Ego depletion, attentional control, and decision making in sport

Objectives: Athletes differ at staying focused on performance and avoiding distraction. Drawing on the strength model of self-control we investigated whether athletes do not only differ inter-individually in their disposition of staying focused and avoiding distraction but also intra-individually in their situational availability of focused attention. Design/method: In the present experiment we hypothesized that basketball players (N = 40) who have sufficient self-control resources will perform relatively better on a computer based decision making task under distraction conditions compared to a group who's self-control resources have been depleted in a prior task requiring self-control. Results: The results are in line with the strength model of self-control by demonstrating that an athlete's capability to focus attention relies on the situational availability of self-control strength. Conclusions: The current results indicate that having sufficient self-control strength in interference rich sport settings is likely to be beneficial for decision making.

A high-resolution map of direct and indirect connectivity of erosion risk areas to surface waters in Switzerland: A risk assessment tool for planning and policy-making

Off-site effects of soil erosion are becoming increasingly important, particularly the pollution of surface waters. In order to develop environmentally efficient and cost effective mitigation options it is essential to identify areas that bear both a high erosion risk and high connectivity to surface waters. This paper introduces a simple risk assessment tool that allows the delineation of potential critical source areas (CSA) of sediment input into surface waters concerning the agricultural areas of Switzerland. The basis are the erosion risk map with a 2 m resolution (ERM2) and the drainage network, which is extended by drained roads, farm tracks, and slope depressions. The probability of hydrological and sedimentological connectivity is assessed by combining soil erosion risk and extended drainage network with flow distance calculation. A GIS-environment with multiple-flow accumulation algorithms is used for routing runoff generation and flow pathways. The result is a high resolution connectivity map of the agricultural area of Switzerland (888,050 ha). Fifty-five percent of the computed agricultural area is potentially connected with surface waters, 45% is not connected. Surprisingly, the larger part of 34% (62% of the connected area) is indirectly connected with surface waters through drained roads, and only 21% are directly connected. The reason is the topographic complexity and patchiness of the landscape due to a dense road and drainage network. A total of 24% of the connected area and 13% of the computed agricultural area, respectively, are rated with a high connectivity probability. On these CSA an adapted land use is recommended, supported by vegetated buffer strips preventing sediment load. Even areas that are far away from open water bodies can be indirectly connected and need to be included in planning of mitigation measures. Thus, the connectivity map presented is an important decision-making tool for policy-makers and extension services. The map is published on the web and thus available for application.

Perceptual Training in Beach Volleyball Defence: Different Effects of Gaze-Path Cueing on Gaze and Decision-Making

For perceptual-cognitive skill training, a variety of intervention methods has been proposed, including the so-called “color-cueing method” which aims on superior gaze-path learning by applying visual markers. However, recent findings challenge this method, especially, with regards to its actual effects on gaze behavior. Consequently, after a preparatory study on the identification of appropriate visual cues for life-size displays, a perceptual-training experiment on decision-making in beach volleyball was conducted, contrasting two cueing interventions (functional vs. dysfunctional gaze path) with a conservative control condition (anticipation-related instructions). Gaze analyses revealed learning effects for the dysfunctional group only. Regarding decision-making, all groups showed enhanced performance with largest improvements for the control group followed by the functional and the dysfunctional group. Hence, the results confirm cueing effects on gaze behavior, but they also question its benefit for enhancing decision-making. However, before completely denying the method’s value, optimisations should be checked regarding, for instance, cueing-pattern characteristics and gaze-related feedback.

Coping Methods and Meaning Making of Liberian Refugees in the Buduburam Refugee Camp of Ghana

The mental health of war-impacted individuals has been an issue of growing concern to many researchers and practitioners internationally (Miller, Kulkarni, & Kushner, 2006). According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2006a), Africans are disproportionately impacted by conflict-related displacement. To date, however, much of the research on the mental health of refugees has been based mostly on Western views of health and trauma. The current study is a mixed-methods investigation of stressors, coping strategies, and meaning making of Liberian refugees in the Buduburam Refugee Camp of Ghana. Results from the Brief COPE, focus groups, and semi-structured ethnographic interviews are discussed. Understanding stressors and coping among this population can contribute to culturally informed research and practice.

Grief, Physical Symptoms, and Decision-Making in Mothers of Newborns Who Die

The purpose of this study was to describe predictors of level of grief and physical symptoms in mothers during the year after a newborn death. This was undertaken to fmd better ways to help these mothers during this crisis. Following appropriate approvals, volunteer subjects were contacted through hospitals, the Internet, and a health department. Of the 75 who responded, 77% were White and married, 64% were Christian. 51 % had other living children, 72% had had no prior pregnancy losses, 87% had support with decision-making about newborn care, and their mean age was 30 yrs. Once subjects had agreed to take Par4 the survey and consent form were sent to them. Study outcome variables were: Total scores on the Perinatal Grief Scale, Short Version (level of grief; T oedter, Lasker, & Alhadeff. 1988) and Sickness Impact Profile 68 (level of physical symptoms; de Bruin, Buys, de Witte, & Diederiks, 1994). Predictor variables were total scores on the Personal Resources Questionnaire 85, Part U (perceived support; Brandt & Weinert, 1981); Relationship Satisfaction Questionnaire (relationship satisfaction; Olson & McCubbin, 1983); Emotion-Focused. Problem-Focused, and Mixed Coping Subscales (emotion-focused, problem-focused, and mixed coping; Lazarus & Folkman, 1988); interval since death, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status, gestational age, and presence of living children. Coefficient alphas for scales were all over .75. In two stepwise-hierarchical multiple regressions, perceived support and emotion- focused coping combined to predict 43% of the variance in level of grief, and level of grief alone predicted 50% of the variance in level of physical symptoms. In written comments, mothers said they valued their role in decision-making about newborn care even with death as the result. and felt supported in that process. Findings may be used to design intervention programs to help bereaved mothers following a newborn death. Specifically, programs can help increase perceived support for bereaved mothers, and teach new ways of coping. Both strategies may result in lower levels of grief and physical symptoms in this group of bereaved mothers.

Relationships, Income Support and Decision Making: A Qualitative Synopsis

This qualitative study of one midwestern state’s child protective services addresses whether an income support measure for poor biological caregivers reduces the length of time that their children spend in foster care. The overall findings suggest that workers do value the worker-family relationship. However, some view the immediate worker-client relationship as secondary to the inclusion of extended familial supports particularly as related to sustained more long-term outcome achievement. Most workers additionally agree that client involvement during all phases of the reunification process is critical.

End -of -life planning and decision -making: Implications for adults with mental retardation

This research focused on the topic of end-of-life planning and decision-making for adults affected by mental retardation. Adults with mental retardation have unique challenges in this regard, including difficulty communicating their wishes without assistance and diminished decision-making skills. The primary research objective was to identify factors that can affect opportunities for adults with mental retardation in community-based services settings (and their advocates) to be involved in planning and deciding about their own end-of-life experience. ^ A descriptive qualitative inquiry was designed to explore issues related to death and dying, and the notion of end-of-life planning, from the perspective of adults with mental retardation who receive publicly-funded community services ("clients") and family members of individuals who receive such services. Study participants were recruited from a single mental retardation service provider in a large urban setting (the "Agency"). Sixteen clients and 14 families of Agency clients took part. Client data collection was accomplished through face-to-face interviews, focus group meetings, and record reviews; family members were involved in a face-to-face interview only. ^ An initial coding scheme was developed based upon literature and policy reviews, and themes related to the research questions. Analysis involved extracting data from transcripts and records and placing it into appropriate thematic categories, building support for each theme with the accumulated data. Coding themes were modified to accommodate new data when it challenged existing themes. ^ Findings suggest that adults with mental retardation do have the requisite knowledge, interest, and ability to participate in decisions about their end-of-life experience and handling of affairs. Siblings are overwhelmingly the chosen future surrogates and they (or their children) will likely be the end-of-life advocates for their brothers and sisters affected by mental retardation. Findings further point to a need for increased awareness, accurate information, and improved communication about end-of-life issues, both in general and particular to adults affected by mental retardation. Also suggested by the findings is a need to focus on creating accommodations and adaptations that can best uncover a person's authentic views on life and death and related end-of-life preferences. Practical implications and suggestions for further research are also discussed. ^

Chairship system and decision making by consensus in international agreements : the case of ASEAN

How are different positions reconciled under decision making by consensus in international agreements? This article aims to answer this question. Consensus rule provides each participant a veto, which risks resulting in non-agreement. Taking ASEAN as a case study of international organizations that have adopted consensus rule as the main decision-making procedure, this article presents the chairship system as an analytical scheme to examine how different positions are or are not reconciled under consensus rule. The system is based on conventional knowledge regarding the chair in international conference, which can be defined as an institution where the role of the chair is taken by one member state in an international organization and plays a role in agenda-setting. The agenda-setting power given to the chair varies across organizations. This article assumes that the chair in ASEAN is given a relatively strong agenda-setting power to enable the chair to reach agreements and bias such agreements in its own favor.

A multi-criteria optimization and decision-making approach for improvement of food engineering processes.

The objective of this study was to propose a multi-criteria optimization and decision-making technique to solve food engineering problems. This technique was demostrated using experimental data obtained on osmotic dehydratation of carrot cubes in a sodium chloride solution. The Aggregating Functions Approach, the Adaptive Random Search Algorithm, and the Penalty Functions Approach were used in this study to compute the initial set of non-dominated or Pareto-optimal solutions. Multiple non-linear regression analysis was performed on a set of experimental data in order to obtain particular multi-objective functions (responses), namely water loss, solute gain, rehydration ratio, three different colour criteria of rehydrated product, and sensory evaluation (organoleptic quality). Two multi-criteria decision-making approaches, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Tabular Method (TM), were used simultaneously to choose the best alternative among the set of non-dominated solutions. The multi-criteria optimization and decision-making technique proposed in this study can facilitate the assessment of criteria weights, giving rise to a fairer, more consistent, and adequate final compromised solution or food process. This technique can be useful to food scientists in research and education, as well as to engineers involved in the improvement of a variety of food engineering processes.

Accessibility instruments for planning practice: bridging the gap between academic research and decision-making.

One of the core objectives of urban planning practice is to provide spatial equity in terms of opportunities and use of public space and facilities. Accessibility is the element that serves this purpose as a concept linking the reciprocal relationship between transport and land use, thus shaping individual potential mobility to reach the desired destinations. Accessibility concepts are increasingly acknowledged as fundamental to understand the functioning of cities and urban regions. Indeed, by introducing them in planning practice, better solutions can be achieved in terms of spatial equity. The COST Action TU1002 "Accessibility instruments for planning practice" was specifically designed to address the gap between scientific research in measuring and modelling accessibility, and the current use of indicators of accessibility in urban planning practice. This paper shows the full process of introducing an easily understandable measure of accessibility to planning practitioners in Madrid, which is one of the case studies of the above-mentioned COST action. Changes in accessibility after the opening of a new metro line using contour measures were analyzed and then presented to a selection of urban planners and practitioners in Madrid as part of a workshop to evaluate the usefulness of this tool for planning practice. Isochrone maps were confirmed as an effective tool, as their utility can be supplemented by other indicators, and being GIS-based, it can be easily computed (when compared with transport models) and integrated with other datasets.

Del plan a la realidad: gobernanza y toma de decisiones en los procesos de regeneración urbana. El caso de Boston = From plan to reality: governance and decision-making in urban regeneration processes in Boston

En las últimas tres décadas, las dinámicas de restructuración económica a nivel global han redefinido radicalmente el papel de las ciudades. La transición del keynesianismo al neoliberalismo ha provocado un cambio en las políticas urbanas de los gobiernos municipales, que han abandonado progresivamente las tareas de regulación y redistribución para centrarse en la promoción del crecimiento económico y la competitividad. En este contexto, muchas voces críticas han señalado que la regeneración urbana se ha convertido en un vehículo de extracción de valor de la ciudad y está provocando la expulsión de los ciudadanos más vulnerables. Sin embargo, la regeneración de áreas consolidadas supone también una oportunidad de mejora de las condiciones de vida de la población residente, y es una política necesaria para controlar la expansión de la ciudad y reducir las necesidades de desplazamiento, promoviendo así ciudades más sostenibles. Partiendo de la hipótesis de que la gobernanza de los procesos de regeneración urbana es clave en el resultado final de las operaciones y determina el modelo de ciudad resultante, el objetivo de esta investigación es verificar si la regeneración urbana es necesariamente un mecanismo de extracción de valor o si puede mejorar la calidad de vida en las ciudades a través de la participación de los ciudadanos. Para ello, propone un marco de análisis del proceso de toma de decisiones en los planes de regeneración urbana y su impacto en los resultados de los planes, tomando como caso de estudio la ciudad de Boston, que desde los años 1990 trata de convertirse en una “ciudad de los barrios”, fomentando la participación ciudadana al tiempo que se posiciona en la escena económica global. El análisis se centra en dos operaciones de regeneración iniciadas a finales de los años 1990. Por un lado, el caso de Jackson Square nos permite comprender el papel de la sociedad civil y el tercer sector en la regeneración de los barrios más desfavorecidos, en un claro ejemplo de urbanismo “desde abajo” (bottom-up planning). Por otro, la reconversión del frente marítimo de South Boston para la construcción del Distrito de Innovación nos acerca a las grandes operaciones de regeneración urbana con fines de estímulo económico, tradicionalmente vinculadas a los centros financieros (downtown) y dirigidas por las élites gubernamentales y económicas (la growth machine) a través de procesos más tecnocráticos (top-down planning). La metodología utilizada consiste en el análisis cualitativo de los procesos de toma de decisiones y la relación entre los agentes implicados, así como de la evaluación de la implementación de dichas decisiones y su influencia en el modelo urbano resultante. El análisis de los casos permite afirmar que la gobernanza de los procesos de regeneración urbana influye decisivamente en el resultado final de las intervenciones; sin embargo, la participación de la comunidad local en la toma de decisiones no es suficiente para que el resultado de la regeneración urbana contrarreste los efectos de la neoliberalización, especialmente si se limita a la fase de planeamiento y no se extiende a la fase de ejecución, y si no está apoyada por una movilización política de mayor alcance que asegure una acción pública redistributiva. Asimismo, puede afirmarse que los procesos de regeneración urbana suponen una redefinición del modelo de ciudad, dado que la elección de los espacios de intervención tiene consecuencias sobre el equilibrio territorial de la ciudad. Los resultados de esta investigación tienen implicaciones para la disciplina del planeamiento urbano. Por una parte, se confirma la vigencia del paradigma del “urbanismo negociado”, si bien bajo discursos de liderazgo público y sin apelación al protagonismo del sector privado. Por otra parte, la planificación colaborativa en un contexto de “responsabilización” de las organizaciones comunitarias puede desactivar la potencia política de la participación ciudadana y servir como “amortiguador” hacia el gobierno local. Asimismo, la sustitución del planeamiento general como instrumento de definición de la ciudad futura por una planificación oportunista basada en la actuación en áreas estratégicas que tiren del resto de la ciudad, no permite definir un modelo coherente y consensuado de la ciudad que se desea colectivamente, ni permite utilizar el planeamiento como mecanismo de redistribución. ABSTRACT In the past three decades, the dynamics of global economic restructuring have radically redefined the role of cities. The transition from keynesianism to neoliberalism has caused a shift in local governments’ urban policies, which have progressively abandoned the tasks of regulation and redistribution to focus on promoting economic growth and competitiveness. In this context, many critics have pointed out that urban regeneration has become a vehicle for extracting value from the city and is causing the expulsion of the most vulnerable citizens. However, regeneration of consolidated areas is also an opportunity to improve the living conditions of the resident population, and is a necessary policy to control the expansion of the city and reduce the need for transportation, thus promoting more sustainable cities. Assuming that the governance of urban regeneration processes is key to the final outcome of the plans and determines the resulting city model, the goal of this research is to verify whether urban regeneration is necessarily a value extraction mechanism or if it can improve the quality of life in cities through citizens’ participation. It proposes a framework for analysis of decision-making in urban regeneration processes and their impact on the results of the plans, taking as a case study the city of Boston, which since the 1990s is trying to become a "city of neighborhoods", encouraging citizen participation, while seeking to position itself in the global economic scene. The analysis focuses on two redevelopment plans initiated in the late 1990s. The Jackson Square case allows us to understand the role of civil society and the third sector in the regeneration of disadvantaged neighborhoods, in a clear example of bottom-up planning. On the contrary, the conversion of the South Boston waterfront to build the Innovation District takes us to the big redevelopment efforts with economic stimulus’ goals, traditionally linked to downtowns and led by government and economic elites (the local “growth machine”) through more technocratic processes (top-down planning). The research is based on a qualitative analysis of the processes of decision making and the relationship between those involved, as well as the evaluation of the implementation of those decisions and their influence on the resulting urban model. The analysis suggests that the governance of urban regeneration processes decisively influences the outcome of interventions; however, community engagement in the decision-making process is not enough for the result of the urban regeneration to counteract the effects of neoliberalization, especially if it is limited to the planning phase and does not extend to the implementation of the projects, and if it is not supported by a broader political mobilization to ensure a redistributive public action. Moreover, urban regeneration processes redefine the urban model, since the choice of intervention areas has important consequences for the territorial balance of the city. The results of this study have implications for the discipline of urban planning. On the one hand, it confirms the validity of the "negotiated planning" paradigm, albeit under public leadership discourse and without a direct appeal to the leadership role of the private sector. On the other hand, collaborative planning in a context of "responsibilization" of community based organizations can deactivate the political power of citizen participation and serve as a "buffer" towards the local government. Furthermore, the replacement of comprehensive planning, as a tool for defining the city's future, by an opportunistic planning based on intervention in strategic areas that are supposed to induce change in the rest of the city, does not allow a coherent and consensual urban model that is collectively desired, nor it allows to use planning as a redistribution mechanism.