Better decisions through science - changing decision making processes by applying formal decision rules

Scientific Conference (2013)

Implicit attitudes toward smoking: How the smell of cigarettes influences college-age smokers and non-smokers

in Journal of Health Psychology (2013)

The habit of smoking may have automatic behavioral components guided by implicit attitudes. Smokers’ attitudes toward smoking should thus be less negative than nonsmokers’, so that a salient smoking cue ... [more ▼]

The habit of smoking may have automatic behavioral components guided by implicit attitudes. Smokers’ attitudes toward smoking should thus be less negative than nonsmokers’, so that a salient smoking cue (smell) is able to activate positive aspects of these attitudes. An affective priming task was used to explore this hypothesis. Unexpectedly, smokers and nonsmokers showed equally negative implicit attitudes, irrespective of smell. Smokers exposed to the cigarette smell did, however, display generally slower responses than nonsmokers, suggesting attentional bias. This could have implications for smoking policies in contexts where attentional factors affect performance. [less ▲]

Implicit associations and compensatory health beliefs in smokers: Exploring their role of behaviour and their change through warning labels

in British Journal of Health Psychology (2013), 18

"Smoking kills” vs. “Smoking makes restless”: Effectiveness of different warning labels on smoking behavior

in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (2013), 2

„Bitte ein….“: Der Einfluss von Alkoholwerbung auf Einstellungen und Verhalten

in Rossmann, Constanze; Hastall, Matthias R. (Eds.) Medien und Gesundheitskommunikation: Befunde, Entwicklungen und Herausforderungen (2013)

Beyond fear appeals: Contradicting positive smoking outcome expectancies to influence smokers' implicit attitudes, perception, and behavior.

in Addictive Behaviors (2012), 37

Smokers often have (implicit or explicit) positive smoking outcome expectancies that motivate them to smoke. For instance, they may feel that smoking is relaxing, that it improves concentration, or that ... [more ▼]

Smokers often have (implicit or explicit) positive smoking outcome expectancies that motivate them to smoke. For instance, they may feel that smoking is relaxing, that it improves concentration, or that it is seen as cool and attractive by peers. These expectations are, for the most part, illusory. In order to counteract these expectations, we designed cigarette package warning labels that contradicted common positive outcome expectancies. We investigated the effectiveness of our new warning labels in two experiments. We first measured smokers' implicit attitudes toward smoking using an affective priming method and found that our new warning labels changed positive attitudes into ambivalent attitudes. We then tested whether our warning labels changed smokers' self-reported positive outcome expectancies and smoking behavior. Smokers presented with the new warning labels immediately associated positive outcome expectancies less strongly with smoking and reported smoking fewer cigarettes in the 24 hours following the experiment. Explicitly taking the reasons for unhealthy behavior into account when trying to change people's habits could offer a valuable contribution to effective health campaigns. [less ▲]

Do social variables affect school placement decisions in Luxembourg?

in Shoniregun, C. A.; Akmayeva, G. A. (Eds.) Ireland International Conference on Education - IIEC 2012 proceedings (2012)

In Luxembourg, the assignment of primary-school students to one of the tracks in secondary school is regulated by the Luxembourgish Ministry of Education. These regulations entail four criteria according ... [more ▼]

In Luxembourg, the assignment of primary-school students to one of the tracks in secondary school is regulated by the Luxembourgish Ministry of Education. These regulations entail four criteria according to which decisions about the assignment should be made. With the study at hand, it was examined whether teachers meet these four criteria when assigning students to either the academic track or the vocational track of secondary school. We conducted multi-level regression analyses on a representative sample of 2,731 Luxembourgish primary school 6th graders. Six major results were obtained. (1) Students’ school marks in language courses were most predictive for school placement decisions. (2) School marks were on average of more predictive value than were scores of standardized scholastic achievement tests. (3) Working and learning habits of the students played a role when teachers made their school placement decisions. (4) There was a strong positive relationship between the teachers’ placement decisions and the parents’ schooling preferences. (5) The socio-economic back- ground of the students did substantially affect school placement decisions. (6) Even when achievement variables were controlled for, migration background of students contributed significantly to teachers’ school placement decisions. [less ▲]

Are digital games perceived as fun or danger? Supporting and suppressing different game-related concepts

in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking (2012), 15

Violent digital game play has repeatedly been discussed to be strongly related to aggression and emotional instability. Thus, digital game players have to defend against these prejudices through ... [more ▼]

Violent digital game play has repeatedly been discussed to be strongly related to aggression and emotional instability. Thus, digital game players have to defend against these prejudices through emphasizing positive game-related concepts such as achievement, social interaction, and immersion. We experimentally investigated which positive- and negative-concept players and nonplayers activate when being primed with digital games. Participants were either exposed to violent or nonviolent game content and were required to work on a lexical decision task. Results showed that response latencies for the concept aggression and emotional instability were faster than for neutral concepts (not associated with digital games), but slower than for the positive concepts sociality and competition. Both players and nonplayers felt the need to defend against prejudices and emphasized positive concepts. Neither their own gaming experience nor the game content influenced the results. Being a part of the net generation is sufficient to suppress negative game-related concepts and to support positive game-related concepts to protect digital games as common leisure activity among peers. [less ▲]

School placement decisions in Luxembourg: Do teachers meet the Education Ministry’s standards?

in Literacy Information and Computer Education Journal (2012), 1

Impression formation or prediction? Category fit and task influence forensic person memory.

in Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice (2011), 11

We experimentally investigated whether forensic psychologists differ from laymen in their use of heuristic and integrated information processing depending on the given task and category fit of information ... [more ▼]

We experimentally investigated whether forensic psychologists differ from laymen in their use of heuristic and integrated information processing depending on the given task and category fit of information. Participants’ task was either forming an impression or predicting the development of a fictitious rapist and a fictitious robber-and-murderer. Case report recall was measured. Results showed that experts processed the rapist’s information heuristically when offender information fit the category and the task required impression formation. In contrast, laymen did not apply the offender categories and processed all the information using an integrated strategy. When predicting the development of an offender, forensic psychologists integrated all relevant information. The robber-and-murderer information was always processed using an integrated strategy. The practical relevance of the results is discussed. [less ▲]