Dawn L. Riddle

Communication and consumer decision making about cancer clinical trials

Communication between patients and physicians likely mediates traditional patient and physician predispositions in determining patient outcomes, including perceptions and decision making. However, the extent to which a mediating effect occurs is unclear. The purpose of this essay is to outline the need for conceptualizing more holistic models of consumer-provider interaction that demonstrate the role of the therapeutic relationship in treatment outcomes. We focus on an important communicative context for exploring this question: the situation where patients, with the help of oncologists, are faced with making treatment choices, particularly whether to enroll in a clinical trial in response to their life-threatening cancer diagnosis. We explore the question from the perspectives of the medical provider, the patient, and the accompanying family member, in order to better frame the complex interactional dynamics occurring during the interaction.

A portable, unobtrusive device for videorecording clinical interactions.

Recording and analyzing real-time interactions in clinical settings is important for basic and applied research in psychology and other disciplines. Investigators frequently have used simple audiotaping procedures to record these encounters (e.g., Roter, Geller, Bernhardt, Larson, & Doksum, 1999), but videorecording is increasingly viewed as more reliable and valid, because it captures the full range of complex and interdependent verbal and nonverbal behaviors that occur in an interaction. This article describes a system designed to videotape clinical interactions in a manner that can be moved in and out of different clinical rooms to preserve flexibility in its use. Data are presented to demonstrate that the system is unobtrusive during the interaction, yet fully compatible with institutional review board guidelines to protect human participants’ privacy and freedom to control the recording process.

Using rough sets to determine construct importance in a dynamic HCI environment

Rough set analysis is used as a methodology to identify the relative importance of variables for individuals who interact with various computer and other display and communication systems aboard Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS). A goal of the analysis is to determine optimal information display and interpersonal interaction strategies to minimize workload and maximize coordination among team members, including intelligent agents. Rough sets analysis yielded the rank order of importance of 15 variables on three constructs (individual experience, personality, team process) for each of three different types of AWACS operators.

Measurement and Feedback Strategies for Distributed Team Training Using the Internet

This paper describes a methodology related to measurement and feedback for distributed team training. Levels of analysis, levels of measurement, specific measures, and feedback strategies are addressed. A Web-based system was developed which permitted gathering and manipulating performance data and providing rapid feedback to participants. Pending modifications and improvements, the system is expected to permit generating and identifying important boundary conditions, especially those that mediate learning and performance.