scholarly journals Humans balance breadth and depth: Near-optimal performance in many-alternative decision making

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Vidal ◽  
Salvador Soto-Faraco ◽  
Rubén Moreno Bote
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Power Law ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
Optimal Performance ◽  
Experimental Paradigm ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Alternative Decision ◽  
Optimal Behaviour

Many everyday life decisions require allocating finite resources, such as attention or time, to examine multiple available options, like choosing an online food supplier. In these cases, our search resources can be spread across many options (breadth) or focused on a few of them (depth). Whilst theoretical work has described how finite resources should be allocated to maximise utility in these problems, evidence about how humans balance breadth and depth is lacking. We introduce a novel experimental paradigm where humans make a many-alternative decision under finite resources. In an imaginary scenario, participants allocate a finite budget to sample amongst multiple apricot suppliers in order to estimate the quality of their fruits, and ultimately choose the best one. We found that at low budget capacity participants sample as many suppliers as possible, and thus prefer breadth, whereas at high capacities participants sample just a few chosen alternatives in depth, and intentionally ignore the rest. The number of alternatives sampled increases with capacity following a power law with an exponent close to 0.75. In richer environments, where good outcomes are more likely, humans further favour depth. Participants deviate from optimality and tend to allocate capacity amongst the selected alternatives more homogeneously than it would be optimal, but the impact on the outcome is small. Overall, our results undercover a rich phenomenology of close-to-optimal behaviour and biases in complex choices.

scholarly journals Lessons Learned From an Early Hotspot During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 000313482199475
Author(s):  
Brett M. Chapman ◽  
George M. Fuhrman
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Surgical Education ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Educational Environment ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Residency Programs ◽  
Surgical Residency ◽  
The Impact

The Covid-19 pandemic has provided challenges for surgical residency programs demanding fluid decision making focused on providing care for our patients, maintaining an educational environment, and protecting the well-being of our residents. This brief report summarizes the impact of the impact on our residency programs clinical care and education. We have identified opportunities to improve our program using videoconferencing, managing recruitment, and maintaining a satisfactory caseload to ensure the highest possible quality of surgical education.

Optimizing patient adherence to stroke rehabilitation: A mixed method telerehabilitation trial (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Gaboury ◽  
Michel Tousignant ◽  
Hélène Corriveau ◽  
Matthew Menear ◽  
Guylaine Le Dorze ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Shared Decision Making ◽  
Stroke Rehabilitation ◽  
Patient Adherence ◽  
Interprofessional Collaboration ◽  
Interdisciplinary Collaboration ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Shared Decision ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND Strong evidence supports beginning stroke rehabilitation as soon as the patient’s medical status has stabilized and continuing following discharge from acute care. However, adherence to rehabilitation treatments over the rehabilitation phase has been shown to be suboptimal. OBJECTIVE Objective: The aim of this study is to assess the impact of a telerehabilitation platform on stroke patients’ adherence to a rehabilitation plan and on their level of reintegration to normal social activities, in comparison with usual care. The primary outcome is patient adherence to stroke rehabilitation (up to 12 weeks), which is hypothesized to influence reintegration to normal living. Secondary outcomes for patients include functional recovery and independence, depression, adverse events related to telerehabilitation, use of services (up to 6 months), perception of interprofessional shared decision making, and quality of services received. Interprofessional collaboration as well as quality of interprofessional shared decision making will be measured on clinicians. METHODS In this interrupted time series with a convergent qualitative component, rehabilitation teams will be trained to develop rehabilitation treatment plans that engage the patient and family, while taking advantage of a telerehabilitation platform to deliver the treatment. The intervention will entail 220 patients to receive stroke telerehabilitation with an interdisciplinary group of clinicians (telerehabilitation) versus face-to-face, standard of care (n = 110 patients). RESULTS Results: Our Research Ethics Board has approved the study in June 2020. Data collection for the control group is underway, with another year planned before we begin the intervention phase. CONCLUSIONS This study will contribute to minimize both knowledge and practice gaps, while producing robust, in-depth data on the factors related to the effectiveness of telerehabilitation in a stroke rehabilitation continuum. Findings will inform best practices guidelines regarding telecare services and the provision of telerehabilitation, including recommendations regarding effective interdisciplinary collaboration regarding stroke rehabilitation. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04440215

The Impact of Conflict- Generating Techniques on Student Reactions and Decision Quality

1995 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 39-45
Author(s):  
Granger Macy ◽  
Joan C. Neal
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Business Students ◽  
Decision Quality ◽  
Structured Decision Making ◽  
Constructive Conflict ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Student Reactions ◽  
Graduate Business Students ◽  
The Impact

This study examined the effectiveness of conflict-generating decision-making techniques in the college classroom. Utiliz ing constructive conflict in classroom exercises may affect decision-making quality and student reactions. This study of undergraduate and graduate business students found significant difference in both the quality of the decisions and in student reactions to the techniques. The findings and discussion indicate the potential for appropriate use of structured decision-making techniques in the classroom.

Psychosocial aspects of everyday life with chronic musculoskeletal pain: A systematic review

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lotte Nygaard Andersen ◽  
Maria Kohberg ◽  
Birgit Juul-Kristensen ◽  
Lene Gram Herborg ◽  
Karen Søgaard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Chronic Pain ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Methodological Quality ◽  
Reference Lists ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Clinical Aspects ◽  
Significant Positive Association ◽  
The Impact

AbstractBackground and objectiveChronic pain is a growing phenomenon worldwide. It is considered a medical problem because, besides the socio-economic issues involved, pain is often accompanied by psychosocial problems. Apart from the physical pain, living with chronic pain has many additional consequences. People living with chronic pain generally suffer from other physical and psychological consequences. The impact of chronic pain varies enormously between individuals, but the suffering is frequently pervasive and detrimental. The objective of this study was to review the evidence concerning, ways in which people living with chronic pain are affected in their everyday lives.MethodsElectronic databases Scopus, Cinahl and PsycINFO were searched from 2008 to September 2012 using a ‘building blocks’ approach and reference lists were scanned. PubMed was also searched and checked for duplicates compared to Scopus, Cinahl and PsycINFO. Data were extracted from included studies and methodological quality assessed with a view to exploring quality differences. To guide the review and interpretation, individual components of methodological quality were compared against a checklist. A narrative synthesis was formulated involving three categories: (1) clinical aspects, (2) everyday life aspects and (3) interpersonal aspects.ResultsThe search strategy identified 1140 citations; one study was found during the preliminary searching through references, and a search of reference lists provided five publications. Of these, 24 publications, representing 23 populations, met the inclusion criteria. In total, there were 22 cross-sectional studies and 2 cohort studies. Study populations ranged from 74 to 3928 participants and were heterogeneous in nature across studies with respect to age, duration and localisations of pain and outcome measures. We found a general consensus that life with chronic pain was associated with higher prevalence and higher levels of depression and diagnoses of widespread pain and nonspecific pain are more clearly associated with depression than is specific pain. The results of link between chronic pain and anxiety and stress were not obvious. Overall, there is plausible evidence to suggest a positive relationship between chronic pain and disability and the evidence is stronger for a significant positive association between nonspecific pain and disability, compared to specific pain. It can be summarized that there is a lack of evidence for a relationship between intensity of pain and quality of life. However, there is evidence that nonspecific pain is more compellingly associated with low quality of life than is specific pain.The evidence of a positive relation between pain and problems in close relations is not convincing but there is an indication to suggest that there is a pain-related issue regarding participation in many social aspects of everyday life.ConclusionBesides the pain itself, people living with chronic pain are affected in other aspects of life. In particular, it is evident that they experience challenges with respect to depressive thoughts, disability, lower quality of life and conflicts in close relationships.ImplicationsWhen designing interventions for people with chronic pain, it is essential to take into consideration the fact that living with chronic pain has far-reaching consequences beyond the pain suffered.

scholarly journals The Impact of Sustainable Financial Data Governance, Political Connections, and Creative Accounting Practices on Organizational Outcomes

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (20) ◽  
pp. 5676 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tha’er Amjed Mahmoud Ababneh ◽  
Mehmet Aga
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Accounting Information ◽  
Financial Data ◽  
Political Connections ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Data Governance ◽  
Creative Accounting ◽  
Information Reporting ◽  
The Impact

Decision-making and financial information quality are key facets of corporate sustainability. The literature is devoid of inquiries investigating the collective impact of sustainable financial data governance and political connections on creative accounting practices, the quality of financial reporting and decision-making effectiveness. The present study integrates these critical factors by obtaining survey data (n = 180) from publicly listed firms in Amman Stock Exchange, Jordan. By applying partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), this study found that (i) sustainable financial data governance does not influence creative accounting practices, (ii) political connections influences the level of firms creative accounting practices, (iii) creative accounting practices influences the quality of financial and accounting information reporting, and (iv) the quality of financial and accounting information reporting influences firms decision-making effectiveness. Implications, limitations, and future research courses are discussed.

Factors explaining the Impact of Performance Measures in European Local Governments

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lourdes Torres ◽  
Vicente Pina ◽  
Caridad Martí
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
Performance Measures ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Monetary Incentives ◽  
Senior Managers ◽  
Hr Management ◽  
Perceived Impact ◽  
The Impact

This paper seeks to identify the drivers of the variations in the impact perceived by managers of the implementation of performance measures (PM) across European local governments. We argue that insights from the use of PM for managerial processes and human resources (HR) management features condition the perceived impact of PM systems. The data was collected through a questionnaire answered by local governments of 16 European countries. The results show that the higher the use of PM in performance-oriented budgeting processes, the higher the impact of PM on improvements in the quality of decision-making. Monetary incentives linked to performance better explain the actual results in PM implementation than the kind of HR system of the cities and the academic backgrounds of their senior managers.

Acquiring Advanced Technology: Decision-making Strategies at Twelve Medical Centers

1993 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 530-538 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saul N. Weingart
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Technology Assessment ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
Advanced Technology ◽  
Financial Impact ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Medical Centers ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThis study describes decision making regarding the acquisition of technology in 12 major medical centers. The financial impact of a project was the most widely cited criterion of decision, but financial considerations were less important than either the impact of a technology on the quality of clinical care or its contribution to teaching and research. Rarely were criteria set out explicitly or in advance. Although exemplary models exist, the technology assessment process at most institutions is described as “political,” “informal,” or “ad hoc.”

Influence of Impulsivity During Decision-making in Regular Cannabis Users

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S205-S205
Author(s):  
V. Laprevote ◽  
A.L. Devin ◽  
B. Blanc ◽  
R. Schwan
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Iowa Gambling Task ◽  
Cannabis Use ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Delay Aversion ◽  
Gambling Task ◽  
Competing Interest ◽  
The Impact

IntroductionRegular cannabis use is associated with cognitive impairments, including impaired decision making measured by the Iowa Gambling Task. The question remains whether the impulsivity measured in regular cannabis users may participate to impaired decision making. Interestingly, the Cambridge Gambling Task (CGT) is a computerized gambling task allows to differentiate risk taking and impulsivity when making a decision.AimsThis study aims at separately exploring the impact of regular cannabis use on risk taking and impulsivity during decision making process.ObjectivesTo do so, we compared the performance of regular cannabis users and healthy controls during the CGT.MethodsForty-three regular cannabis users (> 7 units/week) with a cannabis use disorder (CUD), 8 non-CUD regular cannabis users and 30 healthy controls were recruited. Decision-making was assessed using the CGT. The following outcomes were considered: Delay aversion score, Overall proportion bet, quality of decision making, risk taking and risk adjustment.ResultsThe analysis on delay aversion score showed a group effect (F = 3.839, P = 0.026) but no effect on other CGT variables. This effect was explained by the fact that cannabis CUD users had a higher delay aversion score than healthy controls and non-CUD cannabis users.ConclusionsIn this study, CUD cannabis users had an increased impulsivity but no increase of risk taking and quality of decision-making. Future work should include the CGT with a clinical scale to evaluate impulsivity and a motor inhibition task to understand if the impairment observed relates to cognitive or motor abilities.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

scholarly journals Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats analysis on choice of multi chamber bag or compounded parenteral nutrition

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL4) ◽  
pp. 2298-2303
Author(s):  
Sahar Elnajjar ◽  
Dixon Thomas ◽  
Osama Tabbara ◽  
Danial Baker
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Parenteral Nutrition ◽  
Swot Analysis ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Multiple Stakeholders ◽  
Scale Down ◽  
Internal And External Factors ◽  
The Impact

Reasons for choosing parenteral nutrition (PN) products depend on healthcare institutions internal and external factors. A decision to start, continue, scale-up, scale down, or stop compounding of PN involves multiple stakeholders. This study is an effort to analyze such factors and recommendations on decision-making. A strength, weakness, opportunities, threats (SWOT) analysis was prepared in consultation with major PN providers in the UAE and comparing to international best practices. Based on the SWOT analysis, a set of recommendations was prepared using the GRADE system (classification of quality of evidence and strength of recommendation). Feedback on the SWOT analysis and recommendations were collected from the PN providers. The SWOT analysis and recommendations address aspects of the choice of MCB-PN or compounded PN. It includes considerations on PN indication, availability of ingredients, types of patients, safety, and cost management with labor, automation, and outsourcing. It was received well. The SWOT analysis and recommendations are useful in decision-making in complex therapy like PN. It helps in institutional decisions on choices of MCB-PN or compounded PN. The impact of the recommendations is to be measured in the future.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document