Beware of Performance Indicators - How Visual Cues Increase the Disposition Effect

Online trading interfaces are important instruments for retail investors. For sound reasons, regulators obligate online brokers to inform customers about certain trade related risks. Research has shown that different behavioral biases can decrease traders’ performance and hence lead to pecuniary losses. The disposition to hold losing stocks too long and sell winning stocks too early (‘disposition effect’) is such a deviation from rational behavior. The disposition effect is analyzed for the prediction market ‘Kurspiloten’ which predicts selected stock prices and counts nearly 2000 active traders and more than 200,000 orders. We show that the disposition effect can be aggravated by visual feedback on a trader’s performance via colored trend direction arrows and percentages. However, we find no evidence that such an interface modification leads to higher activity. Furthermore, we can not confirm that creating awareness of the disposition effect with textual information is suited to decreasing its strength

Three Essays on Auditor Liability

Auditor liability is an important topic of accounting research as auditors respond to a constantly changing financial reporting and regulatory environment. Through three independent essays, I intend to explore how estimate uncertainty, financial statement aggregation, audit quality indicators, a company\u27s investor base, and the size of the alleged misstatement can impact auditor liability both in the courtroom, as determined by jurors, and in out of court settlement, as determined by attorneys. I find that jurors do hold the auditor more likely to be negligent when audit quality indicators suggest the auditors did a poor quality audit. I also find that jurors hold auditors to be more negligent when both estimate uncertainty is low and the income statement is disaggregated. This juror finding is in contrast to lawyers where I find that high estimate uncertainty causes auditors’ lawyers to believe that the auditors are more vulnerable for failing to detect a material misstatement and make more concessions in out-of-court settlement negotiation. Together, these studies have a number of important implications. First, the impact of high estimate uncertainty on auditor liability can go in opposite directions depending on whether the case disposition is determined by jurors or by lawyers negotiating settlement. Second, auditors’ legal counsel may erroneously concede during settlement negotiations based on incorrect beliefs about their vulnerability to jurors. Third, while accounting research has focused on juror judgments to proxy for auditor litigation risk, auditors may face very different litigation risk in out-of-court settlement, where the vast majority of auditor liability is determined

Essays on the Impact of Presidential and Media-Based Usage of Anxiety-Producing Rhetoric on Dynamic Issue Attention

The intention of the project is to determine whether political elites have to discuss an issue using a specific emotional tone before the public and other political elites consider that issue a problem. Research has not yet demonstrated under what conditions elite rhetorical cues can heighten issue attention. Past studies have suggested that an increase in the absolute intensity of elite issue discussion can heighten perceptions of an issue as a problem. The problem with this notion is that within that absolute issue discussion, elites might simply be repeatedly saying conditions related to an issue are stable. They might also be presenting basic factual background information about an issue, a type of discussion unlikely to capture the interest of many in the political system. There has to be a specific type of cue that elites can offer to compel others in the political system to reconsider their outlook on issue salience. Derived from dual systems theories of emotion, the dissertation predicts that issue discussion that heightens feelings of anxiety increases the likelihood of an altered outlook on issue salience. To evaluate this prediction, time series statistical techniques are employed. The time series models evaluate whether prior change in the level of anxietybased cues by the president and the media predict changes in the level of attention the public offers to that issue. The same types of models evaluate whether this form of issue discussion by the president predicts issue dynamics of the media, and vice-versa. The several issues studied are crime, health care, poverty, and the environment. Information spanning thirty years is collected from presidential papers, general and ideological media newspaper coverage, and multiple public survey organizations. The findings suggest anxiety-based issue discussion does have the potential to guide issue attention. Prior changes in anxiety-based cues do predict future levels of attention the public provides to issues. A positive shift in anxiety cues by elites appears to have the capacity to increase public attention to issues. This increase though appears to be very small and abbreviated, suggesting limited effects. Elites do not appear to influence each other through anxiety cues

Spatial Dynamic Modeling and Urban Land Use Transformation:

Assessing the economic impacts of urban land use transformation has become complex and acrimonious. Although community planners are beginning to comprehend the economic trade-offs inherent in transforming the urban fringe, they find it increasingly difficult to analyze and assess the trade-offs expediently and in ways that can influence local decisionmaking. New and sophisticated spatial modeling techniques are now being applied to urban systems that can quickly assess the probable spatial outcomes of given communal policies. Applying an economic impact assessment to the probable spatial patterns can provide to planners the tools needed to quickly assess scenarios for policy formation that will ultimately help inform decision makers. This paper focuses on the theoretical underpinnings and practical application of an economic impact analysis submodel developed within the Land use Evolution and Impact Assessment Modeling (LEAM) environment. The conceptual framework of LEAM is described, followed by an application of the model to the assessment of the cost of urban sprawl in Kane County, Illinois. The results show the effectiveness of spatially explicit modeling from a theoretical and a practical point of view. The agent-based approach of spatial dynamic modeling with a high spatial resolution allows for discerning the macro-level implications of micro-level behaviors. These phenomena are highlighted in the economic submodel in the discussion of the implications of land use change decisions on individual and communal costs; low-density development patterns favoring individual behaviors at the expense of the broader community.

Essays on the Impact of Presidential and Media-Based Usage of Anxiety-Producing Rhetoric on Dynamic Issue Attention

The intention of the project is to determine whether political elites have to discuss an issue using a specific emotional tone before the public and other political elites consider that issue a problem. Research has not yet demonstrated under what conditions elite rhetorical cues can heighten issue attention. Past studies have suggested that an increase in the absolute intensity of elite issue discussion can heighten perceptions of an issue as a problem. The problem with this notion is that within that absolute issue discussion, elites might simply be repeatedly saying conditions related to an issue are stable. They might also be presenting basic factual background information about an issue, a type of discussion unlikely to capture the interest of many in the political system. There has to be a specific type of cue that elites can offer to compel others in the political system to reconsider their outlook on issue salience. Derived from dual systems theories of emotion, the dissertation predicts that issue discussion that heightens feelings of anxiety increases the likelihood of an altered outlook on issue salience. To evaluate this prediction, time series statistical techniques are employed. The time series models evaluate whether prior change in the level of anxietybased cues by the president and the media predict changes in the level of attention the public offers to that issue. The same types of models evaluate whether this form of issue discussion by the president predicts issue dynamics of the media, and vice-versa. The several issues studied are crime, health care, poverty, and the environment. Information spanning thirty years is collected from presidential papers, general and ideological media newspaper coverage, and multiple public survey organizations. The findings suggest anxiety-based issue discussion does have the potential to guide issue attention. Prior changes in anxiety-based cues do predict future levels of attention the public provides to issues. A positive shift in anxiety cues by elites appears to have the capacity to increase public attention to issues. This increase though appears to be very small and abbreviated, suggesting limited effects. Elites do not appear to influence each other through anxiety cues

Enhancing Critical Thinking Disposition and Clinical Judgment Skills in Senior BSN Students via Electronic Interactive Simulation

ProblemThe problem investigated in this study was the lack of empirical evidence available regarding the effectiveness of electronic interactive simulation (EIS) for developing critical thinking disposition and clinical judgment skills in the senior baccalaureate nursing student. AimThe aim of this study was to identify an effective method of experiential learning simulation that may be independently accessed by the learner with a goal of enhancing critical thinking disposition and clinical judgment skills of senior baccalaureate student nurses (BSN). PurposeThe purpose of this experimental study was to compare the effects of EIS to traditional paper case studies on the critical thinking disposition and clinical judgment skills, measured by accuracy and efficiency of situational decision making, of senior nursing students enrolled in baccalaureate nursing programs in the United States. MethodsOne hundred and seventeen senior nursing students completed the randomized control study by using either the EIS or paper case study learning intervention. Repeated measures ANOVA and nonparametric tests were used to test the hypotheses that senior BSN who participate in EIS of real-life clinical scenarios over a period of two weeks will experience significant increases in clinical judgment and critical thinking disposition compared to students who receive traditional paper case study simulation. FindingsResults showed that participants who used EIS over a two-week period increased their scores for critical thinking disposition overall and on three of the subscales. Results also indicated a positive trend, greater than the comparison group, on the remaining subscales. It is noted that many scores for the Case Study group actually decreased, suggesting that this method had a stifling effect on the development of critical thinking disposition. Retention and application of learned information was apparent for both groups, however, there was a trend for a greater change in the EIS group compared to the Case Study group. Additional research is needed to explore the effectiveness of this emerging pedagogy to add to what is known about the effects of experiential learning in the healthcare professions

Playfulness and prenatal alcohol exposure : a comparative study

Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references

THREAT BIAS AND HEART RATE VARIABILITY IN TRAIT ANXIETY

An attentional bias favoring threat-related information and reduced cardiac vagal control are both prominent features of anxiety. However, relationships of threat bias to indicators of vagal tone, such as high frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV), have primarily been examined among non-anxious individuals. The present study examined associations of threat bias, HF-HRV, and trait anxiety among 86 participants preselected for having high or low trait anxiety (M age= 26, 58% Female, 69% White), and tested whether experimentally manipulating threat bias via attention bias modification (ABM) would influence HF-HRV among high trait anxious individuals. Extent of threat bias, mood, and resting HF-HRV were assessed at baseline among all study participants. High trait anxious participants were then randomized to complete either a bias enhancing or bias attenuating ABM protocol after which extent of bias was re-assessed, and HF-HRV and mood were collected at rest, in response to stress, and during stress recovery. Results indicated that extent of vigilance toward threat (but not HF-HRV) predicted level of trait anxiety (OR = .995, p = .04), but that threat bias and HF-HRV were unrelated. In addition, ABM did not influence extent of bias or mood; however, HF-HRV increased from pre- to post-ABM among participants in the bias enhancement group, and decreased from post-ABM to stress among participants in the bias attenuation group [F (2.61, 130.61) =3.81, p=.02]. These results highlight vigilance toward threat as a salient component of threat bias and are the first to demonstrate an effect of ABM on HF-HRV among trait anxious individuals

Spatial dynamic modeling and urban land use transformation : an ecological simulation approach to assessing the costs of urban sprawl

Assessing the economic impacts of urban land use transformation has become complex and acrimonious. Although community planners are beginning to comprehend the economic trade-offs inherent in transforming the urban fringe, they find it increasingly difficult to analyze and assess the trade-offs expediently and in ways that can influence local decisionmaking. New and sophisticated spatial modeling techniques are now being applied to urban systems that can quickly assess the probable spatial outcomes of given communal policies. Applying an economic impact assessment to the probable spatial patterns can provide to planners the tools needed to quickly assess scenarios for policy formation that will ultimately help inform decision makers. This paper focuses on the theoretical underpinnings and practical application of an economic impact analysis submodel developed within the Land use Evolution and Impact Assessment Modeling (LEAM) environment. The conceptual framework of LEAM is described, followed by an application of the model to the assessment of the cost of urban sprawl in Kane County, Illinois. The results show the effectiveness of spatially explicit modeling from a theoretical and a practical point of view. The agent-based approach of spatial dynamic modeling with a high spatial resolution allows for discerning the macro-level implications of micro-level behaviors. These phenomena are highlighted in the economic submodel in the discussion of the implications of land use change decisions on individual and communal costs; low-density development patterns favoring individual behaviors at the expense of the broader community