Culture and decision‐making: Investigating cultural variations in the East Asian and North American online decision‐making processes

Research in cross‐cultural psychology suggests that East Asians hold holistic thinking styles whereas North Americans hold analytic thinking styles. The present study examines the influence of cultural thinking styles on the online decision‐making processes for Hong Kong Chinese and European Canadians, with and without time constraints. We investigated the online decision‐making processes in terms of (1) information search speed, (2) quantity of information used, and (3) type of information used. Results show that, without time constraints, Hong Kong Chinese, compared to European Canadians, spent less time on decisions and parsed through information more efficiently, and Hong Kong Chinese attended to both important and less important information, whereas European Canadians selectively focused on important information. No cultural differences were found in the quantity of information used. When under time constraints, all cultural variations disappeared. The dynamics of cultural differences and similarities in decision‐making are discussed.     

返回抑制的空间、视网膜和客体参照系

返回抑制是指当刺激出现在先前注意过的位置(或客体)时,人们的加工效率降低的一种抑制性注意机制。该注意机制对个体有适应性价值,它能够降低注意返回先前注意过的位置(或客体)的概率(PosnerCohen,1984),从而提高视觉采样(或搜索)的效率(Klein,1988)。返回抑制的参照系是返回抑制领域的重要理论问题。先前研究发现返回抑制的参照系可以是视网膜、空间和客体。本文介绍了返回抑制参照系研究的实验范式以及相关的行为、脑损伤及神经影像发现。此外,本文还就未来研究的方向和应该注意的问题进行了探讨。     

Will commute drivers switch to park-and-ride under the influence of multimodal traveler information? A stated preference investigation

The knowledge about en-trip mode switching behavior with presence of multimodal traveler information is very limited so far. This study investigated the impacts on commute drivers’ en-trip mode switch decisions of smartphone multimodal traveler information systems (SMTIS) which integrate dynamic information of auto-drive and subway park-and-ride (P&R). This is based on data collected from a stated preference survey in Shanghai, China. A panel mixed probit model which accounts for potential correlations of observations among a same driver and heterogeneity in preferences for travel time savings and comfort level of subway car was developed. The panel model has a much better goodness of fit than a model without consideration of panel effect and heterogeneity. The results show that SMTIS have significant impacts on commuter drivers’ decision about switching from auto drive to P&R; the impacts depend on personal attributes including gender, age, education level, income, and P&R use experience; the sensitivity to time savings in the case non-incident induced delays, and the sensitivity to comfort level of subway, both vary significantly among the driver sample.     

Make this detour and be unselfish! Influencing urban route choice by explaining traffic management

Traffic management policies aim to improve traffic flow by influencing the route choice of drivers, therefore preventing traffic jams in crowded cities. With respect to a system-optimum of the traffic network, drivers might have to make small-scale detours. The aim of this article is to encourage unselfish route choice behaviour in an urban context by informing drivers in advance about the objectives of traffic management. Two studies were conducted: (1) an online survey (N = 244) and (2) a driving simulation study (N = 48). The first study focussed on the general effect of recommendations for routes with longer travel times (system-optimal routes) when traffic management is explained. Other route choice attributes (travel time, red-light duration, time pressure) were analysed as well. Drivers were randomly confronted with 35 route choice scenarios consisting of a main route with certain red-light duration and an alternative route without. Results showed that the compliance with system-optimal routes is increased by around 10 percentage points when comparing the group with recommendation to the group without. This effect occurred independently of the variation of other route choice attributes. The second study aimed to determine if the compliance can be increased even more if drivers receive in-depth information about traffic management and experience ‘good’ as well as ‘bad’ recommendations in a driving simulator. Results showed no further effect of these manipulations on route choice. Only decision-making times and subjective evaluation were influenced by in-depth information compared to basic information. Altruism was partly correlated with decision-making. This article shows a novel approach to encouraging drivers to select routes with longer travel times for the benefit of the common good. Drivers’ knowledge gap regarding traffic management needs to be closed in order to enhance their understanding of traffic regulations. Finally, results of this research should be transferred to driver models within traffic simulations to estimate the effects on traffic networks.     

类别性空间记忆右侧化优势及其受威胁情境的影响

以往研究发现类别空间关系表征具有左半球激活优势,但在行为表现中是否存在对侧化的右侧化优势尚且不明确。本研究采用两个被试内实验,探讨空间记忆的行为表现是否具有右侧化优势以及这种优势是否受威胁情境的影响。实验1被试学习完一幅模拟地图中物体位置关系后进行相对位置判断任务,结果发现了显著的空间行为反应右侧化优势。实验2使被试在威胁情境中完成相同任务,发现右侧化优势消失。实验表明类别性空间记忆的行为表现具有右侧化优势,且具有情境不稳定性,这为空间记忆的偏侧化研究提供了一定的行为实验证据。     

The role of additional information in the compliance,satisfaction, psychological,and emotion responses of non-surgical patients with low back pain: An exploratory investigation

Abstract

Noncompliance and the psychological and emotional states of patients with low back pain are major concerns for health professionals. The current study evaluated whether amount of information available to patients enhanced compliance to a medical regimen and whether it reduced negative emotions in patients with low back pain. Forty-five orthopaedic non-surgical patients with low back pain were randomly assigned to one of three information presentation conditions: 1) Standard, 2) Pre-examination, and 3) Post-examination. Patients were also separated by compensation and noncompensation within each information group. Patients completed questionnaires at their initial visit and at their follow-up which evaluated their: levels of compliance to a prescribed treatment program, psychological, and emotional states. Results indicated that some patients benefitted from receiving additional information as the Pre-examination and Post-examination groups demonstrated superior comprehension and recall as well as higher levels of compliance to a physical therapy program. In addition, compensation patients complained of more negative psychological and emotional behaviors in comparison to noncompensation patients. Implications of the research and future research considerations were discussed.     

社会阶层分化视角下医患信息行为对医患关系的影响

目前社会阶层分化进程中的医患关系比较紧张,医患信息行为起了很大作用.由于历史原因多数医师未能认识到医患信息行为对医患沟通及医患关系的影响.患者作为医疗信息掌握的弱势群体,其对从医师处获得信息的依赖将长期存在,医师与患者信息行为必然相互影响.针对信息行为建立相应的培训及评价机制是十分必要的.