Andrew M. Parker

TEEN EXPECTATIONS FOR SIGNIFICANT LIFE EVENTS

Managing risks is an important part of growing up. Young people must decide whether to do things that they do not like (e.g., homework) in the hopes of getting things that they do (e.g., good jobs). They must also decide whether to avoid doing things that they do like (e.g., drinking heavily) in order to reduce the risk of outcomes that they do not (e.g., auto accidents). Making these decisions effectively requires accurate assessments of the probabilities of uncertain events occurring in their lives. As a result, risk perceptions play a central role in many psychological theories of adolescent development and health behavior (e.g., Beyth-Marom and Fischhoff 1997; Feldman and Elliott 1990; Fischhoff, Downs, and Bruine de Bruin 1998; Institute of Medicine 1999; Jacobs and Ganzel 1993) and in interventions designed to improve these perceptions (e.g., Baron and Brown 1991; Millstein, Petersen, and Nightingale 1993; Schulenberg, Maggs, and Hurnelmans 1997). Risk (and benefit) perceptions are also central to economic theories of human capital formation, which hold that teens’ willingness to invest in themselves should reflect the

Does receipt of seasonal influenza vaccine predict intention to receive novel H1N1 vaccine: evidence from a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults.

We analyze data on the intention of U.S. adults to receive novel H1N1 vaccine if available this fall, and studies the relationship between the intention to be vaccinated against novel H1N1 and the uptake of seasonal influenza vaccine last year. We surveyed a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults (n=2067) via the Internet between May 26th and June 8th, 2009. Our results imply a vaccination rate for novel H1N1 of 49.6%, which corresponds to roughly 115 million adult vaccinations. Moreover, novel H1N1 vaccination intentions are strongly associated with seasonal influenza vaccinations, suggesting common attitudinal barriers to both vaccines.

The multifold relationship between memory and decision making: an individual-differences study.

Several judgment and decision-making tasks are assumed to involve memory functions, but significant knowledge gaps on the memory processes underlying these tasks remain. In a study on 568 adults between 25 and 80 years of age, hypotheses were tested on the specific relationships between individual differences in working memory, episodic memory, and semantic memory, respectively, and 6 main components of decision-making competence. In line with the hypotheses, working memory was positively related with the more cognitively demanding tasks (Resistance to Framing, Applying Decision Rules, and Under/Overconfidence), whereas episodic memory was positively associated with a more experience-based judgment task (Recognizing Social Norms). Furthermore, semantic memory was positively related with 2 more knowledge-based decision-making tasks (Consistency in Risk Perception and Resistance to Sunk Costs). Finally, the age-related decline observed in some of the decision-making tasks was (partially or totally) mediated by the age-related decline in working memory or episodic memory. These findings are discussed in relation to the functional roles fulfilled by different memory processes in judgment and decision-making tasks.

The Effects of Price Discount and Product Complementarity on Consumer Evaluations of Bundle Components

Existing research in bundling has primarily focused on consumer evaluations of a bundle as a whole. Drawing upon reference price theory and mental accounting theory, this paper investigates the effects of price discounts on consumer evaluations of the discounted product in a bundle. It examines how these effects interplay with complementarity of bundle components. The results of three experimental studies indicate that bundle price discounts hurt consumer evaluations of the discounted bundle component, and complementarity of bundle components attenuates these negative effects by altering a consumers selection of mental accounts in the evaluation process.

Chapter 12 - Understanding Life-Span Developmental Changes in Decision-Making Competence

Because the median age of the population is increasing in the United States and other nations, it is important to consider how older adults can maintain and potentially improve their decision-making competence despite well-documented age-related cognitive declines. In this chapter, we integrate prior work defining decision-making competence as a set of skills, and show how competence can be measured using a portfolio of validated laboratory tasks developed by decision scientists. We trace evolving views of the deliberative and affective underpinnings of decision-making competence, reviewing research that has assessed age differences. We then present a life-span model of decision-making competence that focuses on the role of motivation for understanding how age-related changes in cognition, affect, and experience may influence decision-making competence and review relevant research. We conclude by identifying specific research challenges, gaps in the literature, and opportunities for improving decision making among individuals across the life span.

Improved Learning in U.S. History and Decision Competence with Decision-Focused Curriculum

Decision making is rarely taught in high school, even though improved decision skills could benefit young people facing life-shaping decisions. While decision competence has been shown to correlate with better life outcomes, few interventions designed to improve decision skills have been evaluated with rigorous quantitative measures. A randomized study showed that integrating decision making into U.S. history instruction improved students’ history knowledge and decision-making competence, compared to traditional history instruction. Thus, integrating decision training enhanced academic performance and improved an important, general life skill associated with improved life outcomes.

Negative Decision Outcomes Are More Common Among People with Lower Decision-Making Competence: an Item-Level Analysis of the Decision Outcome Inventory (DOI)

Most behavioral decision research takes place in carefully controlled laboratory settings, and examination of relationships between performance and specific real-world decision outcomes is rare. One prior study shows that people who perform better on hypothetical decision tasks, assessed using the Adult Decision-Making Competence (A-DMC) measure, also tend to experience better real-world decision outcomes, as reported on the Decision Outcomes Inventory (DOI). The DOI score reflects avoidance of outcomes that could result from poor decisions, ranging from serious (e.g., bankruptcy) to minor (e.g., blisters from sunburn). The present analyses go beyond the initial work, which focused on the overall DOI score, by analyzing the relationships between specific decision outcomes and A-DMC performance. Most outcomes are significantly more likely among people with lower A-DMC scores, even after taking into account two variables expected to produce worse real-world decision outcomes: younger age and lower socio-economic status. We discuss the usefulness of DOI as a measure of successful real-world decision-making.

Labor Force Transitions at Older Ages: The Roles of Work Environment and Personality

Besides compensation and financial incentives, several other work-related factors may affect individual retirement decisions. Specifically, job characteristics such as autonomy, skill variety, task significance and difficulty, stress and physical demands, peer pressure and relations with co-workers, play a crucial role in determining psychological commitment to work at older ages. While financial preparedness for retirement and health shocks are often cited as main predictors of the choice to exit the labor force, there exists relatively little research documenting the extent to which the work environment itself and its interaction with economic variables influence retirement decisions. We document that job characteristics are associated with labor force transitions at older ages, in particular transitions to retirement and part-time employment. Additionally, we show that while personality traits do not directly drive labor force transitions, the effect of job characteristics on labor supply outcomes varies with the “intensity” of personality traits. We also document that job characteristics themselves are strongly related to personality traits. This suggests that, depending on their personality, individuals may select into specific jobs, whose characteristics ultimately shape their retirement paths.

Who knew? Awareness of being recommended for influenza vaccination among US adults

Please cite this paper as: Maurer et al. (2012) Who knew? Awareness of being recommended for influenza vaccination among US adults. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses 6(4), 284–290.

Social Network Effects of Nonlifesaving Early-Stage Breast Cancer Detection on Mammography Rates

OBJECTIVES We estimated the effect of anecdotes of early-stage, screen-detected cancer for which screening was not lifesaving on the demand for mammography. METHODS We constructed an agent-based model of mammography decisions, in which 10 000 agents that represent women aged 40 to 100 years were linked together on a social network, which was parameterized with a survey of 716 women conducted through the RAND American Life Panel. Our model represents a population in equilibrium, with demographics reflecting the current US population based on the most recent available census data. RESULTS The aggregate effect of women learning about 1 category of cancers-those that would be detected but would not be lethal in the absence of screening-was a 13.8 percentage point increase in annual screening rates. CONCLUSIONS Anecdotes of detection of early-stage cancers relayed through social networks may substantially increase demand for a screening test even when the detection through screening was nonlifesaving.