and rescue operations in the Barents Sea

In recent years, the increase in Arctic offshore activities has raised concerns about the search and rescue (SAR) operations as mitigative measures to ensure the safety of shipping and cruise activities. Performing SAR operations in the remote Arctic offshore environment is exceptionally challenging due to the severe environmental conditions, including low temperatures, high waves, strong winds, heavy snow showers, sea ice, spray icing, dense fog, limited visibility, and polar low pressures. Moreover, the scarcity of port infrastructure along the Arctic coastline exacerbates the difficulties faced during SAR operations. Tackling the aforementioned challenges necessitates a comprehensive modelling framework for analysis of SAR operations in the Arctic that is able to consider the dynamics and uncertain nature of Arctic harsh environmental conditions, and the constraints imposed by the limited capacity of Arctic SAR infrastructure. To this aim, this paper proposes an agent-based modelling (ABM) framework to assess the performance of SAR operations while tackling such challenges in the Arctic. A Monte Carlo simulation approach is used to model the dynamics and uncertainty of weather and sea conditions using historical data, using which some severity levels are determined. Expert judgement process is then used quantify the impacts of such severity levels on the performance of rescue agents, and thus, on the total rescue time. To validate the proposed framework, an illustrative case in the Norwegian Barents Sea is considered, where the performance of SAR infrastructure is examined under different rescue scenarios. According to the results of this paper, the total rescue time is the longest during December to February, and the shortest rescue time is associated with months May to August. Some recommendations are further proposed to improve the performance of SAR infrastructure in the Barents Sea.

Peer-review procedures as practice, decision, and governance—the road to theories of peer review

Abstract Peer review is an ubiquitous feature of science with three interrelated roles: first, as a mechanism to assess quality through expert judgement (process); second, to decide on the distribution of scarce resources, e.g. publication space (outcome); and, third, to self-govern science (context). This is poorly reflected in public and academic debates, where attention is focused on alleged deficits. Moving beyond a ‘deficit model’, we, first, divide the peer-review process into eight different practices, which, in combination, can make up a wide variety of peer-review procedures. Second, we claim that peer review not only provides evaluative decisions, but, more importantly, also provides the legitimacy for these decisions. Thus, an encompassing theoretical view of peer review should integrate process, outcome, and context. Such a view could start by theorizing peer review as a form of government, not unlike democracy, grown historically around concerns for legibility, responsibility, and responsiveness akin to the Mertonian norms.

Small Sample Size and Group Homogeneity: A Crucial Ingredient to Inter-Group Bias.

Applying a recently developed framework for the study of sample-based person impressions to the level of group impressions resulted in convergent evidence for a highly robust judgment process. How stimulus traits mapped on the resulting group impressions was subject to two distinct moderators, diagnosticity of traits, and the amplifying impact of early sample truncation. Three indices of diagnosticity-negative valence, extremity, and distance to other traits in a density framework-determined participants' decision to truncate trait sampling early and hence the final group judgments. When trait samples were negative and extreme and when the distance between high-density traits was small, early truncation of the trait samples fostered high group homogeneity and polarized impressions. Granting that mental representations of in-groups and out-groups rely on systematically different samples, our sampling approach can account for various inter-group biases: out-group homogeneity, out-group polarization and (because negative traits are more diagnostic) out-group derogation.

The neural mechanisms of identifiable victim effect in prosocial decision-making.

The phenomenon known as the "identifiable victim effect" describes how individuals tend to offer more assistance to victims they can identify with than to those who are vague or abstract. The neural underpinnings of this effect, however, remain elusive. Our study utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging to delve into how the "identifiable victim effect" influences prosocial decision-making, considering different types of helping costs, across two distinct tasks. Participants were instructed to decide whether to help a victim with personal information shown (i.e., the identifiable victim) and an unidentifiable one by costing their money (task 1) or physical effort (task 2). Behaviorally, we observed a pronounced preference in both tasks for aiding identifiable victims over anonymous ones, highlighting a robust "identifiable victim effect." On a neural level, this effect was associated with heightened activity in brain areas like the bilateral temporoparietal junction (TPJ) when participants confronted anonymous victims, potentially indicating a more intensive mentalizing process for less concrete victims. Additionally, we noted that the TPJ's influence on value judgment processes is mediated through its functional connectivity with the medial prefrontal cortex. These insights contribute significantly to our understanding of the psychological and neural dynamics underlying the identifiable victim effect.

Wide-band spectrum sensing with convolution neural network using spectral correlation function

Recognition of signals is a spectrum sensing challenge requiring simultaneous detection, temporal and spectral localization, and classification. In this approach, we present the convolution neural network (CNN) architecture, a powerful portrayal of the cyclo-stationarity trademark, for remote range detection and sign acknowledgment. Spectral correlation function is used along with CNN. In two scenarios, method-1 and method-2, the suggested approach is used to categorize wireless signals without any previous knowledge. Signals are detected and classified simultaneously in method-1. In method-2, the sensing and classification procedures take place sequentially. In contrast to conventional spectrum sensing techniques, the proposed CNN technique need not bother with a factual judgment process or past information on the signs’ separating qualities. The method beats both conventional sensing methods and signal-classifying deep learning networks when used to analyze real-world, over-the-air data in cellular bands. Despite the implementation’s emphasis on cellular signals, any signal having cyclo-stationary properties may be detected and classified using the provided approach. The proposed model has achieved more than 90% of testing accuracy at 15 dB.

Embracing beauty through leftward movements: An ERP study on metaphorical association between hand actions and aesthetic judgments

In this study, we examined the metaphorical association between aesthetic judgments of faces and horizontal hand movements as well as their cognitive neural mechanisms using a joint categorical response task. In the “aesthetic-action” metaphorical representation situation, participants were asked to classify beautiful/ugly faces by moving the mouse to the left or the right. The results showed that the joint categorization condition “judge beautiful-move mouse left, judge ugly-move mouse right” had a shorter reaction time than the “judge beautiful-move mouse right, judge ugly-move mouse left” condition, which was accompanied by larger amplitudes of the early component N170, EPN, and the late component P300. Combining the behavioral and event-related potentials (ERPs) results, the present study demonstrated a metaphorical association between horizontal hand actions and aesthetic judgments. It suggested that horizontal hand actions can affect the speed of aesthetic judgments by influencing processing fluency, emotional arousal level, categorization motivation, and attentional resources. These findings provide new perspectives to better understand the cognitive process of aesthetic judgments and provide a basis for applying embodied cognition and metaphor theory to the field of aesthetic psychology.

Judgments of Learning Reactivity on Item-Specific and Relational Processing.

Judgments of learning (JOLs) reactivity refers to the finding that the mere solicitation of JOLs modifies subsequent memory performance. One theoretical explanation is the item-specific processing hypothesis, which posits that item-level JOLs redound to the benefit of later memory performance because they enhance item-specific processing. The current study was designed to test this account. We factorially manipulated the organization (blocked vs. randomized) of categorized lists and JOL condition (item-JOLs, list-JOLs, no-JOLs) between participants, and fit the dual-retrieval model to free recall data to pinpoint the underlying memory processes that were affected by JOL solicitation. Our results showed that item-level JOLs produced positive reactivity for randomized but not for blocked categorized lists. Moreover, we found that the positive JOL reactivity for randomized categorized lists was tied to a familiarity judgment process that is associated with gist processing, rather than to item-specific recollective processes. Thus, our results pose a challenge to the item-specific processing explanation of JOL reactivity. We argue that JOL reactivity is not restricted to item-specific processing; instead, whether JOLs predominantly engage participants with item-specific or relational processing depends on the interaction between learning stimuli and JOLs.

Usability of MAO-A gene in the judicial process

Monoamine oxidase (MAO-A) is an enzyme found in the nervous system and plays an important role in the breakdown of monoamine neurotransmitters. This enzyme varies among individuals depending on genetic factors. The monoamine oxidase-A (MAO-A) gene has been studied by various researchers to understand behavioral differences between individuals and evaluate crime propensity. However, serious ethical and legal problems may arise regarding the use of genetic factors alone in the judicial process. In this context, considering environmental factors as well as the MAO-A gene may contribute to the development of a more comprehensive approach. The role of the MAO-A gene in the judgment process has created an area of research that allows us to understand behavioral differences. The MAO-A gene has been associated with various behavioral traits. It has particular effects on aggressive behavior, antisocial behavior, and emotional reactions. In this context, the MAO-A gene may be an important factor in determining how individuals respond to environmental factors and guide their judgment processes. Some studies show that individuals with low MAO-A activity may be prone to antisocial behavior and crime. Thus, the MAO-A gene can be taken into consideration in determining guilt in legal processes. Assessing individuals' criminal propensity based on genetic factors can make the justice system more effective and fair. For example, harsh childhood conditions or traumatic experiences can trigger genetic predispositions and increase criminal propensity. In this case, it is important to take environmental factors into account when evaluating the genetic profile of the individual during the judicial process. Many ethical and legal issues need to be carefully considered on how to integrate the MAO-A gene into the judicial system. Therefore, research on the usability of the MAO-A gene in the judicial process should be continued.

An innovative Bridge Surveillance Methodological Framework: the case of the A3 Highway (Southern Italy)

The road networks represent one of the main services necessary for the economic and social development of a country. Undoubtedly, the weak points of the network are represented by infrastructures such as bridges and tunnels, in fact, the lack of an overpass could paralyze different areas. With the aim to support the managing companies in a decision-making process, in order to ensure service in full safety, the acquisition of an appropriate knowledge of the current health state and its evolution over time of the overall buildings is necessary. The Italian “Guidelines for Risk Classification and Management, Safety Assessment and Monitoring of Existing Bridges – LG20” presents a multilevel methodology as a management process from on-site survey to the bridges’ condition assessment. In 2022, CUGRI launched an innovative surveillance management model established on a multidisciplinary approach based on Geography Markup Language, BIM tools, on-site interdisciplinary inspections, and multi-hazard analysis. The methodology provides the on-site training of inspectors, the elaboration of suitable BIM models according to the LG20 and AINOP (National Archive of Public Infrastructures) requirements, and an expert judgement process for preliminary assessment and data validation to support the maintenance managing process. The paper briefly illustrates the experimental methodology performed on the A3 highway, which connects Naples to Salerno (Southern Italy), and the preliminary considerations.

Cooperation dynamics in public goods games with evolving cognitive bias

It has been proved that cognitive biases widely exist in various social realities and lead to unprecedented consequences by affecting individual judgment and decision-making processes in distinct ways. To further explore the influence of changeable cognitive bias, we introduce a heterogeneous population and learning process that can be influenced by cognitive bias into the threshold public goods game (TPGG). Specifically, additional parameters describing the heterogeneity and updating speed of bias are employed. The combined effects of bias and the inherent parameters in the TPGG model on the evolution of cooperation are explored. Numerical simulation results show that the heterogeneity of cognitive bias exhibits diametrically opposite effects when the threshold is relatively low and high, and the effect of incentives based on fixed reward and adjustable punishment are distorted by heterogeneous cognitive biases as well. In addition, the process of social learning forces individuals to update their beliefs toward the direction of obtaining a higher payoff. Different learning rates eventually lead to distinct levels of cooperation by changing the distribution of cognitive bias when the population reaches the evolutionary steady state. Our work extends the research framework on cognitive bias from the perspective of population heterogeneity and explores the impact of individuals' learning ability on personal bias and cooperative behavior.

A phenomenographic exploration of course leaders’ understandings of interdisciplinarity

ABSTRACT The number of interdisciplinary courses being developed in higher education across different countries is increasing. The people responsible for developing and enacting interdisciplinary courses can have significant design and teaching autonomy, but little is known about how they understand interdisciplinarity. This study uses phenomenographic interviews to address the question: how do interdisciplinary course leaders understand interdisciplinarity? This includes exploration of the relationships between different understandings of interdisciplinarity. Findings from interviews with 23 interdisciplinary course leaders reveal understandings of interdisciplinarity expressed in relation to (A) definitions, (B) knowledge spaces, and (C) situated knowledge work practices. Understandings were multiple and heterogeneous; they varied between participants and more importantly participants each expressed understandings belonging to multiple categories. Findings show that academics’ views about what interdisciplinarity means are rarely exclusively aligned with normative definitions, but instead are marked by individuals’ construction of meaning through processes of acquisition, sense-making and situational judgment. The study’s findings could be used in future educational design and planning work to elicit and discuss different stakeholder understandings of interdisciplinarity.

How pedagogical content knowledge sharpens prospective teachers’ focus when judging mathematical tasks: an eye-tracking study

Teachers’ ability to accurately judge difficulties of mathematical tasks is an essential aspect of their diagnostic competencies. Although research has suggested that pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is positively correlated with the accuracy of diagnostic judgments, experimental studies have not been conducted to investigate how PCK affects perception and interpretation of relevant task characteristics. In an intervention study with a control group, 49 prospective mathematics teachers judged the difficulty of 20 tasks involving functions and graphs while an eye tracker tracked their eye movements. Some of the tasks included characteristics well known to be difficult for students. Participants’ domain-specific PCK of typical student errors was manipulated through a three-hour intervention, during which they learned about the most common student errors in function and graph problems. We found that the process of perception (relative fixation duration on the relevant area in the tasks) was related to judgment accuracy. Pre-post comparisons revealed an effect of the intervention not only on participants’ domain-specific PCK of typical student errors but also on their perception and interpretation processes. This result suggests that domain-specific PCK of typical student errors allowed participants to focus more efficiently on relevant task characteristics when judging mathematical task difficulties. Our study contributes to our understanding of how professional knowledge makes teachers’ judgment processes of mathematical tasks more efficient.