Decision making with information search constraints: A process-tracing study

The present study examined the influence of information search constraints both on the information search pattern and on the perceived inner states during the decision making process. We arranged the following three information search constraints con-ditions: (1) An upper-limited-search (UL) condition in which a decision maker could not examine the same piece of information for the decision task more than once, (2) A lower-limited-search (LL) condition in which a decision maker had to examine every piece of information for the decision task more than once, and (3) A non-limited-search (NL) condition in which a decision maker could examine any number of information. Participants consisted of 76 female and male university students, which were randomly assigned into one out of three conditions. In line with the simplifying and the mobilizing hypotheses, the participants in the UL condition more often used non-compensatory simplifying decision strategies and more slowly checked for information than partici-pants in the LL and NL conditions

Effects of reward on self-regulation, intrinsic motivation and creativity

This article evaluates the effects of two types of rewards (performance-contingent versus engagement-contingent) on self-regulation, intrinsic motivation and creativity. Forty-two undergraduate students were randomly assigned to three conditions; i.e. a performance-contingent reward group, an engagement-contingent reward group and a control group. Results provide little support for the negative effects of performance rewards on motivational components. However, they do indicate that participants in the engagement-contingent reward group and the control group achieved higher rated creativity than participants in the performance-contingent reward group. Alternative explanations for this finding are discussed

A Study of Relationship between Helping Motives and Non-helping Motives for Prosocial Behavior

この研究の目的は，援助動機と非援助動機の関係を解明することである。191名の大学生は，25個の援助動機が援助の原因になると思う程度と，26個の非援助動機が非援助の原因になると思う程度を評定した。この評定得点を基に，動機間の相関値が算出された。そして，その相関行列に因子分析法，正準相関分析法，およびグループ主軸法などの多変量解析法が適用された。その結果，次のような知見を得ることができた。(1) 2種類の動機の領城は，まったく逆の関係にではなく，一次独立の関係にある。(2) 字義的に対応すると予想された援助動機と非援助動機は，実際の関係構造において，必ずしも対応しておらず，かなり複雑な関係となっている。これらは，援助行動の研究に際して，両動機の検討の必要性を示唆している。The purpose of the present study was to make clear the relationship between helping motives facilitating prosocial behavior and non-helping motives restraining prosocial behavior. Subjects (191 university students) rated the likelihood for each of 25 helping motives as a cause of helping and for each of 26 non-helping motives as a cause of non-helping. The correlations between motives were calculated by using the rating scores. Then, the matrix of the correlations was subjected to factor analysis, canonical correlation analysis, and group axis method. The main results were as follows. (1) Two domains of helping and non-helping motives were somewhat related. However, the relationship was not a reverse one. At least, they were not linearly dependent. (2) The relationship structure between the two domains of helping and non-helping motives was quite complicated. That is, the literally similar motives did not always correspond in the actual relationship between helping and non-helping motives. These results suggest that the researcher must examine the prosocial behavior from both points of helping and non-helping motives

Measuring the Response to Housing Energy Labels in Japan by Using an Eye-Tracking Experiment.

金沢大学人間社会研究域経済学経営学系This study focuses on energy labels, which are set to be displayed mandatorily in Japanese real estateadvertisements soon. In this study, we conducted eye-tracking experiments to identify effective designelements for energy labels. The novelty of this study lies in the fact that we not only collected data onreaction times and areas of interest (AOIs) using eye tracking, but also conducted a panel analysiscontrolling for individual effects by adding data from a questionnaire survey conducted after theexperiment. Our findings verified that the display of energy labels in real estate advertisements is likelyto lead to improved consumer understanding of energy conservation standards as learning effects. Thissuggests rehearsal effects that invited availability heuristics by appearing repeatedly. Moreover, theresults of the panel analysis suggest that design of energy labels are important on reaction time andnumber of round trips between the AOIs. We compared the two label designs in the experiment, theinformation in the European Union energy label was difficult to read and judge intuitively, and canconclude the rating scale label was more suitable for advertising and readers in Japan. As energy labelshelp with increased consumer awareness regarding energy standards of dwellings and energy saving,an early start to labeling is recommended

Influence of Biomedical Factors on the Five Viscera Score (FVS) on Middle-Aged and Elderly Individuals: Application of Structural Equation Modeling

The five viscera score (FVS) is a diagnostic scale for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The purposes of current study are to elucidate the characteristics of FVS obtained from middle-aged to elderly individuals and to investigate the validity of FVS using biological medical data of middle-aged and elderly individuals. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to conduct assessments between FVS and medical data. Eighty men and 99 women participated in this study, whose mean ages (SD) were 58 ± 7 years in both genders showing no significant difference. FVS of women was significantly higher than that of men in the spleen of the 50s (P=0.019) and liver of the 60s age group (P=0.030). By SEM, the following biomedical factors were found to influence viscera: gender, diastolic blood pressure, and HDL-C for the liver; GLU, GOT, and γ-GTP for the spleen; age, BMI, and HCRP for the lungs; and HbA1c and creatinine clearance for the kidneys. These results provide objective evidence that FVS can be used for TCM diagnosis in middle-aged and elderly individuals

Dopamine D_1 Receptors and Nonlinear Probability Weighting in Risky Choice

Misestimating risk could lead to disadvantaged choices such as initiation of drug use (or gambling) and transition to regular drug use (or gambling). Although the normative theory in decision-making under risks assumes that people typically take the probability-weighted expectation over possible utilities, experimental studies of choices among risks suggest that outcome probabilities are transformed nonlinearly into subjective decision weights by a nonlinear weighting function that overweights low probabilities and underweights high probabilities. Recent studies have revealed the neurocognitive mechanism of decision-making under risk. However, the role of modulatory neurotransmission in this process remains unclear. Using positron emission tomography, we directly investigated whether dopamine D_1 and D_2 receptors in the brain are associated with transformation of probabilities into decision weights in healthy volunteers. The binding of striatal D_1 receptors is negatively correlated with the degree of nonlinearity of weighting function. Individuals with lower striatal D_1 receptor density showed more pronounced overestimation of low probabilities and underestimation of high probabilities. This finding should contribute to a better understanding of the molecular mechanism of risky choice, and extreme or impaired decision-making observed in drug and gambling addiction

A comparison of hand-arm vibration syndrome between Malaysian and Japanese workers

A Comparison of Hand-arm Vibration Syndrome between Malaysian and Japanese Workers: Anselm Ting SU, et al. Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Malaya, Malaysia-The evidence on hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) in tropical environments is limited. The legislation for the control of occupational vibration exposure has yet to be established in Malaysia. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics of HAVS in a tropical environment in comparison with a temperate environment. Methods: We conducted a series medical examinations among the forestry, construction and automobile industry workers in Malaysia adopting the compulsory medical examination procedure used by Wakayama Medical University for Japanese vibratory tools workers. We matched the duration of vibration exposure and compared our results against the Japanese workers. We also compared the results of the Malaysian tree fellers against a group of symptomatic Japanese tree fellers diagnosed with HAVS. Results: Malaysian subjects reported a similar prevalence of finger tingling, numbness and dullness (Malaysian=25.0%, Japanese=21.5%, p=0.444) but had a lower finger skin temperature (FST) and higher vibrotactile perception threshold (VPT) values as compared with the Japanese workers. No white finger was reported in Malaysiansubjects. The FST and VPT of the Malaysian tree fellers were at least as bad as the Japanese tree fellers despite a shorter duration (mean difference=20.12 years, 95%CI=14.50, 25.40) of vibration exposure. Conclusions: Although the vascular disorder does not manifest clinically in the tropical environment, the severity of HAVS can be as bad as in the temperate environment with predominantly neurological disorder. Hence, it is essential to formulate national legislation for the control of the occupational vibration exposure