Stefan Strohschneider

Planning and Problem Solving Differences between Brazilian and German Students

In cognitive psychology, there is an increasing interest in problem solving and planning processes in complex and ill-defined situations. To examine cultural differences in planning processes, two instruments are used both with Brazilian and German university students (n = 38 each) as participants: the Planning Inventory, which consists of everyday problem scenarios, and the Coldstorage, which is a computer-simulated dynamic problem. In the Planning Inventory, Brazilian participants accept the given descriptions and are more optimistic about the results of their efforts. German participants tend to inquire more about the background of the problems and take a more active approach but are less optimistic. In the Coldstorage simulation, the Brazilian participants have more difficulties in controlling the system. This is attributed to their presence orientation, which makes it difficult to detect developmental patterns. The results are discussed following a functional perspective that interprets cognitive processes within their ecocultural context.

Ein System zur Handlungsregulation oder Die Interaktion von Emotion, Kognition und Motivation

Unsere Arbeitsgruppe beschaftigt sich seit vielen Jahren mit dem Verhalten von Menschen, die sich in komplexen dynamischen Situationen handelnd bewegen mussen.

Cultural Factors in Complex Decision Making

Complex decision-making is conceptualised as the process of problem solving in meaningful and important, but complex, dynamic and partially opaque situations. This process is open to a number of cultural influences, among them educational practices, environmental predictability, and power distance. Two empirical studies that explore into the cultural relativity of this type of decision making use interactive computer simulations of complex problems as research instruments. There are a number of behavioural differences between participants from India and Germany which can be explained within a culture-theoretical framework and give reason for the plea to include cultural factors in theories on human decision making. Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. This article is available in Online Readings in Psychology and Culture: http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/orpc/vol4/iss1/1

MS ANTWERPEN: emergency management training for low-risk environments

Emergency management training programs have been developed mostly for trainees from high-risk environments such as aviation or the chemical industry. This article describes a training program for staff members from low-risk environments such as hospitals or hotels, where the awareness of potential dangers is usually low and emergency plans are often outdated or missing. The goal is to equip members of such organizations with some basic competencies necessary for effective functioning in the context of an emergency management team. The training is based on learning by doing, guided reflection, and instruction. The main training tool is a dynamic and interactive computer simulation of a passenger cruiser called MS ANTWERPEN. Participants enact different roles of this ship’s leading crew and are confronted with a number of crises and emergencies. Results of a pilot evaluation study with staff members from a large hospital confirm the expectations regarding the effectiveness of the approach.

Komplexes Problemlösen - Königsweg der Theoretischen Psychologie?

Zusammenfassung. Unter dem Schlagwort “Komplexes Problemlosen” wird ein Forschungsprogramm vorgestellt, das primar auf die theoretische Integration von kognitiven, emotionalen und motivationalen Prozessen ausgerichtet ist. Nach der einleitenden Darstellung historischer und methodologischer Grundlagen werden drei aktuelle Forschungsbereiche skizziert, namlich die Analyse der Rolle der Selbstreflexion beim Problemlosen, die kulturelle Einbettung des Denkens und - als Beispiel fur ein anwendungsorientiertes Projekt - die Untersuchung von Konstruktionsprozessen im Maschinenbau. Abschliesend wird die PSI-Theorie, eine umfassende und vollstandig formalisierte Theorie zur Erklarung menschlichen Verhaltens in komplexen Situationen in ihrem Umrissen dargestellt.

Enhancing Safety through Generic Competencies

This article provides insights into proactive safety management and mitigation. An analysis of accident reports reveals categories of supervening causes of accidents which can be directly linked to the concept of generic competencies (information management, communication and coordination, problem solving, and effect control). These findings strongly suggest adding the human element as another safety-constituting pillar to the concept of ship safety next to technology and regulation. The authors argue that the human element has unique abilities in dealing with critical and highly dynamic situations which can contribute to the systems recovery from non-routine or critical situations. By educating seafarers in generic competencies we claim to enable the people onboard to successfully deal with critical situations.

Role‐specific psychological requirements in preparing public transportation staff for disaster response

– Human behavior significantly determines the scale of impact of hazardous situations. If crisis situations are highly dynamic, they can only be managed successfully if both personnel and organization are well prepared. The purpose of this paper is to capture the specific demands disaster management staff are facing, from a psychological perspective., – General psychological statements based on action theory and organizational theory serve as the starting point for analyzing aspects of cooperation, especially in inter‐professional communication and coordination. The analysis is based on data which were collected in structured expert interviews and observations within the domain of German emergency organizations and public‐transportation companies., – The findings suggest shortcomings on different levels: individual (restricted routines, unprepared for “out of focus” events); organizational (regulations, training) and political (lack of public preparedness for disaster in underground traffic systems; and restrictions on large‐scale training)., – Interviewees have not experienced “real” major disasters, so their answers are not derived from hands‐on experience. Also, generalization to other traffic systems or companies may show different patterns., – Training emergency response staff in public transport systems should include psychological aspects of crisis management in addition to emergency management, e.g. building a shared mental model, and requirements of inter‐professional communication., – Psychological demands of crisis situations in public transport have not yet been a focus of research or training.

A STUDY OF MOTIVATIONAL ASPECTS INITIATING VOLUNTEERISM IN DISASTER MANAGEMENT IN GERMANY

Volunteer work is an important aspect that influences a society ́s ability to cope with different kinds of security threats and disasters. However, the motivational and social sources that drive civil engagement in the field of disaster management are not understood very well. If societies want to preserve or increase their resilience and thus reduce their vulnerability to disasters, volunteerism is an important topic to look into. In order to foster voluntary engagement in disaster management, it is essential to both understand the motivational sources that drive volunteers and establish appropriate conditions for future voluntary engagement. In this article, motivations of volunteers in three regions of Germany are analysed using a theoretical model that builds on the works by psychologists Dörner and Bischof. The model considers volunteerism as a way of catering to three basic needs of human beings: the need for affiliation, the need for certainty and the need for control. This model is applied to data gathered from unstructured and semi-structured interviews with volunteers and professionals working in the field of disaster management in Germany.

Die Kunst der Stabsarbeit – Ein Essay

Der Essay beschreibt die Arbeit in Staben als schwierige und ausgesprochen anforderungsreiche Tatigkeit, deren Gelingen von einer Vielzahl von Voraussetzungen abhangt. In Form einer durchaus subjektiv gefarbten, vor allem auf der Beobachtung von Staben basierenden Auseinandersetzung mit diesen Voraussetzungen werden einige Aspekte herausgearbeitet, die insbesondere fur die Personen, die in Staben im Ernstfall Entscheidungen zu treffen und zu verantworten haben, relevant sind: „Stabsarbeit“ kann „Stabskunst“ werden, wenn die Handelnden uber die Befahigung zu strategischer Flexibilitat, uber ein geschutztes Kompetenzempfinden und ein gewisses Mas an moralischer Bildung verfugen. Einige Uberlegungen zum Stabstraining und zur Auswahl von Stabspersonal schliesen den Essay ab.

Kollektive und Kultur – Sozialpsychologische Perspektiven

Es ist im Grunde ein fast unmögliches Unterfangen, den Begriff des Kollektivs aus psychologischer Perspektive zu skizzieren. In den letzten 100 Jahren nämlich spielt der Begriff „Kollektiv“ in der wissenschaftlichen Psychologie, von einigen Randerscheinungen abgesehen, keine Rolle. Wir haben uns deshalb dafür entschieden, mit einer theoriehistorischen Herangehensweise relevante Entwicklungslinien (besonders aus der Sozialpsychologie) nachzuzeichnen, die für unser Thema relevant sein könnten. Die Anfänge der wissenschaftlichen Psychologie werden eng mit dem Werk Wilhelm Wundts verbunden. Er skizzierte ein zweigleisiges Forschungsprogramm für die neu entstehende Disziplin: die Völkerpsychologie und die experimentelle Psychologie. Die zehn Bände seiner Völkerpsy-