Digital Commons Network^™

Factors Influencing Surrogate End-Of-Life Healthcare Decision-Making For A Family Member With Alzheimer's Disease, Sharlene Toney

Nursing Dissertations (PhD)

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a chronic terminal disease, progressively impairs cognitive function resulting in deterioration of intellect, memory, and personality. With disease progression, the surrogate decision-maker becomes more involved in intervention choices and end-of-life (EOL) care, which may or may not be based on patients’ wishes or best practice guidelines. Yet surrogate decision outcomes involve important issues of medical futility, quality of life and death. The purpose of this study was to examine factors that influence surrogate health care decision-making for a family member during the terminal stage of AD. A descriptive, predictive design was used to address the research questions: …

Defining Health And Health-Related Behaviors Following A Near-Death Experience, Suzanne C. Robertson Phd

Dissertations

While broad categories of health and influences on definitions of health have been identified, the process through which adults define and re-define health has not been researched. The purpose of this study was to investigate the process of defining health and appropriate health-related behaviors following a near-death experience (NDE) as an adult and to articulate a grounded theory of decision-making. Five men and 15 women from the United States and United Kingdom were interviewed and the data were analyzed using the constant comparative method. The basic social process was I Still Had to Go Through the Process of Understanding. Understanding …

Including Ethics In The Study Of Educational Leadership, Charles Bowen, Harriet Bessette, T. C. Chan

Faculty Articles

This article offers reasons why ethics should be included within leadership preparation and suggestions for infusing it in leadership education classes. The authors argue that a framework of making ethical decisions, overviews of codes of conduct, and examinations of case studies of ethical and unethical behaviors become intentional components of leadership education curricula.

Forgotten Racial Equality: Implicit Bias, Decision-Making And Misremembering, Justin D. Levinson

ExpressO

This Article argues that judges and jurors unknowingly propagate racism through their legal decisions because they misremember case facts in implicitly biased ways. Such an argument bridges discourse in implicit social cognition, memory studies, and legal decision-making. Social cognition research indicates that implicit racial biases are automatic, pervasive, and often operate without conscious awareness. Memory studies demonstrate that memory errors are meaningful and systematic, and are often facilitated by stereotypes. Decision-making theory teaches that memory errors can not only affect the results of individual decision-making processes, but also that group deliberations are unlikely to resolve these errors. The author argues …

Elements Of Human Decision-Making, Jens G. Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

The purpose of this paper is to present some understandings of the human problem-solving activity that we have gained in the Collaborative Agent Design Research Center (CADRC) over the past two decades. Since we feel strongly that the human decision-maker should be an integral component of any computer-based decision-support system, it follows that we would have endeavored to incorporate many of the elements that appear to be important to the user in the design of these systems. The complexity of the human cognitive system is evidenced by the large body of literature that describes problem-solving behavior and the relatively fewer …

Culture Effects In The Ethical Decision-Making Process Of Latin American Accountants, Silvia Lopez Palau

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Despite the amount of accounting ethics research conducted over many years, two significant problems remain unsolved. First, there is a need to create accurate measurement instruments capable of predicting behavior within a theoretical framework of ethical decision-making. Second, it is important to develop ways to make measurements appropriate for application in other cultures or countries. Thus, the purpose of this study is twofold. The first objective is to develop a scale to measure the ethical evaluations, judgments, and intentions of Latin American accountants. The second goal is to determine the effects of national culture and gender on the results posited …

Multiobjective Simulation-Based Methodologies For Medical Decision Making., Ahmed Hassan Youssefagha

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A variety of methodologies have been employed for decision making related to the treatment of diseases/injury. Decision trees are a functional way in which to examine problems under uncertainty by providing a method to analyze decisions under risk (Detsky, 1996, 97). However, conventional decision trees do not completely represent "the real world" since they cannot investigate problems that are cyclic in nature (Jaafari, 2003). The stochastic tree that developed Hazen during 1992-to-1996 is one of the most relevant methods and techniques related to decision analyses that append more incorporation for medical intervention related to recurring diseases/injuries. "The approach combines features …

"Doing The Right Thing": A Study Of Cross-Generational Eldercare Decision-Making In Community And Disease Context, Jeannie Baron-Yenerall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Utilizing the sociology of knowledge perspective, as well as elements of structural-functional theory this study examined the decision-making process as it relates to eldercare. Specifically, how does the knowledge of available resources, community context, and caregiving beliefs affect the caregiving alternative one chooses? Furthermore, what role does family social milieus play in the decision-making process? This research used a 20-item interview schedule developed specifically for this study; and the unit of analysis was the individual responsible for making decisions about the care received by an elder. The survey used both closed and open-ended questions, designed to capture data related to …

Modelling Farmer Decision Making For Natural Resource Management Outcomes, Brett A. Bryan, J. Ward, Neville D. Crossman

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

This paper presents a conceptual modelling and simulation methodology that incorporates dryland farmer decision making into regional- and landscape-level natural resource management (NRM) planning. Decision making for many NRM on ground actions is made at the farm level so it makes sense to incorporate farmer behaviour into regional planning for meeting regional environmental objectives. Our model applies multi-attribute farmer utility functions within an agent-based simulation environment to model temporal change in land use and landscapes resulting from farmer implementation of on ground NRM actions. Farmer decision profiles are characterized using a survey of over 500 farmers. Landscape futures can also …

Without A Common Mental Model A Dss Makes No Sense (A New Approach To Frame Analysis Using Mental Models), M. J. Kolkman, A. Van Der Veen

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

In order to understand why the use of model software and its results in decision making is surrounded with a diversity of problems, this paper presents a new theoretical framework. The framework is based on the notions of frame and mental model that are commonly used in social sciences and psychology. Mental models are found to guide the activities of knowledge producing scientists, DSS builders, decision makers and stakeholders. These activities are described in a modelling cycle and a decision making cycle. The model – both software and mental – functions as an intermediate for knowledge transfer. The theoretical framework, …

A Protocol For The Development, Evaluation And Application Of Environmental Models In Decision Making, Noha Gaber, Pasky Pascual, Gary Foley, Neil Stiber, Elsie Sunderland

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Models have emerged as essential tools in environmental management, whether used to further the understanding of complex environmental processes or to inform decisions for environmental planning, remediation, protection or regulation. However, their utility aside, there is also an acknowledgment of their limitations. The question is not whether or not to use models, but rather how best to develop and use models to arrive at credible, defensible and robust decisions and what attributes make a model useful for a given situation. To understand the role of models and decision support tools in environmental management, we must first consider the different types …

Rank-Equivalence Method For Sensitivity Analysis Of An Integrated Model Of A River Catchment, J. K. Ravalico, Graeme C. Dandy, Holger R. Maier

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Integrated Assessment Modelling (IAM) incorporates knowledge from different disciplines to provide an overarching assessment of the impact of different management decisions. Integrated models generally require numerous parameters from varying sources, many not known with certainty. Rapid increases in model size and complexity, particularly in the case of integrated models for decision-making, pose new challenges for effective sensitivity analysis. Some of the identified shortcomings of existing sensitivity analysis methods in the context of IAM include: computational inefficiency, failure to assess parameter interactions, excessive data requirements (e.g. requiring parameter probability distributions), assumptions of model linearity and monotonicity and, in particular, difficulty of …

Rank-Equivalence Method For Sensitivity Analysis Of An Integrated Model Of A River Catchment, J. K. Ravalico, Graeme C. Dandy, Holger R. Maier

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Integrated Assessment Modelling (IAM) incorporates knowledge from different disciplines to provide an overarching assessment of the impact of different management decisions. Integrated models generally require numerous parameters from varying sources, many not known with certainty. Rapid increases in model size and complexity, particularly in the case of integrated models for decision-making, pose new challenges for effective sensitivity analysis. Some of the identified shortcomings of existing sensitivity analysis methods in the context of IAM include: computational inefficiency, failure to assess parameter interactions, excessive data requirements (e.g. requiring parameter probability distributions), assumptions of model linearity and monotonicity and, in particular, difficulty of …

Without A Common Mental Model A Dss Makes No Sense (A New Approach To Frame Analysis Using Mental Models), M. J. Kolkman, A. Van Der Veen

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

In order to understand why the use of model software and its results in decision making is surrounded with a diversity of problems, this paper presents a new theoretical framework. The framework is based on the notions of frame and mental model that are commonly used in social sciences and psychology. Mental models are found to guide the activities of knowledge producing scientists, DSS builders, decision makers and stakeholders. These activities are described in a modelling cycle and a decision making cycle. The model – both software and mental – functions as an intermediate for knowledge transfer. The theoretical framework, …

A Protocol For The Development, Evaluation And Application Of Environmental Models In Decision Making, Noha Gaber, Pasky Pascual, Gary Foley, Neil Stiber, Elsie Sunderland

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Models have emerged as essential tools in environmental management, whether used to further the understanding of complex environmental processes or to inform decisions for environmental planning, remediation, protection or regulation. However, their utility aside, there is also an acknowledgment of their limitations. The question is not whether or not to use models, but rather how best to develop and use models to arrive at credible, defensible and robust decisions and what attributes make a model useful for a given situation. To understand the role of models and decision support tools in environmental management, we must first consider the different types …

Modelling Farmer Decision Making For Natural Resource Management Outcomes, Brett A. Bryan, J. Ward, Neville D. Crossman

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

This paper presents a conceptual modelling and simulation methodology that incorporates dryland farmer decision making into regional- and landscape-level natural resource management (NRM) planning. Decision making for many NRM on ground actions is made at the farm level so it makes sense to incorporate farmer behaviour into regional planning for meeting regional environmental objectives. Our model applies multi-attribute farmer utility functions within an agent-based simulation environment to model temporal change in land use and landscapes resulting from farmer implementation of on ground NRM actions. Farmer decision profiles are characterized using a survey of over 500 farmers. Landscape futures can also …

The Influence Of Religion-Based Workplace Spirituality On Business Leaders’ Decision-Making: An Inter-Faith Study, Mario Fernando, B. Jackson

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The paper reports the findings of thirteen interviews with prominent Sri Lankan business leaders drawn from Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, and Muslim religious traditions. The in-depth interviews with the leaders were supplemented by documentary sources. When the leaders were asked why they engaged in religion-based workplace spirituality, their responses were often associated with decision-making. Although they had an array of management tools with which to deal with day-to-day management situations, they all indicated that, in ‘difficult’ moments, these tools needed to be complemented by processes by which they connected with the ultimate – variously identified as the transcendent reality, god, or …

Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners' Judgments Of Coronary Heart Disease Risk, Kelly D. Stamp

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the single largest killer of American males and females in the United States. According to the American Heart Association, (2005) approximately 41% of Americans that experience a coronary attack in a given year will die from it (AHA, 2005). To combat this growing problem, strategies need to be evaluated to assess how the identification of actual and potential CHD risks are made. This study utilized the Social Judgment Theory to gain insight into nurse practitioner's decision-making strategies. Sixty family or adult specialty nurse practitioners affiliated with the University of South Florida (USF) College of Nursing …

Factors Influencing Special Educators' Perceptives Regarding The Reintegration Of Special Education Students, Brandi L. Tanner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this investigation was to obtain information about special educators' perceptions of the reintegration of special education students into general education classrooms and factors affecting their reintegration decisions. Reintegration is the process of determining when it is appropriate to fade and eventually remove special education services for a student. Special educators often are in a good position to both initiate and facilitate this process. The current study surveyed special educators. Participants read vignettes depicting special education students with mild disabilities and answered a set of survey questions regarding their perceptions about reintegrating the students into the general education …

The Effects Of In-Group Bias And Decision Aids On Auditors' Evidence Evaluation, Eileen Zalkin Taylor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the effect of in-group bias and decision aid use on auditor judgments, confidence, and decisions in an analytical procedures task. In-group bias, a product of Social Identity Theory, may impair auditor independence by influencing auditor judgments. Auditors rely on client representations to support their opinion of the financial statements; however, clients are sometimes former auditors of the external audit firm. This prior relationship could lead the auditor to exhibit unwarranted trust of client representations. In an online mixed design experiment using staff and senior auditors, I test whether auditor judgments, confidence in those judgments, and decisions to …

Turning Points And Protective Processes: A Qualitative Study On Resilient Youth Through Their Perspective As Resilient Adults, Michael E. Monson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study investigates the processes of resiliency and the turning points of decision-making in youth from at-risk environments. The study utilizes a constructivist, qualitative approach, to examine indicators of resiliency from both an individual and contextual perspective. The narrative descriptions of eleven adults from at-risk childhoods are analyzed through biographical interviews.

Analyses were completed to determine common factors that contribute to the process of resiliency in successful adults. Results indicate that the influences of risk on healthy functioning are modified by shifting environmental protective factors, resources, and developed attributes of self-efficacy. Risk and adversity had a strengthening effect that contributed …

"Doing The Right Thing": A Study Of Cross-Generational Eldercare Decision-Making In Community And Disease Context, Jeannie Baron-Yenerall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Utilizing the sociology of knowledge perspective, as well as elements of structural-functional theory this study examined the decision-making process as it relates to eldercare. Specifically, how does the knowledge of available resources, community context, and caregiving beliefs affect the caregiving alternative one chooses? Furthermore, what role does family social milieus play in the decision-making process? This research used a 20-item interview schedule developed specifically for this study; and the unit of analysis was the individual responsible for making decisions about the care received by an elder. The survey used both closed and open-ended questions, designed to capture data related to …

Decision-Making Styles In A Real-Life Decision: Choosing A College Major, Kathleen M. Galotti, Elizabeth Ciner, Hope E. Altenbaumer, Heather J. Geerts, Allison Rupp, Julie Woulfe

Faculty Work

Undergraduate students were surveyed at the beginning stages of a potentially life-framing decision: choosing a college major. We investigated the relationships among individual difference variables (decision-making styles, planning proclivities, and epistemological orientations), cognitive measures of performance (e.g., amount of information gathered and considered); and affective reactions to, and descriptive ratings of, the decision-making process. There were few significant relationships between individual differences and performance measures. However, there were significant relationships found between individual differences measures and affective reactions to, or descriptive ratings of, the decision-making process. We suggest that stylistic measures have their effects in the way individuals frame the …

Let Me Vote! An Experimental Study Of Vote Rotation In Committees, R Bosman, P Maier, V Sadiraj, F Winden

ExCEN Working Papers

We conduct an experiment to investigate (i) whether rotation in voting increases a committee’s efficiency, and (ii) the extent to which rotation is likely to critically influence collective and individual welfare. The experiment is based on the idea that voters have to trade-off individual versus common interests. Our findings indicate that the choice of a rotation scheme has important consequences: it ‘pays’ to be allowed to vote, as voting committee members earn significantly more than non-voting members. Hence, rotation is not neutral. We also find that smaller committees decide faster and block fewer decisions. This reduces frustration among committee members.

"But I'M An Adult Now … Sort Of" Adolescent Consent In Health Care Decision-Making And The Adolescent Brain, Paul Arshagouni

Journal of Health Care Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

It’S Not About The Money: The Role Of Preferences, Cognitive Biases And Heuristics Among Professional Athletes, Michael Mccann

Law Faculty Scholarship

Professional athletes are often regarded as selfish, greedy, and out-of-touch with regular people. They hire agents who are vilified for negotiating employment contracts that occasionally yield compensation in excess of national gross domestic products. Professional athletes are thus commonly assumed to most value economic remuneration, rather than the love of the game or some other intangible, romanticized inclination.

Lending credibility to this intuition is the rational actor model, a law and economic precept which presupposes that when individuals are presented with a set of choices, they rationally weigh costs and benefits, and select the course of action that maximizes their …

Nontraditional Aged Undergraduates In Higher Education: A Qualitative Study Of Decisions And Satisfaction, John Howard Gilbert

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Nontraditional aged undergraduates, those aged 25 or older, now comprise nearly 40% of the higher education population, and are more heavily represented on some campuses, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (2002). This demographic shift has not been reflected in current research, with most higher education studies focused on the traditional aged 18 to 24 college cohort. The older undergraduate population is included in some studies for comparative purposes, or they are subject of limited, outcome centered, studies. This study takes an in-depth approach to this population, focusing on the educational decision-making process and several aspects of satisfaction …

A Qualitative Assessment Of Superintendents' Decision-Making Practices In Selecting School Violence Prevention Programs, Darren Anthony Petersen

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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