144 research outputs found
Claims by behavioural economists that our unconscious mind rules our behaviour lack sufficient scientific evidence
Psychologists and behavioural economists have been successfully arguing that the unconscious, intuitive part of the mind, as opposed to our more considered, analytical side, is what drives our behaviour. While the story sounds plausible, the evidence is worryingly unconvincing, writes Magda Osman. You can also listen Wise Choices, a recent public lecture at the LSE featuring Magda
The Role of Reward in Dynamic Decision Making
The present study investigates two aspects of decision making that have yet to be explored within a dynamic environment, (1) comparing the accuracy of cue-outcome knowledge under conditions in which knowledge acquisition is either through Prediction or Choice, and (2) examining the effects of reward on both Prediction and Choice. In the present study participants either learnt about the cue-outcome relations in the environment by choosing cue values in order to maintain an outcome to criterion (Choice-based decision making), or learnt to predict the outcome from seeing changes to the cue values (Prediction-based decision making). During training participants received outcome feedback and one of four types of reward manipulations: Positive Reward, Negative Reward, Both Positive + Negative Reward, No Reward. After training both groups of learners were tested on prediction and choice-based tasks. In the main, the findings revealed that cue-outcome knowledge was more accurate when knowledge acquisition was Choice-based rather than Prediction-based. During learning Negative Reward adversely affected Choice-based decision making while Positive Reward adversely affected predictive-based decision making. During the test phase only performance on tests of choice was adversely affected by having received Positive Reward or Negative Reward during training. This article proposes that the adverse effects of reward may reflect the additional demands placed on processing rewards which compete for cognitive resources required to perform the main goal of the task. This in turn implies that, rather than facilitate decision making, the presentation of rewards can interfere with Choice-based and Prediction-based decisions
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Investigating the Role of Future-orientated Feedback in Self-Monitoring Devices
Standard self-monitoring devices provide real-time daily feedback. This may not help users learn the long-term futurecumulative effects of their behaviour because it orientates attention on the now. We test the hypothesis that future orientedfeedback is more effective than real-time feedback in increasing users propensity to exercise. We asked 54 female treadmillusers in a gym to report the feedback they got from the machine (calories burnt, time spent running and distance covered)upon finishing their workout and were then provided with additional feedback which varied in format across three between-subject conditions: day only feedback (no additional feedback), monthly feedback (additional projection of the futurecumulative effect of the activity repeated daily after one month), and all times feedback (additional projection of the futurecumulative effect of the activity repeated daily after one month and after one year). All participants were then asked aboutthe extent to which they felt their own running workout affected their weight loss, as well the extent to which runningleads to weight loss in general. They also all answered two questions aimed at measuring their time perspective afterbeing exposed to the various feedbacks. In comparison to participants who had been exposed to the standard real timefeedback, participants who had been exposed to the future oriented feedbacks perceived the causal connection betweentheir own running workout and their weight loss as significantly higher, and reported a significantly more future orientedtime perspective. The results highlight the need to consider time orientation as an important dimension to aid decisionsthrough technologies
Biased but in Doubt: Conflict and Decision Confidence
Human reasoning is often biased by intuitive heuristics. A central question is whether the bias results from a failure to detect that the intuitions conflict with traditional normative considerations or from a failure to discard the tempting intuitions. The present study addressed this unresolved debate by using people's decision confidence as a nonverbal index of conflict detection. Participants were asked to indicate how confident they were after solving classic base-rate (Experiment 1) and conjunction fallacy (Experiment 2) problems in which a cued intuitive response could be inconsistent or consistent with the traditional correct response. Results indicated that reasoners showed a clear confidence decrease when they gave an intuitive response that conflicted with the normative response. Contrary to popular belief, this establishes that people seem to acknowledge that their intuitive answers are not fully warranted. Experiment 3 established that younger reasoners did not yet show the confidence decrease, which points to the role of improved bias awareness in our reasoning development. Implications for the long standing debate on human rationality are discussed
Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Followed By Conformal Hypofractionated Radiotherapy with Concurrent Gemcitabine in Muscle - Invasive Bladder Cancer
Purpose: The aim of this prospective, phase II trial was to determine the response of muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) to concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) of weekly gemcitabine with conformal hypofractionated radiotherapy after neoadjuvant chemotherapy.Patients and Methods: Forty patients with transitional cell carcinoma, stage T2-4a, N0, M0 after magnetic resonance imaging were recruited. Transurethral resection was done and neoadjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine 1250 mg/m² on days 1 and 8 with cisplatin 100 mg/m2 on day1 repeated every three weeks was given. CRT phase included gemcitabine at 100 mg/m2 on days 1, 8, 15, and 22 of a 28-day RT schedule that delivered 52.5 Gy in 20 fractions. The end points were tumor response, toxicity, and survival.Results: Thirty three patients (82.5%) completed treatment protocol. Twenty five patients (75.8%) achieved a complete endoscopic response. The remaining 8 patients (24.2%) had residual disease. At a median follow-up of 23.5 months (range, 11 to 33 months), 19 patients (57.6%) had a functional and intact bladder. Four patients (12.1%) had a loco regional recurrences and 2 patients (6.1%) developed distant metastasis. By using Kaplan-Meier analysis, 2-year disease free survival was 64%, and overall survival was 77.5%. Out of the 33 patients who entered the CCRT phase, only 6 patients (18.2%) had grade 3 acute rectal or bladder toxicity. No one developed G3 late toxicity. Overall, side effects were tolerable and manageable.Conclusion: Concurrent gemcitabine-based CRT after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and TURBT is effective with high response rate, durable local control and acceptable toxicity, which allows patients to preserve their own bladder. However further investigations is needed to confirm these results in larger number in a phase III trial
Bluetooth Smartphone Apps: Are they the most private and effective solution for COVID-19 contact tracing?
Many digital solutions mainly involving Bluetooth technology are being
proposed for Contact Tracing Apps (CTA) to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Concerns have been raised regarding privacy, consent, uptake required in a
given population, and the degree to which use of CTAs can impact individual
behaviours. However, very few groups have taken a holistic approach and
presented a combined solution. None has presented their CTA in such a way as to
ensure that even the most suggestible member of our community does not become
complacent and assume that CTA operates as an invisible shield, making us and
our families impenetrable or immune to the disease. We propose to build on some
of the digital solutions already under development that, with addition of a
Bayesian model that predicts likelihood for infection supplemented by
traditional symptom and contact tracing, that can enable us to reach 90% of a
population. When combined with an effective communication strategy and social
distancing, we believe solutions like the one proposed here can have a very
beneficial effect on containing the spread of this pandemic
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