facilitate informed choice: Topics by Science.gov

Sample records for facilitate informed choice

Facilitating informed choice in prenatal testing: how well are we doing?

PubMed

Marteau, T M; Dormandy, E

2001-01-01

There is a consensus that prenatal testing services need to provide the information and support necessary for women to make informed choices about prenatal testing. Informed choices are those based on relevant information that reflect the decision-maker's values. To date, most research has focused on the information provided to women deciding whether to undergo tests. This has highlighted the poor quality of information provided to many women. There is agreement on the need to provide information on three key aspects of any test: the condition for which testing is being offered, characteristics of the test, and the implications of testing. Very little research has been conducted on decisions after the diagnosis of a fetal abnormality and how information and emotional and decisional support are and should be provided. Research is now needed in four key areas: first, on the optimal ways of organizing services to facilitate choices that are not only based on relevant information, but also reflect the decision-maker's values; second, on the most effective ways of framing information needed for the different decisions involved in prenatal testing; third, on the most effective media in which to deliver information; and, fourth, to identify aspects of counseling that facilitate informed choices following diagnoses of fetal abnormality. If we value women's ability to make informed choices about prenatal tests as highly as we value reliable laboratory tests, evidence-based quality standards need to be developed for the information and support women are given at all stages of the process of prenatal testing.
Positive consequences of conflict on decision making: when a conflict mindset facilitates choice.

PubMed

Savary, Jennifer; Kleiman, Tali; Hassin, Ran R; Dhar, Ravi

2015-02-01

Much research has shown that conflict is aversive and leads to increased choice deferral. In contrast, we have proposed that conflict can be beneficial. Specifically, exposure to nonconscious goal conflict can activate a mindset (a set of cognitive procedures) that facilitates the systematic processing of information without triggering the associated costs, such as negative affect and stress. In a conflict mindset, people should be better able to make tradeoffs and resolve choice conflict. We tested this proposition in 4 experiments, and demonstrated that priming conflicting goals before a decision increases choice in domains unrelated to the primed conflict. We further demonstrated that increased choice occurs because people in a conflict mindset process choice information more systematically, and we rule out several alternative explanations for the results.
Enhancing Informed Choice to Undergo Health Screening: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Biesecker, Barbara Bowles; Schwartz, Marc D.; Marteau, Theresa M.

2012-01-01

Objective To assess the effectiveness of health screening interventions aimed at enhancing informed choice. Methods Studies were selected if (1) they were randomized controlled trials conducted between January 1, 2000, and March 30, 2010, (2) participants in one arm underwent a prescreening intervention aimed at improving informed choice, and (3) informed choice was the primary outcome. Results Eight studies that met the inclusion criteria involved screening for prostate, colorectal and breast cancer, and diabetes. Five of the 8 prescreening interventions led to greater informed choice. Conclusions With researchers mindful of the limited number of studies, findings were encouraging, but conclusions regarding the most effective ways of facilitating informed choice for screening are at best tentative. PMID:23985182
Measuring informed choice in population-based reproductive genetic screening: a systematic review

PubMed Central

Ames, Alice Grace; Metcalfe, Sylvia Ann; Archibald, Alison Dalton; Duncan, Rony Emily; Emery, Jon

2015-01-01

Genetic screening and health-care guidelines recommend that programmes should facilitate informed choice. It is therefore important that accurate measures of informed choice are available to evaluate such programmes. This review synthesises and appraises measures used to evaluate informed choice in population-based genetic screening programmes for reproductive risk. Databases were searched for studies offering genetic screening for the purpose of establishing reproductive risk to an adult population sample, in which aspects of informed choice were measured. Studies were included if, at a minimum, measures of uptake of screening and knowledge were used. Searches identified 1462 citations and 76 studies were reviewed in full text; 34 studies met the inclusion criteria. Over 20 different measures of informed choice were used. Many measures lacked adequate validity and reliability data. This systematic review will inform future evaluation of informed choice in population genetic screening programmes. PMID:24848746
How social information affects information search and choice in probabilistic inferences.

PubMed

Puskaric, Marin; von Helversen, Bettina; Rieskamp, Jörg

2018-01-01

When making decisions, people are often exposed to relevant information stemming from qualitatively different sources. For instance, when making a choice between two alternatives people can rely on the advice of other people (i.e., social information) or search for factual information about the alternatives (i.e., non-social information). Prior research in categorization has shown that social information is given special attention when both social and non-social information is available, even when the social information has no additional informational value. The goal of the current work is to investigate whether framing information as social or non-social also influences information search and choice in probabilistic inferences. In a first study, we found that framing cues (i.e., the information used to make a decision) with medium validity as social increased the probability that they were searched for compared to a task where the same cues were framed as non-social information, but did not change the strategy people relied on. A second and a third study showed that framing a cue with high validity as social information facilitated learning to rely on a non-compensatory decision strategy. Overall, the results suggest that social in comparison to non-social information is given more attention and is learned faster than non-social information. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Genetic risks and healthy choices: creating citizen-consumers of genetic services through empowerment and facilitation.

PubMed

Harvey, Alison

2010-03-01

Genetic testing to identify susceptibility to a variety of common complex diseases is increasingly becoming available. In this article, focusing on the development of genetic susceptibility testing for diet-related disease, I examine the emergence of direct-to-the-consumer genetic testing services and the (re)configuration of healthcare provision, both within and outside the specialist genetics service, in the UK. I identify two key techniques within these practices: empowerment and facilitation. Using Foucauldian social theory, I show that empowerment and facilitation are being positioned as tools for the creation of citizen-consumers who will make appropriate dietary choices, based on the results of their genetic analysis. Through these techniques, individuals are transformed into properly entrepreneurial citizens who will, through judicious choices, act to maximise their 'vital capital' (their health) and the capital of the social body. I argue that the user of these services is not purely an economic figure, making rational choices as a consumer, but that her configuration as a citizen-consumer who avails herself of genetic information and services in a proper manner ensures that she is fit to contribute to the economic life of our present.
Using augmented reality to inform consumer choice and lower carbon footprints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Isley, Steven C.; Ketcham, Robert; Arent, Douglas J.

2017-05-01

Consumers who wish to consider product attributes like carbon footprints in their purchasing decisions are often blocked from meaningful action by a lack of information. We conducted a randomized controlled trial at a grocery store to evaluate the effects of providing such product attribute and carbon footprint information via augmented reality (AR) displays on bottled water and breakfast cereal, two frequently purchased goods. Using an AR smartphone app that combines comparative and detailed product information into personalized data and recommendations, a 23% reduction in carbon footprint was found for bottled water, and non-significant reductions for breakfast cereal. However, AR informed choice lead to healthier cereal purchases with an average of 32% less sugar, 15% less fat, and 9.8% less sodium. This research suggests that AR techniques can help facilitate complex decision-making and lead to better choices.
Information-sharing to promote informed choice in prenatal screening in the spirit of the SOGC clinical practice guideline: a proposal for an alternative model.

PubMed

Vanstone, Meredith; Kinsella, Elizabeth Anne; Nisker, Jeff

2012-03-01

The 2011 SOGC clinical practice guideline "Prenatal Screening for Fetal Aneuploidy in Singleton Pregnancies" recommends that clinicians offer prenatal screening to all pregnant women and provide counselling in a non-directive manner. Non-directive counselling is intended to facilitate autonomous decision-making and remove the clinician's views regarding a particular course of action. However, recent research in genetic counselling raises concerns that non-directive counselling is neither possible nor desirable, and that it may not be the best way to facilitate informed choice. We propose an alternative model of information-sharing specific to prenatal screening that combines attributes of the models of informative decision-making and shared decision-making. Our proposed model is intended to provide clinicians with a strategy to communicate information about prenatal screening in a way that facilitates a shared deliberative process and autonomous decision-making. Our proposed model may better prepare a pregnant woman to make an informed choice about participating in prenatal screening on the basis of her consideration of the medical information provided by her clinician and her particular circumstances and values.
The rhetoric of informed choice: perspectives from midwives on intrapartum fetal heart rate monitoring

PubMed Central

Hindley, Carol; Thomson, Ann M.

2005-01-01

Abstract Objective To investigate midwives’ attitudes, values and beliefs on the use of intrapartum fetal monitoring. Design Qualitative, semi‐structured interviews Subjects and setting Fifty‐eight registered midwives in two hospitals in the North of England. Results In this paper two main themes are discussed, these are: informed choice, and the power of the midwife. Midwives favoured the application of informed choice and shared a unanimous consensus on the definition. However, the idealistic perception of informed choice, which included contemporary notions of empowerment and autonomy for women expressing an informed choice, was not reportedly translated into practice. Midwives had to implement informed choice on intrapartum fetal monitoring within a competing set of health service agendas, i.e. medically driven protocols and a political climate of actively managed childbearing. This resulted in the manipulation of information during the midwives’ interactions with women. This ultimately meant that the women often got the choice the midwives wanted them to have. Conclusions The information that a midwife imparts may consciously or subconsciously affect the woman's uptake and understanding of information. Therefore, the midwife has a powerful role to play in balancing the benefits and risk ratios applicable to fetal heart rate monitoring. However, a deeply ingrained pre‐occupation with technological methods of intrapartum fetal monitoring over many years has made it difficult for midwives to offer alternative forms of monitoring. This has placed limits on the facilitation of informed choice and autonomous decision making for women. PMID:16266418
How self-determined choice facilitates performance: a key role of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex.

PubMed

Murayama, Kou; Matsumoto, Madoka; Izuma, Keise; Sugiura, Ayaka; Ryan, Richard M; Deci, Edward L; Matsumoto, Kenji

2015-05-01

Recent studies have documented that self-determined choice does indeed enhance performance. However, the precise neural mechanisms underlying this effect are not well understood. We examined the neural correlates of the facilitative effects of self-determined choice using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants played a game-like task involving a stopwatch with either a stopwatch they selected (self-determined-choice condition) or one they were assigned without choice (forced-choice condition). Our results showed that self-determined choice enhanced performance on the stopwatch task, despite the fact that the choices were clearly irrelevant to task difficulty. Neuroimaging results showed that failure feedback, compared with success feedback, elicited a drop in the vmPFC activation in the forced-choice condition, but not in the self-determined-choice condition, indicating that negative reward value associated with the failure feedback vanished in the self-determined-choice condition. Moreover, the vmPFC resilience to failure in the self-determined-choice condition was significantly correlated with the increased performance. Striatal responses to failure and success feedback were not modulated by the choice condition, indicating the dissociation between the vmPFC and striatal activation pattern. These findings suggest that the vmPFC plays a unique and critical role in the facilitative effects of self-determined choice on performance. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault: College Women's Risk Perception and Behavioral Choices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crawford, Emily; Wright, Margaret O'Dougherty; Birchmeier, Zachary

2008-01-01

Objective: The authors investigated relationships among prior victimization, risk perceptions, and behavioral choices in responding to drug-facilitated sexual assault in a college party where alcohol is available. Participants and Methods: From fall 2003 to spring 2004, over 400 female undergraduates rated risk perception following an acquaintance…
Facilitating choice and control for older people in long-term care.

PubMed

Boyle, Geraldine

2004-05-01

The community care reforms enabled some older people with severe disabilities to remain at home with domiciliary care services, as an alternative to institutional admission. This paper explores the extent to which the reforms actually enabled older people receiving domiciliary care to have greater choice and control in their daily lives than older people living in institutions. Findings are reported from a comparative study carried out in Greater Belfast, Northern Ireland, that determined the extent to which the subjective quality of life of older people--particularly autonomy--varied according to the type of setting. The older people were interviewed using a structured interview schedule and subjective autonomy was assessed using a measure of perceived choice. The measure consisted of 33 activities relating to aspects of everyday life such as what time to get up, when to see visitors or friends, and how much privacy was available. Qualitative data were also recorded which informed on the older people's perspectives on their own lives, particularly the extent to which they exercised choice on a daily basis. Two-hundred and fourteen residents in 45 residential and nursing homes were interviewed, as were 44 older people receiving domiciliary care in private households. The study found that older people living in institutions perceived themselves to have greater decisional autonomy in their everyday lives than did older people receiving domiciliary care. Indeed, it was clear that living at home did not ensure that one's decisional autonomy would be supported. However, living alone may facilitate exercising a relatively higher degree of autonomy when living at home. Whilst the community care reforms have provided some older people who have severe disabilities with the option of receiving care at home, this has not necessarily enabled them to have greater choice and control in their everyday lives than older people admitted to institutions.
Effects of intentionality and subliminal information in free-choices to inhibit.

PubMed

Dall'Acqua, Tommaso; Begliomini, Chiara; Motta, Raffaella; Miotto, Diego; Castiello, Umberto

2018-01-31

Stopping an action at the very last moment is an important feature of human behavioural flexibility. Intentional inhibition has been defined as the ability to inhibit an action on the basis of an internal decision process. Without this ability, actions would be impulsive and would leave little space to correct misguided decisions. Previous research suggests that making a choice between action alternatives activates a specific "choice network" that includes the rostral cingulate zone (RCZ), the anterior insula (AI), the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the inferior parietal lobe (IPL). The activity of this network has shown to be influenced by non-conscious (subliminal) stimuli. In this study, we tested whether the same regions are recruited by free-choices to inhibit and modulated by unconscious information as reported in the case of free-choices to act. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) we manipulated the degree of 'freedom' of the choice between acting and inhibiting an action by introducing explicit cues or leaving the participants free to choose between action alternatives. We included subliminal masked primes to test whether responses to targets were facilitated and/or obstructed by conditions of congruency and incongruency between primes and targets. Our findings confirmed higher activation of the "choice network" in free-choice trials when compared to cued choices. However subliminal priming failed to significantly influence participants' responses, in free-choice conditions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A qualitative analysis of Māori and Pacific smokers' views on informed choice and smoking.

PubMed

Gifford, Heather; Tautolo, El-Shadan; Erick, Stephanie; Hoek, Janet; Gray, Rebecca; Edwards, Richard

2016-05-17

Tobacco companies frame smoking as an informed choice, a strategy that holds individuals responsible for harms they incur. Few studies have tested this argument, and even fewer have examined how informed indigenous smokers or those from minority ethnicities are when they start smoking. We explored how young adult Māori and Pacific smokers interpreted 'informed choice' in relation to smoking. Using recruitment via advertising, existing networks and word of mouth, we recruited and undertook qualitative in-depth interviews with 20 Māori and Pacific young adults aged 18-26 years who smoked. Data were analysed using an informed-choice framework developed by Chapman and Liberman. We used a thematic analysis approach to identify themes that extended this framework. Few participants considered themselves well informed and none met more than the framework's initial two criteria. Most reflected on their unthinking uptake and subsequent addiction, and identified environmental factors that had facilitated uptake. Nonetheless, despite this context, most agreed that they had made an informed choice to smoke. The discrepancy between participants' reported knowledge and understanding of smoking's risks, and their assessment of smoking as an informed choice, reflects their view of smoking as a symbol of adulthood. Policies that make tobacco more difficult to use in social settings could help change social norms around smoking and the ease with which initiation and addiction currently occur. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/
34 CFR 361.52 - Informed choice.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... individual (including students with disabilities who are making the transition from programs under the... disabilities who require assistance in exercising informed choice throughout the vocational rehabilitation... eligible individuals meaningful choices among the methods used to procure vocational rehabilitation...
A qualitative analysis of Māori and Pacific smokers' views on informed choice and smoking

PubMed Central

Gifford, Heather; Tautolo, El-Shadan; Erick, Stephanie; Hoek, Janet; Gray, Rebecca; Edwards, Richard

2016-01-01

Objectives Tobacco companies frame smoking as an informed choice, a strategy that holds individuals responsible for harms they incur. Few studies have tested this argument, and even fewer have examined how informed indigenous smokers or those from minority ethnicities are when they start smoking. We explored how young adult Māori and Pacific smokers interpreted ‘informed choice’ in relation to smoking. Participants Using recruitment via advertising, existing networks and word of mouth, we recruited and undertook qualitative in-depth interviews with 20 Māori and Pacific young adults aged 18–26 years who smoked. Analyses Data were analysed using an informed-choice framework developed by Chapman and Liberman. We used a thematic analysis approach to identify themes that extended this framework. Results Few participants considered themselves well informed and none met more than the framework's initial two criteria. Most reflected on their unthinking uptake and subsequent addiction, and identified environmental factors that had facilitated uptake. Nonetheless, despite this context, most agreed that they had made an informed choice to smoke. Conclusions The discrepancy between participants' reported knowledge and understanding of smoking's risks, and their assessment of smoking as an informed choice, reflects their view of smoking as a symbol of adulthood. Policies that make tobacco more difficult to use in social settings could help change social norms around smoking and the ease with which initiation and addiction currently occur. PMID:27188813
Multiple-choice pretesting potentiates learning of related information.

PubMed

Little, Jeri L; Bjork, Elizabeth Ligon

2016-10-01

Although the testing effect has received a substantial amount of empirical attention, such research has largely focused on the effects of tests given after study. The present research examines the effect of using tests prior to study (i.e., as pretests), focusing particularly on how pretesting influences the subsequent learning of information that is not itself pretested but that is related to the pretested information. In Experiment 1, we found that multiple-choice pretesting was better for the learning of such related information than was cued-recall pretesting or a pre-fact-study control condition. In Experiment 2, we found that the increased learning of non-pretested related information following multiple-choice testing could not be attributed to increased time allocated to that information during subsequent study. Last, in Experiment 3, we showed that the benefits of multiple-choice pretesting over cued-recall pretesting for the learning of related information persist over 48 hours, thus demonstrating the promise of multiple-choice pretesting to potentiate learning in educational contexts. A possible explanation for the observed benefits of multiple-choice pretesting for enhancing the effectiveness with which related nontested information is learned during subsequent study is discussed.
Final Report of Project CHOICE: A Center for Helping Organizations Improve Choice in Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chapman, Davis W.; And Others

The purpose of the Center for Helping Organizations Improve Choice in Education (CHOICE) project, the scope of its activities, and evaluations of the effectiveness of those activities are described. One major project goal was to encourage and facilitate institutional efforts to provide more complete and accurate information to prospective…
Informed choice and deaf children: underpinning concepts and enduring challenges.

PubMed

Young, Alys; Carr, Gwen; Hunt, Ros; McCracken, Wendy; Skipp, Amy; Tattersall, Helen

2006-01-01

This article concerns the first stage of a research and development project that aimed to produce both parent and professional guidelines on the promotion and provision of informed choice for families with deaf children. It begins with a theoretical discussion of the problems associated with the concept of informed choice and deaf child services and then focuses specifically on why a metastudy approach was employed to address both the overcontextualized debate about informed choice when applied to deaf children and the problems associated with its investigation in practice with families and professionals. It presents a detailed analysis of the conceptual relevance of a range of identified studies "outside" the field of deafness. These are ordered according to 2 main conceptual categories and 7 subcategories-(a) the nature of information: "information that is evaluative, not just descriptive"; "the difficulties of information for a purpose"; "the origins and status of information"; and "informed choice and knowledge, not informed choice and information" and (b) parameters and definitions of choice: "informed choice as absolute and relative concept", "preferences and presumptions of rationality", and "informed choice for whom?" Relevant deaf child literature is integrated into the discussion of each conceptual debate in order both to expand and challenge current usage of informed choice as applied to deaf children and families and to delineate possible directions in the planning of the next stage of the main project aimed at producing parent/professional guidelines.
Perceived Barriers and Facilitators of Exercise and Healthy Dietary Choices: A Study of Employees and Managers within a Large Transport Organisation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Donaldson-Feilder, Emma; Lewis, Rachel; Pavey, Louisa; Jones, Bethan; Green, Melanie; Webster, Angela

2017-01-01

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine employees' perceived barriers and facilitators of physical activity and healthy dietary choices, and managers' perceptions of how best to facilitate physical activity and healthy dietary choices among their team members. Design: Single time-point survey with categorical and open-ended…

Expanding the Reach of Participatory Risk Management: Testing an Online Decision-Aiding Framework for Informing Internally Consistent Choices.

PubMed

Bessette, Douglas L; Campbell-Arvai, Victoria; Arvai, Joseph

2016-05-01

This article presents research aimed at developing and testing an online, multistakeholder decision-aiding framework for informing multiattribute risk management choices associated with energy development and climate change. The framework was designed to provide necessary background information and facilitate internally consistent choices, or choices that are in line with users' prioritized objectives. In order to test different components of the decision-aiding framework, a six-part, 2 × 2 × 2 factorial experiment was conducted, yielding eight treatment scenarios. The three factors included: (1) whether or not users could construct their own alternatives; (2) the level of detail regarding the composition of alternatives users would evaluate; and (3) the way in which a final choice between users' own constructed (or highest-ranked) portfolio and an internally consistent portfolio was presented. Participants' self-reports revealed the framework was easy to use and providing an opportunity to develop one's own risk-management alternatives (Factor 1) led to the highest knowledge gains. Empirical measures showed the internal consistency of users' decisions across all treatments to be lower than expected and confirmed that providing information about alternatives' composition (Factor 2) resulted in the least internally consistent choices. At the same time, those users who did not develop their own alternatives and were not shown detailed information about the composition of alternatives believed their choices to be the most internally consistent. These results raise concerns about how the amount of information provided and the ability to construct alternatives may inversely affect users' real and perceived internal consistency. © 2015 Society for Risk Analysis.
Smoking as an 'informed choice': implications for endgame strategies.

PubMed

Hoek, Janet; Ball, Jude; Gray, Rebecca; Tautolo, El-Shadan

2017-11-01

Tobacco companies often assert that adults should be free to make an 'informed choice' about smoking; this argument influences public perceptions and shapes public health policy agendas by promoting educative interventions ahead of regulation. Critically analysing 'informed choice' claims is pivotal in countries that have set endgame goals and require new, more effective policies to achieve their smoke-free aims. In-depth interviews with 15 New Zealand politicians, policy analysts and tobacco control advocates examined how they interpreted 'informed choice' arguments. We used a thematic analysis approach to review and explicate interview transcripts. Participants thought 'informed choice' implied that people make an active decision to smoke, knowing and accepting the risks they face; they rejected this assumption and saw it as a cynical self-justification by tobacco companies. Some believed this rhetoric had countered calls for stronger policies and thought governments used 'informed choice' arguments to support inaction. Several called on the government to stop allowing a lethal product to be widely sold while simultaneously advising people not to use it. 'Informed choice' arguments allow the ubiquitous availability of tobacco to go unquestioned and create a tension between endgame goals and the strategies used to achieve these. Reducing tobacco availability would address this anomaly by aligning government's actions with its advice. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.
Mate-choice copying, social information processing, and the roles of oxytocin.

PubMed

Kavaliers, Martin; Matta, Richard; Choleris, Elena

2017-01-01

Social and sexual behaviors, including that of mate choice, are dependent on social information. Mate choice can be modified by prior and ongoing social factors and experience. The mate choice decisions of one individual can be influenced by either the actual or potential mate choice of another female or male. Such non-independent mate choice, where individuals gain social information and socially learn about and recognizes potential mates by observing the choices of another female or male, has been termed "mate-choice copying". Here we first briefly review how, why, and under what circumstances individuals engage in mate-choice copying. Secondly, we review the neurobiological mechanisms underlying mate-choice copying. In particular, we consider the roles of the nonapeptide, oxytocin, in the processing of social information and the expression of mate-choice copying. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Influencing Food Selection with Point-of-Choice Nutrition Information.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis-Chervin, Doryn; And Others

1985-01-01

Evaluated the effectiveness of a point-of-choice nutrition information program that used a comprehensive set of communication functions in its design. Results indicate that point-of-choice information without direct tangible rewards can (to a moderate degree) modify food-selection behavior of cafeteria patrons. (JN)
Curriculum: Big Decisions--Making Healthy, Informed Choices about Sex

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Melanie

2009-01-01

Big Decisions is a 10-lesson abstinence-plus curriculum for ages 12-18 that emphasizes sex as a big decision, abstinence as the healthiest choice, and the mandate that sexually active teens use condoms and be tested for sexually transmitted diseases. This program can be implemented with limited resources and facilitator training when abstinence…
Five on one side: personal and social information in spatial choice.

PubMed

Brown, Michael F; Saxon, Marie E; Bisbing, Teagan; Evans, Jessica; Ruff, Jennifer; Stokesbury, Andrew

2015-03-01

To examine whether the outcome of a rat's own choices ("personal information") and the choice behavior of another rat ("social information") can jointly control spatial choices, rats were tested in an open field task in which they searched for food. For the rats of primary interest (Subject Rats), the baited locations were all on one side of the arena, but the specific locations baited and the side on which they occurred varied over trials. The Subject Rats were sometimes tested together with an informed "Model" rat that had learned to find food in the same five locations (all on the same side of the arena) on every trial. Unintended perceptual cues apparently controlled spatial choices at first, but when perceptual cues to food location were not available, choices were controlled by both personal information (allowing the baited side of the arena to be determined) and social information (allowing baited locations to be determined more precisely). This shows that control by personal and social information are not mutually exclusive and supports the view that these two kinds of information can be used flexibly and adaptively to guide spatial choices. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: tribute to Tom Zentall. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Shortcomings in Information Sharing Facilitates Transnational Organized Crime

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-06-09

SHORTCOMINGS IN INFORMATION SHARING FACILITATES TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME A thesis presented to the Faculty of the U.S...JUN 2017 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Shortcomings in Information Sharing Facilitates Transnational Organized Crime 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b...NUMBER 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) U.S. Army Command and General Staff College ATTN: ATZL-SWD-GD Fort Leavenworth, KS 66027
After the withdrawal of 'informed choice': the meanings and social effects of mothers' choice for HIV prevention in Senegal.

PubMed

Desclaux, Alice

2014-01-01

To prevent HIV transmission through breastfeeding, African health services in 1998 implemented the World Health Organization's approach of 'informed choice' when recommending infant feeding options to HIV-positive mothers. In 2010, 'informed choice' was withdrawn in favour of antiretroviral prophylaxis with breastfeeding. A 2010-11 ethnographic study conducted in Senegal among HIV-positive mothers revealed three broad responses to the withdrawal of choice and formula provision: 'resistance' from association members claiming the health system was responsible for providing formula to ensure efficient prevention; 'compliance' among mothers adopting 'protected breastfeeding' without complaints; and 'self-reliance' among women trying to obtain formula through other means without mentioning choice. These three responses shed light on the meanings attributed to choice and on the social impact of formula provision during the 'informed choice era.' The analysis shows that the top-down introduction of 'informed choice' as an ethical and management imperative was appropriated and re-signified locally, making space for new forms of sociality within medical and associative social spaces. These social forms could not easily be maintained after the withdrawal of formula provision; women who continue to exert choice do so silently. By focusing on the upheaval of social care arrangements after the introduction of prophylaxis by pharmaceuticals, this paper sheds light on the understudied local consequences of changes in public health policies and the social framing of 'choice' in low-income countries' health systems.
Choice and Decision Processes and Careers. Information Series No. 7.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tiedeman, David V.; Miller-Tiedeman, Anna

The state of the art review depicts comprehension of choice and decision making as knowable and demonstrates that something is already known about both processes and how to facilitate their comprehension. The assumption is made that deciding to choose, choosing to decide, deciding in order to choose, and choosing in order to decide must be…
Health Insurance for "Humans": Information Frictions, Plan Choice, and Consumer Welfare.

PubMed

Handel, Benjamin R; Kolstad, Jonathan T

2015-08-01

Traditional models of insurance choice are predicated on fully informed and rational consumers protecting themselves from exposure to financial risk. In practice, choosing an insurance plan is a complicated decision often made without full information. In this paper we combine new administrative data on health plan choices and claims with unique survey data on consumer information to identify risk preferences, information frictions, and hassle costs. Our additional friction measures are important predictors of choices and meaningfully impact risk preference estimates. We study the implications of counterfactual insurance allocations to illustrate the importance of distinguishing between these micro-foundations for welfare analysis.
Beyond needs and expectations: identifying the barriers and facilitators to written medicine information provision and use in Australia

PubMed Central

Hamrosi, Kim K.; Aslani, Parisa; Raynor, David K.

2012-01-01

Abstract Purpose This study aimed to explore peoples’ needs and expectations of written medicines information (WMI), and to determine the barriers and facilitators experienced or perceived in the context of WMI provision and use. Methods We conducted eight focus groups with 62 participants over 6 weeks in late 2008 in New South Wales, Australia. Using a semi‐structured topic schedule and examples of WMI from Australia and other English‐speaking countries as a guide, we explored themes relevant to WMI, including participant experiences, attitudes, beliefs and expectations. Findings Our findings suggest less than half had previously received WMI, with many unaware of its availability. Many, but not all, wanted WMI to supplement the spoken information they received but not to replace it, and it was predominantly used to facilitate informed choice, ascertain medicine suitability and review instructions. The current leaflets were considered technical and long, and a summary leaflet in addition to comprehensive information was favoured. Accurate side‐effect information was the most important element that participants desired. The most common barriers to effective WMI use were time constraints and patient confidence, with participants citing empowerment, time and health‐care professional (HCP)–patient relationships as important facilitators. Conclusion The findings provide insight and understanding of peoples needs and expectations, and clarify issues associated with use and non‐use of WMI. Challenges include addressing the barriers, especially of time and HCP attitudes to drive changes to workplace practices, and learning from the facilitating factors to encourage awareness and accessibility to WMI as a tool to empower patients. PMID:22390211
The eyes have it: Using eye tracking to inform information processing strategies in multi-attributes choices.

PubMed

Ryan, Mandy; Krucien, Nicolas; Hermens, Frouke

2018-04-01

Although choice experiments (CEs) are widely applied in economics to study choice behaviour, understanding of how individuals process attribute information remains limited. We show how eye-tracking methods can provide insight into how decisions are made. Participants completed a CE, while their eye movements were recorded. Results show that although the information presented guided participants' decisions, there were also several processing biases at work. Evidence was found of (a) top-to-bottom, (b) left-to-right, and (c) first-to-last order biases. Experimental factors-whether attributes are defined as "best" or "worst," choice task complexity, and attribute ordering-also influence information processing. How individuals visually process attribute information was shown to be related to their choices. Implications for the design and analysis of CEs and future research are discussed. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Informed Choice and Deaf Children: Underpinning Concepts and Enduring Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Alys; Carr, Gwen; Hunt, Ros; McCracken, Wendy; Skipp, Amy; Tattersall, Helen

2006-01-01

This article concerns the first stage of a research and development project that aimed to produce both parent and professional guidelines on the promotion and provision of informed choice for families with deaf children. It begins with a theoretical discussion of the problems associated with the concept of informed choice and deaf child services…
Investigating consumers' and informal carers' views and preferences for consumer directed care: A discrete choice experiment.

PubMed

Kaambwa, Billingsley; Lancsar, Emily; McCaffrey, Nicola; Chen, Gang; Gill, Liz; Cameron, Ian D; Crotty, Maria; Ratcliffe, Julie

2015-09-01

Consumer directed care (CDC) is currently being embraced internationally as a means to promote autonomy and choice for consumers (people aged 65 and over) receiving community aged care services (CACSs). CDC involves giving CACS clients (consumers and informal carers of consumers) control over how CACSs are administered. However, CDC models have largely developed in the absence of evidence on clients' views and preferences. We explored CACS clients' preferences for a variety of CDC attributes and identified factors that may influence these preferences and potentially inform improved design of future CDC models. Study participants were clients of CACSs delivered by five Australian providers. Using a discrete choice experiment (DCE) approach undertaken in a group setting between June and December 2013, we investigated the relative importance to CACS consumers and informal (family) carers of gradations relating to six salient features of CDC (choice of service provider(s), budget management, saving unused/unspent funds, choice of support/care worker(s), support-worker flexibility and level of contact with service coordinator). The DCE data were analysed using conditional, mixed and generalised logit regression models, accounting for preference and scale heterogeneity. Mean ages for 117 study participants were 80 years (87 consumers) and 74 years (30 informal carers). All participants preferred a CDC approach that allowed them to: save unused funds from a CACS package for future use; have support workers that were flexible in terms of changing activities within their CACS care plan and; choose the support workers that provide their day-to-day CACSs. The CDC attributes found to be important to both consumers and informal carers receiving CACSs will inform the design of future CDC models of service delivery. The DCE approach used in this study has the potential for wide applicability and facilitates the assessment of preferences for elements of potential future aged care
Investigating the complementary value of discrete choice experiments for the evaluation of barriers and facilitators in implementation research: a questionnaire survey

PubMed Central

van Helvoort-Postulart, Debby; van der Weijden, Trudy; Dellaert, Benedict GC; de Kok, Mascha; von Meyenfeldt, Maarten F; Dirksen, Carmen D

2009-01-01

Background The potential barriers and facilitators to change should guide the choice of implementation strategy. Implementation researchers believe that existing methods for the evaluation of potential barriers and facilitators are not satisfactory. Discrete choice experiments (DCE) are relatively new in the health care sector to investigate preferences, and may be of value in the field of implementation research. The objective of our study was to investigate the complementary value of DCE for the evaluation of barriers and facilitators in implementation research. Methods Clinical subject was the implementation of the guideline for breast cancer surgery in day care. We identified 17 potential barriers and facilitators to the implementation of this guideline. We used a traditional questionnaire that was made up of statements about the potential barriers and facilitators. Respondents answered 17 statements on a five-point scale ranging from one (fully disagree) to five (fully agree). The potential barriers and facilitators were included in the DCE as decision attributes. Data were gathered among anaesthesiologists, surgical oncologists, and breast care nurses by means of a paper-and-pencil questionnaire. Results The overall response was 10%. The most striking finding was that the responses to the traditional questionnaire hardly differentiated between barriers. Forty-seven percent of the respondents thought that DCE is an inappropriate method. These respondents considered DCE too difficult and too time-consuming. Unlike the traditional questionnaire, the results of a DCE provide implementation researchers and clinicians with a relative attribute importance ranking that can be used to prioritize potential barriers and facilitators to change, and hence to better fine-tune the implementation strategies to the specific problems and challenges of a particular implementation process. Conclusion The results of our DCE and traditional questionnaire would probably lead to
Facilitating the implementation of pharmacokinetic-guided dosing of prophylaxis in haemophilia care by discrete choice experiment.

PubMed

Lock, J; de Bekker-Grob, E W; Urhan, G; Peters, M; Meijer, K; Brons, P; van der Meer, F J M; Driessens, M H E; Collins, P W; Fijnvandraat, K; Leebeek, F W G; Cnossen, M H

2016-01-01

Patients', parents' and providers' preferences with regard to medical innovations may have a major impact on their implementation. To evaluate barriers and facilitators for individualized pharmacokinetic (PK)-guided dosing of prophylaxis in haemophilia patients, parents of young patients, and treating professionals by discrete choice experiment (DCE) questionnaire. The study population consisted of patients with haemophilia currently or previously on prophylactic treatment with factor concentrate (n = 114), parents of patients aged 12-18 years (n = 19) and haemophilia professionals (n = 91). DCE data analysis was performed, taking preference heterogeneity into account. Overall, patients and parents, and especially professionals were inclined to opt for PK-guided dosing of prophylaxis. In addition, if bleeding was consequently reduced, more frequent infusions were acceptable. However, daily dosing remained an important barrier for all involved. 'Reduction of costs for society' was a facilitator for implementation in all groups. To achieve implementation of individualized PK-guided dosing of prophylaxis in haemophilia, reduction of bleeding risk and reduction of costs for society should be actively discussed as they are motivating for implementation; daily dosing is still reported to be a barrier for all groups. The knowledge of these preferences will enlarge support for this innovation, and aid in the drafting of implementable guidelines and information brochures for patients, parents and professionals. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Development and conceptual validation of a questionnaire to help contraceptive choice: CHLOE (Contraception: HeLping for wOmen's choicE).

PubMed

Jamin, Christian Georges; Häusler, Gunther; Lobo Abascal, Paloma; Fiala, Christian; Lete Lasa, Luis Ignacio; Nappi, Rossella Elena; Micheletti, Marie-Christine; Fernández-Dorado, Ana; Pintiaux, Axelle; Chabbert-Buffet, Natalie

2017-08-01

The aim of this research was to develop a questionnaire to facilitate choice of the most appropriate contraceptive method for individual women. A literature review was conducted to identify key aspects influencing contraceptive choice and inform development of a questionnaire for online completion. Questionnaire development was overseen by a steering committee consisting of eight gynaecologists from across Europe. The initial draft underwent conceptual validation through cognitive debriefing interviews with six native English-speaking women. A qualitative content analysis was conducted to accurately identify potential issues and areas for questionnaire improvement. A revised version of the questionnaire then underwent face-to-face and online evaluation by 115 international gynaecologists/obstetricians with expertise in contraception, prior to development of a final version. The final conceptually validated Contraception: HeLping for wOmen's choicE (CHLOE) questionnaire takes ≤10 min to complete and includes three sections to elicit general information about the individual, the health conditions that might influence contraceptive choice, and the woman's needs and preferences that might influence contraceptive choice. The questionnaire captures the core aspects of personalisation, efficacy and safety, identified as key attributes influencing contraceptive choice, and consists of 24 closed-ended questions for online completion prior to a health care provider (HCP) consultation. The HCP receives a summary of the responses. The CHLOE questionnaire has been developed to help women choose the contraception that best suits their needs and situation while optimising the HCP's time.
Lateral orbitofrontal cortex anticipates choices and integrates prior with current information

PubMed Central

Nogueira, Ramon; Abolafia, Juan M.; Drugowitsch, Jan; Balaguer-Ballester, Emili; Sanchez-Vives, Maria V.; Moreno-Bote, Rubén

2017-01-01

Adaptive behavior requires integrating prior with current information to anticipate upcoming events. Brain structures related to this computation should bring relevant signals from the recent past into the present. Here we report that rats can integrate the most recent prior information with sensory information, thereby improving behavior on a perceptual decision-making task with outcome-dependent past trial history. We find that anticipatory signals in the orbitofrontal cortex about upcoming choice increase over time and are even present before stimulus onset. These neuronal signals also represent the stimulus and relevant second-order combinations of past state variables. The encoding of choice, stimulus and second-order past state variables resides, up to movement onset, in overlapping populations. The neuronal representation of choice before stimulus onset and its build-up once the stimulus is presented suggest that orbitofrontal cortex plays a role in transforming immediate prior and stimulus information into choices using a compact state-space representation. PMID:28337990
Teaching Emotional Intelligence: Making Informed Choices. K-College.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewkowicz, Adina Bloom

Teachers can help lessen their students' frustrations, make classroom time more productive, and prevent behavioral and learning problems by providing students with information and skills with which to make informed, positive, and independent choices regarding their emotional, social, physical, and mental well-being. This resource for teachers…
Use of a simplified consent form to facilitate patient understanding of informed consent for laparoscopic cholecystectomy

PubMed Central

Borello, Alessandro; Passera, Roberto; Surace, Alessandra; Marola, Silvia; Buccelli, Claudio; Niola, Massimo; Di Lorenzo, Pierpaolo; Amato, Maurizio; Di Domenico, Lorenza; Solej, Mario; Martino, Valter

2016-01-01

Abstract Background Surgical informed consent forms can be complicated for patients to read and understand. We created a consent form with key information presented in bulleted texts and diagrams combined in a graphical format to facilitate the understanding of information during the verbal consent discussion. Methods This prospective, randomized study involved 70 adult patients awaiting cholecystectomy for gallstones. Consent was obtained after standard verbal explanation using either a graphically formatted (study group, n=33) or a standard text document (control group, n=37). Comprehension was evaluated with a 9-item multiple-choice questionnaire administered before surgery and factors affecting comprehension were analyzed. Results Comparison of questionnaire scores showed no effect of age, sex, time between consent and surgery, or document format on understanding of informed consent. Educational level was the only predictor of comprehension. Conclusions Simplified surgical consent documents meet the goals of health literacy and informed consent. Educational level appears to be a strong predictor of understanding. PMID:28352847

Use of a simplified consent form to facilitate patient understanding of informed consent for laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

PubMed

Borello, Alessandro; Ferrarese, Alessia; Passera, Roberto; Surace, Alessandra; Marola, Silvia; Buccelli, Claudio; Niola, Massimo; Di Lorenzo, Pierpaolo; Amato, Maurizio; Di Domenico, Lorenza; Solej, Mario; Martino, Valter

2016-01-01

Surgical informed consent forms can be complicated for patients to read and understand. We created a consent form with key information presented in bulleted texts and diagrams combined in a graphical format to facilitate the understanding of information during the verbal consent discussion. This prospective, randomized study involved 70 adult patients awaiting cholecystectomy for gallstones. Consent was obtained after standard verbal explanation using either a graphically formatted (study group, n=33) or a standard text document (control group, n=37). Comprehension was evaluated with a 9-item multiple-choice questionnaire administered before surgery and factors affecting comprehension were analyzed. Comparison of questionnaire scores showed no effect of age, sex, time between consent and surgery, or document format on understanding of informed consent. Educational level was the only predictor of comprehension. Simplified surgical consent documents meet the goals of health literacy and informed consent. Educational level appears to be a strong predictor of understanding.
Barriers and facilitators to exchanging health information: a systematic review.

PubMed

Eden, Karen B; Totten, Annette M; Kassakian, Steven Z; Gorman, Paul N; McDonagh, Marian S; Devine, Beth; Pappas, Miranda; Daeges, Monica; Woods, Susan; Hersh, William R

2016-04-01

We conducted a systematic review of studies assessing facilitators and barriers to use of health information exchange (HIE). We searched MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library databases between January 1990 and February 2015 using terms related to HIE. English-language studies that identified barriers and facilitators of actual HIE were included. Data on study design, risk of bias, setting, geographic location, characteristics of the HIE, perceived barriers and facilitators to use were extracted and confirmed. Ten cross-sectional, seven multiple-site case studies, and two before-after studies that included data from several sources (surveys, interviews, focus groups, and observations of users) evaluated perceived barriers and facilitators to HIE use. The most commonly cited barriers to HIE use were incomplete information, inefficient workflow, and reports that the exchanged information that did not meet the needs of users. The review identified several facilitators to use. Incomplete patient information was consistently mentioned in the studies conducted in the US but not mentioned in the few studies conducted outside of the US that take a collective approach toward healthcare. Individual patients and practices in the US may exercise the right to participate (or not) in HIE which effects the completeness of patient information available to be exchanged. Workflow structure and user roles are key but understudied. We identified several facilitators in the studies that showed promise in promoting electronic health data exchange: obtaining more complete patient information; thoughtful workflow that folds in HIE; and inclusion of users early in implementation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Theory of choice in bandit, information sampling and foraging tasks.

PubMed

Averbeck, Bruno B

2015-03-01

Decision making has been studied with a wide array of tasks. Here we examine the theoretical structure of bandit, information sampling and foraging tasks. These tasks move beyond tasks where the choice in the current trial does not affect future expected rewards. We have modeled these tasks using Markov decision processes (MDPs). MDPs provide a general framework for modeling tasks in which decisions affect the information on which future choices will be made. Under the assumption that agents are maximizing expected rewards, MDPs provide normative solutions. We find that all three classes of tasks pose choices among actions which trade-off immediate and future expected rewards. The tasks drive these trade-offs in unique ways, however. For bandit and information sampling tasks, increasing uncertainty or the time horizon shifts value to actions that pay-off in the future. Correspondingly, decreasing uncertainty increases the relative value of actions that pay-off immediately. For foraging tasks the time-horizon plays the dominant role, as choices do not affect future uncertainty in these tasks.
A discrete choice experiment to obtain a tariff for valuing informal care situations measured with the CarerQol instrument.

PubMed

Hoefman, Renske J; van Exel, Job; Rose, John M; van de Wetering, E J; Brouwer, Werner B F

2014-01-01

Economic evaluations adopting a societal perspective need to include informal care whenever relevant. However, in practice, informal care is often neglected, because there are few validated instruments to measure and value informal care for inclusion in economic evaluations. The CarerQol, which is such an instrument, measures the impact of informal care on 7 important burden dimensions (CarerQol-7D) and values this in terms of general quality of life (CarerQol-VAS). The objective of the study was to calculate utility scores based on relative utility weights for the CarerQol-7D. These tariffs will facilitate inclusion of informal care in economic evaluations. The CarerQol-7D tariff was derived with a discrete choice experiment conducted as an Internet survey among the general adult population in the Netherlands (N = 992). The choice set contained 2 unlabeled alternatives described in terms of the 7 CarerQol-7D dimensions (level range: "no,"some," and "a lot"). An efficient experimental design with priors obtained from a pilot study (N = 104) was used. Data were analyzed with a panel mixed multinomial parameter model including main and interaction effects of the attributes. The utility attached to informal care situations was significantly higher when this situation was more attractive in terms of fewer problems and more fulfillment or support. The interaction term between the CarerQol-7D dimensions physical health and mental health problems also significantly explained this utility. The tariff was constructed by adding up the relative utility weights per category of all CarerQol-7D dimensions and the interaction term. We obtained a tariff providing standard utility scores for caring situations described with the CarerQol-7D. This facilitates the inclusion of informal care in economic evaluations.
The multi-dimensional measure of informed choice: a validation study.

PubMed

Michie, Susan; Dormandy, Elizabeth; Marteau, Theresa M

2002-09-01

The aim of this prospective study is to assess the reliability and validity of a multi-dimensional measure of informed choice (MMIC). Participants were 225 pregnant women in two general hospitals in the UK, women receiving low-risk results following serum screening for Down syndrome. The MMIC was administered before testing and the Ottawa Decisional Conflict Scale was administered 6 weeks later. The component scales of the MMIC, knowledge and attitude, were internally consistent (alpha values of 0.68 and 0.78, respectively). Those who made a choice categorised as informed using the MMIC rated their decision 6 weeks later as being more informed, better supported and of higher quality than women whose choice was categorised as uninformed. This provides evidence of predictive validity, whilst the lack of association between the MMIC and anxiety shows construct (discriminant) validity. Thus, the MMIC has been shown to be psychometrically robust in pregnant women offered the choice to undergo prenatal screening for Down syndrome and receiving a low-risk result. Replication of this finding in other groups, facing other decisions, with other outcomes, should be assessed in future research.
The validation and translation of Multidimensional Measure of Informed Choice in Greek.

PubMed

Gourounti, Kleanthi; Sandall, Jane

2011-04-01

to translate the original English version of the Multidimensional Measure of Informed Choice (MMIC) into Greek, to adapt it culturally to Greece, and to determine its psychometric properties for the assessment of informed choice in antenatal screening for Down syndrome. survey using self-administrated questionnaires. public hospital in Athens, Greece. 135 pregnant women with gestational age between 11th and 20th week just prior to having antenatal screening for Down syndrome. 96% of women had a positive attitude towards screening and 45% had a good level of knowledge concerning the screening process for Down syndrome. Using a standard measure of informed choice, validated for use in Greek, it was found that 44% of women made an informed choice, and thus 56% of women made an uninformed choice. The internal consistency of the scales was good; Cronbach's alpha was found to be 0.76 for the attitude scale and 0.64 for the knowledge scale, suggesting that all items were appropriate to measure. The performed factor analysis of the attitude scale indicated three factors with an eigenvalue over 1.0. Those factors were responsible for 87% of the variance. this study indicates that the Greek version of the MMIC appears to be a reliable and valid tool for measuring informed choice in antenatal screening for Down syndrome. Due to its short length and consumption of time, it seems to be a practical instrument for use in Greek antenatal clinics. Copyright © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Informed choice and the nanny state: learning from the tobacco industry.

PubMed

Hoek, Janet

2015-08-01

To examine the 'nanny state' arguments used by tobacco companies, explore the cognitive biases that impede smokers' ability to make fully informed choices, and analyse the implications for those working to limit the harmful effects of other risk products. A critical analysis of the practices engaged in by the tobacco industry, the logic on which they relied, and the extent to which their work has informed approaches used by other industries. The tobacco industry's deliberate strategy of challenging scientific evidence undermines smokers' ability to understand the harms smoking poses and questions arguments that smoking is an informed choice. Cognitive biases predispose smokers to discount risk information, particularly when this evidence is disputed and framed as uncertain. Only state intervention has held the tobacco industry to account and begun ameliorating the effects of their sustained duplicity. Evidence other industries are now adopting similar tactics, particularly use of 'nanny state' claims to oppose proportionate interventions, is concerning. Some marketing strategies have deliberately mis-informed consumers thus directly contributing to many public health problems. Far from removing free choice, government policies that restrain commercial communications and stimuli are prerequisites necessary to promote free choice. Copyright © 2015 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Fetal Monitoring: Creating a Culture of Safety With Informed Choice

PubMed Central

Heelan, Lisa

2013-01-01

The dominant culture in labor and birth is the medical model, not the midwifery model of woman-centered care. Consensus among professional and governmental groups is that, based on the evidence, intermittent auscultation is safer to use in healthy women with uncomplicated pregnancies than electronic fetal monitoring (EFM). Barriers impact the laboring woman’s ability to give informed choice regarding fetal monitoring. Lack of informed choice denies a woman her right to be in control of her birth experience, and is in opposition to a woman’s right to autonomy and self-determination. PMID:24868127
The Readability and Complexity of District-Provided School-Choice Information

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stein, Marc L.; Nagro, Sarah

2015-01-01

Public school choice has become a common feature in American school districts. Any potential benefits that could be derived from these policies depend heavily on the ability of parents and students to make informed and educated decisions about their school options. We examined the readability and complexity of school-choice guides across a sample…
Fostering Informed Choice: Alleviating the Trauma of Genetic Abortions.

PubMed

Asbury, Bret D

2015-01-01

Each year, thousands of pregnant women learn of fetal abnormalities through prenatal genetic analysis. This discovery--made after a woman has initially declined to exercise her right to abort an unwanted pregnancy—raises the difficult and heart-wrenching question of whether to terminate on genetic grounds. Women considering a genetic abortion rely on information and support from health care providers to assist them in making their choice. Though intended to be objective and nondirective, the support women receive frequently provides them within complete and incomprehensible information having the effect of encouraging them to abort genetically anomalous fetuses. As a result, genetic terminations--which cause severe and long-standing psychological impacts such as pathological grief, depression and post-traumatic stress—are often the result of something other than a fully informed choice.Congress and eleven states have recognized the importance of better informing choice by passing legislation aimed at providing clearer and more balanced information to expectant mothers learning of fetal genetic abnormalities. But existing legislative remedies do not adequately address this problem, and this inadequacy will become more pronounced in future years as increases in access to prenatal genetic analysis further stretch the capabilities of the available support services.This Article describes the unique characteristics of terminations for a fetal abnormality, their troubling and persistent psychological impacts,and the reasons why they will become more common in future years. It then offers proposals for how to reconfigure the prenatal genetic counseling landscape in order to reduce the incidence of genetic terminations based on incomplete or misleading information, thereby alleviating their distinct psychological costs. Its overall objective is to ensure that women learning of prenatal genetic abnormalities have access to complete and comprehensible information prior to
Auction fever: exploring informational social influences on bidder choices.

PubMed

Chen, Yi-Fen

2011-01-01

Previous investigations of herd behavior have identified the importance of informational social influences in consumer decision making. This research presents three studies examining herd behavior in online auctions. The three studies addressed the influence on bidder online choices of herd cues frequently found in online auctions, including bid number, feedback ratings, and number of questions and answers. This research also investigated the effect of different levels of herd cues on bidder online choices under high and low brand awareness in online auctions. The experimental results demonstrated that bidders use online herd cues when making decisions in online auctions. Additionally, different levels of herd cues influence bidder online choices in both high and low brand awareness product situations.
The relative importance of information sources in consumers' choice of hospitals.

PubMed

Gooding, S K

1995-01-01

The research presented focuses on an examination of the relative importance of word-of-mouth, expert opinion, external communication, and past experience in the context of hospital choice. Past research has examined the effect of each individually and various combinations of the four sources, but not all four simultaneously. Results of the present study suggest that past experience plays a greater role in hospital choice than other information sources, including expert opinion. The strength of word-of-mouth as a source of information is also verified. The implications of this research include the following: (1) health care researchers need to incorporate word-of-mouth when investigating informations sources, and (2) local hospitals need to be aware of "negative perceptions" and strive for consumer satisfaction. Health care delivery systems incorporating consumer-based choice render these findings especially valuable as researchers and practitioners address the challenges that these evolving systems will bring.
Quality of public information matters in mate-choice copying in female zebra finches.

PubMed

Kniel, Nina; Schmitz, Jennifer; Witte, Klaudia

2015-01-01

Mate-choice copying is a form of social learning in which an individual gains information about potential mates by observing conspecifics. However, it is still unknown what kind of information drives the decision of an individual to copy the mate choice of others. Among zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata castanotis), only females (not males) copy the mate choice of others. We tested female zebra finches in a binary choice test where they, first, could choose between two males of different phenotypes: one unadorned male and one male artificially adorned with a red feather on the forehead. After this mate-choice test, females could observe a single unadorned male and a pair of zebra finches, i.e. a wild-type female and her adorned mate. Pair interactions were either restricted to acoustic and visual communication (clear glass screen between pair mates) or acoustic communication alone (opaque screen between pair mates). After the observation period, females could again choose between new males of the two phenotypes in a second mate-choice test. In experiments with a clear glass screen, time spent with the respective males changed between the two mate-choice tests, and females preferred adorned over unadorned males during the second mate-choice test. In experiments with an opaque screen, time spent with the respective males did not change between the two mate-choice tests, although females lost an initial preference for unadorned males. Our results demonstrate that the quality of the received public information (visual and acoustic interaction of the observed pair) influences mate-choice copying in female zebra finches.
Information Is Bliss: Information Use by School Choice Participants in Denver

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yettick, Holly

2016-01-01

If school choice programs are to provide any degree of equitable access to educational opportunities, then useful information about academic quality needs to be available to all participants, not just those who hob knob with the school board members or chat with the superintendent over the backyard fence. This study draws upon a unique data set to…
Part-Set Cuing Facilitation for Spatial Information

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cole, Sydni M.; Reysen, Matthew B.; Kelley, Matthew R.

2013-01-01

Part-set cuing "inhibition" refers to the counterintuitive finding that hints--specifically, part of the set of to-be-remembered information--often impair memory performance in free recall tasks. Although inhibition is the most commonly reported result, part-set cuing "facilitation" has been shown with serial order tasks. The…
Using augmented reality to inform consumer choice and lower carbon footprints

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Isley, Steven C.; Ketcham, Robert; Arent, Douglas J.

Consumers who wish to consider product attributes like carbon footprints in their purchasing decisions are often blocked from meaningful action by a lack of information. We conducted a single randomized controlled trial at a grocery store to evaluate the effects of providing such product attribute and carbon footprint information via augmented reality (AR) displays on bottled water and breakfast cereal, two frequently purchased goods. Using an AR smartphone app that incorporates comparative and detailed product information into personalized data and recommendations, a 23% statistically significant reduction in carbon footprint was found for bottled water, and non-significant reductions for breakfast cereal.more » Furthermore, AR informed choice lead to healthier cereal choices.« less
Using augmented reality to inform consumer choice and lower carbon footprints

DOE PAGES

Isley, Steven C.; Ketcham, Robert; Arent, Douglas J.

2017-05-23

Consumers who wish to consider product attributes like carbon footprints in their purchasing decisions are often blocked from meaningful action by a lack of information. We conducted a single randomized controlled trial at a grocery store to evaluate the effects of providing such product attribute and carbon footprint information via augmented reality (AR) displays on bottled water and breakfast cereal, two frequently purchased goods. Using an AR smartphone app that incorporates comparative and detailed product information into personalized data and recommendations, a 23% statistically significant reduction in carbon footprint was found for bottled water, and non-significant reductions for breakfast cereal.more » Furthermore, AR informed choice lead to healthier cereal choices.« less
Facilitating consumer access to health information.

PubMed

Snowdon, Anne; Schnarr, Karin; Alessi, Charles

2014-01-01

The lead paper from Zelmer and Hagens details the substantive evolution occurring in health information technologies that has the potential to transform the relationship between consumers, health practitioners and health systems. In this commentary, the authors suggest that Canada is experiencing a shift in consumer behaviour toward a desire to actively manage one's health and wellness that is being facilitated through the advent of health applications on mobile and online technologies platforms. The result is that Canadians are now able to create personalized health solutions based on their individual health values and goals. However, before Canadians are able to derive a personal health benefit from these rapid changes in information technology, they require and are increasingly demanding greater real-time access to their own health information to better inform decision-making, as well as interoperability between their personal health tracking systems and those of their health practitioner team.
Informing health? Negotiating the logics of choice and care in everyday practices of 'healthy living'.

PubMed

Henwood, Flis; Harris, Roma; Spoel, Philippa

2011-06-01

This paper reports on a qualitative study examining everyday practices of healthy living (HL). Forty-four semi-structured interviews were undertaken with Canadian and UK citizens, aged 45 - 70, in April-May 2010. The research sits within the now substantial literature concerned with how health information is mediated, both by people and technologies, and employed in the context of 'good' health citizenship. Throughout this work, notions of 'choice' and 'empowerment' have been interrogated, theoretically and empirically, to reveal both the knowledge/power relationships integral to 'informing' processes and the shifting relationship between information and care in contemporary health encounters. In this paper, we analyse how people make sense of what it means to live healthily and how they know if they are doing so by focussing on three ways in which study participants become informed about healthy living: through their engagement with universal HL messages, through their own information searches, and through their attempts to measure their 'healthiness'. Following Mol's (2008) critique of the "logic of choice" in contemporary healthcare, we understand healthy living as a "situation of choice" where complex problems are framed as simple matters of choice and where information and technologies are understood as neutral aids to decision-making in support of 'correct' choices. Our analysis builds on and extends Mol's work by exploring how participants negotiate between this "logic of choice" and her alternative "logic of care" in their accounts of everyday HL informing practices and how the two logics "interfere" with one another. These accounts show resistance to the logic of choice through 'calls for care' but they also show clearly how the disciplining logic of choice works to (re)present such calls for care as failed attempts at healthy living, undermining the very practices the logic of choice seeks to encourage. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Medicare Advantage: options for standardizing benefits and information to improve consumer choice.

PubMed

O'Brien, Ellen; Hoadley, Jack

2008-04-01

The Medicare Advantage (MA) program offers beneficiaries a choice of private health plans as alternatives to the traditional fee-for-service Medicare program. MA plans potentially provide additional value, but as plan choices have proliferated, consumers contemplating their options have had difficulty understanding how they differ. Through "standardization" more consistent types of information and a limited number of dimensions along which plans vary--MA plans could reduce complexity and improve beneficiaries' ability to make informed choices. Such standardization steps would offer more meaningful variation in the health coverage options available to beneficiaries, Medicare officials and their community partners would find it far easier to educate beneficiaries about their health plan choices, and beneficiaries would better understand what they were buying. Standardization might also strengthen the ability of the market-based Medicare Advantage program to incorporate beneficiary preferences.

A lack of appetite for information and computation. Simple heuristics in food choice.

PubMed

Schulte-Mecklenbeck, Michael; Sohn, Matthias; de Bellis, Emanuel; Martin, Nathalie; Hertwig, Ralph

2013-12-01

The predominant, but largely untested, assumption in research on food choice is that people obey the classic commandments of rational behavior: they carefully look up every piece of relevant information, weight each piece according to subjective importance, and then combine them into a judgment or choice. In real world situations, however, the available time, motivation, and computational resources may simply not suffice to keep these commandments. Indeed, there is a large body of research suggesting that human choice is often better accommodated by heuristics-simple rules that enable decision making on the basis of a few, but important, pieces of information. We investigated the prevalence of such heuristics in a computerized experiment that engaged participants in a series of choices between two lunch dishes. Employing MouselabWeb, a process-tracing technique, we found that simple heuristics described an overwhelmingly large proportion of choices, whereas strategies traditionally deemed rational were barely apparent in our data. Replicating previous findings, we also observed that visual stimulus segments received a much larger proportion of attention than any nutritional values did. Our results suggest that, consistent with human behavior in other domains, people make their food choices on the basis of simple and informationally frugal heuristics. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Effects of baseline risk information on social and individual choices.

PubMed

Gyrd-Hansen, Dorte; Kristiansen, Ivar Sønbø; Nexøe, Jørgen; Nielsen, Jesper Bo

2002-01-01

This article analyzes preferences for risk reductions in the context of individual and societal decision making. The effect of information on baseline risk is analyzed in both contexts. The results indicate that if individuals are to imagine that they suffer from 1 low-risk and 1 high-risk ailment, and are offered a specified identical absolute risk reduction, a majority will ceteris paribus opt for treatment of the low-risk ailment. A different preference structure is elicited when priority questions are framed as social choices. Here, a majority will prefer to treat the high-risk group of patients. The preference reversal demonstrates the extent to which baseline risk information can influence preferences in different choice settings. It is argued that presentation of baseline risk information may induce framing effects that lead to nonoptimal resource allocations. A solution to this problem may be to not present group-specific baseline risk information when eliciting preferences.
How the health belief model helps the tobacco industry: individuals, choice, and "information".

PubMed

Balbach, Edith D; Smith, Elizabeth A; Malone, Ruth E

2006-12-01

To analyse trial and deposition testimony of tobacco industry executives to determine how they use the concepts of "information" and "choice" and consider how these concepts are related to theoretical models of health behaviour change. We coded and analysed transcripts of trial and deposition testimony of 14 high-level executives representing six companies plus the Tobacco Institute. We conducted an interpretive analysis of industry executives' characterisation of the industry's role as information provider and the agency of tobacco consumers in making "choices". Tobacco industry executives deployed the concept of "information" as a mechanism that shifted to consumers full moral responsibility for the harms caused by tobacco products. The industry's role was characterised as that of impartial supplier of value-free "information", without regard to its quality, accuracy and truthfulness. Tobacco industry legal defences rely on assumptions congruent with and supported by individual rational choice theories, particularly those that emphasise individual, autonomous decision-makers. Tobacco control advocates and health educators must challenge the industry's preferred framing, pointing out that "information" is not value-free. Multi-level, multi-sectoral interventions are critical to tobacco use prevention. Over-reliance on individual and interpersonal rational choice models may have the effect of validating the industry's model of smoking and cessation behaviour, absolving it of responsibility and rendering invisible the "choices" the industry has made and continues to make in promoting the most deadly consumer product ever made.
The choice of facilitators in medical tourism.

PubMed

Gan, Lydia L; Frederick, James R

2018-01-01

The study identified which of the four facilitators (themselves, agents, insurers, or doctors) consumers are most likely to use when they travel for various medical procedures. A survey conducted between 2011 and 2014 yielded 964 responses. The multinomial logistic regression results showed that being 51-64 years old was positively related to going on their own or using agents to arrange for knee replacements. Having a high school education or less was positively linked to using both agents and insurers to facilitate knee replacements, whereas having a bachelor's degree was negatively associated with going on their own for stem cell therapy.
Utilizing Information Technology to Facilitate Rapid Acquisition

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-06-01

2005, p. 13. 34 One million merchants sell their sundries on Amazon.com.53 Jeff Bezos , founder of Amazon, started selling books over the...INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO FACILITATE RAPID ACQUISITION by Joshua R. Burris June 2006 Thesis Advisor: Ron Tudor Second Reader: Jeff ...Thesis Advisor Jeff Cuskey Second Reader Robert Beck, Dean Graduate School of Business and Public Policy iv
Learned face-voice pairings facilitate visual search.

PubMed

Zweig, L Jacob; Suzuki, Satoru; Grabowecky, Marcia

2015-04-01

Voices provide a rich source of information that is important for identifying individuals and for social interaction. During search for a face in a crowd, voices often accompany visual information, and they facilitate localization of the sought-after individual. However, it is unclear whether this facilitation occurs primarily because the voice cues the location of the face or because it also increases the salience of the associated face. Here we demonstrate that a voice that provides no location information nonetheless facilitates visual search for an associated face. We trained novel face-voice associations and verified learning using a two-alternative forced choice task in which participants had to correctly match a presented voice to the associated face. Following training, participants searched for a previously learned target face among other faces while hearing one of the following sounds (localized at the center of the display): a congruent learned voice, an incongruent but familiar voice, an unlearned and unfamiliar voice, or a time-reversed voice. Only the congruent learned voice speeded visual search for the associated face. This result suggests that voices facilitate the visual detection of associated faces, potentially by increasing their visual salience, and that the underlying crossmodal associations can be established through brief training.
Development of a measure of informed choice suitable for use in low literacy populations.

PubMed

Dormandy, Elizabeth; Tsui, Elaine Y L; Marteau, Theresa M

2007-06-01

To assess the reliability and validity of a simplified questionnaire-based measure of informed choice in populations with low literacy. The measure comprises (a) knowledge about the test and (b) attitudes towards undergoing the test. Responses to (a) and (b) together with information on test uptake, are used to classify choices as informed or uninformed. A cross-sectional study of 79 pregnant women (46 women with higher, and 33 with lower education levels) completed a simplified questionnaire, a standardised questionnaire and a semi-structured interview about antenatal sickle cell and thalassaemia (SCT) screening. The measures used were: (a) informed choice, based on knowledge about the test, attitudes towards undergoing the test, and uptake of the test and (b) ease of completion measures. The simplified measures of knowledge and attitudes were able to distinguish between women classified according to interview responses as having good or poor knowledge (knowledge scores 6.8 versus 3.2, p<0.001), and positive or negative attitudes towards undergoing the test (attitude scores 20.6 versus 16.2, p=0.023). There was no difference in rates of informed choice derived from the simplified or standardised measures (54% versus 51%, 95% CI difference -11 to 19). Women with lower levels of education found the simplified questionnaire easier to complete than the standardised version (11.0 versus 9.6, p=0.009). Those with higher levels of education found no difference in ease of completion between the two versions of the questionnaire (11.8 versus 11.6, p=0.54). A simplified questionnaire-based measure of informed choice in antenatal SCT screening is as reliable and valid as a more complex standardised version and for those with less education, easier to complete. The simplified questionnaire-based measure of informed choice is suitable for use in populations with low and high levels of education.
Informed choice in women attending private clinics to undergo first-trimester screening for Down syndrome.

PubMed

Jaques, Alice M; Sheffield, Leslie J; Halliday, Jane L

2005-08-01

Informed choice for prenatal screening has long been considered an essential aspect of service provision, and has been researched extensively in the second trimester. This study aims at examining whether women having first-trimester screening in a private clinic had made an informed choice. A cross-sectional survey recruited women having first-trimester screening at specialist ultrasound practices. Two questionnaires containing a validated Multidimensional Measure of Informed Choice (MMIC) were self-administered pre- and post-screening. MMIC was completed by 81% (163/202) of women. Ninety-nine percent of women had a positive attitude towards screening, therefore informed choice was essentially measured on knowledge alone. Pre-screening, 68% made an informed choice, compared with 74% post-screening (chi2 = 1.6, p = 0.21 (McNemar)). Knowledge was associated with education level, information sources and perception of screening as routine or optional. The Australasian Guidelines on prenatal screening state that all women having testing should be provided with written information, and it should be ensured that they have appropriate understanding of the test(s). These guidelines are not being met, even in private clinical care. Health professionals should ensure that all women are provided with suitable information about prenatal screening that is tailored to their level of education and individual needs, and should emphasise that screening is optional. Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
76 FR 80887 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Export Trading Companies Contact Facilitation...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-12-27

... Request; Export Trading Companies Contact Facilitation Services AGENCY: International Trade [email protected] ). FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or copies of the... facilitate contact between producers of exportable goods and services, and firms offering export trade...
Attention mediates the effect of nutrition label information on consumers' choice. Evidence from a choice experiment involving eye-tracking.

PubMed

Bialkova, Svetlana; Grunert, Klaus G; Juhl, Hans Jørn; Wasowicz-Kirylo, Grazyna; Stysko-Kunkowska, Malgorzata; van Trijp, Hans C M

2014-05-01

In two eye-tracking studies, we explored whether and how attention to nutrition information mediates consumers' choice. Consumers had to select either the healthiest option or a product of their preference within an assortment. On each product a particular label (Choices logo, monochrome GDA label, or color-coded GDA label) communicated the product's nutrient profile. In study 1, participants had to select from 4 products differentiated, in addition to the nutrition information, by flavor (strawberry, muesli, apple, chocolate; varied within participants) and brand (local vs. global, varied between participants). Study 2 further explored brand effect within-participants, and thus only 2 flavors (strawberry, chocolate) were presented within an assortment. Actual choice made, response time and eye movements were recorded. Respondents fixated longer and more often on products with color-coded GDAs label than on products with monochrome GDAs or Choices logo. A health goal resulted in longer and more frequent fixations in comparison to a preference goal. Products with color-coded and monochrome GDAs had the highest likelihood of being chosen, and this effect was related to the attention-getting property of the label (irrespective of brand and flavor effects). The product fixated most had the highest likelihood of being chosen. These results suggest that attention mediates the effect of nutrition labels on choice. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Facilitators on networks reveal optimal interplay between information exchange and reciprocity.

PubMed

Szolnoki, Attila; Perc, Matjaž; Mobilia, Mauro

2014-04-01

Reciprocity is firmly established as an important mechanism that promotes cooperation. An efficient information exchange is likewise important, especially on structured populations, where interactions between players are limited. Motivated by these two facts, we explore the role of facilitators in social dilemmas on networks. Facilitators are here mirrors to their neighbors-they cooperate with cooperators and defect with defectors-but they do not participate in the exchange of strategies. As such, in addition to introducing direct reciprocity, they also obstruct information exchange. In well-mixed populations, facilitators favor the replacement and invasion of defection by cooperation as long as their number exceeds a critical value. In structured populations, on the other hand, there exists a delicate balance between the benefits of reciprocity and the deterioration of information exchange. Extensive Monte Carlo simulations of social dilemmas on various interaction networks reveal that there exists an optimal interplay between reciprocity and information exchange, which sets in only when a small number of facilitators occupy the main hubs of the scale-free network. The drawbacks of missing cooperative hubs are more than compensated for by reciprocity and, at the same time, the compromised information exchange is routed via the auxiliary hubs with only marginal losses in effectivity. These results indicate that it is not always optimal for the main hubs to become leaders of the masses, but rather to exploit their highly connected state to promote tit-for-tat-like behavior.
Facilitators on networks reveal optimal interplay between information exchange and reciprocity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szolnoki, Attila; Perc, Matjaž; Mobilia, Mauro

2014-04-01

Reciprocity is firmly established as an important mechanism that promotes cooperation. An efficient information exchange is likewise important, especially on structured populations, where interactions between players are limited. Motivated by these two facts, we explore the role of facilitators in social dilemmas on networks. Facilitators are here mirrors to their neighbors—they cooperate with cooperators and defect with defectors—but they do not participate in the exchange of strategies. As such, in addition to introducing direct reciprocity, they also obstruct information exchange. In well-mixed populations, facilitators favor the replacement and invasion of defection by cooperation as long as their number exceeds a critical value. In structured populations, on the other hand, there exists a delicate balance between the benefits of reciprocity and the deterioration of information exchange. Extensive Monte Carlo simulations of social dilemmas on various interaction networks reveal that there exists an optimal interplay between reciprocity and information exchange, which sets in only when a small number of facilitators occupy the main hubs of the scale-free network. The drawbacks of missing cooperative hubs are more than compensated for by reciprocity and, at the same time, the compromised information exchange is routed via the auxiliary hubs with only marginal losses in effectivity. These results indicate that it is not always optimal for the main hubs to become leaders of the masses, but rather to exploit their highly connected state to promote tit-for-tat-like behavior.
Exploring informed choice in the context of prenatal testing: findings from a qualitative study

PubMed Central

Potter, Beth K.; O’Reilly, Natasha; Etchegary, Holly; Howley, Heather; Graham, Ian D.; Walker, Mark; Coyle, Doug; Chorny, Yelena; Cappelli, Mario; Boland, Isabelle; Wilson, Brenda J.

2008-01-01

Abstract Purpose This study explored whether and how a sample of women made informed choices about prenatal testing for foetal anomalies; its aim was to provide insights for future health policy and service provision. Methods We conducted semi‐structured interviews with 38 mothers in Ottawa, Ontario, all of whom had been offered prenatal tests in at least one pregnancy. Using the Multi‐dimensional Measure of Informed Choice as a general guide to analysis, we explored themes relevant to informed choice, including values and knowledge, and interactions with health professionals. Results Many, but not all, participants seemed to have made informed decisions about prenatal testing. Values and knowledge were interrelated and important components of informed choice, but the way they were discussed differed from the way they have been presented in scientific literature. In particular, ‘values’ related to expressions of women’s moral views or ideas about ‘how life should be lived’ and ‘knowledge’ related to the ways in which women prioritized and interpreted factual information, through their own and others’ experiences and in ‘thinking through’ the personal implications of testing. While some women described non‐directive discussions with health professionals, others perceived testing as routine or felt pressured to accept it. Conclusions Our findings suggest a need for maternity care providers to be vigilant in promoting active decision making about prenatal testing, particularly around the consideration of personal implications. Further development of measures of informed choice may be necessary to fully evaluate decision support tools and to determine whether prenatal testing programmes are meeting their objectives. PMID:18798759
Birthplace choices: what are the information needs of women when choosing where to give birth in England? A qualitative study using online and face to face focus groups.

PubMed

Hinton, Lisa; Dumelow, Carol; Rowe, Rachel; Hollowell, Jennifer

2018-01-08

Current clinical guidelines and national policy in England support offering 'low risk' women a choice of birth setting. Options include: home, free-standing midwifery unit (FMU), alongside midwifery unit (AMU) or obstetric unit (OU). This study, which is part of a broader project designed to inform policy on 'choice' in relation to childbirth, aimed to provide evidence on UK women's experiences of choice and decision-making in the period since the publication of the Birthplace findings (2011) and new NICE guidelines (2014). This paper reports on findings relating to women's information needs when making decisions about where to give birth. A qualitative focus group study including 69 women in the last trimester of pregnancy in England in 2015-16. Seven focus groups were conducted online via a bespoke web portal, and one was face-to-face. To explore different aspects of women's experience, each group included women with specific characteristics or options; planning a home birth, living in areas with lots of choice, living in areas with limited choice, first time mothers, living close to a FMU, living in opt-out AMU areas, living in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas and planning to give birth in an OU. Focus group transcripts were analysed thematically. Women drew on multiple sources when making choices about where to give birth. Sources included; the Internet, friends' recommendations and experiences, antenatal classes and their own personal experiences. Their midwife was not the main source of information. Women wanted the option to discuss and consider their birth preferences throughout their pregnancy, not at a fixed point. Birthplace choice is informed by many factors. Women may encounter fewer overt obstacles to exercising choice than in the past, but women do not consistently receive information about birthplace options from their midwife at a time and in a manner that they find helpful. Introducing options early in pregnancy, but deferring decision
The loss of reason in patient decision aid research: do checklists damage the quality of informed choice interventions?

PubMed

Bekker, Hilary L

2010-03-01

To discuss whether using the International Patient Decision Aids Standards (IPDAS) Collaboration checklist as a gold standard to judge interventions' quality is premature and potentially detrimental to the validity of resources designed to help patients make treatment choices. Conceptual review integrating the science behind individuals' decision making with the demands of designing complex, healthcare interventions. Patient decision aids are promoted as interventions to help professionals engage in shared and/or patient-centred care. The IPDAS domains were informed by experts' opinions of best practice. Decision scientists study how individuals make decisions, what biases their choices and how best to support decisions. There is debate from decision scientists about which component parts are the active ingredients that help people make decisions. Interventions to help patients make choices have different purposes, component parts and outcomes to those facilitating professional-patient communications. The IPDAS checklist will change to respond to new evidence from the decision sciences. Adhering uncritically to the IPDAS checklist may reduce service variation but is not sufficient to ensure interventions enable good patient decision making. Developers must be encouraged to reason about the IPDAS checklist to identify those component parts that do (not) meet their intervention's purpose. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Graphics to facilitate informative discussion and team decision making

DOE PAGES

Anderson-Cook, Christine M.; Lu, Lu

2018-03-25

Everyone knows the expression “A picture is worth a thousand words,” and this effectively summarizes the ability of graphical summaries to convey information and persuade. However, in many cases, the goal for the right visualization is to encourage and guide discussion while helping focus a team to make carefully considered, defensible, and data-driven decisions. The aims of graphics differ if we are trying to communicate the merits of a single choice versus outlining several contending alternatives for further comparison and discussion. These choices each have their own strengths and weaknesses depending on how we value different criteria. They also servemore » different purposes at various stages of decision making. Often the role of statisticians is not to provide a single answer but to provide rich information and summaries in a manageable and compact form to enable productive discussion among team members. Through a series of diverse examples, this work present principles and strategies for encouraging discussion and informed decision making and discuss how they can be integrated with versatile use of graphical tools for examining multiple objectives, framing trade-offs between alternatives, and examining the impact of subjective priorities and uncertainty on the final decision.« less
Graphics to facilitate informative discussion and team decision making

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Anderson-Cook, Christine M.; Lu, Lu

Everyone knows the expression “A picture is worth a thousand words,” and this effectively summarizes the ability of graphical summaries to convey information and persuade. However, in many cases, the goal for the right visualization is to encourage and guide discussion while helping focus a team to make carefully considered, defensible, and data-driven decisions. The aims of graphics differ if we are trying to communicate the merits of a single choice versus outlining several contending alternatives for further comparison and discussion. These choices each have their own strengths and weaknesses depending on how we value different criteria. They also servemore » different purposes at various stages of decision making. Often the role of statisticians is not to provide a single answer but to provide rich information and summaries in a manageable and compact form to enable productive discussion among team members. Through a series of diverse examples, this work present principles and strategies for encouraging discussion and informed decision making and discuss how they can be integrated with versatile use of graphical tools for examining multiple objectives, framing trade-offs between alternatives, and examining the impact of subjective priorities and uncertainty on the final decision.« less
Home bowel cancer tests and informed choice--is current information sufficient?

PubMed

Howard, K; Salkeld, G

2003-10-01

To evaluate the type of information that is available to purchasers of home-based bowel cancer test kits. Manufacturers, pharmacies and independent testing programs were contacted to obtain faecal occult blood test (FOBT) kits. State cancer organisations were contacted for information on bowel cancer screening. Information on bowel cancer, the FOBT kit, the testing process and potential benefits and harms of the screening process were assessed using guidelines provided by the UK General Medical Council (GMC). FOBT kits and cancer organisation information provided adequate information on the purpose of screening, the screening process itself and potential benefits, but provided no information concerning uncertainties of screening or potential harms. On the basis of both the UK GMC criteria and patient desires for information, the information available at present falls short of being considered adequate for an informed decision to purchase a home-based FOBT. We must ensure adequate and balanced information is available to redress the present information asymmetry to facilitate informed participation in a potentially valuable public health initiative.
Information Control in the Virtual Office: Preparing Intermediaries To Facilitate Information Exchange in the Home Work Environment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fulton, Crystal

2002-01-01

Discusses work done by information professionals and the increase in teleworking, using telecommunications technology; considers teleworkers' information needs; examines ways in which library and information science professionals can facilitate teleworkers' information access; and investigates information environments of 20 teleworkers and 20…
Consumer Perspectives on Information Needs for Health Plan Choice

PubMed Central

Gibbs, Deborah A.; Sangl, Judith A.; Burrus, Barri

1996-01-01

The premise that competition will improve health care assumes that consumers will choose plans that best fit their needs and resources. However, many consumers are frustrated with currently available plan comparison information. We describe results from 22 focus groups in which Medicare beneficiaries, Medicaid enrollees, and privately insured consumers assessed the usefulness of indicators based on consumer survey data and Health Employer Data Information Set (HEDIS)-type measures of quality of care. Considerable education would be required before consumers could interpret report card data to inform plan choices. Policy implications for design and provision of plan information for Medicare beneficiaries and Medicaid enrollees are discussed. PMID:10165037

Cultural and Human Capital, Information and Higher Education Choices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davies, Peter; Qiu, Tian; Davies, Neil M.

2014-01-01

This study examines ways in which economic and sociological explanations of higher education (HE) choices may intersect through student's use of information. We find substantial positive associations between intention to go to university in England and each of: (i) parents' education; (ii) cultural capital; and (iii) expectations of the size of…
Value-based choice: An integrative, neuroscience-informed model of health goals.

PubMed

Berkman, Elliot T

2018-01-01

Traditional models of health behaviour focus on the roles of cognitive, personality and social-cognitive constructs (e.g. executive function, grit, self-efficacy), and give less attention to the process by which these constructs interact in the moment that a health-relevant choice is made. Health psychology needs a process-focused account of how various factors are integrated to produce the decisions that determine health behaviour. I present an integrative value-based choice model of health behaviour, which characterises the mechanism by which a variety of factors come together to determine behaviour. This model imports knowledge from research on behavioural economics and neuroscience about how choices are made to the study of health behaviour, and uses that knowledge to generate novel predictions about how to change health behaviour. I describe anomalies in value-based choice that can be exploited for health promotion, and review neuroimaging evidence about the involvement of midline dopamine structures in tracking and integrating value-related information during choice. I highlight how this knowledge can bring insights to health psychology using illustrative case of healthy eating. Value-based choice is a viable model for health behaviour and opens new avenues for mechanism-focused intervention.
Menu Planning in Residential Aged Care—The Level of Choice and Quality of Planning of Meals Available to Residents

PubMed Central

Abbey, Karen L.; Wright, Olivia R. L.; Capra, Sandra

2015-01-01

Background: Choice of food is an imperative aspect of quality of life for residents in Residential Aged Care Homes (RACHs), where overall choice and control is diminished upon entering a home to receive care. The purpose of this study was to examine the current strategies of menu planning in a range of RACHs in Australia, and whether this facilitated appropriate levels of choice for residents receiving texture modified and general diets. Methods: The study comprised a National Menu Survey using a new survey instrument collecting general information about the RACH and foodservice system, menu information and staffing information (n = 247); a national menu analysis (n = 161) and an observational case study of 36 meal environments. Results: Choice was low for the entire sample, but particularly for those receiving pureed texture modified diets. Evidence of menu planning to facilitate the inclusion of choice and alternatives was limited. Discussion: Regulation and monitoring of the Australian Aged Care Accreditation Standards needs to be strengthened to mandate improvement of the choice and variety offered to residents, particularly those on pureed texture modified diets. Further research on how menu choice and a lack of variety in meals affects the quality of life residents is needed in this context, but current evidence suggests the effect would be detrimental and undermine resident autonomy and nutritional status. PMID:26371040
Choice of information system for Russian companies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demyanova, O. V.; Biktemirova, M. H.

2018-05-01

The relevance of work is caused by the importance of an integrated approach to automating the business processes of organizations. Understanding the relevance of the problem came to Russia with some delay, in comparison with the West. Recently the interest in information technologies, which are inseparably linked with a concept of an information system of the corporate level and capable to provide effective management of the entity, has grown. Also the modern models of information technologies allow one to put into practice methods of the game theory by means of which it is possible to count and predict important results and on its basis to make the right management decision. The purpose of this work was to choose an optimal information system and to research efficiency of its application for the pharmaceutical company Pharmstandard. Mathematical and marketing methods were used during the research. The choice of a certain corporate information system and calculation of efficiency of its usage and a payback period are the result of the work. Results of the conducted research can be used by the specialists of various industrial enterprises for development of the competitive activities in the sphere of strategic planning.
Factors That Inform Students' Choice of Study and Career

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Theresa, Lawer Dede

2015-01-01

The research was conducted to find out factors that informed second cycle students' choices of programmes of study and career in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana. The descriptive survey was used for the study, and both questionnaire and interview guide were used in gathering the data. The questionnaire was administered on the students while the…
Choice and privatisation in Swedish primary care.

PubMed

Anell, Anders

2011-10-01

In 2007, a new wave of local reforms involving choice for the population and privatisation of providers was initiated in Swedish primary care. Important objectives behind reforms were to strengthen the role of primary care and to improve performance in terms of access and responsiveness. The purpose of this article was to compare the characteristics of the new models and to discuss changes in financial incentives for providers and challenges regarding governance from the part of county councils. A majority of the models being introduced across the 21 county councils can best be described as innovative combinations between a comprehensive responsibility for providers and significant degrees of freedom regarding choice for the population. Key financial characteristics of fixed payment and comprehensive financial responsibility for providers may create financial incentives to under-provide care. Informed choices by the population, in combination with reasonably low barriers for providers to enter the primary care market, should theoretically counterbalance such incentives. To facilitate such competition is indeed a challenge, not only because of difficulties in implementing informed choices but also because the new models favour large and/or horizontally integrated providers. To prevent monopolistic behaviour, county councils may have to accept more competition as well as more governance over clinical practice than initially intended.
The Role of Incomplete Information and Others' Choice in Reducing Traffic: A Pilot Study

PubMed Central

Romano, Angelo; Mosso, Cristina O.; Merlone, Ugo

2016-01-01

In this study, we investigate the role of payoff information and conformity in improving network performance in a traffic dilemma known as the Braess paradox. Our goal is to understand when decisions are guided by selfish motivations or otherwise by social ones. For this purpose, we consider the manipulation of others' choice, public and private monitoring and information on distribution of choices. Data show that when social comparison was not salient, participants were more cooperative. By contrast, cooperativeness of others' choice made participants more competitive leading to traffic and collective performance decrease. The implications of these findings to the literature on social dilemmas are discussed. PMID:26903931
Does calorie information promote lower calorie fast food choices among college students?

PubMed

Gerend, Mary A

2009-01-01

This experiment evaluated effects of calorie information on college students' fast food choices. Women chose lower calorie meals, lower calorie items, and lower priced meals when calorie information was provided than when it was not. Men's selections were unaffected. Providing calorie information at point of purchase could have positive implications for public health.
Project FAST: [Functional Analysis Systems Training]: Adopter/Facilitator Information.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Essexville-Hampton Public Schools, MI.

Presented is adopter/facilitator information of Project FAST (Functional Analysis Systems Training) to provide educational and support services to learning disordered children and their regular elementary teachers. Briefly described are the three schools in the Essexville-Hampton (Michigan) school district; objectives of the program; program…
Preparing Parents to Make An Informed Choice About Antibiotic Use for Common Acute Respiratory Infections in Children: A Randomised Trial of Brief Decision Aids in a Hypothetical Scenario.

PubMed

Coxeter, Peter D; Del Mar, Chris B; Hoffmann, Tammy C

2017-08-01

Childhood acute respiratory infections (ARIs) are one of the most common reasons for primary care consultations and for receiving an antibiotic. Public awareness of antibiotic benefit and harms for these conditions is low. To facilitate informed decision making, ideally in collaboration with their doctor, parents need clear communication about benefits and harms. Decision aids may be able to facilitate this process. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of three decision aids about antibiotic use for common ARIs in children. Adult parents of children aged 1-16 years (n = 120) were recruited from community settings and then randomised using a computer-generated randomisation sequence to receive a decision aid (n = 60) or fact sheet (n = 60). Allocation was concealed and used sealed and opaque sequentially numbered envelopes. Participants self-completed questionnaires at baseline and immediately post-intervention. The primary outcome was informed choice (conceptual and numerical knowledge; attitudes towards, and intention to use, antibiotics for a future ARI). Secondary outcomes were decisional conflict, decisional self-efficacy, and material acceptability. After reading the information, significantly more intervention group participants made an informed choice [57%] compared with control group participants [29%] [difference 28, 95% confidence interval (CI) 11-45%, p < 0.01], and had higher total knowledge [mean difference (MD) 2.8, 95% CI 2.2-3.5, p < 0.01], conceptual knowledge (MD 0.7, 95% CI 0.4-1.1, p < 0.01) and numerical knowledge (MD 2.1, 95% CI 1.6-2.5, p < 0.01). Between-group differences in attitudes or intention to use antibiotics were not significant. Most intervention group participants found the information understandable and liked the aids' format and features. The decision aids prepared parents to make an informed choice about antibiotic use more than fact sheets, in a hypothetical situation. Their effect within a
Participation rate or informed choice? Rethinking the European key performance indicators for mammography screening.

PubMed

Strech, Daniel

2014-03-01

Despite the intensive controversies about the likelihood of benefits and harms of mammography screening almost all experts conclude that the choice to screen or not to screen needs to be made by the individual patient who is adequately informed. However, the "European guideline for quality assurance in breast cancer screening and diagnosis" specifies a participation rate of 70% as the key performance indicator for mammography screening. This paper argues that neither the existing evidence on benefits and harms, nor survey research with women, nor compliance rates in clinical trials, nor cost-effectiveness ratios justify participation rates as a reasonable performance indicator for preference-sensitive condition such as mammography screening. In contrast, an informed choice rate would be more reasonable. Further research needs to address the practical challenges in assessing informed choice rates. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Making an informed choice in the catering environment: what do consumers want to know?

PubMed

Mackison, D; Wrieden, W L; Anderson, A S

2009-12-01

Eating outside the home is common in the UK, but it remains difficult for consumers to make informed choices based on menu information. The present study examines the reported preferences for the provision of nutrition (salt, fat and energy) and ingredient information in six types of UK catering outlets. Participants completed a short postal survey, assessing their frequency of dining at specific catering establishments as well as their desire to see nutrition and ingredient information. The responses from 786 adults aged >or=18 years (of whom 65% claimed to be 'motivated to eat a healthy diet') indicated that over 40% reported eating at a catering outlet at least once a week. Over half said that they would wish to see information on ingredients and the salt content of menu items at all venues. Preference for information on energy and fat content was less popular and varied in the range 42-56% for energy and 47-59% for fat. It is notable that 43% of respondents said they would welcome information on energy content of menu items in restaurants. A significant proportion of consumers wish to see information on the ingredients and nutrition composition on menu items for sale in UK catering outlets. Such information is likely to raise an awareness and understanding of healthy food choices and assist the population in making informed choices about healthy eating.
Robust sampling of decision information during perceptual choice

PubMed Central

Vandormael, Hildward; Herce Castañón, Santiago; Balaguer, Jan; Li, Vickie; Summerfield, Christopher

2017-01-01

Humans move their eyes to gather information about the visual world. However, saccadic sampling has largely been explored in paradigms that involve searching for a lone target in a cluttered array or natural scene. Here, we investigated the policy that humans use to overtly sample information in a perceptual decision task that required information from across multiple spatial locations to be combined. Participants viewed a spatial array of numbers and judged whether the average was greater or smaller than a reference value. Participants preferentially sampled items that were less diagnostic of the correct answer (“inlying” elements; that is, elements closer to the reference value). This preference to sample inlying items was linked to decisions, enhancing the tendency to give more weight to inlying elements in the final choice (“robust averaging”). These findings contrast with a large body of evidence indicating that gaze is directed preferentially to deviant information during natural scene viewing and visual search, and suggest that humans may sample information “robustly” with their eyes during perceptual decision-making. PMID:28223519
Interventions to enhance informed choices among invitees of screening programmes-a systematic review.

PubMed

van Agt, Heleen M E; Korfage, Ida J; Essink-Bot, Marie-Louise

2014-10-01

Informed decision making about participation has become an explicit purpose in invitations for screening programmes in western countries. An informed choice is commonly defined as based on: (i) adequate levels of knowledge of the screening and (ii) agreement between the invitee's values towards own screening participation and actual (intention to) participation. We systematically reviewed published studies that empirically evaluated the effects of interventions aiming at enhancing informed decision making in screening programmes targeted at the general population. We focused on prenatal screening and neonatal screening for diseases of the foetus/new-born and screening for breast cancer, cervical cancer and colorectal cancer. The Medline, EMBASE and Cochrane databases were searched for studies published till April 2012, using the terms 'informed choice', 'decision making' and 'mass screening' separately and in combination and terms referring to the specific screening programmes. Of the 2238 titles identified, 15 studies were included, which evaluated decision aids (DAs), information leaflets, film, video, counselling and a specific screening visit for informed decision making in prenatal screening, breast and colorectal cancer screening. Most of the included studies evaluated DAs and showed improved knowledge and informed decision making. Due to the limited number of studies the results could not be synthesized. The empirical evidence regarding interventions to improve informed decision making in screening is limited. It is unknown which strategies to enhance informed decision making are most effective, although DAs are promising. Systematic development of interventions to enhance informed choices in screening deserves priority, especially in disadvantaged groups. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.
Benefits of testing for nontested information: retrieval-induced facilitation of episodically bound material.

PubMed

Rowland, Christopher A; DeLosh, Edward L

2014-12-01

Testing is a powerful means to boost the retention of information. The extent to which the benefits of testing generalize to nontested information, however, is not clear. In three experiments, we found that completing cued-recall tests for a subset of studied materials enhanced retention for the specific information tested, as well as for associated, nontested information during later free-recall testing. In Experiment 1, this generalized benefit was revealed for lists of category-exemplar pairs. Experiment 2 extended the effect to unrelated words, suggesting that retrieval can enhance later free recall of nontested information that is bound solely through episodic context. In Experiment 3, we manipulated the format of the final test and found facilitation in free-recall, but not in cued-recall, testing. The results suggest that testing may facilitate later free recall in part by enhancing access to information that is present during a prior temporal or list context. More generally, these findings suggest that retrieval-induced facilitation extends to a broader range of conditions than has previously been suggested, and they further motivate the adoption of testing as a practical and effective learning tool.
Back-of-pack information in substitutive food choices: A process-tracking study in participants intending to eat healthy.

PubMed

van Buul, Vincent J; Bolman, Catherine A W; Brouns, Fred J P H; Lechner, Lilian

2017-09-01

People are increasingly aware of the positive effects of a healthy diet. Concurrently, daily food consumption decisions - choices about both the quality and quantity of food that is ingested - are steered more by what consumers consider healthy. Despite the increased aim to eat healthier, however, consumers often do not read or incorrectly interpret on-pack nutrition information, resulting in suboptimal food choices in terms of health. This study aims to unravel the determinants of such inadvertent food choices from these consumers. In an online process-tracking study, we measured the actual usage of available back-of-pack nutrition information during substitutive food choices made by 240 participants who had the intention to eat healthy. Using mouse-tracking software in a computerized task in which participants had to make dichotomous food choices (e.g., coconut oil or olive oil for baking), we measured the frequency and time of nutritional information considered. Combined with demographic and psychosocial data, including information on the level of intention, action planning, self-efficacy, and nutrition literacy, we were able to model the determinants of inadvertent unhealthy substitutive food choices in a sequential multiple regression (R 2 = 0.40). In these consumers who intended to eat healthy, the quantity of obtained nutrition information significantly contributed as an associative factor of the percentage of healthy food choices made. Moreover, the level of correct answers in a nutrition literacy test, as well as taste preferences, significantly predicted the percentage of healthier choices. We discuss that common psychosocial determinants of healthy behavior, such as intention, action planning, and self-efficacy, need to be augmented with a person's actual reading and understanding of nutrition information to better explain the variance in healthy food choice behavior. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Development and validation of a measure of informed choice for women undergoing non-invasive prenatal testing for aneuploidy.

PubMed

Lewis, Celine; Hill, Melissa; Skirton, Heather; Chitty, Lyn S

2016-06-01

Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) using cell-free DNA for aneuploidy is a highly accurate screening test; however, concerns exist around the potential for routinisation of testing. The multidimensional measure of informed choice (MMIC) is a quantitative instrument developed to assess informed choice for Down syndrome screening (DSS). We have validated a modified MMIC for NIPT and measured informed choice among women offered NIPT in a public health service. The measure was distributed to women recruited across eight maternity units in the United Kingdom who had accepted DSS. Construct validity was assessed by simultaneously conducting qualitative interviews. Five hundred and eighty-five questionnaires were completed and 45 interviews conducted after blood-draw (or equivalent for those that declined NIPT). The measure demonstrated good internal consistency and internal validity. Results indicate the vast majority of women (89%) made an informed choice; 95% were judged to have good knowledge, 88% had a positive attitude and 92% had deliberated. Of the 11% judged to have made an uninformed choice, 55% had not deliberated, 41% had insufficient knowledge, and 19% had a negative attitude. Ethnicity (OR=2.78, P=0.003) and accepting NIPT (OR=16.05, P=0.021) were found to be significant predictors of informed choice. The high rate of informed choice is likely to reflect the importance placed on the provision of pre-test counselling in this study. It will be vital to ensure that this is maintained once NIPT is offered in routine clinical practice.
Posting point-of-purchase nutrition information in university canteens does not influence meal choice and nutrient intake.

PubMed

Hoefkens, Christine; Lachat, Carl; Kolsteren, Patrick; Van Camp, John; Verbeke, Wim

2011-08-01

Growing concern over the relation between out-of-home eating and overweight has triggered the use of point-of-purchase (POP) nutrition information when eating out of the home. In canteens that offer various unhealthy choices, the posting of POP nutrition information has the potential to improve meal choices and dietary intakes. The objective of this study was to increase the proportion of consumed meals that comply with recommendations for energy, saturated fat, sodium, and vegetable content by 5%. A one-group pretest-posttest design was used. A total of 224 customers of 2 university canteens completed a questionnaire used for consumer profiling and 3-d food records to assess their meal choices and nutrient intakes. The 12 best meal combinations received star ratings and descriptors for nutrients or food groups that did not comply. Reported meal choices in canteens and nutrient intakes did not improve after the intervention (P > 0.05). The nutritional profile of the meal choice, obtained from a qualitative and quantitative nutritional assessment of meals, mirrored the nutritional profile of all meals offered (P > 0.05) and not that of the recommended meals offered (P < 0.001). Meal choices were not compensated for later in the day (P > 0.05). The healthiest choices were made by participants with greater objective nutrition knowledge, stronger health and weight-control motives, and a greater openness to change meal choices at baseline (P < 0.05). The posting of nutrition information in university canteens did not effectively change meal choices and nutrient intakes. Despite the intervention, meal choices were largely determined by meals offered. Therefore, nutrition-information interventions in canteens may be more effective with a healthier meal supply. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01249508.
Occupational Resources: Career Information. CHOICE (Challenging Options in Career Education). [Grade 3].

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mid-Hudson Migrant Education Center, New Paltz, NY.

Designed to teach migrant students about the world of work and how academic subjects relate to jobs and careers, this illustrated CHOICE (Challenging Options in Career Education) Occupational Resources text provides career and job information and basic job market entry skills information for junior and senior high school students written at a…
Occupational Resources: Career Information. CHOICE (Challenging Options in Career Education). [Grade 5].

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mid-Hudson Migrant Education Center, New Paltz, NY.

Designed to teach migrant students about the world of work and how academic subjects relate to jobs and careers, this illustrated CHOICE (Challenging Options in Career Education) Occupational Resources text provides career and job information and basic job market entry skills information for junior and senior high school students written at a…

Development and validation of a measure of informed choice for women undergoing non-invasive prenatal testing for aneuploidy

PubMed Central

Lewis, Celine; Hill, Melissa; Skirton, Heather; Chitty, Lyn S

2016-01-01

Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) using cell-free DNA for aneuploidy is a highly accurate screening test; however, concerns exist around the potential for routinisation of testing. The multidimensional measure of informed choice (MMIC) is a quantitative instrument developed to assess informed choice for Down syndrome screening (DSS). We have validated a modified MMIC for NIPT and measured informed choice among women offered NIPT in a public health service. The measure was distributed to women recruited across eight maternity units in the United Kingdom who had accepted DSS. Construct validity was assessed by simultaneously conducting qualitative interviews. Five hundred and eighty-five questionnaires were completed and 45 interviews conducted after blood-draw (or equivalent for those that declined NIPT). The measure demonstrated good internal consistency and internal validity. Results indicate the vast majority of women (89%) made an informed choice; 95% were judged to have good knowledge, 88% had a positive attitude and 92% had deliberated. Of the 11% judged to have made an uninformed choice, 55% had not deliberated, 41% had insufficient knowledge, and 19% had a negative attitude. Ethnicity (OR=2.78, P=0.003) and accepting NIPT (OR=16.05, P=0.021) were found to be significant predictors of informed choice. The high rate of informed choice is likely to reflect the importance placed on the provision of pre-test counselling in this study. It will be vital to ensure that this is maintained once NIPT is offered in routine clinical practice. PMID:26508572
Nutrieconomic model can facilitate healthy and low-cost food choices.

PubMed

Primavesi, Laura; Caccavelli, Giovanna; Ciliberto, Alessandra; Pauze, Emmanuel

2015-04-01

Promotion of healthy eating can no longer be postponed as a priority, given the alarming growth rate of chronic degenerative diseases in Western countries. We elaborated a nutrieconomic model to assess and identify the most nutritious and affordable food choices. Seventy-one food items representing the main food categories were included and their nationally representative prices monitored. Food composition was determined using CRA-NUT (Centro di Ricerca per gli Alimenti e la Nutrizione) and IEO (Istituto Europeo di Oncologia) databases. To define food nutritional quality, the mean adequacy ratio and mean excess ratio were combined. Both prices and nutritional quality were normalised for the edible food content and for the recommended serving sizes for the Italian adult population. Stores located in different provinces throughout Italy. Not applicable. Cereals and legumes presented very similar nutritional qualities and prices per serving. Seasonal fruits and vegetables presented differentiated nutritional qualities and almost equal prices. Products of animal origin showed similar nutritional qualities and varied prices: the best nutrieconomic choices were milk, oily fish and poultry for the dairy products, fish and meat groups, respectively. Analysing two balanced weekly menus, our nutrieconomic model was able to note a significant decrease in cost of approximately 30 % by varying animal-protein sources without affecting nutritional quality. Healthy eating does not necessarily imply spending large amounts of money but rather being able to make nutritionally optimal choices. The nutrieconomic model is an innovative and practical way to help consumers make correct food choices and nutritionists increase the compliance of their patients.
The informativity of sound modulates crossmodal facilitation of visual discrimination: a fMRI study.

PubMed

Li, Qi; Yu, Hongtao; Li, Xiujun; Sun, Hongzan; Yang, Jingjing; Li, Chunlin

2017-01-18

Many studies have investigated behavioral crossmodal facilitation when a visual stimulus is accompanied by a concurrent task-irrelevant sound. Lippert and colleagues reported that a concurrent task-irrelevant sound reduced the uncertainty of the timing of the visual display and improved perceptional responses (informative sound). However, the neural mechanism by which the informativity of sound affected crossmodal facilitation of visual discrimination remained unclear. In this study, we used event-related functional MRI to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying the role of informativity of sound in crossmodal facilitation of visual discrimination. Significantly faster reaction times were observed when there was an informative relationship between auditory and visual stimuli. The functional MRI results showed sound informativity-induced activation enhancement including the left fusiform gyrus and the right lateral occipital complex. Further correlation analysis showed that the right lateral occipital complex was significantly correlated with the behavioral benefit in reaction times. This suggests that this region was modulated by the informative relationship within audiovisual stimuli that was learnt during the experiment, resulting in late-stage multisensory integration and enhanced behavioral responses.
Using Hypertext to Facilitate Information Sharing in Biomedical Research Groups

PubMed Central

Chaney, R. Jesse; Shipman, Frank M.; Gorry, G. Anthony

1989-01-01

As part of our effort to create an Integrated Academic Information Management System at Baylor College of Medicine, we are developing information technology to support the efforts of scientific work groups. Many of our ideas in this regard are embodied in a system called the Virtual Notebook which is intended to facilitate information sharing and management in such groups. Here we discuss the foundations of that system - a hypertext system that we have developed using a relational data base and the distributable interface the we have written in the X Window System.
Helping Latina/o Students Navigate the College Choice Process: Considerations for Secondary School Counselors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martinez, Melissa A.

2013-01-01

This qualitative study utilized interviews with 20 Latina/o high school seniors and five secondary school counselors in South Texas to further understand how counselors help Latina/o students navigate their college choice process. Findings indicate counselors provided students with access to college information and facilitated university…
America's Climate Choices: Informing an Effective Response to Climate Change (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liverman, D. M.; McConnell, M. C.; Raven, P.

2010-12-01

At the request of Congress, the National Academy of Sciences convened a series of coordinated activities to provide advice on actions and strategies that the nation can take to respond to climate change. As part of this suite of activities, this study examines information needs and recommends ways the federal government can better inform responses by enhancing climate change and greenhouse gas information and reporting systems and by improving climate communication and education. Demand for better information to support climate-related decisions has grown rapidly as people, organizations, and governments have moved ahead with plans and actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the impacts of climate change. To meet this demand, good information systems and services are needed. Without such systems, decision makers cannot evaluate whether particular policies and actions are achieving their goals or should be modified. Although the many non-federal efforts to reduce emissions and/or adapt to future climate changes carry considerable potential to reduce risks related to climate change, there is currently no comprehensive way to assess the effectiveness of those efforts. In addition, the diverse climate change responses to date have resulted in a patchwork of regional, state, and local policies that has prompted many state and business leaders to call for the development of a more predictable and coherent policy environment at the federal level. This report demonstrates that the nation lacks comprehensive, robust, and credible information and reporting systems to inform climate choices and evaluate their effectiveness. This report also argues that decision makers can benefit from a systematic and iterative framework for responding to climate change, in which decisions and policies can be revised in light of new information and experience and that improved information and reporting systems allow for ongoing evaluation of responses to climate risks. The
77 FR 39722 - Notice of Proposed Information Collection for Public Comment: Housing Choice Voucher Program...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-05

... Information Collection for Public Comment: Housing Choice Voucher Program Administrative Fee Study Data... is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal. This request is for the clearance of on-site and telephone data collection from public housing agencies (PHAs) in support of the Housing Choice...
Information sources used by the suicidal to inform choice of method.

PubMed

Biddle, Lucy; Gunnell, David; Owen-Smith, Amanda; Potokar, John; Longson, Damien; Hawton, Keith; Kapur, Nav; Donovan, Jenny

2012-02-01

Choice of suicide method strongly influences the outcome of an attempt. Public knowledge of possible methods is an important but less frequently considered aspect of the accessibility of suicide. This qualitative study explored the sources of information shaping the near-fatal suicide attempts of 22 individuals. Respondents were recruited from nine hospitals in England. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain detailed narratives of the planning of the suicide attempt. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, then subjected to thematic analysis utilising constant comparison techniques. Information sources discussed most frequently were television, news stories, the Internet, and previous self-harm. Others were professional resources, personal knowledge of others' attempts and information gleaned from healthcare professionals. Many respondents reported seeing media portrayals or reports of suicide, which had contributed to their awareness of suicide methods. Several provided examples of direct imitation. Some had deliberately sought information about methods when planning their attempt--mostly from the Internet. Past experience was used to identify 'best' methods and perfect implementation. The frequency with which sources of information are 'used' by particular groups and their relative import cannot be inferred from a qualitative sample. Near-fatal cases may differ from completed suicides. The media is an important contributor to the cognitive availability of suicide in society and could be used for prevention through carefully crafted portrayals of suicide designed to generate negative social perceptions of popular methods. Understanding of how sources of information can influence perceptions of suicide could inform the content of clinical conversations with patients. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
College Choice and Student Selection of an Information-Technology Degree Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Severson, Christopher S.

2017-01-01

This mixed-methods study analyzed data from 906 Ruffalo Noel Levitz Student Satisfaction Surveys (RNLSSS) at a two-year technical college in Wisconsin, to determine influences on participants' choices of programs in information technology (IT). Quantitative results showed that none of eight variables (i.e., cost, financial assistance, academic…
Adaptive route choice modeling in uncertain traffic networks with real-time information.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-03-01

The objective of the research is to study travelers' route choice behavior in uncertain traffic networks : with real-time information. The research is motivated by two observations of the traffic system: 1) : the system is inherently uncertain with r...
Providing Information to Parents of Children with Mental Health Problems: A Discrete Choice Conjoint Analysis of Professional Preferences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cunningham, Charles E.; Deal, Ken; Rimas, Heather; Chen, Yvonne; Buchanan, Don H.; Sdao-Jarvie, Kathie

2009-01-01

We used discrete choice conjoint analysis to model the ways 645 children's mental health (CMH) professionals preferred to provide information to parents seeking CMH services. Participants completed 20 choice tasks presenting experimentally varied combinations of the study's 14 4-level CMH information transfer attributes. Latent class analysis…
Imperfect information facilitates the evolution of reciprocity.

PubMed

Kurokawa, Shun

2016-06-01

The existence of cooperation demands explanation since cooperation is costly to the actor. Reciprocity has long been regarded as a potential explanatory mechanism for the existence of cooperation. Reciprocity is a mechanism wherein a cooperator responds to an opponent's behavior by switching his/her own behavior. Hence, a possible problematic case relevant to the theory of reciprocity evolution arises when the mechanism is such that the information regarding an opponent's behavior is imperfect. Although it has been confirmed also by previous theoretical studies that imperfect information interferes with the evolution of reciprocity, this argument is based on the assumption that there are no mistakes in behavior. And, a previous study presumed that it might be expected that when such mistakes occur, reciprocity can more readily evolve in the case of imperfect information than in the case of perfect information. The reason why the previous study considers so is that in the former case, reciprocators can miss defections incurred by other reciprocators' mistakes due to imperfect information, allowing cooperation to persist when such reciprocators meet. However, contrary to this expectation, the previous study has shown that even when mistakes occur, imperfect information interferes with the evolution of reciprocity. Nevertheless, the previous study assumed that payoffs are linear (i.e., that the effect of behavior is additive and there are no synergetic effects). In this study, we revisited the same problem but removed the assumption that payoffs are linear. We used evolutionarily stable strategy analysis to compare the condition for reciprocity to evolve when mistakes occur and information is imperfect with the condition for reciprocity to evolve when mistakes occur and information is perfect. Our study revealed that when payoffs are not linear, imperfect information can facilitate the evolution of reciprocity when mistakes occur; while when payoffs are linear
Synaptic unreliability facilitates information transmission in balanced cortical populations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gatys, Leon A.; Ecker, Alexander S.; Tchumatchenko, Tatjana; Bethge, Matthias

2015-06-01

Synaptic unreliability is one of the major sources of biophysical noise in the brain. In the context of neural information processing, it is a central question how neural systems can afford this unreliability. Here we examine how synaptic noise affects signal transmission in cortical circuits, where excitation and inhibition are thought to be tightly balanced. Surprisingly, we find that in this balanced state synaptic response variability actually facilitates information transmission, rather than impairing it. In particular, the transmission of fast-varying signals benefits from synaptic noise, as it instantaneously increases the amount of information shared between presynaptic signal and postsynaptic current. Furthermore we show that the beneficial effect of noise is based on a very general mechanism which contrary to stochastic resonance does not reach an optimum at a finite noise level.
77 FR 18848 - Notice of Submission of Proposed Information Collection to OMB; Choice Neighborhoods Evaluation...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-28

... Approval Number: 2528-New. Form Numbers: None. Description of the Need for the Information and Its Proposed... Proposed Information Collection to OMB; Choice Neighborhoods Evaluation, Phase I AGENCY: Office of the.... [[Page 18849
76 FR 60854 - Notice of Submission of Proposed Information Collection to OMB; Housing Choice Voucher Program...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-30

... Proposed Information Collection to OMB; Housing Choice Voucher Program Administrative Fee Study Pretest... the pretest will be used to refine the methodology used for the full study of administrative fees with...: Title of Proposal: Housing Choice Voucher Program Administrative Fee Study Pretest. OMB Approval Number...
Information Search as an Indication of Rationality in Student Choice of Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Menon, Maria E.

2004-01-01

This paper investigates the degree of information search that precedes the choice of a private third-level educational institution in Cyprus. Information search is used as an indication of rationality in order to provide a test for the economic approach to the explanation of human behaviour. A survey was conducted among 120 college students in the…
Informed Choice in the German Mammography Screening Program by Education and Migrant Status: Survey among First-Time Invitees.

PubMed

Berens, Eva-Maria; Reder, Maren; Razum, Oliver; Kolip, Petra; Spallek, Jacob

2015-01-01

Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer among women and mammography screening programs are seen as a key strategy to reduce breast cancer mortality. In Germany, women are invited to the population-based mammography screening program between ages 50 to 69. It is still discussed whether the benefits of mammography screening outweigh its harms. Therefore, the concept of informed choice comprising knowledge, attitude and intention has gained importance. The objective of this observational study was to assess the proportion of informed choices among women invited to the German mammography screening program for the first time. A representative sample of 17,349 women aged 50 years from a sub-region of North Rhine Westphalia was invited to participate in a postal survey. Turkish immigrant women were oversampled. The effects of education level and migration status on informed choice and its components were assessed. 5,847 (33.7%) women responded to the postal questionnaire of which 4,113 were used for analyses. 31.5% of the women had sufficient knowledge. The proportion of sufficient knowledge was lower among immigrants and among women with low education levels. The proportion of women making informed choices was low (27.1%), with similar associations with education level and migration status. Women of low (OR 2.75; 95% CI 2.18-3.46) and medium education level (OR 1.49; 95% CI 1.27-1.75) were more likely to make an uninformed choice than women of high education level. Turkish immigrant women had the greatest odds for making an uninformed choice (OR 5.30, 95% CI 1.92-14.66) compared to non-immigrant women. Other immigrant women only had slightly greater odds for making an uninformed choice than non-immigrant women. As immigrant populations and women with low education level have been shown to have poor knowledge, they need special attention in measures to increase knowledge and thus informed choices.
Rationality, Information Search and Choice in Higher Education: Evidence from Greece

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Menon, Maria Eliophotou; Saiti, Anna; Socratous, Michalis

2007-01-01

The paper presents the findings of a study of the decision-making process which precedes the choice of a university in Greece. Specifically, the degree of rationality exhibited by prospective students is assessed in an attempt to provide a test for the economic approach to the explanation of human behaviour. Information search is used as an…
Informed Consumer Choice in Community Rehabilitation Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hagen-Foley, Debra L.; Rosenthal, David A.; Thomas, Dale F.

2005-01-01

This study investigated consumer and staff member perceptions regarding the extent of consumer choice and participatory planning in community-based rehabilitation programs (CRPs) and the relationship between these elements, satisfaction, and outcomes. Consumers reported moderate to high levels of choice in services and employment goals, and…
Effect of price and information on the food choices of women university students in Saudi Arabia: An experimental study.

PubMed

Halimic, Aida; Gage, Heather; Raats, Monique; Williams, Peter

2018-04-01

To explore the impact of price manipulation and healthy eating information on intended food choices. Health information was provided to a random half of subjects (vs. information on Saudi agriculture). Each subject chose from the same lunch menu, containing two healthy and two unhealthy entrees, deserts and beverages, on five occasions. Reference case prices were 5, 3 and 2 Saudi Arabian Reals (SARs). Prices of healthy and unhealthy items were manipulated up (taxed) and down (subsidized) by 1 SAR in four menu variations (random order); subjects were given a budget enabling full choice within any menu. The number of healthy food choices were compared with different price combinations, and between information groups. Linear regression modelling explored the effect of relative prices of healthy/unhealthy options and information on number of healthy choices controlling for dietary behaviours and hunger levels. University campus, Saudi Arabia, 2013. 99 women students. In the reference case, 49.5% of choices were for healthy items. When the price of healthy items was reduced, 58.5% of selections were healthy; 57.2% when the price of unhealthy items rose. In regression modelling, reducing the price of healthy items and increasing the price of unhealthy items increased the number of healthy choices by 5% and 6% respectively. Students reporting a less healthy usual diet selected significantly fewer healthy items. Providing healthy eating information was not a significant influence. Price manipulation offers potential for altering behaviours to combat rising youth obesity in Saudi Arabia. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Physician trainees' decision making and information processing: choice size and Medicare Part D.

PubMed

Barnes, Andrew J; Hanoch, Yaniv; Martynenko, Melissa; Wood, Stacey; Rice, Thomas; Federman, Alex D

2013-01-01

Many patients expect their doctor to help them choose a Medicare prescription drug plan. Whether the size of the choice set affects clinicians' decision processes and strategy selection, and the quality of their choice, as it does their older patients, is an important question with serious financial consequences. Seventy medical students and internal medicine residents completed a within-subject design using Mouselab, a computer program that allows the information-acquisition process to be examined. We examined highly numerate physician trainees' decision processes, strategy, and their ability to pick the cheapest drug plan-as price was deemed the most important factor in Medicare beneficiaries' plan choice-from either 3 or 9 drug plans. Before adjustment, participants were significantly more likely to identify the lowest cost plan when facing three versus nine choices (67.3% vs. 32.8%, p<0.01) and paid significantly less in excess premiums ($60.00 vs. $128.51, p<0.01). Compared to the three-plan condition, in the nine-plan condition participants spent significantly less time acquiring information on each attribute (p<0.05) and were more likely to employ decision strategies focusing on comparing alternate plans across a single attribute (search pattern, p<0.05). After adjusting for decision process and strategy, numeracy, and amount of medical training, the odds were 10.75 times higher that trainees would choose the lowest cost Medicare Part D drug plan when facing 3 versus 9 drug plans (p<0.05). Although employing more efficient search strategies in the complex choice environment, physician trainees experienced similar difficulty in choosing the lowest cost prescription drug plans as older patients do. Our results add further evidence that simplifications to the Medicare Part D decision environment are needed and suggest physicians' role in their patients' Part D choices may be most productive when assisting seniors with forecasting their expected medication needs
Post choice information integration as a causal determinant of confidence: Novel data and a computational account.

PubMed

Moran, Rani; Teodorescu, Andrei R; Usher, Marius

2015-05-01

Confidence judgments are pivotal in the performance of daily tasks and in many domains of scientific research including the behavioral sciences, psychology and neuroscience. Positive resolution i.e., the positive correlation between choice-correctness and choice-confidence is a critical property of confidence judgments, which justifies their ubiquity. In the current paper, we study the mechanism underlying confidence judgments and their resolution by investigating the source of the inputs for the confidence-calculation. We focus on the intriguing debate between two families of confidence theories. According to single stage theories, confidence is based on the same information that underlies the decision (or on some other aspect of the decision process), whereas according to dual stage theories, confidence is affected by novel information that is collected after the decision was made. In three experiments, we support the case for dual stage theories by showing that post-choice perceptual availability manipulations exert a causal effect on confidence-resolution in the decision followed by confidence paradigm. These finding establish the role of RT2, the duration of the post-choice information-integration stage, as a prime dependent variable that theories of confidence should account for. We then present a novel list of robust empirical patterns ('hurdles') involving RT2 to guide further theorizing about confidence judgments. Finally, we present a unified computational dual stage model for choice, confidence and their latencies namely, the collapsing confidence boundary model (CCB). According to CCB, a diffusion-process choice is followed by a second evidence-integration stage towards a stochastic collapsing confidence boundary. Despite its simplicity, CCB clears the entire list of hurdles. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Impact of Perceived Healthiness of Food on Food Choices and Intake.

PubMed

Provencher, Véronique; Jacob, Raphaëlle

2016-03-01

Healthy eating is an important determinant of health, but adherence to dietary guidelines remains a public health concern. Identifying factors that impact dietary habits is therefore important to facilitate healthy eating. One widely used strategy to help consumers make healthier food choices is nutrition information, such as labeling and claims. Despite the intention of these strategies to improve decision making, they can also be misunderstood or misinterpreted by consumers. The aim of this review is to explore food perceptions by examining how cognitive factors influence perceived healthiness of food, and the impact of perceived healthiness of food on food choices and intake. Overall findings of this review suggest that cognitive factors, such as type of food and branding, significantly contribute to judgmental bias and have an impact on perceived healthiness while not consistently or systematically influencing choice and intake.
The impact of front-of-pack marketing attributes versus nutrition and health information on parents' food choices.

PubMed

Georgina Russell, Catherine; Burke, Paul F; Waller, David S; Wei, Edward

2017-09-01

Front-of-pack attributes have the potential to affect parents' food choices on behalf of their children and form one avenue through which strategies to address the obesogenic environment can be developed. Previous work has focused on the isolated effects of nutrition and health information (e.g. labeling systems, health claims), and how parents trade off this information against co-occurring marketing features (e.g. product imagery, cartoons) is unclear. A Discrete Choice Experiment was utilized to understand how front-of-pack nutrition, health and marketing attributes, as well as pricing, influenced parents' choices of cereal for their child. Packages varied with respect to the two elements of the Australian Health Star Rating system (stars and nutrient facts panel), along with written claims, product visuals, additional visuals, and price. A total of 520 parents (53% male) with a child aged between five and eleven years were recruited via an online panel company and completed the survey. Product visuals, followed by star ratings, were found to be the most significant attributes in driving choice, while written claims and other visuals were the least significant. Use of the Health Star Rating (HSR) system and other features were related to the child's fussiness level and parents' concerns about their child's weight with parents of fussy children, in particular, being less influenced by the HSR star information and price. The findings suggest that front-of-pack health labeling systems can affect choice when parents trade this information off against marketing attributes, yet some marketing attributes can be more influential, and not all parents utilize this information in the same way. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Standards and Stories: The Interactional Work of Informed Choice in Ontario Midwifery Care

PubMed Central

Spoel, Philippa; Mckenzie, Pamela; James, Susan; Hobberlin, Jessica

2013-01-01

This paper uses a discourse-rhetorical approach to analyze how Ontario midwives and their clients interactionally accomplish the healthcare communicative process of «informed choice.» Working with four excerpts from recorded visits between Ontario midwives and women, the analysis focuses on the discursive rendering during informed choice conversations of two contrasting kinds of evidence — professional standards and story-telling — related to potential interventions during labour. We draw on the concepts of discursive hybridity (Sarangi and Roberts 1999) and recontextualization (Linell 1998; Sarangi 1998) to trace the complex and creative ways in which the conversational participants reconstruct the meanings of these evidentiary sources to address their particular care contexts. This analysis shows how, though very different in their forms, both modes of evidence function as hybrid and flexible discursive resources that perform both instrumental and social-relational healthcare work. PMID:24289941
Using Interactive "Shiny" Applications to Facilitate Research-Informed Learning and Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fawcett, Lee

2018-01-01

In this article we discuss our attempt to incorporate research-informed learning and teaching activities into a final year undergraduate Statistics course. We make use of the Shiny web-based application framework for R to develop "Shiny apps" designed to help facilitate student interaction with methods from recently published papers in…
[Choice of Hospital for Childbirth in Switzerland: Decision Factors and Sources of Information].

PubMed

Wiedenhöfer, D; Keppler, S

2017-06-01

The introduction of Swiss DRG in 2012 offers women in Switzerland free choice of hospital. The objective of this study was to identify decision factors affecting the choice of hospital birth in Switzerland and to rate the degree of utilization of information sources. In seven Swiss hospitals, located in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, women in childbed were interviewed in writing. When choosing a hospital, factors rated by women as important were professional competence, good medical care, good obstetric competence, good nursing care and a neat and clean atmosphere. Important sources of information are recommendations of friends, own experience gained during previous hospital stays, the specialist, family, and the hospital homepage. Information meetings for pregnant women are essential for hospitals because they encourage women's decision to use the hospital. Web presence of the hospital and a good relationship with the specialists or family doctors are important, but experience of friends, family or one's own experience with stay at the hospital play a more important role. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.
Exploring the Impact of the Informational Value of Feedback Choices on Performance Outcomes in an Online Assessment Game

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cutumisu, Maria

2017-01-01

This paper examines the impact of the informational value of feedback choices on students' performance, their choice to revise, and the time they spend designing posters and reading feedback in an assessment game. Choices to seek confirmatory or critical feedback and to revise posters in a poster design task were collected from a hundred and six…
Consumer information needs in a competitive health care environment

PubMed Central

Varner, Theresa; Christy, Jack

1986-01-01

The role of information in facilitating choice in a competitive health care marketplace is clearly pivotal, but it is also complex and occasionally problematic. Although it is clear that information is critical to the competitive approach, less clear is the relationship between the availability of appropriate information and the exercise of informed choice, a relationship that is obscured in the tangle of influences that affect the use and delivery of medical care. Nonetheless, the centralized and standardized collection, review, and dissemination of relevant health care data remain the keys to predicting—and avoiding—adverse outcomes in the development of health care policy. PMID:10311937
Using What You've Got: The Possession and Use of Official Information in Urban School Choice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Delale-O'Connor, Lori

2017-01-01

In this study, the author makes the connection between school and district provided information and families' use of this information. Prior studies have found that over half of families eligible for school choice have information to make their decision. However, little is known about if and how families actually use formally provided information.…
Informed choice in bowel cancer screening: a qualitative study to explore how adults with lower education use decision aids

PubMed Central

Smith, Sian K; Kearney, Paul; Trevena, Lyndal; Barratt, Alexandra; Nutbeam, Don; McCaffery, Kirsten J

2012-01-01

Abstract Background Offering informed choice in screening is increasingly advocated, but little is known about how evidence‐based information about the benefits and harms of screening influences understanding and participation in screening. Objective We aimed to explore how a bowel cancer screening decision aid influenced decision making and screening behaviour among adults with lower education and literacy. Methods Twenty‐one men and women aged 55–64 years with lower education levels were interviewed about using a decision aid to make their screening decision. Participants were purposively selected to include those who had and had not made an informed choice. Results Understanding the purpose of the decision aid was an important factor in whether participants made an informed choice about screening. Participants varied in how they understood and integrated quantitative risk information about the benefits and harms of screening into their decision making; some read it carefully and used it to justify their screening decision, whereas others dismissed it because they were sceptical of it or lacked confidence in their own numeracy ability. Participants’ prior knowledge and beliefs about screening influenced how they made sense of the information. Discussion and conclusions Participants valued information that offered them a choice in a non‐directive way, but were concerned that it would deter people from screening. Healthcare providers need to be aware that people respond to screening information in diverse ways involving a range of literacy skills and cognitive processes. PMID:22512746
76 FR 35232 - Notice of Proposed Information Collection for Public Comment; Housing Choice Voucher Program...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-16

... Information Collection for Public Comment; Housing Choice Voucher Program Administrative Fee Study Pretest... Program Administrative Fee Study Pretest. Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use... collection approaches at between 5 and 10 PHAs across the country. The results of the pretest will be used to...
The influence of calorie and physical activity labelling on snack and beverage choices.

PubMed

Masic, U; Christiansen, P; Boyland, E J

2017-05-01

Much research suggests nutrition labelling does not influence lower energy food choice. This study aimed to assess the impact of physical activity based and kilocalorie (Kcal) based labels on the energy content of snack food and beverage choices made. An independent-groups design, utilizing an online questionnaire platform tested 458 UK adults (87 men), aged 18-64 years (mean: 30 years) whose BMI ranged from 16 to 41 kg/m 2 (mean: 24 kg/m 2 ). Participants were randomized to one of four label information conditions (no label, Kcal label, physical activity label [duration of walking required to burn the Kcal in the product], Kcal and physical activity label) and were asked to choose from higher and lower energy options for a series of items. Label condition significantly affected low vs. high-energy product selection of snack foods (p < 0.001) and beverages (p < 0.001). The physical activity label condition resulted in significantly lower energy snack and beverage choices than the Kcal label condition (p < 0.001). This effect was found across the full sample and persisted even when participants' dietary restraint, BMI, gender, socioeconomic status, habitual physical activity, calorie and numerical literacy were controlled. The provision of physical activity information appeared most effective in influencing the selection of lower Kcal snack food and beverage items, when compared with no information or Kcal information. These findings could inform the debate around potential legislative policies to facilitate healthier nutritional choices at a population level. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Curiosity and reward: Valence predicts choice and information prediction errors enhance learning.

PubMed

Marvin, Caroline B; Shohamy, Daphna

2016-03-01

Curiosity drives many of our daily pursuits and interactions; yet, we know surprisingly little about how it works. Here, we harness an idea implied in many conceptualizations of curiosity: that information has value in and of itself. Reframing curiosity as the motivation to obtain reward-where the reward is information-allows one to leverage major advances in theoretical and computational mechanisms of reward-motivated learning. We provide new evidence supporting 2 predictions that emerge from this framework. First, we find an asymmetric effect of positive versus negative information, with positive information enhancing both curiosity and long-term memory for information. Second, we find that it is not the absolute value of information that drives learning but, rather, the gap between the reward expected and reward received, an "information prediction error." These results support the idea that information functions as a reward, much like money or food, guiding choices and driving learning in systematic ways. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).
Influences on the food choices and physical activity behaviours of overweight and obese pregnant women: A qualitative study.

PubMed

O'Brien, Orna A; Lindsay, Karen L; McCarthy, Mary; McGloin, Aileen F; Kennelly, Maria; Scully, Helena A; McAuliffe, Fionnuala M

2017-04-01

to qualitatively explore influences identified by overweight/obese pregnant women on food choices and physical activity (PA) behaviours; to determine the impact of pregnancy on these factors; and to inform development of future lifestyle interventions during pregnancy. cross-sectional interview study. maternity hospital, Ireland. pregnant women (n=22), early pregnancy Body Mass Index > 25kg/m 2 MEASURES: barriers to and facilitators of healthy eating and PA in overweight/obese pregnancy. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. overweight/obese women perceived the following factors to influence their food choices and PA behaviours: personal (e.g. age, enjoyment, health, aesthetic appearance, and response to fatigue); social (e.g. social support, food modelling, social facilitation and weight bias) and environmental (e.g. food salience and the obesogenic environment). These factors affected PA and food choice trajectories differently according to socio-economic and socio-cultural context. personal, social and environmental factors affect food choices and PA behaviours. Pregnancy is a powerful stimulus for positive changes in food choices particularly. This change is driven by desire for healthy pregnancy outcome, and is not intrinsically motivated. Healthy lifestyle interventions should aim to sustain positive changes beyond pregnancy through: empowerment, intrinsic motivation, family-centred approach, and behavioural goals. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Information Systems Education in Kenya: Students' Specialization Choice Trends (A Case Study of Kenya Polytechnic University College)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ndede-Amadi, Atieno A.

2013-01-01

The objective of this study was to determine the time and level of Information Systems (IS) awareness among Kenyan university students and the choice of IS as a field of specialization. The study posited that the choice of a field of specialization is dependent upon a student's awareness of its existence, its utilization in the real world, its…
Attention and Facilitation: Converging Information versus Inadvertent Reading in Stroop Task Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roelofs, Ardi

2010-01-01

Disagreement exists about whether color-word Stroop facilitation is caused by converging information (e.g., Cohen et al., 1990; Roelofs, 2003) or inadvertent reading (MacLeod & MacDonald, 2000). Four experiments tested between these hypotheses by examining Stroop effects on response time (RT) both within and between languages. Words cannot be…
A review of the application and contribution of discrete choice experiments to inform human resources policy interventions

PubMed Central

Lagarde, Mylene; Blaauw, Duane

2009-01-01

Although the factors influencing the shortage and maldistribution of health workers have been well-documented by cross-sectional surveys, there is less evidence on the relative determinants of health workers' job choices, or on the effects of policies designed to address these human resources problems. Recently, a few studies have adopted an innovative approach to studying the determinants of health workers' job preferences. In the absence of longitudinal datasets to analyse the decisions that health workers have actually made, authors have drawn on methods from marketing research and transport economics and used Discrete Choice Experiments to analyse stated preferences of health care providers for different job characteristics. We carried out a literature review of studies using discrete choice experiments to investigate human resources issues related to health workers, both in developed and developing countries. Several economic and health systems bibliographic databases were used, and contacts were made with practitioners in the field to identify published and grey literature. Ten studies were found that used discrete choice experiments to investigate the job preferences of health care providers. The use of discrete choice experiments techniques enabled researchers to determine the relative importance of different factors influencing health workers' choices. The studies showed that non-pecuniary incentives are significant determinants, sometimes more powerful than financial ones. The identified studies also emphasized the importance of investigating the preferences of different subgroups of health workers. Discrete choice experiments are a valuable tool for informing decision-makers on how to design strategies to address human resources problems. As they are relatively quick and cheap survey instruments, discrete choice experiments present various advantages for informing policies in developing countries, where longitudinal labour market data are seldom
Decision making under uncertainty and information processing in positive and negative mood states.

PubMed

Mohanty, Sachi Nandan; Suar, Damodar

2014-08-01

This study examines whether mood states (a) influence decision making under uncertainty and (b) affect information processing. 200 students at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur participated in this study. Positive mood was induced by showing comedy movie clips to 100 participants and negative mood was induced by showing tragedy movie clips to another 100 participants. The participants were administered a questionnaire containing hypothetical situations of financial gains and losses, and a health risk problem. The participants selected a choice for each situation, and stated the reasons for their choice. Results suggested that the participants preferred cautious choices in the domain of gain and in health risk problems and risky choices in the domain of loss. Analysis of the reasons for the participants' choices suggested more fluency, originality, and flexibility of information in a negative mood compared to a positive mood. A negative (positive) mood state facilitated systematic (heuristic) information processing.
Determinants of College Major Choice: Identification Using an Information Experiment. Working Paper #02-11

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wiswall, Matthew; Zafar, Basit

2011-01-01

This paper studies the determinants of college major choice using a unique "information" experiment embedded in a survey. We first ask respondents their "self" beliefs--beliefs about their own expected earnings and other major-specific outcomes conditional on various majors, their "population" beliefs--beliefs about…

Lay Patient Navigators' Perspectives of Barriers, Facilitators and Training Needs in Initiating Advance Care Planning Conversations With Older Patients With Cancer.

PubMed

Niranjan, Soumya J; Huang, Chao-Hui S; Dionne-Odom, J Nicholas; Halilova, Karina I; Pisu, Maria; Drentea, Patricia; Kvale, Elizabeth A; Bevis, Kerri S; Butler, Thomas W; Partridge, Edward E; Rocque, Gabrielle B

2018-04-01

Respecting Choices is an evidence-based model of facilitating advance care planning (ACP) conversations between health-care professionals and patients. However, the effectiveness of whether lay patient navigators can successfully initiate Respecting Choices ACP conversations is unknown. As part of a large demonstration project (Patient Care Connect [PCC]), a cohort of lay patient navigators underwent Respecting Choices training and were tasked to initiate ACP conversations with Medicare beneficiaries diagnosed with cancer. This article explores PCC lay navigators' perceived barriers and facilitators in initiating Respecting Choices ACP conversations with older patients with cancer in order to inform implementation enhancements to lay navigator-facilitated ACP. Twenty-six lay navigators from 11 PCC cancer centers in 4 states (Alabama, George, Tennessee, and Florida) completed in-depth, one-on-one semistructured interviews between June 2015 and August 2015. Data were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. This evaluation identifies 3 levels-patient, lay navigator, and organizational factors in addition to training needs that influence ACP implementation. Key facilitators included physician buy-in, patient readiness, and navigators' prior experience with end-of-life decision-making. Lay navigators' perceived challenges to initiating ACP conversations included timing of the conversation and social and personal taboos about discussing dying. Our results suggest that further training and health system support are needed for lay navigators playing a vital role in improving the implementation of ACP among older patients with cancer. The lived expertise of lay navigators along with flexible longitudinal relationships with patients and caregivers may uniquely position this workforce to promote ACP.
An indirect latent informational conformity social influence choice model: Formulation and case study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Maness, Michael; Cirillo, Cinzia

The current state-of-the-art in social influence models of travel behavior is conformity models with direct benefit social influence effects. Indirect effects have seen limited development, but this paper presents a latent class discrete choice model of an indirect informational conformity hypothesis. Moreover, class membership depends on the proportion of group members who adopt a behavior. Membership into the more informed class causes changes in the preferences of those individuals thus making adoption more attractive. Equilibrium properties are derived for this model showing the possibility of multiple equilibria but under different conditions than the direct-benefit formulations. Social influence elasticity is derivedmore » for both models types. The informational conformity model can represent non-linear elasticity behavior unlike the direct-benefit formulation. Additionally, a two-stage control function is developed to obtain consistent parameter estimates in the presence of an endogenous class membership model covariate that is correlated with choice model unobservables. A case study to study social influence in bicycle ownership in the United States is presented. Our results showed that more informed households had a greater chance of owning a bike due to preference changes with less sensitivity to smaller home footprints and limited incomes. The behavioral hypothesis of positive preference change due to information transfer was confirmed. Observed ownership share closely matched predicted local-level equilibrium in some metropolitan areas but was unable to achieve expected prediction rate within confidence intervals. Finally, the elasticity of social influence was found to range locally from about 0.5% to 1.0%.« less
An indirect latent informational conformity social influence choice model: Formulation and case study

DOE PAGES

Maness, Michael; Cirillo, Cinzia

2016-11-01

The current state-of-the-art in social influence models of travel behavior is conformity models with direct benefit social influence effects. Indirect effects have seen limited development, but this paper presents a latent class discrete choice model of an indirect informational conformity hypothesis. Moreover, class membership depends on the proportion of group members who adopt a behavior. Membership into the more informed class causes changes in the preferences of those individuals thus making adoption more attractive. Equilibrium properties are derived for this model showing the possibility of multiple equilibria but under different conditions than the direct-benefit formulations. Social influence elasticity is derivedmore » for both models types. The informational conformity model can represent non-linear elasticity behavior unlike the direct-benefit formulation. Additionally, a two-stage control function is developed to obtain consistent parameter estimates in the presence of an endogenous class membership model covariate that is correlated with choice model unobservables. A case study to study social influence in bicycle ownership in the United States is presented. Our results showed that more informed households had a greater chance of owning a bike due to preference changes with less sensitivity to smaller home footprints and limited incomes. The behavioral hypothesis of positive preference change due to information transfer was confirmed. Observed ownership share closely matched predicted local-level equilibrium in some metropolitan areas but was unable to achieve expected prediction rate within confidence intervals. Finally, the elasticity of social influence was found to range locally from about 0.5% to 1.0%.« less
The Role of New Information Technologies in Facilitating Professional Reflective Practice across the Supervisory Triad.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hodder, Jacqueline; Carter, David

This study investigated the role of new information management technologies in facilitating student teacher supervision across the supervisory triad of student teacher, cooperating teacher, and university supervisor. The study investigated how data routinely generated by teachers and stored within an Instructional Information Management System…
Dignity and respect: facilitating meaningful occupation for SeSotho elders.

PubMed

Du Toit, Sanetta H J; Böning, Wilmarié; Van Der Merwe, Tania Rauch

2014-03-01

Frail and vulnerable adults are divested of meaningful encounters when modernization and urbanization force them to embrace an unconventional residential care environment as a home. The aim of this article is to report on a study of SeSotho elders living in residential care to illustrate how more meaningful and culturally relevant experiences could be facilitated for them. A content analysis was done of the individual opinions of 15 collaborators as a secondary scrutiny of information obtained during a nominal group process. MAJOR FINDINGS. Findings revealed that elders were prone to experience loneliness, helplessness, and boredom due to situations dominated by occupational injustice. Co-occupations, training of staff, and environmental adaptations that allow a sense of interdependence could contribute in facilitating occupational justice for elders from a traditional South African indigenous background living in residential care. Human dignity and respect are upheld within residential care when elders have access to purposeful and meaningful activities of their choice that are culturally appropriate. Occupational therapists should advocate for doing, belonging, and becoming by facilitating meaningful occupational participation that is culturally relevant for their clients.
Reasoning and choice in the Monty Hall Dilemma (MHD): implications for improving Bayesian reasoning

PubMed Central

Tubau, Elisabet; Aguilar-Lleyda, David; Johnson, Eric D.

2015-01-01

The Monty Hall Dilemma (MHD) is a two-step decision problem involving counterintuitive conditional probabilities. The first choice is made among three equally probable options, whereas the second choice takes place after the elimination of one of the non-selected options which does not hide the prize. Differing from most Bayesian problems, statistical information in the MHD has to be inferred, either by learning outcome probabilities or by reasoning from the presented sequence of events. This often leads to suboptimal decisions and erroneous probability judgments. Specifically, decision makers commonly develop a wrong intuition that final probabilities are equally distributed, together with a preference for their first choice. Several studies have shown that repeated practice enhances sensitivity to the different reward probabilities, but does not facilitate correct Bayesian reasoning. However, modest improvements in probability judgments have been observed after guided explanations. To explain these dissociations, the present review focuses on two types of causes producing the observed biases: Emotional-based choice biases and cognitive limitations in understanding probabilistic information. Among the latter, we identify a crucial cause for the universal difficulty in overcoming the equiprobability illusion: Incomplete representation of prior and conditional probabilities. We conclude that repeated practice and/or high incentives can be effective for overcoming choice biases, but promoting an adequate partitioning of possibilities seems to be necessary for overcoming cognitive illusions and improving Bayesian reasoning. PMID:25873906
An investigation of the effect of anecdotal information on the choice of a healthcare facility.

PubMed

Chalil Madathil, Kapil; Greenstein, Joel S

2018-07-01

This article includes two studies investigating the impact of anecdotal healthcare information from the Internet on healthcare decisions. The availability of anecdotal information on the Internet through social media and peer support groups has increased the risk of the dissemination of misleading information. The first study investigated the effect of demographics, quality of life, health status and public reports usage on the use of anecdotal healthcare information from the Internet. The second employed a 2 (anecdotal information presented as videos supporting and contradicting public report information) * 2 (phase of introduction of anecdotal information: early, late) between-subjects experimental design to investigate the consumer's choice between two health facilities, the level of confidence in the decision, the knowledge acquired and the workload experienced. The results from the first study found that age, gender, educational level, health status and public report usage were significant predictors of consumer use of anecdotal information on the Internet. The results from the second suggest that the probability of making the optimal choice was reduced by more than half when contradicting rather than supporting anecdotal information was presented first. The data from anecdotal information became the anchor points for developing an understanding of the healthcare situation, meaning initial perceptions did not change after the presentation of the more reliable public reports. Because of comprehension issues related to public reports, consumers may give more weight to anecdotal information found online. Thus, new approaches are needed to ensure the former is engaging for a wide range of healthcare consumers. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Understanding Rasch Measurement: Distractors with Information in Multiple Choice Items: A Rationale Based on the Rasch Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andrich, David; Styles, Irene

2011-01-01

There is a substantial literature on attempts to obtain information on the proficiency of respondents from distractors in multiple choice items. Information in a distractor implies that a person who chooses that distractor has greater proficiency than if the person chose another distractor with no information. A further implication is that the…
Kinesthetic information facilitates saccades towards proprioceptive-tactile targets.

PubMed

Voudouris, Dimitris; Goettker, Alexander; Mueller, Stefanie; Fiehler, Katja

2016-05-01

Saccades to somatosensory targets have longer latencies and are less accurate and precise than saccades to visual targets. Here we examined how different somatosensory information influences the planning and control of saccadic eye movements. Participants fixated a central cross and initiated a saccade as fast as possible in response to a tactile stimulus that was presented to either the index or the middle fingertip of their unseen left hand. In a static condition, the hand remained at a target location for the entire block of trials and the stimulus was presented at a fixed time after an auditory tone. Therefore, the target location was derived only from proprioceptive and tactile information. In a moving condition, the hand was first actively moved to the same target location and the stimulus was then presented immediately. Thus, in the moving condition additional kinesthetic information about the target location was available. We found shorter saccade latencies in the moving compared to the static condition, but no differences in accuracy or precision of saccadic endpoints. In a second experiment, we introduced variable delays after the auditory tone (static condition) or after the end of the hand movement (moving condition) in order to reduce the predictability of the moment of the stimulation and to allow more time to process the kinesthetic information. Again, we found shorter latencies in the moving compared to the static condition but no improvement in saccade accuracy or precision. In a third experiment, we showed that the shorter saccade latencies in the moving condition cannot be explained by the temporal proximity between the relevant event (auditory tone or end of hand movement) and the moment of the stimulation. Our findings suggest that kinesthetic information facilitates planning, but not control, of saccadic eye movements to proprioceptive-tactile targets. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Paradoxical choice in rats: Subjective valuation and mechanism of choice.

PubMed

Ojeda, Andrés; Murphy, Robin A; Kacelnik, Alex

2018-07-01

Decision-makers benefit from information only when they can use it to guide behavior. However, recent experiments found that pigeons and starlings value information that they cannot use. Here we show that this paradox is also present in rats, and explore the underlying decision process. Subjects chose between two options that delivered food probabilistically after a fixed delay. In one option ("info"), outcomes (food/no-food) were signaled immediately after choice, whereas in the alternative ("non-info") the outcome was uncertain until the delay lapsed. Rats sacrificed up to 20% potential rewards by preferring the info option, but reversed preference when the cost was 60%. This reversal contrasts with the results found with pigeons and starlings and may reflect species' differences worth of further investigation. Results are consistent with predictions of the Sequential Choice Model (SCM), that proposes that choices are driven by the mechanisms that control action in sequential encounters. As expected from the SCM, latencies to respond in single-option trials predicted preferences in choice trials, and latencies in choice trials were the same or shorter than in single-option trials. We argue that the congruence of results in distant vertebrates probably reflects evolved adaptations to shared fundamental challenges in nature, and that the apparently paradoxical overvaluing of information is not sub-optimal as has been claimed, even though its functional significance is not yet understood. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
The strategic use of lecture recordings to facilitate an active and self-directed learning approach.

PubMed

Topale, Luminica

2016-08-12

New learning technologies have the capacity to dramatically impact how students go about learning and to facilitate an active, self-directed learning approach. In U. S. medical education, students encounter a large volume of content, which must be mastered at an accelerated pace. The added pressure to excel on the USMLE Step 1 licensing exam and competition for residency placements, require that students adopt an informed approach to the use of learning technologies so as to enhance rather than to detract from the learning process. The primary aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of how students were using recorded lectures in their learning and how their study habits have been influenced by the technology. Survey research was undertaken using a convenience sample. Students were asked to voluntarily participate in an electronic survey comprised of 27 closed ended, multiple choice questions, and one open ended item. The survey was designed to explore students' perceptions of how recorded lectures affected their choices regarding class participation and impacted their learning and to gain an understanding of how recorded lectures facilitated a strategic, active learning process. Findings revealed that recorded lectures had little influence on students' choices to participate, and that the perceived benefits of integrating recorded lectures into study practices were related to their facilitation of and impact on efficient, active, and self-directed learning. This study was a useful investigation into how the availability of lecture capture technology influenced medical students' study behaviors and how students were making valuable use of the technology as an active learning tool.
Implications of the concept of minimal risk in research on informed choice in clinical practice

PubMed Central

Wada, Kyoko; Nisker, Jeff

2015-01-01

The concept of a minimal risk threshold in research, beneath which exception to informed consent and ethics review processes may occur, has been codified for over 30 years in many national research regulations and by the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences. Although minimal risk in research constitutes one of the criteria for allowing waiver of informed consent or modification to the consent process and a large body of literature exists, discussion of a minimal risk threshold in clinical practice has not occurred. One reason for lack of discussion may be that implicit consent is accepted for a wide range of routine clinical practices. Extending the role of minimal risk in research to clinical practice might assist clinicians in identifying circumstances for which implicit consent is indeed sufficient and circumstances in which it is not. Further, concepts from minimal risk in research might assist clinicians regarding when information provision in health promotion is required. We begin by reviewing concepts in both minimal risk in research and informed choice in clinical practice. We then explore how a clinical minimal risk concept may clarify recommendations for information provision in clinical practice and support the patient's informed choice regarding therapeutic and diagnostic procedures and also health promotion. Given that clinical practice involves a broad scope of health information, professional practice guidelines on information provision based on the application of the minimal risk threshold in research could be developed to guide clinicians in what information must be provided to their patients. PMID:26108215
The Effect of Publicized Quality Information on Home Health Agency Choice.

PubMed

Jung, Jeah Kyoungrae; Wu, Bingxiao; Kim, Hyunjee; Polsky, Daniel

2016-12-01

We examine consumers' use of publicized quality information in Medicare home health care markets, where consumer cost sharing and travel costs are absent. We report two findings. First, agencies with high quality scores are more likely to be preferred by consumers after the introduction of a public reporting program than before. Second, consumers' use of publicized quality information differs by patient group. Community-based patients have slightly larger responses to public reporting than hospital-discharged patients. Patients with functional limitations at the start of their care, at least among hospital-discharged patients, have a larger response to the reported functional outcome measure than those without functional limitations. In all cases of significant marginal effects, magnitudes are small. We conclude that the current public reporting approach is unlikely to have critical impacts on home health agency choice. Identifying and releasing quality information that is meaningful to consumers may help increase consumers' use of public reports. © The Author(s) 2015.
The Effect of Publicized Quality Information on Home Health Agency Choice

PubMed Central

Jung, Jeah Kyoungrae; Wu, Bingxiao; Kim, Hyunjee; Polsky, Daniel

2016-01-01

We examine consumers’ use of publicized quality information in Medicare home health care markets, where consumer cost sharing and travel costs are absent. We report two findings. First, agencies with high quality scores are more likely to be preferred by consumers after the introduction of a public reporting program than before. Second, consumers’ use of publicized quality information differs by patient group. Community-based patients have slightly larger responses to public reporting than hospital-discharged patients. Patients with functional limitations at the start of their care, at least among hospital-discharged patients, have a larger response to the reported functional outcome measure than those without functional limitations. In all cases of significant marginal effects, magnitudes are small. We conclude that the current public reporting approach is unlikely to have critical impacts on home health agency choice. Identifying and releasing quality information that is meaningful to consumers may help increase consumers’ use of public reports. PMID:26719047
Can Broad Consent be Informed Consent?

PubMed Central

Sheehan, Mark

2011-01-01

In biobanks, a broader model of consent is often used and justified by a range of different strategies that make reference to the potential benefits brought by the research it will facilitate combined with the low level of risk involved (provided adequate measures are in place to protect privacy and confidentiality) or a questioning of the centrality of the notion of informed consent. Against this, it has been suggested that the lack of specific information about particular uses of the samples means that such consent cannot be fully autonomous and so is unethical. My answer to the title question is a definite ‘yes’. Broad consent can be informed consent and is justified by appeal to the principle of respect for autonomy. Indeed, I will suggest that the distinction between the various kinds of consent is not a distinction between kinds of consent but between the kinds of choice a person makes. When an individual makes a choice (of any kind) it is important that they do so according to the standards of informed consent and consistent with the choice that they are making. PMID:22102849
The Testing Methods and Gender Differences in Multiple-Choice Assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ng, Annie W. Y.; Chan, Alan H. S.

2009-10-01

This paper provides a comprehensive review of the multiple-choice assessment in the past two decades for facilitating people to conduct effective testing in various subject areas. It was revealed that a variety of multiple-choice test methods viz. conventional multiple-choice, liberal multiple-choice, elimination testing, confidence marking, probability testing, and order-of-preference scheme are available for use in assessing subjects' knowledge and decision ability. However, the best multiple-choice test method for use has not yet been identified. The review also indicated that the existence of gender differences in multiple-choice task performance might be due to the test area, instruction/scoring condition, and item difficulty.
John Falk and Lynn Dierking: Building the Field of Informal/Free-Choice Science Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rennie, Léonie J.

2016-01-01

This article establishes the importance of "context", a concept that underpins the academic contributions that John Falk and Lynn Dierking have made in building the field of informal/free-choice learning in science education. I consider, in turn, the individual contributions made by each of them prior to their seminal co-authored work,…
Informed consent: information or knowledge?

PubMed

Berger, Ken

2003-01-01

A fiduciary relationship should be nurtured between patient and physician. This requires effective communication throughout all aspects of care - especially pertaining to treatment decisions. In the context of illness as experienced by the patient a unique set of circumstances is presented. However, communication in an illness context is fraught with problems. The patient is vulnerable and the situation may be overwhelming. Voluminous amounts of information are available to patients from a host of health care providers, family members, support groups, advocacy centers, books, journals, and the internet. Often conflicting and confusion, frequently complex, this information may be of greater burden than benefit. Some information is of high validity and reliability while other information is of dubious reliability. The emotional freight of bad news may further inhibit understanding. An overload of information may pose an obstacle in decision-making. To facilitate the transformation of information into knowledge, the health care provider must act on some occasions as a filter, on other occasions as a conduit, and on still other occasions simply as a reservoir. The evolution of patient rights to receive or refuse treatment, the right to know or not to know calls for a change in processing of overwhelming information in our modem era. In this paper we will discuss the difference between information and knowledge. How can health care providers ensure they have given their patients all necessary and sufficient information to make an autonomous decision? How can they facilitate the transformation of information into knowledge? The effect of knowledge to consent allows a more focused, relevant and modern approach to choice in health care.
Choice as a Global Language in Local Practice: A Mixed Model of School Choice in Taiwan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mao, Chin-Ju

2015-01-01

This paper uses school choice policy as an example to demonstrate how local actors adopt, mediate, translate, and reformulate "choice" as neo-liberal rhetoric informing education reform. Complex processes exist between global policy about school choice and the local practice of school choice. Based on the theoretical sensibility of…
Development of a fragile X syndrome (FXS) knowledge scale: towards a modified multidimensional measure of informed choice for FXS population carrier screening.

PubMed

Ames, Alice G; Jaques, Alice; Ukoumunne, Obioha C; Archibald, Alison D; Duncan, Rony E; Emery, Jon; Metcalfe, Sylvia A

2015-02-01

Genetic carrier screening is increasingly possible for many conditions, but it is important to ensure decisions are informed. The multidimensional measure of informed choice (MMIC) is a quantitative instrument developed to evaluate informed choice in prenatal screening for Down syndrome, measuring knowledge, attitudes and uptake. To apply the MMIC in other screening settings, the knowledge scale must be modified. To develop and validate a modified MMIC knowledge scale for use with women undergoing carrier screening for fragile X syndrome (FXS). Responses to MMIC items were collected through questionnaires as part of a FXS carrier screening pilot study in a preconception setting in Melbourne, Australia. Ten knowledge scale items were developed using a modified Delphi technique. Cronbach's alpha and factor analysis were used to validate the new FXS knowledge scale. We summarized the knowledge, attitudes and informed choice status based on the modified MMIC. Two hundred and eighty-five women were recruited, 241 eligible questionnaires were complete for analysis. The FXS knowledge scale items measured one salient construct and were internally consistent (alpha = 0.70). 71% (172/241) of participants were classified as having good knowledge, 70% (169/241) had positive attitudes and 27% (65/241) made an informed choice to accept or decline screening. We present the development of a knowledge scale as part of a MMIC to evaluate informed choice in population carrier screening for FXS. This can be used as a template by other researchers to develop knowledge scales for other conditions for use in the MMIC. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Difference and Choice: Exploring Prenatal Testing and the Use of Genetic Information with People with Learning Difficulties.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ward, Linda; Howarth, Joyce; Rodgers, Jackie

2002-01-01

This article describes two workshops that explained the use of prenatal testing and genetic information to inform choices in pregnancy to people with learning difficulties, explored the issues with them, and describe the contribution subsequently made by these people to a British national conference on this subject. (Contains references.)…
The Monty Hall dilemma in pigeons: effect of investment in initial choice.

PubMed

Stagner, Jessica P; Rayburn-Reeves, Rebecca; Zentall, Thomas R

2013-10-01

In the Monty Hall dilemma, humans are initially given a choice among three alternatives, one of which has a hidden prize. After choosing, but before it is revealed whether they have won the prize, they are shown that one of the remaining alternatives does not have the prize. They are then asked whether they want to stay with their original choice or switch to the remaining alternative. Although switching results in obtaining the prize two thirds of the time, humans consistently fail to adopt the optimal strategy of switching even after considerable training. Interestingly, there is evidence that pigeons show more optimal switching performance with this task than humans. Because humans often view even random choices already made as being more valuable than choices not made, we reasoned that if pigeons made a greater investment, it might produce an endowment or ownership effect resulting in more human-like suboptimal performance. On the other hand, the greater investment in the initial choice by the pigeons might facilitate switching behavior by helping them to better discriminate their staying versus switching behavior. In Experiment 1, we examined the effect of requiring pigeons to make a greater investment in their initial choice (20 pecks rather than the usual 1 peck). We found that the increased response requirement facilitated acquisition of the switching response. In Experiment 2, we showed that facilitation of switching due to the increased response requirement did not result from extinction of responding to the initially chosen location.
Nutrition and physical activity during and after cancer treatment: an American Cancer Society guide for informed choices.

PubMed

Brown, Jean K; Byers, Tim; Doyle, Colleen; Coumeya, Kerry S; Demark-Wahnefried, Wendy; Kushi, Lawrence H; McTieman, Anne; Rock, Cheryl L; Aziz, Noreen; Bloch, Abby S; Eldridge, Barbara; Hamilton, Kathryn; Katzin, Carolyn; Koonce, Amy; Main, Julie; Mobley, Connie; Morra, Marion E; Pierce, Margaret S; Sawyer, Kimberly Andrews

2003-01-01

Cancer survivors are often highly motivated to seek information about food choices, physical activity, dietary supplement use, and complementary nutritional therapies to improve their treatment outcomes, quality of life, and survival. To address these concerns, the American Cancer Society (ACS) convened a group of experts in nutrition, physical activity, and cancer to evaluate the scientific evidence and best clinical practices related to optimal nutrition and physical activity after the diagnosis of cancer. This report summarizes their findings and is intended to present health care providers with the best possible information on which to help cancer survivors and their families make informed choices related to nutrition and physical activity. The report discusses nutrition and physical activity issues during the phases of cancer treatment and recovery, living after recovery from treatment, and living with advanced cancer; selected nutritional and physical activity issues such as body weight, food choices, and complementary and alternative nutritional options; and selected issues related to breast, colorectal, lung, prostate, head and neck, and upper gastrointestinal cancers. In addition, handouts containing commonly asked questions and answers and a resource list are provided for survivors and families. Tables that grade the scientific evidence for benefit versus harm related to nutrition and physical activity for breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers are also included for this growing body of knowledge to provide guidance for informed decision making and to identify areas for future research.
Using Discrete Choice Experiments to Inform the Benefit-Risk Assessment of Medicines: Are We Ready Yet?

PubMed

Vass, Caroline M; Payne, Katherine

2017-09-01

There is emerging interest in the use of discrete choice experiments as a means of quantifying the perceived balance between benefits and risks (quantitative benefit-risk assessment) of new healthcare interventions, such as medicines, under assessment by regulatory agencies. For stated preference data on benefit-risk assessment to be used in regulatory decision making, the methods to generate these data must be valid, reliable and capable of producing meaningful estimates understood by decision makers. Some reporting guidelines exist for discrete choice experiments, and for related methods such as conjoint analysis. However, existing guidelines focus on reporting standards, are general in focus and do not consider the requirements for using discrete choice experiments specifically for quantifying benefit-risk assessments in the context of regulatory decision making. This opinion piece outlines the current state of play in using discrete choice experiments for benefit-risk assessment and proposes key areas needing to be addressed to demonstrate that discrete choice experiments are an appropriate and valid stated preference elicitation method in this context. Methodological research is required to establish: how robust the results of discrete choice experiments are to formats and methods of risk communication; how information in the discrete choice experiment can be presented effectually to respondents; whose preferences should be elicited; the correct underlying utility function and analytical model; the impact of heterogeneity in preferences; and the generalisability of the results. We believe these methodological issues should be addressed, alongside developing a 'reference case', before agencies can safely and confidently use discrete choice experiments for quantitative benefit-risk assessment in the context of regulatory decision making for new medicines and healthcare products.
Obtaining consumer perspectives using a citizens' jury: does the current country of origin labelling in Australia allow for informed food choices?

PubMed

Withall, Elizabeth; Wilson, Annabelle M; Henderson, Julie; Tonkin, Emma; Coveney, John; Meyer, Samantha B; Clark, Jacinta; McCullum, Dean; Ankeny, Rachel; Ward, Paul R

2016-12-09

Contemporary food systems are vast and complex, creating greater distance between consumers and their food. Consequently, consumers are required to put faith in a system of which they have limited knowledge or control. Country of origin labelling (CoOL) is one mechanism that theoretically enables consumer knowledge of provenance of food products. However, this labelling system has recently come under Australian Government review and recommendations for improvements have been proposed. Consumer engagement in this process has been limited. Therefore this study sought to obtain further consumer opinion on the issue of CoOL and to identify the extent to which Australian consumers agree with Australian Government recommendations for improvements. A citizens' jury was conducted with a sample of 14 South Australian consumers to explore their perceptions on whether the CoOL system allows them to make informed food choices, as well as what changes (if any) need to be made to enable informed food choices (recommendations). Overall, jurors' perception of usefulness of CoOL, including its ability to enable consumers to make informed food choices, fluctuated throughout the Citizens' Jury. Initially, the majority of the jurors indicated that the labels allowed informed food choice, however by the end of the session the majority disagreed with this statement. Inconsistencies within jurors' opinions were observed, particularly following delivery of information from expert witnesses and jury deliberation. Jurors provided recommendations for changes to be made to CoOL, which were similar to those provided in the Australian Government inquiry. Consumers in this study engaged with the topical issue of CoOL and provided their opinions. Overall, consumers do not think that the current CoOL system in Australia enables consumers to make informed choices. Recommendations for changes, including increasing the size of the label and the label's font, and standardising its position, were made.
Doubly tagged delayed-choice tunable quantum eraser: coherence, information and measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Imran, Muhammad; Tariq, Hinna; Rameez-ul-Islam; Ikram, Manzoor

2018-01-01

We present an idea for the doubly tagged delayed-choice tunable quantum eraser in a cavity QED setup, based on fully controlled resonant as well as dispersive atom-field interactions. Two cavity fields, bound initially in the Bell state, are coupled to a three-level atom. Such an atom is initially prepared in the coherent superposition of the lower two levels and is quite capable of exhibiting Ramsey fringes if taken independently. It is shown that the coherence lost due to tagging can not only be retrieved but that the fringe visibility/path distinguishability can also be conditionally tuned in a delayed manner through local manipulation of the entangled cavity fields. The stringent condition here is the retainment of the system’s coherence during successive manipulations of the individual cavity fields. Such a quantum eraser, therefore, prominently highlights the links among all the counterintuitive features of quantum theory including the conception of time, measurement, state vector reduction, coherence and information in an unambiguous manner. The schematics can be straightforwardly extended to a multipartite scenario and employed to explore multi-player quantum games with the payoff being strangely decided through delayed choice setups.
The effect of providing nutritional information about fast-food restaurant menus on parents' meal choices for their children.

PubMed

Ahn, Jae-Young; Park, Hae-Ryun; Lee, Kiwon; Kwon, Sooyoun; Kim, Soyeong; Yang, Jihye; Song, Kyung-Hee; Lee, Youngmi

2015-12-01

To encourage healthier food choices for children in fast-food restaurants, many initiatives have been proposed. This study aimed to examine the effect of disclosing nutritional information on parents' meal choices for their children at fast-food restaurants in South Korea. An online experimental survey using a menu board was conducted with 242 parents of children aged 2-12 years who dined with them at fast-food restaurants at least once a month. Participants were classified into two groups: the low-calorie group (n = 41) who chose at least one of the lowest calorie meals in each menu category, and the high-calorie group (n = 201) who did not. The attributes including perceived empowerment, use of provided nutritional information, and perceived difficulties were compared between the two groups. The low-calorie group perceived significantly higher empowerment with the nutritional information provided than did the high-calorie group (P = 0.020). Additionally, the low-calorie group was more interested in nutrition labeling (P < 0.001) and considered the nutritional value of menus when selecting restaurants for their children more than did the high-calorie group (P = 0.017). The low-calorie group used the nutritional information provided when choosing meals for their children significantly more than did the high-calorie group (P < 0.001), but the high-calorie group had greater difficulty using the nutritional information provided (P = 0.012). The results suggest that improving the empowerment of parents using nutritional information could be a strategy for promoting healthier parental food choices for their children at fast-food restaurants.
Integrating functional and anatomical information to facilitate cardiac resynchronization therapy.

PubMed

Tournoux, Francois B; Manzke, Robert; Chan, Raymond C; Solis, Jorge; Chen-Tournoux, Annabel A; Gérard, Olivier; Nandigam, Veena; Allain, Pascal; Reddy, Vivek; Ruskin, Jeremy N; Weyman, Arthur E; Picard, Michael H; Singh, Jagmeet P

2007-08-01

Multiple imaging modalities are required in patients receiving cardiac resynchronization therapy. We have developed a strategy to integrate echocardiographic and angiographic information to facilitate left ventricle (LV) lead position. Full three-dimensional LV-volumes (3DLVV) and dyssynchrony maps were acquired before and after resynchronization. At the time of device implantation, 3D-rotational coronary venous angiography was performed. 3D-models of the veins were then integrated with the pre- and post-3DLVV. In the case displayed, prior to implantation, the lateral wall was delayed compared to the septum. The LV lead was positioned into the vein over the most delayed region, resulting in improved LV synchrony.
Curricular Influences on Female Afterschool Facilitators' Computer Science Interests and Career Choices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koch, Melissa; Gorges, Torie

2016-10-01

Underrepresented populations such as women, African-Americans, and Latinos/as often come to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) careers by less traditional paths than White and Asian males. To better understand how and why women might shift toward STEM, particularly computer science, careers, we investigated the education and career direction of afterschool facilitators, primarily women of color in their twenties and thirties, who taught Build IT, an afterschool computer science curriculum for middle school girls. Many of these women indicated that implementing Build IT had influenced their own interest in technology and computer science and in some cases had resulted in their intent to pursue technology and computer science education. We wanted to explore the role that teaching Build IT may have played in activating or reactivating interest in careers in computer science and to see whether in the years following implementation of Build IT, these women pursued STEM education and/or careers. We reached nine facilitators who implemented the program in 2011-12 or shortly after. Many indicated that while facilitating Build IT, they learned along with the participants, increasing their interest in and confidence with technology and computer science. Seven of the nine participants pursued further STEM or computer science learning or modified their career paths to include more of a STEM or computer science focus. Through interviews, we explored what aspects of Build IT influenced these facilitators' interest and confidence in STEM and when relevant their pursuit of technology and computer science education and careers.
Does Challenge by Choice Increase Participation?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chase, Daniel L.

2015-01-01

Challenge by choice (CBC) has been regarded as a foundational principle for challenge ropes course programs. Although CBC is widely accepted as the primary mechanism for facilitating intended ropes course outcomes, especially a participant's involvement, until recently it had remained an untested assumption. This study explored the role of CBC as…
75 FR 19417 - Notice of Proposed Information Collection for Public Comment for Housing Choice Voucher (HCV...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-14

... Information Collection for Public Comment for Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing, HUD. ACTION: Notice... Voucher Program) with public and private resources to enable eligible families to achieve economic...
76 FR 68774 - Notice of Submission of Proposed Information Collection to OMB Transformation Initiative: Choice...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-07

...The proposed information collection requirement described below has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal. The U.S. Department of the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) intends to make funding available from the FY 2012 Transformation Initiative for Research Grants related to the Choice Neighborhoods Demonstration. This information collection is for applications for funding, and reporting requirements for funded applications.
[A study on facilitators and inhibitors to the introduction of outsourcing in the hospital information systems in Korea].

PubMed

Choy, Soon; Shin, Hyeong-Sik; Choi, Inyoung; Kim, Sukil

2007-01-01

This study was conducted to investigate the current status of outsourcing in Korean hospital information systems and the factors influencing its introduction. The authors surveyed 136 hospitals located in Seoul and its surrounding vicinities from June 7 to June 23, 2006. The facilitators and inhibitors to outsourcing in hospital information systems were derived from literature and expert reviews. Multiple logistic regression analysis was applied to identify the major influencing factors on outsourcing in hospital information systems. Eighty-six (63.2%) of the 136 hospitals surveyed, which were mainly tertiary hospitals, responded to using outsourcing for their hospital information systems. "Hardware and software maintenance and support," "application development," and "management of service and staff" were the major areas of outsourcing. Outsourcing had been employed for 4-7 years by 45.5% of the hospitals and the proportion of the budget used for outsourcing was less than 20%. A need for an extension in outsourcing was agreed on by 76.5% of the hospitals. The multiple logistic regression analysis showed that both consumer satisfaction and security risk have an influence on hospital information system outsourcing. Outsourcing in hospital information systems is expected to increase just as in other industries. One primary facilitator to outsourcing in other industries is consumer satisfaction. We found that this was also a facilitator to outsourcing in hospital information systems. Security risk, which is usually considered an inhibitor to information technology outsourcing, was proven to be an inhibitor here as well. The results of this study may help hospital information systems establish a strategy and management plan for outsourcing.
Mate choice in fruit flies is rational and adaptive.

PubMed

Arbuthnott, Devin; Fedina, Tatyana Y; Pletcher, Scott D; Promislow, Daniel E L

2017-01-17

According to rational choice theory, beneficial preferences should lead individuals to sort available options into linear, transitive hierarchies, although the extent to which non-human animals behave rationally is unclear. Here we demonstrate that mate choice in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster results in the linear sorting of a set of diverse isogenic female lines, unambiguously demonstrating the hallmark of rational behaviour, transitivity. These rational choices are associated with direct benefits, enabling males to maximize offspring production. Furthermore, we demonstrate that female behaviours and cues act redundantly in mate detection and assessment, as rational mate choice largely persists when visual or chemical sensory modalities are impaired, but not when both are impaired. Transitivity in mate choice demonstrates that the quality of potential mates varies significantly among genotypes, and that males and females behave in such a way as to facilitate adaptive mate choice.
The power of information and contraceptive choice in a family planning setting in Mexico

PubMed Central

Ponce, E; Sloan, N; Winikoff, B; Langer, A; Coggins, C; Heimburger, A; Conde-Glez, C; Salmeron, J

2000-01-01

Objectives: This study measured the effect of information about family planning methods and STD risk factors and prevention, together with personal choice on the selection of intrauterine devices (IUDs) by clients with cervical infection. Methods: We conducted a randomised, controlled trial in which family planning clients were assigned to one of two groups, the standard practice (control) group in which the provider selected the woman's contraceptive and the information and choice (intervention) group. The study enrolled 2107 clients in a family planning clinic in Mexico City. Results: Only 2.1% of the clients had gonorrhoea or chlamydial infections. Significantly fewer women in the intervention group selected the IUD than the proportion for whom the IUD was recommended in the standard care group by clinicians (58.2% v 88.2%, p=0.0000). The difference was even more pronounced among infected women: 47.8% v 93.2% (intervention v control group, p=0.0006). Conclusions: The intervention increased the selection of condoms and reduced the selection of IUDs, especially among women with cervical infections, for whom IUD insertion is contraindicated. Key Words: reproductive health; sexually transmitted diseases; contraception PMID:11026883
Empowering Parents with Data: Ensuring Parents Have Data to Make Informed Choices. Data for Action

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Data Quality Campaign, 2015

2015-01-01

Accessible, tailored, and easy-to-understand data can help parents answer questions about their children's education such as, "Is my child on track to graduate college and career ready?" and "How does my child's school compare to other schools so that I can make the best choice about my child's education?" Information about…
The effect of providing nutritional information about fast-food restaurant menus on parents' meal choices for their children

PubMed Central

Ahn, Jae-Young; Park, Hae-Ryun; Lee, Kiwon; Kwon, Sooyoun; Kim, Soyeong; Yang, Jihye; Song, Kyung-Hee

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES To encourage healthier food choices for children in fast-food restaurants, many initiatives have been proposed. This study aimed to examine the effect of disclosing nutritional information on parents' meal choices for their children at fast-food restaurants in South Korea. SUBJECTS/METHODS An online experimental survey using a menu board was conducted with 242 parents of children aged 2-12 years who dined with them at fast-food restaurants at least once a month. Participants were classified into two groups: the low-calorie group (n = 41) who chose at least one of the lowest calorie meals in each menu category, and the high-calorie group (n = 201) who did not. The attributes including perceived empowerment, use of provided nutritional information, and perceived difficulties were compared between the two groups. RESULTS The low-calorie group perceived significantly higher empowerment with the nutritional information provided than did the high-calorie group (P = 0.020). Additionally, the low-calorie group was more interested in nutrition labeling (P < 0.001) and considered the nutritional value of menus when selecting restaurants for their children more than did the high-calorie group (P = 0.017). The low-calorie group used the nutritional information provided when choosing meals for their children significantly more than did the high-calorie group (P < 0.001), but the high-calorie group had greater difficulty using the nutritional information provided (P = 0.012). CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that improving the empowerment of parents using nutritional information could be a strategy for promoting healthier parental food choices for their children at fast-food restaurants. PMID:26634057
Facilitating access to information in large documents with an intelligent hypertext system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mathe, Nathalie

1993-01-01

Retrieving specific information from large amounts of documentation is not an easy task. It could be facilitated if information relevant in the current problem solving context could be automatically supplied to the user. As a first step towards this goal, we have developed an intelligent hypertext system called CID (Computer Integrated Documentation) and tested it on the Space Station Freedom requirement documents. The CID system enables integration of various technical documents in a hypertext framework and includes an intelligent context-sensitive indexing and retrieval mechanism. This mechanism utilizes on-line user information requirements and relevance feedback either to reinforce current indexing in case of success or to generate new knowledge in case of failure. This allows the CID system to provide helpful responses, based on previous usage of the documentation, and to improve its performance over time.
Facilitating out-of-home caregiving through health information technology: survey of informal caregivers' current practices, interests, and perceived barriers.

PubMed

Zulman, Donna M; Piette, John D; Jenchura, Emily C; Asch, Steven M; Rosland, Ann-Marie

2013-07-10

Many patients with chronic conditions are supported by out-of-home informal caregivers-family members, friends, and other individuals who provide care and support without pay-who, if armed with effective consumer health information technology, could inexpensively facilitate their care. We sought to understand caregivers' use of, interest in, and perceived barriers to health information technology for out-of-home caregiving. We conducted 2 sequential Web-based surveys with a national sample of individuals who provide out-of-home caregiving to an adult family member or friend with a chronic illness. We queried respondents about their use of health information technology for out-of-home caregiving and used multivariable regression to investigate caregiver and care-recipient characteristics associated with caregivers' technology use for caregiving. Among 316 out-of-home caregiver respondents, 34.5% (109/316) reported using health information technology for caregiving activities. The likelihood of a caregiver using technology increased significantly with intensity of caregiving (as measured by number of out-of-home caregiving activities). Compared with very low intensity caregivers, the adjusted odds ratio (OR) of technology use was 1.88 (95% CI 1.01-3.50) for low intensity caregivers, 2.39 (95% CI 1.11-5.15) for moderate intensity caregivers, and 3.70 (95% CI 1.62-8.45) for high intensity caregivers. Over 70% (149/207) of technology nonusers reported interest in using technology in the future to support caregiving. The most commonly cited barriers to technology use for caregiving were health system privacy rules that restrict access to care-recipients' health information and lack of familiarity with programs or websites that facilitate out-of-home caregiving. Health information technology use for out-of-home caregiving is common, especially among individuals who provide more intense caregiving. Health care systems can address the mismatch between caregivers' interest
Providing Informal Care in Terminal Illness: An Analysis of Preferences for Support Using a Discrete Choice Experiment.

PubMed

Hall, Jane; Kenny, Patricia; Hossain, Ishrat; Street, Deborah J; Knox, Stephanie A

2014-08-01

The trend for terminally ill patients to receive much of their end-of-life care at home necessitates the design of services to facilitate this. Care at home also requires that informal care be provided by family members and friends. This study investigated informal carers' preferences for support services to aid the development of end-of-life health care services. This cross-sectional study used 2 discrete choice experiments to ascertain the preferences of carers supporting patients with different levels of care need, determined by the assistance needed with personal care and labeled High Care (HC) and Low Care (LC). The sample included 168 informal carers of people receiving palliative care at home from 2 palliative care services in Sydney, Australia. Data were collected in face-to-face interviews; carers chose between 2 hypothetical plans of support services and their current services. Data were analyzed with generalized multinomial logit models that were used to calculate the impact of each attribute on the probability of a carer choosing a service plan. Preferred support included nursing services; the probability of choosing a plan increased significantly if it included nurse home visits and phone advice (P < 0.001). HC carers also wanted doctor home visits, home respite, and help with personal care (P < 0.05), and LC carers wanted help with household tasks, transport, and a case coordinator (P < 0.001). On average, both groups of carers preferred their current services, but this varied with characteristics of the carer and the caregiving situation. The most valued services are those that support carers in their caregiving role; however, supportive care preferences vary with the different circumstances of patients and carers. © The Author(s) 2013.

Determinants of Coverage Decisions in Health Insurance Marketplaces: Consumers' Decision-Making Abilities and the Amount of Information in Their Choice Environment

PubMed Central

Barnes, Andrew J; Hanoch, Yaniv; Rice, Thomas

2015-01-01

Objective To investigate the determinants and quality of coverage decisions among uninsured choosing plans in a hypothetical health insurance marketplace. Study Setting Two samples of uninsured individuals: one from an Internet-based sample comprised largely of young, healthy, tech-savvy individuals (n = 276), and the other from low-income, rural Virginians (n = 161). Study Design We assessed whether health insurance comprehension, numeracy, choice consistency, and the number of plan choices were associated with participants' ability to choose a cost-minimizing plan, given their expected health care needs (defined as choosing a plan costing no more than $500 in excess of the total estimated annual costs of the cheapest plan available). Data Collection Primary data were collected using an online questionnaire. Principal Findings Uninsured who were more numerate showed higher health insurance comprehension; those with more health insurance comprehension made choices of health insurance plans more consistent with their stated preferences; and those who made choices more concordant with their stated preferences were less likely to choose a plan that cost more than $500 in excess of the cheapest plan available. Conclusions Increasing health insurance comprehension and designing exchanges to facilitate plan comparison will be critical to ensuring the success of health insurance marketplaces. PMID:24779769
Improving College Choice: Helping Students and Parents Make Better Informed Decisions. Data for Action 2012

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Data Quality Campaign, 2012

2012-01-01

As the demand for college graduates increases, it is critical (from both supply and demand perspectives) that students choose the postsecondary option that best meets their needs. Improved college readiness is an important first step to better informed choices about college. Parents and students need access to easy-to-understand data to make the…
Taiwanese consumer survey data for investigating the role of information on equivalence of organic standards in directing food choice.

PubMed

Yeh, Ching-Hua; Hartmann, Monika; Hirsch, Stefan

2018-06-01

The presentation of credence attributes such as the product's origin or the production method has a significant influence on consumers' food purchase decisions. The dataset includes survey responses from a discrete choice experiment with 1309 food shoppers in Taiwan using the example of sweet pepper. The survey was carried out in 2014 in the three largest Taiwanese cities. It evaluates the impact of providing information on the equality of organic standards on consumers' preferences at the example of sweet pepper. Equality of organic standards implies that regardless of products' country-of-origin (COO) organic certifications are based on the same production regulation and managerial processes. Respondents were randomly allocated to the information treatment and the control group. The dataset contains the product choices of participants in both groups, as well as their sociodemographic information.
Not all choices are created equal: Task-relevant choices enhance motor learning compared to task-irrelevant choices.

PubMed

Carter, Michael J; Ste-Marie, Diane M

2017-12-01

Lewthwaite et al. (2015) reported that the learning benefits of exercising choice (i.e., their self-controlled condition) are not restricted to task-relevant features (e.g., feedback). They found that choosing one's golf ball color (Exp. 1) or choosing which of two tasks to perform at a later time plus which of two artworks to hang (Exp. 2) resulted in better retention than did being denied these same choices (i.e., yoked condition). The researchers concluded that the learning benefits derived from choice, whether irrelevant or relevant to the to-be-learned task, are predominantly motivational because choice is intrinsically rewarding and satisfies basic psychological needs. However, the absence of a group that made task-relevant choices and the lack of psychological measures significantly weakened their conclusions. Here, we investigated how task-relevant and task-irrelevant choices affect motor-skill learning. Participants practiced a spatiotemporal motor task in either a task-relevant group (choice over feedback schedule), a task-irrelevant group (choice over the color of an arm-wrap plus game selection), or a no-choice group. The results showed significantly greater learning in the task-relevant group than in both the task-irrelevant and no-choice groups, who did not differ significantly. Critically, these learning differences were not attributed to differences in perceptions of competence or autonomy, but instead to superior error-estimation abilities. These results challenge the perspective that motivational influences are the root cause of self-controlled learning advantages. Instead, the findings add to the growing evidence highlighting that the informational value gained from task-relevant choices makes a greater relative contribution to these advantages than motivational influences do.
Information Expensiveness Perceived by Vietnamese Patients with Respect to Healthcare Provider's Choice.

PubMed

Quan-Hoang, Vuong

2016-10-01

Patients have to acquire information to support their decision on choosing a suitable healthcare provider. But in developing countries like Vietnam, accessibility issues remain an obstacle, thus adversely affect both quality and costliness of healthcare information. Vietnamese use both sources from health professionals and friends/relatives, especially when quality of the Internet-based cheaper sources appear to be still questionable. The search of information from both professionals and friends/relatives incurs some cost, which can be viewed as low or high depending low or high accessibility to the sources. These views potentially affect their choices. To investigate the effects that medical/health services information on perceived expensiveness of patients' labor costs. Two related objectives are a) establishing empirical relations between accessibility to sources and expensiveness; and, b) probabilistic trends of probabilities for perceived expensiveness. There is evidence for established relations among the variables "Convexp" and "Convrel" (all p's < 0.01), indicating that both information sources (experts and friends/relatives) have influence on patients perception of information expensiveness. The use of experts source tends to increase the probability of perceived expensiveness. a) Probabilistic trends show Vietnamese patients have propensity to value healthcare information highly and do not see it as "expensive"; b) The majority of Vietnamese households still take non-professional advices at their own risks; c) There is more for the public healthcare information system to do to reduce costliness and risk of information. The Internet-based health service users communities cannot replace this system.
The influence of caloric information on cafeteria food choices

PubMed Central

Dubbert, Patricia M.; Johnson, William G.; Schlundt, David G.; Montague, Noni Ward

1984-01-01

We evaluated the effect of posting caloric information on food purchases at a cafeteria. Purchases of more than 14,300 entrees, vegetables, and salads by 6,970 customers were unobtrusively monitored via the cash register inventory control system during 15 evening observations. A quasi-multiple-baseline design across food groups was used to test the additive effect of labeling the three lowest caloric choices for vegetables, salads, and entrees. A linear logit analysis confirmed that labeling increased the probability of low calorie selections for vegetables and salads, but not for entrees. Observations of meals purchased by a subsample of 413 customers indicated labeling did not change the total caloric content of meals. The number of customers and total sales per evening were unaffected by the labeling intervention. The results suggest that manipulating environmental cues may be an effective method for changing food purchases in a cafeteria, but labeling individual items may not be the best way to decrease total calories purchased. PMID:16795673
Are Computer Science and Information Technology Still Masculine Fields? High School Students' Perceptions and Career Choices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Papastergiou, M.

2008-01-01

This study investigated Greek high school students' intentions and motivation towards and against pursuing academic studies in Computer Science (CS), the influence of the family and the scholastic environment on students' career choices, students' perceptions of CS and the Information Technology (IT) profession as well as students' attendance at…
Facilitation of contrast detection in near-peripheral vision.

PubMed

Giorgi, Robert G; Soong, Grace P; Woods, Russell L; Peli, Eli

2004-12-01

Foveal detection of a Gabor patch (target) is facilitated by collinear, displaced high-contrast flankers. Polat and Sagi reported that the same phenomenon occurred in the periphery, but no data were presented [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 91 (1994) 1206]. Others have found no facilitation in a limited number of conditions tested. To resolve this apparent conflict, we measured lateral facilitation in the near-periphery using a range of stimulus parameters. We found facilitation for a range of target-flanker distances for peripheral eccentricities up to 6 degrees , but the magnitude of the effect was less than found in central vision. Facilitation varied across subjects and with spatial frequency. Flanker contrast had no effect over the range evaluated (10-80%). Equal facilitation was found for two global arrangements of the stimulus pattern. Facilitation was found using a temporal, but not a spatial two-alternative forced-choice paradigm, accounting for the different results among previous studies. This finding supports previous indications of the role of attention in altering such facilitation. The value of facilitation from lateral interactions for persons with central vision impairment, who have to shift their attention to a peripheral locus constantly, needs to be examined.
Linking attentional processes and conceptual problem solving: visual cues facilitate the automaticity of extracting relevant information from diagrams

PubMed Central

Rouinfar, Amy; Agra, Elise; Larson, Adam M.; Rebello, N. Sanjay; Loschky, Lester C.

2014-01-01

This study investigated links between visual attention processes and conceptual problem solving. This was done by overlaying visual cues on conceptual physics problem diagrams to direct participants’ attention to relevant areas to facilitate problem solving. Participants (N = 80) individually worked through four problem sets, each containing a diagram, while their eye movements were recorded. Each diagram contained regions that were relevant to solving the problem correctly and separate regions related to common incorrect responses. Problem sets contained an initial problem, six isomorphic training problems, and a transfer problem. The cued condition saw visual cues overlaid on the training problems. Participants’ verbal responses were used to determine their accuracy. This study produced two major findings. First, short duration visual cues which draw attention to solution-relevant information and aid in the organizing and integrating of it, facilitate both immediate problem solving and generalization of that ability to new problems. Thus, visual cues can facilitate re-representing a problem and overcoming impasse, enabling a correct solution. Importantly, these cueing effects on problem solving did not involve the solvers’ attention necessarily embodying the solution to the problem, but were instead caused by solvers attending to and integrating relevant information in the problems into a solution path. Second, this study demonstrates that when such cues are used across multiple problems, solvers can automatize the extraction of problem-relevant information extraction. These results suggest that low-level attentional selection processes provide a necessary gateway for relevant information to be used in problem solving, but are generally not sufficient for correct problem solving. Instead, factors that lead a solver to an impasse and to organize and integrate problem information also greatly facilitate arriving at correct solutions. PMID:25324804
Linking attentional processes and conceptual problem solving: visual cues facilitate the automaticity of extracting relevant information from diagrams.

PubMed

Rouinfar, Amy; Agra, Elise; Larson, Adam M; Rebello, N Sanjay; Loschky, Lester C

2014-01-01

This study investigated links between visual attention processes and conceptual problem solving. This was done by overlaying visual cues on conceptual physics problem diagrams to direct participants' attention to relevant areas to facilitate problem solving. Participants (N = 80) individually worked through four problem sets, each containing a diagram, while their eye movements were recorded. Each diagram contained regions that were relevant to solving the problem correctly and separate regions related to common incorrect responses. Problem sets contained an initial problem, six isomorphic training problems, and a transfer problem. The cued condition saw visual cues overlaid on the training problems. Participants' verbal responses were used to determine their accuracy. This study produced two major findings. First, short duration visual cues which draw attention to solution-relevant information and aid in the organizing and integrating of it, facilitate both immediate problem solving and generalization of that ability to new problems. Thus, visual cues can facilitate re-representing a problem and overcoming impasse, enabling a correct solution. Importantly, these cueing effects on problem solving did not involve the solvers' attention necessarily embodying the solution to the problem, but were instead caused by solvers attending to and integrating relevant information in the problems into a solution path. Second, this study demonstrates that when such cues are used across multiple problems, solvers can automatize the extraction of problem-relevant information extraction. These results suggest that low-level attentional selection processes provide a necessary gateway for relevant information to be used in problem solving, but are generally not sufficient for correct problem solving. Instead, factors that lead a solver to an impasse and to organize and integrate problem information also greatly facilitate arriving at correct solutions.
VHA mental health information system: applying health information technology to monitor and facilitate implementation of VHA Uniform Mental Health Services Handbook requirements.

PubMed

Trafton, Jodie A; Greenberg, Greg; Harris, Alex H S; Tavakoli, Sara; Kearney, Lisa; McCarthy, John; Blow, Fredric; Hoff, Rani; Schohn, Mary

2013-03-01

To describe the design and deployment of health information technology to support implementation of mental health services policy requirements in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Using administrative and self-report survey data, we developed and fielded metrics regarding implementation of the requirements delineated in the VHA Uniform Mental Health Services Handbook. Finalized metrics were incorporated into 2 external facilitation-based quality improvement programs led by the VHA Mental Health Operations. To support these programs, tailored site-specific reports were generated. Metric development required close collaboration between program evaluators, policy makers and clinical leadership, and consideration of policy language and intent. Electronic reports supporting different purposes required distinct formatting and presentation features, despite their having similar general goals and using the same metrics. Health information technology can facilitate mental health policy implementation but must be integrated into a process of consensus building and close collaboration with policy makers, evaluators, and practitioners.
Information and Choice of A-Level Subjects: A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial with Linked Administrative Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davies, Peter; Davies, Neil M.; Qiu, Tian

2017-01-01

We estimated the effects of an intervention which provided information about graduate wages to 5593 students in England, using a blinded cluster randomised controlled trial in 50 schools (registration: AEARCTR-0000468). Our primary outcome was students' choice of A-level subjects at age 16. We also recorded the students' expectations of future…
Surfing the internet for health information: an italian survey on use and population choices.

PubMed

Siliquini, Roberta; Ceruti, Michele; Lovato, Emanuela; Bert, Fabrizio; Bruno, Stefania; De Vito, Elisabetta; Liguori, Giorgio; Manzoli, Lamberto; Messina, Gabriele; Minniti, Davide; La Torre, Giuseppe

2011-04-07

Recent international sources have described how the rapid expansion of the Internet has precipitated an increase in its use by the general population to search for medical information. Most studies on e-health use investigated either through the prevalence of such use and the social and income patterns of users in selected populations, or the psychological consequences and satisfaction experienced by patients with particular diseases. Few studies have been carried out in Europe that have tried to identify the behavioral consequences of Internet use for health-related purposes in the general population.The aims of this study are to provide information about the prevalence of Internet use for health-related purposes in Italy according to demographic and socio-cultural features, to investigate the impact of the information found on health-related behaviors and choices and to analyze any differences based on health condition, self-rated health and relationships with health professionals and facilities. A multicenter survey was designed within six representative Italian cities. Data were collected through a validated questionnaire administered in hospital laboratories by physicians. Respondents were questioned about their generic condition, their use of the Internet and their health behaviors and choices related to Internet use. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression to assess any differences by socio-demographic and health-related variables. The sample included 3018 individuals between the ages of 18 and 65 years. Approximately 65% of respondents reported using the Internet, and 57% of them reported using it to search for health-related information. The main reasons for search on the Internet were faster access and a greater amount of information. People using the Internet more for health-related purposes were younger, female and affected by chronic diseases. A large number of Internet users search for health information and
Surfing the internet for health information: an italian survey on use and population choices

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Recent international sources have described how the rapid expansion of the Internet has precipitated an increase in its use by the general population to search for medical information. Most studies on e-health use investigated either through the prevalence of such use and the social and income patterns of users in selected populations, or the psychological consequences and satisfaction experienced by patients with particular diseases. Few studies have been carried out in Europe that have tried to identify the behavioral consequences of Internet use for health-related purposes in the general population. The aims of this study are to provide information about the prevalence of Internet use for health-related purposes in Italy according to demographic and socio-cultural features, to investigate the impact of the information found on health-related behaviors and choices and to analyze any differences based on health condition, self-rated health and relationships with health professionals and facilities. Methods A multicenter survey was designed within six representative Italian cities. Data were collected through a validated questionnaire administered in hospital laboratories by physicians. Respondents were questioned about their generic condition, their use of the Internet and their health behaviors and choices related to Internet use. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression to assess any differences by socio-demographic and health-related variables. Results The sample included 3018 individuals between the ages of 18 and 65 years. Approximately 65% of respondents reported using the Internet, and 57% of them reported using it to search for health-related information. The main reasons for search on the Internet were faster access and a greater amount of information. People using the Internet more for health-related purposes were younger, female and affected by chronic diseases. Conclusions A large number of Internet users
John Falk and Lynn Dierking: building the field of informal/free-choice science education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rennie, Léonie J.

2016-03-01

This article establishes the importance of "context", a concept that underpins the academic contributions that John Falk and Lynn Dierking have made in building the field of informal/free-choice learning in science education. I consider, in turn, the individual contributions made by each of them prior to their seminal co-authored work, entitled The Museum Experience. I then document their joint contributions to the field, pointing out that although their interests and skills overlap in complementary ways to produce their jointly authored works, both have continued to make their individual contributions; Falk in his work on identity and impact, and Dierking in her work on community, youth, family and equity. Finally I come to the present, describing how they each continue their research and publication in lifelong, life-wide, and life-deep learning, with a particular focus on free-choice learning and the role it can play in addressing critical issues in the world.
Informed Choice in Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing for Alzheimer and Other Diseases: Lessons from Two Cases

PubMed Central

Messner, Donna A.

2011-01-01

Health-related direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing has been a controversial practice. Especially problematic is predictive testing for Alzheimer disease (AD), since the disease is incurable, prevention is inconclusive, and testing does not definitively predict an individual’s future disease status. In this paper, I examine two contrasting cases of subjects who learn through genetic testing that they have an elevated risk of developing AD later in life. In these cases, the subject’s emotional response to the result is related to how well prepared she was for the real-life personal implications of possible test results. Analysis leads to the conclusion that when groups of health-related genetic tests are offered as packages by DTC companies, informed consumer choice is rendered impossible. Moreover, I argue, this marketing approach contravenes U.S. Federal Trade Commission policies for non-deceptive commercial communications. I conclude by suggesting ways to improve the prospects for informed consumer choice in DTC testing. PMID:21603253
DECIDE: a Decision Support Tool to Facilitate Parents' Choices Regarding Genome-Wide Sequencing.

PubMed

Birch, Patricia; Adam, S; Bansback, N; Coe, R R; Hicklin, J; Lehman, A; Li, K C; Friedman, J M

2016-12-01

We describe the rationale, development, and usability testing for an integrated e-learning tool and decision aid for parents facing decisions about genome-wide sequencing (GWS) for their children with a suspected genetic condition. The online tool, DECIDE, is designed to provide decision-support and to promote high quality decisions about undergoing GWS with or without return of optional incidental finding results. DECIDE works by integrating educational material with decision aids. Users may tailor their learning by controlling both the amount of information and its format - text and diagrams and/or short videos. The decision aid guides users to weigh the importance of various relevant factors in their own lives and circumstances. After considering the pros and cons of GWS and return of incidental findings, DECIDE summarizes the user's responses and apparent preferred choices. In a usability study of 16 parents who had already chosen GWS after conventional genetic counselling, all participants found DECIDE to be helpful. Many would have been satisfied to use it alone to guide their GWS decisions, but most would prefer to have the option of consulting a health care professional as well to aid their decision. Further testing is necessary to establish the effectiveness of using DECIDE as an adjunct to or instead of conventional pre-test genetic counselling for clinical genome-wide sequencing.
Using Pedestrian Choice Research to Facilitate Resource Engagement in a Midsized Academic Library

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Beynen, Kaya; Pettijohn, Patricia; Carrel, Marcy

2010-01-01

For a 1-year period, visitors to the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library, University of South Florida St. Petersburg were observed regarding how they negotiated through the first floor and interacted with the library resources and educational displays. Pedestrian choice research was applied to the library to better understand visitor movement and…
Determinants of choice of delivery place: Testing rational choice theory and habitus theory.

PubMed

Broda, Anja; Krüger, Juliane; Schinke, Stephanie; Weber, Andreas

2018-05-07

The current study uses two antipodal social science theories, the rational choice theory and the habitus theory, and applies these to describe how women choose between intraclinical (i.e., hospital-run birth clinics) and extraclinical (i.e., midwife-led birth centres or home births) delivery places. Data were collected in a cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey among 189 women. A list of 22 determinants, conceptualized to capture the two theoretical concepts, were rated on a 7-point Likert scale with 1 = unimportant to 7 = very important. The analytic method was structural equation modelling. A model was built, in which the rational choice theory and the habitus theory as latent variables predicted the choice of delivery place. With regards to the choice of delivery place, 89.3% of the women wanted an intraclinical and 10.7% an extraclinical delivery place at the time of their last child's birth. Significant differences between women with a choice of an intraclinical or extraclinical delivery place were found for 14 of the 22 determinants. In the structural equation model, rational choice theory determinants predicted a choice of intraclinical delivery and habitus theory determinants predicted a choice of extraclinical delivery. The two theories had diametrically opposed effects on the choice of delivery place. Women are more likely to decide on intraclinical delivery when arguments such as high medical standards, positive evaluations, or good advanced information are rated important. In contrast, women are more likely to decide on extraclinical delivery when factors such as family atmosphere during birth, friendliness of health care professionals, or consideration of the woman's interests are deemed important. A practical implication of our study is that intraclinical deliveries may be promoted by providing comprehensive information, data and facts on various delivery-related issues, while extraclinical deliveries may be fostered by healthcare
Child Care Choices of Low-Income Working Families

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chaudry, Ajay; Pedroza, Juan Manuel; Sandstrom, Heather; Danzinger, Anna; Grosz, Michel; Scott, Molly; Ting, Sarah

2011-01-01

This research study examines the factors involved in the child care choices of low-income working families in two urban communities. Applying qualitative research methods, this study explores how low-income parents' decisions are shaped, facilitated, or constrained by "family characteristics" as well as "contextual community…

Informed choice: understanding knowledge in the context of screening uptake.

PubMed

Michie, Susan; Dormandy, Elizabeth; Marteau, Theresa M

2003-07-01

This study evaluates a scale measuring knowledge about a screening test and investigates the association between knowledge, uptake and attitudes towards screening. One thousand four hundred ninety-nine pregnant women completed the knowledge scale of the multidimensional measure of informed choice (MMIC). Three hundred forty-five of these women and 152 professionals providing antenatal care also rated the importance of the knowledge items. Item characteristic curves show that, with one exception, the knowledge items reflect a spread of difficulty and are able to discriminate between people. All items were seen as essential or helpful by both women and health professionals, with two items seen as particularly important and one as unimportant. There were some differences between health professionals, women with low risk results and women with high risk results. Knowledge was not associated with uptake, attitude, or the extent to which uptake was consistent with women's attitudes towards undergoing the test.
How do stereotypes influence choice?

PubMed

Chaxel, Anne-Sophie

2015-05-01

In the study reported here, I tracked one process through which stereotypes affect choice. The Implicit Association Test (IAT) and a measurement of predecisional information distortion were used to assess the influence of the association between male gender and career on the evaluation of information related to the job performance of stereotypical targets (male) and nonstereotypical targets (female). When the IAT revealed a strong association between male gender and career and the installed leader in the choice process was a stereotypical target, decision makers supported the leader with more proleader distortion; when the IAT revealed a strong association between male gender and career and the installed leader in the choice process was a nonstereotypical target, decision makers supported the trailer with less antitrailer distortion. A stronger association between male gender and career therefore resulted in an upward shift of the evaluation related to the stereotypical target (both as a trailer and a leader), which subsequently biased choice. © The Author(s) 2015.
Search, Memory, and Choice Error: An Experiment

PubMed Central

Sanjurjo, Adam

2015-01-01

Multiple attribute search is a central feature of economic life: we consider much more than price when purchasing a home, and more than wage when choosing a job. An experiment is conducted in order to explore the effects of cognitive limitations on choice in these rich settings, in accordance with the predictions of a new model of search memory load. In each task, subjects are made to search the same information in one of two orders, which differ in predicted memory load. Despite standard models of choice treating such variations in order of acquisition as irrelevant, lower predicted memory load search orders are found to lead to substantially fewer choice errors. An implication of the result for search behavior, more generally, is that in order to reduce memory load (thus choice error) a limited memory searcher ought to deviate from the search path of an unlimited memory searcher in predictable ways-a mechanism that can explain the systematic deviations from optimal sequential search that have recently been discovered in peoples' behavior. Further, as cognitive load is induced endogenously (within the task), and found to affect choice behavior, this result contributes to the cognitive load literature (in which load is induced exogenously), as well as the cognitive ability literature (in which cognitive ability is measured in a separate task). In addition, while the information overload literature has focused on the detrimental effects of the quantity of information on choice, this result suggests that, holding quantity constant, the order that information is observed in is an essential determinant of choice failure. PMID:26121356
Social information use in threat perception: Social buffering, contagion and facilitation of alarm responses

PubMed Central

Oliveira, Rui F.; Faustino, Ana I.

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Group living animals can use the behavior of others as cues for the presence of threat in the environment and adjust their behavior accordingly. Therefore, different social phenomena that modulate the response to threat, such as social buffering, social transmission (contagion), and facilitation of alarm responses can be seen as different manifestations of social information use in threat detection. Thus, social phenomena that are functionally antagonistic, such as social buffering and social transmission of fear, may rely on shared neurobehavioral mechanisms related to the use of social information in decision-making about the presence of threat in the environment. Here, we propose a unifying conceptual framework for the study of social information use in threat perception based on signal detection theory.
A comparison of face to face and group education on informed choice and decisional conflict of pregnant women about screening tests of fetal abnormalities.

PubMed

Kordi, Masoumeh; Riyazi, Sahar; Lotfalizade, Marziyeh; Shakeri, Mohammad Taghi; Suny, Hoseyn Jafari

2018-01-01

Screening of fetal anomalies is assumed as a necessary measurement in antenatal cares. The screening plans aim at empowerment of individuals to make the informed choice. This study was conducted in order to compare the effect of group and face-to-face education and decisional conflicts among the pregnant females regarding screening of fetal abnormalities. This study of the clinical trial was carried out on 240 pregnant women at <10-week pregnancy age in health care medical centers in Mashhad city in 2014. The form of individual-midwifery information and informed choice questionnaire and decisional conflict scale were used as tools for data collection. The face-to-face and group education course were held in two weekly sessions for intervention groups during two consecutive weeks, and the usual care was conducted for the control group. The rate of informed choice and decisional conflict was measured in pregnant women before education and also at weeks 20-22 of pregnancy in three groups. The data analysis was executed using SPSS statistical software (version 16), and statistical tests were implemented including Chi-square test, Kruskal-Wallis test, Wilcoxon test, Mann-Whitney U-test, one-way analysis of variance test, and Tukey's range test. The P < 0.05 was considered as a significant. The results showed that there was statically significant difference between three groups in terms of frequency of informed choice in screening of fetal abnormalities ( P = 0.001) in such a way that at next step of intervention, 62 participants (77.5%) in face-to-face education group, 64 members (80%) in group education class, and 20 persons (25%) in control group had the informed choice regarding screening tests, but there was no statistically significant difference between two individual and group education classes. Similarly, during the postintervention phase, there was a statistically significant difference in mean score of decisional conflict scale among pregnant women regarding
Integrating Human Factors Engineering and Information Processing Approaches to Facilitate Evaluations in Criminal Justice Technology Research.

PubMed

Salvemini, Anthony V; Piza, Eric L; Carter, Jeremy G; Grommon, Eric L; Merritt, Nancy

2015-06-01

Evaluations are routinely conducted by government agencies and research organizations to assess the effectiveness of technology in criminal justice. Interdisciplinary research methods are salient to this effort. Technology evaluations are faced with a number of challenges including (1) the need to facilitate effective communication between social science researchers, technology specialists, and practitioners, (2) the need to better understand procedural and contextual aspects of a given technology, and (3) the need to generate findings that can be readily used for decision making and policy recommendations. Process and outcome evaluations of technology can be enhanced by integrating concepts from human factors engineering and information processing. This systemic approach, which focuses on the interaction between humans, technology, and information, enables researchers to better assess how a given technology is used in practice. Examples are drawn from complex technologies currently deployed within the criminal justice system where traditional evaluations have primarily focused on outcome metrics. Although this evidence-based approach has significant value, it is vulnerable to fully account for human and structural complexities that compose technology operations. Guiding principles for technology evaluations are described for identifying and defining key study metrics, facilitating communication within an interdisciplinary research team, and for understanding the interaction between users, technology, and information. The approach posited here can also enable researchers to better assess factors that may facilitate or degrade the operational impact of the technology and answer fundamental questions concerning whether the technology works as intended, at what level, and cost. © The Author(s) 2015.
The Role of Post-Visit Action Resources in Facilitating Meaningful Free-Choice Learning after a Zoo Visit

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bueddefeld, Jill N. H.; Van Winkle, Christine M.

2018-01-01

Places like zoos, where free-choice learning is encouraged, are important for conveying climate change and sustainability issues to the public. Free-choice learning that targets environmentally focused sustainable behavior changes must be meaningful in order to encourage actual behavior change post-visit. However, visitors often fail to translate…
Factors modulating social influence on spatial choice in rats.

PubMed

Bisbing, Teagan A; Saxon, Marie; Sayde, Justin M; Brown, Michael F

2015-07-01

Three experiments examined the conditions under which the spatial choices of rats searching for food are influenced by the choices made by other rats. Model rats learned a consistent set of baited locations in a 5 × 5 matrix of locations, some of which contained food. In Experiment 1, subject rats could determine the baited locations after choosing 1 location because all of the baited locations were on the same side of the matrix during each trial (the baited side varied over trials). Under these conditions, the social cues provided by the model rats had little or no effect on the choices made by the subject rats. The lack of social influence on choices occurred despite a simultaneous social influence on rats' location in the testing arena (Experiment 2). When the outcome of the subject rats' own choices provided no information about the positions of other baited locations, on the other hand, social cues strongly controlled spatial choices (Experiment 3). These results indicate that social information about the location of food influences spatial choices only when those cues provide valid information that is not redundant with the information provided by other cues. This suggests that social information is learned about, processed, and controls behavior via the same mechanisms as other kinds of stimuli. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).
The Experientiality of Sustainability: Living with Our Choices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pritchard, M.

2015-12-01

In an age when the escalating impact of human activity on the global environment has begun to threaten the long-term survival of humanity, increasing focus is being brought to bear on the scientific, social, economic, political, and cultural ramifications of the various courses of action open to individuals and societies across the globe. The intentional and intelligent modification of human behavior to balance environmental impact with human wellbeing is seen as the key to entering what Jeffrey Sachs has called the 'Age of Sustainable Development'. There are mechanisms, legal, socio-cultural, religious, economic, and technological that may ameliorate to varying degrees the environmental impact of human activity. These mechanisms are explored at length in the literature and assessed by their capacity to encourage or compel compliant behavior. They rely heavily on individual and collective choices based on rational self-interest, which is in turn informed by knowledge. The role of education in facilitating sustainable human activity is a key feature of many contributions to the literature. The alarming shortcoming in these discussions is the absence of an effective approach to learned sustainability that may achieve the necessary changes in human behavior and particularly adult choices with respect to daily acts of consumption. Sustainable practices and choices are most effectively produced through immersion in experientially based learning programs aimed at elementary and secondary school students. The experience of sustainable living during the critical phase of personal identity formation is the key to shaping behavior, and not just imparting knowledge. This AGU education session, ED041: Teaching Sustainability and Human Impact through Collaborative Teaching Methods, explores the principles on which such experiential immersion learning contributes to genuine sustainable behaviors and choices through targeted, intelligently designed residential programs.
Engaging Learners through Artmaking: Choice-Based Art Education in the Classroom (TAB). Second Edition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Douglas, Katherine M.; Jaquith, Diane B.

2018-01-01

The authors who introduced the concepts of Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB) and choice-based art education have completely revised and updated their original, groundbreaking bestseller that was designed to facilitate independent learning and support student choices in subject matter and media. More than ever before, teachers are held…
Optimizing multiple-choice tests as tools for learning.

PubMed

Little, Jeri L; Bjork, Elizabeth Ligon

2015-01-01

Answering multiple-choice questions with competitive alternatives can enhance performance on a later test, not only on questions about the information previously tested, but also on questions about related information not previously tested-in particular, on questions about information pertaining to the previously incorrect alternatives. In the present research, we assessed a possible explanation for this pattern: When multiple-choice questions contain competitive incorrect alternatives, test-takers are led to retrieve previously studied information pertaining to all of the alternatives in order to discriminate among them and select an answer, with such processing strengthening later access to information associated with both the correct and incorrect alternatives. Supporting this hypothesis, we found enhanced performance on a later cued-recall test for previously nontested questions when their answers had previously appeared as competitive incorrect alternatives in the initial multiple-choice test, but not when they had previously appeared as noncompetitive alternatives. Importantly, however, competitive alternatives were not more likely than noncompetitive alternatives to be intruded as incorrect responses, indicating that a general increased accessibility for previously presented incorrect alternatives could not be the explanation for these results. The present findings, replicated across two experiments (one in which corrective feedback was provided during the initial multiple-choice testing, and one in which it was not), thus strongly suggest that competitive multiple-choice questions can trigger beneficial retrieval processes for both tested and related information, and the results have implications for the effective use of multiple-choice tests as tools for learning.
Restaurant-based intervention to facilitate healthy eating choices and the identification of allergenic foods at a family-oriented resort and a campground.

PubMed

Tarro, Lucia; Aceves-Martins, Magaly; Tiñena, Yolanda; Parisi, Joan Lluís; Blasi, Xavier; Giralt, Montse; Llauradó, Elisabet; Solà, Rosa

2017-05-05

Restaurant-based interventions can be an enjoyable way to encourage healthier eating choices by all members of a family. Thus, the principal aims of this study were a) to promote healthy diets by increasing healthy food offerings and b) to increase the number of foods offered specifically as gluten-free and lactose-free and to inform patrons by including nutritional and allergen information that complies with Regulation 1169/2011 regarding the food served in restaurants, takeaways and snack bars. A restaurant-based intervention was implemented at 16 food establishments at 2 resorts (the Cambrils Park Resort and Camping Sangulí, Spain, from 2014 to 2015) based on the following 4 components: 1) providing nutritional and allergen analyses of the offered dishes, 2) increasing the number of healthy food choices, 3) identifying menu items associated with allergies and intolerance, and 4) training staff on healthy eating and allergens. Customer satisfaction regarding food aspects was assessed using surveys (10-point scale). Both resorts significantly increased their offerings of healthy dishes (28.6% to 44.7%; P = 0.003) and desserts with fruit (20% to 51.3%; P = 0.013), thus obtaining the Spanish Government's Mediterranean Diet certification. Additionally, both resorts obtained Catalan Celiac Association certification. Moreover, both resorts significantly increased their percentages of gluten-free dishes (2.1% to 50.5%; P < 0.001) and lactose-free dishes (5.5% to 37.5%; P < 0.001) after the intervention. Customer satisfaction increased (mean ± standard deviation) from 6.9 ± 1.6 to 8.5 ± 1.5 (P < 0.001). This restaurant-based intervention expanded the number of healthy and allergen-free foods offered in a family-oriented holiday resort environment to encourage healthy food choices, resulting in increased customer satisfaction.
Sex Education: Challenges and Choices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

MacKenzie, Alison; Hedge, Nicki; Enslin, Penny

2017-01-01

Noting public concern about sexual exploitation, abuse and sexualisation, we argue that sex education in the UK needs revision. Choice is a feature of current sex education policy and, acknowledging that choice can be problematic, we defend its place in an approach to sex education premised on informed deliberation, relational autonomy, a…
“Developing Good Taste in Evidence”: Facilitators of and Hindrances to Evidence-Informed Health Policymaking in State Government

PubMed Central

Jewell, Christopher J; Bero, Lisa A

2008-01-01

Context Policymaking is a highly complex process that is often difficult to predict or influence. Most of the scholarship examining the role of research evidence in policymaking has focused narrowly on characteristics of the evidence and the interactions between scientists and government officials. The real-life context in which policymakers are situated and make decisions also is crucial to the development of evidence-informed policy. Methods This qualitative study expands on other studies of research utilization at the state level through interviews with twenty-eight state legislators and administrators about their real-life experiences incorporating evidence into policymaking. The interviews were coded inductively into the following categories: (1) the important or controversial issue or problem being addressed, (2) the information that was used, (3) facilitators, and (4) hindrances. Findings Hindrances to evidence-informed policymaking included institutional features; characteristics of the evidence supply, such as research quantity, quality, accessibility, and usability; and competing sources of influence, such as interest groups. The policymakers identified a number of facilitators to the use of evidence, including linking research to concrete impacts, costs, and benefits; reframing policy issues to fit the research; training to use evidence-based skills; and developing research venues and collaborative relationships in order to generate relevant evidence. Conclusions Certain hindrances to the incorporation of research into policy, like limited budgets, are systemic and not readily altered. However, some of the barriers and facilitators of evidence-informed health policymaking are amenable to change. Policymakers could benefit from evidence-based skills training to help them identify and evaluate high-quality information. Researchers and policymakers thus could collaborate to develop networks for generating and sharing relevant evidence for policy. PMID
EDUCATIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL CHOICES OF FARM YOUTH.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

HALLER, ARCHIBALD O.

EDUCATIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL ALTERNATIVES OPEN TO FARM BOYS AND GIRLS, THE FACTORS INFLUENCING THEIR JOB CHOICE, THE EFFECTS OF THEIR CHOICES ON THEIR JOB PERFORMANCE, AND WAYS OF IMPROVING THEIR CHOICES ARE DISCUSSED. INFORMATION IS BASED ON PERTINENT LITERATURE IN THE FIELD. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE OCCUPATIONAL STRUCTURE IS SUCH THAT THE MORE…
Enhancing provision of written medicine information in Australia: pharmacist, general practitioner and consumer perceptions of the barriers and facilitators.

PubMed

Hamrosi, Kim K; Raynor, David K; Aslani, Parisa

2014-04-23

Written medicine information can play an important role in educating consumers about their medicines. In Australia, standardised, comprehensive written information known as Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) is available for all prescription medicines. CMI is reportedly under-utilised by general practitioners (GPs) and community pharmacists in consultations, despite consumer desire for medicine information. This study aimed to determine consumers', GPs' and community pharmacists' preferences for CMI provision and identify barriers and facilitators to its use. Structured questionnaires were developed and administered to a national sample of Australian consumers (phone survey), community pharmacists and GPs (postal surveys) surrounding utilisation of CMI. Descriptive and comparative analyses were conducted. Half of consumers surveyed wanted to receive CMI for their prescription medicine, with spoken information preferable to written medicine information for many consumers and healthcare professionals. GPs and pharmacists remained a preferred source of medicine information for consumers, although package inserts were appealing to many among all three cohorts. Overall pharmacists were the preferred provider of CMI primarily due to their medicine expertise, accessibility and perceived availability. GPs preferred CMI dissemination through both the GP and pharmacist. Some consumers preferred GPs as the provider of medicines information because of their knowledge of the patients' medicines and/or medical history, regularity of seeing the patient and good relationship with the patient. Common barriers to CMI provision cited included: time constraints, CMI length and perceptions that patients are not interested in receiving CMI. Facilitators to enhance provision included: strategies to increase consumer awareness, longer consultation times and counseling appointments, and improvements to pharmacy software technology and workflow. Medicine information is important to
Information Expensiveness Perceived by Vietnamese Patients with Respect to Healthcare Provider’s Choice

PubMed Central

Quan-Hoang, Vuong

2016-01-01

Background: Patients have to acquire information to support their decision on choosing a suitable healthcare provider. But in developing countries like Vietnam, accessibility issues remain an obstacle, thus adversely affect both quality and costliness of healthcare information. Vietnamese use both sources from health professionals and friends/relatives, especially when quality of the Internet-based cheaper sources appear to be still questionable. The search of information from both professionals and friends/relatives incurs some cost, which can be viewed as low or high depending low or high accessibility to the sources. These views potentially affect their choices. Aim and Objectives: To investigate the effects that medical/health services information on perceived expensiveness of patients’ labor costs. Two related objectives are a) establishing empirical relations between accessibility to sources and expensiveness; and, b) probabilistic trends of probabilities for perceived expensiveness. Results: There is evidence for established relations among the variables “Convexp” and “Convrel” (all p’s < 0.01), indicating that both information sources (experts and friends/relatives) have influence on patients perception of information expensiveness. The use of experts source tends to increase the probability of perceived expensiveness. Conclusion: a) Probabilistic trends show Vietnamese patients have propensity to value healthcare information highly and do not see it as “expensive”; b) The majority of Vietnamese households still take non-professional advices at their own risks; c) There is more for the public healthcare information system to do to reduce costliness and risk of information. The Internet-based health service users communities cannot replace this system. PMID:28077894
AdChoices? Compliance with Online Behavioral Advertising Notice and Choice Requirements. Revised Version

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-10-07

further information and a means of opting out. Revised October 7, 2011. Keywords: Online behavioral advertising ; privacy; consumer choice; notice... consumers ’ activities online to target advertising .”1 The FTC has been examining ways to reduce the privacy concerns associated with OBA for over a decade...behavioral advertising practices that would foster transparency, knowledge and choice for consumers . As the FTC determines what to do next, it is
A comparison of face to face and group education on informed choice and decisional conflict of pregnant women about screening tests of fetal abnormalities

PubMed Central

Kordi, Masoumeh; Riyazi, Sahar; Lotfalizade, Marziyeh; Shakeri, Mohammad Taghi; Suny, Hoseyn Jafari

2018-01-01

BACKGROUND AND GOAL: Screening of fetal anomalies is assumed as a necessary measurement in antenatal cares. The screening plans aim at empowerment of individuals to make the informed choice. This study was conducted in order to compare the effect of group and face-to-face education and decisional conflicts among the pregnant females regarding screening of fetal abnormalities. METHODS: This study of the clinical trial was carried out on 240 pregnant women at <10-week pregnancy age in health care medical centers in Mashhad city in 2014. The form of individual-midwifery information and informed choice questionnaire and decisional conflict scale were used as tools for data collection. The face-to-face and group education course were held in two weekly sessions for intervention groups during two consecutive weeks, and the usual care was conducted for the control group. The rate of informed choice and decisional conflict was measured in pregnant women before education and also at weeks 20–22 of pregnancy in three groups. The data analysis was executed using SPSS statistical software (version 16), and statistical tests were implemented including Chi-square test, Kruskal–Wallis test, Wilcoxon test, Mann–Whitney U-test, one-way analysis of variance test, and Tukey's range test. The P < 0.05 was considered as a significant. RESULTS: The results showed that there was statically significant difference between three groups in terms of frequency of informed choice in screening of fetal abnormalities (P = 0.001) in such a way that at next step of intervention, 62 participants (77.5%) in face-to-face education group, 64 members (80%) in group education class, and 20 persons (25%) in control group had the informed choice regarding screening tests, but there was no statistically significant difference between two individual and group education classes. Similarly, during the postintervention phase, there was a statistically significant difference in mean score of decisional
Braving difficult choices alone: children's and adolescents' medical decision making.

PubMed

Ruggeri, Azzurra; Gummerum, Michaela; Hanoch, Yaniv

2014-01-01

What role should minors play in making medical decisions? The authors examined children's and adolescents' desire to be involved in serious medical decisions and the emotional consequences associated with them. Sixty-three children and 76 adolescents were presented with a cover story about a difficult medical choice. Participants were tested in one of four conditions: (1) own informed choice; (2) informed parents' choice to amputate; (3) informed parents' choice to continue a treatment; and (4) uninformed parents' choice to amputate. In a questionnaire, participants were asked about their choices, preference for autonomy, confidence, and emotional reactions when faced with a difficult hypothetical medical choice. Children and adolescents made different choices and participants, especially adolescents, preferred to make the difficult choice themselves, rather than having a parent make it. Children expressed fewer negative emotions than adolescents. Providing information about the alternatives did not affect participants' responses. Minors, especially adolescents, want to be responsible for their own medical decisions, even when the choice is a difficult one. For the adolescents, results suggest that the decision to be made, instead of the agent making the decision, is the main element influencing their emotional responses and decision confidence. For children, results suggest that they might be less able than adolescents to project how they would feel. The results, overall, draw attention to the need to further investigate how we can better involve minors in the medical decision-making process.

Braving Difficult Choices Alone: Children's and Adolescents' Medical Decision Making

PubMed Central

Ruggeri, Azzurra; Gummerum, Michaela; Hanoch, Yaniv

2014-01-01

Objective What role should minors play in making medical decisions? The authors examined children's and adolescents' desire to be involved in serious medical decisions and the emotional consequences associated with them. Methods Sixty-three children and 76 adolescents were presented with a cover story about a difficult medical choice. Participants were tested in one of four conditions: (1) own informed choice; (2) informed parents' choice to amputate; (3) informed parents' choice to continue a treatment; and (4) uninformed parents' choice to amputate. In a questionnaire, participants were asked about their choices, preference for autonomy, confidence, and emotional reactions when faced with a difficult hypothetical medical choice. Results Children and adolescents made different choices and participants, especially adolescents, preferred to make the difficult choice themselves, rather than having a parent make it. Children expressed fewer negative emotions than adolescents. Providing information about the alternatives did not affect participants' responses. Conclusions Minors, especially adolescents, want to be responsible for their own medical decisions, even when the choice is a difficult one. For the adolescents, results suggest that the decision to be made, instead of the agent making the decision, is the main element influencing their emotional responses and decision confidence. For children, results suggest that they might be less able than adolescents to project how they would feel. The results, overall, draw attention to the need to further investigate how we can better involve minors in the medical decision-making process. PMID:25084274
Offering a Treatment Choice in the Irradiation of Prostate Cancer Leads to Better Informed and More Active Patients, Without Harm to Well-Being

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tol-Geerdink, Julia J. van; Leer, Jan Willem; Lin, Emile N. J. Th. van

2008-02-01

Purpose: To examine, in prostate cancer patients, the effect of (1) being offered a choice between radiation doses in three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy, and of (2) accepting or declining the possibility to choose. Methods and Materials: A total of 150 patients with localized prostate cancer (T1-3N0M0) were offered a choice with a decision aid between two radiation doses (70 and 74 Gy). A control group of 144 patients received a fixed radiation dose without being offered a choice. Data were collected at baseline (before choice), before treatment (after choice), and 2 weeks and 6 months after treatment completion. Results: Compared withmore » the control group, the involvement group, receiving the decision aid, showed increased participation in decision making (p < 0.001), increased knowledge (p < 0.001), and improved risk perception (p < 0.001); they were more satisfied with the quality of information (p = 0.002) and considered their treatment a more appropriate treatment (p = 0.01). No group differences were found in well-being (e.g., general health, European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer quality of life, anxiety). Within the involvement group, accepting or declining the option to choose did not affect well-being either. Conclusions: Offering a choice of radiation dose, with a decision aid, increased involvement in decision making and led to a better-informed patient. In contrast to earlier suggestions, a strong increase in involvement did not result in improved well-being; and in contrast to clinical concerns, well-being was not negatively affected either, not even in those patients who preferred to leave the decision to their physician. This study shows that older patients, such as prostate cancer patients, can be informed and involved in decision making.« less
Evaluating information literacy educators' practices before and after the course facilitating information literacy education: from tutor to learner-centred.

PubMed

Andretta, Susie

2011-09-01

The article gives an account of a study on the impact of facilitating information literacy education (FILE) on its participants, health librarians who have attended this course between 2007 and 2010. The analysis presented here is based on the first stage of the research, funded by the Higher Education Academy Information and Computer Sciences and consisting of an online survey. This survey was conducted in Autumn 2010 and examined the respondents' examples of information literacy practice before and after FILE. Two main outcomes can be drawn from the data. First, that overall the respondents' provision of information literacy education has shifted from a tutor-centred approach (where the trainer decides what the learner needs) to a learner-centred approach (where the learner decides what he/she needs). And secondly, that the impact of FILE should be seen in terms of a self-perpetuating professional development, rather than measured in terms of specific changes that occur at set times (e.g., at the end of the course or 6 months after completion). As one FILE participant puts it: 'When FILE ends your career as an information literacy professional starts.' © 2011 The authors. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2011 Health Libraries Group.
Defining Research: The Effect of Linguistic Choices on the Intentions to Participate in Clinical Research.

PubMed

Strekalova, Yulia A

2017-06-01

Significant barriers to participant recruitment for clinical research (CR) are related to effective communication, and nurse coordinators are entrusted with being knowledge brokers between investigators and prospective participants. This prospective cohort study sought to identify linguistic choices that could inform and facilitate recruitment efforts. Healthy adults ( N = 204) were invited to join an online survey to assess the likelihood of participation in CR based on short and extended definitions of CR. Five short definitions included clinical trial, clinical study, health-related research study, community participatory study, and quality improvement study. The likelihood of participation in CR was the lowest for clinical trial and the highest for health-related research study. However, when only an extended definition was provided, those differences were not observed. A linguistic change from trial to study could lead to positive attitude toward CR and improvements in recruitment. However, ethical implications of linguistic choices should be considered.
The effect of presenting information about invasive follow-up testing on individuals' noninvasive colorectal cancer screening participation decision: results from a discrete choice experiment.

PubMed

Benning, Tim M; Dellaert, Benedict G C; Severens, Johan L; Dirksen, Carmen D

2014-07-01

Many national colorectal cancer screening campaigns have a similar structure. First, individuals are invited to take a noninvasive screening test, and, second, in the case of a positive screening test result, they are advised to undergo a more invasive follow-up test. The objective of this study was to investigate how much individuals' participation decision in noninvasive screening is affected by the presence or absence of detailed information about invasive follow-up testing and how this effect varies over screening tests. We used a labeled discrete choice experiment of three noninvasive colorectal cancer screening types with two versions that did or did not present respondents with detailed information about the possible invasive follow-up test (i.e., colonoscopy) and its procedure. We used data from 631 Dutch respondents aged 55 to 75 years. Each respondent received only one of the two versions (N = 310 for the invasive follow-up test information specification version, and N = 321 for the no-information specification version). Mixed logit model results show that detailed information about the invasive follow-up test negatively affects screening participation decisions. This effect can be explained mainly by a decrease in choice shares for the most preferred screening test (a combined stool and blood sample test). Choice share simulations based on the discrete choice experiment indicated that presenting invasive follow-up test information decreases screening participation by 4.79%. Detailed information about the invasive follow-up test has a negative effect on individuals' screening participation decisions in noninvasive colorectal cancer screening campaigns. This result poses new challenges for policymakers who aim not only to increase uptake but also to provide full disclosure to potential screening participants. Copyright © 2014 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Determinants of choice, and vulnerability and recovery in addiction

PubMed Central

Lamb, R.J.; Maguire, David R.; Ginsburg, Brett C.; Pinkston, Jonathan W.; France, Charles P.

2016-01-01

Addiction may be viewed as choice governed by competing contingencies. One factor impacting choice, particularly as it relates to addiction, is sensitivity to delayed rewards. Discounting of delayed rewards influences addiction vulnerability because of competition between relatively immediate gains of drug use, e.g. intoxication, versus relatively remote gains of abstinence, e.g. family stability. Factors modifying delay sensitivity can be modeled in the laboratory. For instance, increased delay sensitivity can be similarly observed in adolescent humans and non-human animals. Similarly, genetic factors influence delay sensitivity in humans and animals. Recovery from addiction may also be viewed as choice behavior. Thus, reinforcing alternative behavior facilitates recovery because reinforcing alternative behavior decreases the frequency of using drugs. How reinforcing alternative behavior influences recovery can also be modeled in the laboratory. For instance, relapse risk decreases as abstinence duration increases, and this decreasing risk can be modeled in animals using choice procedures. In summary, addiction in many respects can be conceptualized as a problem of choice. Animal models of choice disorders stand to increase our understanding of the core processes that establish and maintain addiction and serve as a proving ground for development of novel treatments. PMID:27083500
When choice matters: task-dependent memory effects in older adulthood.

PubMed

Depping, Miriam K; Freund, Alexandra M

2013-12-01

As goal orientation shifts across adulthood from a primary orientation toward gains to an increased importance of the prevention of losses, older adults' information processing may be particularly sensitive to potential losses if there is a possibility of avoiding them. In line with these motivational changes, we expected older adults to remember more loss-related information when choosing between 2 options than when not having to make a decision and when compared with younger adults. Using an incidental memory paradigm, we asked younger and older adults to recall as much information as possible of 2 previously presented hypothetical travel packages (Experiment 1) or 2 hospitals (Experiment 2) containing positive (gain-related), negative (loss-related), and neutral information in either a decision or a control condition (evaluating the readability of the texts). Experiment 1 showed that older adults remembered more negative information than younger adults and more negative than positive information in the choice but not in the control condition. Experiment 2 followed the same procedure using a choice between 2 hospitals for minor surgery. This choice was assumed to trigger a stronger orientation toward the prevention of losses than the choice between travel packages. As expected, in this situation, both age groups remembered more negative information relative to neutral and positive information regardless of the condition (choice vs. control). Importantly, older adults remembered more negative information in the choice condition compared with younger adults. Taken together, results suggest that the processing of decision-relevant information promotes a stronger focus on negative information in older adults. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.
Evaluation of strategies to communicate harmful and potentially harmful constituent (HPHC) information through cigarette package inserts: a discrete choice experiment.

PubMed

Salloum, Ramzi G; Louviere, Jordan J; Getz, Kayla R; Islam, Farahnaz; Anshari, Dien; Cho, Yoojin; O'Connor, Richard J; Hammond, David; Thrasher, James F

2017-07-13

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has regulatory authority to use inserts to communicate with consumers about harmful and potentially harmful constituents (HPHCs) in tobacco products; however, little is known about the most effective manner for presenting HPHC information. In a discrete choice experiment, participants evaluated eight choice sets, each of which showed two cigarette packages from four different brands and tar levels (high vs low), accompanied by an insert that included between-subject manipulations (ie, listing of HPHCs vs grouping by disease outcome and numeric values ascribed to HPHCs vs no numbers) and within-subject manipulations (ie, 1 of 4 warning topics; statement linking an HPHC with disease vs statement with no HPHC link). For each choice set, participants were asked: (1) which package is more harmful and (2) which motivates them to not smoke; each with a 'no difference' option. Alternative-specific logit models regressed choice on attribute levels. 1212 participants were recruited from an online consumer panel (725 18-29-year-old smokers and susceptible non-smokers and 487 30-64-year-old smokers). Participants were more likely to endorse high-tar products as more harmful than low-tar products, with a greater effect when numeric HPHC information was present. Compared with a simple warning statement, the statement linking HPHCs with disease encouraged quit motivation. Numeric HPHC information on inserts appears to produce misunderstandings that some cigarettes are less harmful than others. Furthermore, brief narratives that link HPHCs to smoking-related disease may promote cessation versus communications that do not explicitly link HPHCs to disease. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.
Women who are well informed about prenatal genetic screening delay emotional attachment to their fetus.

PubMed

Rowe, Heather; Fisher, Jane; Quinlivan, Julie

2009-03-01

Prenatal maternal serum screening allows assessment of risk of chromosomal abnormalities in the fetus and is increasingly being offered to all women regardless of age or prior risk. However ensuring informed choice to participate in screening is difficult and the psychological implications of making an informed decision are uncertain. The aim of this study was to compare the growth of maternal-fetal emotional attachment in groups of women whose decisions about participation in screening were informed or not informed. A prospective longitudinal design was used. English speaking women were recruited in antenatal clinics prior to the offer of second trimester maternal screening. Three self-report questionnaires completed over the course of pregnancy used validated measures of informed choice and maternal-fetal emotional attachment. Attachment scores throughout pregnancy in informed and not-informed groups were compared in repeated measures analysis. 134 completed the first assessment (recruitment 73%) and 68 (58%) provided compete data. The informed group had significantly lower attachment scores (p = 0.023) than the not-informed group prior to testing, but scores were similar (p = 0.482) after test results were known. The findings raise questions about the impact of delayed maternal-fetal attachment and appropriate interventions to facilitate informed choice to participate in screening.
Preferential Representation of Past Outcome Information and Future Choice Behavior by Putative Inhibitory Interneurons Rather Than Putative Pyramidal Neurons in the Primate Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex.

PubMed

Kawai, Takashi; Yamada, Hiroshi; Sato, Nobuya; Takada, Masahiko; Matsumoto, Masayuki

2018-05-02

The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) plays crucial roles in monitoring the outcome of a choice and adjusting a subsequent choice behavior based on the outcome information. In the present study, we investigated how different types of dACC neurons, that is, putative pyramidal neurons and putative inhibitory interneurons, contribute to these processes. We analyzed single-unit database obtained from the dACC in monkeys performing a reversal learning task. The monkey was required to adjust choice behavior from past outcome experiences. Depending on their action potential waveforms, the recorded neurons were classified into putative pyramidal neurons and putative inhibitory interneurons. We found that these neurons do not equally contribute to outcome monitoring and behavioral adjustment. Although both neuron types evenly responded to the current outcome, a larger proportion of putative inhibitory interneurons than putative pyramidal neurons stored the information about the past outcome. The putative inhibitory interneurons further represented choice-related signals more frequently, such as whether the monkey would shift the last choice to an alternative at the next choice opportunity. Our findings suggest that putative inhibitory interneurons, which are thought not to project to brain areas outside the dACC, preferentially transmit signals that would adjust choice behavior based on past outcome experiences.
Serotonin enhances the impact of health information on food choice.

PubMed

Vlaev, Ivo; Crockett, Molly J; Clark, Luke; Müller, Ulrich; Robbins, Trevor W

2017-06-01

Serotonin has been implicated in promoting self-control, regulation of hunger and physiological homeostasis, and regulation of caloric intake. However, it remains unclear whether the effects of serotonin on caloric intake reflect purely homeostatic mechanisms, or whether serotonin also modulates cognitive processes involved in dietary decision making. We investigated the effects of an acute dose of the serotonin reuptake inhibitor citalopram on choices between food items that differed along taste and health attributes, compared with placebo and the noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor atomoxetine. Twenty-seven participants attended three sessions and received single doses of atomoxetine, citalopram, and placebo in a double-blind randomised cross-over design. Relative to placebo, citalopram increased choices of more healthy foods over less healthy foods. Citalopram also increased the emphasis on health considerations in decisions. Atomoxetine did not affect decision making relative to placebo. The results support the hypothesis that serotonin may influence food choice by enhancing a focus on long-term goals. The findings are relevant for understanding decisions about food consumption and also for treating health conditions such as eating disorders and obesity.
The effect of a recessionary economy on food choice: implications for nutrition education.

PubMed

Miller, Carla K; Branscum, Paul

2012-01-01

To determine the effect of an economic recession on food choice behaviors. A qualitative study using semistructured, in-depth interviews followed by completion of a nutrition knowledge questionnaire and the Food Choice Questionnaire was conducted. A convenience sample from a metropolitan city in the Midwest. Women with children younger than 18 years in the household who had experienced unemployment, underemployment, or loss of a house because of foreclosure in the previous year participated (n = 25). Reported behaviors for food choices when grocery shopping and dining out and educational resources requested to inform nutrition education programs. Interviews were coded with a matrix derived from participant statements. Common behaviors were grouped and broad themes were identified. Numerous shopping strategies were recently used to save money (eg, buying only sale items, using coupons). Participants believed a healthful diet included a variety of foods with less sugar, salt, and fat. Recipes and menus that required little cost or preparation time and resources to track food expenditures were desired. Nutrition education should include money-saving shopping strategies, facilitate menu planning and cooking skills, and address food resource management to enable participants to acquire sufficient, acceptable, and nutritionally adequate food. Copyright Â© 2012 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Web Site Usability Testing Involving People with Learning Disabilities Using Only Images and Audio to Access Information

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Peter

2013-01-01

The need for social inclusion, informed choice and the facilitation of independent living for people with learning disabilities (LD) is being emphasised ever more by government, professionals, academics and, indeed, by people with LD themselves, particularly in self-advocacy groups. Achieving goals around inclusion and autonomy requires access to…
Connecting cognition and consumer choice.

PubMed

Bartels, Daniel M; Johnson, Eric J

2015-02-01

We describe what can be gained from connecting cognition and consumer choice by discussing two contexts ripe for interaction between the two fields. The first-context effects on choice-has already been addressed by cognitive science yielding insights about cognitive process but there is promise for more interaction. The second is learning and representation in choice where relevant theories in cognitive science could be informed by consumer choice, and in return, could pose and answer new questions. We conclude by discussing how these two fields of research stand to benefit from more interaction, citing examples of how interfaces of cognitive science with other fields have been illuminating for theories of cognition. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Enhancing provision of written medicine information in Australia: pharmacist, general practitioner and consumer perceptions of the barriers and facilitators

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Written medicine information can play an important role in educating consumers about their medicines. In Australia, standardised, comprehensive written information known as Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) is available for all prescription medicines. CMI is reportedly under-utilised by general practitioners (GPs) and community pharmacists in consultations, despite consumer desire for medicine information. This study aimed to determine consumers’, GPs’ and community pharmacists’ preferences for CMI provision and identify barriers and facilitators to its use. Method Structured questionnaires were developed and administered to a national sample of Australian consumers (phone survey), community pharmacists and GPs (postal surveys) surrounding utilisation of CMI. Descriptive and comparative analyses were conducted. Results Half of consumers surveyed wanted to receive CMI for their prescription medicine, with spoken information preferable to written medicine information for many consumers and healthcare professionals. GPs and pharmacists remained a preferred source of medicine information for consumers, although package inserts were appealing to many among all three cohorts. Overall pharmacists were the preferred provider of CMI primarily due to their medicine expertise, accessibility and perceived availability. GPs preferred CMI dissemination through both the GP and pharmacist. Some consumers preferred GPs as the provider of medicines information because of their knowledge of the patients’ medicines and/or medical history, regularity of seeing the patient and good relationship with the patient. Common barriers to CMI provision cited included: time constraints, CMI length and perceptions that patients are not interested in receiving CMI. Facilitators to enhance provision included: strategies to increase consumer awareness, longer consultation times and counseling appointments, and improvements to pharmacy software technology and workflow. Conclusion
Modeling mental health information preferences during the early adult years: a discrete choice conjoint experiment.

PubMed

Cunningham, Charles E; Walker, John R; Eastwood, John D; Westra, Henny; Rimas, Heather; Chen, Yvonne; Marcus, Madalyn; Swinson, Richard P; Bracken, Keyna; The Mobilizing Minds Research Group

2014-04-01

Although most young adults with mood and anxiety disorders do not seek treatment, those who are better informed about mental health problems are more likely to use services. The authors used conjoint analysis to model strategies for providing information about anxiety and depression to young adults. Participants (N = 1,035) completed 17 choice tasks presenting combinations of 15 four-level attributes of a mental health information strategy. Latent class analysis yielded 3 segments. The virtual segment (28.7%) preferred working independently on the Internet to obtain information recommended by young adults who had experienced anxiety or depression. Self-assessment options and links to service providers were more important to this segment. Conventional participants (30.1%) preferred books or pamphlets recommended by a doctor, endorsed by mental health professionals, and used with a doctor's support. They would devote more time to information acquisition but were less likely to use Internet social networking options. Brief sources of information were more important to the low interest segment (41.2%). All segments preferred information about alternative ways to reduce anxiety or depression rather than psychological approaches or medication. Maximizing the use of information requires active and passive approaches delivered through old-media (e.g., books) and new-media (e.g., Internet) channels.
Modeling Mental Health Information Preferences During the Early Adult Years: A Discrete Choice Conjoint Experiment

PubMed Central

Cunningham, Charles E.; Walker, John R.; Eastwood, John D.; Westra, Henny; Rimas, Heather; Chen, Yvonne; Marcus, Madalyn; Swinson, Richard P.; Bracken, Keyna

2013-01-01

Although most young adults with mood and anxiety disorders do not seek treatment, those who are better informed about mental health problems are more likely to use services. The authors used conjoint analysis to model strategies for providing information about anxiety and depression to young adults. Participants (N = 1,035) completed 17 choice tasks presenting combinations of 15 four-level attributes of a mental health information strategy. Latent class analysis yielded 3 segments. The virtual segment (28.7%) preferred working independently on the Internet to obtain information recommended by young adults who had experienced anxiety or depression. Self-assessment options and links to service providers were more important to this segment. Conventional participants (30.1%) preferred books or pamphlets recommended by a doctor, endorsed by mental health professionals, and used with a doctor's support. They would devote more time to information acquisition but were less likely to use Internet social networking options. Brief sources of information were more important to the low interest segment (41.2%). All segments preferred information about alternative ways to reduce anxiety or depression rather than psychological approaches or medication. Maximizing the use of information requires active and passive approaches delivered through old-media (e.g. books) and new-media (e.g., Internet) channels. PMID:24266450
The Development and Evaluation of an Information Technology Support System to Facilitate Inter-Organisational Collaboration in HRD

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ford, Norma J.

2006-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to evaluate the diffusion of and user response to an information technology support system (ITSS) which was designed to facilitate inter-organisational coordination and collaboration in the professional development of officers employed by local authorities (LAs). Design/methodology/approach: An action…
Temporal dynamics of choice behavior in rats and humans: an examination of pre- and post-choice latencies

PubMed Central

Fam, Justine; Westbrook, Fred; Arabzadeh, Ehsan

2016-01-01

Identifying similarities and differences in choice behavior across species is informative about how basic mechanisms give rise to more complex processes. In the present study, we compared pre- and post-choice latencies between rats and humans under two paradigms. In Experiment 1, we used a cued choice paradigm where subjects were presented with a cue that directed them as to which of two options to respond for rewards. In Experiment 2, subjects were free to choose between two options in order to procure rewards. In both Experiments rewards were delivered with distinct probabilities. The trial structure used in these experiments allowed the choice process to be decomposed into pre- and post-choice processes. Overall, post-choice latencies reflected the difference in reward probability between the two options, where latencies for the option with higher probability of reward were longer than those for the option with lower probability of reward. An interesting difference between rats and humans was observed: the choice behavior for humans, but not rats, was sensitive to the free-choice aspect of the tasks, such that in free-choice trials post-choice latencies no longer reflected the difference in reward probabilities between the two options. PMID:26862000
Mammography screening. Benefits, harms, and informed choice.

PubMed

Jørgensen, Karsten Juhl

2013-04-01

discussed in the context of tumour biology and stage at diagnosis. The information provided to women in invitations and on the Internet exaggerates benefits, participation is directly recommended, and the harms are downplayed or left out, despite agreement that the objective is informed choice. This raises an ethical discussion concerning autonomy versus paternalism, and the difficulty in weighing benefits against harms. Finally, financial, political, and professional conflicts of interest are discussed, as well as health economics.

Facilitated Communication: An Experimental Evaluation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Regal, Robert A.; And Others

1994-01-01

Nineteen adults with developmental disabilities, judged competent in facilitated communication, participated in a validation study using an information passing design requiring short-term recall of stimulus cards with shapes, colors, and numbers. Results failed to validate facilitated communication for the group as a whole, any individual…
Feminist-informed participatory action research: a methodology of choice for examining critical nursing issues.

PubMed

Corbett, Andrea M; Francis, Karen; Chapman, Ysanne

2007-04-01

Identifying a methodology to guide a study that aims to enhance service delivery can be challenging. Participatory action research offers a solution to this challenge as it both informs and is informed by critical social theory. In addition, using a feminist lens helps acquiesce this approach as a suitable methodology for changing practice. This methodology embraces empowerment self-determination and the facilitation of agreed change as central tenets that guide the research process. Encouraged by the work of Foucault, Friere, Habermas, and Maguire, this paper explicates the philosophical assumptions underpinning critical social theory and outlines how feminist influences are complimentary in exploring the processes and applications of nursing research that seeks to embrace change.
Students' Choice of Universities in Germany: Structure, Factors and Information Sources Used

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Obermeit, Katrin

2012-01-01

Student recruitment is an increasingly important topic for universities worldwide. But in order to develop sophisticated recruitment strategies, recruitment officers need to have a clear understanding of how and why students choose colleges. This review compares the German and US research concerning university choice models, choice criteria and…
"Choice Set" for health behavior in choice-constrained settings to frame research and inform policy: examples of food consumption, obesity and food security.

PubMed

Dover, Robert V H; Lambert, Estelle V

2016-03-16

Using the nexus between food consumption, food security and obesity, this paper addresses the complexity of health behavior decision-making moments that reflect relational social dynamics in context-specific dialogues, often in choice-constrained conditions. A pragmatic review of literature regarding social determinants of health in relation to food consumption, food security and obesity was used to advance this theoretical model. We suggest that health choice, such as food consumption, is based on more than the capacity and volition of individuals to make "healthy" choices, but is dialogic and adaptive. In terms of food consumption, there will always be choice-constrained conditions, along a continuum representing factors over which the individual has little or no control, to those for which they have greater agency. These range from food store geographies and inventories and food availability, logistical considerations such as transportation, food distribution, the structure of equity in food systems, state and non-government food and nutrition programs, to factors where the individual exercises a greater degree of autonomy, such as sociocultural foodways, family and neighborhood shopping strategies, and personal and family food preferences. At any given food decision-making moment, many factors of the continuum are present consciously or unconsciously when the individual makes a decision. These health behavior decision-making moments are mutable, whether from an individual perspective, or within a broader social or policy context. We review the construct of "choice set", the confluence of factors that are temporally weighted by the differentiated and relationally-contextualized importance of certain factors over others in that moment. The choice transition represents an essential shift of the choice set based on the conscious and unconscious weighting of accumulated evidence, such that people can project certain outcomes. Policies and interventions should avoid
Marketing, Information, and Parental Choice: A Comparative Case Study of Third-Party, Federally Funded Out-of-School-Time Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stewart, Molly S.; Good, Annalee G.

2016-01-01

Information and promotional marketing play central but complex roles in market-based educational programs. This in-depth qualitative study examines these complexities using the case of Supplemental Educational Services, a parental choice program providing federally funded tutoring to low-income students in K-12 public schools. Examining the…
Determinants of choice, and vulnerability and recovery in addiction.

PubMed

Lamb, R J; Maguire, David R; Ginsburg, Brett C; Pinkston, Jonathan W; France, Charles P

2016-06-01

Addiction may be viewed as choice governed by competing contingencies. One factor impacting choice, particularly as it relates to addiction, is sensitivity to delayed rewards. Discounting of delayed rewards influences addiction vulnerability because of competition between relatively immediate gains of drug use, e.g. intoxication, versus relatively remote gains of abstinence, e.g. family stability. Factors modifying delay sensitivity can be modeled in the laboratory. For instance, increased delay sensitivity can be similarly observed in adolescent humans and non-human animals. Similarly, genetic factors influence delay sensitivity in humans and animals. Recovery from addiction may also be viewed as choice behavior. Thus, reinforcing alternative behavior facilitates recovery because reinforcing alternative behavior decreases the frequency of using drugs. How reinforcing alternative behavior influences recovery can also be modeled in the laboratory. For instance, relapse risk decreases as abstinence duration increases, and this decreasing risk can be modeled in animals using choice procedures. In summary, addiction in many respects can be conceptualized as a problem of choice. Animal models of choice disorders stand to increase our understanding of the core processes that establish and maintain addiction and serve as a proving ground for development of novel treatments. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Framing Options as Choice or Opportunity: Does the Frame Influence Decisions?

PubMed

Abhyankar, Purva; Summers, Barbara A; Velikova, Galina; Bekker, Hilary L

2014-07-01

Health professionals must enable patients to make informed decisions about health care choices through unbiased presentation of all options. This study examined whether presenting the decision as "opportunity" rather than "choice" biased individuals' preferences in the context of trial participation for cancer treatment. Self-selecting healthy women (N = 124) were randomly assigned to the following decision frames: opportunity to take part in the trial (opt-in), opportunity to be removed from the trial (opt-out), and choice to have standard treatment or take part in the trial (choice). The computer-based task required women to make a hypothetical choice about a real-world cancer treatment trial. The software presented the framed scenario, recorded initial preference, presented comprehensive and balanced information, traced participants' use of information during decision making, and recorded final decision. A posttask paper questionnaire assessed perceived risk, attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and satisfaction with decision. Framing influenced women's immediate preferences. Opportunity frames, whether opt-in or opt-out, introduced a bias as they discouraged women from choosing standard treatment. Using the choice frame avoided this bias. The opt-out opportunity frame also affected women's perceived social norm; women felt that others endorsed the trial option. The framing bias was not present once participants had had the opportunity to view detailed information on the options within a patient decision aid format. There were no group differences in information acquisition and final decisions. Sixteen percent changed their initial preference after receiving full information. A "choice" frame, where all treatment options are explicit, is less likely to bias preferences. Presentation of full information in parallel, option-by-attribute format is likely to "de-bias" the decision frame. Tailoring of information to initial preferences would be
Which factors decided general practitioners’ choice of hospital on behalf of their patients in an area with free choice of public hospital? A questionnaire study

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Parts of New Public Management-reforms of the public sector depend on introduction of market-like mechanisms to manage the sector, like free choice of hospital. However, patients may delegate the choice of hospital to agents like general practitioners (GPs). We have investigated which factors Danish GPs reported as decisive for their choice of hospital on behalf of patients, and their utilisation of formal and informal data sources when they chose a hospital on behalf of patients. Methods Retrospective questionnaire study of all of the 474 GPs practising in three counties which constituted a single uptake area. Patients were free to choose a hospital in another county in the country. The GPs were asked about responsibility for choice of the latest three patients referred by the GP to hospital; which of 16 factors influenced the choice of hospital; which of 15 sources of information about clinical quality at various hospitals/departments were considered relevant, and how often were six sources of information about waiting time utilised. Results Fifty-one percent (240 GPs) filled in and returned the questionnaire. One hundred and eighty-three GPs (76%) reported that they perceived that they chose the hospital on behalf of the latest referred patient. Short distance to hospital was the most common reason for choice of hospital. The most frequently used source of information about quality at hospital departments was anecdotal reports from patients referred previously, and the most important source of information about waiting time was the hospitals’ letters of confirmation of referrals. Conclusions In an area with free choice of public hospital most GPs perceived that they chose the hospital on behalf of patients. Short distance to hospital was the factor which most often decided the GPs’ choice of hospital on behalf of patients. GPs attached little weight to official information on quality and service (waiting time) at hospitals or departments, focusing
What supports do health system organizations have in place to facilitate evidence-informed decision-making? A qualitative study.

PubMed

Ellen, Moriah E; Léon, Gregory; Bouchard, Gisèle; Lavis, John N; Ouimet, Mathieu; Grimshaw, Jeremy M

2013-08-06

Decisions regarding health systems are sometimes made without the input of timely and reliable evidence, leading to less than optimal health outcomes. Healthcare organizations can implement tools and infrastructures to support the use of research evidence to inform decision-making. The purpose of this study was to profile the supports and instruments (i.e., programs, interventions, instruments or tools) that healthcare organizations currently have in place and which ones were perceived to facilitate evidence-informed decision-making. In-depth semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with individuals in three different types of positions (i.e., a senior management team member, a library manager, and a 'knowledge broker') in three types of healthcare organizations (i.e., regional health authorities, hospitals and primary care practices) in two Canadian provinces (i.e., Ontario and Quebec). The interviews were taped, transcribed, and then analyzed thematically using NVivo 9 qualitative data analysis software. A total of 57 interviews were conducted in 25 organizations in Ontario and Quebec. The main findings suggest that, for the healthcare organizations that participated in this study, the following supports facilitate evidence-informed decision-making: facilitating roles that actively promote research use within the organization; establishing ties to researchers and opinion leaders outside the organization; a technical infrastructure that provides access to research evidence, such as databases; and provision and participation in training programs to enhance staff's capacity building. This study identified the need for having a receptive climate, which laid the foundation for the implementation of other tangible initiatives and supported the use of research in decision-making. This study adds to the literature on organizational efforts that can increase the use of research evidence in decision-making. Some of the identified supports may increase the use of
Sleep deprivation alters choice strategy without altering uncertainty or loss aversion preferences

PubMed Central

Mullette-Gillman, O'Dhaniel A.; Kurnianingsih, Yoanna A.; Liu, Jean C. J.

2015-01-01

Sleep deprivation alters decision making; however, it is unclear what specific cognitive processes are modified to drive altered choices. In this manuscript, we examined how one night of total sleep deprivation (TSD) alters economic decision making. We specifically examined changes in uncertainty preferences dissociably from changes in the strategy with which participants engage with presented choice information. With high test-retest reliability, we show that TSD does not alter uncertainty preferences or loss aversion. Rather, TSD alters the information the participants rely upon to make their choices. Utilizing a choice strategy metric which contrasts the influence of maximizing and satisficing information on choice behavior, we find that TSD alters the relative reliance on maximizing information and satisficing information, in the gains domain. This alteration is the result of participants both decreasing their reliance on cognitively-complex maximizing information and a concomitant increase in the use of readily-available satisficing information. TSD did not result in a decrease in overall information use in either domain. These results show that sleep deprivation alters decision making by altering the informational strategies that participants employ, without altering their preferences. PMID:26500479
Learning From Tests: Facilitation of Delayed Recall by Initial Recognition Alternatives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitten, William B., II; Leonard, Janet Mauriello

1980-01-01

Two experiments were designed to determine the effects of multiple-choice recognition test alternatives on subsequent memory for the correct answers. Results of both experiments are interpreted as demonstrations of the principle that long-term retention is facilitated such that memory evaluation occurs during initial recognition tests. (Author/RD)
An appropriately performed conventional blood culture can facilitate choice of therapy in resource-constrained settings-comparison with BACTEC 9050.

PubMed

Surase, P V; Nataraj, G; Pattamadai, K; Mehta, P R; Pazare, A R; Agarwal, M C; Nanavati, R N

2016-01-01

Comparison of conventional blood culture with BACTEC 9050 for rate and time to detection of microorganisms. A prospective study was carried out in a multispecialty tertiary care teaching hospital. A total of 835 paired specimens (797 blood and 38 nonblood specimens) were collected and processed according to standard microbiological procedures by both conventional method as well as by BACTEC 9050 automated culture system. Clinical details of patients were recorded. Data were analyzed for time to detection and isolation rate by the two systems and compared. Overall culture positivity for BACTEC 9050 and the conventional system was 32% and 19.88%, respectively. Eighty-five demonstrated concordant growth, 136 specimens were culture positive by BACTEC only, and 38 specimens were culture positive by conventional only. Twelve contaminants in BACTEC and nine contaminants in conventional system were detected. Using BACTEC 9050, higher isolation was observed for Acinetobacter spp., coagulase negative Staphylococcus spp., Streptococcus spp., and Candida spp. A total of 410 patients were on antimicrobial treatment and culture positivity was significantly higher with BACTEC 9050 (P < 0.0001). There was a significant difference in the mean time to detection with BACTEC 9050 recovering 86.8% of isolates within 48 h (P < 0.0001). Although BACTEC 9050 demonstrated a significantly higher recovery of microorganisms from blood, an appropriately performed conventional blood culture can facilitate the choice of therapy.
Participants’ perceptions of a knowledge-brokering strategy to facilitate evidence-informed policy-making in Fiji

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Evidence-informed policy-making (EIPM) is optimal when evidence-producers (researchers) and policy developers work collaboratively to ensure the production and use of the best available evidence. This paper examined participants’ perceptions of knowledge-brokering strategies used in the TROPIC (Translational Research in Obesity Prevention in Communities) project to facilitate the use of obesity-related evidence in policy development in Fiji. Method Knowledge-brokers delivered a 12-18 month programme comprising workshops targeting EIPM skills and practical support for developing evidence-informed policy briefs to reduce obesity. The programme was tailored to each of the six participating organizations. Knowledge-brokering strategies included negotiating topics that were aligned to the goals of individual organizations, monitoring and evaluating time-management skills, accommodating other organizational and individual priorities, delivering practical sessions on use of appropriate research tools and supporting individual writing of policy briefs. Two qualitative methods were used to examine individuals’ perceptions of skills obtained, opportunities afforded by the TROPIC project, facilitators and inhibiters to planned policy brief development and suggestions for improved programme delivery. Forty-nine participants completed an electronic word table and then participated in a semi-structured interview. An independent interviewer conducted structured interviews with a high-ranking officer in each organization to examine their perceptions of TROPIC engagement strategies. Data were analyzed descriptively and thematically, with the first author and another experienced qualitative researcher analyzing data sets separately, and then combining analyses. Results Many participants believed that they had increased their skills in acquiring, assessing, adapting and applying evidence, writing policy briefs and presenting evidence-based arguments to higher levels
Evaluating the Concept of Choice in Healthcare

PubMed Central

Zolkefli, Yusrita

2017-01-01

Choice is what we all want, as most would say. There is a growing cognisance that patients can and should play an important role in deciding their own care, in defining optimal care, and in improving healthcare delivery. Popular concepts such as patient-centred care, patient empowerment, and patients as partners, shared decision making, and informed choice illustrate the emancipation of patient. The paper describes that choice is not necessarily a good thing in health care; however, that does not rebut the significance of choice. In order to support the overall argument, the paper focuses on why patient choice is important, and in each discussion, this is disputed with counter-arguments to demonstrate that in fact, to an extent, choice is not necessarily a good thing in healthcare. PMID:29379391
A Framework for Instrument Development of a Choice Experiment: An Application to Type 2 Diabetes.

PubMed

Janssen, Ellen M; Segal, Jodi B; Bridges, John F P

2016-10-01

Choice experiments are increasingly used to obtain patient preference information for regulatory benefit-risk assessments. Despite the importance of instrument design, there remains a paucity of literature applying good research principles. We applied a novel framework for instrument development of a choice experiment to measure type 2 diabetes mellitus treatment preferences. Applying the framework, we used evidence synthesis, expert consultation, stakeholder engagement, pretest interviews, and pilot testing to develop a best-worst scaling (BWS) and discrete choice experiment (DCE). We synthesized attributes from published DCEs for type 2 diabetes, consulted clinical experts, engaged a national advisory board, conducted local cognitive interviews, and pilot tested a national survey. From published DCEs (n = 17), ten attribute categories were extracted with cost (n = 11) having the highest relative attribute importance (RAI) (range 6-10). Clinical consultation and stakeholder engagement identified six attributes for inclusion. Cognitive pretesting with local diabetes patients (n = 25) ensured comprehension of the choice experiment. Pilot testing with patients from a national sample (n = 50) identified nausea as most important (RAI for DCE: 10 [95 % CI 8.5-11.5]; RAI for BWS: 10 [95 % CI 8.9-11.1]). The developed choice experiment contained five attributes (A1c decrease, blood glucose stability, low blood glucose, nausea, additional medicine, and cost). The framework for instrument development of a choice experiment included five stages of development and incorporated multiple stakeholder perspectives. Further comparisons of instrument development approaches are needed to identify best practices. To facilitate comparisons, researchers need to be encouraged to publish or discuss their instrument development strategies and findings.
Exploring differences in the use of the statin choice decision aid and diabetes medication choice decision aid in primary care.

PubMed

Ballard, Aimee Yu; Kessler, Maya; Scheitel, Marianne; Montori, Victor M; Chaudhry, Rajeev

2017-08-10

Shared decision making is essential to patient centered care, but can be difficult for busy clinicians to implement into practice. Tools have been developed to aid in shared decision making and embedded in electronic medical records (EMRs) to facilitate use. This study was undertaken to explore the patterns of use and barriers and facilitators to use of two decision aids, the Statin Choice Decision Aid (SCDA) and the Diabetes Medication Choice Decision Aid (DMCDA), in primary care practices where the decision aids are embedded in the EMR. A survey exploring factors that influenced use of each decision aid was sent to eligible primary care clinicians affiliated with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. Survey data was collected and clinician use of each decision aid via links from the EMR was tracked. The survey response rate was 40% (105/262). Log file data indicated 51% of clinicians used the SCDA and 9% of clinicians used the DMCDA. Reasons for lack of use included lack of knowledge of the EMR link, not finding the decision aids helpful, and time constraints. Survey responses indicated that use of the tool as intended was low, with many clinicians only discussing decision aid topics that they found relevant. Although guidelines for both the treatment of blood cholesterol with a statin and for the treatment of hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes recommend shared decision making, tools that facilitate shared decision making are not routinely used even when embedded in the EMR. Even when decision aids are used, their use may not reflect patient centered care.
Emotion processing facilitates working memory performance.

PubMed

Lindström, Björn R; Bohlin, Gunilla

2011-11-01

The effect of emotional stimulus content on working memory performance has been investigated with conflicting results, as both emotion-dependent facilitation and impairments are reported in the literature. To clarify this issue, 52 adult participants performed a modified visual 2-back task with highly arousing positive stimuli (sexual scenes), highly arousing negative stimuli (violent death) and low-arousal neutral stimuli. Emotional stimulus processing was found to facilitate task performance relative to that of neutral stimuli, both in regards to response accuracy and reaction times. No emotion-dependent differences in false-alarm rates were found. These results indicate that emotional information can have a facilitating effect on working memory maintenance and processing of information.
Helping consumers make a more conscious nutritional choice: acceptability of nutrition information at a cafeteria.

PubMed

Turconi, Giovanna; Bazzano, Rosella; Roggi, Carla; Cena, Hellas

2012-05-01

A few studies link out-of-home eating to higher energy consumption, overweight and obesity in both adults and children. The present study was undertaken to investigate the nutritional value of meals available in a university cafeteria, in order to develop a target nutritional tool to help consumers make a more conscious nutritional choice. A cross-sectional study. In a university cafeteria in Pavia, northern Italy, the recipes and ingredients of each meal served during the whole year were obtained from the cooks. Energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate and fibre contents were computed for each meal standardized portion. Thirteen pyramid figures, subdivided into three coloured levels, were used to depict the energy and nutrient content of each meal. Four hundred randomly selected customers were interviewed on the cafeteria nutritional proposal. Foods available in the cafeteria consisted of 216 items and were distributed in the pyramids according to their energy content: the lowest ones at the bottom (green level) and the highest ones at the top (red level), passing through an orange level in the middle. Energy values ranged from 460 kJ (110 kcal) for a portion of dressed vegetables to 5021 kJ (1200 kcal) for a pizza. The depicted pyramids were displayed in the cafeteria, so that customers could choose their meal according to its nutritional value. The meals' nutritional content information was perceived very helpful for customers' nutritional choices. Availability of nutrition information in the cafeteria was well accepted by the customers who could plan their meals according to a more balanced diet.
Patient choice, Internet based information sources, and perceptions of health care: Evidence from Sweden using survey data from 2010 and 2013.

PubMed

Wahlstedt, Emma; Ekman, Björn

2016-08-01

Several countries have increased patients' abilities to choose their health care providers, frequently under the assumption that patients are themselves the best agents to make such decisions. In parallel, national and regional health authorities have enhanced access to Internet based information sources (IBIS) to assist patients in making an informed choice. Relatively little, however, is known about the effect that the use of such sources has on key outcomes, including patients' perceptions of care. The aim of this study is to analyze the role of the Internet for patients' confidence in the provider and perceived access to care in the context of choice based reforms in Sweden. The study uses a regional, population health survey from the southern part of Sweden. Non-parametric chi-square tests are used to assess the nature of Internet users, including their gender, age and socioeconomic status. Logistic regression models are specified to analyze the role of IBIS on patient perceptions of care while controlling for other factors. Actual use of Internet based information sources for health care was relatively low in 2010 and only somewhat higher in 2013. The characteristics of IBIS users varied significantly across different population groups, such that they were younger, more educated, female, and also considered themselves to be in better health compared with those who reported not using this source of health care information. Finally, the average IBIS user was less likely to report having a high level of satisfaction with respect to their primary care use; OR 0.69 [95 % CI: 0.54-0,87] and OR 0.52 [95 % CI: 0,41-0,66], for confidence in provider and perceived access to care, respectively, in 2013. Despite health agencies' attempts to make information on health care providers available on the Internet, this source of health care information is not used to any large extent in the current sample. The fact that some people use this source of information more compared
Evaluation of Informed Choice for contraceptive methods among women attending a family planning program: conceptual development; a case study in Chile.

PubMed

Valdés, Patricio R; Alarcon, Ana M; Munoz, Sergio R

2013-03-01

To generate and validate a scale to measure the Informed Choice of contraceptive methods among women attending a family health care service in Chile. The study follows a multimethod design that combined expert opinions from 13 physicians, 3 focus groups of 21 women each, and a sample survey of 1,446 women. Data analysis consisted of a qualitative text analysis of group interviews, a factor analysis for construct validity, and kappa statistic and Cronbach alpha to assess scale reliability. The instrument comprises 25 items grouped into six categories: information and orientation, quality of treatment, communication, participation in decision making, expression of reproductive rights, and method access and availability. Internal consistency measured with Cronbach alpha ranged from 0.75 to 0.89 for all subscales (kappa, 0.62; standard deviation, 0.06), and construct validity was demonstrated from the testing of several hypotheses. The use of mixed methods contributed to developing a scale of Informed Choice that was culturally appropriate for assessing the women who participated in the family planning program. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Variable selection and model choice in geoadditive regression models.

PubMed

Kneib, Thomas; Hothorn, Torsten; Tutz, Gerhard

2009-06-01

Model choice and variable selection are issues of major concern in practical regression analyses, arising in many biometric applications such as habitat suitability analyses, where the aim is to identify the influence of potentially many environmental conditions on certain species. We describe regression models for breeding bird communities that facilitate both model choice and variable selection, by a boosting algorithm that works within a class of geoadditive regression models comprising spatial effects, nonparametric effects of continuous covariates, interaction surfaces, and varying coefficients. The major modeling components are penalized splines and their bivariate tensor product extensions. All smooth model terms are represented as the sum of a parametric component and a smooth component with one degree of freedom to obtain a fair comparison between the model terms. A generic representation of the geoadditive model allows us to devise a general boosting algorithm that automatically performs model choice and variable selection.
Computational mate choice: theory and empirical evidence.

PubMed

Castellano, Sergio; Cadeddu, Giorgia; Cermelli, Paolo

2012-06-01

The present review is based on the thesis that mate choice results from information-processing mechanisms governed by computational rules and that, to understand how females choose their mates, we should identify which are the sources of information and how they are used to make decisions. We describe mate choice as a three-step computational process and for each step we present theories and review empirical evidence. The first step is a perceptual process. It describes the acquisition of evidence, that is, how females use multiple cues and signals to assign an attractiveness value to prospective mates (the preference function hypothesis). The second step is a decisional process. It describes the construction of the decision variable (DV), which integrates evidence (private information by direct assessment), priors (public information), and value (perceived utility) of prospective mates into a quantity that is used by a decision rule (DR) to produce a choice. We make the assumption that females are optimal Bayesian decision makers and we derive a formal model of DV that can explain the effects of preference functions, mate copying, social context, and females' state and condition on the patterns of mate choice. The third step of mating decision is a deliberative process that depends on the DRs. We identify two main categories of DRs (absolute and comparative rules), and review the normative models of mate sampling tactics associated to them. We highlight the limits of the normative approach and present a class of computational models (sequential-sampling models) that are based on the assumption that DVs accumulate noisy evidence over time until a decision threshold is reached. These models force us to rethink the dichotomy between comparative and absolute decision rules, between discrimination and recognition, and even between rational and irrational choice. Since they have a robust biological basis, we think they may represent a useful theoretical tool for
Temporal coding of reward-guided choice in the posterior parietal cortex

PubMed Central

Hawellek, David J.; Wong, Yan T.; Pesaran, Bijan

2016-01-01

Making a decision involves computations across distributed cortical and subcortical networks. How such distributed processing is performed remains unclear. We test how the encoding of choice in a key decision-making node, the posterior parietal cortex (PPC), depends on the temporal structure of the surrounding population activity. We recorded spiking and local field potential (LFP) activity in the PPC while two rhesus macaques performed a decision-making task. We quantified the mutual information that neurons carried about an upcoming choice and its dependence on LFP activity. The spiking of PPC neurons was correlated with LFP phases at three distinct time scales in the theta, beta, and gamma frequency bands. Importantly, activity at these time scales encoded upcoming decisions differently. Choice information contained in neural firing varied with the phase of beta and gamma activity. For gamma activity, maximum choice information occurred at the same phase as the maximum spike count. However, for beta activity, choice information and spike count were greatest at different phases. In contrast, theta activity did not modulate the encoding properties of PPC units directly but was correlated with beta and gamma activity through cross-frequency coupling. We propose that the relative timing of local spiking and choice information reveals temporal reference frames for computations in either local or large-scale decision networks. Differences between the timing of task information and activity patterns may be a general signature of distributed processing across large-scale networks. PMID:27821752
Affective influences on partner choice: role of mood in social decisions.

PubMed

Forgas, J P

1991-11-01

Does mood influence our information search and decision strategies when choosing a partner? In Experiment 1 (N = 60), sad Ss preferred rewarding to competent partners and remembered information supporting that choice better. In Experiment 2 (N = 96), mood effects on information selectivity, decision speed, and processing strategy in partner choices were found. In Experiment 3 (N = 42), a computerized stimulus presentation revealed mood-induced differences in the latency, self-exposure, and eventual recall of interpersonal information. These results are interpreted as evidence for mood-induced selectivity in information search and decision strategies when making realistic partner choices. The implications of the findings for research on interpersonal relations and for contemporary affect-cognition theories are considered.
Choices Regarding Thrombolysis Are Modified by the Way to Transfer the Messages.

PubMed

Gong, Jingjing; Zhang, Yan; Gao, Hongyan; Wei, Wei; Lv, Jing; Liu, Hongyun; Huang, Yonghua

2017-01-01

Although thrombolysis is the most effective medical treatment for acute ischemic stroke, many stroke patients eligible for thrombolysis miss this treatment as a result of delay or refusal by the patients and/or their proxies. To explore the influences of prognostic information for different intervals from stroke onset to the start of thrombolytic treatment (OTT) and other factors on the preferences of patients/proxies regarding thrombolytic therapy, a cross-sectional, discrete-choice experiment was performed between August 2013 and September 2014. A total of 613 Chinese inpatients or their immediate family members were consecutively recruited at the Department of Neurology. After random assignment to a negative-framing group or a positive-framing group, the subjects completed a series of surveys, including nine items about thrombolysis. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to examine participants' preference paradigms for thrombolysis and to categorize the participants into different subgroups. Subsequently, regression analyses were conducted to explore predictors of categorization of the participants into each subgroup and to construct a thrombolytic decision-making model. LCA revealed an optimal 3-subgroup model including a consent to thrombolysis subgroup and objection to thrombolysis subgroups 1 and 2. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that compared with assignment to the consent to thrombolysis subgroup, assignment to objection to thrombolysis subgroup 1 or 2 could be predicted by different factors. χ 2 tests indicated effects of framing and other factors on participants' choices regarding thrombolysis. Choices regarding thrombolysis were modified by not only prognostic information for different OTT intervals but also message framing, presentation format, and sociodemographic characteristics. To facilitate consent to thrombolysis, physicians should convey prognostic information to patients/proxies on the basis of patient OTT interval and should order
Choices Regarding Thrombolysis Are Modified by the Way to Transfer the Messages

PubMed Central

Gong, Jingjing; Zhang, Yan; Gao, Hongyan; Wei, Wei; Lv, Jing; Liu, Hongyun; Huang, Yonghua

2017-01-01

Although thrombolysis is the most effective medical treatment for acute ischemic stroke, many stroke patients eligible for thrombolysis miss this treatment as a result of delay or refusal by the patients and/or their proxies. To explore the influences of prognostic information for different intervals from stroke onset to the start of thrombolytic treatment (OTT) and other factors on the preferences of patients/proxies regarding thrombolytic therapy, a cross-sectional, discrete-choice experiment was performed between August 2013 and September 2014. A total of 613 Chinese inpatients or their immediate family members were consecutively recruited at the Department of Neurology. After random assignment to a negative-framing group or a positive-framing group, the subjects completed a series of surveys, including nine items about thrombolysis. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to examine participants’ preference paradigms for thrombolysis and to categorize the participants into different subgroups. Subsequently, regression analyses were conducted to explore predictors of categorization of the participants into each subgroup and to construct a thrombolytic decision-making model. LCA revealed an optimal 3-subgroup model including a consent to thrombolysis subgroup and objection to thrombolysis subgroups 1 and 2. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that compared with assignment to the consent to thrombolysis subgroup, assignment to objection to thrombolysis subgroup 1 or 2 could be predicted by different factors. χ2 tests indicated effects of framing and other factors on participants’ choices regarding thrombolysis. Choices regarding thrombolysis were modified by not only prognostic information for different OTT intervals but also message framing, presentation format, and sociodemographic characteristics. To facilitate consent to thrombolysis, physicians should convey prognostic information to patients/proxies on the basis of patient OTT interval and should
Implementation of a Tool to Enhance Evidence-Informed Decision Making in Public Health: Identifying Barriers and Facilitating Factors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van der Heide, Iris; van der Noordt, Maaike; Proper, Karin I.; Schoemaker, Casper; van den Berg, Matthijs; Hamberg-van Reenen, Heleen H.

2016-01-01

One of the barriers regarding evidence-informed decision making is the gap between the needs of policy makers and the ways researchers present evidence. This pilot study evaluates the barriers and facilitators to the implementation of a tool to enhance transparent and unambiguous communication on scientific evidence by knowledge workers.…
Consumer health plan choice: current knowledge and future directions.

PubMed

Scanlon, D P; Chernew, M; Lave, J R

1997-01-01

A keystone of the competitive strategy in health insurance markets is the assumption that "consumers" can make informed choices based on the costs and quality of competing health plans, and that selection effects are not large. However, little is known about how individuals use information other than price in the decision making process. This review summarizes the state of knowledge about how individuals make choices among health plans and outlines an agenda for future research. We find that the existing literature on health plan choice is no longer sufficient given the widespread growth and acceptance of managed care, and the increased proportion of consumers' income now going toward the purchase of health plans. Instead, today's environment of health plan choice requires better understanding of how plan attributes other than price influence plan choice, how other variables such as health status interact with plan attributes in the decision making process, and how specific populations differ from one another in terms of the sensitivity of their health plan choices to these different types of variables.
Modeling Dynamic Food Choice Processes to Understand Dietary Intervention Effects.

PubMed

Marcum, Christopher Steven; Goldring, Megan R; McBride, Colleen M; Persky, Susan

2018-02-17

Meal construction is largely governed by nonconscious and habit-based processes that can be represented as a collection of in dividual, micro-level food choices that eventually give rise to a final plate. Despite this, dietary behavior intervention research rarely captures these micro-level food choice processes, instead measuring outcomes at aggregated levels. This is due in part to a dearth of analytic techniques to model these dynamic time-series events. The current article addresses this limitation by applying a generalization of the relational event framework to model micro-level food choice behavior following an educational intervention. Relational event modeling was used to model the food choices that 221 mothers made for their child following receipt of an information-based intervention. Participants were randomized to receive either (a) control information; (b) childhood obesity risk information; (c) childhood obesity risk information plus a personalized family history-based risk estimate for their child. Participants then made food choices for their child in a virtual reality-based food buffet simulation. Micro-level aspects of the built environment, such as the ordering of each food in the buffet, were influential. Other dynamic processes such as choice inertia also influenced food selection. Among participants receiving the strongest intervention condition, choice inertia decreased and the overall rate of food selection increased. Modeling food selection processes can elucidate the points at which interventions exert their influence. Researchers can leverage these findings to gain insight into nonconscious and uncontrollable aspects of food selection that influence dietary outcomes, which can ultimately improve the design of dietary interventions.
Investigating the Challenges and Opportunities in Home Care to Facilitate Effective Information Technology Adoption.

PubMed

Koru, Güneş; Alhuwail, Dari; Topaz, Maxim; Norcio, Anthony F; Mills, Mary Etta

2016-01-01

As home care utilization increases, information technology (IT) becomes a critical tool for providing quality home care. However, most home health agencies (HHAs) in the United States are in a position to adopt and leverage IT solutions in budget-constrained settings, where it is crucial to address important and pressing challenges and opportunities for achieving effectiveness in IT adoption. (1) Explore HHAs' challenges and opportunities related to delivering home care as well as performing administrative functions and conducting business, (2) learn about current IT implementation levels and activities in home care, and (3) make recommendations to facilitate efforts and initiatives designed for adopting IT in home care effectively. Semistructured interviews were conducted to elicit rich contextual information from the participants recruited from 13 local HHAs in one of the states in the United States. Established systems analysis techniques were used to ask questions during the interviews. Framework, a qualitative research method, was used to analyze the qualitative data obtained from the interviews. Coordinating clinical and administrative workflows was an important challenge. Inadequate access to patients' medical history and difficulties with medication reconciliation detracted from the quality of care. Hiring, training, scheduling, and retaining qualified personnel constituted another important challenge. Training and educating patients, caregivers, and families hold important opportunities for improving the quality of care. All except one HHA adopted electronic health records (EHR) but many continued to struggle considerably in their day-to-day functions. Health information exchange (HIE) seems to be the most needed technology. Telehealth solutions were perceived to be promising but their added value and financial viability in the long run were questioned. The recommendations for effective IT adoption include keeping a quality improvement focus, keeping a
Informed choice in direct-to-consumer genetic testing (DTCGT) websites: a content analysis of benefits, risks, and limitations

PubMed Central

Singleton, Amanda; Erby, Lori Hamby; Foisie, Kathryn V.; Kaphingst, Kimberly

2012-01-01

An informed choice about health-related direct-to-consumer genetic testing (DTCGT) requires knowledge of potential benefits, risks, and limitations. To understand the information that potential consumers of DTCGT services are exposed to on company websites, we conducted a content analysis of 23 health-related DTCGT websites. Results revealed that benefit statements outweighed risk and limitation statements 6 to 1. The most frequently described benefits were 1) disease prevention, 2) consumer education, 3) personalized medical recommendations, and 4) the ability to make health decisions. Thirty-five percent of websites also presented at least one risk of testing. Seventy-eight percent of websites mentioned at least one limitation of testing. Based on this information, potential consumers might get an inaccurate picture of genetic testing which could impact their ability to make an informed decision. Practices that enhance the presentation of balanced information on DTCGT company websites should be encouraged. PMID:22194036
Informed choice in direct-to-consumer genetic testing (DTCGT) websites: a content analysis of benefits, risks, and limitations.

PubMed

Singleton, Amanda; Erby, Lori Hamby; Foisie, Kathryn V; Kaphingst, Kimberly A

2012-06-01

An informed choice about health-related direct-to-consumer genetic testing (DTCGT) requires knowledge of potential benefits, risks, and limitations. To understand the information that potential consumers of DTCGT services are exposed to on company websites, we conducted a content analysis of 23 health-related DTCGT websites. Results revealed that benefit statements outweighed risk and limitation statements 6 to 1. The most frequently described benefits were: 1) disease prevention, 2) consumer education, 3) personalized medical recommendations, and 4) the ability to make health decisions. Thirty-five percent of websites also presented at least one risk of testing. Seventy-eight percent of websites mentioned at least one limitation of testing. Based on this information, potential consumers might get an inaccurate picture of genetic testing which could impact their ability to make an informed decision. Practices that enhance the presentation of balanced information on DTCGT company websites should be encouraged.
Woman's Pre-Conception Evaluation: Genetic and Fetal Risk Considerations for Counselling and Informed Choice.

PubMed

Wilson, R Douglas

2017-10-11

To inform reproductive and other health care providers about genetic and fetal risk information to consider during a woman/couples' pre-conception evaluation, including considerations for genetic risk assessment, genetic screening, or testing to allow for improved counselling and informed choice. This genetic information can be used for patient education, planning, and possible pre-conception and/or prenatal testing. This information may allow improved risk assessment for pre-conception counselling for individual patients and their families. PubMed or Medline and the Cochrane Database were searched in May 2017 using appropriate key words ("pre-conception," "genetic disease," "maternal," "family history," "genetic," "health risk," "genetic health surveillance," "prenatal screening," "prenatal diagnosis," "birth defects," and "teratogen"). Grey (unpublished) literature was identified through searching the websites of health technology assessment and health technology assessment-related agencies, clinical practice guideline collections, and national and international medical specialty societies. The benefits for the patient and her family include an increased understanding of relevant genetic risk pre-conception and in early pregnancy, and better pregnancy outcomes as a result of use of the information. The harm includes potential increased anxiety or psychological stress associated with the possibility of identifying genetic risks. The evidence obtained was peer-reviewed by the Genetics Committee of The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada. Consideration for Care Statements For this review article, the Consideration for Care Statements use the GRADE strength and quality as it is comparable for the clinician and the patient/public user. [GRADE from the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care (www.canadiantaskforce.ca). For clinicians, Strong = The recommendation would apply to most individuals. Formal discussion aids are not likely to be
Choice-Supportive Misremembering: A New Taxonomy and Review

PubMed Central

Lind, Martina; Visentini, Mimì; Mäntylä, Timo; Del Missier, Fabio

2017-01-01

Although the literature on the influence of memory on decisions is well developed, research on the effects of decision making on memory is rather sparse and scattered. Choice-supportive misremembering (i.e., misremembering choice-related information that boosts the chosen option and/or demotes the foregone options) has been observed in several studies and has the potential to affect future choices. Nonetheless, no attempt has been made to review the relevant literature, categorize the different types of choice-supportive misremembering observed, and critically appraise the existing evidence and proposed explanations. Thus, starting from a new theoretically motivated and empirically grounded taxonomy, we review the current research. Our taxonomy classifies choice-supportive misremembering into four conceptually distinct types: misattribution is when information is attributed to the wrong source, fact distortion when the facts are remembered in a distorted manner, false memory when items that were not part of the original decision scenarios are remembered as presented and, finally, selective forgetting is when information is selectively forgotten. After assessing the impact of various potentially moderating factors, we evaluate the evidence for each type of misremembering and conclude that the support for the phenomenon is solid in relation to misattribution when recognition memory is assessed, but significantly weaker for the other three types, and when other memory tests are used to assess memory. Finally, we review the cognitive and emotional explanations proposed for choice-supportive misremembering in the light of the available evidence and identify the main gaps in the current knowledge and the more promising avenues for future research. PMID:29255436
Independence and interdependence in collective decision making: an agent-based model of nest-site choice by honeybee swarms

PubMed Central

List, Christian; Elsholtz, Christian; Seeley, Thomas D.

2008-01-01

Condorcet's jury theorem shows that when the members of a group have noisy but independent information about what is best for the group as a whole, majority decisions tend to outperform dictatorial ones. When voting is supplemented by communication, however, the resulting interdependencies between decision makers can strengthen or undermine this effect: they can facilitate information pooling, but also amplify errors. We consider an intriguing non-human case of independent information pooling combined with communication: the case of nest-site choice by honeybee (Apis mellifera) swarms. It is empirically well documented that when there are different nest sites that vary in quality, the bees usually choose the best one. We develop a new agent-based model of the bees' decision process and show that its remarkable reliability stems from a particular interplay of independence and interdependence between the bees. PMID:19073474
What supports do health system organizations have in place to facilitate evidence-informed decision-making? a qualitative study

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Decisions regarding health systems are sometimes made without the input of timely and reliable evidence, leading to less than optimal health outcomes. Healthcare organizations can implement tools and infrastructures to support the use of research evidence to inform decision-making. Objectives The purpose of this study was to profile the supports and instruments (i.e., programs, interventions, instruments or tools) that healthcare organizations currently have in place and which ones were perceived to facilitate evidence-informed decision-making. Methods In-depth semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with individuals in three different types of positions (i.e., a senior management team member, a library manager, and a ‘knowledge broker’) in three types of healthcare organizations (i.e., regional health authorities, hospitals and primary care practices) in two Canadian provinces (i.e., Ontario and Quebec). The interviews were taped, transcribed, and then analyzed thematically using NVivo 9 qualitative data analysis software. Results A total of 57 interviews were conducted in 25 organizations in Ontario and Quebec. The main findings suggest that, for the healthcare organizations that participated in this study, the following supports facilitate evidence-informed decision-making: facilitating roles that actively promote research use within the organization; establishing ties to researchers and opinion leaders outside the organization; a technical infrastructure that provides access to research evidence, such as databases; and provision and participation in training programs to enhance staff’s capacity building. Conclusions This study identified the need for having a receptive climate, which laid the foundation for the implementation of other tangible initiatives and supported the use of research in decision-making. This study adds to the literature on organizational efforts that can increase the use of research evidence in decision
Using hub technology to facilitate information system integration in a health-care enterprise.

PubMed

Gendler, S M; Friedman, B A; Henricks, W H

1996-04-01

The deployment and maintenance of multiple point-to-point interfaces between a clinical information system, such as a laboratory information system, and other systems within a healthcare enterprise is expensive and time consuming. Moreover, the demand for such interfaces is increasing as hospitals consolidate and clinical laboratories participate in the development of regional laboratory networks and create host-to-host links with laboratory outreach clients. An interface engine, also called a hub, is an evolving technology that could replace multiple point-to-point interfaces from a laboratory information system with a single interface to the hub, preferably HL7 based. The hub then routes and translates laboratory information to other systems within the enterprise. Changes in application systems in an enterprise where a centralized interface engine has been implemented then amount to thorough analysis, an update of the enterprise's data dictionary, purchase of a single new vendor-supported interface, and table-based parameter changes on the hub. Two other features of an interface engine, support for structured query language and information store-and-forward, will facilitate the development of clinical data repositories and provide flexibility when interacting with other host systems. This article describes the advantages and disadvantages of an interface engine and lists some problems not solved by the technology. Finally, early developmental experience with an interface engine at the University of Michigan Medical Center and the benefits of the project on system integration efforts are described, not the least of which has been the enthusiastic adoption of the HL7 standard for all future interface projects.
Self-delivered misinformation - Merging the choice blindness and misinformation effect paradigms.

PubMed

Stille, Lotta; Norin, Emelie; Sikström, Sverker

2017-01-01

Choice blindness is the failure to detect a discrepancy between a choice and its outcome. The misinformation effect occurs when the recollection of an event changes because new, misleading information about the event is received. The purpose of this study was to merge the choice blindness and misinformation effect paradigms, and thus examine whether choice blindness can be created for individuals' recollections of a witnessed event, and whether this will affect their later recollections of the event. Thus, as a way of delivering misinformation the participants ostensibly became their own source of the misleading information. The participants watched a short film and filled out a questionnaire about events shown in the film. Some of their answers were then manipulated using reattachable stickers, which allowed alteration of their original answers. The participants gave justifications for their manipulated choices, and later their recollection of the original event was tested through another questionnaire. Choice blindness was created for a majority of the participants. A majority of the choice blind participants later changed their reported recollection of the event in line with the manipulations, whereas only a small minority of the participants in the control condition changed their recollection. This study provides new information about the misinformation effect, suggesting that this effect also can occur when misinformation is given immediately following presentation of the original stimuli, and about choice blindness and its effects on the recollections of events. The results suggest that memory blindness can be created when people inadvertently supply themselves with misleading information about an event, causing a change in their recollection.
Self-delivered misinformation - Merging the choice blindness and misinformation effect paradigms

PubMed Central

Stille, Lotta; Norin, Emelie; Sikström, Sverker

2017-01-01

Choice blindness is the failure to detect a discrepancy between a choice and its outcome. The misinformation effect occurs when the recollection of an event changes because new, misleading information about the event is received. The purpose of this study was to merge the choice blindness and misinformation effect paradigms, and thus examine whether choice blindness can be created for individuals’ recollections of a witnessed event, and whether this will affect their later recollections of the event. Thus, as a way of delivering misinformation the participants ostensibly became their own source of the misleading information. The participants watched a short film and filled out a questionnaire about events shown in the film. Some of their answers were then manipulated using reattachable stickers, which allowed alteration of their original answers. The participants gave justifications for their manipulated choices, and later their recollection of the original event was tested through another questionnaire. Choice blindness was created for a majority of the participants. A majority of the choice blind participants later changed their reported recollection of the event in line with the manipulations, whereas only a small minority of the participants in the control condition changed their recollection. This study provides new information about the misinformation effect, suggesting that this effect also can occur when misinformation is given immediately following presentation of the original stimuli, and about choice blindness and its effects on the recollections of events. The results suggest that memory blindness can be created when people inadvertently supply themselves with misleading information about an event, causing a change in their recollection. PMID:28273151
Automatic mental associations predict future choices of undecided decision-makers.

PubMed

Galdi, Silvia; Arcuri, Luciano; Gawronski, Bertram

2008-08-22

Common wisdom holds that choice decisions are based on conscious deliberations of the available information about choice options. On the basis of recent insights about unconscious influences on information processing, we tested whether automatic mental associations of undecided individuals bias future choices in a manner such that these choices reflect the evaluations implied by earlier automatic associations. With the use of a computer-based, speeded categorization task to assess automatic mental associations (i.e., associations that are activated unintentionally, difficult to control, and not necessarily endorsed at a conscious level) and self-report measures to assess consciously endorsed beliefs and choice preferences, automatic associations of undecided participants predicted changes in consciously reported beliefs and future choices over a period of 1 week. Conversely, for decided participants, consciously reported beliefs predicted changes in automatic associations and future choices over the same period. These results indicate that decision-makers sometimes have already made up their mind at an unconscious level, even when they consciously indicate that they are still undecided.

Patient information, education and self-management in bronchiectasis: facilitating improvements to optimise health outcomes.

PubMed

Hester, Katy L M; Newton, Julia; Rapley, Tim; De Soyza, Anthony

2018-05-22

Bronchiectasis is an incurable lung disease characterised by irreversible airway dilatation. It causes symptoms including chronic productive cough, dyspnoea, and recurrent respiratory infections often requiring hospital admission. Fatigue and reductions in quality of life are also reported in bronchiectasis. Patients often require multi-modal treatments that can be burdensome, leading to issues with adherence. In this article we review the provision of, and requirement for, education and information in bronchiectasis. To date, little research has been undertaken to improve self-management in bronchiectasis in comparison to other chronic conditions, such as COPD, for which there has been a wealth of recent developments. Qualitative work has begun to establish that information deficit is one of the potential barriers to self-management, and that patients feel having credible information is fundamental when learning to live with and manage bronchiectasis. Emerging research offers some insights into ways of improving treatment adherence and approaches to self-management education; highlighting ways of addressing the specific unmet information needs of patients and their families who are living with bronchiectasis. We propose non-pharmacological recommendations to optimise patient self-management and symptom recognition; with the aim of facilitating measurable improvements in health outcomes for patients with bronchiectasis.
Review of multiple-choice-questions and group performance - A comparison of face-to-face and virtual groups with and without facilitation

PubMed Central

Kazubke, Edda; Schüttpelz-Brauns, Katrin

2010-01-01

Background: Multiple choice questions (MCQs) are often used in exams of medical education and need careful quality management for example by the application of review committees. This study investigates whether groups communicating virtually by email are similar to face-to-face groups concerning their review process performance and whether a facilitator has positive effects. Methods: 16 small groups of students were examined, which had to evaluate and correct MCQs under four different conditions. In the second part of the investigation the changed questions were given to a new random sample for the judgement of the item quality. Results: There was no significant influence of the variables “form of review committee” and “facilitation”. However, face-to-face and virtual groups clearly differed in the required treatment times. The test condition “face to face without facilitation” was generally valued most positively concerning taking over responsibility, approach to work, sense of well-being, motivation and concentration on the task. Discussion: Face-to-face and virtual groups are equally effective in the review of MCQs but differ concerning their efficiency. The application of electronic review seems to be possible but is hardly recommendable because of the long process time and technical problems. PMID:21818213
Choosing health, constrained choices.

PubMed

Chee Khoon Chan

2009-12-01

In parallel with the neo-liberal retrenchment of the welfarist state, an increasing emphasis on the responsibility of individuals in managing their own affairs and their well-being has been evident. In the health arena for instance, this was a major theme permeating the UK government's White Paper Choosing Health: Making Healthy Choices Easier (2004), which appealed to an ethos of autonomy and self-actualization through activity and consumption which merited esteem. As a counterpoint to this growing trend of informed responsibilization, constrained choices (constrained agency) provides a useful framework for a judicious balance and sense of proportion between an individual behavioural focus and a focus on societal, systemic, and structural determinants of health and well-being. Constrained choices is also a conceptual bridge between responsibilization and population health which could be further developed within an integrative biosocial perspective one might refer to as the social ecology of health and disease.
Choice.

PubMed

Greenberg, Jay

2008-09-01

Understanding how and why analysands make the choices they do is central to both the clinical and the theoretical projects of psychoanalysis. And yet we know very little about the process of choice or about the relationship between choices and motives. A striking parallel is to be found between the ways choice is narrated in ancient Greek texts and the experience of analysts as they observe patients making choices in everyday clinical work. Pursuing this convergence of classical and contemporary sensibilities will illuminate crucial elements of the various meanings of choice, and of the way that these meanings change over the course of psychoanalytic treatment.
Bi-frontal direct current stimulation affects delay discounting choices.

PubMed

Hecht, David; Walsh, Vincent; Lavidor, Michal

2013-01-01

In delay discounting tasks, participants decide between receiving a certain amount of money now or a larger sum sometime in the future. This study investigated the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on delay discounting. Participants made delay discounting choices while receiving a bi-frontal stimulation of right-hemisphere anodal/left-hemisphere cathodal, left-hemisphere anodal/right-hemisphere cathodal, and sham stimulation, in three separate sessions. When the difference between the alternatives was 10% or more, participants generally preferred to wait for the larger sum. Nevertheless, there were more choices of smaller "immediate" gains, instead of the larger delayed options, when the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) was facilitated and the right DLPFC inhibited, compared to the sham stimulation. These observations indicate the significant role of the prefrontal cortex in delay discounting choices, and demonstrate that increased left frontal activation combined with decreased right frontal activation can alter decision-making by intensifying a tendency to choose immediate gains.
Parent Choice: A Digest of the Research. [Parent Choice and the Public Schools: Volume 1].

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zerchykov, Ross

This guide, first in a series of four volumes, is designed to give information to parents and other decision makers on costs and benefits of different kinds of choices of schools that children might attend. Four sections present digests of information based on research and evaluation studies. Section 1 introduces the format and purpose of the…
Unmet informational and supportive care needs of patients following cystectomy for bladder cancer based on age, sex, and treatment choices.

PubMed

Mohamed, Nihal E; Pisipati, Sailaja; Lee, Cheryl T; Goltz, Heather H; Latini, David M; Gilbert, Francis S; Wittmann, Daniela; Knauer, Cynthia J; Mehrazin, Reza; Sfakianos, John P; McWilliams, Glen W; Quale, Diane Z; Hall, Simon J

2016-12-01

Assessing the unmet needs of cancer patients can help providers tailor health care services to patients' specific needs. This study examines whether the unmet informational and supportive care needs of the patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer vary by the patients' age, sex, or individual treatment choices. Participants (N = 30 survivors; 73.3% men) were recruited from the Mount Sinai Medical Center and through advertisements posted on a national Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network website between December 2011 and September 2012. Data were collected through individual interviews and electronic medical record review. A prior qualitative study of this cohort, using immersion/crystallization approach, confirmed the prevalence of unmet needs across the disease trajectory. This is a secondary quantitative analysis of the initial interview data we collected (i.e., quantitative analyses of transformed qualitative data using Chi-square and Fisher exact tests) to examine differences in unmet needs based on the patient's age, sex, and treatment choices. Younger patients (<60y) were less satisfied with the treatment information received presurgery and more likely to report posttreatment complications, choose a neobladder, and seek and receive professional support regarding sexual function, than were older patients (P<0.05). More women than men reported difficulties with self-care and relied on themselves in disease self-management as opposed to relying on spousal support (P<0.05). Patients with neobladder were more likely to report difficulties with urinary incontinence and deterioration in sexual function, whereas patients with ileal conduit were more likely to require spousal help with self-care. Patients who received chemotherapy were significantly more likely to report changes in everyday life (P<0.05). Lastly, regardless of age, sex, or treatment choice, up to 50% of patients reported feeling depressed before or after treatment. Unmet informational and supportive
Spatial part-set cuing facilitation.

PubMed

Kelley, Matthew R; Parasiuk, Yuri; Salgado-Benz, Jennifer; Crocco, Megan

2016-07-01

Cole, Reysen, and Kelley [2013. Part-set cuing facilitation for spatial information. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 39, 1615-1620] reported robust part-set cuing facilitation for spatial information using snap circuits (a colour-coded electronics kit designed for children to create rudimentary circuit boards). In contrast, Drinkwater, Dagnall, and Parker [2006. Effects of part-set cuing on experienced and novice chess players' reconstruction of a typical chess midgame position. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 102(3), 645-653] and Watkins, Schwartz, and Lane [1984. Does part-set cuing test for memory organization? Evidence from reconstructions of chess positions. Canadian Journal of Psychology/Revue Canadienne de Psychologie, 38(3), 498-503] showed no influence of part-set cuing for spatial information when using chess boards. One key difference between the two procedures was that the snap circuit stimuli were explicitly connected to one another, whereas chess pieces were not. Two experiments examined the effects of connection type (connected vs. unconnected) and cue type (cued vs. uncued) on memory for spatial information. Using chess boards (Experiment 1) and snap circuits (Experiment 2), part-set cuing facilitation only occurred when the stimuli were explicitly connected; there was no influence of cuing with unconnected stimuli. These results are potentially consistent with the retrieval strategy disruption hypothesis, as well as the two- and three-mechanism accounts of part-set cuing.
Who makes the choice? Rethinking the role of autonomy and relatedness in Chinese children's motivation.

PubMed

Bao, Xue-Hua; Lam, Shui-Fong

2008-01-01

The importance of autonomy for children's motivation in collectivistic cultures has been debated hotly. With the understanding that autonomy is not equivalent to freedom of choice, 4 studies addressed this debate by investigating how socioemotional relatedness, choice, and autonomy were related to Chinese children's motivation. Study 1 (N = 56, mean age = 10.77 years), Study 2 (N = 58, mean age = 10.59), and Study 3 (N = 48, mean age = 10.53) found consistently that freedom of choice mattered less if children were socioemotionally close to the adults who made choices for them. However, Study 4 (N = 99, mean age = 11.27) showed that autonomy mattered at every level of socioemotional relatedness. These results suggested that socioemotional relatedness might have facilitated internalization and that children who did not have choice might still feel autonomous.
76 FR 27082 - Notice of Submission of Proposed Information Collection to OMB Choice Neighborhoods

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-05-10

..., which permits HUD to use up to $65M of the HOPE VI appropriation for a Choice Neighborhoods Initiative... HOPE VI appropriation for a Choice Neighborhoods Initiative. Frequency of Submission: On occasion...
(Re) Searching for a School: How Choice Drives Parents to Become More Informed

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lovenheim, Michael F.; Walsh, Patrick

2018-01-01

Policies that expand school choice aim to empower parents by giving them the opportunity to choose the school that best fits their child. Publicly funded school choice has increased considerably in recent years, helped by a variety of initiatives, including public charter schools, transfer options for students under the No Child Left Behind Act…
Performing a Choice-Narrative: A qualitative study of the patterns in STEM students' higher education choices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tolstrup Holmegaard, Henriette

2015-06-01

Students' science choices have long attracted attention in both public and research. Recently there has been a call for qualitative studies to explore how choices create a sense of fit for individual students. Therefore, this paper aims to study how science students' choices of higher education are performed and to uncover the patterns of students' construction of their choice-narratives. The paper is based on a qualitative study among 38 Danish upper secondary school students. The theoretical framework is narrative psychology combined with post-structural thinking. The study shows that constructing a choice-narrative is complicated identity-work. First, the students felt encouraged to identify their interests, not only the ones related to the subject matter, but also various interests that were equally negotiated in relation to each other. Second, the choice-narratives were personalised; on the one side articulated as not too predictable, and on the other side appearing realistic and adjusted to the students' sense of self. Third, the choice-narratives were informed, validated and adjusted in the students' social network providing the students with a repertoire of viable pathways. The study demonstrates how cultural discourses about how a proper choice is made set the scene for the students' choices. The study raises some concerns for science education. Improving students' interests in science alone might not lead to increased admission as several interests equally intervene. To attract more students to science, we must consider how to actively engage them in crafting their own education, as a way to support them in making personal sense.
Characterizing Information Processing With a Mobile Device: Measurement of Simple and Choice Reaction Time.

PubMed

Burke, Daniel; Linder, Susan; Hirsch, Joshua; Dey, Tanujit; Kana, Daniel; Ringenbach, Shannon; Schindler, David; Alberts, Jay

2017-10-01

Information processing is typically evaluated using simple reaction time (SRT) and choice reaction time (CRT) paradigms in which a specific response is initiated following a given stimulus. The measurement of reaction time (RT) has evolved from monitoring the timing of mechanical switches to computerized paradigms. The proliferation of mobile devices with touch screens makes them a natural next technological approach to assess information processing. The aims of this study were to determine the validity and reliability of using of a mobile device (Apple iPad or iTouch) to accurately measure RT. Sixty healthy young adults completed SRT and CRT tasks using a traditional test platform and mobile platforms on two occasions. The SRT was similar across test modality: 300, 287, and 280 milliseconds (ms) for the traditional, iPad, and iTouch, respectively. The CRT was similar within mobile devices, though slightly faster on the traditional: 359, 408, and 384 ms for traditional, iPad, and iTouch, respectively. Intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.79 to 0.85 for SRT and from 0.75 to 0.83 for CRT. The similarity and reliability of SRT across platforms and consistency of SRT and CRT across test conditions indicate that mobile devices provide the next generation of assessment platforms for information processing.
Impact of communication on consumers' food choices.

PubMed

Verbeke, Wim

2008-08-01

Consumers' food choices and dietary behaviour can be markedly affected by communication and information. Whether the provided information is processed by the receiver, and thus becomes likely to be effective, depends on numerous factors. The role of selected determinants such as uncertainty, knowledge, involvement, health-related motives and trust, as well as message content variables, are discussed in the present paper based on previous empirical studies. The different studies indicate that: uncertainty about meat quality and safety does not automatically result in more active information search; subjective knowledge about fish is a better predictor of fish consumption than objective knowledge; high subjective knowledge about functional foods as a result of a low trusted information source such as mass media advertising leads to a lower probability of adopting these foods in the diet. Also, evidence of the stronger impact of negative news as compared with messages promoting positive outcomes of food choices is discussed. Finally, three audience-segmentation studies based on consumers' involvement with fresh meat, individuals' health-related-motive orientations and their use of and trust in fish information sources are presented. A clear message from these studies is that communication and information provision strategies targeted to a specific audience's needs, interests or motives stand a higher likelihood of being attended to and processed by the receiving audience, and therefore also stand a higher chance of yielding their envisaged impact in terms of food choice and dietary behaviour.
Organizational choices for international cooperation: East-West European cooperation on regional environmental problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Connolly, Barbara Mary

This dissertation applies theoretical insights from transaction cost economics to explain and predict the organizational form of cooperative agreements between Eastern and Western Europe in areas of regional environmental and political concern. It examines five contracting problems related to nuclear power safety and acid rain, and describes the history of international negotiations to manage these problems. It argues that the level of interdependence in a given issue area, or costly effects experienced in one state due to activities and decisions of other states, along with the level of transactional vulnerability, or sunk costs invested in support of a particular contractual relationship among these states, are key determinants of the governance structures states choose to facilitate cooperation in that issue area. Empirically, the dissertation traces the evolution of three sets of institutional arrangements related to nuclear safety: governance for western nuclear safety assistance to Eastern Europe, negotiations of a global convention on safety standards for nuclear power plants, and contracts among utilities and multilateral banks to build new nuclear power plants in Eastern Europe. Next it studies European acid rain, chronicling the history of international acid rain controls within the UNECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) and the European Union, and finally examining institutional arrangements for burden-sharing to promote European bargains on emissions reduction, including bilateral aid transfers and proposals for multilateral burden sharing. Political actors have a wide range of choice among institutional arrangements to facilitate international cooperation, from simple market-type exchanges, to arbitration-type regimes that provide information and enhance reputation effects, to self-enforcing agreements such as issue-linkage, to supranational governance. The governance structures states devise to manage their cooperative
RISE-306; State Facilitator Program Evaluation, 1975-1976.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Communication Technology Corp., Marlton, NJ.

As an arm of the National Diffusion Network, the Pennsylvania State Facilitator's responsibilities include informing the schools about Title III approved programs and aiding in the actual adoption of such programs by school districts. Two aspects of the facilitator's role were identified for evaluation: (1) whether the facilitator had implemented…
Security. Review Software for Advanced CHOICE. CHOICE (Challenging Options in Career Education).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pitts, Ilse M.; And Others

CHOICE Security is an Apple computer game activity designed to help secondary migrant students memorize their social security numbers and reinforce job and role information presented in "Career Notes, First Applications." The learner may choose from four time options and whether to have the social security number visible on the screen or…
Choices for a Brighter Future

Science.gov Websites

Choices for a Brighter Future For more information contact: George Douglas, 303-275-4096 e:mail : George Douglas Golden, Colo., Nov. 12, 1999 - More and more Americans are getting the power to choose
How can clinical practice guidelines be adapted to facilitate shared decision making? A qualitative key-informant study.

PubMed

van der Weijden, Trudy; Pieterse, Arwen H; Koelewijn-van Loon, Marije S; Knaapen, Loes; Légaré, France; Boivin, Antoine; Burgers, Jako S; Stiggelbout, Anne M; Faber, Marjan; Elwyn, Glyn

2013-10-01

To explore how clinical practice guidelines can be adapted to facilitate shared decision making. This was a qualitative key-informant study with group discussions and semi-structured interviews. First, 75 experts in guideline development or shared decision making participated in group discussions at two international conferences. Next, health professionals known as experts in depression or breast cancer, experts on clinical practice guidelines and/or shared decision making, and patient representatives were interviewed (N=20). Using illustrative treatment decisions on depression or breast cancer, we asked the interviewees to indicate as specifically as they could how guidelines could be used to facilitate shared decision making. Interviewees suggested some generic strategies, namely to include a separate chapter on the importance of shared decision making, to use language that encourages patient involvement, and to develop patient versions of guidelines. Recommendation-specific strategies, related to specific decision points in the guideline, were also suggested: These include structuring the presentation of healthcare options to increase professionals' option awareness; structuring the deliberation process between professionals and patients; and providing relevant patient support tools embedded at important decision points in the guideline. This study resulted in an overview of strategies to adapt clinical practice guidelines to facilitate shared decision making. Some strategies seemed more contentious than others. Future research should assess the feasibility and impact of these strategies to make clinical practice guidelines more conducive to facilitate shared decision making.
Facilitating the improved management of waste in South Africa through a national waste information system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Godfrey, Linda

2008-07-01

Developing a waste information system (WIS) for a country is more than just about collecting routine data on waste; it is about facilitating the improved management of waste by providing timely, reliable information to the relevant role-players. It is a means of supporting the waste governance challenges facing South Africa - challenges ranging from strategic waste management issues at national government to basic operational challenges at local government. The paper addresses two hypotheses. The first is that the identified needs of government can provide a platform from which to design a national WIS framework for a developing country such asmore » South Africa, and the second is that the needs for waste information reflect greater, currently unfulfilled challenges in the sustainable management of waste. Through a participatory needs analysis process, it is shown that waste information is needed by the three spheres of government, to support amongst others, informed planning and decision-making, compliance monitoring and enforcement, community participation through public access to information, human, infrastructure and financial resource management and policy development. These needs for waste information correspond closely with key waste management challenges currently facing the country. A shift in governments approach to waste, in line with national and international policy, is evident from identified current and future waste information needs. However, the need for information on landfilling remains entrenched within government, possibly due to the poor compliance of landfill sites in South Africa and the problems around the illegal disposal of both general and hazardous waste.« less

Insurees' preferences in hospital choice-A population-based study.

PubMed

Schuldt, Johannes; Doktor, Anna; Lichters, Marcel; Vogt, Bodo; Robra, Bernt-Peter

2017-10-01

In Germany, the patient himself makes the choice for or against a health service provider. Hospital comparison websites offer him possibilities to inform himself before choosing. However, it remains unclear, how health care consumers use those websites, and there is little information about how preferences in hospital choice differ interpersonally. We conducted a Discrete-Choice-Experiment (DCE) on hospital choice with 1500 randomly selected participants (age 40-70) in three different German cities selecting four attributes for hospital vignettes. The analysis of the study draws on multilevel mixed effects logit regression analyses with the dependent variables: "chance to select a hospital" and "choice confidence". Subsequently, we performed a Latent-Class-Analysis to uncover consumer segments with distinct preferences. 590 of the questionnaires were evaluable. All four attributes of the hospital vignettes have a significant impact on hospital choice. The attribute "complication rate" exerts the highest impact on consumers' decisions and reported choice confidence. Latent-Class-Analysis results in one dominant consumer segment that considered the complication rate the most important decision criterion. Using DCE, we were able to show that the complication rate is an important trusted criterion in hospital choice to a large group of consumers. Our study supports current governmental efforts in Germany to concentrate the provision of specialized health care services. We suggest further national and cross-national research on the topic. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Through seniors' eyes: an exploratory qualitative study to identify environmental barriers to and facilitators of walking.

PubMed

Lockett, Donna; Willis, Alette; Edwards, Nancy

2005-09-01

This qualitative exploratory study examined environmental factors influencing the walking choices of elderly people using the photovoice approach. A total of 13 seniors in Ottawa, Canada, took photographs of barriers to and facilitators of walking in their neighbourhoods. These photos were displayed during 3 focus-group sessions and served as touchstones for discussion. A total of 22 seniors, including 8 of the 13 photographers, participated in the focus-group sessions. The findings show that environmental hazards related to traffic and falls risks can be significant barriers to walking for seniors, and that connectivity can truly exist for the elderly only if convenience, hazard-free routes are available. They also indicate that simple amenities such as benches and washrooms might facilitate walking for seniors. A neighbourhood that is activity-friendly for seniors will also be a good place for everyone else to live, work, and play. The use of photovoice as a method was well received by the participants and provided rich information that may not have been captured through other means.
Providing Choice in Exercise Influences Food Intake at the Subsequent Meal.

PubMed

Beer, Natalya J; Dimmock, James A; Jackson, Ben; Guelfi, Kym J

2017-10-01

The benefits of regular exercise for health are well established; however, certain behaviors after exercise, such as unhealthy or excessive food consumption, can counteract some of these benefits. To investigate the effect of autonomy support (through the provision of choice) in exercise-relative to a no-choice condition with matched energy expenditure-on appetite and subsequent energy intake. Fifty-eight men and women (body mass index, 22.9 ± 2.3 kg·m; peak oxygen consumption, 52.7 ± 6.4 mL·kg·min) completed one familiarization session and one experimental trial, in which they were randomized to either a choice or no-choice exercise condition using a between-subjects yoked design. Ad libitum energy intake from a laboratory test meal was assessed after exercise, together with perceptions of mood, perceived choice, enjoyment, and value. Despite similar ratings of perceived appetite across conditions (P > 0.05), energy intake was significantly higher after exercise performed under the no-choice condition (2456 ± 1410 kJ) compared with the choice condition (1668 ± 1215 kJ; P = 0.026; d = 0.60). In particular, the proportion of energy intake from unhealthy foods was significantly greater after exercise in the no-choice condition (1412 ± 1304 kJ) compared with the choice condition (790 ± 861 kJ; P = 0.037, d = 0.56). Participants in the choice condition also reported higher perceptions of choice (P < 0.001), enjoyment (P = 0.008), and value (P = 0.009) relating to the exercise session, whereas there were no between-condition differences in mood (P > 0.05). A lack of choice in exercise is associated with greater energy intake from "unhealthy" foods in recovery. This finding highlights the importance of facilitating an autonomy supportive environment during exercise prescription and instruction.
Thyroid Cancer Treatment Choice: A pilot study of a tool to facilitate conversations with patients with papillary microcarcinomas considering treatment options.

PubMed

Brito, Juan P; Moon, Jae Hoon; Zeuren, Rebecca; Kong, Sung Hye; Kim, Yeo Koon; Iñiguez-Ariza, Nicole M; Choi, June Young; Lee, Kyu Eun; Kim, Ji-Hoon; Hargraves, Ian; Bernet, Victor; Montori, Victor; Park, Young Joo; Tuttle, R Michael

2018-06-15

The 2015 American Thyroid Association guidelines recognize active surveillance as an alternative to immediate surgery in patients with papillary microcarcinomas (PMCs). As a way to incorporate active surveillance as one of the management options for patients with PMCs, we describe the development and initial testing of a tool to support conversations between clinicians and patients with PMCs considering treatment options. Thyroid Cancer Treatment Choice was developed using an iterative process based on the principles of interaction, design and participatory action research. To evaluate the impact of the tool on treatment choice, a prospective study was conducted in two thyroid cancer clinics in Seongnam-si and Seoul, South Korea: both clinics had the expertise to offer active surveillance as well as immediate surgery. One clinic was trained in the use of the conversation aid, while the other clinic continued to care for patients without access to the conversation aid. Between May 2016 and April 2017, 278 patients mostly women (n=220, 79%) were included in the study; 152 (53%) received care at the clinic using the conversation aid. Age, gender, and mean tumor size [6.6 mm (SD 1.6) and 6.5 mm (SD 1.9)] distributions were similar across clinics. Overall, 233 (84%) patients opted for active surveillance and 53 (16%) for thyroid surgery. Patients in the conversation aid group were more likely to choose active surveillance than the patients seen in the usual care clinic [relative risk (RR) = 1.16; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.04 - 1.29]. Of all patients opting for active surveillance, more patients in the conversation aid group had thyroid cancer nodules > 5 mm than in the usual care group (81% vs. 67% P = 0.013). Thyroid Cancer Treatment Choice is an evidence-based tool that supports the presentation of treatment options for PMCs. Pilot testing suggests that this conversation tool increases acceptance of active surveillance, suggesting that this option is an
Deterministic Walks with Choice

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Beeler, Katy E.; Berenhaut, Kenneth S.; Cooper, Joshua N.

2014-01-10

This paper studies deterministic movement over toroidal grids, integrating local information, bounded memory and choice at individual nodes. The research is motivated by recent work on deterministic random walks, and applications in multi-agent systems. Several results regarding passing tokens through toroidal grids are discussed, as well as some open questions.
The mixed instrumental controller: using value of information to combine habitual choice and mental simulation.

PubMed

Pezzulo, Giovanni; Rigoli, Francesco; Chersi, Fabian

2013-01-01

Instrumental behavior depends on both goal-directed and habitual mechanisms of choice. Normative views cast these mechanisms in terms of model-free and model-based methods of reinforcement learning, respectively. An influential proposal hypothesizes that model-free and model-based mechanisms coexist and compete in the brain according to their relative uncertainty. In this paper we propose a novel view in which a single Mixed Instrumental Controller produces both goal-directed and habitual behavior by flexibly balancing and combining model-based and model-free computations. The Mixed Instrumental Controller performs a cost-benefits analysis to decide whether to chose an action immediately based on the available "cached" value of actions (linked to model-free mechanisms) or to improve value estimation by mentally simulating the expected outcome values (linked to model-based mechanisms). Since mental simulation entails cognitive effort and increases the reward delay, it is activated only when the associated "Value of Information" exceeds its costs. The model proposes a method to compute the Value of Information, based on the uncertainty of action values and on the distance of alternative cached action values. Overall, the model by default chooses on the basis of lighter model-free estimates, and integrates them with costly model-based predictions only when useful. Mental simulation uses a sampling method to produce reward expectancies, which are used to update the cached value of one or more actions; in turn, this updated value is used for the choice. The key predictions of the model are tested in different settings of a double T-maze scenario. Results are discussed in relation with neurobiological evidence on the hippocampus - ventral striatum circuit in rodents, which has been linked to goal-directed spatial navigation.
"Where's My Choice?" An Examination of Veteran and Provider Experiences With Hepatitis C Treatment Through the Veteran Affairs Choice Program.

PubMed

Tsai, Jack; Yakovchenko, Vera; Jones, Natalie; Skolnik, Avy; Noska, Amanda; Gifford, Allen L; McInnes, D Keith

2017-07-01

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is the country's largest provider for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The VA created the Choice Program, which allows eligible veterans to seek care from community providers, who are reimbursed by the VA. This study aimed to examine perspectives and experiences with the VA Choice Program among veteran patients and their HCV providers. Qualitative study based on semistructured interviews with veteran patients and VA providers. Interview transcripts were analyzed using rapid assessment procedures based in grounded theory. A total of 38 veterans and 10 VA providers involved in HCV treatment across 3 VA medical centers were interviewed. Veterans and providers were asked open-ended questions about their experiences with HCV treatment in the VA and through the Choice Program, including barriers and facilitators to treatment access and completion. Four themes were identified: (1) there were difficulties in enrollment, ongoing support, and billing with third-party administrators; (2) veterans experienced a lack of choice in location of treatment; (3) fragmented care led to coordination challenges between VA and community providers; and (4) VA providers expressed reservations about sending veterans to community providers. The Choice Program has the potential to increase veteran access to HCV treatment, but veterans and VA providers have described substantial problems in the initial years of the program. Enhancing care coordination, incorporating shared decision-making, and establishing a wide network of community providers may be important areas for further development in designing community-based specialist services for needy veterans.
Profiles of Choice: Parents' Patterns of Priority in Child Care Decision-Making

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Jinseok; Fram, Maryah Stella

2009-01-01

Responding adequately to parental priorities for child care is important for shaping children's early experiences and development, and for facilitating parenting at the nexus of work and caregiving roles. Although much research on child care choice has relied on variable-centered approaches that treat parental priorities as distinct and isolated,…
Choice-reaction time to visual motion with varied levels of simultaneous rotary motion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clark, B.; Stewart, J. D.

1974-01-01

Twelve airline pilots were studied to determine the effects of whole-body rotation on choice-reaction time to the horizontal motion of a line on a cathode-ray tube. On each trial, one of five levels of visual acceleration and five corresponding proportions of rotary acceleration were presented simultaneously. Reaction time to the visual motion decreased with increasing levels of visual motion and increased with increasing proportions of rotary acceleration. The results conflict with general theories of facilitation during double stimulation but are consistent with neural-clock model of sensory interaction in choice-reaction time.
Does direct-to-consumer advertising affect patients' choice of pain medications?

PubMed

Liu, Yifei; Doucette, William R

2008-04-01

In the United States, direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) has grown rapidly to promote prescription medications, including analgesics. Few studies in the literature directly examine the association between DTCA and patients' choice of pain medications. This article discusses how DTCA affects such choice from a behavioral perspective, because DTCA-prompted behaviors are important indicators of DTCA's influence. After DTCA exposure, patients may request prescriptions, seek further medication information, and ask about advertised conditions. Patients who suffer from pain may seek more communication with their health care providers because they are cautious about the information quality of DTCA, mainly because of the recall of rofecoxib (Vioxx; Merck, Whitehouse Station, NJ). However, the availability and DTCA of over-the-counter analgesics complicate their treatment choice. Patients could use DTCA as a tool to launch health communication and make an informed treatment choice with the guidance of their health care providers.
The Choice for Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bennett, Scott

2006-01-01

We are building conventional library space without making the paradigm shift our digital environment requires. The chief obstacles to change lie in our conception of readers as information consumers, in our allegiance to library operations as the drivers of library design, and in the choice made between foundational and non-foundational views of…
Barriers and facilitators to recruitment in mental health services: care coordinators' expectations and experience of referring to a psychosis research trial.

PubMed

Bucci, Sandra; Butcher, Isabelle; Hartley, Samantha; Neil, Sandra T; Mulligan, John; Haddock, Gillian

2015-09-01

High-quality research trials are necessary to provide evidence for the effective management of mental health difficulties, but successful recruitment can be challenging. This qualitative study examines the perceived barriers and facilitators to referring mental health service users to research trials. Seven care coordinators (n = 7) who facilitated the recruitment of participants to a cognitive behaviour therapy - informed psychosis intervention trial were interviewed. Demographic information was collected by questionnaire and a semi-structured guide was used to explore barriers and facilitators to referring to a partially randomized participant preference trial. Qualitative data were thematically analysed. Four key themes, each with a number of sub-themes, were identified: (1) engage the care coordinator in the recruitment process, (2) barriers to referring to research studies, (3) facilitators to referring to research studies; (4) organisational constraints impact on implementing research outcomes into routine clinical practice. Understanding the barriers and facilitators to recruitment in mental health research could improve recruitment strategies. Our findings highlight the need for researchers' to closely consider their recruitment strategies as service users are not always given the choice to participate in research. Several key recommendations are made based on these findings in order to maximize successful recruitment to research studies. Overall, we recommend that researchers' adopt a flexible, tailor-made approach for each clinical team to ensure a collaborative relationship is developed between research staff and clinicians. A qualitative approach to understanding recruitment challenges provides a useful opportunity to explore the barriers and facilitators to recruiting participants to research studies. These findings have practical implications that highlight the need for a collaborative partnership between researchers and clinical services
College Students' Choice Modeling of Taking On-Line International Business Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeh, Robert S.

2006-01-01

To understand students' choice behavior of taking on-line international business courses, a survey study is conducted to collect information regarding students' actual choices of taking on-line courses and potential factors that may have impacts on students' choices of online learning. Potential factors such as enrollment status, demographic…
Barriers and facilitators to health information exchange in low- and middle-income country settings: a systematic review.

PubMed

Akhlaq, Ather; McKinstry, Brian; Muhammad, Khalid Bin; Sheikh, Aziz

2016-11-01

The exchange and use of health information can help healthcare professionals and policymakers make informed decisions on ways of improving patient and population health. Many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have however failed to embrace the approaches and technologies to facilitate health information exchange (HIE). We sought to understand the barriers and facilitators to the implementation and adoption of HIE in LMICs. Two reviewers independently searched 11 academic databases for published and on-going qualitative, quantitative and mixed-method studies and searched for unpublished work through the Google search engine. The searches covered the period from January 1990 to July 2014 and were not restricted by language. Eligible studies were independently, critically appraised and then thematically analysed. The searches yielded 5461 citations after de-duplication of results. Of these, 56 articles, three conference abstracts and four technical reports met the inclusion criteria. The lack of importance given to data in decision making, corruption and insecurity, lack of training and poor infrastructure were considered to be major challenges to implementing HIE, but strong leadership and clear policy direction coupled with the financial support to acquire essential technology, improve the communication network, and provide training for staff all helped to promote implementation. The body of work also highlighted how implementers of HIE needed to take into account local needs to ensure that stakeholders saw HIE as relevant and advantageous. HIE interventions implemented through leapfrog technologies such as telehealth/telemedicine and mHealth in Brazil, Kenya, and South Africa, provided successful examples of exchanging health information in LMICs despite limited resources and capability. It is important that implementation of HIE is aligned with national priorities and local needs. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press in association with
Prospect theory based estimation of drivers' risk attitudes in route choice behaviors.

PubMed

Zhou, Lizhen; Zhong, Shiquan; Ma, Shoufeng; Jia, Ning

2014-12-01

This paper applied prospect theory (PT) to describe drivers' route choice behavior under Variable Message Sign (VMS), which presented visual traffic information to assist them to make route choice decisions. A quite rich empirical data from questionnaire and field spot was used to estimate parameters of PT. In order to make the parameters more realistic with drivers' attitudes, they were classified into different types by significant factors influencing their behaviors. Based on the travel time distribution of alternative routes and route choice results from questionnaire, the parameterized value function of each category was figured out, which represented drivers' risk attitudes and choice characteristics. The empirical verification showed that the estimates were acceptable and effective. The result showed drivers' risk attitudes and route choice characteristics could be captured by PT under real-time information shown on VMS. For practical application, once drivers' route choice characteristics and parameters were identified, their route choice behavior under different road conditions could be predicted accurately, which was the basis of traffic guidance measures formulation and implementation for targeted traffic management. Moreover, the heterogeneous risk attitudes among drivers should be considered when releasing traffic information and regulating traffic flow. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Preference Versus Choice in Online Dating.

PubMed

Whyte, Stephen; Torgler, Benno

2017-03-01

This study explores factors that influence matches of online dating participants' stated preference for particular characteristics in a potential partner and compares these with the characteristics of the online daters actually contacted. The nature of online dating facilitates exploration of the differences between stated preference and actual choice by participants, as online daters willingly provide a range of demographics on their ideal partner. Using data from the Australian dating website RSVP, we analyze 219,013 contact decisions. We conduct a multivariate analysis using the number of matched variables between the participants' stated preference and the characteristics of the individuals contacted. We find that factors such as a person's age, their education level, and a more social personality all increase the number of factors they choose in a potential partner that match their original stated preference. Males (relative to females) appear to match fewer characteristics when contacting potential love interests. Conversely, age interaction effects demonstrate that males in their late 60's are increasingly more selective (than females) regarding who they contact. An understanding of how technology (the Internet) is impacting human mating patterns and the psychology behind the participants informs the wider social science of human behavior in large-scale decision settings.
The Role of Empirical Research in Informing Debates about the Constitutionality of School Choice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saiger, Aaron

2006-01-01

Federal constitutional law currently permits choice programs that include religious schools only if they provide parents with "genuine and independent choice"; as the leading federal case demonstrates, whether this test is satisfied is an interesting and difficult empirical question. State doctrine regarding establishment of religion can be…
Barriers and facilitators to preventing pressure ulcers in nursing home residents: A qualitative analysis informed by the Theoretical Domains Framework.

PubMed

Lavallée, Jacqueline F; Gray, Trish A; Dumville, Jo; Cullum, Nicky

2018-06-01

Pressure ulcers are areas of localised damage to the skin and underlying tissue; and can cause pain, immobility, and delay recovery, impacting on health-related quality of life. The individuals who are most at risk of developing a pressure ulcer are those who are seriously ill, elderly, have impaired mobility and/or poor nutrition; thus, many nursing home residents are at risk. To understand the context of pressure ulcer prevention in nursing homes and to explore the potential barriers and facilitators to evidence-informed practices. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nursing home nurses, healthcare assistants and managers, National Health Service community-based wound specialist nurses (known in the UK as tissue viability nurses) and a nurse manager in the North West of England. The interview guide was developed using the Theoretical Domains Framework to explore the barriers and facilitators to pressure ulcer prevention in nursing home residents. Data were analysed using a framework analysis and domains were identified as salient based on their frequency and the potential strength of their impact. 25 participants (nursing home: 2 managers, 7 healthcare assistants, 11 qualified nurses; National Health Service community services: 4 tissue viability nurses, 1 manager) were interviewed. Depending upon the behaviours reported and the context, the same domain could be classified as both a barrier and a facilitator. We identified seven domains as relevant in the prevention of pressure ulcers in nursing home residents mapping to four "barrier" domains and six "facilitator" domains. The four "barrier" domains were knowledge, physical skills, social influences and environmental context and resources and the six "facilitator" domains were interpersonal skills, environmental context and resources, social influences, beliefs about capabilities, beliefs about consequences and social/professional role and identity). Knowledge and insight into these barriers and
What patients think about choice in healthcare? A study on primary care services in Finland.

PubMed

Aalto, Anna-Mari; Elovainio, Marko; Tynkkynen, Liina-Kaisa; Reissell, Eeva; Vehko, Tuulikki; Chydenius, Miisa; Sinervo, Timo

2018-06-01

The ongoing Finnish health and social service reform will expand choice by opening the market for competition between public and private service providers. This study examined the attitudes of primary care patients towards choice and which patient-related factors are associated with these attitudes. A sample of attenders during one week in health centres of 12 big cities and municipal consortiums (including seven outsourced local units) and in primary care units of one private company providing outsourced services for municipalities (aged 18-95, n=8128) was used. The questionnaire included questions on choice-related attitudes, sociodemographic factors, health status, use of health services and patient satisfaction. Of the responders, 77% regarded choice to be important, 49% perceived genuine opportunities to make choices and 35% were satisfied with the choice-relevant information. Higher age, low education, having a chronic illness, frequent use of services, having a personal physician and being satisfied with the physician and with waiting times were related to assigning more importance on choice. Younger patients, those with higher education as well as those with chronic illness regarded their opportunities of choosing the service provider and availability of choice-relevant information poorer. The Finnish primary care patients value choice, but they are critical of the availability of choice-relevant information. Choices of patients with complex health care needs should be supported by developing integrated care alternatives and by increasing the availability of information on existing care alternatives to meet their needs.
Essays on the Economics of Higher Education: Investigating College Major Choice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hopson, Amy Kathleen

2017-01-01

This dissertation consists of two separate essays on major choice in higher education. In the first chapter, I investigate how differences in information affect students' major choices over time. Since college has such a short time horizon, the amount of information students have before coming in may play a big role in how well they are matched to…

Facilitating admissions of diverse students: A six-point, evidence-informed framework for pipeline and program development.

PubMed

Young, Meredith E; Thomas, Aliki; Varpio, Lara; Razack, Saleem I; Hanson, Mark D; Slade, Steve; Dayem, Katharine L; McKnight, David J

2017-04-01

Several national level calls have encouraged reconsideration of diversity issues in medical education. Particular interest has been placed on admissions, as decisions made here shape the nature of the future physician workforce. Critical analysis of current practices paired with evidence-informed policies may counter some of the barriers impeding access for underrepresented groups. We present a framework for diversity-related program development and evaluation grounded within a knowledge translation framework, and supported by the initiation of longitudinal collection of diversity-related data. We provide an illustrative case study for each component of the framework. Descriptive analyses are presented of pre/post intervention diversity metrics if applicable and available. The framework's focal points are: 1) data-driven identification of underrepresented groups, 2) pipeline development and targeted recruitment, 3) ensuring an inclusive process, 4) ensuring inclusive assessment, 5) ensuring inclusive selection, and 6) iterative use of diversity-related data. Case studies ranged from wording changes on admissions websites to the establishment of educational and administrative offices addressing needs of underrepresented populations. We propose that diversity-related data must be collected on a variety of markers, developed in partnership with stakeholders who are most likely to facilitate implementation of best practices and new policies. These data can facilitate the design, implementation, and evaluation of evidence-informed diversity initiatives and provide a structure for continued investigation into 'interventions' supporting diversity-related initiatives.
Facilitators and barriers to healthy eating in a worksite cafeteria: a qualitative study from Nepal.

PubMed

Shrestha, Archana; Pyakurel, Prajjwal; Shrestha, Abha; Gautam, Rabin; Manandhar, Nisha; Rhodes, Elizabeth; Tamrakar, Dipesh; Karmacharya, Biraj Man; Malik, Vasanti; Mattei, Josiemer; Spiegelman, Donna

2017-01-01

Worksite interventions can serve as a potential platform for translating existing knowledge of diabetes prevention and facilitate healthy food choices. The study explored perceptions about healthy eating as well as potential facilitators and barriers to healthy eating among employees in a wire manufacturing factory in Nepal. We conducted a cross-sectional exploratory qualitative study in a wire manufacturing industry in eastern Nepal. We conducted three focus group discussions (FGDs) with a total of 26 employees and four in-depth interviews (IDIs) with cafeteria operators/managers from a wire manufacturing factory in eastern Nepal. FGDs and IDIs were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using the thematic method. Most employees defined healthy eating as the consumption of food prepared and maintained using hygienic practices and fresh foods in general. Major barriers to healthy eating included unavailability of healthy foods, difficulty in changing eating habits, the preference for fried foods in Nepali culture and the high costs of some healthy foods. The most commonly reported facilitator of healthy eating was the availability of affordable healthy food options in worksite cafeterias. Availability of healthy food options at an affordable price could lead to healthier food choices in the worksite.
Search predicts and changes patience in intertemporal choice

PubMed Central

Johnson, Eric J.

2017-01-01

Intertemporal choice impacts many important outcomes, such as decisions about health, education, wealth, and the environment. However, the psychological processes underlying decisions involving outcomes at different points in time remain unclear, limiting opportunities to intervene and improve people’s patience. This research examines information-search strategies used during intertemporal choice and their impact on decisions. In experiment 1, we demonstrate that search strategies vary substantially across individuals. We subsequently identify two distinct search strategies across individuals. Comparative searchers, who compare features across options, discount future options less and are more susceptible to acceleration versus delay framing than integrative searchers, who integrate the features of an option. Experiment 2 manipulates search using an unobtrusive method to establish a causal relationship between strategy and choice, randomly assigning participants to conditions promoting either comparative or integrative search. Again, comparative search promotes greater patience than integrative search. Additionally, when participants adopt a comparative search strategy, they also exhibit greater effects of acceleration versus delay framing. Although most participants reported that the manipulation did not change their behavior, promoting comparative search decreased discounting of future rewards substantially and speeded patient choices. These findings highlight the central role that heterogeneity in psychological processes plays in shaping intertemporal choice. Importantly, these results indicate that theories that ignore variability in search strategies may be inadvertently aggregating over different subpopulations that use very different processes. The findings also inform interventions in choice architecture to increase patience and improve consumer welfare. PMID:29078303
Acoustic experience shapes female mate choice in field crickets

PubMed Central

Bailey, Nathan W; Zuk, Marlene

2008-01-01

Female choice can drive the evolution of extravagant male traits. In invertebrates, the influence of prior social experience on female choice has only recently been considered. To better understand the evolutionary implications of experience-mediated plasticity in female choice, we investigated the effect of acoustic experience during rearing on female responsiveness to male song in the field cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus. Acoustic experience has unique biological relevance in this species: a morphological mutation has rendered over 90 per cent of males on the Hawaiian island of Kauai silent in fewer than 20 generations, impeding females' abilities to locate potential mates. Females reared in silent conditions mimicking Kauai were less discriminating of male calling song and more responsive to playbacks, compared with females that experienced song during rearing. Our results to our knowledge, are the first demonstration of long-term effects of acoustic experience in an arthropod, and suggest that female T. oceanicus may be able to compensate for the reduced availability of long-range male sexual signals by increasing their responsiveness to the few remaining signallers. Understanding the adaptive significance of experience-mediated plasticity in female choice provides insight into processes that facilitate rapid evolutionary change and shape sexual selection pressure in natural populations. PMID:18700205
Uncertainty in action-value estimation affects both action choice and learning rate of the choice behaviors of rats

PubMed Central

Funamizu, Akihiro; Ito, Makoto; Doya, Kenji; Kanzaki, Ryohei; Takahashi, Hirokazu

2012-01-01

The estimation of reward outcomes for action candidates is essential for decision making. In this study, we examined whether and how the uncertainty in reward outcome estimation affects the action choice and learning rate. We designed a choice task in which rats selected either the left-poking or right-poking hole and received a reward of a food pellet stochastically. The reward probabilities of the left and right holes were chosen from six settings (high, 100% vs. 66%; mid, 66% vs. 33%; low, 33% vs. 0% for the left vs. right holes, and the opposites) in every 20–549 trials. We used Bayesian Q-learning models to estimate the time course of the probability distribution of action values and tested if they better explain the behaviors of rats than standard Q-learning models that estimate only the mean of action values. Model comparison by cross-validation revealed that a Bayesian Q-learning model with an asymmetric update for reward and non-reward outcomes fit the choice time course of the rats best. In the action-choice equation of the Bayesian Q-learning model, the estimated coefficient for the variance of action value was positive, meaning that rats were uncertainty seeking. Further analysis of the Bayesian Q-learning model suggested that the uncertainty facilitated the effective learning rate. These results suggest that the rats consider uncertainty in action-value estimation and that they have an uncertainty-seeking action policy and uncertainty-dependent modulation of the effective learning rate. PMID:22487046
What's in a Name? Expectations, Heuristics and Choice during a Period of Radical School Reform. CEP Discussion Paper No. 1477

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bertoni, Marco; Gibbons, Stephen; Silva, Olmo

2017-01-01

Education policy worldwide has sought to incentivize school improvement and facilitate pupil-school matching by introducing reforms that promote autonomy and choice. Understanding the way in which families form preferences during these periods of reform is crucial for evaluating the impact of such policies. We study the effects on choice of a…
Choice Inconsistencies Among the Elderly: Evidence from Plan Choice in the Medicare Part D Program

PubMed Central

Abaluck, Jason; Gruber, Jonathan

2010-01-01

We evaluate the choices of elders across their insurance options under the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug plan, using a unique data set of prescription drug claims matched to information on the characteristics of choice sets. We document that elders place much more weight on plan premiums than on expected out of pocket costs; value plan financial characteristics beyond any impacts on their own financial expenses or risk; and place almost no value on variance reducing aspects of plans. Partial equilibrium welfare analysis implies that welfare would have been 27% higher if patients had all chosen rationally. PMID:21857716
Impact of stress and mitigating information on evaluations, attributions, affect, disciplinary choices, and expectations of compliance in mothers at high and low risk for child physical abuse.

PubMed

De Paúl, Joaquín; Asla, Nagore; Pérez-Albéniz, Alicia; de Cádiz, Bárbara Torres-Gómez

2006-08-01

The objective is to know if high-risk mothers for child physical abuse differ in their evaluations, attributions, negative affect, disciplinary choices for children's behavior, and expectations of compliance. The effect of a stressor and the introduction of mitigating information are analyzed. Forty-seven high-risk and 48 matched low-risk mothers participated in the study. Mothers' information processing and disciplinary choices were examined using six vignettes depicting a child engaging in different transgressions. A four-factor design with repeated measures on the last two factors was used. High-risk mothers reported more hostile intent, global and internal attributions, more use of power assertion discipline, and less induction. A risk group by child transgression interaction and a risk group by mitigating information interaction were found. Results support the social information-processing model of child physical abuse, which suggests that high-risk mothers process child-related information differently and use more power assertive and less inductive disciplinary techniques.
Facilitation of information processing in the primary somatosensory area in the ball rotation task.

PubMed

Wasaka, Toshiaki; Kida, Tetsuo; Kakigi, Ryusuke

2017-11-14

Somatosensory input to the brain is known to be modulated during voluntary movement. It has been demonstrated that the response in the primary somatosensory cortex (SI) is generally gated during simple movement of the corresponding body part. This study investigated sensorimotor integration in the SI during manual movement using a motor task combining movement complexity and object manipulation. While the amplitude of M20 and M30 generated in the SI showed a significant reduction during manual movement, the subsequent component (M38) was significantly higher in the motor task than in the stationary condition. Especially, that in the ball rotation task showed a significant enhancement compared with those in the ball grasping and stone and paper tasks. Although sensorimotor integration in the SI generally has an inhibitory effect on information processing, here we found facilitation. Since the ball rotation task seems to be increasing the demand for somatosensory information to control the complex movements and operate two balls in the palm, it may have resulted in an enhancement of M38 generated in the SI.
Caring and Sharing: Becoming a Peer Facilitator.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Myrick, Robert D.; Erney, Tom

This book contains information and skill-building activities designed to train adolescents as peer facilitators. The first chapter describes peer facilitation and provides an overview of the book. The second chapter discusses principles, concepts, and ideas to help better understand how people learn, make decisions, change, and develop their own…
Food choice decision-making by women with gestational diabetes.

PubMed

Hui, Amy Leung; Sevenhuysen, Gustaaf; Harvey, Dexter; Salamon, Elizabeth

2014-02-01

To enhance the dietary education presented to women with gestational diabetes (GDM) by exploring the reasons and experiences that women with GDM reported in making their food-choice decisions after receipt of dietary education from a healthcare professional. Food Choice Map (FCM) semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 30 women with GDM living in the Winnipeg area during their pregnancies. Verbatim transcripts were generated from the interviews. A constant comparative method was used to generate common themes to answer research inquiries. Personal food preferences, hunger and cravings were the main factors affecting food choice decision-making in women with GDM. Although the information from healthcare professionals was 1 factor that affected food choice decision-making for most of the participants, more than half of the women, including all the women who were on insulin, reported difficulties in quick adaptation to dietary management in a limited time period. Information from other sources such as family members, friends, and internet were used to cope with the adaptation. These difficulties led to a sense of decreased control of GDM and were accompanied by frustration, especially for women taking insulin. Food choice decision-making varied for this group of women with GDM. Knowledge and information aided in making healthy food choices and in portion control. However, balancing individual needs and blood glucose control in a short time period was felt to be difficult and created frustration. The findings suggested that dietary consultation needs to be personalized and to be time sensitive to promote confidence in self-control. Copyright © 2014 Canadian Diabetes Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Health concern, food choice motives, and attitudes toward healthy eating: the mediating role of food choice motives.

PubMed

Sun, Yu-Hua Christine

2008-07-01

This study addresses how various health concerns might influence not only consumers' food choice motives but also consumers' subsequent attitudes toward healthy eating. This study expects that those consumers with greater health concerns would have different food choice motives and better attitudes toward healthy eating. A self-completion questionnaire was used to gather information. Participants, a random sample of 500 undergraduate students from a national university in Taipei, Taiwan, provided a total of 456 usable questionnaires, representing a valid response rate of 91%. The average age of the respondents at the time of the survey was 21 years and 63% of respondents were females. The relationship between health concern and healthy eating attitudes was confirmed. The relationship between health concern of developing diseases and attitudes toward healthy eating was fully mediated by food choice motives. However, the relationship between calorie consumption health concern and healthy eating attitudes was only partially mediated by food choice motives. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Facilitating interpersonal interaction and learning online: linking theory and practice.

PubMed

Sargeant, Joan; Curran, Vernon; Allen, Michael; Jarvis-Selinger, Sandra; Ho, Kendall

2006-01-01

An earlier study of physicians' perceptions of interactive online learning showed that these were shaped both by program design and quality and the quality and quantity of interpersonal interaction. We explore instructor roles in enhancing online learning through interpersonal interaction and the learning theories that inform these. This was a qualitative study using focus groups and interviews. Using purposive sampling, 50 physicians were recruited based on their experience with interactive online CME and face-to-face CME. Qualitative thematic and interpretive analysis was used. Two facilitation roles appeared key: creating a comfortable learning environment and enhancing the educational value of electronic discussions. Comfort developed gradually, and specific interventions like facilitating introductions and sharing experiences in a friendly, informative manner were helpful. As in facilitating effective small-group learning, instructors' thoughtful use of techniques that facilitated constructive interaction based on learner's needs and practice demands contributed to the educational value of interpersonal interactions. Facilitators require enhanced skills to engage learners in meaningful interaction and to overcome the transactional distance of online learning. The use of learning theories, including behavioral, cognitive, social, humanistic, and constructivist, can strengthen the educational design and facilitation of online programs. Preparation for online facilitation should include instruction in the roles and techniques required and the theories that inform them.
Personality and recovery: integrating personality assessment data to facilitate the recovery process.

PubMed

Donat, D C

2001-01-01

The relatively enduring and persistent nature of personality traits means that they will likely continue to impact the course of psychiatric recovery after Axis I symptoms are stabilized. These traits can significantly impact the choices that recovering persons make and the quality of interpersonal relationships with care providers who are trying to facilitate the recovery process. Despite this, they are often inadequately assessed and considered in providing psychiatric care. This manuscript reviews the common combinations of personality traits that have emerged across a variety of clinical samples. The implications of these personality features for the provision of care in an inpatient setting to facilitate recovery are discussed.
Health information technology to facilitate communication involving health care providers, caregivers, and pediatric patients: a scoping review.

PubMed

Gentles, Stephen James; Lokker, Cynthia; McKibbon, K Ann

2010-06-18

Pediatric patients with health conditions requiring follow-up typically depend on a caregiver to mediate at least part of the necessary two-way communication with health care providers on their behalf. Health information technology (HIT) and its subset, information communication technology (ICT), are increasingly being applied to facilitate communication between health care provider and caregiver in these situations. Awareness of the extent and nature of published research involving HIT interventions used in this way is currently lacking. This scoping review was designed to map the health literature about HIT used to facilitate communication involving health care providers and caregivers (who are usually family members) of pediatric patients with health conditions requiring follow-up. Terms relating to care delivery, information technology, and pediatrics were combined to search MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL for the years 1996 to 2008. Eligible studies were selected after three rounds of duplicate screening in which all authors participated. Data regarding patient, caregiver, health care provider, HIT intervention, outcomes studied, and study design were extracted and maintained in a Microsoft Access database. Stage of research was categorized using the UK's Medical Research Council (MRC) framework for developing and evaluating complex interventions. Quantitative and qualitative descriptive summaries are presented. We included 104 eligible studies (112 articles) conducted in 17 different countries and representing 30 different health conditions. The most common conditions were asthma, type 1 diabetes, special needs, and psychiatric disorder. Most studies (88, 85%) included children 2 to 12 years of age, and 73 (71%) involved home care settings. Health care providers operated in hospital settings in 96 (92%) of the studies. Interventions featured 12 modes of communication (eg, Internet, intranets, telephone, video conferencing, email, short message service [SMS], and
CHOICES. A Resource for Literacy Providers and Homeless Families.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koehler, Gwen; And Others

CHOICES, a literacy program for homeless families, piloted a program at the Women's Emergency Shelter in Champaign, Illinois and later expanded its services to A Woman's Place, a domestic violence shelter, in Urbana, Illinois. The CHOICES program offered weekly language activities for the children and gave mothers information about developing…
Validation of the translation of an instrument to measure reliability of written information on treatment choices: a study on attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

PubMed

Montoya, A; Llopis, N; Gilaberte, I

2011-12-01

DISCERN is an instrument designed to help patients assess the reliability of written information on treatment choices. Originally created in English, there is no validated Spanish version of this instrument. This study seeks to validate the Spanish translation of the DISCERN instrument used as a primary measure on a multicenter study aimed to assess the reliability of web-based information on treatment choices for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We used a modified version of a method for validating translated instruments in which the original source-language version is formally compared with the back-translated source-language version. Each item was ranked in terms of comparability of language, similarity of interpretability, and degree of understandability. Responses used Likert scales ranging from 1 to 7, where 1 indicates the best interpretability, language and understandability, and 7 indicates the worst. Assessments were performed by 20 raters fluent in the source language. The Spanish translation of DISCERN, based on ratings of comparability, interpretability and degree of understandability (mean score (SD): 1.8 (1.1), 1.4 (0.9) and 1.6 (1.1), respectively), was considered extremely comparable. All items received a score of less than three, therefore no further revision of the translation was needed. The validation process showed that the quality of DISCERN translation was high, validating the comparable language of the tool translated on assessing written information on treatment choices for ADHD.
A Study of Driver's Route Choice Behavior Based on Evolutionary Game Theory

PubMed Central

Jiang, Xiaowei; Ji, Yanjie; Deng, Wei

2014-01-01

This paper proposes a route choice analytic method that embeds cumulative prospect theory in evolutionary game theory to analyze how the drivers adjust their route choice behaviors under the influence of the traffic information. A simulated network with two alternative routes and one variable message sign is built to illustrate the analytic method. We assume that the drivers in the transportation system are bounded rational, and the traffic information they receive is incomplete. An evolutionary game model is constructed to describe the evolutionary process of the drivers' route choice decision-making behaviors. Here we conclude that the traffic information plays an important role in the route choice behavior. The driver's route decision-making process develops towards different evolutionary stable states in accordance with different transportation situations. The analysis results also demonstrate that employing cumulative prospect theory and evolutionary game theory to study the driver's route choice behavior is effective. This analytic method provides an academic support and suggestion for the traffic guidance system, and may optimize the travel efficiency to a certain extent. PMID:25610455
A study of driver's route choice behavior based on evolutionary game theory.

PubMed

Jiang, Xiaowei; Ji, Yanjie; Du, Muqing; Deng, Wei

2014-01-01

This paper proposes a route choice analytic method that embeds cumulative prospect theory in evolutionary game theory to analyze how the drivers adjust their route choice behaviors under the influence of the traffic information. A simulated network with two alternative routes and one variable message sign is built to illustrate the analytic method. We assume that the drivers in the transportation system are bounded rational, and the traffic information they receive is incomplete. An evolutionary game model is constructed to describe the evolutionary process of the drivers' route choice decision-making behaviors. Here we conclude that the traffic information plays an important role in the route choice behavior. The driver's route decision-making process develops towards different evolutionary stable states in accordance with different transportation situations. The analysis results also demonstrate that employing cumulative prospect theory and evolutionary game theory to study the driver's route choice behavior is effective. This analytic method provides an academic support and suggestion for the traffic guidance system, and may optimize the travel efficiency to a certain extent.
Improvements in recall and food choices using a graphical method to deliver information of select nutrients.

PubMed

Pratt, Nathan S; Ellison, Brenna D; Benjamin, Aaron S; Nakamura, Manabu T

2016-01-01

Consumers have difficulty using nutrition information. We hypothesized that graphically delivering information of select nutrients relative to a target would allow individuals to process information in time-constrained settings more effectively than numerical information. Objectives of the study were to determine the efficacy of the graphical method in (1) improving memory of nutrient information and (2) improving consumer purchasing behavior in a restaurant. Values of fiber and protein per calorie were 2-dimensionally plotted alongside a target box. First, a randomized cued recall experiment was conducted (n=63). Recall accuracy of nutrition information improved by up to 43% when shown graphically instead of numerically. Second, the impact of graphical nutrition signposting on diner choices was tested in a cafeteria. Saturated fat and sodium information was also presented using color coding. Nutrient content of meals (n=362) was compared between 3 signposting phases: graphical, nutrition facts panels (NFP), or no nutrition label. Graphical signposting improved nutrient content of purchases in the intended direction, whereas NFP had no effect compared with the baseline. Calories ordered from total meals, entrées, and sides were significantly less during graphical signposting than no-label and NFP periods. For total meal and entrées, protein per calorie purchased was significantly higher and saturated fat significantly lower during graphical signposting than the other phases. Graphical signposting remained a predictor of calories and protein per calorie purchased in regression modeling. These findings demonstrate that graphically presenting nutrition information makes that information more available for decision making and influences behavior change in a realistic setting. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The role of attitudes towards the targets of behaviour in predicting and informing prenatal testing choices.

PubMed

Bryant, Louise D; Green, Josephine M; Hewison, Jenny

2010-12-01

Research considering the role of attitudes in prenatal testing choices has commonly focused on the relationship between the attitude towards undergoing testing and actual testing behaviour. In contrast, this study focused on the relationship between testing behaviour and attitudes towards the targets of the behaviour (in this case people with Down syndrome (DS) and having a baby with DS). A cross-sectional, prospective survey of 197 pregnant women measured attitudes towards the targets of prenatal testing along with intentions to use screening and diagnostic testing, and the termination of an affected pregnancy. Screening uptake was established via patient records. Although attitudes towards DS and having a baby with DS were significantly associated with screening uptake and testing and termination intentions, unfavourable attitudes were better than favourable ones at predicting these outcomes. For example, in the quartile of women with the 'most favourable' attitude towards people with DS 67% used screening although only 8% said they would terminate an affected pregnancy. Qualitative data suggested that not all women considered personal attitudes towards DS to be relevant to their screening decisions. This finding has implications for the way in which informed choice is currently understood and measured in the prenatal testing context.
Health risk/benefit information for consumers of fish and shellfish: FishChoice, a new online tool.

PubMed

Vilavert, Lolita; Borrell, Ferran; Nadal, Martí; Jacobs, Silke; Minnens, Fien; Verbeke, Wim; Marques, António; Domingo, José Luis

2017-06-01

It is well known that due to the content in omega-3 fatty acids, consumption of fish and shellfish is beneficial for human cardiovascular health. However, a number of recent studies have shown that fish consumption may be also a potential dietary source of exposure to various environmental pollutants with well-known potential adverse effects on human health. Moreover, there is still a lack of information regarding levels of emerging contaminants in fish and shellfish, in particular among consumers and stakeholders. Within the ECsafeSEAFOOD FP7 project, a wide variety of emerging contaminants including brominated flame retardants, pharmaceuticals, perfluoroalkyl substances, musk fragrances, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, UV-filters and endocrine disruptors, as well as inorganic arsenic and methylmercury, were analyzed in fish and shellfish samples collected all over the European Union. These data, together with those regarding nutrient concentrations from different European food composition databases, were integrated into a new online tool, called FishChoice. In this paper, we report how FishChoice was designed and present its main improvements compared to previous tools or software programs, in terms of selected pollutants, number of species, and specific recommendations for an optimal consumption of fish and shellfish. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
The Influences of Landscape Features on Visitation of Hospital Green Spaces-A Choice Experiment Approach.

PubMed

Chang, Kaowen Grace; Chien, Hungju

2017-07-05

Studies have suggested that visiting and viewing landscaping at hospitals accelerates patient's recovery from surgery and help staff's recovery from mental fatigue. To plan and construct such landscapes, we need to unravel landscape features desirable to different groups so that the space can benefit a wide range of hospital users. Using discrete choice modeling, we developed experimental choice sets to investigate how landscape features influence the visitations of different users in a large regional hospital in Taiwan. The empirical survey provides quantitative estimates of the influence of each landscape feature on four user groups, including patients, caregivers, staff, and neighborhood residents. Our findings suggest that different types of features promote visits from specific user groups. Landscape features facilitating physical activities effectively encourage visits across user groups especially for caregivers and staff. Patients in this study specify a strong need for contact with nature. The nearby community favors the features designed for children's play and family activities. People across user groups value the features that provide a mitigated microclimate of comfort, such as a shelter. Study implications and limitations are also discussed. Our study provides information essential for creating a better healing environment in a hospital setting.
Online interprofessional education facilitation: A scoping review.

PubMed

Evans, Sherryn Maree; Ward, Catherine; Reeves, Scott

2018-04-22

The use of online media to deliver interprofessional education (IPE) is becoming more prevalent across health professions education settings. Facilitation of IPE activities is known to be critical to the effective delivery of IPE, however, specifics about the nature of online IPE facilitation remains unclear. To explore the health professions education literature to understand the extent, range and nature of research on online IPE facilitation. Scoping review methodology was used to guide a search of four electronic databases for relevant papers. Of the 2095 abstracts initially identified, after screening of both abstracts and full-text papers, 10 studies were selected for inclusion in this review. Following abstraction of key information from each study, a thematic analysis was undertaken. Three key themes emerged to describe the nature of the IPE facilitation literature: (1) types of online IPE facilitation contributions, (2) the experience of online IPE facilitation and (3) personal outcomes of online IPE facilitation. These IPE facilitation themes were particularly focused on facilitation of interprofessional student teams on an asynchronous basis. While the included studies provide some insight into the nature of online IPE facilitation, future research is needed to better understand facilitator contributions, and the facilitation experience and associated outcomes, both relating to synchronous and asynchronous online environments.
An Assessment of Social Diffusion in the Respecting Choices Advance Care Planning Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moorman, Sara M.; Carr, Deborah; Kirchhoff, Karin T.; Hammes, Bernard J.

2012-01-01

This study examines the potential social diffusion effects of the Respecting Choices advance care planning program administered in La Crosse, Wisconsin, since 1991. The program produces educational materials for patients, trains facilitators to help patients prepare for end of life, and ensures that advance directives are connected to patients'…
Search predicts and changes patience in intertemporal choice.

PubMed

Reeck, Crystal; Wall, Daniel; Johnson, Eric J

2017-11-07

Intertemporal choice impacts many important outcomes, such as decisions about health, education, wealth, and the environment. However, the psychological processes underlying decisions involving outcomes at different points in time remain unclear, limiting opportunities to intervene and improve people's patience. This research examines information-search strategies used during intertemporal choice and their impact on decisions. In experiment 1, we demonstrate that search strategies vary substantially across individuals. We subsequently identify two distinct search strategies across individuals. Comparative searchers, who compare features across options, discount future options less and are more susceptible to acceleration versus delay framing than integrative searchers, who integrate the features of an option. Experiment 2 manipulates search using an unobtrusive method to establish a causal relationship between strategy and choice, randomly assigning participants to conditions promoting either comparative or integrative search. Again, comparative search promotes greater patience than integrative search. Additionally, when participants adopt a comparative search strategy, they also exhibit greater effects of acceleration versus delay framing. Although most participants reported that the manipulation did not change their behavior, promoting comparative search decreased discounting of future rewards substantially and speeded patient choices. These findings highlight the central role that heterogeneity in psychological processes plays in shaping intertemporal choice. Importantly, these results indicate that theories that ignore variability in search strategies may be inadvertently aggregating over different subpopulations that use very different processes. The findings also inform interventions in choice architecture to increase patience and improve consumer welfare. Copyright © 2017 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.
2006 Net Centric Operations Conference - Facilitating Net Centric Operations and Warfare

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-03-16

22, 2005 • White Paper, “Facilitating Shared Services in the DoD,” Feb 12, 2006 • White Paper, “ Shared Services : Performance Accountability and Risk...who demand a culture of information sharing and improved organizational effectiveness.” 12 Facilitating Shared Services : Task “What should be the...distinct programs.” 13 Facilitating Shared Services : Focus Areas • Governance and Control Policy • Common Information Standards and Technical
Guess what? Implicit motivation boosts the influence of subliminal information on choice.

PubMed

Milyavsky, Maxim; Hassin, Ran R; Schul, Yaacov

2012-09-01

When is choice affected by subliminal messages? This question has fascinated scientists and lay people alike, but it is only recently that reliable empirical data began to emerge. In the current paper we bridge the literature on implicit motivation and that on subliminal persuasion. We suggest that motivation in general, and implicit motivation more specifically, plays an important role in subliminal persuasion: It sensitizes us to subliminal cues. To examine this hypothesis we developed a new paradigm that allows powerful tests of subliminal influences as well as stringent assessments of subliminality. The results of two experiments suggest that implicit motivation can enhance the effects of subliminal priming on choice. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Does health affect portfolio choice?

PubMed

Love, David A; Smith, Paul A

2010-12-01

A number of recent studies find that poor health is empirically associated with a safer portfolio allocation. It is difficult to say, however, whether this relationship is truly causal. Both health status and portfolio choice are influenced by unobserved characteristics such as risk attitudes, impatience, information, and motivation, and these unobserved factors, if not adequately controlled for, can induce significant bias in the estimates of asset demand equations. Using the 1992-2006 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, we investigate how much of the connection between health and portfolio choice is causal and how much is due to the effects of unobserved heterogeneity. Accounting for unobserved heterogeneity with fixed effects and correlated random effects models, we find that health does not appear to significantly affect portfolio choice among single households. For married households, we find a small effect (about 2-3 percentage points) from being in the lowest of five self-reported health categories. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An adult learner's learning style should inform but not limit educational choices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barry, Margot; Egan, Arlene

2017-12-01

Adult learners are attracted to learning opportunities (e.g. course offers) which seem promising in terms of allowing them to match their choices to their own perceived predispositions. To find out more about their personal learning style, some adult learners may fill in a questionnaire designed by researchers who aim (and claim) to enable both course providers and learners to optimise learning outcomes. The evaluation of these questionnaires measures learning styles using indicators developed for this purpose, but the results are not conclusive and their utility is therefore questionable. This narrative review critically examines some of the research which explores the usefulness of considering students' learning styles in adult education. The authors present a discussion - which remains hypothetical - on why the use of learning styles measures continues to be popular despite the absence of rigorous research findings to support this practice. Factors discussed by the authors include confirmation bias (making choices which confirm our prejudices) and user qualification (limiting availability to trained users, e.g. psychologists) as well as limited resources and skills in evaluating research, paired with educators' quest to implement evidence-focused techniques. The authors conclude that while learning styles assessments can be useful for the purpose of reflection on strengths and weaknesses, they should play a limited role in educational choices.
An adult learner's learning style should inform but not limit educational choices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barry, Margot; Egan, Arlene

2018-02-01

Adult learners are attracted to learning opportunities (e.g. course offers) which seem promising in terms of allowing them to match their choices to their own perceived predispositions. To find out more about their personal learning style, some adult learners may fill in a questionnaire designed by researchers who aim (and claim) to enable both course providers and learners to optimise learning outcomes. The evaluation of these questionnaires measures learning styles using indicators developed for this purpose, but the results are not conclusive and their utility is therefore questionable. This narrative review critically examines some of the research which explores the usefulness of considering students' learning styles in adult education. The authors present a discussion - which remains hypothetical - on why the use of learning styles measures continues to be popular despite the absence of rigorous research findings to support this practice. Factors discussed by the authors include confirmation bias (making choices which confirm our prejudices) and user qualification (limiting availability to trained users, e.g. psychologists) as well as limited resources and skills in evaluating research, paired with educators' quest to implement evidence-focused techniques. The authors conclude that while learning styles assessments can be useful for the purpose of reflection on strengths and weaknesses, they should play a limited role in educational choices.
A twofold quantum delayed-choice experiment in a superconducting circuit.

PubMed

Liu, Ke; Xu, Yuan; Wang, Weiting; Zheng, Shi-Biao; Roy, Tanay; Kundu, Suman; Chand, Madhavi; Ranadive, Arpit; Vijay, Rajamani; Song, Yipu; Duan, Luming; Sun, Luyan

2017-05-01

Wave-particle complementarity lies at the heart of quantum mechanics. To illustrate this mysterious feature, Wheeler proposed the delayed-choice experiment, where a quantum system manifests the wave- or particle-like attribute, depending on the experimental arrangement, which is made after the system has entered the interferometer. In recent quantum delayed-choice experiments, these two complementary behaviors were simultaneously observed with a quantum interferometer in a superposition of being closed and open. We suggest and implement a conceptually different quantum delayed-choice experiment by introducing a which-path detector (WPD) that can simultaneously record and neglect the system's path information, but where the interferometer itself is classical. Our experiment is realized with a superconducting circuit, where a cavity acts as the WPD for an interfering qubit. Using this setup, we implement the first twofold delayed-choice experiment, which demonstrates that the system's behavior depends not only on the measuring device's configuration that can be chosen even after the system has been detected but also on whether we a posteriori erase or mark the which-path information, the latter of which cannot be revealed by previous quantum delayed-choice experiments. Our results represent the first demonstration of both counterintuitive features with the same experimental setup, significantly extending the concept of quantum delayed-choice experiment.
Smoking cessation: Exploration of perceived technology-related information value.

PubMed

Reychav, Iris; McHaney, Roger; Hirak, Eyal; Merker, Ben

2018-01-01

This study describes a unique approach to information transfer affecting the perceived value of this information and related impact on smoker behavior. Data were collected via survey, sampling approximately 120 participants. An online survey tool was used for the survey creation, data collection and monitoring. Another online tool was used by participants to create short animation videos as a means of increasing their engagement with information in an experiential fashion. Study findings included that the process experienced by the test group was influential and facilitated participants' change of mind regarding enrollment in a smoking cessation workshop. This was partly attributable to the IKEA effect. The study provides evidence that a change in habits crucial to improve health and enhance positive lifestyle choices can be stimulated through active engagement with artifact creation in a technology-mediated environment.
Determining Barriers and Facilitators Associated With Willingness to Use a Personal Health Information Management System to Support Worksite Wellness Programs.

PubMed

Neyens, David M; Childers, Ashley Kay

2017-07-01

To determine the barriers and facilitators associated with willingness to use personal health information management (PHIM) systems to support an existing worksite wellness program (WWP). The study design involved a Web-based survey. The study setting was a regional hospital. Hospital employees comprised the study subjects. Willingness, barriers, and facilitators associated with PHIM were measured. Bivariate logit models were used to model two binary dependent variables. One model predicted the likelihood of believing PHIM systems would positively affect overall health and willingness to use. Another predicted the likelihood of worrying about online security and not believing PHIM systems would benefit health goals. Based on 333 responses, believing PHIM systems would positively affect health was highly associated with willingness to use PHIM systems (p < .01). Those comfortable online were 7.22 times more willing to use PHIM systems. Participants in exercise-based components of WWPs were 3.03 times more likely to be willing to use PHIM systems. Those who worried about online security were 5.03 times more likely to believe PHIM systems would not help obtain health goals. Comfort with personal health information online and exercise-based WWP experience was associated with willingness to use PHIM systems. However, nutrition-based WWPs did not have similar effects. Implementation barriers relate to technology anxiety and trust in security, as well as experience with specific WWP activities. Identifying differences between WWP components and addressing technology concerns before implementation of PHIM systems into WWPs may facilitate improved adoption and usage.
Uncertainty in action-value estimation affects both action choice and learning rate of the choice behaviors of rats.

PubMed

Funamizu, Akihiro; Ito, Makoto; Doya, Kenji; Kanzaki, Ryohei; Takahashi, Hirokazu

2012-04-01

The estimation of reward outcomes for action candidates is essential for decision making. In this study, we examined whether and how the uncertainty in reward outcome estimation affects the action choice and learning rate. We designed a choice task in which rats selected either the left-poking or right-poking hole and received a reward of a food pellet stochastically. The reward probabilities of the left and right holes were chosen from six settings (high, 100% vs. 66%; mid, 66% vs. 33%; low, 33% vs. 0% for the left vs. right holes, and the opposites) in every 20-549 trials. We used Bayesian Q-learning models to estimate the time course of the probability distribution of action values and tested if they better explain the behaviors of rats than standard Q-learning models that estimate only the mean of action values. Model comparison by cross-validation revealed that a Bayesian Q-learning model with an asymmetric update for reward and non-reward outcomes fit the choice time course of the rats best. In the action-choice equation of the Bayesian Q-learning model, the estimated coefficient for the variance of action value was positive, meaning that rats were uncertainty seeking. Further analysis of the Bayesian Q-learning model suggested that the uncertainty facilitated the effective learning rate. These results suggest that the rats consider uncertainty in action-value estimation and that they have an uncertainty-seeking action policy and uncertainty-dependent modulation of the effective learning rate. © 2012 The Authors. European Journal of Neuroscience © 2012 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Energy services in the information age: The convergence of energy, communications, and information technologies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Centolella, P.A.

1998-07-01

Most of the economic efficiency benefits of electric restructuring--consumer choice based on price and risk preferences, efficient capacity utilization, capacity expansion that reflects marketability, and innovative products--depend upon consumer access to information and opportunities to respond to time- and location-specific prices and customized products. Information and communications technologies from back-room data management centers to intelligent consumer gateways will play an essential role in marketing energy services in a retail access environment. This paper describes the role of information and communications technology in electric industry restructuring and retailing of energy services. It includes a survey of economic analyses on the likelymore » variability in competitive generation prices and consumer responses if such prices are effectively communicated. The paper describes the potential benefits and cost savings associated with flexible consumer responses to price variability. It identifies consumer loads and preferences. Finally, the paper describes the building blocks of information systems being developed to facilitate price-responsive energy management and provide a range of other energy services. Intelligent gateways, analytical tools for facility load prediction and optimizing energy management responses, and electronic commerce applications are discussed.« less
Evolving Choice Inconsistencies in Choice of Prescription Drug Insurance

PubMed Central

ABALUCK, JASON

2017-01-01

We study choice over prescription insurance plans by the elderly using government administrative data to evaluate how these choices evolve over time. We find large “foregone savings” from not choosing the lowest cost plan that has grown over time. We develop a structural framework to decompose the changes in “foregone welfare” from inconsistent choices into choice set changes and choice function changes from a fixed choice set. We find that foregone welfare increases over time due primarily to changes in plan characteristics such as premiums and out-of-pocket costs; we estimate little learning at either the individual or cohort level. PMID:29104294
Facilitating High School Students' Use of Multiple Representations to Describe and Explain Simple Chemical Reactions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chandrasegaran, A. L.; Treagust, David F.; Mocerino, Mauro

2011-01-01

This study involved the evaluation of the efficacy of a planned instructional program to facilitate understanding of the macroscopic, submicroscopic and symbolic representational systems when describing and explaining chemical reactions by sixty-five Grade 9 students in a Singapore secondary school. A two-tier multiple-choice diagnostic instrument…
The use of choice experiments in the analysis of tourist preferences for ecotourism development in Costa Rica.

PubMed

Hearne, Robert R; Salinas, Zenia M

2002-06-01

Many nations promote nature-based tourism in order to promote the dual goals of nature conservation and income generation. To be most effective in providing services that facilitate achievement of these goals, decision makers will need to understand and incorporate tourist preferences for nature appreciation, infrastructure, use restrictions, and other attributes of national parks and protected areas. This paper presents the use of choice experiments as a mechanism to analyze preferences of national and international tourists in relation to the development of Barva Volcano Area in Costa Rica. In this section of the Braulio Carrillo National Park, managers are faced with an immediate need to plan for greatly increased visitation rates due to a new road, which will greatly improve access. Choice sets were developed in collaboration with park managers. A survey was conducted of 171 Costa Rican and 271 foreign tourists who visited Poás Volcano, a well-visited alternative site to Barva Volcano. Survey data was analyzed using conditional multinomial logit models. Results of the study demonstrate, that both sets of tourists preferred: (i) improved infrastructure; (ii) aerial trams with observation towers and picnic areas; (iii) more information; and (iv) low entrance fees. Foreign tourists demonstrated strong preferences for the inclusion of restrictions in the access to some trails, whereas Costa Ricans did not show any significant preference for restrictions. Marginal willingness-to-pay for greater information was estimated to be $1.54 for foreign tourists and $1.01 for Costa Rican visitors. The study concludes that choice experiments are a useful tool in the analyses of tourist preferences for the development of protected areas in developing countries.
Choices in Cataloging Electronic Journals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leathem, Cecilia A.

2005-01-01

Libraries and catalogers face choices in the treatment of the growing collections of electronic journals. Policies issued by CONSER and the Library of Congress allow libraries to edit existing print records to accommodate information pertaining to the electronic versions (single record option) or to create new records for them. The discussion…

A two-layered diffusion model traces the dynamics of information processing in the valuation-and-choice circuit of decision making.

PubMed

Piu, Pietro; Fargnoli, Francesco; Innocenti, Alessandro; Rufa, Alessandra

2014-01-01

A circuit of evaluation and selection of the alternatives is considered a reliable model in neurobiology. The prominent contributions of the literature to this topic are reported. In this study, valuation and choice of a decisional process during Two-Alternative Forced-Choice (TAFC) task are represented as a two-layered network of computational cells, where information accrual and processing progress in nonlinear diffusion dynamics. The evolution of the response-to-stimulus map is thus modeled by two linked diffusive modules (2LDM) representing the neuronal populations involved in the valuation-and-decision circuit of decision making. Diffusion models are naturally appropriate for describing accumulation of evidence over the time. This allows the computation of the response times (RTs) in valuation and choice, under the hypothesis of ex-Wald distribution. A nonlinear transfer function integrates the activities of the two layers. The input-output map based on the infomax principle makes the 2LDM consistent with the reinforcement learning approach. Results from simulated likelihood time series indicate that 2LDM may account for the activity-dependent modulatory component of effective connectivity between the neuronal populations. Rhythmic fluctuations of the estimate gain functions in the delta-beta bands also support the compatibility of 2LDM with the neurobiology of DM.
Facilitators and barriers to healthy eating in a worksite cafeteria: a qualitative study from Nepal

PubMed Central

Shrestha, Archana; Pyakurel, Prajjwal; Shrestha, Abha; Gautam, Rabin; Manandhar, Nisha; Rhodes, Elizabeth; Tamrakar, Dipesh; Karmacharya, Biraj Man; Malik, Vasanti; Mattei, Josiemer; Spiegelman, Donna

2017-01-01

Objective Worksite interventions can serve as a potential platform for translating existing knowledge of diabetes prevention and facilitate healthy food choices. The study explored perceptions about healthy eating as well as potential facilitators and barriers to healthy eating among employees in a wire manufacturing factory in Nepal. Methods and materials We conducted a cross-sectional exploratory qualitative study in a wire manufacturing industry in eastern Nepal. We conducted three focus group discussions (FGDs) with a total of 26 employees and four in-depth interviews (IDIs) with cafeteria operators/managers from a wire manufacturing factory in eastern Nepal. FGDs and IDIs were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using the thematic method. Results Most employees defined healthy eating as the consumption of food prepared and maintained using hygienic practices and fresh foods in general. Major barriers to healthy eating included unavailability of healthy foods, difficulty in changing eating habits, the preference for fried foods in Nepali culture and the high costs of some healthy foods. The most commonly reported facilitator of healthy eating was the availability of affordable healthy food options in worksite cafeterias. Conclusion Availability of healthy food options at an affordable price could lead to healthier food choices in the worksite. PMID:29225703
Quantum erasure with causally disconnected choice.

PubMed

Ma, Xiao-Song; Kofler, Johannes; Qarry, Angie; Tetik, Nuray; Scheidl, Thomas; Ursin, Rupert; Ramelow, Sven; Herbst, Thomas; Ratschbacher, Lothar; Fedrizzi, Alessandro; Jennewein, Thomas; Zeilinger, Anton

2013-01-22

The counterintuitive features of quantum physics challenge many common-sense assumptions. In an interferometric quantum eraser experiment, one can actively choose whether or not to erase which-path information (a particle feature) of one quantum system and thus observe its wave feature via interference or not by performing a suitable measurement on a distant quantum system entangled with it. In all experiments performed to date, this choice took place either in the past or, in some delayed-choice arrangements, in the future of the interference. Thus, in principle, physical communications between choice and interference were not excluded. Here, we report a quantum eraser experiment in which, by enforcing Einstein locality, no such communication is possible. This is achieved by independent active choices, which are space-like separated from the interference. Our setup employs hybrid path-polarization entangled photon pairs, which are distributed over an optical fiber link of 55 m in one experiment, or over a free-space link of 144 km in another. No naive realistic picture is compatible with our results because whether a quantum could be seen as showing particle- or wave-like behavior would depend on a causally disconnected choice. It is therefore suggestive to abandon such pictures altogether.
Referential Choice: Predictability and Its Limits

PubMed Central

Kibrik, Andrej A.; Khudyakova, Mariya V.; Dobrov, Grigory B.; Linnik, Anastasia; Zalmanov, Dmitrij A.

2016-01-01

We report a study of referential choice in discourse production, understood as the choice between various types of referential devices, such as pronouns and full noun phrases. Our goal is to predict referential choice, and to explore to what extent such prediction is possible. Our approach to referential choice includes a cognitively informed theoretical component, corpus analysis, machine learning methods and experimentation with human participants. Machine learning algorithms make use of 25 factors, including referent’s properties (such as animacy and protagonism), the distance between a referential expression and its antecedent, the antecedent’s syntactic role, and so on. Having found the predictions of our algorithm to coincide with the original almost 90% of the time, we hypothesized that fully accurate prediction is not possible because, in many situations, more than one referential option is available. This hypothesis was supported by an experimental study, in which participants answered questions about either the original text in the corpus, or about a text modified in accordance with the algorithm’s prediction. Proportions of correct answers to these questions, as well as participants’ rating of the questions’ difficulty, suggested that divergences between the algorithm’s prediction and the original referential device in the corpus occur overwhelmingly in situations where the referential choice is not categorical. PMID:27721800
Quantum erasure with causally disconnected choice

PubMed Central

Ma, Xiao-Song; Kofler, Johannes; Qarry, Angie; Tetik, Nuray; Scheidl, Thomas; Ursin, Rupert; Ramelow, Sven; Herbst, Thomas; Ratschbacher, Lothar; Fedrizzi, Alessandro; Jennewein, Thomas; Zeilinger, Anton

2013-01-01

The counterintuitive features of quantum physics challenge many common-sense assumptions. In an interferometric quantum eraser experiment, one can actively choose whether or not to erase which-path information (a particle feature) of one quantum system and thus observe its wave feature via interference or not by performing a suitable measurement on a distant quantum system entangled with it. In all experiments performed to date, this choice took place either in the past or, in some delayed-choice arrangements, in the future of the interference. Thus, in principle, physical communications between choice and interference were not excluded. Here, we report a quantum eraser experiment in which, by enforcing Einstein locality, no such communication is possible. This is achieved by independent active choices, which are space-like separated from the interference. Our setup employs hybrid path-polarization entangled photon pairs, which are distributed over an optical fiber link of 55 m in one experiment, or over a free-space link of 144 km in another. No naive realistic picture is compatible with our results because whether a quantum could be seen as showing particle- or wave-like behavior would depend on a causally disconnected choice. It is therefore suggestive to abandon such pictures altogether. PMID:23288900
Creating Lifelong Learners: Fostering Facilitation, Modeling, & Choice in the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Angela Falter

2015-01-01

This article discusses alternatives to the lecture-style teaching that remains a fundamental practice for many middle school classrooms. Information was accumulated by pre-service middle school language arts teachers, who interviewed their mentor for their student teaching experience, focusing on how each teacher attempts to foster lifelong…
Effect of Training on Reasoning in Moral Choice.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaplan, Martin F.

Moral development is viewed as a matter of progression in the cognitive reasoning and rationale underlying choices and judgments. Traditionally, retrospective reports of rationales have been used to measure moral development levels, resulting in unreliable information. Information Integration Theory attempts to assess individual differences in…
The response dynamics of preferential choice.

PubMed

Koop, Gregory J; Johnson, Joseph G

2013-12-01

The ubiquity of psychological process models requires an increased degree of sophistication in the methods and metrics that we use to evaluate them. We contribute to this venture by capitalizing on recent work in cognitive science analyzing response dynamics, which shows that the bearing information processing dynamics have on intended action is also revealed in the motor system. This decidedly "embodied" view suggests that researchers are missing out on potential dependent variables with which to evaluate their models-those associated with the motor response that produces a choice. The current work develops a method for collecting and analyzing such data in the domain of decision making. We first validate this method using widely normed stimuli from the International Affective Picture System (Experiment 1), and demonstrate that curvature in response trajectories provides a metric of the competition between choice options. We next extend the method to risky decision making (Experiment 2) and develop predictions for three popular classes of process model. The data provided by response dynamics demonstrate that choices contrary to the maxim of risk seeking in losses and risk aversion in gains may be the product of at least one "online" preference reversal, and can thus begin to discriminate amongst the candidate models. Finally, we incorporate attentional data collected via eye-tracking (Experiment 3) to develop a formal computational model of joint information sampling and preference accumulation. In sum, we validate response dynamics for use in preferential choice tasks and demonstrate the unique conclusions afforded by response dynamics over and above traditional methods. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Language Policy from Below: Language Choice in Student Project Groups in a Multilingual University Setting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mortensen, Janus

2014-01-01

Internationalisation is a buzzword in European higher education, and many universities work hard to devise and implement strategies that will help facilitate increased transnational student mobility. In this context, English is commonly seen as the "natural" choice for university internationalisation, and English is accordingly promoted…
Hospital choice factors: a case study in Turkey.

PubMed

Akinci, Fevzi; Esatoğlu, A Ezel; Tengilimoglu, Dilaver; Parsons, Amy

2004-01-01

In an attempt to test the robustness of the numerous American findings related to hospital choice in the context of another country, this study examines the factors affecting hospital choice decisions of 869 patients in three public and one private hospital policlinics in Ankara, Turkey and attempts to determine their importance levels. Identification of these factors and determining their effect levels is important in concentrating management efforts on these key areas and in formulating effective marketing strategies to retain and expand hospital patient bases in the future. Our findings highlight the importance of accessibility of hospital services to consumers in hospital choice as well as the role of hospital's image, its physical appearance, and technological capabilities in informing such choices. American health care managers can use these findings to further understand how patients make choices related to health care facilities and to develop marketing strategies that may more effectively market their facilities.
SUPERFUND GROUNDWATER ISSUE - FACILITATED TRANSPORT

EPA Science Inventory

The Regional Superfund Ground Water Forum is a group of ground-water scientists representing EPA's Regional Superfund Offices, organized to exchange up to date information related to ground-water remediation at Superfund sites. Facilitated transport is an issue identified by the ...
Birds Do It, Bees Do It: Evolution and the Comparative Psychology of Mate Choice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boothroyd, Lynda G.; McLaughlin, Edward

2011-01-01

The primary theoretical framework for the study of human physical attraction is currently Darwinian sexual selection. Not only has this perspective enabled the discovery of what appear to be strong universals in human mate choice but it has also facilitated our understanding of systematic variation in preferences both between and within…
The public's opinions of physicians: do perceived choice and exercised choice matter?

PubMed

Tai-Seale, Ming; Pescosolido, Bernice

2003-09-01

To assess whether the public's opinions of physicians are affected by one's perceived ability to choose providers and by past experience with switching providers or health plans. Cross-sectional survey of the American general public in 1998. Multivariate quantitative analyses of opinions according to respondents' perceived ability to choose providers, history of exercising choice of providers or plans, and health status. Exploratory factor analyses resulted in 4 scales of opinions: trusting personal physician, positive opinions of physicians as a group, negative opinions of physicians as a group, and concerns about the influence of managed care on personal physicians' practice patterns. Although 75% (879/1172) of the sample perceived that they could use any physician they wanted, only 20% had ever switched health providers or plans owing to dissatisfaction. Perceived lack of choice is associated with lower levels of trust in personal physicians and with higher levels of concern about the influence of managed care on personal physicians. Individuals who have not switched in the past are more positive about physicians as a group and are less concerned about the influence of managed care. Health status affected opinions significantly. Educational attainment is negatively associated with opinions. The public's opinions of physicians are significantly associated with one's perceived ability to choose any provider, past experience with switching health providers or plans, health status, and education. Ensuring consumer choice of providers and targeting those who have switched in the past and the sick could potentially improve the public's opinions. Meaningful provider quality information is necessary to ensure choices that can enhance consumer welfare.
How empowering is hospital care for older people with advanced disease? Barriers and facilitators from a cross-national ethnography in England, Ireland and the USA

PubMed Central

Selman, Lucy Ellen; Daveson, Barbara A.; Smith, Melinda; Johnston, Bridget; Ryan, Karen; Morrison, R. Sean; Pannell, Caty; McQuillan, Regina; de Wolf-Linder, Suzanne; Pantilat, Steven Z.; Klass, Lara; Meier, Diane; Normand, Charles; Higginson, Irene J.

2017-01-01

Abstract Background patient empowerment, through which patients become self-determining agents with some control over their health and healthcare, is a common theme across health policies globally. Most care for older people is in the acute setting, but there is little evidence to inform the delivery of empowering hospital care. Objective we aimed to explore challenges to and facilitators of empowerment among older people with advanced disease in hospital, and the impact of palliative care. Methods we conducted an ethnography in six hospitals in England, Ireland and the USA. The ethnography involved: interviews with patients aged ≥65, informal caregivers, specialist palliative care (SPC) staff and other clinicians who cared for older adults with advanced disease, and fieldwork. Data were analysed using directed thematic analysis. Results analysis of 91 interviews and 340 h of observational data revealed substantial challenges to empowerment: poor communication and information provision, combined with routinised and fragmented inpatient care, restricted patients’ self-efficacy, self-management, choice and decision-making. Information and knowledge were often necessary for empowerment, but not sufficient: empowerment depended on patient-centredness being enacted at an organisational and staff level. SPC facilitated empowerment by prioritising patient-centred care, tailored communication and information provision, and the support of other clinicians. Conclusions empowering older people in the acute setting requires changes throughout the health system. Facilitators of empowerment include excellent staff–patient communication, patient-centred, relational care, an organisational focus on patient experience rather than throughput, and appropriate access to SPC. Findings have relevance for many high- and middle-income countries with a growing population of older patients with advanced disease. PMID:27810850
Newborn Screening Information Supports Public Health More than Informed Choice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hargreaves, Katrina; Stewart, Ruth; Oliver, Sandy

2005-01-01

Objective: To appraise information resources on newborn blood spot screening currently available for parents and health professionals internationally. Method: Health information on newborn blood spot screening was sourced internationally through the internet and, in the United Kingdom, through health service providers and support organisations. An…
Neuroforecasting Aggregate Choice

PubMed Central

Knutson, Brian; Genevsky, Alexander

2018-01-01

Advances in brain-imaging design and analysis have allowed investigators to use neural activity to predict individual choice, while emerging Internet markets have opened up new opportunities for forecasting aggregate choice. Here, we review emerging research that bridges these levels of analysis by attempting to use group neural activity to forecast aggregate choice. A survey of initial findings suggests that components of group neural activity might forecast aggregate choice, in some cases even beyond traditional behavioral measures. In addition to demonstrating the plausibility of neuroforecasting, these findings raise the possibility that not all neural processes that predict individual choice forecast aggregate choice to the same degree. We propose that although integrative choice components may confer more consistency within individuals, affective choice components may generalize more broadly across individuals to forecast aggregate choice. PMID:29706726
Free choice and career choice: Clerkship electives in medical education.

PubMed

Mihalynuk, Tanis; Leung, Gentson; Fraser, Joan; Bates, Joanna; Snadden, David

2006-11-01

Medical education experiences, particularly in clinical years, are reported determinants of career choice. Less is known about features of clinical education experiences including length, discipline, setting and choice, which may serve as landmarks in career choice decisions. This study's purpose was to explore the benefits of a free choice clerkship elective, and more specifically, its role in clarifying career choice. Using framework and content analysis methodology, we analysed University of British Columbia, third-year medical student anonymised assignments regarding free choice and 2-week clerkship elective experiences. This clerkship was designed to provide students with clerkship experiences outside the conventional curricular model, while encouraging student choice of ambulatory and community settings. Assignment questions included: reasons for choosing elective; whether learning objectives were met; influence of elective on career choice; and unique elective experiences. Iterative review, coding, analysis and indexing of assignments were carried out to identify themes and corroborate findings. Emergent themes included: positive views of experience; transferable knowledge and skills; and influencer of future education and career choices. Although students were encouraged to choose clerkship experiences outside the conventional curricular model, most students chose the elective to clarify future career decisions. This qualitative descriptive study highlights the influence of highly regarded, free choice clerkship elective experiences in the career decision making process in medical education. Further examination of the details of clerkship elective experiences which influence career choice is recommended.
A twofold quantum delayed-choice experiment in a superconducting circuit

PubMed Central

Liu, Ke; Xu, Yuan; Wang, Weiting; Zheng, Shi-Biao; Roy, Tanay; Kundu, Suman; Chand, Madhavi; Ranadive, Arpit; Vijay, Rajamani; Song, Yipu; Duan, Luming; Sun, Luyan

2017-01-01

Wave-particle complementarity lies at the heart of quantum mechanics. To illustrate this mysterious feature, Wheeler proposed the delayed-choice experiment, where a quantum system manifests the wave- or particle-like attribute, depending on the experimental arrangement, which is made after the system has entered the interferometer. In recent quantum delayed-choice experiments, these two complementary behaviors were simultaneously observed with a quantum interferometer in a superposition of being closed and open. We suggest and implement a conceptually different quantum delayed-choice experiment by introducing a which-path detector (WPD) that can simultaneously record and neglect the system’s path information, but where the interferometer itself is classical. Our experiment is realized with a superconducting circuit, where a cavity acts as the WPD for an interfering qubit. Using this setup, we implement the first twofold delayed-choice experiment, which demonstrates that the system’s behavior depends not only on the measuring device’s configuration that can be chosen even after the system has been detected but also on whether we a posteriori erase or mark the which-path information, the latter of which cannot be revealed by previous quantum delayed-choice experiments. Our results represent the first demonstration of both counterintuitive features with the same experimental setup, significantly extending the concept of quantum delayed-choice experiment. PMID:28508079
Denver Makes a Fairer Choice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Teske, Paul; Yettick, Holly; Ely, Todd; Klute, Mary

2015-01-01

Denver Public Schools traditional and charter schools combined to create a single system that allowed all students to indicate their school choice preferences, replacing a system of more than 60 different selection processes. The new system also gave families a wealth of information regarding school quality. A study of the new system found it was…
The formation of science choices in secondary school

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cleaves, Anna

2005-04-01

In this paper I examine the formation of post-16 choices over 3 years among higher achieving students with respect to enrolment in post-compulsory science courses. Transcripts from four interviews carried out over 3 years with 72 secondary school students were qualitatively analysed. Students were found to shape their choices for science in a variety of ways across time. The situation regarding science choices hinges on far more dynamic considerations than the stereotypical image of the potential advanced science student, committed to becoming a scientist from an early age. There is an interplay of self-perception with respect to science, occupational images of working scientists, relationship with significant adults and perceptions of school science The findings are informative for science educators and for career guidance professionals who may need to take into account the complexity of young people's choices.

Contraceptive preferences and use among auto artisanal workers in the informal sector of Kumasi, Ghana: a discrete choice experiment.

PubMed

Agyei-Baffour, Peter; Boahemaa, Mary Yaa; Addy, Ernestine A

2015-04-12

magnitude of the effects of contraceptive attributes on informed choice, use, preference. It revealed that reversibility, side effects and ability to prevent both pregnancy and STI's are the major important attributes that. The findings have implications on contraceptive development, uptake and the implementation of other family planning programmes.
Charter School Quality and Parental Decision Making with School Choice. NBER Working Paper No. 11252

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hanushek, Eric A.; Kain, John F.; Rivkin, Steven G.; Branch, Gregory F.

2005-01-01

Charter schools have become a very popular instrument for reforming public schools, because they expand choices, facilitate local innovation, and provide incentives for the regular public schools while remaining under public control. Despite their conceptual appeal, evaluating their performance has been hindered by the selective nature of their…
Barriers and facilitators to implementing a patient-centered model of contraceptive provision in community health centers.

PubMed

Politi, Mary C; Estlund, Amy; Milne, Anne; Buckel, Christina M; Peipert, Jeffrey F; Madden, Tessa

2016-01-01

The Contraceptive CHOICE Project developed a patient-centered model for contraceptive provision including: (1) structured, evidence-based counseling; (2) staff and health care provider education; and (3) removal of barriers such as cost and multiple appointments to initiate contraception. In preparation for conducting a research study of the CHOICE model in three community health settings, we sought to identify potential barriers and facilitators to implementation. Using a semi-structured interview guide guided by a framework of implementation research, we conducted 31 qualitative interviews with female patients, staff, and health care providers assessing attitudes, beliefs, and barriers to receiving contraception. We also asked about current contraceptive provision and explored organizational practices relevant to implementing the CHOICE model. We used a grounded theory approach to identify major themes. Many participants felt that current contraceptive provision could be improved by the CHOICE model. Potential facilitators included agreement about the necessity for improved contraceptive knowledge among patients and staff; importance of patient-centered contraceptive counseling; and benefits to same-day insertion of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC). Potential barriers included misconceptions about contraception held by staff and providers; resistance to new practices; costs associated with LARC; and scheduling challenges required for same-day insertion of LARC. In addition to staff and provider training, implementing a patient-centered model of contraceptive provision needs to be supplemented by strategies to manage patient and system-level barriers. Community health center staff, providers, and patients support patient-centered contraceptive counseling to improve contraception provision if organizations can address these barriers.
The Influences of Landscape Features on Visitation of Hospital Green Spaces—A Choice Experiment Approach

PubMed Central

Chang, Kaowen Grace; Chien, Hungju

2017-01-01

Studies have suggested that visiting and viewing landscaping at hospitals accelerates patient’s recovery from surgery and help staff’s recovery from mental fatigue. To plan and construct such landscapes, we need to unravel landscape features desirable to different groups so that the space can benefit a wide range of hospital users. Using discrete choice modeling, we developed experimental choice sets to investigate how landscape features influence the visitations of different users in a large regional hospital in Taiwan. The empirical survey provides quantitative estimates of the influence of each landscape feature on four user groups, including patients, caregivers, staff, and neighborhood residents. Our findings suggest that different types of features promote visits from specific user groups. Landscape features facilitating physical activities effectively encourage visits across user groups especially for caregivers and staff. Patients in this study specify a strong need for contact with nature. The nearby community favors the features designed for children’s play and family activities. People across user groups value the features that provide a mitigated microclimate of comfort, such as a shelter. Study implications and limitations are also discussed. Our study provides information essential for creating a better healing environment in a hospital setting. PMID:28678168
Barriers to and Facilitators of Physical Activity Program Use Among Older Adults

PubMed Central

Bethancourt, Hilary J.; Rosenberg, Dori E.; Beatty, Tara; Arterburn, David E.

2014-01-01

Objective Regular physical activity (PA) is important for maintaining long-term physical, cognitive, and emotional health. However, few older adults engage in routine PA, and even fewer take advantage of programs designed to enhance PA participation. Though most managed Medicare members have free access to the Silver Sneakers and EnhanceFitness PA programs, the vast majority of eligible seniors do not utilize these programs. The goal of this qualitative study was to better understand the barriers to and facilitators of PA and participation in PA programs among older adults. Design This was a qualitative study using focus group interviews. Setting Focus groups took place at three Group Health clinics in King County, Washington. Participants Fifty-two randomly selected Group Health Medicare members between the ages of 66 to 78 participated. Methods We conducted four focus groups with 13 participants each. Focus group discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using an inductive thematic approach and a social-ecological framework. Results Men and women were nearly equally represented among the participants, and the sample was largely white (77%), well-educated (69% college graduates), and relatively physically active. Prominent barriers to PA and PA program participation were physical limitations due to health conditions or aging, lack of professional guidance, and inadequate distribution of information on available and appropriate PA options and programs. Facilitators included the motivation to maintain physical and mental health and access to affordable, convenient, and stimulating PA options. Conclusion Older adult populations may benefit from greater support and information from their providers and health care systems on how to safely and successfully improve or maintain PA levels through later adulthood. Efforts among health care systems to boost PA among older adults may need to consider patient-centered adjustments to current PA programs, as
Design and analysis of simple choice surveys for natural resource management

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fieberg, John; Cornicelli, Louis; Fulton, David C.; Grund, Marrett D.

2010-01-01

We used a simple yet powerful method for judging public support for management actions from randomized surveys. We asked respondents to rank choices (representing management regulations under consideration) according to their preference, and we then used discrete choice models to estimate probability of choosing among options (conditional on the set of options presented to respondents). Because choices may share similar unmodeled characteristics, the multinomial logit model, commonly applied to discrete choice data, may not be appropriate. We introduced the nested logit model, which offers a simple approach for incorporating correlation among choices. This forced choice survey approach provides a useful method of gathering public input; it is relatively easy to apply in practice, and the data are likely to be more informative than asking constituents to rate attractiveness of each option separately.
Web-based medical facilitators in medical tourism: the third party in decision-making.

PubMed

Wagle, Suchitra

2013-01-01

The emergence of web-based medical tourism facilitators (MTFs) has added a new dimension to the phenomenon of cross-border travel. These facilitators are crucial connectors between foreign patients and host countries. They help patients navigate countries, doctors and specialties. However, little attention has been paid to the authenticity of information displayed on the facilitators' web portals, and whether they follow ethical guidelines and standards. This paper analyses the available information on MTF portals from an ethics perspective. It compares 208 facilitators across 47 countries for the services offered. Data were collected from the databases of the Medical Tourism Association and World Medical Resources. India was the most common destination country linked to 81 facilitators. The five countries with the maximum number of facilitators were the USA, the UK, India, Canada and Poland. This paper identifies concerns regarding the information displayed about patients' safety, and the maintenance of confidentiality. There is a need to develop ethical standards for this field.
The Relationship of Facilitative Functioning to Effective Peer Supervision

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seligman, Linda

1978-01-01

This study investigates peer supervision. The criterion used was counselor trainees' growth in facilitative functioning. The study sought to ascertain whether the facilitative counselor trainee was also the effective peer supervisor, to provide information on evaluating peer-supervisory experience, and to shed light on the most effective…
Influence of social norms and palatability on amount consumed and food choice.

PubMed

Pliner, Patricia; Mann, Nikki

2004-04-01

In two parallel studies, we examined the effect of social influence and palatability on amount consumed and on food choice. In Experiment 1, which looked at amount consumed, participants were provided with either palatable or unpalatable food; they were also given information about how much previous participants had eaten (large or small amounts) or were given no information. In the case of palatable food, participants ate more when led to believe that prior participants had eaten a great deal than when led to believe that prior participants had eaten small amounts or when provided with no information. This social-influence effect was not present when participants received unpalatable food. In Experiment 2, which looked at food choice, some participants learned that prior participants had chosen the palatable food, others learned that prior participants had chosen the unpalatable food, while still others received no information about prior participants' choices. The social-influence manipulation had no effect on participants' food choices; nearly all of them chose the palatable food. The results were discussed in the context of Churchfield's (1995) distinction between judgments about matters of fact and judgments about preferences. The results were also used to illustrate the importance of palatability as a determinant of eating behavior.
Economic Choices Reveal Probability Distortion in Macaque Monkeys

PubMed Central

Lak, Armin; Bossaerts, Peter; Schultz, Wolfram

2015-01-01

Economic choices are largely determined by two principal elements, reward value (utility) and probability. Although nonlinear utility functions have been acknowledged for centuries, nonlinear probability weighting (probability distortion) was only recently recognized as a ubiquitous aspect of real-world choice behavior. Even when outcome probabilities are known and acknowledged, human decision makers often overweight low probability outcomes and underweight high probability outcomes. Whereas recent studies measured utility functions and their corresponding neural correlates in monkeys, it is not known whether monkeys distort probability in a manner similar to humans. Therefore, we investigated economic choices in macaque monkeys for evidence of probability distortion. We trained two monkeys to predict reward from probabilistic gambles with constant outcome values (0.5 ml or nothing). The probability of winning was conveyed using explicit visual cues (sector stimuli). Choices between the gambles revealed that the monkeys used the explicit probability information to make meaningful decisions. Using these cues, we measured probability distortion from choices between the gambles and safe rewards. Parametric modeling of the choices revealed classic probability weighting functions with inverted-S shape. Therefore, the animals overweighted low probability rewards and underweighted high probability rewards. Empirical investigation of the behavior verified that the choices were best explained by a combination of nonlinear value and nonlinear probability distortion. Together, these results suggest that probability distortion may reflect evolutionarily preserved neuronal processing. PMID:25698750
Genetic Algorithms for Multiple-Choice Problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aickelin, Uwe

2010-04-01

This thesis investigates the use of problem-specific knowledge to enhance a genetic algorithm approach to multiple-choice optimisation problems.It shows that such information can significantly enhance performance, but that the choice of information and the way it is included are important factors for success.Two multiple-choice problems are considered.The first is constructing a feasible nurse roster that considers as many requests as possible.In the second problem, shops are allocated to locations in a mall subject to constraints and maximising the overall income.Genetic algorithms are chosen for their well-known robustness and ability to solve large and complex discrete optimisation problems.However, a survey of the literature reveals room for further research into generic ways to include constraints into a genetic algorithm framework.Hence, the main theme of this work is to balance feasibility and cost of solutions.In particular, co-operative co-evolution with hierarchical sub-populations, problem structure exploiting repair schemes and indirect genetic algorithms with self-adjusting decoder functions are identified as promising approaches.The research starts by applying standard genetic algorithms to the problems and explaining the failure of such approaches due to epistasis.To overcome this, problem-specific information is added in a variety of ways, some of which are designed to increase the number of feasible solutions found whilst others are intended to improve the quality of such solutions.As well as a theoretical discussion as to the underlying reasons for using each operator,extensive computational experiments are carried out on a variety of data.These show that the indirect approach relies less on problem structure and hence is easier to implement and superior in solution quality.
History effects in visual search for monsters: search times, choice biases, and liking.

PubMed

Chetverikov, Andrey; Kristjansson, Árni

2015-02-01

Repeating targets and distractors on consecutive visual search trials facilitates search performance, whereas switching targets and distractors harms search. In addition, search repetition leads to biases in free choice tasks, in that previously attended targets are more likely to be chosen than distractors. Another line of research has shown that attended items receive high liking ratings, whereas ignored distractors are rated negatively. Potential relations between the three effects are unclear, however. Here we simultaneously measured repetition benefits and switching costs for search times, choice biases, and liking ratings in color singleton visual search for "monster" shapes. We showed that if expectations from search repetition are violated, targets are liked to be less attended than otherwise. Choice biases were, on the other hand, affected by distractor repetition, but not by target/distractor switches. Target repetition speeded search times but had little influence on choice or liking. Our findings suggest that choice biases reflect distractor inhibition, and liking reflects the conflict associated with attending to previously inhibited stimuli, while speeded search follows both target and distractor repetition. Our results support the newly proposed affective-feedback-of-hypothesis-testing account of cognition, and additionally, shed new light on the priming of visual search.
Concurrent analysis of choice and control in childbirth

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background This paper reports original research on choice and control in childbirth. Eight women were interviewed as part of a wider investigation into locus of control in women with pre-labour rupture of membranes at term (PROM) [1]. Methods The following study uses concurrent analysis to sample and analyse narrative aspects of relevant literature along with these interviews in order to synthesise a generalisable analysis of the pertinent issues. The original PROM study had found that women experienced a higher degree of control in hospital, a finding that appeared at odds with contemporary notions of choice. However, this paper contextualises this finding by presenting narratives that lucidly subscribe to the dominant discourse of hospital as the safest place to give birth, under the premise of assuring a live healthy baby irrespective of their management type. Results This complex narrative is composed of the following themes: 'perceiving risk', 'being prepared', 'reflecting on experience', maintaining control' and relinquishing control'. These themes are constructed within and around the medical, foetocentric, risk averse cultural context. Primary data are presented throughout to show the origins and interconnected nature of these themes. Conclusions Within this context it is clear that there is a highly valued role for competent health professionals that respect, understand and are capable of facilitating genuine choice for women. PMID:21631910
76 FR 16437 - Notice of Proposed Information Collection for Public Comment Choice Neighborhoods

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-23

...-functioning services, effective schools and education programs, public assets, public transportation and improved access to jobs. Choice Neighborhoods grants will primarily fund the transformation of public and...
Choice-Based Conjoint Analysis: Classification vs. Discrete Choice Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giesen, Joachim; Mueller, Klaus; Taneva, Bilyana; Zolliker, Peter

Conjoint analysis is a family of techniques that originated in psychology and later became popular in market research. The main objective of conjoint analysis is to measure an individual's or a population's preferences on a class of options that can be described by parameters and their levels. We consider preference data obtained in choice-based conjoint analysis studies, where one observes test persons' choices on small subsets of the options. There are many ways to analyze choice-based conjoint analysis data. Here we discuss the intuition behind a classification based approach, and compare this approach to one based on statistical assumptions (discrete choice models) and to a regression approach. Our comparison on real and synthetic data indicates that the classification approach outperforms the discrete choice models.
An attentional drift diffusion model over binary-attribute choice.

PubMed

Fisher, Geoffrey

2017-11-01

In order to make good decisions, individuals need to identify and properly integrate information about various attributes associated with a choice. Since choices are often complex and made rapidly, they are typically affected by contextual variables that are thought to influence how much attention is paid to different attributes. I propose a modification of the attentional drift-diffusion model, the binary-attribute attentional drift diffusion model (baDDM), which describes the choice process over simple binary-attribute choices and how it is affected by fluctuations in visual attention. Using an eye-tracking experiment, I find the baDDM makes accurate quantitative predictions about several key variables including choices, reaction times, and how these variables are correlated with attention to two attributes in an accept-reject decision. Furthermore, I estimate an attribute-based fixation bias that suggests attention to an attribute increases its subjective weight by 5%, while the unattended attribute's weight is decreased by 10%. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
A distributed, hierarchical and recurrent framework for reward-based choice

PubMed Central

Hunt, Laurence T.; Hayden, Benjamin Y.

2017-01-01

Many accounts of reward-based choice argue for distinct component processes that are serial and functionally localized. In this article, we argue for an alternative viewpoint, in which choices emerge from repeated computations that are distributed across many brain regions. We emphasize how several features of neuroanatomy may support the implementation of choice, including mutual inhibition in recurrent neural networks and the hierarchical organisation of timescales for information processing across the cortex. This account also suggests that certain correlates of value may be emergent rather than represented explicitly in the brain. PMID:28209978
The use of a policy dialogue to facilitate evidence-informed policy development for improved access to care: the case of the Winnipeg Central Intake Service (WCIS).

PubMed

Damani, Zaheed; MacKean, Gail; Bohm, Eric; DeMone, Brie; Wright, Brock; Noseworthy, Tom; Holroyd-Leduc, Jayna; Marshall, Deborah A

2016-10-18

Policy dialogues are critical for developing responsive, effective, sustainable, evidence-informed policy. Our multidisciplinary team, including researchers, physicians and senior decision-makers, comprehensively evaluated The Winnipeg Central Intake Service, a single-entry model in Winnipeg, Manitoba, to improve patient access to hip/knee replacement surgery. We used the evaluation findings to develop five evidence-informed policy directions to help improve access to scheduled clinical services across Manitoba. Using guiding principles of public participation processes, we hosted a policy roundtable meeting to engage stakeholders and use their input to refine the policy directions. Here, we report on the use and input of a policy roundtable meeting and its role in contributing to the development of evidence-informed policy. Our evidence-informed policy directions focused on formal measurement/monitoring of quality, central intake as a preferred model for service delivery, provincial scope, transparent processes/performance indicators, and patient choice of provider. We held a policy roundtable meeting and used outcomes of facilitated discussions to refine these directions. Individuals from our team and six stakeholder groups across Manitoba participated (n = 44), including patients, family physicians, orthopaedic surgeons, surgical office assistants, Winnipeg Central Intake team, and administrators/managers. We developed evaluation forms to assess the meeting process, and collected decision-maker partners' perspectives on the value of the policy roundtable meeting and use of policy directions to improve access to scheduled clinical services after the meeting, and again 15 months later. We analyzed roundtable and evaluation data using thematic analysis to identify key themes. Four key findings emerged. First, participants supported all policy directions, with revisions and key implementation considerations identified. Second, participants felt the policy roundtable
Critical success factors in awareness of and choice towards low vision rehabilitation.

PubMed

Fraser, Sarah A; Johnson, Aaron P; Wittich, Walter; Overbury, Olga

2015-01-01

The goal of the current study was to examine the critical factors indicative of an individual's choice to access low vision rehabilitation services. Seven hundred and forty-nine visually impaired individuals, from the Montreal Barriers Study, completed a structured interview and questionnaires (on visual function, coping, depression, satisfaction with life). Seventy-five factors from the interview and questionnaires were entered into a data-driven Classification and Regression Tree Analysis in order to determine the best predictors of awareness group: positive personal choice (I knew and I went), negative personal choice (I knew and did not go), and lack of information (Nobody told me, and I did not know). Having a response of moderate to no difficulty on item 6 (reading signs) of the Visual Function Index 14 (VF-14) indicated that the person had made a positive personal choice to seek rehabilitation, whereas reporting a great deal of difficulty on this item was associated with a lack of information on low vision rehabilitation. In addition to this factor, symptom duration of under nine years, moderate difficulty or less on item 5 (seeing steps or curbs) of the VF-14, and an indication of little difficulty or less on item 3 (reading large print) of the VF-14 further identified those who were more likely to have made a positive personal choice. Individuals in the lack of information group also reported greater difficulty on items 3 and 5 of the VF-14 and were more likely to be male. The duration-of-symptoms factor suggests that, even in the positive choice group, it may be best to offer rehabilitation services early. Being male and responding moderate difficulty or greater to the VF-14 questions about far, medium-distance and near situations involving vision was associated with individuals that lack information. Consequently, these individuals may need additional education about the benefits of low vision services in order to make a positive personal choice. © 2014
Predicting risky choices from brain activity patterns

PubMed Central

Helfinstein, Sarah M.; Schonberg, Tom; Congdon, Eliza; Karlsgodt, Katherine H.; Mumford, Jeanette A.; Sabb, Fred W.; Cannon, Tyrone D.; London, Edythe D.; Bilder, Robert M.; Poldrack, Russell A.

2014-01-01

Previous research has implicated a large network of brain regions in the processing of risk during decision making. However, it has not yet been determined if activity in these regions is predictive of choices on future risky decisions. Here, we examined functional MRI data from a large sample of healthy subjects performing a naturalistic risk-taking task and used a classification analysis approach to predict whether individuals would choose risky or safe options on upcoming trials. We were able to predict choice category successfully in 71.8% of cases. Searchlight analysis revealed a network of brain regions where activity patterns were reliably predictive of subsequent risk-taking behavior, including a number of regions known to play a role in control processes. Searchlights with significant predictive accuracy were primarily located in regions more active when preparing to avoid a risk than when preparing to engage in one, suggesting that risk taking may be due, in part, to a failure of the control systems necessary to initiate a safe choice. Additional analyses revealed that subject choice can be successfully predicted with minimal decrements in accuracy using highly condensed data, suggesting that information relevant for risky choice behavior is encoded in coarse global patterns of activation as well as within highly local activation within searchlights. PMID:24550270

Facilitated IEP Meetings. PACER Center ACTion Information Sheets: PHP-c90

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

PACER Center, 2014

2014-01-01

To help special education planning teams reach agreements, the Minnesota Department of Education, Compliance and Assistance, Alternative Dispute Resolution Services provide the option of facilitated IEP (Individualized Education Program) meetings. This option is available for IEP, IIIP (Individual Interagency Intervention Plan), and IFSP…
Patient's need for choice and information across the interface between primary and secondary care: a survey.

PubMed

Berendsen, Annette J; de Jong, G Majella; Schuling, Jan; Bosveld, Henk E P; de Waal, Margot W M; Mitchell, Geoffrey K; van der Meer, Klaas; Meyboom-de Jong, Betty

2010-04-01

Hospitals in The Netherlands have recently made certain performance data public, allowing patients to choose the location of their care. The objective of this study is to assess (a) patient preferences and experiences concerning the transition between primary and secondary health care, (b) patients' needs for choice and information and how these are influenced by personal and morbidity factors. Two different types of questionnaires were used. The first questionnaire concerns the importance that patients attach to the care provided. The second questionnaire concerns the actual experiences of the patient with the care provided. For the selection of patients, we used the databases of the registration networks of the Departments of General Practice of the Universities of Groningen and Leiden. The questionnaires were returned by 513 patients (Importance 69%) and 1404 patients (Experience 65%). Many patients prefer the GP advising them regarding which hospital or specialist they should be referred to: a quarter of the patients preferred that the GP decided for them. Patients with a curable condition and patients aged between 25 and 65, highly educated and with stable personal characteristics as measured by a purposive scale, more often wished to use information from internet or newspapers to make a decision. The amount of information that was needed on illness or treatment varied greatly. Young people, older people, and those with less stable personal characteristics more often desired only practical information. In spite of making performance data of different health care institutions public, only a limited number of patients want to use this information on a limited number of health problems. Care providers should take differences into account concerning patients' need for information on their illness. 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Considering medical risk information and communicating values: A mixed-method study of women’s choice in prenatal testing

PubMed Central

Tenhunen, Henni; Torkki, Paulus; Heinonen, Seppo; Lillrank, Paul; Stefanovic, Vedran

2017-01-01

Introduction Nowadays, an important decision for pregnant women is whether to undergo prenatal testing for aneuploidies and which tests to uptake. We investigate the factors influencing women’s choices between non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) and invasive prenatal tests in pregnancies with elevated a priori risk of fetal aneuploidies. Methodology This is a mixed-method study. We used medical data (1st Jan 2015-31st Dec 2015) about women participating in further testing at Fetomaternal Medical Center at Helsinki University Hospital and employed Chi-square tests and ANOVA to compare the groups of women choosing different methods. Multinomial logistic regressions revealed the significant clinical factors influencing women’s choice. We explored the underlying values, beliefs, attitudes and other psychosocial factors that affect women’s choice by interviewing women with the Theory of Planned Behavior framework. The semi-structured interview data were processed by thematic analysis. Results Statistical data indicated that gestational age and counseling day were strong factors influencing women’s choice. Interview data revealed that women’s values and moral principles on pregnancy and childbirth chiefly determined the choices. Behavioral beliefs (e.g. safety and accuracy) and perceived choice control (e.g. easiness, rapidness and convenience) were also important and the major trade-offs happened between these constructs. Discussion Values are the determinants of women’s choice. Service availability and convenience are strong factors. Medical risk status in this choice context is not highly influential. Choice aids can be developed by helping women to identify their leading values in prenatal testing and by providing lists of value-matching test options and attributes. PMID:28355226
Cultures of choice: towards a sociology of choice as a cultural phenomenon.

PubMed

Schwarz, Ori

2017-09-07

The article explores different ways to conceptualize the relationship between choice and culture. These two notions are often constructed as opposites: while sociologies of modernization (such as Giddens') portray a shift from cultural traditions to culturally disembedded choice, dispositional sociologies (such as Bourdieu's) uncover cultural determination as the hidden truth behind apparent choice. However, choice may be real and cultural simultaneously. Culture moulds choice not only by inculcating dispositions or shaping repertoires of alternatives, but also by offering culturally specific choice practices, ways of choosing embedded in meaning, normativity, and materiality; and by shaping attributions of choice in everyday life. By bringing together insights from rival schools, I portray an outline for a comparative cultural sociology of choice, and demonstrate its purchase while discussing the digitalization of choice; and cultural logics that shape choice attribution in ways opposing neoliberal trends. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2017.
Data Mining Student Choices: A New Approach to Business Curriculum Planning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maldonado, Edgar; Seehusen, Vicky

2018-01-01

The authors used a clustering technique to analyze business course choices made by students who completed an individualized degree in a large, urban, public university. They looked for patterns to answer the research question, "What can we learn from students' choices to inform the curricular redesign process in business programs?" The…
How empowering is hospital care for older people with advanced disease? Barriers and facilitators from a cross-national ethnography in England, Ireland and the USA.

PubMed

Selman, Lucy Ellen; Daveson, Barbara A; Smith, Melinda; Johnston, Bridget; Ryan, Karen; Morrison, R Sean; Pannell, Caty; McQuillan, Regina; de Wolf-Linder, Suzanne; Pantilat, Steven Z; Klass, Lara; Meier, Diane; Normand, Charles; Higginson, Irene J

2017-03-01

patient empowerment, through which patients become self-determining agents with some control over their health and healthcare, is a common theme across health policies globally. Most care for older people is in the acute setting, but there is little evidence to inform the delivery of empowering hospital care. we aimed to explore challenges to and facilitators of empowerment among older people with advanced disease in hospital, and the impact of palliative care. we conducted an ethnography in six hospitals in England, Ireland and the USA. The ethnography involved: interviews with patients aged ≥65, informal caregivers, specialist palliative care (SPC) staff and other clinicians who cared for older adults with advanced disease, and fieldwork. Data were analysed using directed thematic analysis. analysis of 91 interviews and 340 h of observational data revealed substantial challenges to empowerment: poor communication and information provision, combined with routinised and fragmented inpatient care, restricted patients' self-efficacy, self-management, choice and decision-making. Information and knowledge were often necessary for empowerment, but not sufficient: empowerment depended on patient-centredness being enacted at an organisational and staff level. SPC facilitated empowerment by prioritising patient-centred care, tailored communication and information provision, and the support of other clinicians. empowering older people in the acute setting requires changes throughout the health system. Facilitators of empowerment include excellent staff-patient communication, patient-centred, relational care, an organisational focus on patient experience rather than throughput, and appropriate access to SPC. Findings have relevance for many high- and middle-income countries with a growing population of older patients with advanced disease. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved. For
Demand-driven care and hospital choice. Dutch health policy toward demand-driven care: results from a survey into hospital choice.

PubMed

Lako, Christiaan J; Rosenau, Pauline

2009-03-01

In the Netherlands, current policy opinion emphasizes demand-driven health care. Central to this model is the view, advocated by some Dutch health policy makers, that patients should be encouraged to be aware of and make use of health quality and health outcomes information in making personal health care provider choices. The success of the new health care system in the Netherlands is premised on this being the case. After a literature review and description of the new Dutch health care system, the adequacy of this demand-driven health policy is tested. The data from a July 2005, self-administered questionnaire survey of 409 patients (response rate of 94%) as to how they choose a hospital are presented. Results indicate that most patients did not choose by actively employing available quality and outcome information. They were, rather, referred by their general practitioner. Hospital choice is highly related to the importance a patient attaches to his or her physician's opinion about a hospital. Some patients indicated that their hospital choice was affected by the reputation of the hospital, by the distance they lived from the hospital, etc. but physician's advice was, by far, the most important factor. Policy consequences are important; the assumptions underlying the demand-driven model of patient health provider choice are inadequate to explain the pattern of observed responses. An alternative, more adequate model is required, one that takes into account the patient's confidence in physician referral and advice.
Facilitating Facilitators: Enhancing PBL through a Structured Facilitator Development Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salinitri, Francine D.; Wilhelm, Sheila M.; Crabtree, Brian L.

2015-01-01

With increasing adoption of the problem-based learning (PBL) model, creative approaches to enhancing facilitator training and optimizing resources to maintain effective learning in small groups is essential. We describe a theoretical framework for the development of a PBL facilitator training program that uses the constructivist approach as the…
Issues or Identity? Cognitive Foundations of Voter Choice

PubMed Central

Jenke, Libby; Huettel, Scott A.

2016-01-01

Voter choice is one of the most important problems in political science. The most common models assume that voting is a rational choice based on policy positions (e.g., key issues) and non-policy information (e.g., social identity, personality). Though such models explain macroscopic features of elections, they also reveal important anomalies that have been resistant to explanation. We argue for a new approach that builds upon recent research in cognitive science and neuroscience; specifically, we contend that policy positions and social identities do not combine in merely an additive manner, but compete to determine voter preferences. This model not only explains several key anomalies in voter choice, but also suggests new directions for research in both political science and cognitive science. PMID:27769726
Understanding Barriers and Facilitators to Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening among Muslim Women in New York City: Perspectives from Key Informants.

PubMed

Islam, Nadia; Patel, Shilpa; Brooks-Griffin, Quanza; Kemp, Patrice; Raveis, Victoria; Riley, Lindsey; Gummi, Sindhura; Nur, Potrirankamanis Queano; Ravenell, Joseph; Cole, Helen; Kwon, Simona

2017-01-01

Muslims are one of the fastest growing religious groups in the US. However, little is known about their health disparities, and how their unique cultural, religious, and social beliefs and practices affect health behaviors and outcomes. Studies demonstrate Muslim women may have lower rates of breast and cervical cancer screening compared to the overall population. The purpose of this study was to: 1) conduct key-informant interviews with Muslim community leaders in New York City (NYC), to understand contextual factors that impact Muslim women's beliefs and practices regarding breast and cervical cancer screening; and 2) inform the development and implementation of a research study on breast and cervical cancer screening among Muslims. Twelve key-informant interviews were conducted. The sample included imams, female religious leaders, physicians, community-based organization leaders, and social service representatives. The interview guide assessed: 1) unique healthcare barriers faced by Muslim women; 2) cultural and social considerations in conducting research; 3) potential strategies for increasing screening in this population; and 4) content and venues for culturally tailored programming and messaging. Key informants noted structure and culture as barriers and religion as a facilitator to breast and cervical cancer screening. Themes regarding the development of targeted health campaigns to increase screening included the importance of educational and in-language materials and messaging, and engaging mosques and religious leaders for dissemination. Although Muslim women face a number of barriers to screening, religious beliefs and support structures can be leveraged to facilitate screening and enhance the dissemination and promotion of screening.
Understanding Barriers and Facilitators to Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening among Muslim Women in New York City: Perspectives from Key Informants

PubMed Central

Islam, Nadia; Patel, Shilpa; Brooks-Griffin, Quanza; Kemp, Patrice; Raveis, Victoria; Riley, Lindsey; Gummi, Sindhura; Nur, Potrirankamanis Queano; Ravenell, Joseph; Cole, Helen; Kwon, Simona

2017-01-01

Background Muslims are one of the fastest growing religious groups in the US. However, little is known about their health disparities, and how their unique cultural, religious, and social beliefs and practices affect health behaviors and outcomes. Studies demonstrate Muslim women may have lower rates of breast and cervical cancer screening compared to the overall population. Methods The purpose of this study was to: 1) conduct key-informant interviews with Muslim community leaders in New York City (NYC), to understand contextual factors that impact Muslim women’s beliefs and practices regarding breast and cervical cancer screening; and 2) inform the development and implementation of a research study on breast and cervical cancer screening among Muslims. Twelve key-informant interviews were conducted. The sample included imams, female religious leaders, physicians, community-based organization leaders, and social service representatives. The interview guide assessed: 1) unique healthcare barriers faced by Muslim women; 2) cultural and social considerations in conducting research; 3) potential strategies for increasing screening in this population; and 4) content and venues for culturally tailored programming and messaging. Results Key informants noted structure and culture as barriers and religion as a facilitator to breast and cervical cancer screening. Themes regarding the development of targeted health campaigns to increase screening included the importance of educational and in-language materials and messaging, and engaging mosques and religious leaders for dissemination. Conclusion Although Muslim women face a number of barriers to screening, religious beliefs and support structures can be leveraged to facilitate screening and enhance the dissemination and promotion of screening. PMID:29629435
Action and Valence Modulate Choice and Choice-Induced Preference Change

PubMed Central

Koster, Raphael; Duzel, Emrah; Dolan, Raymond J.

2015-01-01

Choices are not only communicated via explicit actions but also passively through inaction. In this study we investigated how active or passive choice impacts upon the choice process itself as well as a preference change induced by choice. Subjects were tasked to select a preference for unfamiliar photographs by action or inaction, before and after they gave valuation ratings for all photographs. We replicate a finding that valuation increases for chosen items and decreases for unchosen items compared to a control condition in which the choice was made post re-evaluation. Whether choice was expressed actively or passively affected the dynamics of revaluation differently for positive and negatively valenced items. Additionally, the choice itself was biased towards action such that subjects tended to choose a photograph obtained by action more often than a photographed obtained through inaction. These results highlight intrinsic biases consistent with a tight coupling of action and reward and add to an emerging understanding of how the mode of action itself, and not just an associated outcome, modulates the decision making process. PMID:25747703
Attention! Can choices for low value food over high value food be trained?

PubMed

Zoltak, Michael J; Veling, Harm; Chen, Zhang; Holland, Rob W

2018-05-01

People choose high value food items over low value food items, because food choices are guided by the comparison of values placed upon choice alternatives. This value comparison process is also influenced by the amount of attention people allocate to different items. Recent research shows that choices for food items can be increased by training attention toward these items, with a paradigm named cued-approach training (CAT). However, previous work till now has only examined the influence of CAT on choices between two equally valued items. It has remained unclear whether CAT can increase choices for low value items when people choose between a low and high value food item. To address this question in the current study participants were cued to make rapid responses in CAT to certain low and high value items. Next, they made binary choices between low and high value items, where we systematically varied whether the low and high value items were cued or uncued. In two experiments, we found that participants overall preferred high over low value food items for real consumption. More important, their choices for low value items increased when only the low value item had been cued in CAT compared to when both low and high value items had not been cued. Exploratory analyses revealed that this effect was more pronounced for participants with a relatively small value difference between low and high value items. The present research thus suggests that CAT may be used to boost the choice and consumption of low value items via enhanced attention toward these items, as long as the value difference is not too large. Implications for facilitating choices for healthy food are discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Changing choices: disabled and chronically ill people's experiences of reconsidering choices.

PubMed

Baxter, Kate

2013-06-01

To increase understanding of disabled and chronically ill people's experiences of revisiting choices by considering events that prompted people to reconsider choices; what factors motivated them to act upon these events and what factors affected their experiences of revisiting choices. A sub-sample of 20 disabled and chronically ill people who took part in a qualitative, longitudinal study exploring choice-making in the context of changing circumstances. Each person was interviewed three times. Analysis focussed on choices that people had been prompted to revisit. Most choices were about health or social care and were revisited within a year due to: changes in health or social circumstances; poorer than expected outcomes; and external interventions. People were motivated to make changes by a desire to maintain independence and control, but perceived short-term costs of decision-making could act as a deterrent. Experiences of revisiting choices were affected by help from other people and emotional strength. Making and revisiting choices is complex; people need support to engage with the continual cycle of choice-making. People who instigate revisions of their own accord may be particularly vulnerable to lack of support.
The role of public relations activities in hospital choice.

PubMed

Tengilimoglu, Dilaver; Yesiltas, Mehmet; Kisa, Adnan; Dziegielewski, Sophia F

2007-01-01

Public relations activities for all organizations can have an important effect on consumer decision-making when buying goods or services. This study examines the effect that public relations activities can have regarding consumer decisions and choice. To explore exemplify this relationship a questionnaire was given to 971 patients within public, university and private hospitals in Ankara, Turkey. Study results show that public relations activities were a crucial factor in determining consumer hospital choice. The majority of respondents reported that the behaviors and attitude of personnel as public relations activities that support the hospital's reputation within the public were the primary variables in hospital choice. Health care managers can use these findings to further understand how patients make informed choices related to usage of a health care facility and to develop and/or improve public relations activities.
"I'm Terrified!": One Parent's Perspective on Facilitated Communication.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leung, Brian P.; Clark, Candace

1995-01-01

Perspectives on facilitated communication are presented in this transcript of a conversation between an educator and the mother of a 16-year-old son with severe disabilities. Issues discussed include the impact of facilitated communication on the parent, and the parent's preference that educators inform parents prior to making service changes. (SW)
Drug use and barriers to and facilitators of drug treatment for homeless youth

PubMed Central

Nyamathi, Adeline; Hudson, Angela; Mutere, Malaika; Christiani, Ashley; Sweat, Jeff; Nyamathi, Kamala; Broms, Theresa

2007-01-01

In the United States, homeless youth are becoming increasingly entrenched in problem substance use, including high prevalence of alcohol abuse and injection use. A total of 54 substance-using homeless youth (18–25 years) participated in focus groups in order to provide their perspectives on barriers to and facilitators of seeking treatment. Participants were recruited from shelters in Hollywood, CA, and from a street-based, drop-in site in Santa Monica, CA. Participants identified personal barriers to treatment, but reported that facilitators of treatment tended to be more systematic. Homeless youth used and abused substances to dim the psychological effects of living on the streets. They appreciated programs that facilitated treatment and rehabilitation such as mentoring, support groups, and alternative choices to substance use. Implications point to the need for further development and research on culturally-appropriate, age-sensitive programs for homeless youth. The experiences of these youth underscore the need for strategic interventions. PMID:19956442
Barriers and facilitators to following the Dietary Guidelines for Americans reported by rural, Northern Plains American-Indian children

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans promote healthy dietary choices for all Americans aged 2 years and older; however, the majority of Americans do not meet recommendations. The goal of the present study was to identify both barriers and facilitators to adherence to Dietary Guidelines for Americans...
Barriers and facilitators to following the Dietary Guidelines for Americans reported by rural, Northern Plains American-Indian children

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Objective: The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) promotes healthy dietary choices for all Americans ages two years and older; however, the majority of Americans do not meet recommendations. The goal of this study was to identify both barriers and facilitators (BAFs) to adherence to DGA recomme...
Economic choices reveal probability distortion in macaque monkeys.

PubMed

Stauffer, William R; Lak, Armin; Bossaerts, Peter; Schultz, Wolfram

2015-02-18

Economic choices are largely determined by two principal elements, reward value (utility) and probability. Although nonlinear utility functions have been acknowledged for centuries, nonlinear probability weighting (probability distortion) was only recently recognized as a ubiquitous aspect of real-world choice behavior. Even when outcome probabilities are known and acknowledged, human decision makers often overweight low probability outcomes and underweight high probability outcomes. Whereas recent studies measured utility functions and their corresponding neural correlates in monkeys, it is not known whether monkeys distort probability in a manner similar to humans. Therefore, we investigated economic choices in macaque monkeys for evidence of probability distortion. We trained two monkeys to predict reward from probabilistic gambles with constant outcome values (0.5 ml or nothing). The probability of winning was conveyed using explicit visual cues (sector stimuli). Choices between the gambles revealed that the monkeys used the explicit probability information to make meaningful decisions. Using these cues, we measured probability distortion from choices between the gambles and safe rewards. Parametric modeling of the choices revealed classic probability weighting functions with inverted-S shape. Therefore, the animals overweighted low probability rewards and underweighted high probability rewards. Empirical investigation of the behavior verified that the choices were best explained by a combination of nonlinear value and nonlinear probability distortion. Together, these results suggest that probability distortion may reflect evolutionarily preserved neuronal processing. Copyright © 2015 Stauffer et al.

Overdue choices: how information and role in decision-making influence women's preferences for induction for prolonged pregnancy.

PubMed

Stevens, Gabrielle; Miller, Yvette D

2012-09-01

Enabling women to make informed decisions is a crucial component of consumer-focused maternity care. Current evidence suggests that health care practitioners' communication of care options may not facilitate patient involvement in decision-making. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of specific variations in health caregiver communication on women's preferences for induction of labor for prolonged pregnancy. A convenience sample of 595 female participants read a hypothetical scenario in which an obstetrician discusses induction of labor with a pregnant woman. Information provided on induction and the degree of encouragement for the woman's involvement in decision-making was manipulated to create four experimental conditions. Participants indicated preference with respect to induction, their perceptions of the quality of information received, and other potential moderating factors. Participants who received information that was directive in favor of medical intervention were significantly more likely to prefer induction than those given nondirective information. No effect of level of involvement in decision-making was found. Participants' general trust in doctors moderated the relationship between health caregiver communication and preferences for induction, such that the influence of information provided on preferences for induction differed across levels of involvement in decision-making for women with a low trust in doctors, but not for those with high trust. Many women were not aware of the level of information required to make an informed decision. Our findings highlight the potential value of strategies such as patient decision aids and health care professional education to improve the quality of information available to women and their capacity for informed decision-making during pregnancy and birth. © 2012, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2012, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A Bayesian hierarchical model for discrete choice data in health care.

PubMed

Antonio, Anna Liza M; Weiss, Robert E; Saigal, Christopher S; Dahan, Ely; Crespi, Catherine M

2017-01-01

In discrete choice experiments, patients are presented with sets of health states described by various attributes and asked to make choices from among them. Discrete choice experiments allow health care researchers to study the preferences of individual patients by eliciting trade-offs between different aspects of health-related quality of life. However, many discrete choice experiments yield data with incomplete ranking information and sparsity due to the limited number of choice sets presented to each patient, making it challenging to estimate patient preferences. Moreover, methods to identify outliers in discrete choice data are lacking. We develop a Bayesian hierarchical random effects rank-ordered multinomial logit model for discrete choice data. Missing ranks are accounted for by marginalizing over all possible permutations of unranked alternatives to estimate individual patient preferences, which are modeled as a function of patient covariates. We provide a Bayesian version of relative attribute importance, and adapt the use of the conditional predictive ordinate to identify outlying choice sets and outlying individuals with unusual preferences compared to the population. The model is applied to data from a study using a discrete choice experiment to estimate individual patient preferences for health states related to prostate cancer treatment.
Multiple Choice Testing and the Retrieval Hypothesis of the Testing Effect

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sensenig, Amanda E.

2010-01-01

Taking a test often leads to enhanced later memory for the tested information, a phenomenon known as the "testing effect". This memory advantage has been reliably demonstrated with recall tests but not multiple choice tests. One potential explanation for this finding is that multiple choice tests do not rely on retrieval processes to the same…
Same-Sex Gaze Attraction Influences Mate-Choice Copying in Humans

PubMed Central

Yorzinski, Jessica L.; Platt, Michael L.

2010-01-01

Mate-choice copying occurs when animals rely on the mating choices of others to inform their own mating decisions. The proximate mechanisms underlying mate-choice copying remain unknown. To address this question, we tracked the gaze of men and women as they viewed a series of photographs in which a potential mate was pictured beside an opposite-sex partner; the participants then indicated their willingness to engage in a long-term relationship with each potential mate. We found that both men and women expressed more interest in engaging in a relationship with a potential mate if that mate was paired with an attractive partner. Men and women's attention to partners varied with partner attractiveness and this gaze attraction influenced their subsequent mate choices. These results highlight the prevalence of non-independent mate choice in humans and implicate social attention and reward circuitry in these decisions. PMID:20161739
Development and Preliminary Testing of the Food Choice Priorities Survey (FCPS): Assessing the Importance of Multiple Factors on College Students' Food Choices.

PubMed

Vilaro, Melissa J; Zhou, Wenjun; Colby, Sarah E; Byrd-Bredbenner, Carol; Riggsbee, Kristin; Olfert, Melissa D; Barnett, Tracey E; Mathews, Anne E

2017-12-01

Understanding factors that influence food choice may help improve diet quality. Factors that commonly affect adults' food choices have been described, but measures that identify and assess food choice factors specific to college students are lacking. This study developed and tested the Food Choice Priorities Survey (FCPS) among college students. Thirty-seven undergraduates participated in two focus groups ( n = 19; 11 in the male-only group, 8 in the female-only group) and interviews ( n = 18) regarding typical influences on food choice. Qualitative data informed the development of survey items with a 5-point Likert-type scale (1 = not important, 5 = extremely important). An expert panel rated FCPS items for clarity, relevance, representativeness, and coverage using a content validity form. To establish test-retest reliability, 109 first-year college students completed the 14-item FCPS at two time points, 0-48 days apart ( M = 13.99, SD = 7.44). Using Cohen's weighted κ for responses within 20 days, 11 items demonstrated moderate agreement and 3 items had substantial agreement. Factor analysis revealed a three-factor structure (9 items). The FCPS is designed for college students and provides a way to determine the factors of greatest importance regarding food choices among this population. From a public health perspective, practical applications include using the FCPS to tailor health communications and behavior change interventions to factors most salient for food choices of college students.
Impact of front-of-pack nutrition information and label design on children's choice of two snack foods: Comparison of warnings and the traffic-light system.

PubMed

Arrúa, Alejandra; Curutchet, María Rosa; Rey, Natalia; Barreto, Patricia; Golovchenko, Nadya; Sellanes, Andrea; Velazco, Guillermo; Winokur, Medy; Giménez, Ana; Ares, Gastón

2017-09-01

Research on the relative influence of package features on children's perception of food products is still necessary to aid policy design and development. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the relative influence of two front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition labelling schemes, the traffic light system and Chilean warning system, and label design on children's choice of two popular snack foods in Uruguay, wafer cookies and orange juice. A total of 442 children in grades 4 to 6 from 12 primary schools in Montevideo (Uruguay) participated in the study. They were asked to complete a choice-conjoint task with wafer cookies and orange juice labels, varying in label design and the inclusion of FOP nutrition information. Half of the children completed the task with labels featuring the traffic-light system (n = 217) and the other half with labels featuring the Chilean warning system (n = 225). Children's choices of wafer cookies and juice labels was significantly influenced by both label design and FOP nutritional labels. The relative impact of FOP nutritional labelling on children's choices was higher for the warning system compared to the traffic-light system. Results from the present work stress the need to regulate the design of packages and the inclusion of nutrient claims, and provide preliminary evidence of the potential of warnings to discourage children's choice of unhealthful products. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Is the smoking decision an 'informed choice'? Effect of smoking risk factors on smoking beliefs.

PubMed

Leventhal, H; Glynn, K; Fleming, R

1987-06-26

The argument that people freely choose to smoke assumes that individuals at the point of initiation of smoking (often in adolescence) hold accurate beliefs about smoking. Smoking beliefs and the presence of known smoking risk factors were assessed in interviews with a sample of 895 urban young people. The respondents greatly overestimated the prevalence of adult and peer smoking, negative attitudes of their peers were greatly underestimated, a large proportion believed that they would be less likely than other people to contract a smoking-related illness if they became smokers, and there was a general lack of understanding of the adverse consequences experienced upon smoking cessation. These misperceptions were more common among youngsters who were smokers, who intended to smoke, or who had friends or family members who smoked. Because misinformation among young people is widespread and those at greatest risk for smoking are the most misinformed, the tobacco industry's argument that the decision to smoke reflects an "informed choice" is without merit.
The CHOICES Project: Piloting a Secondary Transition Planning Database

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Campbell, Dennis; Baxter, Abigail; Ellis, David; Pardue, Harold

2013-01-01

The CHOICES Project funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), U.S. Department of Education, addresses the need for ready access to information for parents, students, school, and community agency personnel regarding transitional and community support programs. At this time we have created two databases (student information and community…
Choosing Choice: School Choice in International Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Plank, David N., Ed.; Sykes, Gary, Ed.

The chapters in this book originated as papers for a conference, School Choice and Educational Change, held in March 2000 at Michigan State University. An introductory chapter provides a comparative analysis of the lessons learned from international experience with school-choice policies, based on a review of case studies in several countries. The…
Facilitating access: what information do Texas postsecondary institutions provide on accommodations and services for students who are deaf or hard of hearing?

PubMed

Cawthon, Stephanie W; Nichols, Sarah K; Collier, Mike

2009-01-01

Students who are deaf or hard of hearing often require accommodations in order to participate in essential functions of college life. Although federal law mandates access to campus activities, real access for these students varies by site. The present study investigated the level of access of students who are deaf or hard of hearing at Texas postsecondary institutions. These schools' online accommodations policies were reviewed in fall 2006. A systematic review of published policies was used to summarize accommodations and services available for instruction, assessment, and campus life. About half of the 157 schools provided information online. Examples of classroom accommodations included note takers during class lectures and extra time for tests. Nonacademicservices included referrals to community resources and course registration assistance. Results are discussed in the context of information that prospective students may need to make informed choices regarding postsecondary education.
Modeling Mode Choice Behavior Incorporating Household and Individual Sociodemographics and Travel Attributes Based on Rough Sets Theory

PubMed Central

Chen, Xuewu; Wei, Ming; Wu, Jingxian; Hou, Xianyao

2014-01-01

Most traditional mode choice models are based on the principle of random utility maximization derived from econometric theory. Alternatively, mode choice modeling can be regarded as a pattern recognition problem reflected from the explanatory variables of determining the choices between alternatives. The paper applies the knowledge discovery technique of rough sets theory to model travel mode choices incorporating household and individual sociodemographics and travel information, and to identify the significance of each attribute. The study uses the detailed travel diary survey data of Changxing county which contains information on both household and individual travel behaviors for model estimation and evaluation. The knowledge is presented in the form of easily understood IF-THEN statements or rules which reveal how each attribute influences mode choice behavior. These rules are then used to predict travel mode choices from information held about previously unseen individuals and the classification performance is assessed. The rough sets model shows high robustness and good predictive ability. The most significant condition attributes identified to determine travel mode choices are gender, distance, household annual income, and occupation. Comparative evaluation with the MNL model also proves that the rough sets model gives superior prediction accuracy and coverage on travel mode choice modeling. PMID:25431585
Food choices and practices during pregnancy of immigrant and Aboriginal women in Canada: a study protocol

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Facilitating the provision of appropriate health care for immigrant and Aboriginal populations in Canada is critical for maximizing health potential and well-being. Numerous reports describe heightened risks of poor maternal and birth outcomes for immigrant and Aboriginal women. Many of these outcomes may relate to food consumption/practices and thus may be obviated through provision of resources which suit the women's ethnocultural preferences. This project aims to understand ethnocultural food and health practices of Aboriginal and immigrant women, and how these intersect with respect to the legacy of Aboriginal colonialism and to the social contexts of cultural adaptation and adjustment of immigrants. The findings will inform the development of visual tools for health promotion by practitioners. Methods/Design This four-phase study employs a case study design allowing for multiple means of data collection and different units of analysis. Phase 1 consists of a scoping review of the literature. Phases 2 and 3 incorporate pictorial representations of food choices (photovoice in Phase 2) with semi-structured photo-elicited interviews (in Phase 3). The findings from Phases 1-3 and consultations with key stakeholders will generate key understandings for Phase 4, the production of culturally appropriate visual tools. For the scoping review, an emerging methodological framework will be utilized in addition to systematic review guidelines. A research librarian will assist with the search strategy and retrieval of literature. For Phases 2 and 3, recruitment of 20-24 women will be facilitated by team member affiliations at perinatal clinics in one of the city's most diverse neighbourhoods. The interviews will reveal culturally normative practices surrounding maternal food choices and consumption, including how women negotiate these practices within their own worldview and experiences. A structured and comprehensive integrated knowledge translation plan has been
How Much Credence Does It Take? Evidence on the Trade-Off between Country-Of-Origin Information and Credence Attributes for Beef from a Choice Experiment in Sweden

PubMed Central

Hess, Sebastian; Johansson, Helena

2017-01-01

Based on a discrete choice experiment with 336 consumers, this study investigated whether the consumer propensity to choose a simplified European Union (EU) vs. non-EU denomination of origin for beef, instead of a specific country-of-origin (COO) denomination, depends upon the amount and type of credence information provided to the individual. The likelihood of choosing the EU/non-EU denomination of origin depended on the total number of other labelling credence attributes provided and also on the type of detailed credence attributes present in the choice. The presence of cues relating to animal welfare and far-reaching traceability had the highest likelihood of influencing the choice of the EU/non-EU denomination of origin. The compensatory qualities of each credence attribute in relation to the EU/non-EU origin denomination thus differed. PMID:28946674
Does front-of-pack nutrition information improve consumer ability to make healthful choices? Performance of warnings and the traffic light system in a simulated shopping experiment.

PubMed

Machín, Leandro; Aschemann-Witzel, Jessica; Curutchet, María Rosa; Giménez, Ana; Ares, Gastón

2018-02-01

The inclusion of more attention-grabbing and easily interpretable front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition information is one of the public policies that can be implemented to empower consumers to identify unhealthful food products and to make more informed food choices. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the influence of two FOP nutrition labelling schemes - the traffic light labelling and the warning scheme - on consumer food purchases when facing a health goal. The study was conducted with 1182 people from Montevideo (Uruguay), recruited using a Facebook advertisement. Participants were randomly allocated to one of three between-subjects experimental conditions: (i) a control condition with no FOP nutrition information, (ii) FOP nutrition information using a modified version of the traffic light system including information about calorie, saturated fat, sugars and sodium content per portion, and (iii) FOP nutrition information using the Chilean warning system including separate signs for high calorie, saturated fat, sugars and sodium content. Respondents were asked to imagine that they had to purchase food in order to prepare a healthy dinner for themselves and their family, using the website of an online grocery store. Results showed that FOP nutrition information effectively improved the average healthfulness of participants' choices compared to the control condition, both in terms of the average nutritional composition of the purchased products and expenditure in specific product categories. No relevant differences between the effect of the traffic light and the warning system were found. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Issues or Identity? Cognitive Foundations of Voter Choice.

PubMed

Jenke, Libby; Huettel, Scott A

2016-11-01

Voter choice is one of the most important problems in political science. The most common models assume that voting is a rational choice based on policy positions (e.g., key issues) and nonpolicy information (e.g., social identity, personality). Though such models explain macroscopic features of elections, they also reveal important anomalies that have been resistant to explanation. We argue for a new approach that builds upon recent research in cognitive science and neuroscience; specifically, we contend that policy positions and social identities do not combine in merely an additive manner, but compete to determine voter preferences. This model not only explains several key anomalies in voter choice, but also suggests new directions for research in both political science and cognitive science. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Facilitators of Survivorship Care Among Underserved Breast Cancer Survivors: a Qualitative Study.

PubMed

Ustjanauskas, Amy E; Quinn, Gwendolyn P; Pan, Tonya M; Rivera, Maria; Vázquez-Otero, Coralia; Ung, Danielle; Roetzheim, Richard G; Laronga, Christine; Johnson, Kenneth; Norton, Marilyn; Carrizosa, Claudia; Muñoz, Dariana; Goldenstein, Marissa; Nuhaily, Sumayah; Wells, Kristen J

2017-12-01

Research investigating facilitators of survivorship care among underserved breast cancer survivors (BCS) is sparse. This study aimed to explore facilitators of survivorship care among underserved BCS within the first 5 years following chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery for breast cancer. In-depth interviews were conducted, using a semi-structured interview guide, with underserved BCS exploring survivorship care experiences. Content analysis of the verbatim transcripts was applied, and results were summarized according to themes related to facilitators of breast cancer survivorship care. Interviews were conducted with 25 BCS. Eight main themes were identified: coordination of care; positive perceptions of health care providers; communication between patient and health care providers; financial and insurance facilitators; information, classes, and programs provided; assistance provided by organizations and health care professionals; transportation facilitators; and job flexibility. This study provides a comprehensive look at facilitators of survivorship care among underserved BCS. BCS endorsed several facilitators of their survivorship care, mainly at the interpersonal, organizational, and societal level. This study adds to the research literature on catalysts of care among underserved BCS. Results from this study are currently being used to inform a patient navigation intervention to facilitate care among this population.
Social value and individual choice: The value of a choice-based decision-making process in a collectively funded health system.

PubMed

Espinoza, Manuel Antonio; Manca, Andrea; Claxton, Karl; Sculpher, Mark

2018-02-01

Evidence about cost-effectiveness is increasingly being used to inform decisions about the funding of new technologies that are usually implemented as guidelines from centralized decision-making bodies. However, there is also an increasing recognition for the role of patients in determining their preferred treatment option. This paper presents a method to estimate the value of implementing a choice-based decision process using the cost-effectiveness analysis toolbox. This value is estimated for 3 alternative scenarios. First, it compares centralized decisions, based on population average cost-effectiveness, against a decision process based on patient choice. Second, it compares centralized decision based on patients' subgroups versus an individual choice-based decision process. Third, it compares a centralized process based on average cost-effectiveness against a choice-based process where patients choose according to a different measure of outcome to that used by the centralized decision maker. The methods are applied to a case study for the management of acute coronary syndrome. It is concluded that implementing a choice-based process of treatment allocation may be an option in collectively funded health systems. However, its value will depend on the specific health problem and the social values considered relevant to the health system. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Facilitating Stroke Management using Modern Information Technology.

PubMed

Nam, Hyo Suk; Park, Eunjeong; Heo, Ji Hoe

2013-09-01

Information technology and mobile devices may be beneficial and useful in many aspects of stroke management, including recognition of stroke, transport and triage of patients, emergent stroke evaluation at the hospital, and rehabilitation. In this review, we address the contributions of information technology and mobile health to stroke management. Rapid detection and triage are essential for effective thrombolytic treatment. Awareness of stroke warning signs and responses to stroke could be enhanced by using mobile applications. Furthermore, prehospital assessment and notification could be streamlined for use in telemedicine and teleradiology. A mobile telemedicine system for assessing the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale scores has shown higher correlation and fast assessment comparing with face-to-face method. Because the benefits of thrombolytic treatment are time-dependent, treatment should be initiated as quickly as possible. In-hospital communication between multidisciplinary team members can be enhanced using information technology. A computerized in-hospital alert system using computerized physician-order entry was shown to be effective in reducing the time intervals from hospital arrival to medical evaluations and thrombolytic treatment. Mobile devices can also be used as supplementary tools for neurologic examination and clinical decision-making. In post-stroke rehabilitation, virtual reality and telerehabilitation are helpful. Mobile applications might be useful for public awareness, lifestyle modification, and education/training of healthcare professionals. Information technology and mobile health are useful tools for management of stroke patients from the acute period to rehabilitation. Further improvement of technology will change and enhance stroke prevention and treatment.
From NHS Choices to the integrated customer service platform.

PubMed

Gann, Bob; Grant, Maria J

2013-03-01

In 2013 the NHS Commissioning Board launches its new integrated customer service platform. The new service utilises the full range of channels (web, telephone, apps etc) to provide access to information to support transparency, participation and transactions. Digital health services have proven benefits in informed choice, shared decision making and patient participation. © 2013 The authors. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2013 Health Libraries Group.
Are vent crab behavioral preferences adaptations for habitat choice?

PubMed

Dahms, Hans-Uwe; Tseng, Li-Chun; Hwang, Jiang-Shiou

2017-01-01

Hydrothermal vent organisms are adapted to their extreme and patchily distributed habitats. They are expected to have evolved mechanisms that keep them in their specific habitation. Since little is known about the recruitment or habitat selection of HV organisms such as brachyurans, we examined the properties of several hydrothermal vent-associated cues on the behavior of the hydrothermal vent (HV) crab Xenograpsus testudinatus in the laboratory that were contrasted by the offering of non-vent cues. This crab species is endemic and dominates the vent fauna of Turtle Island off the NE coast of Taiwan. HV crabs were separately and in combination offered the following vent-specific cues: (1) sulfuric sediment, (3) air-bubbling, (4) elevated temperature, (5) dead settled zooplankton, (7) other crabs, and (8) shade. The non-vent-specific cues were: (2) quarz sediment, (6) dead fish, (8) light. These cues were provided on either side of a two-choice chamber. The movement of individual crabs was monitored: as initial and final choices, and as the proportion of time the crabs spent in each compartment (resident time). Cues were offered alone and no such cue as a control in the same set-up. Sulfuric sediments and dead fish were significantly more attractive to females, and other crabs irrespective of gender were significantly more attractive to males. When compared to expected distributions, crabs, irrespective of gender, significantly avoided light and tended to select other crabs, air-bubbling, sulfuric sediment, elevated temperature, dead fish, dead zooplankton, and quarz sediments in the order of decreasing importance. Data do not support the hypothesis that dead settled zooplankton was particularly attractive nor that the other gender was selected. A combination of several vent-associated cues (sulfuric sediment, elevated temperature, air-bubbling) facilitated the strongest attraction to the crabs as reflected by all response variables. The 'first choice' responses

Using the Internet to Facilitate Career Choices in Psychology-Related Fields

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Golding, Jonathan M.; Lippert, Anne M.; Malik, Sarah E.

2018-01-01

Career planning for psychology majors has broadened to include a diverse array of opportunities (e.g., medicine, law, education, government, and military). The Internet has made it possible for students to learn about and quickly obtain information regarding these new career options. This article describes various career resources on the Internet…
Demand Characteristics of Multiple-Choice Items.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Diamond, James J.; Williams, David V.

Thirteen graduate students were asked to indicate for each of 24 multiple-choice items whether the item tested "recall of specific information," a "higher order skill," or "don't know." The students were also asked to state their general basis for judging the items. The 24 items had been previously classified according to Bloom's cognitive-skills…
Developing the Developers: Supporting and Researching the Learning of Professional Development Facilitators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perry, Emily; Boylan, Mark

2018-01-01

Research on teacher professional development is extensive but there are fewer studies about the practitioners who facilitate professional development. Here we report on a pilot programme for professional development facilitators rooted in a cycle of action research. Informed by a categorisation of professional knowledge and skills of facilitators,…
Online patient information on Vagus Nerve Stimulation: How reliable is it for facilitating shared decision making?

PubMed

Ved, Ronak; Cobbold, Naomi; Igbagiri, Kueni; Willis, Mark; Leach, Paul; Zaben, Malik

2017-08-01

This study evaluates the quality of information available on the internet for carers of children with epilepsy considering treatment with Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS). Selected key phrases were entered into two popular search engines (Google™, Yahoo™). These phrases were: "Vagus nerve stimulator", alone and in combination with "childhood epilepsy", "paediatric epilepsy" and "epilepsy in childhood"; "VNS", and "VNS epilepsy". The first 50 hits per search were then screened. Of 600 identified sites, duplicated (262), irrelevant (230) and inaccessible (15) results were excluded. 93 websites were identified for evaluation using the DISCERN instrument, an online validation tool for patient information websites. The mean DISCERN score of all analysed websites was 39/80 (49%; SD 13.5). This equates to Fair to borderline Poor global quality, (Excellent=80-63; Good=62-51; Fair=50-39; Poor=38-27; Very poor=26-15). None of the analysed sites obtained an Excellent quality rating. 13% (12) obtained a Good score, 40% (37) obtained an Average score, 35% (33) obtained a Poor score, and 12% (11) obtained a Very poor score. The cohort of websites scored particularly poorly on assessment of whether reliable, holistic information was presented, for instance provision of reliable sources, (28%, SD 18) and discussion of alternative treatments, (30%, SD 14). To facilitate patient-centred shared decision-making, high quality information needs to be available for patients and families considering VNS. This study identifies that such information is difficult to locate on the internet. There is a need to develop focussed and reliable online patient resources for VNS. Copyright © 2017 British Epilepsy Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Determinants of patient choice of healthcare providers: a scoping review

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background In several northwest European countries, a demand-driven healthcare system has been implemented that stresses the importance of patient healthcare provider choice. In this study, we are conducting a scoping review aiming to map out what is known about the determinants of patient choice of a wide range of healthcare providers. As far as we know, not many studies are currently available that attempt to draw a general picture of how patients choose a healthcare provider and of the status of research on this subject. This study is therefore a valuable contribution to the growing amount of literature about patient choice. Methods We carried out a specific type of literature review known as a scoping review. Scoping reviews try to examine the breadth of knowledge that is available about a particular topic and therefore do not make selections or apply quality constraints. Firstly, we defined our research questions and searched the literature in Embase, Medline and PubMed. Secondly, we selected the literature, and finally we analysed and summarized the information. Results Our review shows that patients’ choices are determined by a complex interplay between patient and provider characteristics. A variety of patient characteristics determines whether patients make choices, are willing and able to choose, and how they choose. Patients take account of a variety of structural, process and outcome characteristics of providers, differing in the relative importance they attach to these characteristics. Conclusions There is no such thing as the typical patient: different patients make different choices in different situations. Comparative information seems to have a relatively limited influence on the choices made by many patients and patients base their decisions on a variety of provider characteristics instead of solely on outcome characteristics. The assumptions made in health policy about patient choice may therefore be an oversimplification of reality. Several
Making Good Choices: How Autonomy Support Influences the Behavior Change and Motivation of Troubled and Troubling Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harper, Elaine

2007-01-01

Autonomy is a basic human need having influence on motivation. Facilitating student autonomy is an essential ingredient of effective programs for maximizing internalized change and increasing motivation in troubled and troubling youth. This article examines the theoretical concepts of autonomy and control related to choices and considers their…
Conservation surgery for breast cancer as the preferred choice: a prospective analysis.

PubMed

Temple, Walley J; Russell, Margaret L; Parsons, Louise L; Huber, Sylvia M; Jones, Charlotte A; Bankes, Jane; Eliasziw, Michael

2006-07-20

To describe the proportion of women who anticipate having breast-conserving surgery (BCS) versus modified radical mastectomy (MRM), the factors they considered when making treatment choices, the degree to which they perceived they had participated in and had control of the treatment decision, and to explore factors associated with type of planned surgery. Prospective cohort study conducted among patients attending a tertiary care hospital in Alberta, Canada from 1992 to 1995. Participants had a first diagnosis of localized unilateral breast cancer, and were, in the opinions of their surgeons, candidates for either BCS or MRM. Of 157 participants, 71.3% anticipated having BCS and 28.7% anticipated MRM. Referents perceived to play an important role in decision making included self, doctor, and significant other. The two top-ranked items perceived to have influenced treatment choice were doctor's advice and possibility of complete cure. Most women (60%) participated in treatment choice to the degree that they preferred, but only 13.6% received their preferred amount of information. The type of planned surgery was predicted by surgeon, contribution of doctor to choice of treatment, importance of breasts to sexuality, self-efficacy, and concerns about cancer recurrence from a multivariable logistic regression model. Both patient and surgeon factors are important predictors of type of planned surgery. There is a gap between women's preferences and actual experiences with regard to information provided and patient participation in treatment choices, with women's desire for more information about their treatment being most prevalent.
Grading School Choice: Evaluating School Choice Programs by the Friedman Gold Standard. School Choice Issues in Depth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Enlow, Robert C.

2008-01-01

In 2004, The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice published a report titled "Grading Vouchers: Ranking America's School Choice Programs." Its purpose was to measure every existing school choice program against the gold standard set by Milton and Rose Friedman: that the most effective way to improve K-12 education and thus ensure a stable…
The Mixed Instrumental Controller: Using Value of Information to Combine Habitual Choice and Mental Simulation

PubMed Central

Pezzulo, Giovanni; Rigoli, Francesco; Chersi, Fabian

2013-01-01

Instrumental behavior depends on both goal-directed and habitual mechanisms of choice. Normative views cast these mechanisms in terms of model-free and model-based methods of reinforcement learning, respectively. An influential proposal hypothesizes that model-free and model-based mechanisms coexist and compete in the brain according to their relative uncertainty. In this paper we propose a novel view in which a single Mixed Instrumental Controller produces both goal-directed and habitual behavior by flexibly balancing and combining model-based and model-free computations. The Mixed Instrumental Controller performs a cost-benefits analysis to decide whether to chose an action immediately based on the available “cached” value of actions (linked to model-free mechanisms) or to improve value estimation by mentally simulating the expected outcome values (linked to model-based mechanisms). Since mental simulation entails cognitive effort and increases the reward delay, it is activated only when the associated “Value of Information” exceeds its costs. The model proposes a method to compute the Value of Information, based on the uncertainty of action values and on the distance of alternative cached action values. Overall, the model by default chooses on the basis of lighter model-free estimates, and integrates them with costly model-based predictions only when useful. Mental simulation uses a sampling method to produce reward expectancies, which are used to update the cached value of one or more actions; in turn, this updated value is used for the choice. The key predictions of the model are tested in different settings of a double T-maze scenario. Results are discussed in relation with neurobiological evidence on the hippocampus – ventral striatum circuit in rodents, which has been linked to goal-directed spatial navigation. PMID:23459512
Competing dopamine neurons drive oviposition choice for ethanol in Drosophila.

PubMed

Azanchi, Reza; Kaun, Karla R; Heberlein, Ulrike

2013-12-24

The neural circuits that mediate behavioral choice evaluate and integrate information from the environment with internal demands and then initiate a behavioral response. Even circuits that support simple decisions remain poorly understood. In Drosophila melanogaster, oviposition on a substrate containing ethanol enhances fitness; however, little is known about the neural mechanisms mediating this important choice behavior. Here, we characterize the neural modulation of this simple choice and show that distinct subsets of dopaminergic neurons compete to either enhance or inhibit egg-laying preference for ethanol-containing food. Moreover, activity in α'β' neurons of the mushroom body and a subset of ellipsoid body ring neurons (R2) is required for this choice. We propose a model where competing dopaminergic systems modulate oviposition preference to adjust to changes in natural oviposition substrates.
How the twain can meet: Prospect theory and models of heuristics in risky choice.

PubMed

Pachur, Thorsten; Suter, Renata S; Hertwig, Ralph

2017-03-01

Two influential approaches to modeling choice between risky options are algebraic models (which focus on predicting the overt decisions) and models of heuristics (which are also concerned with capturing the underlying cognitive process). Because they rest on fundamentally different assumptions and algorithms, the two approaches are usually treated as antithetical, or even incommensurable. Drawing on cumulative prospect theory (CPT; Tversky & Kahneman, 1992) as the currently most influential instance of a descriptive algebraic model, we demonstrate how the two modeling traditions can be linked. CPT's algebraic functions characterize choices in terms of psychophysical (diminishing sensitivity to probabilities and outcomes) as well as psychological (risk aversion and loss aversion) constructs. Models of heuristics characterize choices as rooted in simple information-processing principles such as lexicographic and limited search. In computer simulations, we estimated CPT's parameters for choices produced by various heuristics. The resulting CPT parameter profiles portray each of the choice-generating heuristics in psychologically meaningful ways-capturing, for instance, differences in how the heuristics process probability information. Furthermore, CPT parameters can reflect a key property of many heuristics, lexicographic search, and track the environment-dependent behavior of heuristics. Finally, we show, both in an empirical and a model recovery study, how CPT parameter profiles can be used to detect the operation of heuristics. We also address the limits of CPT's ability to capture choices produced by heuristics. Our results highlight an untapped potential of CPT as a measurement tool to characterize the information processing underlying risky choice. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Human X-chromosome inactivation pattern distributions fit a model of genetically influenced choice better than models of completely random choice

PubMed Central

Renault, Nisa K E; Pritchett, Sonja M; Howell, Robin E; Greer, Wenda L; Sapienza, Carmen; Ørstavik, Karen Helene; Hamilton, David C

2013-01-01

In eutherian mammals, one X-chromosome in every XX somatic cell is transcriptionally silenced through the process of X-chromosome inactivation (XCI). Females are thus functional mosaics, where some cells express genes from the paternal X, and the others from the maternal X. The relative abundance of the two cell populations (X-inactivation pattern, XIP) can have significant medical implications for some females. In mice, the ‘choice' of which X to inactivate, maternal or paternal, in each cell of the early embryo is genetically influenced. In humans, the timing of XCI choice and whether choice occurs completely randomly or under a genetic influence is debated. Here, we explore these questions by analysing the distribution of XIPs in large populations of normal females. Models were generated to predict XIP distributions resulting from completely random or genetically influenced choice. Each model describes the discrete primary distribution at the onset of XCI, and the continuous secondary distribution accounting for changes to the XIP as a result of development and ageing. Statistical methods are used to compare models with empirical data from Danish and Utah populations. A rigorous data treatment strategy maximises information content and allows for unbiased use of unphased XIP data. The Anderson–Darling goodness-of-fit statistics and likelihood ratio tests indicate that a model of genetically influenced XCI choice better fits the empirical data than models of completely random choice. PMID:23652377
Sequential and simultaneous choices: testing the diet selection and sequential choice models.

PubMed

Freidin, Esteban; Aw, Justine; Kacelnik, Alex

2009-03-01

We investigate simultaneous and sequential choices in starlings, using Charnov's Diet Choice Model (DCM) and Shapiro, Siller and Kacelnik's Sequential Choice Model (SCM) to integrate function and mechanism. During a training phase, starlings encountered one food-related option per trial (A, B or R) in random sequence and with equal probability. A and B delivered food rewards after programmed delays (shorter for A), while R ('rejection') moved directly to the next trial without reward. In this phase we measured latencies to respond. In a later, choice, phase, birds encountered the pairs A-B, A-R and B-R, the first implementing a simultaneous choice and the second and third sequential choices. The DCM predicts when R should be chosen to maximize intake rate, and SCM uses latencies of the training phase to predict choices between any pair of options in the choice phase. The predictions of both models coincided, and both successfully predicted the birds' preferences. The DCM does not deal with partial preferences, while the SCM does, and experimental results were strongly correlated to this model's predictions. We believe that the SCM may expose a very general mechanism of animal choice, and that its wider domain of success reflects the greater ecological significance of sequential over simultaneous choices.
Facilitated peer support in breast cancer: a pre- and post-program evaluation of women's expectations and experiences of a facilitated peer support program.

PubMed

Power, Sinead; Hegarty, Josephine

2010-01-01

Peer support programs are associated with the provision of emotional, informational, and appraisal support. The benefits of peer support for women with breast cancer include reduced social isolation, enhanced coping, and access to information. The aim of this study was to conduct a pre- and post-program evaluation of a 7-week facilitated breast cancer peer support program in a cancer support house. Women with primary breast cancer (n = 8) participated in pre- and post-program focus groups. The interviews were recorded and were transcribed verbatim by the researcher. The data were analyzed using content analysis. Eight themes were identified. The key themes emerging from the pre and post programme focus groups included: The need for mutual identification; Post-treatment isolation; Help with moving on; The impact of hair loss; Consolidation of information; Enablement/empowerment; The importance of the cancer survivor; Mutual sharing. It is essential that facilitated peer support programs are tailored to meet the support needs of women with breast cancer. There is a particular need to facilitate mutual sharing and support for hair loss within these programs. Implications for practice emerging from this study include the importance of pre- and post-program evaluations in identifying whether peer support programs meet the expectations of women with breast cancer, the need for peer/professional programs to support women with treatment-induced hair loss, the importance of including cancer survivors in support programs, and the need to allow more informal sharing to occur in facilitated peer support programs.
Peer support for CKD patients and carers: overcoming barriers and facilitating access.

PubMed

Taylor, Francesca; Gutteridge, Robin; Willis, Carol

2016-06-01

Peer support is valued by its users. Nevertheless, there is initial low take-up of formal peer support programmes among patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), with fewer patients participating than expressing an interest. There is little evidence on reasons for low participation levels. Few studies have examined the perspectives of carers. To explore with CKD patients and carers their needs, wants and expectations from formal peer support and examine how barriers to participation may be overcome. Qualitative interviews with a sample of 26 CKD stage five patients and carers. Principles of Grounded Theory were applied to data coding and analysis. Six NHS Hospital Trusts. Whilst informal peer support might occur naturally and is welcomed, a range of emotional and practical barriers inhibit take-up of more formalized support. Receptivity varies across time and the disease trajectory and is associated with emotional readiness; patients and carers needing to overcome complex psychological hurdles such as acknowledging support needs. Practical barriers include limited understanding of peer support. An attractive peer relationship is felt to involve reciprocity based on sharing experiences and both giving and receiving support. Establishing rapport is linked with development of reciprocity. There is potential to facilitate active uptake of formal peer support by addressing the identified barriers. Our study suggests several facilitation methods, brought together in a conceptual model, including clinician promotion of peer support as an intervention suitable for anyone with CKD and their carers, and opportunity for choice of peer supporter. © 2015 The Authors Health Expectations Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Companion of choice at birth: factors affecting implementation.

PubMed

Kabakian-Khasholian, Tamar; Portela, Anayda

2017-08-31

Two recent recommendations made by the World Health Organization confirm the benefits of companion of choice at birth on labour outcomes; however institutional practices and policies do not always support its implementation in different settings around the world. We conducted a review to determine factors that affect implementation of this intervention considering the perspectives and experiences of different stakeholders and other institutional, systemic barriers and facilitators. Forty one published studies were included in this review. Thirty one publications were identified from a 2013 Cochrane review on the effectiveness of companion of choice at birth. We also reviewed 10 qualitative studies conducted alongside the trials or other interventions on labour and birth companionship identified through electronic searches. The SURE (Supporting the Use of Research Evidence) framework was used to guide the thematic analysis of implementation factors. Women and their families expressed appreciation for the continuous presence of a person to provide support during childbirth. Health care providers were concerned about the role of the companion and possible interference with activities in the labour ward. Allocation of resources, organization of care, facility-related constraints and cultural inclinations were identified as implementation barriers. Prior to introducing companion of choice at birth, understanding providers' attitudes and sensitizing them to the evidence is necessary. The commitment of the management of health care facilities is also required to change policies, including allocation of appropriate physical space that respects women's privacy. Implementation research to develop models for different contexts which could be scaled up would be useful, including documentation of factors that affected implementation and how they were addressed. Future research should also focus on documenting the costs related to implementation, and on measuring the impact of
Nursing as a Career Choice by Hispanic/Latino College Students: A Multi-Institutional Study.

PubMed

Stroup, Linda M; Kuk, Linda

2015-09-01

Despite rapid growth in the Hispanic/Latino population, there is significant underrepresentation of Hispanic/Latino individuals in the nursing workforce and nursing programs. This study investigated college students' interest in and self-efficacy for nursing as a career choice, and factors that students believe will impact their success in a nursing program. A nonexperimental, associational research study using a survey instrument was conducted at three comprehensive, public state universities and one community college in the western United States in an area with a significant Hispanic/Latino population. Descriptive and multivariable correlation statistical analysis suggested that college students' interest in and self-efficacy for nursing as a career choice was similar for both Hispanic/Latino and non-Hispanic/Latino students in the sample. Perceived facilitators for success in a nursing program were identified. Findings can be used to develop strategies and programs to enhance the success of Hispanic/Latino students interested in nursing as a career choice. Copyright 2015, SLACK Incorporated.
IPM Delivery and Facilitation of Innovation Through Technology - National

Science.gov Websites

Delivery IPM Delivery The Regional IPM Centers provide Information Systems to help facilitate communication and sharing of information related to Integrated Pest Management. Below are the various offerings that suggestions for add-ins that may assist project management. For more information, contact Joe LaForest or the
What influences women's contraceptive choice? A cross-sectional study from Turkey.

PubMed

Kahramanoglu, Ilker; Baktiroglu, Merve; Turan, Hasan; Kahramanoglu, Ozge; Verit, Fatma Ferda; Yucel, Oguz

2017-01-01

In our study, we tried to investigate the determinants of women's choices about contraception with the aim of discovering whether or not there is a difference in their preferences before and after consultation with a gynaecologist. A total of 1058 women were enrolled. They were given detailed information regarding contraception and contraceptive methods. Subsequently, a survey which was made of 21 questions was administered. Contraceptive counselling significantly changed the contraceptive choice of women. However, influences from social media and friends, their partners and religious belief affected their contraceptive choices. Significant differences in contraceptive choice were observed when women were categorized according to their marital status, education level, household income, age, and number of children. Although contraceptive counselling influenced Turkish women's choices, there were still other determinants like social media and input from outside sources such as clerics and husbands, which should be overcome.
When good news leads to bad choices.

PubMed

McDevitt, Margaret A; Dunn, Roger M; Spetch, Marcia L; Ludvig, Elliot A

2016-01-01

Pigeons and other animals sometimes deviate from optimal choice behavior when given informative signals for delayed outcomes. For example, when pigeons are given a choice between an alternative that always leads to food after a delay and an alternative that leads to food only half of the time after a delay, preference changes dramatically depending on whether the stimuli during the delays are correlated with (signal) the outcomes or not. With signaled outcomes, pigeons show a much greater preference for the suboptimal alternative than with unsignaled outcomes. Key variables and research findings related to this phenomenon are reviewed, including the effects of durations of the choice and delay periods, probability of reinforcement, and gaps in the signal. We interpret the available evidence as reflecting a preference induced by signals for good news in a context of uncertainty. Other explanations are briefly summarized and compared. © 2016 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

Psychophysics of time perception and intertemporal choice models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takahashi, Taiki; Oono, Hidemi; Radford, Mark H. B.

2008-03-01

Intertemporal choice and psychophysics of time perception have been attracting attention in econophysics and neuroeconomics. Several models have been proposed for intertemporal choice: exponential discounting, general hyperbolic discounting (exponential discounting with logarithmic time perception of the Weber-Fechner law, a q-exponential discount model based on Tsallis's statistics), simple hyperbolic discounting, and Stevens' power law-exponential discounting (exponential discounting with Stevens' power time perception). In order to examine the fitness of the models for behavioral data, we estimated the parameters and AICc (Akaike Information Criterion with small sample correction) of the intertemporal choice models by assessing the points of subjective equality (indifference points) at seven delays. Our results have shown that the orders of the goodness-of-fit for both group and individual data were [Weber-Fechner discounting (general hyperbola) > Stevens' power law discounting > Simple hyperbolic discounting > Exponential discounting], indicating that human time perception in intertemporal choice may follow the Weber-Fechner law. Indications of the results for neuropsychopharmacological treatments of addiction and biophysical processing underlying temporal discounting and time perception are discussed.
Trajectory-adaptive route choice models : specification, choice set generation, and estimation.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-03-01

The objective of the research is to investigate adaptive route choice behavior using individuallevel route choice data from GPS (Global Positioning System) observations in a real-life : network, where a traveler could revise the route choice based up...
Economic Value Biases Uncertain Perceptual Choices in the Parietal and Prefrontal Cortices

PubMed Central

Summerfield, Christopher; Koechlin, Etienne

2010-01-01

An observer detecting a noisy sensory signal is biased by the costs and benefits associated with its presence or absence. When these costs and benefits are asymmetric, sensory, and economic information must be integrated to inform the final choice. However, it remains unknown how this information is combined at the neural or computational levels. To address this question, we asked healthy human observers to judge the presence or absence of a noisy sensory signal under economic conditions that favored yes responses (liberal blocks), no responses (conservative blocks), or neither response (neutral blocks). Economic information biased fast choices more than slow choices, suggesting that value and sensory information are integrated early in the decision epoch. More formal simulation analyses using an Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process demonstrated that the influence of economic information was best captured by shifting the origin of evidence accumulation toward the more valuable bound. We then used the computational model to generate trial-by-trial estimates of decision-related evidence that were based on combined sensory and economic information (the decision variable or DV), and regressed these against fMRI activity recorded whilst participants performed the task. Extrastriate visual regions responded to the level of sensory input (momentary evidence), but fMRI signals in the parietal and prefrontal cortices responded to the decision variable. These findings support recent single-neuron data suggesting that economic information biases decision-related signals in higher cortical regions. PMID:21267421
School Educational Project as a Criterion of School Choice: Discourses and Practices in the City of Barcelona

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benito, Ricard; Alegre, Miquel Àngel; Gonzàlez, Isaac

2014-01-01

In its advancement towards an education quasi-market, Catalonia has recently been driving the development of "school educational projects" in all schools (both public and private) as a tool to facilitate school autonomy and family choices. A school educational project is a formal document in which schools identify their pedagogical…
Selective suppression of the incorrect response implementation in choice behavior assessed by transcranial magnetic stimulation.

PubMed

Tandonnet, Christophe; Garry, Michael I; Summers, Jeffery J

2011-04-01

Selecting the adequate alternative in choice situations may involve an inhibition process. Here we assessed response implementation during the reaction time of a between-hand choice task with single- or paired-pulse (3 or 15 ms interstimulus intervals [ISIs]) transcranial magnetic stimulation of the motor cortex. The amplitude of the single-pulse motor evoked potential (MEP) initially increased for both hands. At around 130 ms, the single-pulse MEP kept increasing for the responding hand and decreased for the nonresponding hand. The paired-pulse MEP revealed a similar pattern for both ISIs with no effect on short intracortical inhibition and intracortical facilitation measures. The results suggest that the incorrect response implementation was selectively suppressed before execution of the correct response, preventing errors in choice context. The results favor models assuming that decision making involves an inhibition process. Copyright © 2010 Society for Psychophysiological Research.
Health Information Technology: Meaningful Use and Next Steps to Improving Electronic Facilitation of Medication Adherence.

PubMed

Bosworth, Hayden B; Zullig, Leah L; Mendys, Phil; Ho, Michael; Trygstad, Troy; Granger, Christopher; Oakes, Megan M; Granger, Bradi B

2016-03-15

The use of health information technology (HIT) may improve medication adherence, but challenges for implementation remain. The aim of this paper is to review the current state of HIT as it relates to medication adherence programs, acknowledge the potential barriers in light of current legislation, and provide recommendations to improve ongoing medication adherence strategies through the use of HIT. We describe four potential HIT barriers that may impact interoperability and subsequent medication adherence. Legislation in the United States has incentivized the use of HIT to facilitate and enhance medication adherence. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) was recently adopted and establishes federal standards for the so-called "meaningful use" of certified electronic health record (EHR) technology that can directly impact medication adherence. The four persistent HIT barriers to medication adherence include (1) underdevelopment of data reciprocity across clinical, community, and home settings, limiting the capture of data necessary for clinical care; (2) inconsistent data definitions and lack of harmonization of patient-focused data standards, making existing data difficult to use for patient-centered outcomes research; (3) inability to effectively use the national drug code information from the various electronic health record and claims datasets for adherence purposes; and (4) lack of data capture for medication management interventions, such as medication management therapy (MTM) in the EHR. Potential recommendations to address these issues are discussed. To make meaningful, high quality data accessible, and subsequently improve medication adherence, these challenges will need to be addressed to fully reach the potential of HIT in impacting one of our largest public health issues.
How do quality information and cost affect patient choice of provider in a tiered network setting? Results from a survey.

PubMed

Sinaiko, Anna D

2011-04-01

To assess how quality information from multiple sources and financial incentives affect consumer choice of physicians in tiered physician networks. Survey of a stratified random sample of Massachusetts state employees. Respondents were assigned a hypothetical structure with differential copayments for "Tier 1" (preferred) and "Tier 2" (nonpreferred) physicians. Half of respondents were told they needed to select a cardiologist, and half were told they needed to select a dermatologist. Patients were asked whether they would choose a Tier 1 doctor, a Tier 2 doctor, or had no preference in a case where they had no further quality information, a case where a family member or friend recommended a Tier 2 doctor, and a case where their personal physician recommended a Tier 2 doctor. The effects of copayments, recommendations, physician specialty, and patient characteristics on the reported probability of selecting a Tier 1 doctor are analyzed using multinomial logit and logistic regression. Relative to a case where there is no copayment differential between tiers, copayment differences of U.S.$10-U.S.$35 increase the number of respondents indicating they would select a Tier 1 physician by 3.5-11.7 percent. Simulations suggest copayments must exceed U.S.$300 to counteract the recommendation for a lower tiered physician from friends, family, or a referring physician. Sensitivity to the copayments varied with physician specialty. Tiered provider networks with these copayment levels appear to have limited influence on physician choice when contradicted by other trusted sources. Consumers' response likely varies with physician specialty. © Health Research and Educational Trust.
Task Differences and Prosociality; Investigating Pet Dogs' Prosocial Preferences in a Token Choice Paradigm.

PubMed

Dale, Rachel; Quervel-Chaumette, Mylène; Huber, Ludwig; Range, Friederike; Marshall-Pescini, Sarah

2016-01-01

Prosociality has received increasing interest by non-human animal researchers since the initial discoveries that suggested it is not a uniquely human trait. However, thus far studies, even within the same species, have not garnered conclusive results. A prominent suggestion for this disparity is the effect methodology can have on prosocial responses in animals. We recently found evidence of prosociality in domestic dogs towards familiar conspecifics using a bar-pulling paradigm, in which a subject could pull a rope to deliver food to its partner. Therefore, the current study aimed to assess whether dogs would show a similar response in a different paradigm, based on the token exchange task paradigm frequently used with primates. In this task, dogs had the option to touch a token with their nose that delivered a reward to an adjacent receiver enclosure, which contained a familiar conspecific, a stranger or no dog at all. Crucially, we also included a social facilitation control condition, whereby the partner (stranger/familiar) was present but unable to access the food. We found that the familiarity effect remained consistent across tasks, with dogs of both the bar-pulling and token choice experiments providing more food to familiar partners than in a non-social control and providing less food to stranger partners than this same control. However, in contrast to our previous bar-pulling experiment, we could not exclude social facilitation as an underlying motive in the current task. We propose this difference in results between tasks may be related to increased task complexity in the token choice paradigm, making it harder for dogs to discriminate between the test and social facilitation conditions. Overall our findings suggest that subtle methodological changes can have an impact on prosocial behaviours in dogs and highlights the importance of controlling for social facilitation effects in such experiments.
Sampling and assessment accuracy in mate choice: a random-walk model of information processing in mating decision.

PubMed

Castellano, Sergio; Cermelli, Paolo

2011-04-07

Mate choice depends on mating preferences and on the manner in which mate-quality information is acquired and used to make decisions. We present a model that describes how these two components of mating decision interact with each other during a comparative evaluation of prospective mates. The model, with its well-explored precedents in psychology and neurophysiology, assumes that decisions are made by the integration over time of noisy information until a stopping-rule criterion is reached. Due to this informational approach, the model builds a coherent theoretical framework for developing an integrated view of functions and mechanisms of mating decisions. From a functional point of view, the model allows us to investigate speed-accuracy tradeoffs in mating decision at both population and individual levels. It shows that, under strong time constraints, decision makers are expected to make fast and frugal decisions and to optimally trade off population-sampling accuracy (i.e. the number of sampled males) against individual-assessment accuracy (i.e. the time spent for evaluating each mate). From the proximate-mechanism point of view, the model makes testable predictions on the interactions of mating preferences and choosiness in different contexts and it might be of compelling empirical utility for a context-independent description of mating preference strength. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: EPA Releases New Chemical Safety Guidelines Aimed at Curbing Animal Testing, Tracking Mercury Imports, and Facilitating the Sharing of Confidential Business Information

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA News Release: IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: EPA Releases New Chemical Safety Guidelines Aimed at Curbing Animal Testing, Tracking Mercury Imports, and Facilitating the Sharing of Confidential Business Information
Are prescription drug insurance choices consistent with expected utility theory?

PubMed

Bundorf, M Kate; Mata, Rui; Schoenbaum, Michael; Bhattacharya, Jay

2013-09-01

To determine the extent to which people make choices inconsistent with expected utility theory when choosing among prescription drug insurance plans and whether tabular or graphical presentation format influences the consistency of their choices. Members of an Internet-enabled panel chose between two Medicare prescription drug plans. The "low variance" plan required higher out-of-pocket payments for the drugs respondents usually took but lower out-of-pocket payments for the drugs they might need if they developed a new health condition than the "high variance" plan. The probability of a change in health varied within subjects and the presentation format (text vs. graphical) and the affective salience of the clinical condition (abstract vs. risk related to specific clinical condition) varied between subjects. Respondents were classified based on whether they consistently chose either the low or high variance plan. Logistic regression models were estimated to examine the relationship between decision outcomes and task characteristics. The majority of respondents consistently chose either the low or high variance plan, consistent with expected utility theory. Half of respondents consistently chose the low variance plan. Respondents were less likely to make discrepant choices when information was presented in graphical format. Many people, although not all, make choices consistent with expected utility theory when they have information on differences among plans in the variance of out-of-pocket spending. Medicare beneficiaries would benefit from information on the extent to which prescription drug plans provide risk protection. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.
The economics of choice: lessons from the U.S. health-care market.

PubMed

Hanoch, Yaniv; Rice, Thomas

2011-03-01

The English health-care system is moving towards increasing consumers' choice. Following economic thinking, it is assumed that such a policy will improve quality, enhance patient satisfaction and reduce health disparities. Indeed, the English health-care system has already built the necessary infrastructure to increase patients' choice. Before expanding the range of choices further, however, it is important that policy makers be aware of the limitations and hurdles that such a policy contains. Here, we highlight these limitations by drawing on the influential work of Kenneth Arrow, who has argued that we cannot treat the health-care market as if it was just another market, and the ideas of Herbert Simon, who questioned whether people had sufficient cognitive abilities to make effective choices in an information-rich environment. In the light of these two strands of thought, we review evidence suggesting that many older adults have low (health) literacy levels, raising concerns over their ability to obtain, process and understand medical-related information, with its increasing complexity, associated risks and emotional involvement. We also discuss recent findings from the United States highlighting the difficulties older users of health-care face with a wide range of prescription drug insurance plans from which to choose. Thus, learning from the experience of health-care systems where choice is abundant could help any health system interested in extending patients' choice to better target the domains where more choice could be beneficial and possibly avoid those where it could be detrimental. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Non-Market Values in a Cost-Benefit World: Evidence from a Choice Experiment

PubMed Central

Eppink, Florian V.; Winden, Matthew; Wright, Will C. C.; Greenhalgh, Suzie

2016-01-01

In support of natural resource and ecosystem service policy, monetary value estimates are often presented to decision makers along with other types of information. There is some evidence that, presented with such ‘mixed’ information, people prioritise monetary over non-monetary information. We conduct a discrete choice experiment among New Zealand decision makers in which we manipulate the information presented to participants. We find that providing explicit monetary information strengthens the pursuit of economic benefits as well as the avoidance of environmental damage. Cultural impacts, of which we provided only qualitative descriptions, did not affect respondents’ choices. Our study provides further evidence that concerns regarding the use of monetary information in decisions with complex, multi-value impacts are valid. Further research is needed to validate our results and find ways to reduce any bias in monetary and non-market information. PMID:27783657
Non-Market Values in a Cost-Benefit World: Evidence from a Choice Experiment.

PubMed

Eppink, Florian V; Winden, Matthew; Wright, Will C C; Greenhalgh, Suzie

2016-01-01

In support of natural resource and ecosystem service policy, monetary value estimates are often presented to decision makers along with other types of information. There is some evidence that, presented with such 'mixed' information, people prioritise monetary over non-monetary information. We conduct a discrete choice experiment among New Zealand decision makers in which we manipulate the information presented to participants. We find that providing explicit monetary information strengthens the pursuit of economic benefits as well as the avoidance of environmental damage. Cultural impacts, of which we provided only qualitative descriptions, did not affect respondents' choices. Our study provides further evidence that concerns regarding the use of monetary information in decisions with complex, multi-value impacts are valid. Further research is needed to validate our results and find ways to reduce any bias in monetary and non-market information.
Effect of herd cues and product involvement on bidder online choices.

PubMed

Chen, Yi-Fen; Wang, Ya-Ju

2010-08-01

Previous works have shown that consumers are influenced by others in decision making. Herd behavior is common in situations in which consumers infer product quality from other consumer choices and incorporate that information into their own decision making. This research presents two studies examining herd effect and the moderating role of product involvement on bidder choices in online auctions. The two studies addressed the influence on bidder online choices of herd cues frequently found in online auctions, including feedback ratings and number of questions and answers. The experimental results demonstrated that bidders use online herd cues when making decisions in online auctions. Additionally, the effects of herd cues on bidder online choices were stronger in high-involvement than low-involvement participants. Results and implications are discussed.
Optimal vaccination choice, vaccination games, and rational exemption: an appraisal.

PubMed

Manfredi, Piero; Posta, Pompeo Della; d'Onofrio, Alberto; Salinelli, Ernesto; Centrone, Francesca; Meo, Claudia; Poletti, Piero

2009-12-10

A threat for vaccination policies might be the onset of "rational" exemption, i.e. the family's decision not to vaccinate children after a seemingly rational comparison between the perceived risk of infection and the perceived risk of vaccine side effects. We study the implications of rational exemption by models of vaccination choice. By a simple model of individual choice we first prove the "elimination impossible" result in presence of informed families, i.e. aware of herd immunity, and suggest that limited information might explain patterns of universal vaccination. Next, we investigate vaccination choice in a game-theoretic framework for communities stratified into two groups, "pro" and "anti" vaccinators, having widely different perceived costs of infection and of vaccine side effects. We show that under informed families neither a Nash nor a Stackelberg behaviour (characterized, respectively, by players acting simultaneously and by an asymmetric situation with a "leader" and a "follower) allow elimination, unless "pro-vaccinators" assign no costs to vaccine side effects. Elimination turns out to be possible when cooperation is encouraged by a social planner, provided, however, he incorporates in the "social loss function" the preferences of anti-vaccinators only. This allows an interpretation of the current Italian vaccination policy.
Choice and Desegregation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bennett, David A.

This document comprises a report on the architectural elements of choice in the desegregation process, a review of the choice process based on Minnesota's experience, and a statement of implications for state policymakers. The following organizational principles of the choice process are discussed: (1) enrollment based on a "first come, first…
Investigating Proenvironmental Behavior: The Case of Commuting Mode Choice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trinh, Tu Anh; Phuong Linh Le, Thi

2018-04-01

The central aim of this article is to investigate mode choice behavior among commuters in Ho Chi Minh City using disaggregate mode choice model and norm activation theory. A better understanding of commuters’ choice of transport mode provide an opportunity to obtain valuable information on their travel behaviors which help to build a basic for proffering solutions stimulating commuters to switch to public transport, which in turn contribute to deal with traffic problems and environmental issues. Binary logistic regression was employed under disaggregate choice method. Key findings indicated that Demographic factors including Age (-0.308), Married (-9.089), Weather (-8.272); Trip factors including Travel cost (0.437), Travel distance (0.252), and Norm activation theory (Awareness of consequences: AC2 (-1.699), AC4 (2.951), AC6 (-3.523), AC7 (-2.092), AC9 (-3.045), AC11 (+ 2.939), and Personal norms: PN2 (-2.695)) had strong impact on the commuters’ mode choice. Although motorcycle was the major transport mode among commuters, they presented their willingness to switch to bus transport if it had less negative impacts on the environment and their daily living environment.
In Their Words: Student Choice in Training Markets--Victorian Examples. NCVER Research Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Justin

2017-01-01

This research offers insights into the options available to individuals as they navigate the vocational education and training (VET) market. Importantly, this study directly represents the voice of students, asking how their choices were made and whether their choice was sufficiently "informed." The student voice is contrasted with…
Medical student career choice: a qualitative study of fourth-year medical students at Memorial University, Newfoundland

PubMed Central

Pianosi, Kiersten; Bethune, Cheri; Hurley, Katrina F.

2016-01-01

Background: Specialty career choice is a critical decision for medical students, and research has examined factors influencing particular specialties or assessed it from a demographic perspective. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe influential factors in students' decision-making, irrespective of their particular specialty in a Canadian medical school. Methods: Study participants were recruited from fourth-year medical classes at the Memorial University of Newfoundland in 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2008. Sixteen focus groups (n = 70) were led by a nonfaculty facilitator to uncover factors affecting medical student career choice. The analysis was guided by principles of grounded theory methodology. The focus group transcripts were sequentially coded based on recurring topics and themes that arose in the students' discussions. A set of key themes emerged and representative quotations for each theme were tracked. Results: Twenty themes were identified from the focus group discussions: 7 major, 3 intermediate and 10 minor themes. The major themes were undergraduate experience, exposure, public perception and recruitment, teacher influence, family/outside influences, residency issues and personal philosophy. Intermediate themes included lifestyle, bad-mouthing/negative perceptions and context. Minor themes included critical incidents/experiences, information gaps, uncertainty, nature of the work, extracurricular programs, timing of decision-making, financial issues, prestige, fit with colleagues and gender issues. Interpretation: Exposure to specialties and the timing of this exposure appears to be crucial to career choice, as does the context (who, what, when, where) of any particular rotation. Given the influence of personal philosophy, future research examining students' level of self-assessment and self-reflection in their decision-making processes and level of certainty about their selected specialty would be useful. PMID:27398357

Medical student career choice: a qualitative study of fourth-year medical students at Memorial University, Newfoundland.

PubMed

Pianosi, Kiersten; Bethune, Cheri; Hurley, Katrina F

2016-01-01

Specialty career choice is a critical decision for medical students, and research has examined factors influencing particular specialties or assessed it from a demographic perspective. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe influential factors in students' decision-making, irrespective of their particular specialty in a Canadian medical school. Study participants were recruited from fourth-year medical classes at the Memorial University of Newfoundland in 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2008. Sixteen focus groups (n = 70) were led by a nonfaculty facilitator to uncover factors affecting medical student career choice. The analysis was guided by principles of grounded theory methodology. The focus group transcripts were sequentially coded based on recurring topics and themes that arose in the students' discussions. A set of key themes emerged and representative quotations for each theme were tracked. Twenty themes were identified from the focus group discussions: 7 major, 3 intermediate and 10 minor themes. The major themes were undergraduate experience, exposure, public perception and recruitment, teacher influence, family/outside influences, residency issues and personal philosophy. Intermediate themes included lifestyle, bad-mouthing/negative perceptions and context. Minor themes included critical incidents/experiences, information gaps, uncertainty, nature of the work, extracurricular programs, timing of decision-making, financial issues, prestige, fit with colleagues and gender issues. Exposure to specialties and the timing of this exposure appears to be crucial to career choice, as does the context (who, what, when, where) of any particular rotation. Given the influence of personal philosophy, future research examining students' level of self-assessment and self-reflection in their decision-making processes and level of certainty about their selected specialty would be useful.
Consumers' use of HCAHPS ratings and word-of-mouth in hospital choice.

PubMed

Huppertz, John W; Carlson, Jay P

2010-12-01

To investigate the impact of the HCAHPS report of patient experiences and word-of-mouth narratives on consumers' hospital choice. Online consumer research panel of U.S. adults ages 18 and older. In an experiment, 309 consumers were randomly assigned to see positive or negative information about a hospital in two modalities: HCAHPS graphs and a relative's narrative e-mail. Then they indicated their intentions to choose the hospital for elective surgery. A simple, one-paragraph e-mail and 10 HCAHPS graphs had similar impacts on consumers' hospital choice. When information was inconsistent between the HCAHPS data and e-mail narrative, one modality attenuated the other's effect on hospital choice. The findings illustrate the power of anecdotal narratives, suggesting that policy makers should consider how HCAHPS data can be affected by word-of-mouth communication. © Health Research and Educational Trust.
A likelihood-based biostatistical model for analyzing consumer movement in simultaneous choice experiments.

PubMed

Zeilinger, Adam R; Olson, Dawn M; Andow, David A

2014-08-01

Consumer feeding preference among resource choices has critical implications for basic ecological and evolutionary processes, and can be highly relevant to applied problems such as ecological risk assessment and invasion biology. Within consumer choice experiments, also known as feeding preference or cafeteria experiments, measures of relative consumption and measures of consumer movement can provide distinct and complementary insights into the strength, causes, and consequences of preference. Despite the distinct value of inferring preference from measures of consumer movement, rigorous and biologically relevant analytical methods are lacking. We describe a simple, likelihood-based, biostatistical model for analyzing the transient dynamics of consumer movement in a paired-choice experiment. With experimental data consisting of repeated discrete measures of consumer location, the model can be used to estimate constant consumer attraction and leaving rates for two food choices, and differences in choice-specific attraction and leaving rates can be tested using model selection. The model enables calculation of transient and equilibrial probabilities of consumer-resource association, which could be incorporated into larger scale movement models. We explore the effect of experimental design on parameter estimation through stochastic simulation and describe methods to check that data meet model assumptions. Using a dataset of modest sample size, we illustrate the use of the model to draw inferences on consumer preference as well as underlying behavioral mechanisms. Finally, we include a user's guide and computer code scripts in R to facilitate use of the model by other researchers.
[Demographic pressure, "informal sector" and technological choices in Third World countries].

PubMed

Hugon, P

1983-01-01

Trisectorial models of economic functioning have been proposed to replace the dualistic models that proved incapable of illuminating postwar employment trends in developing countries. The new models propose 3 sectors: the subsistence sector, where average productivity corresponds to the subsistence minimum and which is thus incapable of generating a surplus for savings; the intermediate sector, weakly capitalistic, characterized by the absence of a permanent salaried work force or codified labor relations, in which precariousness of employment and the exploitation of specific social relations allow a low wage rate, with a concommitant mode of regulation that largely escapes state control; and the intensely capitalistic sector, with a salaried work force, codified labor relations, existence of administered prices, various state subventions and protections and a monopolistic type of regulation. The 3 sectors are described in greater detail and represented graphically, along with a critique of the limitations of most studies employing a trisectorial perspective. A study of the impact of demographic pressure at different levels of technology embedded in specific sociohistoric systems follows. The final section contains an analysis of 3 types of effects which may mediate the role of demographic pressure in the choice of technologies: effects of demographic pressure on structures of production and consumption, on segments of the labor force, and on involutive and evolutive processes. It is argued that the links between demographic pressure, technologic choices, and the productive sector can only be analyzed in specific social systems.
Constructing food choice decisions.

PubMed

Sobal, Jeffery; Bisogni, Carole A

2009-12-01

Food choice decisions are frequent, multifaceted, situational, dynamic, and complex and lead to food behaviors where people acquire, prepare, serve, give away, store, eat, and clean up. Many disciplines and fields examine decision making. Several classes of theories are applicable to food decision making, including social behavior, social facts, and social definition perspectives. Each offers some insights but also makes limiting assumptions that prevent fully explaining food choice decisions. We used constructionist social definition perspectives to inductively develop a food choice process model that organizes a broad scope of factors and dynamics involved in food behaviors. This food choice process model includes (1) life course events and experiences that establish a food choice trajectory through transitions, turning points, timing, and contexts; (2) influences on food choices that include cultural ideals, personal factors, resources, social factors, and present contexts; and (3) a personal system that develops food choice values, negotiates and balances values, classifies foods and situations, and forms/revises food choice strategies, scripts, and routines. The parts of the model dynamically interact to make food choice decisions leading to food behaviors. No single theory can fully explain decision making in food behavior. Multiple perspectives are needed, including constructionist thinking.
Important features of home-based support services for older Australians and their informal carers.

PubMed

McCaffrey, Nikki; Gill, Liz; Kaambwa, Billingsley; Cameron, Ian D; Patterson, Jan; Crotty, Maria; Ratcliffe, Julie

2015-11-01

In Australia, newly initiated, publicly subsidised 'Home-Care Packages' designed to assist older people (≥ 65 years of age) living in their own home must now be offered on a 'consumer-directed care' (CDC) basis by service providers. However, CDC models have largely developed in the absence of evidence on users' views and preferences. The aim of this study was to determine what features (attributes) of consumer-directed, home-based support services are important to older people and their informal carers to inform the design of a discrete choice experiment (DCE). Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted in December 2012-November 2013 with 17 older people receiving home-based support services and 10 informal carers from 5 providers located in South Australia and New South Wales. Salient service characteristics important to participants were determined using thematic and constant comparative analysis and formulated into attributes and attribute levels for presentation within a DCE. Initially, eight broad themes were identified: information and knowledge, choice and control, self-managed continuum, effective co-ordination, effective communication, responsiveness and flexibility, continuity and planning. Attributes were formulated for the DCE by combining overlapping themes such as effective communication and co-ordination, and the self-managed continuum and planning into single attributes. Six salient service features that characterise consumer preferences for the provision of home-based support service models were identified: choice of provider, choice of support worker, flexibility in care activities provided, contact with the service co-ordinator, managing the budget and saving unspent funds. Best practice indicates that qualitative research with individuals who represent the population of interest should guide attribute selection for a DCE and this is the first study to employ such methods in aged care service provision. Further development of
Using decision mapping to inform the development of a stated choice survey to elicit youth preferences for sexual and reproductive health and HIV services in rural Malawi.

PubMed

Michaels-Igbokwe, Christine; Lagarde, Mylene; Cairns, John; Terris-Prestholt, Fern

2014-03-01

The process of designing and developing discrete choice experiments (DCEs) is often under reported. The need to adequately report the results of qualitative work used to identify attributes and levels used in a DCE is recognised. However, one area that has received relatively little attention is the exploration of the choice question of interest. This paper provides a case study of the process used to design a stated preference survey to assess youth preferences for integrated sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and HIV outreach services in Malawi. Development and design consisted of six distinct but overlapping and iterative stages. Stage one was a review of the literature. Stage two involved developing a decision map to conceptualise the choice processes involved. Stage three included twelve focus group discussions with young people aged 15-24 (n = 113) and three key informant interviews (n = 3) conducted in Ntcheu District, Malawi. Stage four involved analysis of qualitative data and identification of potential attributes and levels. The choice format and experimental design were selected in stages five and six. The results of the literature review were used to develop a decision map outlining the choices that young people accessing SRH services may face. For youth that would like to use services two key choices were identified: the choice between providers and the choice of service delivery attributes within a provider type. Youth preferences for provider type are best explored using a DCE with a labelled design, while preferences for service delivery attributes associated with a particular provider are better understood using an unlabelled design. Consequently, two DCEs were adopted to jointly assess preferences in this context. Used in combination, the results of the literature review, the decision mapping process and the qualitative work provided robust approach to designing the DCEs individually and as complementary pieces of work. Copyright © 2014
Barriers and facilitators to establishing a national public health observatory.

PubMed

Pooransingh, Shalini; Misir, Akenath; Ramdath, Dan; Ramsewak, Samuel; Jaglal, Susan; Cameron, Cathy; Goel, Vivek

2015-11-01

To determine what stakeholders perceive as barriers and facilitators to creating a national public health observatory (PHO) in Trinidad and Tobago. A descriptive study was conducted based on 15 key informant interviews carried out from April to September 2013. The key informants worked within the health care sector in Trinidad and Tobago. Using a semi-structured interview guide, information was collected on knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about creating a PHO; barriers and facilitators to creating and sustaining a PHO; legal considerations; and human resource and information technology requirements. Common themes of the responses were identified. The majority of participants supported the development of a national PHO, recognized its value in informing their work, and indicated that a national PHO could 1) provide information to support evidence-informed decision-making for health policy and strategic planning; 2) facilitate data management by establishing data policies, procedures, and standards; 3) increase the use of data by synthesizing and disseminating information; and 4) provide data for benchmarking. However, a number of barriers were identified, including 1) the perception that data collection is not valued; 2) untimely availability of data; 3) limited data synthesis, dissemination, and utilization to inform decision-making; and 4) challenges related to the allocation of human resources and existing information technology. Key informants support the development of a national PHO in Trinidad and Tobago. The findings align well within the components of the conceptual framework for establishing national health observatories. A stepwise approach to establishing a national PHO in Trinidad and Tobago, beginning with structural components and followed by functional components, is recommended. A national PHO in Trinidad and Tobago could serve as a model for other countries in the Caribbean.
Choice in the repeated-gambles experiment.

PubMed

Silberberg, A; Murray, P; Christensen, J; Asano, T

1988-09-01

Humans chose 10 times between two roulette wheels projected on a monitor. During the first trial, the left wheel provided a hypothetical $100 with p = .94, and the right wheel provided $250 with p = .39. A titration procedure adjusted the probability of a $250 win across trials to permit estimation of an indifference point between alternatives. In Experiment 1, intertrial-interval duration (25 vs. 90 s) and whether sessions began with an intertrial interval or a trial were varied in a 2 x 2 design in this risky-choice procedure. Risk aversion (preference for the $100 wheel) increased with intertrial interval but was unaffected by whether sessions began with a trial or an intertrial interval. In Experiment 2, all sessions began with a trial, and subjects were informed that the experiment ended after 10 trials. Intertrial-interval duration had no effect on choice. In Experiment 3, intertrial-interval duration and whether subjects were given $10 or $10,000 before beginning were varied among four groups in a 2 x 2 design. In all other ways, the procedure was unchanged from Experiment 2. Intertrial interval had no effect on choice, but the $10,000 groups showed less risk aversion than the $10 groups. These results can be explained more readily in terms of Kahneman and Tversky's (1984) notion of "framing of the prospect" than in terms of Rachlin, Logue, Gibbon, and Frankel's (1986) behavioral account of risky choice.
Parent Resource Centers: An Innovative Mechanism for Parental Involvement in School Choice Decisions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wao, Hesborn; Hein, Vanessa L.; Villamar, Roger; Chanderbhan-Forde, Susan; Lee, Reginald S.

2017-01-01

This qualitative investigation reports on the use of Parent Resource Centers (PRCs) as a mechanism for parental involvement in public school choice decisions. Interviews with parents and staff at seven PRCs in Florida revealed that PRCs employ multiple strategies to communicate choice information to parents: community-, school- and media-based…
Community choices and housing demands: a spatial analysis of the southern Appalachian highlands

Treesearch

Seong-Hoon Cho; David H. Newman; David N. Wear

2005-01-01

This paper examines housing demand using an integrated approach that combines residential decisions about choices of community in the Southern Appalachian region with the application of a Geographic Information System (GIS). The empirical model infers a distinctive heterogeneity in the characteristics of community choices. The results also indicate that socio-economic...
Optimizing Multiple-Choice Tests as Learning Events

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Little, Jeri Lynn

2011-01-01

Although generally used for assessment, tests can also serve as tools for learning--but different test formats may not be equally beneficial. Specifically, research has shown multiple-choice tests to be less effective than cued-recall tests in improving the later retention of the tested information (e.g., see meta-analysis by Hamaker, 1986),…
Computational Precision of Mental Inference as Critical Source of Human Choice Suboptimality.

PubMed

Drugowitsch, Jan; Wyart, Valentin; Devauchelle, Anne-Dominique; Koechlin, Etienne

2016-12-21

Making decisions in uncertain environments often requires combining multiple pieces of ambiguous information from external cues. In such conditions, human choices resemble optimal Bayesian inference, but typically show a large suboptimal variability whose origin remains poorly understood. In particular, this choice suboptimality might arise from imperfections in mental inference rather than in peripheral stages, such as sensory processing and response selection. Here, we dissociate these three sources of suboptimality in human choices based on combining multiple ambiguous cues. Using a novel quantitative approach for identifying the origin and structure of choice variability, we show that imperfections in inference alone cause a dominant fraction of suboptimal choices. Furthermore, two-thirds of this suboptimality appear to derive from the limited precision of neural computations implementing inference rather than from systematic deviations from Bayes-optimal inference. These findings set an upper bound on the accuracy and ultimate predictability of human choices in uncertain environments. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Facilitating social support: member-leader communication in a breast cancer support group.

PubMed

Beck, Stephenson J; Keyton, Joann

2014-01-01

Early detection and treatment have resulted in more women surviving breast cancer; increased survivorship has also increased the need for breast cancer support groups (BCSG). The ostensible goal of such groups is to provide support for the physical and emotional stressors that cancer survivors face, as well as provide information on coping and treatment options. Although scholars have examined the effects of support groups on their group members, the examination of group facilitator messages has been largely neglected. The goal of this study was to extend theory on group leader behavior, specifically investigating how member-leader messages create social support in support groups. The transcribed conversations of weekly meetings of a BCSG were examined using Interaction Process Analysis to discover how the member-leader facilitated the group's enactment and management of social support. Across the meetings, task talk dominated (primarily statements of orientation or information). Furthermore, analysis of interaction sequences between the support group facilitator and other members revealed 2 broad categories of task-oriented facilitation techniques (changing the focus, clarification) and 1 category of socioemotional facilitation techniques (showing support). Support group facilitators need the ability to facilitate both task and relational aspects of social support. Facilitator behaviors were highlighted as being instrumental to the creation of social support. The results from this study indicate that the ability to change the focus of interaction, to provide and require clarification on complex issues, and to show support through relational messages is needed in facilitator training.
Does Choice of Influenza Vaccine Type Change Disease Burden and Cost-Effectiveness in the United States? An Agent-Based Modeling Study.

PubMed

DePasse, Jay V; Smith, Kenneth J; Raviotta, Jonathan M; Shim, Eunha; Nowalk, Mary Patricia; Zimmerman, Richard K; Brown, Shawn T

2017-05-01

Offering a choice of influenza vaccine type may increase vaccine coverage and reduce disease burden, but it is more costly. This study calculated the public health impact and cost-effectiveness of 4 strategies: no choice, pediatric choice, adult choice, or choice for both age groups. Using agent-based modeling, individuals were simulated as they interacted with others, and influenza was tracked as it spread through a population in Washington, DC. Influenza vaccination coverage derived from data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was increased by 6.5% (range, 3.25%-11.25%), reflecting changes due to vaccine choice. With moderate influenza infectivity, the number of cases averaged 1,117,285 for no choice, 1,083,126 for pediatric choice, 1,009,026 for adult choice, and 975,818 for choice for both age groups. Averted cases increased with increased coverage and were highest for the choice-for-both-age-groups strategy; adult choice also reduced cases in children. In cost-effectiveness analysis, choice for both age groups was dominant when choice increased vaccine coverage by ≥3.25%. Offering a choice of influenza vaccines, with reasonable resultant increases in coverage, decreased influenza cases by >100,000 with a favorable cost-effectiveness profile. Clinical trials testing the predictions made based on these simulation results and deliberation of policies and procedures to facilitate choice should be considered. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
School Choice and the Branding of Catholic Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trivitt, Julie R.; Wolf, Patrick J.

2011-01-01

How useful are "corporate brands" in markets? In theory, brands convey reliable information, providing consumers with shortcuts to time-consuming provider searches. We examine the usefulness of a corporate brand when parental school choice is expanded through K-12 tuition scholarships. Specifically, we evaluate whether Catholic schools…
Modeling the Theory of Planned Behavior from Survey Data for Action Choice in Social Simulations

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-03-01

develop an argument for the benefits of informing action choice models such as TPB from representative survey data. 1. Introduction Icek Ajzen’s...matter expert (SME) input, such as the development of narrative ethnographies, and quantitative survey and polling data, such as the U.S. General...societies, a full description of the TPB implementation within an artificial society, and develop an argument for the benefits of informing action choice
Discrete choice experiments of pharmacy services: a systematic review.

PubMed

Vass, Caroline; Gray, Ewan; Payne, Katherine

2016-06-01

-related discrete choice experiments could help researchers produce more efficient experiments which are better suited to valuing complex pharmacy services. Pharmacy-related discrete choice experiments could also benefit from more sophisticated analytical techniques such as investigations into scale and preference heterogeneity. Employing these sophisticated methods for both design and analysis could extend the usefulness of discrete choice experiments to inform health and pharmacy policy.
User Choice Resourcing Arrangements in Australia in March 2004. Working Paper No. 57

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Selby Smith, C.

2005-01-01

As part of a charge to assist the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) to co-ordinate the development of relevant User Choice resourcing arrangements, CEET documented existing User Choice resourcing arrangements in each jurisdiction as of March 31, 2004. Emails were sent to each jurisdiction asking them to provide information on the User…
Pharmacotherapies for decreasing maladaptive choice in drug addiction: Targeting the behavior and the drug.

PubMed

Perkins, Frank N; Freeman, Kevin B

2018-01-01

Drug addiction can be conceptualized as a disorder of maladaptive decision making in which drugs are chosen at the expense of pro-social, nondrug alternatives. The study of decision making in drug addiction has focused largely on the role of impulsivity as a facilitator of addiction, in particular the tendency for drug abusers to choose small, immediate gains over larger but delayed outcomes (i.e., delay discounting). A parallel line of work, also focused on decision making in drug addiction, has focused on identifying the determinants underlying the choice to take drugs over nondrug alternatives (i.e., drug vs. nondrug choice). Both tracks of research have been valuable tools in the development of pharmacotherapies for treating maladaptive decision making in drug addiction, and a number of common drugs have been studied in both designs. However, we have observed that there is little uniformity in the administration regimens of potential treatments between the designs, which hinders congruence in the development of single treatment strategies to reduce both impulsive behavior and drug choice. The current review provides an overview of the drugs that have been tested in both delay-discounting and drug-choice designs, and focuses on drugs that reduced the maladaptive choice in both designs. Suggestions to enhance congruence between the findings in future studies are provided. Finally, we propose the use of a hybridized, experimental approach that may enable researchers to test the effectiveness of therapeutics at decreasing impulsive and drug choice in a single design. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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