Choice and the Placebo Effect: A Meta-analysis

Background Choice has been proposed as a method of enhancing placebo effects. However, there have been no attempts to systematically evaluate the magnitude, reliability, and moderators of the influence of choice on the placebo effect. Purpose To estimate the effect size of choice on the placebo effect and identify any moderators of this effect. Methods Web of Science, PsycINFO, EMBASE, and PubMed were systematically searched from inception to May 2021 for studies comparing placebo treatment with any form of choice over its administration (e.g., type, timing) to placebo treatment without choice, on any health-related outcome. Random-effects meta-analysis was then used to estimate the effect size associated with the influence of choice on the placebo effect. Meta-regression was subsequently employed to determine the moderating effect of factors such as type of choice, frequency of choice, and size of the placebo effect without choice. Results Fifteen independent studies (N = 1,506) assessing a range of conditions, including pain, discomfort, sleep difficulty, and anxiety, met inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis revealed that choice did significantly enhance the placebo effect (Hedges’ g = 0.298). Size of the placebo effect without choice was the only reliable moderator of this effect, whereby a greater effect of choice was associated with smaller placebo effects without choice. Conclusions Treatment choice can effectively facilitate the placebo effect, but this effect appears more pronounced in contexts where the placebo effect without choice is weaker. Because most evidence to date is experimental, translational studies are needed to test whether providing choice in clinical scenarios where placebo effects are weaker may help boost the placebo effect and thereby improve patient outcomes.

Analisis Ekuitas Merek

Brand equity continues to be one of the critical areas for marketing. This research explores some of the consequences attributes may have on brand equity such as the bias on consumer preference. For comparative purposes, this research is conducted on the high involvement using on the four soft drinks brands. This research being measured the impact of attributes preferences and actual choice frequency for brand attributes on brand equity. Attributes are examined from a tangible and intangible perspective and both are found to be important contributors to brand equity and brand choice.

Identifying the drivers of liking for texture attributes of Vietnamese sausage

Vietnamese sausage (cha lua), a pork processing food with a characteristic chewy and crunchy texture, are widely consumed in Vietnam. However, there are not many established researchs on hedonic and sensory attributes for this product, especially about the texture attributes. The goal of this study was to investigate consumer's preference as well as identify the drivers of liking for texture of Vietnamese sausage. Eight samples were prepared with various ratio of lean meat, lard and starch to cover a wide range of different texture of Vietnamese sausage. Sixty eight consumers then evaluated these eight samples, rating texture liking on nine-point scale and answering a checkall- that-apply (CATA) question, which consisted of 16 different texture attributes of Vietnamese sausage. The consumers were also asked to check all the approriate attributes to describe their ideal products. The ANOVA and post –hoc test showed samples which had recipes with high lard ratio (20-25%) and low meat ratio (70%) had a significant higher liking scores, while the samples which had recipe with high meat ratio (90%) had the lowest liking scores. The Cochran's Q test showed that 12 attributes had different choice frequency between samples, suggesting the texture of Vietnamese sausage is complex and diverse. The CA results showed all the samples without stach were associated with large air holes, while samples which high meat ratio (80%) were associated with hardness. The ideal Vietnamese sausage product was associated with fattiness, juiciness, springiness and brittleness. Finally, the results of penalty analysis showed that chewy, firm, and elastic attributes had positive impacts on the liking score for Vietnamese sausage products, while attributes that exhibit heterogeneity, such as large air hole and grainy, significantly reduced the liking score of the product. This suggested the importance of mechanical texture attributes and homogenity on the consumer's preference of the Vietnamese sausage.

When A Combination of Nudges Decreases Sustainable Food Choices Out-of-Home—The Example of Food Decoys and Descriptive Name Labels

This paper reports results from three consecutive studies focusing on the comparison of the effectiveness of different nudges and their combinations to increase sustainable food choices out of the home. The nudges compared are the use of descriptive name labels (DNLs) for the most sustainable dish of a choice set (menu) and the decoy effect (DE), created by adding a less attractive decoy dish to a more attractive target dish with the goal of increasing the choice frequency of the target dish. In the literature, both nudges have been found to influence consumers’ choices. In the first study, six category names of sustainability indicators were deduced from a focus group. These were tested with 100 students to identify the most attractive DNLs. Study II, a randomized choice study (n = 420), tested the DE, the DNLs and a combination of the DNLs and the DE used on four different dishes in a university canteen. In study III, 820 guests of a business canteen voted during four weeks for the special meals of the following week (identical to the four choice sets displayed in study II). Results indicate that the combination of DNLs and the DE is not recommended for fostering sustainable food choices. Pure DNLs were more efficient in increasing the choice frequency of the more sustainable meal, whereas the decoy effect resulted in decreased choice frequencies. Regional and sustainable DNLs were favoured by consumers.

Ovariectomy Impairs Socio-Cognitive Functions in Dogs

Recent studies have underlined the effect of ovariectomy on the spatial cognition of female dogs, with ovariectomized dogs showing a clear preference for an egocentric rather than an allocentric navigation strategy whereas intact females did not show preferences. Intact females had better performances than gonadectomized females in solving a learning task in a maze. Ovariectomy also affects socio-cognitive abilities, reducing the dog’s level of attention on the owner. We tested dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) in the object choice task paradigm to assess whether an ovariectomy could impair females’ ability to follow human signals. Forty pet dogs (18 intact females (IF) and 22 gonadectomized females (GF)) were tested in the object choice task paradigm using the human proximal pointing gesture. For the analysis, the frequency of correct, wrong and no-choices was collected; moreover, the latency of the correct choices was also considered. The IF group followed the pointing gestures more often than the GF group and with a lower latency, whereas a significantly higher no-choice frequency was recorded for the GF group. These results show a detrimental effect of ovariectomy on dogs’ socio-cognitive skills related to the responsiveness to human pointing gestures.

Translation in Motion: A Survey of Literary Translation in Lebanon and Egypt during the Nahḍa

Chapter one surveys the movement and scope of literary translation in Egypt and Lebanon from 1798 until the 1930’s. It explores the different incentives behind the choice, frequency, and method of translation in both places, noting their interrelatedness through the Syrian émigrés who immigrated to Cairo and started literary journals that changed the face of literary translation in Egypt in the 19th century. It identifies the various translation motives from the desire for fast modernization and better urban planning, to education, and finally to entertainment, which becomes the major purpose of translation in the early 20th century). Finally, it registers the difference between the translation of poetry and that of fiction in both places and traces the influence of such translation on the development of distinctly national versus Western styles in the works of Egyptian and Lebanese authors and translators.

Peran perempuan dalam penggunaan alat kontrasepsi

Family planning is a program established by government to minimize the population explosion by preventing pregnancy and child birth. Women are naturally able to conceive and give birth so they become the target of higher contraceptive use than men. Women in the Pucangro Village Kalitengah subdistrict in Lamongan regency explained their experiences and knowledge they have in using contraception. This type of research is qualitative phenomenology. In this study, researcher explains knowledge and experiences of women in using contraception. Information obtained through observation of women’s life by conducting interview with five women who use contraceptives. Contraception which used by many people in Pucangro Village, Kalitengah subdistrict, Lamongan regency are injection, pill, implant and steady contraception. Women often change contraception methods to adjust the most suitable type for their body because of the effects of contraception make users uncomfortable. Even so, informants persist in using contraception because they have no other choice. Frequency in changing contraceptive method also due to women's knowledge about contraceptive methods which is critically low, such knowledge is mostly gained throughm experiences from parents and siblings. The partner (husband) are less involved and do not want to know the use of contraception’s partner (wife). Several factors that stimulate contraception usage are knowledge possession, level of education, encouragement from family or partner, and side effect of the contraception itself. Women have the power to determine the type of contraception they prefer but no power to refuse using contraception even though negative effects are most likely to occur.