When to blink and when to think: preference for intuitive decisions results in faster and better tactical choices

Intuition is often considered an effective manner of decision making in sports. In this study we investigated whether a preference for intuition over deliberation results in faster and better lab-based choices in team handball attack situations with 54 male and female handball players of different expertise levels. We assumed that intuitive choices-due to their affective nature--are faster when multiple options are to be considered. The results show that athletes who had a preference for intuitive decisions made faster and better choices than athletes classified as deliberative decision makers. It is important that experts were more intuitive than near-expert and nonexpert players. The results support a take-the-first heuristic defining how options are searched for, how option generation is stopped, and how an option is chosen. Implications for the training of intuitive decision making are presented.     

Strategy development based on intangibles in SMEs – an integrated approach

The approach in this paper is based on the principles of action research and rapid prototyping. The paper shows the current status of a ‘bottom-up’ research process dedicated to continuously developing and improving management instruments that suit the requirements of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): pragmatic, easy-to-use and generating direct practical benefit. As a result, this paper links the concept of intangibles to the practical strategy development process in SMEs. The integration shown concerns several challenges: (1)?Integrate the internal and external perspective on intangibles, and, by that, link the concept of intellectual capital (IC) as a resource-based view with the concept of customer value as a market-based view. (2)?Integrate the theoretical concept of IC with a methodology for comprehensive strategy development. (3)?Integrate the formulation and implementation of business strategies taking into account the actual practice in SMEs.     

Verteilte Metadatenverwaltung und Anfragebearbeitung für Internet-Datenquellen

Wir pr?sentieren in dieser Arbeit das ObjectGlobe-System, ein offenes und verteiltes Anfragebearbeitungssystem auf Internet-Datenquellen. ObjectGlobe erweitert die begrenzten F?higkeiten des Internets bezüglich Anfragebearbeitung, indem es einen offenen Marktplatz schafft, in dem eine Vielzahl von Anbietern Rechenzeit, Daten und Anfrageoperatoren bereitstellen. Den Schwerpunkt dieses Beitrags bildet die im Rahmen des ObjectGlobe-Projekts entwickelte Metadatenverwaltung MDV, ein verteiltes Metadaten-Management-System. Es besitzt eine 3-schichtige Architektur und unterstützt Caching und Replikation in der Mittelschicht, so dass Anfragen lokal ausgewertet werden k?nnen. Benutzer spezifizieren die Informationen, die sie ben?tigen und die repliziert werden, mit Hilfe einer besonderen Regelsprache. Um Replikate aktuell zu halten und die Replikation von neuen und relevanten Informationen anzusto?en, verwendet das MDV-System einen neuartigen Publish & Subscribe-Algorithmus. Wir beschreiben diesen Algorithmus im Detail und zeigen, wie er mit Hilfe eines normalen relationalen Datenbanksystems implementiert werden kann.     

Teacher humor: longitudinal effects on students’ emotions

European Journal of Psychology of Education - Characteristics of teaching are associated with the emotions students experience in the classroom; however, empirical evidence regarding longitudinal...     

Active ingredients and factors for deep processing during an example-based training intervention

Learning Environments Research - In two experiments with German secondary school students (N1 = 43; N2 = 41), we aimed to analyze and optimize an effective learning...     

Confidence in performance judgment accuracy: the unskilled and unaware effect revisited

Since its introduction in the late 1990s, the unskilled and unaware effect motivated several further studies. As it stands, low-performing students are assumed to provide inaccurate and overconfident performance judgments. However, as research with second-order judgments (SOJs) indicates, they apparently have some metacognitive awareness of this. The current study with 266 undergraduate students aimed to provide in-depth insights into both the reasons for (in)accurate performance judgments and the appropriateness of SOJs. We implemented a general linear mixed model (GLMM) approach to study item-specific performance judgments in the domain of mathematics at the person and item level. The analyses replicated the well-known effects. However, the GLMM analyses revealed that low-performing students’ lower confidence apparently did not indicate subjective awareness, given that these students made inappropriate SOJs (lower confidence in accurate than in inaccurate judgments). In addition, students’ self-generated explanations for their judgements indicated that low-performing students have difficulties recognizing that they possess topic knowledge to solve an item, whereas high-performing students struggle with admitting that they do not know the answer to a question. In sum, our results indicate that students at all performance levels have some metacognitive weaknesses, which, however, occur subject to different judgment accuracy.     

Alternative vocabularies in the test validity literature

Justification of testing practice involves moving from one state of knowledge about the test to another. Theories of test validity can (a) focus on the beginning of the process, (b) focus on the end or (c) encompass the entire process. Analyses of four case studies test and illustrate three claims: (a) restrictions on validity entail a supplement required to obtain justification from validity. (b) Rationales for restrictions assume particular contexts. (c) Claims can be translated between contrasting vocabularies. Implications for consumers of test validity theory include encouragement to focus on content instead of form and to write and read mindfully of the multiplicity of validity vocabularies. Implications for producers of test validity theory include encouragement to consider multiple reconstructions of a particular theory of test validity, clearly distinguish validity theories from validity definitions, and focus on contributing arguments that constrain possible theories rather than contributing definitions or broad frameworks.     

To Play the Fool: Can Environmental Conservation and Democracy Survive Social Capital?

Two community-based conservation processes in the United States provide comparative case studies to examine how social capital relates to democracy. Following a summary of social capital research, we describe the cases: one designed to preserve an endangered species and the other to restore water quality. We discuss how social capital dampened democratic practice in one case, while invigorating it in the other. We conclude that, by relying indiscriminately on social capital in the absence of complementary state structures, conservationists risk losing the very nature they seek to defend, and all citizens risk losing the energy and space essential to democracy.     

Sensitivity of SEM Fit Indexes With Respect to Violations of Uncorrelated Errors

This simulation study investigated the sensitivity of commonly used cutoff values for global-model-fit indexes, with regard to different degrees of violations of the assumption of uncorrelated errors in confirmatory factor analysis. It is shown that the global-model-fit indexes fell short in identifying weak to strong model misspecifications under both different degrees of correlated error terms, and various simulation conditions. On the basis of an example misspecification search, it is argued that global model testing must be supplemented by this procedure. Implications for the use of structural equation modeling are discussed.     

Sind Sportreporter die objektiveren Beobachter?

There is ample evidence in the social psychological literature that the physical attractiveness of people influences their success in various areas of life. However, it cannot always be assumed that attractive people are really more productive. Rather the interaction partners and decision makers in the context of the respective social actions simply treat attractive people better. Giving such unsubstantiated privileges to attractive people is especially likely when no objective performance standards exist and the criteria for the performance assessment are not transparent. Because performance is well documented in professional sports and can be measured relatively objectively, 483 professional football (soccer) players of 18 teams in the German professional football league during the 2007/2008 season were included to determine how their attractiveness affects the assessment of their performance by sports reporters and trainers. The results show that in the judgment of objective performance sports reporters are not substantially influenced by the attraction of the players, while there is certainly an influence of the trainers’ judgment. This is attributed to the greater transparency and the greater adherence to the rules of journalistic judgment.