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.

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.

scholarly journals Anthropogenic disturbance increases disease emergence risk through predictable changes in parasite community structure

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guha Dharmarajan ◽  
Pooja Gupta ◽  
C. Vishnudas ◽  
VV Robin
Keyword(s):  
Anthropogenic Disturbance ◽  
Emerging Infectious Diseases ◽  
Parasite Prevalence ◽  
Parasite Community ◽  
Disease Emergence ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Bird Populations ◽  
Parasite Communities ◽  
Living Species ◽  
Specialist Species

Niche theory predicts specialists will be more sensitive to environmental perturbation compared to generalists, a hypothesis receiving broad support in free-living species. Based on their niche breadth, parasites can also be classified as specialists and generalists, with specialists infecting only a few and generalists a diverse array of host species. Here, using avian haemosporidian parasites infecting wild bird populations inhabiting the Western Ghats, India as a model system, we elucidate how climate, habitat and human disturbance affects parasite prevalence both directly and indirectly via their effects on host diversity. Our data demonstrates that anthropogenic disturbance acts to reduce the prevalence of specialist parasite lineages, while increasing that of generalist lineages. Thus, as in free-living species, disturbance favors parasite communities dominated by generalist vs. specialist species. Because generalist parasites are more likely to cause emerging infectious diseases, such biotic homogenization of parasite communities could increase disease emergence risk in the Anthropocene

Using Financial Reporting for Decision Making as a Measure Towards Resilient Government Finances: The Case of Switzerland

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandro Fuchs ◽  
Andreas Bergmann ◽  
Isabel Brusca
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Trigger Point ◽  
Financial Data ◽  
Accrual Accounting ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
New Information ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
National Governments ◽  
The Impact

Based on comparative, cross-sectional evidence of 15 Swiss sub-national governments this paper assesses the impact of different accrual accounting reforms on financial reporting and elaborates how this new information has affected decision-making processes. Results show that accrual financial reporting is a necessary instrument towards achieving resilient government finances. This paper embraces relevant questions for developed and developing countries, particularly in the context of heavily indebted public sector entities, ongoing accrual accounting reforms and the looming EPSAS promulgation. The paper reveals that accrual accounting reforms act as an important trigger point towards a more strategic use of newly provided financial data.

scholarly journals Traditional Political Institutions and Democracy: Reassessing Their Compatibility and Accountability

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (12) ◽  
pp. 1747-1774 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Baldwin ◽  
Katharina Holzinger
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Expert Survey ◽  
Electoral Accountability ◽  
Traditional Leaders ◽  
New Information ◽  
Decision Making Processes

This article revisits prominent frameworks for understanding traditional political institutions which make pessimistic assessments about their compatibility with democracy. Traditional political institutions are often assumed to be unaccountable because they are led by undemocratic leaders who are not subject to electoral sanctioning. However, drawing on new information from the TradGov Group dataset, an expert survey on the contemporary practices of more than 1,400 ethnic groups that currently have traditional political institutions, we show that these institutions contain their own distinct mechanisms of accountability. In a majority of cases, decision-making is consensual and leaders must account for their actions in various ways. We challenge the electoral accountability framework for understanding the quality of traditional leaders’ performance, instead arguing that traditional political institutions can be compatible with democracy and even accountable to their citizens insofar as they adopt inclusive decision-making processes and their leaders have strong nonelectoral connections to the communities they represent.

scholarly journals Modern approaches in strategic decision-making by the management in agriculture-oriented enterprises

2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (No. 5) ◽  
pp. 225-228
Author(s):  
E. Svoboda
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Strategic Decision ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Strategic Decision Making ◽  
New Information ◽  
Decision Making Processes

The goal of the contribution is to publish the results of the research EP 12/2001–2003 (Brno, 2001–2002) and of the research intention GA MSM 4300007 (Brno, 2000–2001) aiming at application of modern approaches and solving methods of decision-making processes with the utilization of the PC network and new information technologies, and namely in connection with the application of the results of the research EP 7260 (Brno, 1998–2000) defining the method and algorithm of formation, implementation and changes of business strategies. It results from the analysis performed that business subjects managed in a modern way cannot get along without a well elaborated process of strategic decision-making and the said processes are getting more and more significant owing to the growing turbulent management environment and to the need to respond to these changes by the company management.

scholarly journals Optimizing Decision-Making Processes in Times of COVID-19: Using Reflexivity to Counteract Information-Processing Failures

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michaéla C. Schippers ◽  
Diana C. Rus
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
New Information ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Poor Outcomes ◽  
Processing Errors ◽  
Public Health And Safety ◽  
Share Information

The effectiveness of policymakers’ decision-making in times of crisis depends largely on their ability to integrate and make sense of information. The COVID-19 crisis confronts governments with the difficult task of making decisions in the interest of public health and safety. Essentially, policymakers have to react to a threat, of which the extent is unknown, and they are making decisions under time constraints in the midst of immense uncertainty. The stakes are high, the issues involved are complex and require the careful balancing of several interests, including (mental) health, the economy, and human rights. These circumstances render policymakers’ decision-making processes vulnerable to errors and biases in the processing of information, thereby increasing the chances of faulty decision-making processes with poor outcomes. Prior research has identified three main information-processing failures that can distort group decision-making processes and can lead to negative outcomes: (1) failure to search for and share information, (2) failure to elaborate on and analyze information that is not in line with earlier information and (3) failure to revise and update conclusions and policies in the light of new information. To date, it has not yet been explored how errors and biases underlying these information-processing failures impact decision-making processes in times of crisis. In this narrative review, we outline how groupthink, a narrow focus on the problem of containing the virus, and escalation of commitment may pose real risks to decision-making processes in handling the COVID-19 crisis and may result in widespread societal damages. Hence, it is vital that policymakers take steps to maximize the quality of the decision-making process and increase the chances of positive outcomes as the crisis goes forward. We propose group reflexivity—a deliberate process of discussing team goals, processes, or outcomes—as an antidote to these biases and errors in decision-making. Specifically, we recommend several evidence-based reflexivity tools that could easily be implemented to counter these information-processing errors and improve decision-making processes in uncertain times.

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.

“It's Not Humanly Possible to Do Everything”: Perspectives on Intervention Decision-Making Processes of Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erinn Finke ◽  
Kathryn Drager ◽  
Elizabeth C. Serpentine
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Individualized Education Program ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Individual Decision ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Interview Methodology ◽  
Communication Interventions

Purpose The purpose of this investigation was to understand the decision-making processes used by parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) related to communication-based interventions. Method Qualitative interview methodology was used. Data were gathered through interviews. Each parent had a child with ASD who was at least four-years-old; lived with their child with ASD; had a child with ASD without functional speech for communication; and used at least two different communication interventions. Results Parents considered several sources of information for learning about interventions and provided various reasons to initiate and discontinue a communication intervention. Parents also discussed challenges introduced once opinions of the school individualized education program (IEP) team had to be considered. Conclusions Parents of children with ASD primarily use individual decision-making processes to select interventions. This discrepancy speaks to the need for parents and professionals to share a common “language” about interventions and the decision-making process.

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