Elena Bessarabova

A Communication Competence Approach to Examining Health Care Social Support, Stress, and Job Burnout

Drawing upon Krepss (1988) Relational Health Communication Competence Model (RHCCM), this study examined the effect of perceived communication competence on perceived stress and subsequently perceived job burnout. In addition, the role of social support satisfaction as a potential mediator between perceived communication competence and perceived stress was explored. The extended RHCCM was proposed and tested in a survey of 221 health care workers from three Veterans Administration hospitals in the United States. The model was tested by structural equation modeling. The results indicated support for the extended model. The implications of the findings for the extended RHCCM are discussed along with limitations of the study and directions for future research.

Implicit and explicit training in the mitigation of cognitive bias through the use of a serious game

We examine the mitigation of two cognitive biases through a video game.We conducted an experiment (N=708) to compare the game to an instructional video.The game was compared to outcomes testing knowledge and mitigation of the biases.Explicit instruction improved familiarity and knowledge of the biases more than implicit.More exposure through repeated play enhanced learning. Heuristics can interfere with information processing and hinder decision-making when more systematic processes that might lead to better decisions are ignored. Based on the heuristic-systematic model (HSM) of information processing, a serious training game (called MACBETH) was designed to address and mitigate cognitive biases that interfere with the analysis of evidence and the generation of hypotheses. Two biases are the focus of this paper-fundamental attribution error and confirmation bias. The efficacy of the serious game on knowledge and mitigation of biases was examined using an experiment in which participants (N=703) either played the MACBETH game or watched an instructional video about the biases. Results demonstrate the game to be more effective than the video at mitigating cognitive biases when explicit training methods are combined with repetitive play. Moreover, explicit instruction within the game provided greater familiarity and knowledge of the biases relative to implicit instruction. Suggestions for game development for purposes of enhancing cognitive processing and bias mitigation based on the MACBETH game design are discussed.

Empowered by Persuasive Deception: The Effects of Power and Deception on Dominance, Credibility, and Decision Making

This paper examines how power differences and deception jointly influence interactional dominance, credibility, and the outcomes of decision-making. Two theories, interpersonal deception theory and dyadic power theory, were merged to produce hypotheses about the effects of power and deception. A 3 (power: unequal-high, unequal-low, equal) × 3 (deception: truth-truth, truthful with deceptive partner, deceptive with truthful partner) experiment (N = 120) was conducted in which participants were asked to make a series of mock hiring decisions. Actor-partner analyses revealed that participants in the deception condition reported a significant increase in perceptions of their own power whereas their truthful partners reported a significant decrease in perceptions of their own power. Further, interactional dominance fostered credibility and goal attainment (i.e., making the best hiring decision in the truthful condition and hiring a friend in the deceptive condition) for both truth-tellers and deceivers.

Positive affect as informational feedback in goal pursuit

Two studies investigated the cognitive activation of a goal following a promise to complete it. Current theorizing about the impact of positive affect as informational feedback in goal pursuit suggests two contradictory conclusions: (1) positive affect can signal that sufficient progress towards a goal has been made, but also (2) positive affect can signal that commitment to a goal should be maintained. When individuals infer that significant progress toward goal achievement has been made, the goal should be deactivated, but when individuals infer that commitment to the goal should be maintained, goal activation should be increased. To determine the conditions in which positive affect leads to increased goal activation as opposed to goal deactivation, we proposed that competing goals serve as a moderator. We found that positive affect led to decreased goal activation when competing goals were present, but to increased goal activation when competing goals were absent.

MACBETH: Development of a Training Game for the Mitigation of Cognitive Bias

This paper describes the process of rapid iterative prototyping used by a research team developing a training video game for the Sirius program funded by the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA). Described are three stages of development, including a paper prototype, and builds for alpha and beta testing. Game development is documented, and the process of playtesting is reviewed with a focus on the challenges and lessons-learned. Advances made in the development of the game through the playtesting process are discussed along with implications of the rapid iterative prototyping approach.

Deceptive Language by Innocent and Guilty Criminal Suspects: The Influence of Dominance, Question, and Guilt on Interview Responses

This study proposed that criminal guilt interacts with dominance and interview question to affect linguistic properties during criminal interviews. A field experiment tested effects of criminal guilt, dominance, and question on linguistic properties of suspects’ responses using a 2 (criminal guilt: guilty/innocent) × 4 (question: Q1/Q2/Q3/Q4) mixed-model design with dominance as a covariate and question as a repeated factor. Analysis of linguistic properties from 37 criminal interviews indicated a hypothesized two-way interaction among dominance and guilt on immediacy and a three-way interaction among dominance, question, and guilt on complexity explored as part of the research question. Several other direct effects for dominance and question were noted. Implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.

Training Anchoring and Representativeness Bias Mitigation Through a Digital Game

Objective. Humans systematically make poor decisions because of cognitive biases. Can digital games train people to avoid cognitive biases? The goal of this study is to investigate the affordance of different educational media in training people about cognitive biases and to mitigate cognitive biases within their decision-making processes. Method. A between-subject experiment was conducted to compare a digital game, a traditional slideshow, and a combined condition in mitigating two types of cognitive biases: anchoring bias and representativeness bias. We measured both immediate effects and delayed effects after four weeks. Results. The digital game and slideshow conditions were effective in mitigating cognitive biases immediately after the training, but the effects decayed after four weeks. By providing the basic knowledge through the slideshow, then allowing learners to practice bias-mitigation techniques in the digital game, the combined condition was most effective at mitigating the cognitive biases both immediately and after four weeks.

Mitigating bias blind spot via a serious video game

We employed a serious video game to train participants on bias blind spot (BBS), capturing training effects on BBS mitigation and knowledge at three points in time. Experiment 1 (Nź=ź703) compared the effects of hybrid training (a combination of implicit and explicit training) to implicit training; Experiment 2 (Nź=ź620) tested the effects of just-in-time versus delayed feedback; and Experiment 3 (Nź=ź626) examined the effects of singleplayer versus multiplayer learning environments. We also tested differences in game duration (30 vs. 60źmin play) and repetition (single vs. repeated play). Overall, the video game decreased BBS linearly over time and increased BBS knowledge at posttest, but knowledge decayed at 8-week posttest. These and other results are discussed, along with the implications, limitations, and future research directions. We developed a serious videogame to train participants on bias blind spot (BBS).In three experiments, playing the game decreased BBS linearly over time.The game also consistently increased BBS knowledge at the first posttest.However, the effects on knowledge decayed at the 8-week posttest.We also found that repeated exposure to the game increased BBS knowledge.

Mitigating Cognitive Bias through the Use of Serious Games: Effects of Feedback

A serious video game was created to teach players about cognitive bias and encourage mitigation of both confirmation bias and the fundamental attribution error. Multiplayer and single-player versions of the game were created to test the effect of different feedback sources on bias mitigation performance. A total of 626 participants were randomly assigned to play the single player/multiplayer game once or repeatedly. The results indicate the single player game was superior at reducing confirmation bias and that repeated plays and plays of longer duration were more effective at mitigating both biases than a control condition where participants watched a training video.

A Further Exploration of the Effects of Restoration Postscripts on Reactance

This study examined the effectiveness of restoration of freedom postscripts at mitigating psychological reactance following recycling messages. Results of a 2 (freedom threat: high, low) × 2 (postscript: restoration, filler) plus 1 (offset no-message control) independent group experiment (N = 134) replicated prior findings demonstrating how freedom threats can increase reactance and subsequently reduce perceptions of message quality while increasing anger toward the message source. Furthermore, as predicted, following high-threat messages, a restoration postscript increased intentions to recycle, whereas following low-threat messages, no such differences were found.