Is confidence in decisions related to feedback? Evidence-and lack of evidence-from random samples of real-world managerial behavior?

Confidence in decision making is an important dimension of managerialbehavior. However, what is the relation between confidence, on the onehand, and the fact of receiving or expecting to receive feedback ondecisions taken, on the other hand? To explore this and related issuesin the context of everyday decision making, use was made of the ESM(Experience Sampling Method) to sample decisions taken by undergraduatesand business executives. For several days, participants received 4 or 5SMS messages daily (on their mobile telephones) at random moments at whichpoint they completed brief questionnaires about their current decisionmaking activities. Issues considered here include differences between thetypes of decisions faced by the two groups, their structure, feedback(received and expected), and confidence in decisions taken as well as inthe validity of feedback. No relation was found between confidence indecisions and whether participants received or expected to receivefeedback on those decisions. In addition, although participants areclearly aware that feedback can provide both confirming and disconfirming evidence, their ability to specify appropriatefeedback is imperfect. Finally, difficulties experienced inusing the ESM are discussed as are possibilities for further researchusing this methodology.

The provision of relative performance feedback information: An experimental analysis of performance and happiness

This paper studies the effect of providing relative performance feedback information onindividual performance and on individual affective response, when agents are rewardedaccording to their absolute performance. In a laboratory set-up, agents perform a realeffort task and when receiving feedback, they are asked to rate their happiness, arousaland feeling of dominance. Control subjects learn only their absolute performance, whilethe treated subjects additionally learn the average performance in the session.Performance is 17 percent higher when relative performance feedback is provided.Furthermore, although feedback increases the performance independent of the content(i.e., performing above or below the average), the content is determinant for theaffective response. When subjects are treated, the inequality in the happiness and thefeeling of dominance between those subjects performing above and below the averageincreases by 8 and 6 percentage points, respectively.

Modelling state dependence and feedback effects between poverty, employment and parental home emancipation among European youth

Youth is one of the phases in the life-cycle when some of the most decisivelife transitions take place. Entering the labour market or leaving parentalhome are events with important consequences for the economic well-beingof young adults. In this paper, the interrelationship between employment,residential emancipation and poverty dynamics is studied for eight Europeancountries by means of an econometric model with feedback effects. Resultsshow that youth poverty genuine state dependence is positive and highly significant.Evidence proves there is a strong causal effect between poverty andleaving home in Scandinavian countries, however, time in economic hardshipdoes not last long. In Southern Europe, instead, youth tend to leave theirparental home much later in order to avoid falling into a poverty state that ismore persistent. Past poverty has negative consequences on the likelihood ofemployment.

Importância do Lúdico no Impacto Psicológico da Hospitalização Infantil

O presente trabalho de investigação propõe estudar a “Importância do Lúdico no Impacto Psicológico da Hospitalização Infantil”, tendo como objetivo perceber a importância do lúdico no contexto da hospitalização infantil. Sendo assim, questionamos: até que ponto o lúdico pode influenciar as repercussões psicológicas emergentes da hospitalização infantil? Na tentativa de responder a esta questão traçamos algumas hipóteses que se seguem:  As atividades lúdicas contribuem para a diminuição das emoções negativas provenientes da hospitalização;  O tempo de internamento e a diminuição das emoções negativas estão unicamente ligadas as caraterísticas da doença e não à prática das atividades lúdicas;  O tempo de recuperação está pouco relacionado à prática de atividades lúdicas no ambiente hospitalar; A recolha dos dados, para a análise, processou-se mediante a observação das crianças hospitalizadas na pediatria do Hospital Regional Santiago Norte, Santa Rita Viera, elaborados em concordância com os objetivos que norteiam o presente estudo. Enfim, conseguimos perceber que o lúdico é uma atividade de extrema importância no processo da hospitalização, constituindo um bem para as crianças, bem como para os seus acompanhantes e os profissionais de saúde, uma vez que através dela, a criança adquire uma outra elaboração sobre os serviços hospitalares; terá uma melhora significativa do estado de humor, diminuindo os medos e as angústias, contribuindo melhor e mais ativamente para a sua melhoria.

Importância do Lúdico no Impacto Psicológico da Hospitalização Infantil Estudo no Hospital Regional Santiago Norte

O presente trabalho de investigação propõe estudar a “Importância do Lúdico no Impacto Psicológico da Hospitalização Infantil”, tendo como objetivo perceber a importância do lúdico no contexto da hospitalização infantil. Sendo assim, questionamos: até que ponto o lúdico pode influenciar as repercussões psicológicas emergentes da hospitalização infantil? Na tentativa de responder a esta questão traçamos algumas hipóteses que se seguem:  As atividades lúdicas contribuem para a diminuição das emoções negativas provenientes da hospitalização;  O tempo de internamento e a diminuição das emoções negativas estão unicamente ligadas as caraterísticas da doença e não à prática das atividades lúdicas;  O tempo de recuperação está pouco relacionado à prática de atividades lúdicas no ambiente hospitalar; A recolha dos dados, para a análise, processou-se mediante a observação das crianças hospitalizadas na pediatria do Hospital Regional Santiago Norte, Santa Rita Viera, elaborados em concordância com os objetivos que norteiam o presente estudo. Enfim, conseguimos perceber que o lúdico é uma atividade de extrema importância no processo da hospitalização, constituindo um bem para as crianças, bem como para os seus acompanhantes e os profissionais de saúde, uma vez que através dela, a criança adquire uma outra elaboração sobre os serviços hospitalares; terá uma melhora significativa do estado de humor, diminuindo os medos e as angústias, contribuindo melhor e mais ativamente para a sua melhoria.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor is involved in a positive feedback loop increasing aromatase expression in endometriosis.

Immune-endocrine interplay may play a major role in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. In the present study, we have investigated the interaction between macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), a major pro-inflammatory and growth-promoting factor markedly expressed in active endometriotic lesions, and estradiol (E(2)) in ectopic endometrial cells. Our data showed a significant increase of MIF protein secretion and mRNA expression in endometriotic cells in response to E(2). MIF production was blocked by Fulvestrant, an estrogen receptor (ER) antagonist, and induced by ERα and ERβ selective agonists propyl-pyrazole-triol (PPT) and diarylpropionrile (DPN), respectively, thus demonstrating a specific receptor-mediated effect. Cell transfection with MIF promoter construct showed that E(2) significantly stimulates MIF promoter activity. Interestingly, our data further revealed that MIF reciprocally stimulates aromatase protein and mRNA expression via a posttranscriptional mRNA stabilization mechanism, that E(2) itself can upregulate aromatase expression, and that inhibition of endogenous MIF, using MIF specific siRNA, significantly inhibits E(2)-induced aromatase. Thus, the present study revealed the existence of a local positive feedback loop by which estrogen acts directly on ectopic endometrial cells to upregulate the expression of MIF, which, in turn, displays the capability of inducing the expression of aromatase, the key and rate-limiting enzyme for estrogen synthesis. Such interplay may have a considerable impact on the development of endometriosis.

Depósitos: un factor psicológico de desconfianza

Podeu consultar la versió en català a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/16818

Turn-on-time statistics of modulated lasers subjected to resonant weak optical feedback

We present analytical calculations of the turn-on-time probability distribution of intensity-modulated lasers under resonant weak optical feedback. Under resonant conditions, the external cavity round-trip time is taken to be equal to the modulation period. The probability distribution of the solitary laser results are modified to give reduced values of the mean turn-on-time and its variance. Numerical simulations have been carried out showing good agreement with the analytical results.

Feedback control of DnaA-mediated replication initiation by replisome-associated HdaA protein in Caulobacter.

Chromosome replication in Caulobacter crescentus is tightly regulated to ensure that initiation occurs at the right time and only once during the cell cycle. The timing of replication initiation is controlled by both CtrA and DnaA. CtrA binds to and silences the origin. Upon the clearance of CtrA from the cell, the DnaA protein accumulates and allows loading of the replisome at the origin. Here, we identify an additional layer of replication initiation control that is mediated by the HdaA protein. In Escherichia coli, the Hda protein inactivates DnaA after replication initiation. We show that the Caulobacter HdaA homologue is necessary to restrict the initiation of DNA replication to only once per cell cycle and that it dynamically colocalizes with the replisome throughout the cell cycle. Moreover, the transcription of hdaA is directly activated by DnaA, providing a robust feedback regulatory mechanism that adjusts the levels of HdaA to inactivate DnaA.

Feedback control of unstable cellular solidification fronts

We present a feedback control scheme to stabilize unstable cellular patterns during the directional solidification of a binary alloy. The scheme is based on local heating of cell tips which protrude ahead of the mean position of all tips in the array. The feasibility of this scheme is demonstrated using phase-field simulations and, experimentally, using a real-time image processing algorithm, to track cell tips, coupled with a movable laser spot array device to heat the tips locally. We demonstrate, both numerically and experimentally, that spacings well below the threshold for a period-doubling instability can be stabilized. As predicted by the numerical calculations, cellular arrays become stable with uniform spacing through the feedback control which is maintained with minimal heating.

Age vs. Experience: Evaluation of a Video Feedback Intervention for Newly Licensed Teen Drivers, TPF-5(207), 2013

This project examines the effects of age, experience, and video-based feedback on the rate and type of safety-relevant events captured on video event recorders in the vehicles of three groups of newly licensed young drivers: 1. 14.5- to 15.5-year-old drivers who hold a minor school license (see Appendix A for the provisions of the Iowa code governing minor school licenses); 2. 16-year-old drivers with an intermediate license who are driving unsupervised for the first time; 3. 16-year-old drivers with an intermediate license who previously drove unsupervised for at least four months with a school license. METHODS: The young drivers’ vehicles were equipped with an event-triggered video recording device for 24 weeks. Half of the participants received feedback regarding their driving, and the other half received no feedback at all and served as a control group. The number of safety-relevant events per 1,000 miles (i.e., “event rate”) was analyzed for 90 participants who completed the study. RESULTS: On average, the young drivers who received the video-based intervention had significantly lower event rates than those in the control group. This finding was true for all three groups. An effect of experience was seen for drivers in the control group; the 16-year-olds with driving experience had significantly lower event rates than the 16-year-olds without experience. When the intervention concluded, an increase in event rate was seen for the school license holders, but not for either group of 16-year-old drivers. There is strong evidence that giving young drivers video-based feedback, regardless of their age or level of driving experience, is effective in reducing the rate of safety-relevant events relative to a control group who do not receive feedback. Specific comparisons with regard to age and experience indicated that the age of the driver did not have an effect on the rate of safety-events, while experience did. Young drivers with six months or more of additional experience behind the wheel had nearly half as many safety-relevant events as those without that experience.

Medical residents' feedback on needs and acquired skills following a short course on cross-cultural competence

Objectives The purpose of this study is to assess short and long term changes in knowledge, attitudes, and skills among medical residents following a short course on cultural competency and to explore their perspectives on the experience. Methods Eighteen medical residents went through a short training programme comprised of two seminars lasting 30' and 60' respectively over two days. Three months later, we conducted three focus groups, with 17 residents to explore their thoughts, perspectives and feedback about the course. To measure changes over time, we carried out a quantitative sequential survey before the seminars, three days after, and three months later using the Multicultural Assessment Questionnaire. Results Residents expressed a wide variety of perspectives on the main themes related to the content of the training - culture, trialogue, stereotypes, status, epidemiology, history and geopolitics - and related to its organization - relevance, volume, timing, target audience, training tools, and working material. Using the MAQ, we observed a higher global performance score (n=16) at three days (median=38) compared to results before the training (median=33) revealing a median difference of 5.5 points (z=2.4, p=0.015). This difference was still present at three months (∆=4.5, z=2.4, p=0.018), mainly due to knowledge acquisition (∆=3) rather than attitudes (∆=0) or skills (∆=1). Conclusions Cross-cultural competence training not only brings awareness of multicultural issues but also helps participants understand their own cultures, perception of others and preconceived ideas. Physicians' education should however also focus on improving implementation of acquired knowledge in cross-cultural competence.

Pensando la educación en medios desde los discursos: psicológico-biomédico, hermenéutico-construccionista post-estructural y crítico. Cuatro miradas al sujeto joven que educamos

El texto que sigue resulta de una re-construcción de cuatro aproximaciones -biomédica-evolutiva, crítica, hermenéutico-construccionista y post-estructural- a la educación en medios con jóvenes en contextos educativos formales, entendida ésta en un sentido amplio como la enseñanza y aprendizaje de los medios de comunicación analógicos y digitales. Uno de los propósitos de la re-construcción tiene que ver, en primer lugar con la visibilización de la diversidad de opciones y epistemologías disponibles a la hora de plantear un escenario formativo en educación con medios, y con las posibilidades formativas que dicha multiplicidad nos ofrece...

Dynamic Speed Feedback Signs, 2014

Dynamic speed feedback sign (DSFS) systems are traffic control devices that are programmed to provide a message to drivers exceeding a certain speed thresh¬old. A DSFS system typically consists of a speed-measuring device, which may be loop detectors or radar, and a message sign that displays feedback to drivers who exceed a predetermined speed threshold. The feedback may be the driver’s actual speed, a message like “SLOW DOWN,” or activation of a warning device such as beacons or a curve warning sign. For more on this topic by these authors, see also "Evaluation of Dynamic Speed Feedback Signs on Curves: A National Demonstration Project": http://www.trb.org/main/blurbs/172092.aspx

Afrontamiento proactivo y bienestar psicológico en estudiantes de maestro en la Universidad de Barcelona

Las estrategias de afrontamiento utilizadas por los estudiantes desempeñan un papel relevanteen su bienestar psicológico. Este trabajo estudia la relación entre las estrategias deafrontamiento y el bienestar psicológico. La muestra está formada por 98 estudiantes de maestroentre 19 y 42 años. Se aplicaron el CRI-A (Moos, 1993) y el BSI (Derogatis y Spencer,1982). Los resultados señalan que cuanto mayor es el uso de estrategias de afrontamientomenor es la presencia de síntomas psicopatológicos, especialmente la solución de problemasy la aceptación. Y cuanto menor es el uso de estrategias de afrontamiento, como la evitacióncognitiva y la descarga emocional, mayores niveles de malestar psicológico. Las estrategias deafrontamiento funcionarían como conductas preventivas frente el estrés psicológico. Se proponea lo largo de los estudios de grado, la inclusión de estrategias de afrontamiento proactivas, como la búsqueda de soporte (mentoring, tutorías entre iguales), la resolución de problemas o la reevaluación positiva.