The Death of Distance?: The Influence of Computer Mediated Communication on Perceptions of Distance

The expectation that information and communication technologies lead users to transcend the constraints of physical separation has been expressed as the death of distance. Perceptions of distance – the psychological distance – significantly influence how individuals evaluate events and objects. As computer mediated communication technologies allow individuals to interact as easily with those who are remote as with those who are proximate, how do they influence the psychological distance from remote others? And as these technologies are increasingly employed even in interactions with physically proximate others, how does this influence perceived distances? The results suggest that computer mediated communication technologies significantly reduce the psychological distance of remote others

An empirical evaluation of descriptive models of ambiguity reactions in choice situations

Ambiguity is uncertainty about an option's outcome-generating process, and is characterized as uncertainty about an option's outcome probabilities. Subjects, in choice tasks, typically have avoided ambiguous options. Descriptive models are identified and tested in two studies which had subjects rank monetary lotteries according to preference. In Study 1, lotteries involved receiving a positive amount or nothing, where P denotes the probability of receiving the nonzero amount. Subjects were willing to forego expected winnings to avoid ambiguity near P = .50 and P = .75. Near P = .25, a significant percentage of subjects exhibited ambiguity seeking, with subjects, on average, willing to forego expected winnings to have the more ambiguous option. The observed behavior contradicts the viability of a proposed lexicographic model. Study 2 tested four polynomial models using diagnostic properties in the context of conjoint measurement theory. The results supported a sign dependence of ambiguity with respect to the probability level P, such that subjects' preference orderings over ambiguity reversed with changes in P. This behavior was inconsistent with all the three-factor polynomial models investigated. Further analyses failed to support a variant of portfolio theory, as well. The implications of these results for the descriptive modeling of choice under ambiguity are discussed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/27663/1/0000045.pd

Contingency judgment: Primacy effects and attention decrement

Subjects made judgments concerning the strength and direction of the contingency between two dichotomous variables in a situation in which no contingency actually existed. The judgments exhibited a significant primacy effect. The effects of warning and not warning the subjects that they would be required to recall the frequencies of observed event co-occurrences implied that this primacy effect was due to `attention decrement' ([Anderson, 1981]). According to this hypothesis, attention to contingency-relevant information diminishes after the subject is exposed to only a small portion of the available information.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/26089/1/0000165.pd

The center and range of the probability interval as factors affecting ambiguity preferences

Ambiguous decision situations are characterized as having probabilities that are uncertain. The uncertainty is due to the common, real-world deficiency of information about the process by which the outcomes are determined. Thirty lotteries having uncertain probabilities were constructed by varying the centers and the ranges of the intervals within which the imprecise probabilities of winning could lie. Pairs of the lotteries were presented as choice alternatives to subjects, with each pair having lotteries with the same interval center but differing interval ranges. Ambiguity avoidance, the selection of the less ambiguous option, was found to increase with the interval center C, with ambiguity indifference occurring for values of C [les] 0.40. No evidence of ambiguity seeking as the prevalent behavior was obtained. Ambiguity avoidance did not significantly increase with the interval range R, but an interaction effect between C and the ranges R1 and R2 of the choice pair was obtained. This effect of the ranges could not be described simply by knowledge of the difference R1 - R2; knowledge of both individual values was necessary. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/25552/1/0000094.pd

Psychological sources of ambiguity avoidance

Ambiguity is characterized as uncertainty about the probabilities with which outcomes can occur. Previous research has established that subjects, when given a choice between two options differing in their degree of ambiguity, tend to prefer the less ambiguous option, exhibiting ambiguity avoidance. The present paper addresses the psychological sources of this behavior. Five plausible hypotheses for the basis of ambiguity avoidance were extracted from the literature, along with a sixth proposal which questioned the deliber-ateness of the behavior. None of the hypotheses had previously been sufficiently examined empirically. In a series of five experiments, each of the proposed explanations of ambiguity avoidance was tested. Of the six, only one, termed "other-evaluation," had an effect on subjects' choice behavior in an ambiguous situation involving monetary lotteries. The other-evaluation hypothesis states that a decision maker, in making a choice, anticipates that others will evaluate his or her decision; and, so, makes the choice that is perceived to be most justifiable to others. This choice is for the option having the smallest degree of ambiguity. It is concluded that the other-evaluation hypothesis offers the most promising direction for future research regarding the psychology of choice under ambiguity.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/26026/1/0000098.pd

Seeking and applying diagnostic information in a health care setting

Many studies have shown that people have difficulty judging the diagnostic value of conditional probability information with respect to one or more hypotheses. The present research addressed two aspects of performing the diagnostic task in a health care decision: (a) recognition of the information's importance, and (b) correct usage of that information. In experiment 1, health care providers, who are trained in, and regularly exposed, to conditional probabilities imparting diagnostic information, exhibited at least a rudimentary recognition of the need for this information in assessing diagnosticity. Experiment 2 indicated that health care and layperson subjects had difficulty in actually applying the information, however. This difficulty prompts a need for judgment aids and caution in using diagnostic information.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/28644/1/0000459.pd

Mortality Among Adults With Cancer Undergoing Chemotherapy or Immunotherapy and Infected With COVID-19

Importance: Large cohorts of patients with active cancers and COVID-19 infection are needed to provide evidence of the association of recent cancer treatment and cancer type with COVID-19 mortality. // Objective: To evaluate whether systemic anticancer treatments (SACTs), tumor subtypes, patient demographic characteristics (age and sex), and comorbidities are associated with COVID-19 mortality. // Design, Setting, and Participants: The UK Coronavirus Cancer Monitoring Project (UKCCMP) is a prospective cohort study conducted at 69 UK cancer hospitals among adult patients (≥18 years) with an active cancer and a clinical diagnosis of COVID-19. Patients registered from March 18 to August 1, 2020, were included in this analysis. // Exposures: SACT, tumor subtype, patient demographic characteristics (eg, age, sex, body mass index, race and ethnicity, smoking history), and comorbidities were investigated. // Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary end point was all-cause mortality within the primary hospitalization. // Results: Overall, 2515 of 2786 patients registered during the study period were included; 1464 (58%) were men; and the median (IQR) age was 72 (62-80) years. The mortality rate was 38% (966 patients). The data suggest an association between higher mortality in patients with hematological malignant neoplasms irrespective of recent SACT, particularly in those with acute leukemias or myelodysplastic syndrome (OR, 2.16; 95% CI, 1.30-3.60) and myeloma or plasmacytoma (OR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.04-2.26). Lung cancer was also significantly associated with higher COVID-19–related mortality (OR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.11-2.25). No association between higher mortality and receiving chemotherapy in the 4 weeks before COVID-19 diagnosis was observed after correcting for the crucial confounders of age, sex, and comorbidities. An association between lower mortality and receiving immunotherapy in the 4 weeks before COVID-19 diagnosis was observed (immunotherapy vs no cancer therapy: OR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.31-0.86). // Conclusions and Relevance: The findings of this study of patients with active cancer suggest that recent SACT is not associated with inferior outcomes from COVID-19 infection. This has relevance for the care of patients with cancer requiring treatment, particularly in countries experiencing an increase in COVID-19 case numbers. Important differences in outcomes among patients with hematological and lung cancers were observed