Is Science Effectively Conveyed to the Public? A Case Study of Genetically Modified Mosquito Release

Science is the driving force behind the advancement of society making public engagement with science vital. With the rapid pace of scientific discoveries, the availability of well-balanced scientific information is possibly the most important it has ever been. This study aims to determine the effectiveness with which scientific information is disseminated to the public. This was done by conducting a survey in which people were given three articles to read about the release of genetically modified mosquitoes. These three articles were adapted from local news coverage, government authorities, and peer-reviewed scientific literature. Survey participants were queried on their relative preferences for these articles. Additionally, the top 100 hits on Google for the search item “Florida mosquito release” were analyzed to assess the availability of the scientific information preferred by survey respondents. The results of this study showed that the public seeks quality, balanced scientific literature but that these types of articles aren’t easily accessible. Articles that prioritize getting clicks are more prevalent than those that present balanced scientific research.

Dominance Norms and Data for Spoken Ambiguous Words in British English

Words with multiple meanings (e.g. bark of the tree/dog) have provided important insights into several key topics within psycholinguistics. Experiments that use ambiguous words require stimuli to be carefully controlled for the relative frequency (dominance) of their different meanings, as this property has pervasive effects on numerous tasks. Dominance scores are often calculated from word association responses: by measuring the proportion of participants who respond to the word ‘bark’ with dog-related (e.g. “woof”) or tree-related (e.g. “branch”) responses, researchers can estimate people’s relative preferences for these meanings. We collated data from a number of recent experiments and pre-tests to construct a dataset of 29,533 valid responses for 243 spoken ambiguous words from participants from the United Kingdom. We provide summary dominance data for the 182 ambiguous words that have a minimum of 100 responses, and a tool for automatically coding new word association responses based on responses in our coded set, which allows additional data to be more easily scored and added to this database. All files can be found at: https://osf.io/uy47w/.

(Sympathy for) the Devil You Know: Openness, Psychological Entropy, and the Case of the Incumbency Advantage

Why do some individuals prefer lesser-known, riskier experiences over more well-known options in life? In this paper, we focus on the case of the electoral advantage to incumbency, and the role that psychological entropy reduction can play in undermining that advantage among individuals who lack simplifying heuristics, such as party brand loyalty. We build on recent work in political psychology, applying a more general political psychology framework linking the Big Five personality trait of Openness to a compulsion to gather and process information. Using data from the 2014 and 2016 Cooperative Congressional Election Studies, we find more Open respondents are more willing to vote for more uncertain House challengers at higher rates, but only among Independent respondents who are unable to rely on partisan cues to simplify the psychological entropy presented by such challengers. This suggests Openness captures relative preferences for encountering and reducing psychological entropy rather than traditionally defined risk preferences.

Does the choosiness of female crickets change as they age?

For crickets, which approach singing males by phonotaxis, the female choosiness hypothesis postulates that young females should be more selective of male calling song patterns than older individuals. However, there is no information about the behavioural preferences of females over their complete adulthood. We analysed phonotaxis in female Gryllus bimaculatus throughout their entire adult lifetime and measured the impact of sound amplitude, carrier frequency, and the temporal pattern of test songs on their auditory response. Females of all ages demonstrated their best responses to male calling songs with a pulse period of 34-42 ms, a carrier frequency of 4.5 kHz and a sound pressure level of 75dB SPL. The response profile to somewhat less optimal song types did vary with age, but not in a manner consistent with a simple loosening of selectiveness in older females. Age however had an effect on the overall strength of phonotaxis, as very old females showed an overall diminishing response to all song types. Our data suggest that although there are minor changes in the relative preferences of crickets to individual song elements as they age, the breadth of song patterns that they will perform phonotaxis to remains similar across age groups.

A Comparative Evaluation of Utility Value Based on User Preferences for Urban Streets: The Case of Seoul, Korea

Currently, there is a lack of objective evaluations clarifying characteristics of urban streets from the users’ perspective, particularly regarding the most effective spatial composition. This study investigated the value of spatial components of urban streets preferred by users through a conjoint analysis based on utility value for six streets representing street types in Seoul and evaluated relative preferences for the main characteristics of urban streets in terms of amenity, placeness, and accessibility. The analysis showed that users consider “amenity” as the most important characteristic of urban streets; “green space composition” was rated highest for utility value. The value exchange relationship of utility related to placeness and amenity within a certain threshold level was also confirmed for each of the three characteristics of urban streets. These results show that prioritizing improvements to amenities and green space promotes urban streets policies and projects, and strengthening placeness-related spatial elements is effective once a certain amenity level is secured. This study contributes to the discussion how to minimize differences in planning and user experience for urban streets by objectifying the relationship between user preferences and characteristics of urban streets through utility value.

A rational model of people's inferences about others' preferences based on response times

There's a difference between someone instantaneously saying "Yes!" when you ask them on a date compared to "...yes." Psychologists and economists have long studied how people can infer preferences from others' choices. However, these models have tended to focus on what people choose and not how long it takes them to make a choice. We present a rational model for inferring preferences from response times, using a Drift Diffusion Model to characterize how preferences influence response time and Bayesian inference to invert this relationship. We test our model's predictions for three experimental questions. Matching model predictions, participants inferred that a decision-maker preferred a chosen item more if the decision-maker spent longer deliberating (Experiment 1), participants predicted a decision-maker's choice in a novel comparison based on inferring the decision-maker's relative preferences from previous response times and choices (Experiment 2), and participants could incorporate information about a decision-maker's mental state of cautious or careless (Experiments 3, 4A, and 4B).

Perbandingan Interpretasi Analisis Data Page View dan Click Related Post Pada Website Edukasi Sebagai Implisit Feedback Dengan Hasil Interpretasi Penggunaan Teknologi EyeTracking

The analysis used in this study uses the help of Google Analytics to understand how the user's behavior on the Calculus learning material educational website page. Are users interested in recommendation articles? The answer to this question provides insight into the user's decision process and suggests how far a click is the result of an informed decision. Based on these results, it is hoped that a strategy to generate feedback from clicks should emerge. To evaluate the extent to which feedback shows relevance, versus implicit feedback to explicit feedback collected manually. The study presented in this study differs in at least two ways from previous work assessing the reliability of implicit feedback. First, this study aims to provide detailed insight into the user decision-making process through the use of a recommendation system with an implicit feedback feature. Second, evaluate the relative preferences that come from user behavior (user behavior). This differs from previous studies which primarily assessed absolute feedback.

Explaining the effect on food selection of altering availability: two experimental studies on the role of prior preferences

Background: Increasing the availability of lower energy or plant-based foods increases their selection. The aim of the current set of studies was to examine the extent to which prior preferences account for food selections following availability interventions. In particular, (a) whether increasing the availability of lower energy options increases the likelihood that individuals’ pre-existing most-preferred option is lower energy, and (b) the extent to which selections reflect individuals’ most-preferred option from the available range.Methods: UK adults (Study 1: n=1976; Study 2: n=1078) took part in within-subjects online studies. First, relative preferences between food options were established by showing participants every possible pair of options from a pool of eight options (four higher energy and four lower energy). Participants chose the option from each pair that they would prefer to eat right now. Then, in two trials, participants chose between four options. In each trial, participants were shown either predominantly higher energy options (three higher and one lower energy) or predominantly lower energy options (vice versa), presented in a random order. Results: When predominantly lower energy options were presented, the odds of the most-preferred option being a lower energy option increased ten-fold (Study 1: odds ratio: 10.1; 95%CI: 8.9, 11.4; Study 2: odds ratio: 10.4; 95%CI: 7.4, 14.7), compared to when predominantly higher energy options were available. In both studies, around 90% of selections reflected the most-preferred option in the range offered in each of the availability conditions (range 88-92%).Conclusions: This set of studies suggests that prior preferences may be a key contributor to the effects of altering lower energy food availability on food selections. This may have implications for how availability interventions might be optimally implemented to ensure such interventions do not disproportionately fail to influence those for whom behaviour change is most beneficial.

Evaluation of Brassicaceae Seedlings as Trap Plants for Bagrada Hilaris Burmeister in Caper Bush Cultivations

The caper bush, Capparis spinosa (Brassicales: Capparaceae), is intensively grown on Pantelleria Island (Trapani, Sicily, Sicilian channel) where it has been granted protected geographical indication (PGI) by the EU. On this island, Bagrada hilaris, a stink bug native of Asia and Africa, is the major pest of caper crops. Recent studies have shown the attraction of B. hilaris to volatiles of brassicaceous plants at the seedling stage. The objective of this study was to evaluate three cotyledon-stage seedlings of host plants, Brassica oleracea var. botrytis (cauliflower), Eruca sativa (rocket) and Brassica carinata (Abyssinian cabbage), as potential trap plants for B. hilaris. The relative preferences of these species were first evaluated in laboratory and field experiments, carried out during summer when the level of B. hilaris infestation was the highest. Behavioral bioassays in the laboratory conditions showed that adults of B. hilaris preferred to orient toward seedlings of B. oleracea and E. sativa over B. carinata. Field experiments confirmed these results. Then seedlings were tested in trap plant trials, by sowing them in artificial pots formed with aluminum trays and placing them in caper fields infested with B. hilaris. Results showed that E. sativa and B. oleracea diverted hundreds of B. hilaris individuals from the capers to these sources of attraction. Overall, these results suggest that B. oleracea and E. sativa seedlings used as lure inside traps or as trap plants may be a useful tool in the management of B. hilaris populations.