scholarly journals Using Eye-Tracking to Understand Decision-Making in Conjoint Experiments

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-101
Author(s):  
Libby Jenke ◽  
Kirk Bansak ◽  
Jens Hainmueller ◽  
Dominik Hangartner
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Absolute Number ◽  
Choice Data ◽  
Attribute Importance ◽  
New Information ◽  
Decision Making Processes

Conjoint experiments are popular, but there is a paucity of research on respondents’ underlying decision-making processes. We leverage eye-tracking methodology and a series of conjoint experiments, administered to university students and local community members, to examine how respondents process information in conjoint surveys. There are two main findings. First, attribute importance measures inferred from the stated choice data are correlated with attribute importance measures based on eye movement. This validation test supports the interpretation of common conjoint metrics, such as average marginal component effects (AMCEs), as measures of attribute importance. Second, when we experimentally increase the number of attributes and profiles in the conjoint table, respondents view a larger absolute number of cells but a smaller fraction of the total cells displayed. Moving from two to three profiles, respondents search more within-profile, rather than within-attribute, to build summary evaluations. However, respondents’ stated choices remain fairly stable regardless of the number of attributes and profiles in the conjoint table. Together, these patterns speak to the robustness of conjoint experiments and are consistent with a bounded rationality mechanism. Respondents adapt to complexity by selectively incorporating relevant new information to focus on important attributes, while ignoring less relevant information to reduce cognitive processing costs.

Cognitive Processing of Miscommunication in Interactive Listening: An Evaluation of Listener Indecision and Cognitive Effort

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Jennifer M. Roche ◽  
Arkady Zgonnikov ◽  
Laura M. Morett
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Mouse Tracking ◽  
Computer Mouse ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Computer Mouse Tracking ◽  
Listening Task ◽  
Processing Effort

Purpose The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the social and cognitive underpinnings of miscommunication during an interactive listening task. Method An eye and computer mouse–tracking visual-world paradigm was used to investigate how a listener's cognitive effort (local and global) and decision-making processes were affected by a speaker's use of ambiguity that led to a miscommunication. Results Experiments 1 and 2 found that an environmental cue that made a miscommunication more or less salient impacted listener language processing effort (eye-tracking). Experiment 2 also indicated that listeners may develop different processing heuristics dependent upon the speaker's use of ambiguity that led to a miscommunication, exerting a significant impact on cognition and decision making. We also found that perspective-taking effort and decision-making complexity metrics (computer mouse tracking) predict language processing effort, indicating that instances of miscommunication produced cognitive consequences of indecision, thinking, and cognitive pull. Conclusion Together, these results indicate that listeners behave both reciprocally and adaptively when miscommunications occur, but the way they respond is largely dependent upon the type of ambiguity and how often it is produced by the speaker.

scholarly journals Cognitive Control of Working Memory: A Model-Based Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 721
Author(s):  
Russell J. Boag ◽  
Niek Stevenson ◽  
Roel van Dooren ◽  
Anne C. Trutti ◽  
Zsuzsika Sjoerds ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Decision Time ◽  
Control Processes ◽  
Prepotent Response ◽  
New Information ◽  
Empirical Performance ◽  
Flow Of Information

Working memory (WM)-based decision making depends on a number of cognitive control processes that control the flow of information into and out of WM and ensure that only relevant information is held active in WM’s limited-capacity store. Although necessary for successful decision making, recent work has shown that these control processes impose performance costs on both the speed and accuracy of WM-based decisions. Using the reference-back task as a benchmark measure of WM control, we conducted evidence accumulation modeling to test several competing explanations for six benchmark empirical performance costs. Costs were driven by a combination of processes, running outside of the decision stage (longer non-decision time) and showing the inhibition of the prepotent response (lower drift rates) in trials requiring WM control. Individuals also set more cautious response thresholds when expecting to update WM with new information versus maintain existing information. We discuss the promise of this approach for understanding cognitive control in WM-based decision making.

scholarly journals Misinformation tactics protect rare birds from problem predators

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. eabe4164
Author(s):  
Grant L. Norbury ◽  
Catherine J. Price ◽  
M. Cecilia Latham ◽  
Samantha J. Brown ◽  
A. David M. Latham ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Threatened Species ◽  
Prey Availability ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Bird Populations ◽  
New Information ◽  
Mammalian Predators ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Living Species ◽  
Information Reliability

Efficient decision-making integrates previous experience with new information. Tactical use of misinformation can alter choice in humans. Whether misinformation affects decision-making in other free-living species, including problem species, is unknown. Here, we show that sensory misinformation tactics can reduce the impacts of predators on vulnerable bird populations as effectively as lethal control. We repeatedly exposed invasive mammalian predators to unprofitable bird odors for 5 weeks before native shorebirds arrived for nesting and for 8 weeks thereafter. Chick production increased 1.7-fold at odor-treated sites over 25 to 35 days, with doubled or tripled odds of successful hatching, resulting in a 127% increase in modeled population size in 25 years. We demonstrate that decision-making processes that respond to changes in information reliability are vulnerable to tactical manipulation by misinformation. Altering perceptions of prey availability offers an innovative, nonlethal approach to managing problem predators and improving conservation outcomes for threatened species.

Evolution of e-participation in Greek local government

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Constantina Costopoulou ◽  
Maria Ntaliani ◽  
Filotheos Ntalianis
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Big Data ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Community ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
The Impact

Local governments are increasingly developing electronic participation initiatives, expecting citizen involvement in local community affairs. Our objective was to assess e-participation and the extent of its change in local government in Greece. Using content analysis for 325 Greek municipal websites, we assessed e-participation status in 2017 and 2018 and examined the impact of change between these years. The assessment regards two consecutive years since the adoption of digital technologies by municipalities has been rapid. The main findings show that Greek local governments have made significant small- to medium-scale changes, in order to engage citizens and local societies electronically. We conclude that the integration of advanced digital technologies in municipalities remains underdeveloped. We propose that Greek municipalities need to consider incorporating new technologies, such as mobile apps, social media and big data, as well as e-decision making processes, in order to eliminate those obstacles that hinder citizen engagement in local government. Moreover, the COVID-19 outbreak has highlighted the need for enhancing e-participation and policymakers’ coordination through advanced digital technologies.

The Demand for, and Avoidance of, Information

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell Golman ◽  
George Loewenstein ◽  
Andras Molnar ◽  
Silvia Saccardo
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Time Lag ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Behavioral Theory ◽  
Bad News ◽  
Good News ◽  
Focus Attention ◽  
New Information ◽  
Attention Demand ◽  
Aid Decision

Management scientists recognize that decision making depends on the information people have but lack a unified behavioral theory of the demand for (and avoidance of) information. Drawing on an existing theoretical framework in which utility depends on beliefs and the attention paid to them, we develop and test a theory of the demand for information encompassing instrumental considerations, curiosity, and desire to direct attention to beliefs one feels good about. We decompose an individual’s demand for information into the desire to refine beliefs, holding attention constant, and the desire to focus attention on anticipated beliefs, holding these beliefs constant. Because the utility of resolving uncertainty (i.e., refining beliefs) depends on the attention paid to it and more important or salient questions capture more attention, demand for information depends on the importance and salience of the question(s) it addresses. In addition, because getting new information focuses attention on one’s beliefs and people want to savor good news and ignore bad news, the desire to obtain or avoid information depends on the valence (i.e., goodness or badness) of anticipated beliefs. Five experiments (n = 2,361) test and find support for these hypotheses, looking at neutrally valenced as well as ego-relevant information. People are indeed more inclined to acquire information (a) when it feels more important, even if it cannot aid decision making (Experiments 1A and 2A); (b) when a question is more salient, manipulated through time lag (Experiments 1B and 2B); and (c) when anticipated beliefs have higher valence (Experiment 2C). This paper was accepted by Yan Chen, behavioral economics and decision analysis.

scholarly journals Affective Effect: Issue Engagement on a Youth E-Participation Platform

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-58
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Lampoltshammer ◽  
Qinfeng Zhu ◽  
Peter Parycek
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Common Type ◽  
System Level ◽  
Appraisal Theory ◽  
Economic Issues ◽  
Intelligence Theory ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Research Gap

While E-participation promotes citizen participation in democratic decision-making processes, and often takes place through deliberation, citizens are expected to be cool-headed individuals equipped with reason and logic, insulating their actions from the impulse of emotion. However, research in neuroscience and cognitive science has found that emotion plays a vital part in cognitive processing and is instrumental in decision-making. This study thus fills this research gap by examining the effect of emotions in eliciting participation on a youth E-participation platform. Following affective intelligence theory and appraisal theory, the authors specifically examined three types of emotions; namely, anger, anxiety, and sadness. By applying methods in the field of text and statistical analysis, the authors found that anxiety, although the least common type of emotion expressed on the E-participation platform, was associated with an increased level of engagement. On the contrary, anger dominated issue discussion across topics, and sadness prevailed in the discourse on system-level economic issues.

scholarly journals Eye Gazes Based on Associative Relevance Assist in Decision Making Processes during Scene Perception

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 74
Author(s):  
Gufran Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Visual Perception ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Scene Perception ◽  
Cognitive Dynamics ◽  
Movement Data ◽  
Business Applications ◽  
Decision Making Processes

<p>Research studies on eye movements in area of information processing task, such as scene perception have recently advanced towards understandings of underlying visual perception mechanism and human cognitive dynamics. Besides, business applications of eye tracking are endlessly revealing groundbreaking trends based on practical scenarios. In this study, we conducted a number of eye tracking experiments to establish our hypothesis that the eye gazes based on the associative relevance found within the contexts of scenes during scene perception significantly supported the processes of decision making. The collected eye movement data from participants who viewed artistic scenes discovered that the tracks of eye gazes traversed along the existing associative relevance among the elements of scenes for decision making processes. These experimental evidences confirmed our hypothesis that the eye gazes based on associative relevance assisted in decision making processes during scene perception.</p>

scholarly journals Performance Appraisal Decision and Cognitive Processing Model: A Case of Novice and Expert Raters in the Educational Organization

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rusli Ahmad ◽  
Azman Ismail ◽  
Mohamad Madi Abdullah
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Performance Appraisal ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Cognitive Mapping ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
The Body ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Appraisal System ◽  
New Perspective

This paper explores rater (novice and expert) understanding of the decision-making process in the performance appraisal system (PAS) by looking at the cognitive processing model (CPM). Interviews were conducted using a semi-structured cognitive mapping protocol involving 22 Malaysian public school administrators and were analysed using key word analysis. The decision explorer software was used to map the thinking activities involved in the rater decision-making process. The findings revealed that raters recognised the CPM steps in their performance appraisal practice. The study also identified the differences between individual novice and expert raters’ CPM in terms of concept and complexity, and also an attempt was made to compare the CPM practised by the raters with that suggested in the research framework. Every cognitive map by the raters has its own uniqueness and represents raters capability to process relevant information involved during the performance appraisal decision-making process. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by offering a new perspective to understanding performance rating by looking at the steps involved in CPM. The research also offered some insights to policy makers, practitioners, researchers, and scholars in order to undertake further research and analysis using the steps in the CPM in a new issue, context, and environment.  

scholarly journals Psychological Effects of Poverty on Time Preferences

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vojtěch Bartoš ◽  
Michal Bauer ◽  
Julie Chytilová ◽  
Ian Levely
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Psychological Effects ◽  
Time Preferences ◽  
Discount Rates ◽  
Monitoring Tools ◽  
Subject Pool ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Economic Constraints

Abstract We test whether an environment of poverty affects time preferences through purely psychological channels. We measured discount rates among farmers in Uganda who made decisions about when to enjoy entertainment instead of working. To circumvent the role of economic constraints, we experimentally induced thoughts about poverty-related problems, using priming techniques. We find that thinking about poverty increases the preference to consume entertainment early and to delay work. Using monitoring tools similar to eye tracking, a novel feature for this subject pool, we show that this effect is unlikely to be driven by less careful decision-making processes.

scholarly journals Assessment of public participation in local planning & decision-making. A case study from Albania

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 84-94
Author(s):  
Mirjam Dibra ◽  
Dea Strica
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Local Planning ◽  
The Public ◽  
Local Decision ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Planning Decision ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Local Decision Making

The public participation (PP) is widely legitimised as a vital prerequisite to achieve sustainable development and as a basic principle of democracy. Under the conditions of the new territorial administrative-territorial division of local government units in the Republic of Albania, the Malesia e Madhe (MM) Municipality is a new one. The purpose of this study was the assessment of attitudes of the local community of areas under the administration of MM Municipality on PP in local planning and decision-making in order to influence future behaviours of the local community to take active part in local decision-making processes. The questionnaire was used as a research instrument for the local community of this Municipality. The research results showed that the local community of this area was generally aware of the need for their involvement in local decision-making, but they considered the municipality as the main responsibility for their involvement in this process. Keywords: Albania, local planning & decision-making, Malesia e Madhe Municipality, public participation.

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