Cognitive biases explain religious belief, paranormal belief, and belief in life's purpose.

Science.gov (United States)

Willard, Aiyana K; Norenzayan, Ara

2013-11-01

Cognitive theories of religion have postulated several cognitive biases that predispose human minds towards religious belief. However, to date, these hypotheses have not been tested simultaneously and in relation to each other, using an individual difference approach. We used a path model to assess the extent to which several interacting cognitive tendencies, namely mentalizing, mind body dualism, teleological thinking, and anthropomorphism, as well as cultural exposure to religion, predict belief in God, paranormal beliefs and belief in life's purpose. Our model, based on two independent samples (N=492 and N=920) found that the previously known relationship between mentalizing and belief is mediated by individual differences in dualism, and to a lesser extent by teleological thinking. Anthropomorphism was unrelated to religious belief, but was related to paranormal belief. Cultural exposure to religion (mostly Christianity) was negatively related to anthropomorphism, and was unrelated to any of the other cognitive tendencies. These patterns were robust for both men and women, and across at least two ethnic identifications. The data were most consistent with a path model suggesting that mentalizing comes first, which leads to dualism and teleology, which in turn lead to religious, paranormal, and life's-purpose beliefs. Alternative theoretical models were tested but did not find empirical support. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Belief system, meaningfulness, and psychopathology associated with suicidality among Chinese college students: a cross-sectional survey.

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Zhao, Jiubo; Yang, Xueling; Xiao, Rong; Zhang, Xiaoyuan; Aguilera, Diane; Zhao, Jingbo

2012-08-17

Research suggests that Chinese religious believers are more likely to commit suicide than those identifying as non-religious among rural young adults, contrary to findings in Western countries. However, one cannot conclude that religiosity is associated with elevated suicide risk without examining the effect of political and religious beliefs in a generally atheist country like China where political belief plays a dominant role in the belief system of young adults. The present study investigated the effects of political and religious belief on suicidality with meaningfulness and psychopathology as potential mediators in a large representative sample of Chinese college students. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1390 first-year college students randomly sampled from 10 colleges and universities in mainland China. A total of 1168 respondents (84.0%) provided complete data on all variables. Lifetime prevalence of suicidal ideation, plan, and attempt were 45.1%, 6.8%, and 1.9% respectively, with one-year suicidal ideation showing at 19.3%. Female gender was associated with elevated risk of suicidality. Political belief but not religious belief was associated with decreased suicide risk. A significant interactive effect of political belief and religious belief was found, indicating that for political believers, being religious was associated with decreased suicide risk; for non-political believers, being religious was associated with increased suicide risk. Multi-group structural equation modeling showed that meaningfulness completely mediated and psychopathology partially mediated the effect of belief system on suicidality. Gender differences were found in pathways of political belief by religious beliefs to suicidality and political belief to psychopathology. The coefficients were significant for males but not for females. In less religious societies, political belief may serve as a means of integration as does religious affiliation in religious societies

Analyzing Sexual Health-Related Beliefs Among Couples in Marriage Based on the Health Belief Model

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Majid Barati

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Sexual health is the integrity between mind, emotions, and body, and any disorder leading to discoordination, can be associated with sexual dysfunction. The aim of this study was to investigate the beliefs of couples attending marriage counseling centers toward sexual health based on the health belief model. Materials and Methods: This cross sectional descriptive study was performed on 400 couples referring to marriage counseling centers of Hamadan recruited with a random sampling method. The participants completed a self-administered questionnaire including demographic characteristics, knowledge and health belief model constructs. Data analysis was performed using SPSS-16 software, by Pearson’s coefficient correlation, independent T-test, and one-way ANOVA. Results: Couples had a moderate knowledge of sexual health. In addition, perceived susceptibility and severity of the consequences of unsafe sexual behavior among couples were not satisfactory however, perceived benefits and barriers were reported in a relatively good level. Internet and friends were the most important sources for sexual health information. Conclusion: Promoting knowledge and beliefs toward sexual health by preparing training packages based on the needs of couples and removing obstacles to have normal sexual behavior are necessary.

Normative Values in Teachers' Conceptions of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: A Belief System Approach

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Schwieler, Elias; Ekecrantz, Stefan

2011-01-01

The effects of teachers' normative values and emotive reactions on teaching in higher education have received relatively little research attention. The focus is often on descriptive beliefs such as conceptions of teaching and their inter-relations with practice. In this study, which is illustrated by a heuristic model, a belief system approach is…

Influencing factors in the health promoting behaviors of Urinary system based on health belief model in pregnant women in Bushehr 2013-14

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Farzaneh Noroozi

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Background: Urinary tract infection is the second most common complication of pregnancy that will follow with maternal and fetal complications. The aim of this study was to identify factors affecting the urinary system health promoting behaviors in pregnant women based on the health belief model. Materials and methods: The present study is a descriptive - analytic study was performed on 250 pregnant women referred to health centers of Bushehr. The tools for collecting information was a multi sectional questionnaire consisting of demographic information, measurement of urinary system health behavior, knowledge and health belief model constructs, which its validity and reliability were ensured previously. Data analysis was performed with SPSS version 20 by using correlation coefficient and linear regression tests. Results: The mean age of subjects 27/4±4/4 years.The relationship between demographic variables and health behavior wasn’t found. The most people (179 equivalents to 71/6% had medium level of knowledge about urinary tract infection, and only 44 women (17.6% had appropriate awareness. Mean score of preventive behaviors was significant difference between different levels of knowledge (p =0/026, self efficacy (p=0/000 and perceived barriers (p=0/002. In multivariate ANOVA, only the self efficacy had strong positive relationship with the preventing behaviors of urinary tract infection (p=0/000. Conclusion: Based on these results, the necessity of education based on health belief model with an emphasis on increasing the efficacy is necessary.

Mapping the criminal mind: idiographic assessment of criminal belief systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Walters, Glenn D

2005-02-01

An idiographic procedure designed to assess the belief systems of criminal offenders is described, investigated, and clarified. This measure, the Cognitive Map of Major Belief Systems (CMMBS), assesses the five belief systems (self-view, world-view, past-view, present-view, future-view) held to occupy the higher echelons of human cognition. Modest to moderate test-retest reliability was achieved when 19 inmates, enrolled in one of three drug-counseling groups, completed the CMMBS on two separate occasions, 2 weeks apart. It was also ascertained that the drug treatment specialist who served as therapist for all three groups "blindly" matched the 19 CMMBS records to the inmates who produced them. A case study of one of the 19 participants was used to illustrate how the CMMBS is employed with individual offenders and how belief systems interact with major schematic subnetworks such as attributions, outcome expectancies, efficacy expectancies, goals, values, and thinking styles to create crime-supporting lifestyles.

Belief system, meaningfulness, and psychopathology associated with suicidality among Chinese college students: a cross-sectional survey

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Zhao Jiubo

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Research suggests that Chinese religious believers are more likely to commit suicide than those identifying as non-religious among rural young adults, contrary to findings in Western countries. However, one cannot conclude that religiosity is associated with elevated suicide risk without examining the effect of political and religious beliefs in a generally atheist country like China where political belief plays a dominant role in the belief system of young adults. The present study investigated the effects of political and religious belief on suicidality with meaningfulness and psychopathology as potential mediators in a large representative sample of Chinese college students. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1390 first-year college students randomly sampled from 10 colleges and universities in mainland China. Results A total of 1168 respondents (84.0% provided complete data on all variables. Lifetime prevalence of suicidal ideation, plan, and attempt were 45.1%, 6.8%, and 1.9% respectively, with one-year suicidal ideation showing at 19.3%. Female gender was associated with elevated risk of suicidality. Political belief but not religious belief was associated with decreased suicide risk. A significant interactive effect of political belief and religious belief was found, indicating that for political believers, being religious was associated with decreased suicide risk; for non-political believers, being religious was associated with increased suicide risk. Multi-group structural equation modeling showed that meaningfulness completely mediated and psychopathology partially mediated the effect of belief system on suicidality. Gender differences were found in pathways of political belief by religious beliefs to suicidality and political belief to psychopathology. The coefficients were significant for males but not for females. Conclusions In less religious societies, political belief may serve as a means of

Imprecise Beliefs in a Principal Agent Model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rigotti, L.

1998-01-01

This paper presents a principal-agent model where the agent has multiple, or imprecise, beliefs. We model this situation formally by assuming the agent's preferences are incomplete. One can interpret this multiplicity as an agent's limited knowledge of the surrounding environment. In this setting,

A Belief Rule-Based Expert System to Diagnose Influenza

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hossain, Mohammad Shahadat; Khalid, Md. Saifuddin; Akter, Shamima

2014-01-01

, development and application of an expert system to diagnose influenza under uncertainty. The recently developed generic belief rule-based inference methodology by using the evidential reasoning (RIMER) approach is employed to develop this expert system, termed as Belief Rule Based Expert System (BRBES......). The RIMER approach can handle different types of uncertainties, both in knowledge representation, and in inference procedures. The knowledge-base of this system was constructed by using records of the real patient data along with in consultation with the Influenza specialists of Bangladesh. Practical case...

Evaluation of risk from acts of terrorism :the adversary/defender model using belief and fuzzy sets.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Darby, John L.

2006-09-01

Risk from an act of terrorism is a combination of the likelihood of an attack, the likelihood of success of the attack, and the consequences of the attack. The considerable epistemic uncertainty in each of these three factors can be addressed using the belief/plausibility measure of uncertainty from the Dempster/Shafer theory of evidence. The adversary determines the likelihood of the attack. The success of the attack and the consequences of the attack are determined by the security system and mitigation measures put in place by the defender. This report documents a process for evaluating risk of terrorist acts using an adversary/defender model with belief/plausibility as the measure of uncertainty. Also, the adversary model is a linguistic model that applies belief/plausibility to fuzzy sets used in an approximate reasoning rule base.

Childhood physical abuse and differential development of paranormal belief systems.

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Perkins, Stefanie L; Allen, Rhiannon

2006-05-01

This study compared paranormal belief systems in individuals with and without childhood physical abuse histories. The Revised Paranormal Belief Scale and the Assessing Environments III Questionnaire were completed by 107 University students. Psi, precognition, and spiritualism, which are thought to provide a sense of personal efficacy and control, were among the most strongly held beliefs in abused subjects, and were significantly higher in abused versus nonabused subjects. Superstition and extraordinary life forms, thought to have an inverse or no relation to felt control, were the least strongly held beliefs in abused subjects, and, along with religious beliefs, did not differ between the two abuse groups. Witchcraft was unexpectedly found to be the most strongly held belief among those with abuse histories. Results suggest that by providing a sense of control, certain paranormal beliefs may offer a powerful emotional refuge to individuals who endured the stress of physical abuse in childhood.

Preservice Science Teachers' Efficacy Regarding a Socioscientific Issue: A Belief System Approach

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Kilinç, Ahmet; Kartal, Tezcan; Eroglu, Baris; Demiral, Ümit; Afacan, Özlem; Polat, Dilber; Demirci Guler, Mutlu P.; Görgülü, Özkan

2013-01-01

The aim of the present study was to understand the nature of teaching efficacy beliefs related to a socioscientific issue (SSI). We investigated Turkish preservice science teachers' teaching efficacy beliefs about genetically modified (GM) foods using a belief system approach. We assumed that preservice teachers' beliefs about GM foods (content…

The importance of health belief models in determining self-care behaviour in diabetes.

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Harvey, J N; Lawson, V L

2009-01-01

Patients' self-care behaviours have a major role in diabetes management. Diabetes education provides the required knowledge, but despite this, self-care is often suboptimal. The degree to which patients follow advice as regards the various self-care behaviours is determined by their health beliefs (Illness Representations or Personal Models) of diabetes. Psychometric studies have tried to categorize and measure the beliefs about illness that influence patients to adhere to treatment recommendations in diabetes. Various models have been proposed to explain the relationship between beliefs and behaviour. Leventhal's Self-Regulatory Model, which takes account of the emotional as well as the objective rational response to illness, currently seems to offer the best system for identifying the determinants of patient self-care behaviour. A review of interventions indicates those based on psychological theory offer professionals the best chance of maximizing their patients' contribution to diabetes self-management and achieving improved outcomes, both glycaemic and psychosocial. Studies designed specifically to modify illness representations are now being undertaken. This brief review aims to summarize developments in this area of psychological theory over the last 20 years and the implications for promoting better self-care behaviour in diabetes.

The Belief Systems of University Supervisors in an Elementary Student-Teaching Program.

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Zeichner, Kenneth M.; Tabachnick, B. Robert

1982-01-01

A study was conducted to determine the range of supervisory belief systems that existed among nine university supervisors of elementary education student teachers. In interviews, three distinct belief systems emerged: (1) technical/instrumental; (2) personal growth centered; and (3) critical. (FG)

Incorporation prior belief in the general path model: A comparison of information sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coble, Jamie; Hines, Wesley

2014-01-01

The general path model (GPM) is one approach for performing degradation-based, or Type III, prognostics. The GPM fits a parametric function to the collected observations of a prognostic parameter and extrapolates the fit to a failure threshold. This approach has been successfully applied to a variety of systems when a sufficient number of prognostic parameter observations are available. However, the parametric fit can suffer significantly when few data are available or the data are very noisy. In these instances, it is beneficial to include additional information to influence the fit to conform to a prior belief about the evolution of system degradation. Bayesian statistical approaches have been proposed to include prior information in the form of distributions of expected model parameters. This requires a number of run-to-failure cases with tracked prognostic parameters; these data may not be readily available for many systems. Reliability information and stressor-based (Type I and Type II, respectively) prognostic estimates can provide the necessary prior belief for the GPM. This article presents the Bayesian updating framework to include prior information in the GPM and compares the efficacy of including different information sources on two data sets.

The Guided System Development Framework: Modeling and Verifying Communication Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Carvalho Quaresma, Jose Nuno; Probst, Christian W.; Nielson, Flemming

2014-01-01

the verified specification. The refinement process carries thus security properties from the model to the implementation. Our approach also supports verification of systems previously developed and deployed. Internally, the reasoning in our framework is based on the Beliefs and Knowledge tool, a verification...... tool based on belief logics and explicit attacker knowledge....

Predicting Self-Management Behaviors in Familial Hypercholesterolemia Using an Integrated Theoretical Model: the Impact of Beliefs About Illnesses and Beliefs About Behaviors.

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Hagger, Martin S; Hardcastle, Sarah J; Hingley, Catherine; Strickland, Ella; Pang, Jing; Watts, Gerald F

2016-06-01

Patients with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) are at markedly increased risk of coronary artery disease. Regular participation in three self-management behaviors, physical activity, healthy eating, and adherence to medication, can significantly reduce this risk in FH patients. We aimed to predict intentions to engage in these self-management behaviors in FH patients using a multi-theory, integrated model that makes the distinction between beliefs about illness and beliefs about self-management behaviors. Using a cross-sectional, correlational design, patients (N = 110) diagnosed with FH from a clinic in Perth, Western Australia, self-completed a questionnaire that measured constructs from three health behavior theories: the common sense model of illness representations (serious consequences, timeline, personal control, treatment control, illness coherence, emotional representations); theory of planned behavior (attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control); and social cognitive theory (self-efficacy). Structural equation models for each self-management behavior revealed consistent and statistically significant effects of attitudes on intentions across the three behaviors. Subjective norms predicted intentions for health eating only and self-efficacy predicted intentions for physical activity only. There were no effects for the perceived behavioral control and common sense model constructs in any model. Attitudes feature prominently in determining intentions to engage in self-management behaviors in FH patients. The prominence of these attitudinal beliefs about self-management behaviors, as opposed to illness beliefs, suggest that addressing these beliefs may be a priority in the management of FH.

Using the Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction to Understand College Students' STI Testing Beliefs, Intentions, and Behaviors.

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Wombacher, Kevin; Dai, Minhao; Matig, Jacob J; Harrington, Nancy Grant

2018-03-22

To identify salient behavioral determinants related to STI testing among college students by testing a model based on the integrative model of behavioral (IMBP) prediction. 265 undergraduate students from a large university in the Southeastern US. Formative and survey research to test an IMBP-based model that explores the relationships between determinants and STI testing intention and behavior. Results of path analyses supported a model in which attitudinal beliefs predicted intention and intention predicted behavior. Normative beliefs and behavioral control beliefs were not significant in the model; however, select individual normative and control beliefs were significantly correlated with intention and behavior. Attitudinal beliefs are the strongest predictor of STI testing intention and behavior. Future efforts to increase STI testing rates should identify and target salient attitudinal beliefs.

Do Humans Have Two Systems to Track Beliefs and Belief-Like States?

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Apperly, Ian A.; Butterfill, Stephen A.

2009-01-01

The lack of consensus on how to characterize humans' capacity for belief reasoning has been brought into sharp focus by recent research. Children fail critical tests of belief reasoning before 3 to 4 years of age (H. Wellman, D. Cross, & J. Watson, 2001; H. Wimmer & J. Perner, 1983), yet infants apparently pass false-belief tasks at 13 or 15…

Economic versus belief-based models: Shedding light on the adoption of novel green technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Girod, Bastien; Mayer, Sebastian; Nägele, Florian

2017-01-01

Understanding the determinants for the adoption of novel green consumer technologies is important to effectively foster their diffusion. Energy and environmental science literature often takes an approach based on economic variables such as objectively measureable household and technology characteristics. Increasingly, also subjective variables based on personal belief are considered. On the basis of a survey about the intention to adopt an exemplary novel green consumer technology (intelligent thermostats), we contribute to the clarification of the explanatory power of these two approaches. We first compare the economic model to the belief-based model and second, investigate how beliefs about the green technology are influenced by personal environmental norms and innovativeness. Our evaluation shows that the belief-based model explains considerably higher variance in the intention to adopt. Thereby the perceived hedonic satisfaction, usefulness, habit and facilitating conditions reveal as key determinants. Moreover, environmental norms show lower impact than personal innovativeness. In the discussion we consolidate these findings and point to the risk of omitted variable bias when selectively including belief-based variables in adoption models. Our findings suggest that policies can effectively accelerate the early market diffusion of green consumer technologies by incentivizing retailers to introduce and market such technologies. - Highlights: • Adoption of a green consumer technology (energy-saving thermostats) is evaluated. • Subjective beliefs about the technology show higher impact than objective measures. • Key beliefs relate to pleasure, usefulness, habits and facilitating conditions. • Personal innovativeness is more relevant for adoption than environmental norms. • Isolated use of belief-based adoption determinants can lead to omitted variable bias.

Personality, personal model beliefs, and self-care in adolescents and young adults with Type 1 diabetes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chas Skinner, T.; Hampson, Sarah E.; Fife-Schaw, Chris

2002-01-01

This study compared 3 models of association between personality, personal model beliefs, and self-care in a cross-sectional design. These models were as follows: (a) Emotional stability determines self-care indirectly through personal model beliefs, and conscientiousness is a direct predictor of ....... Participants (N = 358, aged 12-30 years) with Type 1 diabetes completed measures of personality, personal model beliefs, and self-care. Structural equation modeling indicated that Model C was the best fit to the data....

Self-deception in terminal patients: belief system at stake

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Luis E Echarte

2016-02-01

Full Text Available A substantial minority of patients with terminal illness hold unrealistically hopeful beliefs about the severity of their disease or the nature of its treatment, considering therapy as curative rather than palliative. We propose that this attitude may be understood as self-deception, following the current psychological theories about this topic. In this article we suggest that the reason these patients deceive themselves is to preserve their belief systems. According to some philosophical accounts, the human belief system (HBS is constituted as a web with a few stable central nodes –deep seated beliefs– intimately related with the self. We hypothesize that the mind may possess defensive mechanisms, mostly non-conscious, that reject certain sensory inputs (e.g., a fatal diagnosis that may undermine deep-seated beliefs. This interpretation is in line with the theory of cognitive dissonance. Following this reasoning, we also propose that HBS-related self-deception would entail a lower cognitive load than that associated with confronting the truth: whereas the latter would engage a myriad of high cognitive functions to re-configure crucial aspects of the self, including the setting of plans, goals, or even a behavioral output, the former would be mostly non-conscious. Overall, we believe that our research supports the hypothesis that in cases of terminal illness, (self-deceiving requires less effort than accepting the truth.

Investigating Coherence among Turkish Elementary Science Teachers' Teaching Belief Systems, Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Practice

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Bahcivan, Eralp; Cobern, William W.

2016-01-01

This study investigated comprehensive science teaching belief systems and their relation to science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge and teaching practices. Rokeach's (1968) belief system was used as a framework for representing the hierarchy among in-service teachers' teaching beliefs. This study employed a multiple case study design with…

Using Bayesian belief networks in adaptive management.

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J.B. Nyberg; B.G. Marcot; R. Sulyma

2006-01-01

Bayesian belief and decision networks are relatively new modeling methods that are especially well suited to adaptive-management applications, but they appear not to have been widely used in adaptive management to date. Bayesian belief networks (BBNs) can serve many purposes for practioners of adaptive management, from illustrating system relations conceptually to...

Salient Beliefs in Majoring in Management Information Systems: An Elicitation Study

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Chipidza, Wallace; Green, Gina; Riemenschneider, Cindy

2016-01-01

Research utilizing the Theory of Planned Behavior to understand behavior should first elicit beliefs about the phenomenon from the target population. In order to understand the reasons why students choose to major or not major in Management Information Systems (MIS), we elicited beliefs from 136 students attending university in the United States…

The Origins of Belief Representation: Monkeys Fail to Automatically Represent Others’ Beliefs

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Martin, Alia; Santos, Laurie R.

2014-01-01

Young infants’ successful performance on false belief tasks has led several researchers to argue that there may be a core knowledge system for representing the beliefs of other agents, emerging early in human development and constraining automatic belief processing into adulthood. One way to investigate this purported core belief representation system is to examine whether non-human primates share such a system. Although non-human primates have historically performed poorly on false belief tasks that require executive function capacities, little work has explored how primates perform on more automatic measures of belief processing. To get at this issue, we modified Kovács et al. (2010)’s test of automatic belief representation to examine whether one non-human primate species—the rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta)—is automatically influenced by another agent’s beliefs when tracking an object’s location. Monkeys saw an event in which a human agent watched an apple move back and forth between two boxes and an outcome in which one box was revealed to be empty. By occluding segments of the apple’s movement from either the monkey or the agent, we manipulated both the monkeys’ belief (true or false) and agent’s belief (true or false) about the final location of the apple. We found that monkeys looked longer at events that violated their own beliefs than at events that were consistent with their beliefs. In contrast to human infants, however, monkeys’ expectations were not influenced by another agent’s beliefs, suggesting that belief representation may be an aspect of core knowledge unique to humans. PMID:24374209

Constructing rule-based models using the belief functions framework

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Almeida, R.J.; Denoeux, T.; Kaymak, U.; Greco, S.; Bouchon-Meunier, B.; Coletti, G.; Fedrizzi, M.; Matarazzo, B.; Yager, R.R.

2012-01-01

Abstract. We study a new approach to regression analysis. We propose a new rule-based regression model using the theoretical framework of belief functions. For this purpose we use the recently proposed Evidential c-means (ECM) to derive rule-based models solely from data. ECM allocates, for each

Belief in School Meritocracy as a System-justifying Tool for Low Status Students

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Virginie eWiederkehr

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The belief that, in school, success only depends on will and hard work is widespread in Western societies despite evidence showing that several factors other than merit explain school success, including group belonging (e.g., social class, gender. In the present paper, we argue that because merit is the only track for low status students to reach upward mobility, Belief in School Meritocracy (BSM is a particularly useful system-justifying tool to help them perceive their place in society as being deserved. Consequently, for low status students (but not high status students, this belief should be related to more general system-justifying beliefs (Study 1. Moreover, low status students should be particularly prone to endorsing this belief when their place within a system on which they strongly depend to acquire status is challenged (Study 2. In Study 1, high status (boys and high SES were compared to low status (girls and low SES high school students. Results indicated that BSM was related to system-justifying beliefs only for low SES students and for girls, but not for high SES students or for boys. In Study 2, university students were exposed (or not to information about an important selection process that occurs at the university, depending on the condition. Their subjective status was assessed. Although such a confrontation reduced BSM for high subjective SES students, it tended to enhance it for low subjective SES students. Results are discussed in terms of system-justification motives and the palliative function meritocratic ideology may play for low status students.

Belief in school meritocracy as a system-justifying tool for low status students.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiederkehr, Virginie; Bonnot, Virginie; Krauth-Gruber, Silvia; Darnon, Céline

2015-01-01

The belief that, in school, success only depends on will and hard work is widespread in Western societies despite evidence showing that several factors other than merit explain school success, including group belonging (e.g., social class, gender). In the present paper, we argue that because merit is the only track for low status students to reach upward mobility, Belief in School Meritocracy (BSM) is a particularly useful system-justifying tool to help them perceive their place in society as being deserved. Consequently, for low status students (but not high status students), this belief should be related to more general system-justifying beliefs (Study 1). Moreover, low status students should be particularly prone to endorsing this belief when their place within a system on which they strongly depend to acquire status is challenged (Study 2). In Study 1, high status (boys and high SES) were compared to low status (girls and low SES) high school students. Results indicated that BSM was related to system-justifying beliefs only for low SES students and for girls, but not for high SES students or for boys. In Study 2, university students were exposed (or not) to information about an important selection process that occurs at the university, depending on the condition. Their subjective status was assessed. Although such a confrontation reduced BSM for high subjective SES students, it tended to enhance it for low subjective SES students. Results are discussed in terms of system justification motives and the palliative function meritocratic ideology may play for low status students.

Sexual-Reproductive Health Belief Model of college students

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Masoomeh Simbar

2004-09-01

Full Text Available Sexual- reproductive health of youth is one of the most unknown aspects of our community, while the world, including our country is faced with the risk of AIDS spreading. The aim of this study was to describe Health Belief Model (HBM of the students about sexual-reproductive health behaviors and evaluate the ability of the model in predicting related behaviors. By using quota sampling, 1117 male and female students of Qazvin Medical Science and International universities were included in the study in 1991. A self-completed questionnaire was prepared containing close questions based on HBM components including perceived threats (susceptibility and severity of related diseases, perceived reproductive benefits and barriers and self efficacy of youth about reproductive health. A total of 645 of participants were female and 457 were male (Mean age 21.4±2.4 and 22.7±3.5, respectively. The Health Belief Model of the students showed that they perceived a moderate threat for AIDS and venereal diseases and their health outcomes. Most of them perceived the benefits of reproductive health behaviors. They believed that the ability of youth in considering reproductive health is low or moderate. However, they noted to some barriers for spreading of reproductive health in youth including inadequacy of services. Boys felt a higher level of threat for acquiring the AIDS and venereal diseases in compare to girls, but girls had a higher knowledge about these diseases and their complications. The Health Belief Model of the students with premarital intercourse behavior was not significantly different with the students without this behavior (Mann-Withney, P<0.05. Female students and the students without the history of premarital intercourse had significantly more positive attitude towards abstinence, comparing to male students and students with the history of premarital intercourse, respectively (Mann-Withney, P<0.05. Seventy five percent of students believed in

Modeling the Relations among Students' Epistemological Beliefs, Motivation, Learning Approach, and Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Kizilgunes, Berna; Tekkaya, Ceren; Sungur, Semra

2009-01-01

The authors proposed a model to explain how epistemological beliefs, achievement motivation, and learning approach related to achievement. The authors assumed that epistemological beliefs influence achievement indirectly through their effect on achievement motivation and learning approach. Participants were 1,041 6th-grade students. Results of the…

Charting the Eccles' Expectancy-Value Model from Mothers' Beliefs in Childhood to Youths' Activities in Adolescence

Science.gov (United States)

Simpkins, Sandra D.; Fredricks, Jennifer A.; Eccles, Jacquelynne S.

2012-01-01

The Eccles' expectancy-value model posits that a cascade of mechanisms explain associations between parents' beliefs and youths' achievement-related behaviors. Specifically, parents' beliefs predict parents' behaviors; in turn, parents' behaviors predict youths' motivational beliefs, and youths' motivational beliefs predict their behaviors. This…

Beliefs about God and mental health among American adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Silton, Nava R; Flannelly, Kevin J; Galek, Kathleen; Ellison, Christopher G

2014-10-01

This study examines the association between beliefs about God and psychiatric symptoms in the context of Evolutionary Threat Assessment System Theory, using data from the 2010 Baylor Religion Survey of US Adults (N = 1,426). Three beliefs about God were tested separately in ordinary least squares regression models to predict five classes of psychiatric symptoms: general anxiety, social anxiety, paranoia, obsession, and compulsion. Belief in a punitive God was positively associated with four psychiatric symptoms, while belief in a benevolent God was negatively associated with four psychiatric symptoms, controlling for demographic characteristics, religiousness, and strength of belief in God. Belief in a deistic God and one's overall belief in God were not significantly related to any psychiatric symptoms.

The Relationships among Chinese Practicing Teachers' Epistemic Beliefs, Pedagogical Beliefs and Their Beliefs about the Use of ICT

Science.gov (United States)

Deng, Feng; Chai, Ching Sing; Tsai, Chin-Chung; Lee, Min-Hsien

2014-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the relationships among practicing teachers' epistemic beliefs, pedagogical beliefs and their beliefs about the use of ICT through survey methodology. Participants were 396 high school practicing teachers from mainland China. The path analysis results analyzed via structural equation modelling technique indicated…

Cross-cultural differences in dementia: the Sociocultural Health Belief Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Sayegh, Philip; Knight, Bob G

2013-04-01

Many minority ethnic (ME) older adults face several culturally associated and systemic barriers to timely dementia diagnoses that may result in delays to dementia care-seeking. We aimed to develop and propose a model illustrating variables that influence dementia care-seeking among ME older adults. We conducted a literature review on the effects of these barriers on diagnostic delays and impairment levels at initial evaluation. We also strived to provide a basis for the Sociocultural Health Belief Model (SHBM) to guide future research and service planning pertaining to culture and dementia care-seeking. There was consistent evidence that ME older adults with dementia tended to have greater diagnostic delays and higher levels of cognitive impairment and behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia at initial evaluation than their non-Hispanic White counterparts. We also found several barriers to dementia care-seeking among ME groups. These barriers included lower levels of acculturation and accurate knowledge about dementia, more culturally associated beliefs about dementia, such as the perception of memory loss as normal aging and stigma associated with dementia, and health system barriers. The SHBM provides an empirically based conceptual framework for examining cross-cultural differences in dementia care-seeking among diverse groups. We provide recommendations for future research, such as the need for research with more diverse ethnic subgroups and the examination of group-specific cultural values. We conclude with a discussion of the clinical and service implications of our review, including potential interventions aimed at facilitating timely dementia diagnoses among ME older adults.

A causal model explaining the relationships governing beliefs, attitudes, and hypnotic responsiveness.

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Shimizu, Takahiro

2014-01-01

The author developed a new scale aimed at measuring beliefs about "hypnotic states" and investigated the influence of such beliefs and attitudes on hypnotic responses in a large sample of Japanese undergraduate students. Exploratory factor analysis of this new questionnaire examining beliefs about hypnotic states yielded four factors: Dissociative or Depersonalized Experience, Loss of Self-Control, Therapeutic Expectation, and Arousing Extraordinary Ability. The results of structural equation modeling showed that Therapeutic Expectation and Arousing Extraordinary Ability influenced hypnotizability through attitudes toward hypnosis, while also directly affecting subjective experiences without mediating attitudes. Present findings suggest that it is more effective to enhance therapeutic expectations than to correct misconceptions about hypnotic states in modification of patients' beliefs before initiating treatment.

Level of paranormal beliefs and its relationship with explanatory models, treatment adherence and satisfaction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dushad Ram

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Paranormal beliefs are common among patients with mental illness. Such beliefs may mediate conceptualization of illness, treatment satisfaction and medication adherence. Objective To study the level of paranormal beliefs and its relationship with explanatory models, treatment adherence and satisfaction using standardized assessment tool. Methods Eighty nine patients with mental illness in remission were assessed with Sociodemographic proforma, Revised Paranormal Belief Scale (RPBS, Mental Distress Explanatory Model Questionnaire (MMAS, Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS and Short Assessment of Patient Satisfaction (SAPS. Results Results revealed a high level of paranormal beliefs on RPBS (Mean 83.96, SD ± 23.91. Variables that had a statistically significant group difference on the score of RPBS were domicile status (p < 05, diagnosis (p < 001, method of treatment sought before (p < 001. In a linear regression analysis four variables explained 35.4% of the variance (R2 = .38, R2Adjusted = .35, F = 13.04, p < .001 in RPBS Score. These variables were total score of MDEMQ (Beta = .308, t = 3.435, p < .001, total score of MMAS (beta = .357, t = 3. 716, p < .001 and magico-religious treatment received earlier (beta = .306, t = 3.52, p < .001 and SAPS. Discussion Based on the finding of this study, it may be concluded that the level of paranormal beliefs may vary with some demographic variables. Levels of paranormal beliefs is positively associated with explanatory models and adherence in patients with mental illness in remission.

Rational Irrationality: Modeling Climate Change Belief Polarization Using Bayesian Networks.

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Cook, John; Lewandowsky, Stephan

2016-01-01

Belief polarization is said to occur when two people respond to the same evidence by updating their beliefs in opposite directions. This response is considered to be "irrational" because it involves contrary updating, a form of belief updating that appears to violate normatively optimal responding, as for example dictated by Bayes' theorem. In light of much evidence that people are capable of normatively optimal behavior, belief polarization presents a puzzling exception. We show that Bayesian networks, or Bayes nets, can simulate rational belief updating. When fit to experimental data, Bayes nets can help identify the factors that contribute to polarization. We present a study into belief updating concerning the reality of climate change in response to information about the scientific consensus on anthropogenic global warming (AGW). The study used representative samples of Australian and U.S. Among Australians, consensus information partially neutralized the influence of worldview, with free-market supporters showing a greater increase in acceptance of human-caused global warming relative to free-market opponents. In contrast, while consensus information overall had a positive effect on perceived consensus among U.S. participants, there was a reduction in perceived consensus and acceptance of human-caused global warming for strong supporters of unregulated free markets. Fitting a Bayes net model to the data indicated that under a Bayesian framework, free-market support is a significant driver of beliefs about climate change and trust in climate scientists. Further, active distrust of climate scientists among a small number of U.S. conservatives drives contrary updating in response to consensus information among this particular group. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

A Belief Rule-Based (BRB) Decision Support System for Assessing Clinical Asthma Suspicion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hossain, Mohammad Shahadat; Hossain, Emran; Khalid, Md. Saifuddin

2014-01-01

conditions of uncertainty. The Belief Rule-Based Inference Methodology Using the Evidential Reasoning (RIMER) approach was adopted to develop this expert system; which is named the Belief Rule-Based Expert System (BRBES). The system can handle various types of uncertainty in knowledge representation...... and inference procedures. The knowledge base of this system was constructed by using real patient data and expert opinion. Practical case studies were used to validate the system. The system-generated results are more effective and reliable in terms of accuracy than the results generated by a manual system....

What Happens When a Teacher's Science Belief Structure Is in Disequilibrium? Entangled Nature of Beliefs and Practice

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Martin, Anita; Park, Soonhye; Hand, Brian

2017-08-01

This qualitative case study examined the process of change in an experienced elementary teacher's belief structure during implementation of an inquiry-based science program. Difficulties generally associated with ascertaining beliefs were minimized by using Leatham's (Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 9, 91-102 (2006) Sensible System Framework, enabling researchers to obtain rich descriptions of the teacher's belief structure by focusing on words (professed beliefs), intentions (intended beliefs), and actions (enacted beliefs). Models were constructed of the teacher's belief structure before and after implementation of the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) approach (Hand et al. International Journal of Science Education, 26(2), 131-149, 2004), an inquiry-based approach to teaching science. Key beliefs for this teacher were related to how students learn, goals for teaching science, focus of instruction, and roles of teacher and student. Ultimately, the teacher shifted her professed, intended, and enacted beliefs resulting in a shift from a teacher-centered to a student-centered classroom. Findings support Thagard's Coherence Theory of Justification (2002), positing that change in one belief creates a state of disequilibrium that must be alleviated by changing/realigning other beliefs in order to re-establish coherence in the overall belief structure. This research focus is distinct from the general trend in teacher beliefs research in important ways. Most significant is that this study was not focused on the traditional two lists—those beliefs that were consistent with practice and those that were inconsistent with practice—but instead focused on the entwined nature of beliefs and practice and have shown that a teacher's practice can be viewed as their enacted beliefs, an integral part of the teacher's overall belief structure.

Changing Minds by Reasoning About Belief Revision: A Challenge for Cognitive Systems

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2013-12-01

this case, his dialog moves could include highlighting unintended relationships suggested by the logo (e.g., that a competitor’s logo is an octopus , a...others, a cognitive system must, at a minimum, be able to entertain beliefs about their beliefs. Any movement at all toward more sophisticated scenarios

Mixmaster: fact and belief

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heinzle, J Mark; Uggla, Claes

2009-01-01

We consider the dynamics towards the initial singularity of Bianchi type IX vacuum and orthogonal perfect fluid models with a linear equation of state. Surprisingly few facts are known about the 'Mixmaster' dynamics of these models, while at the same time most of the commonly held beliefs are rather vague. In this paper, we use Mixmaster facts as a base to build an infrastructure that makes it possible to sharpen the main Mixmaster beliefs. We formulate explicit conjectures concerning (i) the past asymptotic states of type IX solutions and (ii) the relevance of the Mixmaster/Kasner map for generic past asymptotic dynamics. The evidence for the conjectures is based on a study of the stochastic properties of this map in conjunction with dynamical systems techniques. We use a dynamical systems formulation, since this approach has so far been the only successful path to obtain theorems, but we also make comparisons with the 'metric' and Hamiltonian 'billiard' approaches.

Cognitive Network Modeling as a Basis for Characterizing Human Communication Dynamics and Belief Contagion in Technology Adoption

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Hutto, Clayton; Briscoe, Erica; Trewhitt, Ethan

2012-01-01

Societal level macro models of social behavior do not sufficiently capture nuances needed to adequately represent the dynamics of person-to-person interactions. Likewise, individual agent level micro models have limited scalability - even minute parameter changes can drastically affect a model's response characteristics. This work presents an approach that uses agent-based modeling to represent detailed intra- and inter-personal interactions, as well as a system dynamics model to integrate societal-level influences via reciprocating functions. A Cognitive Network Model (CNM) is proposed as a method of quantitatively characterizing cognitive mechanisms at the intra-individual level. To capture the rich dynamics of interpersonal communication for the propagation of beliefs and attitudes, a Socio-Cognitive Network Model (SCNM) is presented. The SCNM uses socio-cognitive tie strength to regulate how agents influence--and are influenced by--one another's beliefs during social interactions. We then present experimental results which support the use of this network analytical approach, and we discuss its applicability towards characterizing and understanding human information processing.

Ontological confusions but not mentalizing abilities predict religious belief, paranormal belief, and belief in supernatural purpose.

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Lindeman, Marjaana; Svedholm-Häkkinen, Annika M; Lipsanen, Jari

2015-01-01

The current research tested the hypothesis that the abilities for understanding other people's minds give rise to the cognitive biases that underlie supernatural beliefs. We used structural equation modeling (N=2789) to determine the roles of various mentalizing tendencies, namely self-reported affective and cognitive empathy (i.e., mind reading), actual cognitive and affective empathic abilities, hyper-empathizing, and two cognitive biases (core ontological confusions and promiscuous teleology) in giving rise to supernatural beliefs. Support for a path from mentalizing abilities through cognitive biases to supernatural beliefs was weak. The relationships of mentalizing abilities with supernatural beliefs were also weak, and these relationships were not substantially mediated by cognitive biases. Core ontological confusions emerged as the best predictor, while promiscuous teleology predicted only a small proportion of variance. The results were similar for religious beliefs, paranormal beliefs, and for belief in supernatural purpose. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Intelligent wear mode identification system for marine diesel engines based on multi-level belief rule base methodology

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Yan, Xinping; Xu, Xiaojian; Sheng, Chenxing; Yuan, Chengqing; Li, Zhixiong

2018-01-01

Wear faults are among the chief causes of main-engine damage, significantly influencing the secure and economical operation of ships. It is difficult for engineers to utilize multi-source information to identify wear modes, so an intelligent wear mode identification model needs to be developed to assist engineers in diagnosing wear faults in diesel engines. For this purpose, a multi-level belief rule base (BBRB) system is proposed in this paper. The BBRB system consists of two-level belief rule bases, and the 2D and 3D characteristics of wear particles are used as antecedent attributes on each level. Quantitative and qualitative wear information with uncertainties can be processed simultaneously by the BBRB system. In order to enhance the efficiency of the BBRB, the silhouette value is adopted to determine referential points and the fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm is used to transform input wear information into belief degrees. In addition, the initial parameters of the BBRB system are constructed on the basis of expert-domain knowledge and then optimized by the genetic algorithm to ensure the robustness of the system. To verify the validity of the BBRB system, experimental data acquired from real-world diesel engines are analyzed. Five-fold cross-validation is conducted on the experimental data and the BBRB is compared with the other four models in the cross-validation. In addition, a verification dataset containing different wear particles is used to highlight the effectiveness of the BBRB system in wear mode identification. The verification results demonstrate that the proposed BBRB is effective and efficient for wear mode identification with better performance and stability than competing systems.

Learning topic models by belief propagation.

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Zeng, Jia; Cheung, William K; Liu, Jiming

2013-05-01

Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) is an important hierarchical Bayesian model for probabilistic topic modeling, which attracts worldwide interest and touches on many important applications in text mining, computer vision and computational biology. This paper represents the collapsed LDA as a factor graph, which enables the classic loopy belief propagation (BP) algorithm for approximate inference and parameter estimation. Although two commonly used approximate inference methods, such as variational Bayes (VB) and collapsed Gibbs sampling (GS), have gained great success in learning LDA, the proposed BP is competitive in both speed and accuracy, as validated by encouraging experimental results on four large-scale document datasets. Furthermore, the BP algorithm has the potential to become a generic scheme for learning variants of LDA-based topic models in the collapsed space. To this end, we show how to learn two typical variants of LDA-based topic models, such as author-topic models (ATM) and relational topic models (RTM), using BP based on the factor graph representations.

Testing a biopsychosocial model of the basic birth beliefs.

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Preis, Heidi; Chen, Rony; Eisner, Michal; Pardo, Joseph; Peled, Yoav; Wiznitzer, Arnon; Benyamini, Yael

2018-03-01

Women perceive what birth is even before they are pregnant for the first time. Part of this conceptualization is the basic belief about birth as a medical and natural process. These two separate beliefs are pivotal in the decision-making process about labor and birth. Adapting Engel's biopsychosocial framework, we explored the importance of a wide range of factors which may contribute to these beliefs among first-time mothers. This observational study included 413 primiparae ≥24 weeks' gestation, recruited in medical centers and in natural birth communities in Israel. The women completed a questionnaire which included the Birth Beliefs Scale and a variety of biopsychosocial characteristics such as obstetric history, birth environment, optimism, health-related anxiety, and maternal expectations. Psychological dispositions were more related to the birth beliefs than the social or biomedical factors. Sociodemographic characteristics and birth environment were only marginally related to the birth beliefs. The basic belief that birth is a natural process was positively related to optimism and to conceiving spontaneously. Beliefs that birth is a medical process were related to pessimism, health-related anxiety, and to expectations that an infant's behavior reflects mothering. Expectations about motherhood as being naturally fulfilling were positively related to both beliefs. Psychological factors seem to be most influential in the conceptualization of the beliefs. It is important to recognize how women interpret the messages they receive about birth which, together with their obstetric experience, shape their beliefs. Future studies are recommended to understand the evolution of these beliefs, especially within diverse cultures. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Stalinist ritual and belief system : Reflections on "political religion"

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Ree, E.

2016-01-01

This article offers a critical assessment of the Political Religion Theory on the basis of a comparative analysis of the Orthodox and Stalinist belief systems and ritual. The theory works under the assumption that sacralisation of secular objects endows these objects with a transcendental, divine

Bayesian Belief Networks for predicting drinking water distribution system pipe breaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Francis, Royce A.; Guikema, Seth D.; Henneman, Lucas

2014-01-01

In this paper, we use Bayesian Belief Networks (BBNs) to construct a knowledge model for pipe breaks in a water zone. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to model drinking water distribution system pipe breaks using BBNs. Development of expert systems such as BBNs for analyzing drinking water distribution system data is not only important for pipe break prediction, but is also a first step in preventing water loss and water quality deterioration through the application of machine learning techniques to facilitate data-based distribution system monitoring and asset management. Due to the difficulties in collecting, preparing, and managing drinking water distribution system data, most pipe break models can be classified as “statistical–physical” or “hypothesis-generating.” We develop the BBN with the hope of contributing to the “hypothesis-generating” class of models, while demonstrating the possibility that BBNs might also be used as “statistical–physical” models. Our model is learned from pipe breaks and covariate data from a mid-Atlantic United States (U.S.) drinking water distribution system network. BBN models are learned using a constraint-based method, a score-based method, and a hybrid method. Model evaluation is based on log-likelihood scoring. Sensitivity analysis using mutual information criterion is also reported. While our results indicate general agreement with prior results reported in pipe break modeling studies, they also suggest that it may be difficult to select among model alternatives. This model uncertainty may mean that more research is needed for understanding whether additional pipe break risk factors beyond age, break history, pipe material, and pipe diameter might be important for asset management planning. - Highlights: • We show Bayesian Networks for predictive and diagnostic management of water distribution systems. • Our model may enable system operators and managers to prioritize system

Health belief model and reasoned action theory in predicting water saving behaviors in yazd, iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Morowatisharifabad, Mohammad Ali; Momayyezi, Mahdieh; Ghaneian, Mohammad Taghi

2012-01-01

People's behaviors and intentions about healthy behaviors depend on their beliefs, values, and knowledge about the issue. Various models of health education are used in deter¬mining predictors of different healthy behaviors but their efficacy in cultural behaviors, such as water saving behaviors, are not studied. The study was conducted to explain water saving beha¬viors in Yazd, Iran on the basis of Health Belief Model and Reasoned Action Theory. The cross-sectional study used random cluster sampling to recruit 200 heads of households to collect the data. The survey questionnaire was tested for its content validity and reliability. Analysis of data included descriptive statistics, simple correlation, hierarchical multiple regression. Simple correlations between water saving behaviors and Reasoned Action Theory and Health Belief Model constructs were statistically significant. Health Belief Model and Reasoned Action Theory constructs explained 20.80% and 8.40% of the variances in water saving beha-viors, respectively. Perceived barriers were the strongest Predictor. Additionally, there was a sta¬tistically positive correlation between water saving behaviors and intention. In designing interventions aimed at water waste prevention, barriers of water saving behaviors should be addressed first, followed by people's attitude towards water saving. Health Belief Model constructs, with the exception of perceived severity and benefits, is more powerful than is Reasoned Action Theory in predicting water saving behavior and may be used as a framework for educational interventions aimed at improving water saving behaviors.

Health Belief Model and Reasoned Action Theory in Predicting Water Saving Behaviors in Yazd, Iran

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Mohammad Taghi Ghaneian

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Background: People's behaviors and intentions about healthy behaviors depend on their beliefs, values, and knowledge about the issue. Various models of health education are used in deter-mining predictors of different healthy behaviors but their efficacy in cultural behaviors, such as water saving behaviors, are not studied. The study was conducted to explain water saving beha-viors in Yazd, Iran on the basis of Health Belief Model and Reasoned Action Theory. Methods: The cross-sectional study used random cluster sampling to recruit 200 heads of households to collect the data. The survey questionnaire was tested for its content validity and reliability. Analysis of data included descriptive statistics, simple correlation, hierarchical multiple regression. Results: Simple correlations between water saving behaviors and Reasoned Action Theory and Health Belief Model constructs were statistically significant. Health Belief Model and Reasoned Action Theory constructs explained 20.80% and 8.40% of the variances in water saving beha-viors, respectively. Perceived barriers were the strongest Predictor. Additionally, there was a sta-tistically positive correlation between water saving behaviors and intention. Conclusion: In designing interventions aimed at water waste prevention, barriers of water saving behaviors should be addressed first, followed by people's attitude towards water saving. Health Belief Model constructs, with the exception of perceived severity and benefits, is more powerful than is Reasoned Action Theory in predicting water saving behavior and may be used as a framework for educational interventions aimed at improving water saving behaviors.

Intensive Care Nurses’ Belief Systems Regarding the Health Economics: A Focused Ethnography

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Heydari, Abbas; Vafaee-Najar, Ali; Bakhshi, Mahmoud

2016-01-01

Background: Health care beliefs can have an effect on the efficiency and effectiveness of nursing practices. Nevertheless, how belief systems impact on the economic performance of intensive care unit (ICU) nurses is not known. This study aimed to explore the ICU nurses’ beliefs and their effect on nurse’s: practices and behavior patterns regarding the health economics. Methods: In this study, a focused ethnography method was used. Twenty-four informants from ICU nurses and other professional individuals were purposively selected and interviewed. As well, 400 hours of ethnographic observations were used for data collection. Data analysis was performed using the methods described by Miles and Huberman (1994). Findings: Eight beliefs were found that gave meaning to ICU nurse’s practices regarding the health economics. 1. The registration of medications and supplies disrupt the nursing care; 2. Monitoring and auditing improve consumption; 3. There is a fear of possible shortage in the future; 4. Supply and replacement of equipment is difficult; 5. Higher prices lead to more accurate consumption; 6. The quality of care precedes the costs; 7. Clinical Guidelines are abundant but useful; and 8. Patient economy has priority over hospital economy. Maintaining the quality of patient care with least attention to hospital costs was the main focus of the beliefs formed up in the ICU regarding the health economics. Conclusions: ICU nurses’ belief systems have significantly shaped in relation to providing a high-quality care. Although high quality of care can lead to a rise in the effectiveness of nursing care, cost control perspective should also be considered in planning for improve the quality of care. Therefore, it is necessary to involve the ICU nurses in decision-making about unit cost management. They must become familiar with the principles of heath care economics and productivity by applying an effective cost management program. It may be optimal to implement the

Intensive Care Nurses' Belief Systems Regarding the Health Economics: A Focused Ethnography.

Science.gov (United States)

Heydari, Abbas; Vafaee-Najar, Ali; Bakhshi, Mahmoud

2016-09-01

Health care beliefs can have an effect on the efficiency and effectiveness of nursing practices. Nevertheless, how belief systems impact on the economic performance of intensive care unit (ICU) nurses is not known. This study aimed to explore the ICU nurses' beliefs and their effect on nurse's practices and behavior patterns regarding the health economics. In this study, a focused ethnography method was used. Twenty-four informants from ICU nurses and other professional individuals were purposively selected and interviewed. As well, 400 hours of ethnographic observations were used for data collection. Data analysis was performed using the methods described by Miles and Huberman (1994). Eight beliefs were found that gave meaning to ICU nurse's practices regarding the health economics. 1. The registration of medications and supplies disrupt the nursing care; 2.Monitoring and auditing improve consumption; 3.There is a fear of possible shortage in the future; 4.Supply and replacement of equipment is difficult; 5.Higher prices lead to more accurate consumption; 6.The quality of care precedes the costs; 7. Clinical Guidelines are abundant but useful; and 8.Patient economy has priority over hospital economy. Maintaining the quality of patient care with least attention to hospital costs was the main focus of the beliefs formed up in the ICU regarding the health economics. ICU nurses' belief systems have significantly shaped in relation to providing a high-quality care. Although high quality of care can lead to a rise in the effectiveness of nursing care, cost control perspective should also be considered in planning for improve the quality of care. Therefore, it is necessary to involve the ICU nurses in decision-making about unit cost management. They must become familiar with the principles of heath care economics and productivity by applying an effective cost management program. It may be optimal to implement the reforms in various aspects, such as the hospital

Collective Dynamics of Belief Evolution under Cognitive Coherence and Social Conformity.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez, Nathaniel; Bollen, Johan; Ahn, Yong-Yeol

2016-01-01

Human history has been marked by social instability and conflict, often driven by the irreconcilability of opposing sets of beliefs, ideologies, and religious dogmas. The dynamics of belief systems has been studied mainly from two distinct perspectives, namely how cognitive biases lead to individual belief rigidity and how social influence leads to social conformity. Here we propose a unifying framework that connects cognitive and social forces together in order to study the dynamics of societal belief evolution. Each individual is endowed with a network of interacting beliefs that evolves through interaction with other individuals in a social network. The adoption of beliefs is affected by both internal coherence and social conformity. Our framework may offer explanations for how social transitions can arise in otherwise homogeneous populations, how small numbers of zealots with highly coherent beliefs can overturn societal consensus, and how belief rigidity protects fringe groups and cults against invasion from mainstream beliefs, allowing them to persist and even thrive in larger societies. Our results suggest that strong consensus may be insufficient to guarantee social stability, that the cognitive coherence of belief-systems is vital in determining their ability to spread, and that coherent belief-systems may pose a serious problem for resolving social polarization, due to their ability to prevent consensus even under high levels of social exposure. We argue that the inclusion of cognitive factors into a social model could provide a more complete picture of collective human dynamics.

Hypothesis Management Framework: a exible design pattern for belief networks in decision support systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gosliga, S.P. van; Voorde, I. van de

2008-01-01

This article discusses a design pattern for building belief networks for application domains in which causal models are hard to construct. In this approach we pursue a modular belief network structure that is easily extended by the users themselves, while remaining reliable for decision support. The

Moral Beliefs and Cognitive Homogeneity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nevia Dolcini

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The Emotional Perception Model of moral judgment intends to account for experientialism about morality and moral reasoning. In explaining how moral beliefs are formed and applied in practical reasoning, the model attempts to overcome the mismatch between reason and action/desire: morality isn’t about reason for actions, yet moral beliefs, if caused by desires, may play a motivational role in (moral agency. The account allows for two kinds of moral beliefs: genuine moral beliefs, which enjoy a relation to desire, and motivationally inert moral beliefs acquired in ways other than experience. Such etiology-based dichotomy of concepts, I will argue, leads to the undesirable view of cognition as a non-homogeneous phenomenon. Moreover, the distinction between moral beliefs and moral beliefs would entail a further dichotomy encompassing the domain of moral agency: one and the same action might possibly be either genuine moral, or not moral, if acted by individuals lacking the capacity for moral feelings, such as psychopaths.

Exploration of Scholars’ Attributions of Instructional Barriers in the Context of Pedagogical-Epistemological Belief Systems

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Yılmaz SOYSAL

2017-08-01

Full Text Available In this study, two academics’ who have been employed in a private university teaching barriers and accompanied attributional reasoning were examined in the context of their belief systems with regards to learning, teaching and knowledge. This study was conducted with a basic qualitative perspective. By means of qualitative data gathering and analysis, it was aimed at estimating how the relation between teaching barriers and attributional reasoning was influenced by pedagogical-epistemological belief systems of scholars. Qualitative data was collected through two different semi-structured interview protocols and gathered data was analyzed with an inductive and interpretivist manner. The scholars’ beliefs systems’ divergences (teacher-centered vs. learner-centered allowed to explore the presumable relation of barrier-attribution in the context of pedagogical-epistemological belief systems. It was found out that the scholar who has adopted the more learner-centered modes of teaching favors more internally-oriented, controllable and non-stable attributional styles in illustrating her barrier-attribution relation. In contrast, it was also detected that the scholar who has held more teacher-centered teaching beliefs is liable to make attributions to overly external, non-controllable and stable factors in illuminating her barrier-attribution relation. Major outcomes of the study are evaluated by means of psychological (i.e., attribution theory and instructional (pedagogical-epistemological beliefs lenses and suggestions are offered in the context of higher education.

Assessment of Health Belief Model (HBM impact on knowledge, beliefs, and self-efficacy of women in need of genetic counseling

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Mitra Moodi

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: Regarding the ever-increasing of genetic diseases, counseling for the prevention of these diseases has got overwhelming necessity. Thus, promoting individuals’ awareness of. genetic counseling is required. The current study aimed at determining  the effect of an educational program based on Health Belief Model on knowledge, beliefs, and self-efficacy of urbanized women in need of genetic counseling. Materials and Methods: In this randomized field trial study, 80 married women in need of genetic counseling were divided into two equal case and control groups. Data collection means were a researcher-designed questionnaire consisting of demographic data and health belief model queries, which were completed by interview. Educational intervention was done during three 90 minute sessions with one week interval between each one. Finally, the obtained data was fed into SPSS (version 16 applying the statistical tests of Chi-square, repeated ANOVA, independent t-test, Mann-Whitney and Friedman for analysis; and P0.05, but the difference became significant immediately and three months after intervention (P<0.001. There was a significant difference between the knowledge, threat, perceived benefits, barriers and self-efficacy in the two groups three week intervals before and  immediately after intervention, before and after the three months, immediately and after three months in the experimental group (P<0.001, but the difference was not significant in the control group. Conclusion: The results showed that educational interventions based on HBM increases women's knowledge, beliefs, and self-efficacy regarding the role of genetic counseling in the prevention of congenital malformations.

116 THE IGALA TRADITIONAL RELIGIOUS BELIEF SYSTEM ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Ike Odimegwu

supreme God called Ọjọ, but that it is a function of intercourse between ..... other deities at the same time; implicit monotheism,. i.e. a belief in a supreme deity yet no definite denial of other gods; and lastly, explicit monotheism, a belief in a ...

Belief Functions: Theory and Applications - Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Belief Functions

CERN Document Server

Masson, Marie-Hélène

2012-01-01

The theory of belief functions, also known as evidence theory or Dempster-Shafer theory, was first introduced by Arthur P. Dempster in the context of statistical inference, and was later developed by Glenn Shafer as a general framework for modeling epistemic uncertainty. These early contributions have been the starting points of many important developments, including the Transferable Belief Model and the Theory of Hints. The theory of belief functions is now well established as a general framework for reasoning with uncertainty, and has well understood connections to other frameworks such as probability, possibility and imprecise probability theories.   This volume contains the proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Belief Functions that was held in Compiègne, France on 9-11 May 2012. It gathers 51 contributions describing recent developments both on theoretical issues (including approximation methods, combination rules, continuous belief functions, graphical models and independence concepts) an...

Explaining body size beliefs in anorexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Gadsby, Stephen

2017-11-01

Cognitive neuropsychiatry has had much success in providing theoretical models for the causal origins of many delusional beliefs. Recently, it has been suggested that some anorexia nervosa patients' beliefs about their own body size should be considered delusions. As such, it seems high time the methods of cognitive neuropsychiatry were turned to modelling the false body size beliefs of anorexics. In this paper, I adopt an empiricist approach to modelling the causal origins of false body size beliefs in anorexia. Within the background of cognitive neuropsychiatry, empiricist models claim that abnormal beliefs are grounded by abnormal experiences bearing similar content. I discuss the kinds of abnormal experiences of body size anorexics suffer from which could ground their false beliefs about body size. These oversized experiences come in three varieties: false self-other body comparisons, spontaneous mental imagery of a fat body and distorted perception of affordances. Further theoretical and empirical research into the oversized experiences which anorexics suffer from presents a promising avenue for understanding and treating the disorder.

Betting and Belief: Modeling the Impact of Prediction Markets on Public Attribution of Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Gilligan, J. M.; Nay, J. J.; van der Linden, M.

2016-12-01

Despite overwhelming scientific evidence and an almost complete consensus among scientists, a large fraction of the American public is not convinced that global warming is anthropogenic. This doubt correlates strongly with political, ideological, and cultural orientation. [1] It has been proposed that people who do not trust climate scientists tend to trust markets, so prediction markets might be able to influence their beliefs about the causes of climate change. [2] We present results from an agent-based simulation of a prediction market in which traders invest based on their beliefs about what drives global temperature change (here, either CO2 concentration or total solar irradiance (TSI), which is a popular hypothesis among many who doubt the dominant role of CO2). At each time step, traders use historical and observed temperatures and projected future forcings (CO2 or TSI) to update Bayesian posterior probability distributions for future temperatures, conditional on their belief about what drives climate change. Traders then bet on future temperatures by trading in climate futures. Trading proceeds by a continuous double auction. Traders are randomly assigned initial beliefs about climate change, and they have some probability of changing their beliefs to match those of the most successful traders in their social network. We simulate two alternate realities in which the global temperature is controlled either by CO2 or by TSI, with stochastic noise. In both cases traders' beliefs converge, with a large majority reaching agreement on the actual cause of climate change. This convergence is robust, but the speed with which consensus emerges depends on characteristics of the traders' psychology and the structure of the market. Our model can serve as a test-bed for studying how beliefs might evolve under different market structures and different modes of decision-making and belief-change. We will report progress on studying alternate models of belief-change. This

High School Students' Scientific Epistemological Beliefs, Self-Efficacy in Learning Physics and Attitudes toward Physics: A Structural Equation Model

Science.gov (United States)

Kapucu, Serkan; Bahçivan, Eralp

2015-01-01

Background: There are some theoretical evidences that explain the relationships between core beliefs (i.e., epistemological beliefs) and peripheral beliefs (self-efficacy in learning) in the literature. The close relationships of such type of beliefs with attitudes are also discussed by some researchers. Constructing a model that investigates…

Supernatural beliefs, aetiological models and help seeking behaviour in patients with schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Kate, Natasha; Grover, Sandeep; Kulhara, Parmanand; Nehra, Ritu

2012-01-01

Few studies have evaluated the supernatural beliefs of patients with schizophrenia. This study aimed to study the personal beliefs, aetiological models and help seeking behaviour of patients with schizophrenia using a self-rated questionnaire. Seventy three patients returned the completed supernatural Attitude questionnaire. 62% of patients admitted that people in their community believed in sorcery and other magico-religious phenomena. One fourth to half of patients believed in ghosts/evil spirit (26%), spirit intrusion (28.8%) and sorcery (46.6%). Two-third patients believed that mental illness can occur either due to sorcery, ghosts/evil spirit, spirit intrusion, divine wrath, planetary/astrological influences, dissatisfied or evil spirits and bad deeds of the past. 40% of the subjects attributed mental disorders to more than one of these beliefs. About half of the patients (46.6%) believed that only performance of prayers was sufficient to improve their mental status. Few patients (9.6%) believed that magico-religious rituals were sufficient to improve their mental illness but about one-fourth (24.7%) admitted that during recent episode either they or their caregivers performed magico-religious rituals. Supernatural beliefs are common in patients with schizophrenia and many of them attribute the symptoms of mental disorders to these beliefs.

The dynamics of belief in climate change and its risks in business organisations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bleda, Mercedes; Shackley, Simon

2008-01-01

This paper presents a simulation model of the formation of the belief in climate change of a business organisation using a systems dynamics approach. Understanding how businesses form their belief on the issue of climate change is of paramount importance given the key role of beliefs and cognitive characteristics in the triggering and shaping of organisational adaptation processes. The main assumption of the model is that the dynamics of belief is driven by the perceived actual and potential changes in competitiveness as a consequence of climate impacts rather than by the growth of an ecological 'business conscience'. The model has been built using the STELLA software program, and it is based upon theoretical hypotheses drawn from behavioural studies of organisations and evolutionary theories of economic change. (author)

Marital Meaning: Exploring Young Adults' Belief Systems about Marriage

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Scott S.

2006-01-01

The purpose of the study is to examine the meaning that the institution of marriage can hold for young, unmarried adults, based on their systems (or collections) of beliefs about marriage. Based on symbolic interactionism, it is argued that marital meaning has implications for how people behave prior to and during marriage that may relate to…

Health Promoting Self-Care Behaviors and Its Related Factors in Elderly: Application of Health Belief Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mojtaba Azadbakht

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Health beliefs significantly affect health promoting self-care behaviors. The most important model designed based on health beliefs is the Health Belief Model. This study examined the association between health belief model constructs and demographic factors with behaviors in elderly. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 465 elders referring to Tehran's cultural centers recruited with a multi-stage sampling method. Study instruments were questionnaires regarding demographic information, health beliefs, self-efficacy and health-promoting self-care behaviors. Data analysis was performed using SPSS-22 software by Independent T-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation and Multiple linear regression. Results: The mean (±SD age of subjects was 68.24±6.12 years and the mean of general self-care score was 1.79±0.36. Gender (P=0.011, economy (P<0.001, education level (P<0.001 and age (P=0.008 were significantly associated with self-care behaviors. Regression analysis showed that perceived barriers, self-efficacy and perceived severity were determinants of behavior (P<0.001. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, it is essential to pay special attention to self-efficacy, perceived severity and perceived barriers to design health education for elderly.

Exploring the belief systems of domestic abuse victims using Smallest Space Analysis (SSA)

OpenAIRE

Spruin, E.; Alleyne, E.; Baker, R.; Papadaki, I.; Franz, A.

2017-01-01

Purpose: Support service provisions for domestic abuse victims has typically focused on the immediate risk and etiological factors associated with abuse. Consequently, there is limited research exploring more persistent and pervasive factors involved in this cycle of abuse, such as subjective experiences and beliefs held by victims of domestic abuse. The current study is a preliminary exploration of the individual experience of domestic abuse including the belief systems of participants. Incr...

The influence of online store beliefs on consumer online impulse buying: A model and empirical application

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verhagen, T.; van Dolen, W.

2011-01-01

Our study provides insight into the relationships between online store beliefs and consumer online impulse buying behavior. Drawing upon cognitive emotion theory, we developed a model and showed how beliefs about functional convenience (online store merchandise attractiveness and ease of use) and

Managing Dog Waste: Campaign Insights from the Health Belief Model

Science.gov (United States)

Typhina, Eli; Yan, Changmin

2014-01-01

Aiming to help municipalities develop effective education and outreach campaigns to reduce stormwater pollutants, such as pet waste, this study applied the Health Belief Model (HBM) to identify perceptions of dog waste and corresponding collection behaviors from dog owners living in a small U.S. city. Results of 455 online survey responses…

A Belief Rule Based Expert System to Assess Mental Disorder under Uncertainty

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hossain, Mohammad Shahadat; Afif Monrat, Ahmed; Hasan, Mamun

2016-01-01

to ignorance, incompleteness, and randomness. So, a belief rule-based expert system (BRBES) has been designed and developed with the capability of handling the uncertainties mentioned. Evidential reasoning works as the inference engine and the belief rule base as the knowledge representation schema......Mental disorder is a change of mental or behavioral pattern that causes sufferings and impairs the ability to function in ordinary life. In psychopathology, the assessment methods of mental disorder contain various types of uncertainties associated with signs and symptoms. This study identifies...

Remarriage Beliefs as Predictors of Marital Quality and Positive Interaction in Stepcouples: An Actor-Partner Interdependence Model.

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Garneau, Chelsea L; Higginbotham, Brian; Adler-Baeder, Francesca

2015-12-01

Using an Actor-Partner Interdependence Model, we examined remarriage beliefs as predictors of marital quality and positive interaction in a sample of 179 stepcouples. Three beliefs were measured using subscales from the Remarriage Belief Inventory (RMBI) including success is slim, children are the priority, and finances should be pooled. Several significant actor and partner effects were found for both wives' and husbands' beliefs. Wives' marital quality was positively associated with their own beliefs that finances should be pooled and negatively associated with their own beliefs that success is slim. Wives' reports of their own and spouses' positive interaction were both positively associated with their beliefs that finances should be pooled. Their reports of spouses' positive interaction were also negatively associated with husbands' beliefs that success is slim. Husbands' marital quality was positively associated with wives' beliefs that children are the priority, positively associated with their own beliefs that finances should be pooled, and negatively with success is slim. Positive interaction for husbands was positively associated with wives' beliefs that finances should be pooled and negatively associated with their own beliefs that success is slim. Finally, husbands' reports of positive interaction for their spouses were positively associated with wives' beliefs that finances should be pooled. Implications for future research utilizing dyadic data analysis with stepcouples are addressed. © 2015 Family Process Institute.

Examining Belief and Confidence in Schizophrenia

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Joyce, Dan W.; Averbeck, Bruno B.; Frith, Chris D.; Shergill, Sukhwinder S.

2018-01-01

Background People with psychoses often report fixed, delusional beliefs that are sustained even in the presence of unequivocal contrary evidence. Such delusional beliefs are the result of integrating new and old evidence inappropriately in forming a cognitive model. We propose and test a cognitive model of belief formation using experimental data from an interactive “Rock Paper Scissors” game. Methods Participants (33 controls and 27 people with schizophrenia) played a competitive, time-pressured interactive two-player game (Rock, Paper, Scissors). Participant’s behavior was modeled by a generative computational model using leaky-integrator and temporal difference methods. This model describes how new and old evidence is integrated to form both a playing strategy to beat the opponent and provide a mechanism for reporting confidence in one’s playing strategy to win against the opponent Results People with schizophrenia fail to appropriately model their opponent’s play despite consistent (rather than random) patterns that can be exploited in the simulated opponent’s play. This is manifest as a failure to weigh existing evidence appropriately against new evidence. Further, participants with schizophrenia show a ‘jumping to conclusions’ bias, reporting successful discovery of a winning strategy with insufficient evidence. Conclusions The model presented suggests two tentative mechanisms in delusional belief formation – i) one for modeling patterns in other’s behavior, where people with schizophrenia fail to use old evidence appropriately and ii) a meta-cognitive mechanism for ‘confidence’ in such beliefs where people with schizophrenia overweight recent reward history in deciding on the value of beliefs about the opponent. PMID:23521846

DeepQA: improving the estimation of single protein model quality with deep belief networks.

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Cao, Renzhi; Bhattacharya, Debswapna; Hou, Jie; Cheng, Jianlin

2016-12-05

Protein quality assessment (QA) useful for ranking and selecting protein models has long been viewed as one of the major challenges for protein tertiary structure prediction. Especially, estimating the quality of a single protein model, which is important for selecting a few good models out of a large model pool consisting of mostly low-quality models, is still a largely unsolved problem. We introduce a novel single-model quality assessment method DeepQA based on deep belief network that utilizes a number of selected features describing the quality of a model from different perspectives, such as energy, physio-chemical characteristics, and structural information. The deep belief network is trained on several large datasets consisting of models from the Critical Assessment of Protein Structure Prediction (CASP) experiments, several publicly available datasets, and models generated by our in-house ab initio method. Our experiments demonstrate that deep belief network has better performance compared to Support Vector Machines and Neural Networks on the protein model quality assessment problem, and our method DeepQA achieves the state-of-the-art performance on CASP11 dataset. It also outperformed two well-established methods in selecting good outlier models from a large set of models of mostly low quality generated by ab initio modeling methods. DeepQA is a useful deep learning tool for protein single model quality assessment and protein structure prediction. The source code, executable, document and training/test datasets of DeepQA for Linux is freely available to non-commercial users at http://cactus.rnet.missouri.edu/DeepQA/ .

Belief-rule-based expert systems for evaluation of e-government

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hossain, Mohammad Shahadat; Zander, Pär-Ola Mikael; Kamal, Md Sarwar

2015-01-01

, known as the Belief Rule Based Expert System (BRBES) and implemented in the local e-government of Bangladesh. The results have been compared with a recently developed method of evaluating e-government, and it is demonstrated that the results of the BRBES are more accurate and reliable. The BRBES can...

A Mixed Methods Approach to Code Stakeholder Beliefs in Urban Water Governance

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, E. V.; Henry, A.; Pivo, G.

2017-12-01

What is a reliable way to code policies to represent belief systems? The Advocacy Coalition Framework posits that public policy may be viewed as manifestations of belief systems. Belief systems include both ontological beliefs about cause-and-effect relationships and policy effectiveness, as well as normative beliefs about appropriate policy instruments and the relative value of different outcomes. The idea that belief systems are embodied in public policy is important for urban water governance because it trains our focus on belief conflict; this can help us understand why many water-scarce cities do not adopt innovative technology despite available scientific information. To date, there has been very little research on systematic, rigorous methods to measure the belief system content of public policies. We address this by testing the relationship between beliefs and policy participation to develop an innovative coding framework. With a focus on urban water governance in Tucson, Arizona, we analyze grey literature on local water management. Mentioned policies are coded into a typology of common approaches identified in urban water governance literature, which include regulation, education, price and non-price incentives, green infrastructure and other types of technology. We then survey local water stakeholders about their perceptions of these policies. Urban water governance requires coordination of organizations from multiple sectors, and we cannot assume that belief development and policy participation occur in a vacuum. Thus, we use a generalized exponential random graph model to test the relationship between perceptions and policy participation in the Tucson water governance network. We measure policy perceptions for organizations by averaging across their respective, affiliated respondents and generating a belief distance matrix of coordinating network participants. Similarly, we generate a distance matrix of these actors based on the frequency of their

Quantum field inspired model of decision making: Asymptotic stabilization of belief state via interaction with surrounding mental environment

OpenAIRE

Bagarello, Fabio; Basieva, Irina; Khrennikov, Andrei

2017-01-01

This paper is devoted to justification of quantum-like models of the process of decision making based on the theory of open quantum systems, i.e. decision making is considered as decoherence. This process is modeled as interaction of a decision maker, Alice, with a mental (information) environment ${\\cal R}$ surrounding her. Such an interaction generates "dissipation of uncertainty" from Alice's belief-state $\\rho(t)$ into ${\\cal R}$ and asymptotic stabilization of $\\rho(t)$ to a steady belie...

Robust online belief space planning in changing environments: Application to physical mobile robots

KAUST Repository

Agha-mohammadi, Ali-akbar

2014-05-01

© 2014 IEEE. Motion planning in belief space (under motion and sensing uncertainty) is a challenging problem due to the computational intractability of its exact solution. The Feedback-based Information RoadMap (FIRM) framework made an important theoretical step toward enabling roadmap-based planning in belief space and provided a computationally tractable version of belief space planning. However, there are still challenges in applying belief space planners to physical systems, such as the discrepancy between computational models and real physical models. In this paper, we propose a dynamic replanning scheme in belief space to address such challenges. Moreover, we present techniques to cope with changes in the environment (e.g., changes in the obstacle map), as well as unforeseen large deviations in the robot\\'s location (e.g., the kidnapped robot problem). We then utilize these techniques to implement the first online replanning scheme in belief space on a physical mobile robot that is robust to changes in the environment and large disturbances. This method demonstrates that belief space planning is a practical tool for robot motion planning.

Modeling the impact of normative beliefs in the context of online buying: Direct and moderating effects

OpenAIRE

Iconaru Claudia

2012-01-01

Normative beliefs tend to play a significant role in the context of online buying, having both direct and moderating effects. The results of the structural equation modeling indicate a direct effect of normative beliefs on the intention to buy online. Also, the magnitude of the relationship between online trust and perceived risk depends on the level of normative beliefs, showing that the effect of online trust on perceived risk varies as a function of the level of the moderator variable. Thi...

Prediction of groundwater flowing well zone at An-Najif Province, central Iraq using evidential belief functions model and GIS.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Abadi, Alaa M; Pradhan, Biswajeet; Shahid, Shamsuddin

2015-10-01

The objective of this study is to delineate groundwater flowing well zone potential in An-Najif Province of Iraq in a data-driven evidential belief function model developed in a geographical information system (GIS) environment. An inventory map of 68 groundwater flowing wells was prepared through field survey. Seventy percent or 43 wells were used for training the evidential belief functions model and the reset 30 % or 19 wells were used for validation of the model. Seven groundwater conditioning factors mostly derived from RS were used, namely elevation, slope angle, curvature, topographic wetness index, stream power index, lithological units, and distance to the Euphrates River in this study. The relationship between training flowing well locations and the conditioning factors were investigated using evidential belief functions technique in a GIS environment. The integrated belief values were classified into five categories using natural break classification scheme to predict spatial zoning of groundwater flowing well, namely very low (0.17-0.34), low (0.34-0.46), moderate (0.46-0.58), high (0.58-0.80), and very high (0.80-0.99). The results show that very low and low zones cover 72 % (19,282 km(2)) of the study area mostly clustered in the central part, the moderate zone concentrated in the west part covers 13 % (3481 km(2)), and the high and very high zones extended over the northern part cover 15 % (3977 km(2)) of the study area. The vast spatial extension of very low and low zones indicates that groundwater flowing wells potential in the study area is low. The performance of the evidential belief functions spatial model was validated using the receiver operating characteristic curve. A success rate of 0.95 and a prediction rate of 0.94 were estimated from the area under relative operating characteristics curves, which indicate that the developed model has excellent capability to predict groundwater flowing well zones. The produced map of groundwater

Reliability assessment of complex mechatronic systems using a modified nonparametric belief propagation algorithm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhong, X.; Ichchou, M.; Saidi, A.

2010-01-01

Various parametric skewed distributions are widely used to model the time-to-failure (TTF) in the reliability analysis of mechatronic systems, where many items are unobservable due to the high cost of testing. Estimating the parameters of those distributions becomes a challenge. Previous research has failed to consider this problem due to the difficulty of dependency modeling. Recently the methodology of Bayesian networks (BNs) has greatly contributed to the reliability analysis of complex systems. In this paper, the problem of system reliability assessment (SRA) is formulated as a BN considering the parameter uncertainty. As the quantitative specification of BN, a normal distribution representing the stochastic nature of TTF distribution is learned to capture the interactions between the basic items and their output items. The approximation inference of our continuous BN model is performed by a modified version of nonparametric belief propagation (NBP) which can avoid using a junction tree that is inefficient for the mechatronic case because of the large treewidth. After reasoning, we obtain the marginal posterior density of each TTF model parameter. Other information from diverse sources and expert priors can be easily incorporated in this SRA model to achieve more accurate results. Simulation in simple and complex cases of mechatronic systems demonstrates that the posterior of the parameter network fits the data well and the uncertainty passes effectively through our BN based SRA model by using the modified NBP.

A Belief Rule-Based Expert System to Assess Bronchiolitis Suspicion from Signs and Symptoms Under Uncertainty

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Karim, Rezuan; Hossain, Mohammad Shahadat; Khalid, Md. Saifuddin

2017-01-01

developed generic belief rule-based inference methodology by using evidential reasoning (RIMER) acts as the inference engine of this BRBES while belief rule base as the knowledge representation schema. The knowledge base of the system is constructed by using real patient data and expert opinion from...

Engaging students in the study of physics: an investigation of physics teachers’ belief systems about teaching and learning physics

OpenAIRE

Belo, Neeltje Annigje Hendrika

2013-01-01

This doctoral thesis comprises two questionnaire studies and two small-scale interview studies on the content and structure of physics teachers’ belief systems. The studies focused on teachers’ beliefs about the goals and pedagogy of teaching and learning physics, and the nature of science. The samples consisted of physics teachers working at secondary schools in the Netherlands (students aged 12-18). The questionnaire studies showed that, on average, teachers’ belief systems about teaching a...

Valence-Dependent Belief Updating: Computational Validation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bojana Kuzmanovic

2017-06-01

Full Text Available People tend to update beliefs about their future outcomes in a valence-dependent way: they are likely to incorporate good news and to neglect bad news. However, belief formation is a complex process which depends not only on motivational factors such as the desire for favorable conclusions, but also on multiple cognitive variables such as prior beliefs, knowledge about personal vulnerabilities and resources, and the size of the probabilities and estimation errors. Thus, we applied computational modeling in order to test for valence-induced biases in updating while formally controlling for relevant cognitive factors. We compared biased and unbiased Bayesian models of belief updating, and specified alternative models based on reinforcement learning. The experiment consisted of 80 trials with 80 different adverse future life events. In each trial, participants estimated the base rate of one of these events and estimated their own risk of experiencing the event before and after being confronted with the actual base rate. Belief updates corresponded to the difference between the two self-risk estimates. Valence-dependent updating was assessed by comparing trials with good news (better-than-expected base rates with trials with bad news (worse-than-expected base rates. After receiving bad relative to good news, participants' updates were smaller and deviated more strongly from rational Bayesian predictions, indicating a valence-induced bias. Model comparison revealed that the biased (i.e., optimistic Bayesian model of belief updating better accounted for data than the unbiased (i.e., rational Bayesian model, confirming that the valence of the new information influenced the amount of updating. Moreover, alternative computational modeling based on reinforcement learning demonstrated higher learning rates for good than for bad news, as well as a moderating role of personal knowledge. Finally, in this specific experimental context, the approach based on

Belief revision and delusions: how do patients with schizophrenia take advice?

Science.gov (United States)

Kaliuzhna, Mariia; Chambon, Valérian; Franck, Nicolas; Testud, Bérangère; Van der Henst, Jean-Baptiste

2012-01-01

The dominant cognitive model that accounts for the persistence of delusional beliefs in schizophrenia postulates that patients suffer from a general deficit in belief revision. It is generally assumed that this deficit is a consequence of impaired reasoning skills. However, the possibility that such inflexibility affects the entire system of a patient's beliefs has rarely been empirically tested. Using delusion-neutral material in a well-documented advice-taking task, the present study reports that patients with schizophrenia: 1) revise their beliefs, 2) take into account socially provided information to do so, 3) are not overconfident about their judgments, and 4) show less egocentric advice-discounting than controls. This study thus shows that delusional patients' difficulty in revising beliefs is more selective than had been previously assumed. The specificities of the task and the implications for a theory of delusion formation are discussed.

Information and Heterogeneous Beliefs: Cost of Capital, Trading Volume, and Investor Welfare

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Peter Ove; Qin, Zhenjiang

In an incomplete market setting with heterogeneous prior beliefs, we show that public information can have a substantial impact on the ex ante cost of capital, trading volume, and investor welfare. In a model with exponential utility investors and an asset with a normally distributed dividend...... information system. In an effectively complete market setting, in which investors do not need to trade dynamically in order to take full advantage of their differences in beliefs, the ex ante cost of capital and the investor welfare are both higher than in the incomplete market setting......, the Pareto efficient public information system is the system which enjoys the maximum ex ante cost of capital, and the maximum expected abnormal trading volume. The public information system facilitates improved dynamic trading opportunities based on heterogeneously updated posterior beliefs in order to take...

Information and Heterogeneous Beliefs: Cost of Capital, Trading Volume, and Investor Welfare

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Peter Ove; Qin, Zhenjiang

information system. In an effectively complete market setting, in which investors do not need to trade dynamically in order to take full advantage of their differences in beliefs, the ex ante cost of capital and the investor welfare are both higher than in the incomplete market setting......In an incomplete market setting with heterogeneous prior beliefs, we show that public information can have a substantial impact on the ex ante cost of capital, trading volume, and investor welfare. In a model with exponential utility investors and an asset with a normally distributed dividend......, the Pareto efficient public information system is the system which enjoys the maximum ex ante cost of capital, and the maximum expected abnormal trading volume. The public information system facilitates improved dynamic trading opportunities based on heterogeneously updated posterior beliefs in order to take...

Bayesian Belief Networks Approach for Modeling Irrigation Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Andriyas, S.; McKee, M.

2012-12-01

Canal operators need information to manage water deliveries to irrigators. Short-term irrigation demand forecasts can potentially valuable information for a canal operator who must manage an on-demand system. Such forecasts could be generated by using information about the decision-making processes of irrigators. Bayesian models of irrigation behavior can provide insight into the likely criteria which farmers use to make irrigation decisions. This paper develops a Bayesian belief network (BBN) to learn irrigation decision-making behavior of farmers and utilizes the resulting model to make forecasts of future irrigation decisions based on factor interaction and posterior probabilities. Models for studying irrigation behavior have been rarely explored in the past. The model discussed here was built from a combination of data about biotic, climatic, and edaphic conditions under which observed irrigation decisions were made. The paper includes a case study using data collected from the Canal B region of the Sevier River, near Delta, Utah. Alfalfa, barley and corn are the main crops of the location. The model has been tested with a portion of the data to affirm the model predictive capabilities. Irrigation rules were deduced in the process of learning and verified in the testing phase. It was found that most of the farmers used consistent rules throughout all years and across different types of crops. Soil moisture stress, which indicates the level of water available to the plant in the soil profile, was found to be one of the most significant likely driving forces for irrigation. Irrigations appeared to be triggered by a farmer's perception of soil stress, or by a perception of combined factors such as information about a neighbor irrigating or an apparent preference to irrigate on a weekend. Soil stress resulted in irrigation probabilities of 94.4% for alfalfa. With additional factors like weekend and irrigating when a neighbor irrigates, alfalfa irrigation

Development and Psychometrics of Health Belief Model Instrument about HIV/AIDS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Masod Vakili

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Background: With no effective vaccine for prevention or a definite cure for treatment, health education is considered the most effective intervention against HIV. Using a valid tool to evaluate the effect of health education interventions is an inevitable necessity. The aim of this study was to design a tool and to assess its validity and reliability based on native culture characterization in order to evaluate the health belief model constructs about AIDS. Materials and Methods: 480 women covered by health bases of the city of Zanjan, in the age group of 20-30 years, married, and with at least first middle school education participated in this cross-sectional study. After reviewing the literature, the tool was designed and its validity and reliability was approved based on psychometric processes and feedback from the target group and a panel of experts through calculating the content validity ratio, content validity index, exploratory factor analysis, and determining internal consistency.Results: The validity of 37 items were assessed and selected through calculating the index score of the item effect above 1.5, content validity index ratio greater than 0.49, and content validity index higher than 0.79 and by using exploratory factor analysis with a special value greater than 1; seven factors and 34 items were kept and classified into five categories based on literature review and content items. The reliability of the research tool was calculated with Cronbach’s alpha equal to 0.82.Conclusion: The results of this study provide appropriate evidence about the strength of structural factors and the reliability of the assessment tool for structures of health belief models about AIDS, and the creation of accessibility to a reliable tool for assessing the structures of health belief model.

A non-linear dynamical approach to belief revision in cognitive behavioral therapy

Science.gov (United States)

Kronemyer, David; Bystritsky, Alexander

2014-01-01

Belief revision is the key change mechanism underlying the psychological intervention known as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). It both motivates and reinforces new behavior. In this review we analyze and apply a novel approach to this process based on AGM theory of belief revision, named after its proponents, Carlos Alchourrón, Peter Gärdenfors and David Makinson. AGM is a set-theoretical model. We reconceptualize it as describing a non-linear, dynamical system that occurs within a semantic space, which can be represented as a phase plane comprising all of the brain's attentional, cognitive, affective and physiological resources. Triggering events, such as anxiety-producing or depressing situations in the real world, or their imaginal equivalents, mobilize these assets so they converge on an equilibrium point. A preference function then evaluates and integrates evidentiary data associated with individual beliefs, selecting some of them and comprising them into a belief set, which is a metastable state. Belief sets evolve in time from one metastable state to another. In the phase space, this evolution creates a heteroclinic channel. AGM regulates this process and characterizes the outcome at each equilibrium point. Its objective is to define the necessary and sufficient conditions for belief revision by simultaneously minimizing the set of new beliefs that have to be adopted, and the set of old beliefs that have to be discarded or reformulated. Using AGM, belief revision can be modeled using three (and only three) fundamental syntactical operations performed on belief sets, which are expansion; revision; and contraction. Expansion is like adding a new belief without changing any old ones. Revision is like adding a new belief and changing old, inconsistent ones. Contraction is like changing an old belief without adding any new ones. We provide operationalized examples of this process in action. PMID:24860491

Paranormal beliefs of Latvian college students: a Latvian version of the revised paranormal belief scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Utinans, A; Ancane, G; Tobacyk, J J; Boyraz, G; Livingston, M M; Tobacyk, J S

2015-02-01

A Latvian version of the Revised Paranormal Belief Scale (RPBS) was completed by 229 Latvian university students. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed six relatively independent factors labeled Magical Abilities, Psychokinesis, Traditional Religious Belief, Superstition, Spirit Travel, and Extraordinary Life Forms. Based on the motivational-control model, it was hypothesized that the societal stressors affecting Latvian society during the last 50 yr. have led to a reduced sense of personal control which, in turn, has resulted in increased endorsement of paranormal beliefs to re-establish a sense of control. The motivational-control hypothesis was not supported. Results indicated that (except for Traditional Religious Belief in women), the majority of these students were disbelievers in paranormal phenomena. As hypothesized, Latvian women reported significantly greater paranormal belief than men.

Cohort Differences in the Structure and Outcomes of an African American Belief System.

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Richard L.; Bagozzi, Richard P.

2001-01-01

Examined the structure of African American belief systems (racial attitudes and self-esteem) and its relationship to wellbeing, other group attachments, and system orientations across different age and generation groups. Interview data from three age-groupings of adults demonstrated substantial similarity across age cohorts in understanding of…

Effect of health belief model and health promotion model on breast cancer early diagnosis behavior: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Ersin, Fatma; Bahar, Zuhal

2011-01-01

Breast cancer is an important public health problem on the grounds that it is frequently seen and it is a fatal disease. The objective of this systematic analysis is to indicate the effects of interventions performed by nurses by using the Health Belief Model (HBM) and Health Promotion Model (HPM) on the breast cancer early diagnosis behaviors and on the components of the Health Belief Model and Health Promotion Model. The reveiw was created in line with the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination guide dated 2009 (CRD) and developed by York University National Institute of Health Researches. Review was conducted by using PUBMED, OVID, EBSCO and COCHRANE databases. Six hundred seventy eight studies (PUBMED: 236, OVID: 162, EBSCO: 175, COCHRANE:105) were found in total at the end of the review. Abstracts and full texts of these six hundred seventy eight studies were evaluated in terms of inclusion and exclusion criteria and 9 studies were determined to meet the criteria. Samplings of the studies varied between ninety four and one thousand six hundred fifty five. It was detected in the studies that educations provided by taking the theories as basis became effective on the breast cancer early diagnosis behaviors. When the literature is examined, it is observed that the experimental researches which compare the concepts of Health Belief Model (HBM) and Health Promotion Model (HPM) preoperatively and postoperatively and show the effect of these concepts on education and are conducted by nurses are limited in number. Randomized controlled studies which compare HBM and HPM concepts preoperatively and postoperatively and show the efficiency of the interventions can be useful in evaluating the efficiency of the interventions.

Science Faculty Belief Systems in a Professional Development Program: Inquiry in College Laboratories

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Hutchins, Kristen L.; Friedrichsen, Patricia J.

2012-12-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate how science faculty members' belief systems about inquiry-based teaching changed through their experience in a professional development program. The program was designed to support early career science faculty in learning about inquiry and incorporating an inquiry-based approach to teaching laboratories. Data sources for this qualitative study included three semi-structured interviews, observations during the program and during faculty members' implementation in their courses, and a researcher's journal. In the first phase of data analysis, we created profiles for each of the four participants. Next, we developed assertions, and tested for confirming and disconfirming evidence across the profiles. The assertions indicated that, through the professional development program, participants' knowledge and beliefs about inquiry-based teaching shifted, placing more value on student-directed learning and classroom inquiry. Participants who were internally motivated to participate and held incoming positive attitudes toward the mini-journal inquiry-based approach were more likely to incorporate the approach in their future practice. Students' responses played a critical role in participants' belief systems and their decision to continue using the inquiry-based format. The findings from this study have implications for professional development design.

Effectiveness of Education Based on the Health Belief Model on Performing Preventive Measures for Breast Cancer Among Female Teachers in Zahedan

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Khadijeh Kalan-Farmanfarma

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Preventive behaviors such as screening tests have an important role in prevention and control of breast cancer. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effect of educational programs on preventive behaviors of breast cancer based on the health belief model among female teachers of guidance schools in Zahedan city. Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was performed on 240 female teachers from (120 participants in each of the control and intervention groups Zahedan guidance schools. The data-gathering tool was a multipart questionnaire containing demographic variables, knowledge and health belief model structures. An educational program was performed based on the health belief model in five sessions through lectures, training videos, question and answer session for participants in the intervention group. Questionnaires were filled before and two months after the intervention in the two groups. Data was analyzed by independent T-test, chi-square and multiple linear regressions using SPSS-15 software. Results: There was no meaningful difference in the mean scores of knowledge, health belief model constructs, and performance between the two groups before the educational intervention, but the mean scores of variables increased significantly after the intervention (P< 0.05. Conclusion: The health belief model was effective to promote preventive behaviors. Hence, educational interventions with an emphasis on raising awareness, change in beliefs and improving self-efficacy regarding breast cancer are recommended

THE CODE OF THE STREET AND INMATE VIOLENCE: INVESTIGATING THE SALIENCE OF IMPORTED BELIEF SYSTEMS*

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MEARS, DANIEL P.; STEWART, ERIC A.; SIENNICK, SONJA E.; SIMONS, RONALD L.

2013-01-01

Scholars have long argued that inmate behaviors stem in part from cultural belief systems that they “import” with them into incarcerative settings. Even so, few empirical assessments have tested this argument directly. Drawing on theoretical accounts of one such set of beliefs—the code of the street—and on importation theory, we hypothesize that individuals who adhere more strongly to the street code will be more likely, once incarcerated, to engage in violent behavior and that this effect will be amplified by such incarceration experiences as disciplinary sanctions and gang involvement, as well as the lack of educational programming, religious programming, and family support. We test these hypotheses using unique data that include measures of the street code belief system and incarceration experiences. The results support the argument that the code of the street belief system affects inmate violence and that the effect is more pronounced among inmates who lack family support, experience disciplinary sanctions, and are gang involved. Implications of these findings are discussed. PMID:24068837

The influence of uncertain map features on risk beliefs and perceived ambiguity for maps of modeled cancer risk from air pollution

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Myers, Jeffrey D.

2012-01-01

Maps are often used to convey information generated by models, for example, modeled cancer risk from air pollution. The concrete nature of images, such as maps, may convey more certainty than warranted for modeled information. Three map features were selected to communicate the uncertainty of modeled cancer risk: (a) map contours appeared in or out of focus, (b) one or three colors were used, and (c) a verbal-relative or numeric risk expression was used in the legend. Study aims were to assess how these features influenced risk beliefs and the ambiguity of risk beliefs at four assigned map locations that varied by risk level. We applied an integrated conceptual framework to conduct this full factorial experiment with 32 maps that varied by the three dichotomous features and four risk levels; 826 university students participated. Data was analyzed using structural equation modeling. Unfocused contours and the verbal-relative risk expression generated more ambiguity than their counterparts. Focused contours generated stronger risk beliefs for higher risk levels and weaker beliefs for lower risk levels. Number of colors had minimal influence. The magnitude of risk level, conveyed using incrementally darker shading, had a substantial dose-response influence on the strength of risk beliefs. Personal characteristics of prior beliefs and numeracy also had substantial influences. Bottom-up and top-down information processing suggest why iconic visual features of incremental shading and contour focus had the strongest visual influences on risk beliefs and ambiguity. Variations in contour focus and risk expression show promise for fostering appropriate levels of ambiguity. PMID:22985196

Belief update as social choice

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Benthem, J.; Girard, P.; Roy, O.; Marion, M.

2011-01-01

Dynamic epistemic-doxastic logics describe the new knowledge or new beliefs indexBelief of agents after some informational event has happened. Technically, this requires an update rule that turns a doxastic-epistemic modelM(recording the current information state of the agents) and a dynamic ‘event

Belief revision and delusions: how do patients with schizophrenia take advice?

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Mariia Kaliuzhna

Full Text Available The dominant cognitive model that accounts for the persistence of delusional beliefs in schizophrenia postulates that patients suffer from a general deficit in belief revision. It is generally assumed that this deficit is a consequence of impaired reasoning skills. However, the possibility that such inflexibility affects the entire system of a patient's beliefs has rarely been empirically tested. Using delusion-neutral material in a well-documented advice-taking task, the present study reports that patients with schizophrenia: 1 revise their beliefs, 2 take into account socially provided information to do so, 3 are not overconfident about their judgments, and 4 show less egocentric advice-discounting than controls. This study thus shows that delusional patients' difficulty in revising beliefs is more selective than had been previously assumed. The specificities of the task and the implications for a theory of delusion formation are discussed.

Exploring the relationship between socioeconomic status, control beliefs and exercise behavior: a multiple mediator model.

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Murray, Terra C; Rodgers, Wendy M; Fraser, Shawn N

2012-02-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between control beliefs, socioeconomic status and exercise intentions and behavior. Specifically, we examined whether distal and proximal control beliefs mediated the association between socioeconomic status and exercise intentions and behavior. A one time, cross sectional mail out survey (N = 350) was conducted in a large urban Canadian city. Distal (i.e., personal constraints) and proximal (i.e., scheduling self-efficacy) control beliefs mediated the association between socioeconomic status and exercise, explaining approximately 30% of the variance. Proximal control beliefs (i.e., scheduling self-efficacy) partially mediated the association between socioeconomic status and intentions, with the models explaining approximately 50% of the variance. Compared to individuals with lower socioeconomic status, individuals with higher socioeconomic status reported more exercise and stronger intentions to exercise. This was at least partly because higher socioeconomic status respondents reported fewer barriers in their lives, and were more confident to cope with the scheduling demands of exercise.

Evaluating the performance of unhealthy junk food consumption based on health belief model in elementary school girls

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Azam Fathi

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background and objective: Nowadays, due to changes in eating patterns, the worthless junk foods are replaced useful food among children. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of unhealthy junk food consumption based on health belief model in elementary school girls Methods: Cross-sectional study Descriptive-analytic type of multi-stage sampling (208 samples was carried out in 2016. The survey instrument was a questionnaire valid and reliable based on the Health Belief Model (70 items. Data was analyzed by SPSS software according to statistical tests of significance level of 0.05. Results: Results showed that students of sensitivity (49% and relatively high efficacy (53/8%, perceived benefits (73/1% and better social protection (68/3% had. The results showed that among all the health belief model structures with yield (junk food intake significantly correlated. Also significant differences in parental education and sensitivity, perceived severity, self-efficacy, social support and yield (p<0/05. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that students from relatively favorable sensitivity and self-efficacy, perceived benefits and social protection in the field of unhealthy snacks were good. Also a significant relationship between structural and non-use study results showed unhealthy snacks but because of the importance of unhealthy snacks and unhealthy snack consumption among school children and the complications of the health belief model in predicting nutritional behaviors suggest that this model used as a framework for school feeding programs. Paper Type: Research Article.

The Effect of Teacher Beliefs on Student Competence in Mathematical Modeling--An Intervention Study

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Mischo, Christoph; Maaß, Katja

2013-01-01

This paper presents an intervention study whose aim was to promote teacher beliefs about mathematics and learning mathematics and student competences in mathematical modeling. In the intervention, teachers received written curriculum materials about mathematical modeling. The concept underlying the materials was based on constructivist ideas and…

Epistemological Beliefs and Knowledge Sharing in Work Teams: A New Model and Research Questions

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Weinberg, Frankie J.

2015-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a knowledge-sharing model that explains individual members' motivation to share knowledge (knowledge donation and knowledge collection). Design/methodology/approach: The model is based on social-constructivist theories of epistemological beliefs, learning and distributed cognition, and is organized…

Executive functions in morality, religion, and paranormal beliefs.

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Wain, Omar; Spinella, Marcello

2007-01-01

Moral, religious, and paranormal beliefs share some degree of overlap and play important roles in guiding peoples' behavior. Although partly cultural phenomena, they also have neurobiological components based on functional neuroimaging studies and research in clinical populations. Because all three show relationships to prefrontal system functioning, the current study examined whether they related to executive functions as measured by the Executive Function Inventory in a community sample. As in previous research, religious beliefs related positively to both moral attitudes and paranormal beliefs. Moral attitudes, however, did not relate to paranormal beliefs. Paranormal beliefs related inversely to impulse control and organization, whereas small positive correlations occurred between traditional religious beliefs, impulse control, and empathy. Moral attitudes, on the other hand, showed consistent positive correlations with all executive functions measured, independent of demographic influences. These findings concordantly support that prefrontal systems play a role in morality, religion, and paranormal beliefs.

The influence of social niche on cultural niche construction: modelling changes in belief about marriage form in Taiwan

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Lipatov, Mikhail; Brown, Melissa J.; Feldman, Marcus W.

2011-01-01

With introduction of social niche effects into a model of cultural change, the frequency of a practice cannot predict the frequency of its underlying belief. The combination of a general model with empirical data from a specific case illustrates the importance of collaboration between modellers and field researchers, and identifies the type of quantitative data necessary for analysing case studies. Demographic data from colonial-period household registers in Taiwan document a shift in marriage form within 40 years, from a mixture of uxorilocal marriages and virilocal marriages to the latter's dominance. Ethnographic data indicate marriage-related beliefs, costs, ethnic effects and colonial policies as well as the importance of horizontal cultural transmission. We present a formal model for the effects of moral beliefs about marriage and a population economic index on the decline of uxorilocal marriage. We integrate empirical marriage rates and an estimated economic index to produce five projections of the historical frequencies of one belief. These projections demonstrate how economic development may affect a cultural niche. They also indicate the need for future research on the relationship between wealth and cultural variability, the motivational force of cultural versus social factors, and the process of cultural niche construction. PMID:21320903

Modelling the effects of a CBRN defence system using a Bayesian Belief Model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Phillipson, F.; Bastings, I.C.L.; Vink, N.

2015-01-01

In this paper a Bayes model to quantify the effects of a passive CBRN defence system is presented. The model gives insight in the way of the mutual influence of all the elements of passive CBRN defence, by the use of detailed scenario analysis, sensitivity analysis and root cause analysis. This can

The Effect of Education Based on the Health Belief Model on Osteoporosis Prevention Behaviors in Female High School Students

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Mousaviasl

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Background Osteoporosis is one of the most common metabolic bone diseases and is the silent epidemic of this era. Objectives This study evaluates the effect of education that is based on the health belief model on promoting osteoporosis prevention behaviors among female high school students. Methods In this two-group interventional study, 172 students age 11 to 14 years (experimental group = 86 subjects; control group = 86 subjects were randomly selected from Khorramshahr high schools using multistage sampling. Data were collected before the intervention and two months after its completion using a researcher-made questionnaire with four parts: demographic questions, knowledge questions, questions related to the health belief model constructs, and questions regarding preventive behaviors. Data was analyzed using SPSS 22 software and by applying the Mann-Whitney test, the analysis of covariance procedure, and the Wilcoxon statistical test. Results After the intervention, significant statistical differences were seen between the experimental and control groups in mean scores of knowledge, health belief model constructs, and preventive behaviors. Conclusions The education based on health belief model plays an important role in increasing knowledge and improving osteoporosis prevention behaviors in students.

The BEL information extraction workflow (BELIEF): evaluation in the BioCreative V BEL and IAT track

OpenAIRE

Madan, Sumit; Hodapp, Sven; Senger, Philipp; Ansari, Sam; Szostak, Justyna; Hoeng, Julia; Peitsch, Manuel; Fluck, Juliane

2016-01-01

Network-based approaches have become extremely important in systems biology to achieve a better understanding of biological mechanisms. For network representation, the Biological Expression Language (BEL) is well designed to collate findings from the scientific literature into biological network models. To facilitate encoding and biocuration of such findings in BEL, a BEL Information Extraction Workflow (BELIEF) was developed. BELIEF provides a web-based curation interface, the BELIEF Dashboa...

A Bayesian belief network approach for assessing uncertainty in conceptual site models at contaminated sites

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Thomsen, Nanna I.; Binning, Philip J.; McKnight, Ursula S.; Tuxen, Nina; Bjerg, Poul L.; Troldborg, Mads

2016-05-01

A key component in risk assessment of contaminated sites is in the formulation of a conceptual site model (CSM). A CSM is a simplified representation of reality and forms the basis for the mathematical modeling of contaminant fate and transport at the site. The CSM should therefore identify the most important site-specific features and processes that may affect the contaminant transport behavior at the site. However, the development of a CSM will always be associated with uncertainties due to limited data and lack of understanding of the site conditions. CSM uncertainty is often found to be a major source of model error and it should therefore be accounted for when evaluating uncertainties in risk assessments. We present a Bayesian belief network (BBN) approach for constructing CSMs and assessing their uncertainty at contaminated sites. BBNs are graphical probabilistic models that are effective for integrating quantitative and qualitative information, and thus can strengthen decisions when empirical data are lacking. The proposed BBN approach facilitates a systematic construction of multiple CSMs, and then determines the belief in each CSM using a variety of data types and/or expert opinion at different knowledge levels. The developed BBNs combine data from desktop studies and initial site investigations with expert opinion to assess which of the CSMs are more likely to reflect the actual site conditions. The method is demonstrated on a Danish field site, contaminated with chlorinated ethenes. Four different CSMs are developed by combining two contaminant source zone interpretations (presence or absence of a separate phase contamination) and two geological interpretations (fractured or unfractured clay till). The beliefs in each of the CSMs are assessed sequentially based on data from three investigation stages (a screening investigation, a more detailed investigation, and an expert consultation) to demonstrate that the belief can be updated as more information

Childhood trauma and the development of paranormal beliefs.

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Berkowski, Monisha; MacDonald, Douglas A

2014-04-01

Belief in the paranormal is fairly prevalent in the general population. Previous research has shown a link between several personological characteristics and paranormal beliefs. The current study attempted to further investigate this link by replicating previous models that have shown a link between childhood trauma, fantasy proneness, and paranormal beliefs. In addition, the study attempted to expand on this model by including other variables such as stigma, resiliency, and coping style. The study used a sample of 198 undergraduate students. A significant correlation between trauma and paranormal beliefs was found. Partial correlations and path analyses revealed that fantasy proneness and avoidant coping style fully mediate the relationship between trauma and paranormal beliefs. The results imply that researchers need to take into account how a person responds to trauma via the development of coping strategies to accurately understand any observed relationship between trauma and paranormal beliefs.

Helmet Ownership and Use among Skateboarders: Utilisation of the Health Belief Model

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Peachey, Andrew A.; Sutton, Debra L.; Cathorall, Michelle L.

2016-01-01

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine the proportion of skateboarders who owned and who wore a helmet and which constructs from the Health Belief Model predicted helmet ownership and helmet use among undergraduate skateboarders. Methods: From March 2013 through March 2014, 83 skateboarders completed a helmet attitude and use…

[French validation of the Revised Paranormal Belief Scale].

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Bouvet, R; Djeriouat, H; Goutaudier, N; Py, J; Chabrol, H

2014-09-01

For the last decades, many researchers have focused on paranormal beliefs. Beliefs in the existence of paranormal phenomena would be common and studies conducted in westernized countries have highlighted a high prevalence of individuals believing in the existence of such phenomena. Tobacyk and Milford (1984) developed the Revised Paranormal Belief Scale (RPBS) for assessing beliefs in paranormal phenomena. This 26-item self-reported questionnaire, measuring beliefs in phenomena such as witchcraft or superstition, is one of the most widely used questionnaires to assess such beliefs. While studies focusing on paranormal beliefs tend to develop, there is no French self-report instrument to assess this construct. Researchers have tried to identify specific variables that might be linked to such beliefs, and some have focused on personalities of individuals who believe in the paranormal. Schizotypy has been reported to be significantly and positively correlated with paranormal beliefs. The aim of this study was a) to validate the French version of the RPBS and b) to explore the relationship between Schizotypal Personality Disorder traits and paranormal beliefs. After being recruited using the Internet and social networks (e.g. facebook), a sample of 313 participants (mean [SD] age=31.12 [11.62]; range 18-58years) completed the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ-B), assessing Schizotypal Personality Disorder traits and the Revised Paranormal Belief Scale assessing paranormal beliefs. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to test the proposed 7-factor structure of the RPB developed by Tobacyk. Several adjustment indices were used to evaluate the model. As the first model did not fit the original one, others models were tested. Our findings indicated that a seven-factor solution, excluding 2 items, best described the item structure: (1) spiritualism, (2) superstition, (3) witchcraft, (4) precognition, (5) traditional religious belief, (6) psi, (7) and

Agent Communication for Dynamic Belief Update

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Kobayashi, Mikito; Tojo, Satoshi

Thus far, various formalizations of rational / logical agent model have been proposed. In this paper, we include the notion of communication channel and belief modality into update logic, and introduce Belief Update Logic (BUL). First, we discuss that how we can reformalize the inform action of FIPA-ACL into communication channel, which represents a connection between agents. Thus, our agents can send a message only when they believe, and also there actually is, a channel between him / her and a receiver. Then, we present a static belief logic (BL) and show its soundness and completeness. Next, we develop the logic to BUL, which can update Kripke model by the inform action; in which we show that in the updated model the belief operator also satisfies K45. Thereafter, we show that every sentence in BUL can be translated into BL; thus, we can contend that BUL is also sound and complete. Furthermore, we discuss the features of CUL, including the case of inconsistent information, as well as channel transmission. Finally, we summarize our contribution and discuss some future issues.

Guidelines for developing and updating Bayesian belief networks applied to ecological modeling and conservation.

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B.G. Marcot; J.D. Steventon; G.D. Sutherland; R.K. McCann

2006-01-01

We provide practical guidelines for developing, testing, and revising Bayesian belief networks (BBNs). Primary steps in this process include creating influence diagrams of the hypothesized "causal web" of key factors affecting a species or ecological outcome of interest; developing a first, alpha-level BBN model from the influence diagram; revising the model...

Lucky Belief in Science Education - Gettier Cases and the Value of Reliable Belief-Forming Processes

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Brock, Richard

2018-05-01

The conceptualisation of knowledge as justified true belief has been shown to be, at the very least, an incomplete account. One challenge to the justified true belief model arises from the proposition of situations in which a person possesses a belief that is both justified and true which some philosophers intuit should not be classified as knowledge. Though situations of this type have been imagined by a number of writers, they have come to be labelled Gettier cases. Gettier cases arise when a fallible justification happens to lead to a true belief in one context, a case of `lucky belief'. In this article, it is argued that students studying science may make claims that resemble Gettier cases. In some contexts, a student may make a claim that is both justified and true but which arises from an alternative conception of a scientific concept. A number of instances of lucky belief in topics in science education are considered leading to an examination of the criteria teachers use to assess students' claims in different contexts. The possibility of lucky belief leads to the proposal that, in addition to the acquisition of justified true beliefs, the development of reliable belief-forming processes is a significant goal of science education. The pedagogic value of various kinds of claims is considered and, it is argued, the criteria used to judge claims may be adjusted to suit the context of assessment. It is suggested that teachers should be alert to instances of lucky belief that mask alternative conceptions.

Mental illness complicated by the santeria belief in spirit possession.

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Alonso, L; Jeffrey, W D

1988-11-01

Santeria, a religious system that blends African and Catholic beliefs, is practiced by many Cuban Americans. One aspect of this system is the belief in spirit possession. Basic santeria beliefs and rituals, including the fiesta santera (a gathering at which some participants may become possessed), are briefly described, and four cases in which the patients' belief in possession played a role in their mental illness are presented. The belief in possession can complicate the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness, but it should not be considered a culture-bound syndrome. Rather, it may be a nonspecific symptom of a variety of mental illnesses and should be evaluated in the context of the patient's overall belief system and ability to carry out usual activities.

Structural equation modeling assessing relationship between mathematics beliefs, teachers' attitudes and teaching practices among novice teachers in Malaysia

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Borhan, Noziati; Zakaria, Effandi

2017-05-01

This quantitative study was conducted to investigate the perception level of novice teachers about mathematics belief, teachers' attitude towards mathematics and teaching practices of mathematics in the classroom. In addition, it also aims to identify whether there is a correspondence model with the data obtained and to identify the relationship between the variables of beliefs, attitudes and practices among novice teachers in Malaysia. A total of 263 primary novice teachers throughout the country were involved in this study were selected randomly. Respondents are required to provide a response to the questionnaire of 66 items related to mathematics beliefs, attitudes and practices of the teaching mathematics. There are ten sub-factors which have been established in this instrument for three major constructs using a Likert scale rating of five points. The items of the constructs undergo the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) procedure involve of unidimensionality test, convergent validity, construct validity and discriminant validity. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the frequency, percentage, the mean and standard deviation for completing some research questions that have been expressed. As for inferential statistical analysis, the researchers used structural equation modeling (SEM) to answer the question of correspondents model and the relationship between these three variables. The results of the study were found that there exist a correspondence measurement and structural model with the data obtained. While the relationship between variable found that mathematics beliefs have a significant influence on teachers' attitudes towards mathematics as well as the relationship between the attitudes with teaching practices. Meanwhile, mathematics belief had no significant relationship with mathematics teaching practices among novice teachers in Malaysia.

The eternal quest for optimal balance between maximizing pleasure and minimizing harm: the compensatory health beliefs model.

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Rabia, Marjorie; Knäuper, Bärbel; Miquelon, Paule

2006-02-01

Particularly in the health domain, humans thrive to reach an equilibrium between maximizing pleasure and minimizing harm. We propose that a cognitive strategy people employ to reach this equilibrium is the activation of Compensatory Health Beliefs (CHBs). CHBs are beliefs that the negative effects of an unhealthy behaviour can be compensated for, or "neutralized," by engaging in another, healthy behaviour. "I can eat this piece of cake now because I will exercise this evening" is an example of such beliefs. Our theoretical framework aims at explaining why people create CHBs and how they employ CHBs to regulate their health behaviours. The model extends current health behaviour models by explicitly integrating the motivational conflict that emerges from the interplay between affective states (i.e., cravings or desires) and motivation (i.e., health goals). As predicted by the model, previous research has shown that holding CHBs hinder an individual's success at positive health behaviour change, and may explain why many people fail to adhere to behaviour change programs such as dieting or exercising. Moreover, future research using the model and implications for possible interventions are discussed.

Application of the Health Belief Model to customers' use of menu labels in restaurants.

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Jeong, Jin-Yi; Ham, Sunny

2018-04-01

Some countries require the provision of menu labels on restaurant menus to fight the increasing prevalence of obesity and related chronic diseases. This study views customers' use of menu labels as a preventive health behavior and applies the Health Belief Model (HBM) with the aim of determining the health belief factors that influence customers' use of menu labels. A self-administered survey was distributed for data collection. Responses were collected from 335 restaurant customers who experienced menu labels in restaurants within three months prior to the survey. The results of a structural equation model showed that all the HBM variables (perceived threats, perceived benefits, and perceived barriers of using menu labels) positively affected the customers' use of menu labels. Perceived threats were influenced by cues to action and cues to action had an indirect influence on menu label use through perceived threats. In conclusion, health beliefs were good predictors of menu label use on restaurant menus. This study validated the application of the HBM to menu labeling in restaurants, and its findings could offer guidelines for the industry and government in developing strategies to expand the use of menu labels among the public. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nutritional Preventive Behavior of Osteoporosis in Female Students: Applying Health Belief Model (HBM

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Zahra Hosseini

2017-01-01

Full Text Available BackgroundOsteoporosis is one of the most important health problems and it is of great importance to prevent this disease. This study aimed to evaluate the nutritional preventive behavior of osteoporosis using health belief model in female students in Qom city, Iran.Materials and MethodsThis cross-sectional descriptive analytical study was conducted on 265 tenth to twelfth grade female students in Qom city. The subjects were selected via multistage sampling method. To collect data, we used a standard questionnaire based on health belief model. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 20.0 using independent t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient, and ANOVA. ResultsKnowledge and perceived self-efficacy had a positive and significant relationship with nutritional preventive behavior of osteoporosis (P=0.04, r=0.12 and P=0.004, r=0.18, respectively. However, perceived susceptibility and perceived barriers had a negative and significant relationship with nutritional preventive behavior of osteoporosis (P=0.02, r=-0.14 and P

Analyzing Mathematics Beliefs of Pre-Service Teachers Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis

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Mazlini Adnan

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Mathematics beliefs play an important role in enhancing the quality and the effectiveness of teaching and learning. This study analyzes the mathematics beliefs of 317 pre-service teachers from six Higher Education Institutions (HEIs (Government Public Universities who were randomly selected to participate in this study. Questionnaires consisting of twenty three items were given to the respondents during the data collection process. The validation of the items was done by using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA. In order to obtain a model fit for the measurement model of mathematics beliefs, several fit index tests such as CMINDF, GFI, AGFI, IFI, NFI, CFI, TLI and RMSEA were used. Constructivist beliefs and traditional beliefs were identified as the contributing factors in the model. The analysis also revealed that mathematics beliefs consist of structures of two hidden variables. The correlation between the two variables (constructivist beliefs and traditional beliefs is at a moderate level. Hence, pre-service teachers should be able to recognize their type of mathematics beliefs in order to become effective mathematics teachers.

Multi-ROI Association and Tracking With Belief Functions: Application to Traffic Sign Recognition

OpenAIRE

Boumediene , Mohammed; Lauffenburger , Jean-Philippe; Daniel , Jérémie; Cudel , Christophe; Ouamri , Abdelaziz

2014-01-01

International audience; —This paper presents an object tracking algorithm using belief functions applied to vision-based traffic sign recognition systems. This algorithm tracks detected sign candidates over time in order to reduce false positives due to data fusion formalization. In the first stage, regions of interest (ROIs) are detected and combined using the transferable belief model semantics. In the second stage, the local pignistic probability algorithm generates the associations maximi...

Multiculturalism, Medicine, and Health Part III: Health Beliefs

OpenAIRE

Masi, Ralph

1988-01-01

Supernatural beliefs relate to a Power or powers considered beyond nature. Persons who wish to draw upon the power of supernatural forces often attempt to do so through prayers, ceremonies, or special acknowledgement. While some physicians feel uncomfortable at times with beliefs that differ from their own, the chaplaincy system, in place in most hospitals, is evidence that health-care systems can comfortably accommodate supernatural beliefs. We must make an effort to understand and accommoda...

Explanatory Coherence and Belief Revision in Naive Physics

Science.gov (United States)

1988-07-01

continental drift (Thagard & Nowak, 1988), and debates about why the dinosaurs became extinct . Application of ECHO to the belief revisions in Pat and Hal...rewono of nocuamy Idid 4onoly by bodck number) Students of reasoning have long tried to understand how people revise systems of beliefs. We maintain...Princeton University Students of reasoning have long tried to understand how people revise systems of beliefs (see Wertheimer, 1945, for example). We will

Episode-Centered Guidelines for Teacher Belief Change toward Technology Integration

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Er, Erkan; Kim, ChanMin

2017-01-01

Teachers' episodic memories influence their beliefs. The investigation of episodic memories can help identify the teacher beliefs that limit technology-integration. We propose the Episode-Centered Belief Change (ECBC) model that utilizes teachers' episodic memories for changing beliefs impeding effective technology integration. We also propose…

Belief, hope and faith.

Science.gov (United States)

Figueiredo, Luis Claudio

2004-12-01

A case of hysteria is presented in order to create a frame of reference for the author's approach to the concepts of hope, belief and faith. A difference between hope as a 'sad passion' (which is here called regressive hope) and hope as a principle of mental functioning is established. The concept of hope will at first always be based on beliefs--either beliefs organised in the paranoid-schizoid position (called here fragmented and delusional beliefs)--or those organised from the depressive position (complex systems of beliefs, which end up being dogmatic); the latter typically occur in neurotics. It is suggested here that there is another possibility for hope, which is based on faith. The meaning of faith is considered here externally to the religious sense. The solid establishment of hope as a principle--based on faith--can be viewed as responsible for the opening up of creative potentials and as one of the main aims of analysis. Such an aim, however requires the establishment of a deep relationship, both in theory and in clinical practice, between the Kleinian question of the depressive position and the Freudian question of the Oedipus complex.

Application of GIS based data driven evidential belief function model to predict groundwater potential zonation

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Nampak, Haleh; Pradhan, Biswajeet; Manap, Mohammad Abd

2014-05-01

The objective of this paper is to exploit potential application of an evidential belief function (EBF) model for spatial prediction of groundwater productivity at Langat basin area, Malaysia using geographic information system (GIS) technique. About 125 groundwater yield data were collected from well locations. Subsequently, the groundwater yield was divided into high (⩾11 m3/h) and low yields (divided into a testing dataset 70% (42 wells) for training the model and the remaining 30% (18 wells) was used for validation purpose. To perform cross validation, the frequency ratio (FR) approach was applied into remaining groundwater wells with low yield to show the spatial correlation between the low potential zones of groundwater productivity. A total of twelve groundwater conditioning factors that affect the storage of groundwater occurrences were derived from various data sources such as satellite based imagery, topographic maps and associated database. Those twelve groundwater conditioning factors are elevation, slope, curvature, stream power index (SPI), topographic wetness index (TWI), drainage density, lithology, lineament density, land use, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), soil and rainfall. Subsequently, the Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence model was applied to prepare the groundwater potential map. Finally, the result of groundwater potential map derived from belief map was validated using testing data. Furthermore, to compare the performance of the EBF result, logistic regression model was applied. The success-rate and prediction-rate curves were computed to estimate the efficiency of the employed EBF model compared to LR method. The validation results demonstrated that the success-rate for EBF and LR methods were 83% and 82% respectively. The area under the curve for prediction-rate of EBF and LR methods were calculated 78% and 72% respectively. The outputs achieved from the current research proved the efficiency of EBF in groundwater

Effects of traditional religious belief system of the Igbo group on the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The objective of this study is to verify the effects of religious belief system on the effectiveness of leprosy control programmes in Anambra and Ebonyi states of Southeast Nigeria. The complementary objective is to ascertain the dominant mode of disposition to leprosy among residents of the two states and to account for the ...

Engaging students in the study of physics : an investigation of physics teachers’ belief systems about teaching and learning physics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Belo, Neeltje Annigje Hendrika

2013-01-01

This doctoral thesis comprises two questionnaire studies and two small-scale interview studies on the content and structure of physics teachers’ belief systems. The studies focused on teachers’ beliefs about the goals and pedagogy of teaching and learning physics, and the nature of science. The

Systems of Goals, Attitudes, and Self-Related Beliefs in Second-Language-Learning Motivation

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Kormos, Judit; Kiddle, Thom; Csizer, Kata

2011-01-01

In the present study, we surveyed the English language-learning motivations of 518 secondary school students, university students, and young adult learners in the capital of Chile, Santiago. We applied multi-group structural-equation modeling to analyze how language-learning goals, attitudes, self-related beliefs, and parental encouragement…

Implicit false-belief processing in the human brain.

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Schneider, Dana; Slaughter, Virginia P; Becker, Stefanie I; Dux, Paul E

2014-11-01

Eye-movement patterns in 'Sally-Anne' tasks reflect humans' ability to implicitly process the mental states of others, particularly false-beliefs - a key theory of mind (ToM) operation. It has recently been proposed that an efficient ToM system, which operates in the absence of awareness (implicit ToM, iToM), subserves the analysis of belief-like states. This contrasts to consciously available belief processing, performed by the explicit ToM system (eToM). The frontal, temporal and parietal cortices are engaged when humans explicitly 'mentalize' about others' beliefs. However, the neural underpinnings of implicit false-belief processing and the extent to which they draw on networks involved in explicit general-belief processing are unknown. Here, participants watched 'Sally-Anne' movies while fMRI and eye-tracking measures were acquired simultaneously. Participants displayed eye-movements consistent with implicit false-belief processing. After independently localizing the brain areas involved in explicit general-belief processing, only the left anterior superior temporal sulcus and precuneus revealed greater blood-oxygen-level-dependent activity for false- relative to true-belief trials in our iToM paradigm. No such difference was found for the right temporal-parietal junction despite significant activity in this area. These findings fractionate brain regions that are associated with explicit general ToM reasoning and false-belief processing in the absence of awareness. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Believing what we do not believe: Acquiescence to superstitious beliefs and other powerful intuitions.

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Risen, Jane L

2016-03-01

Traditionally, research on superstition and magical thinking has focused on people's cognitive shortcomings, but superstitions are not limited to individuals with mental deficits. Even smart, educated, emotionally stable adults have superstitions that are not rational. Dual process models--such as the corrective model advocated by Kahneman and Frederick (2002, 2005), which suggests that System 1 generates intuitive answers that may or may not be corrected by System 2--are useful for illustrating why superstitious thinking is widespread, why particular beliefs arise, and why they are maintained even though they are not true. However, to understand why superstitious beliefs are maintained even when people know they are not true requires that the model be refined. It must allow for the possibility that people can recognize--in the moment--that their belief does not make sense, but act on it nevertheless. People can detect an error, but choose not to correct it, a process I refer to as acquiescence. The first part of the article will use a dual process model to understand the psychology underlying magical thinking, highlighting features of System 1 that generate magical intuitions and features of the person or situation that prompt System 2 to correct them. The second part of the article will suggest that we can improve the model by decoupling the detection of errors from their correction and recognizing acquiescence as a possible System 2 response. I suggest that refining the theory will prove useful for understanding phenomena outside of the context of magical thinking. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Do sophisticated epistemic beliefs predict meaningful learning? Findings from a structural equation model of undergraduate biology learning

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Lee, Silvia Wen-Yu; Liang, Jyh-Chong; Tsai, Chin-Chung

2016-10-01

This study investigated the relationships among college students' epistemic beliefs in biology (EBB), conceptions of learning biology (COLB), and strategies of learning biology (SLB). EBB includes four dimensions, namely 'multiple-source,' 'uncertainty,' 'development,' and 'justification.' COLB is further divided into 'constructivist' and 'reproductive' conceptions, while SLB represents deep strategies and surface learning strategies. Questionnaire responses were gathered from 303 college students. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling showed acceptable model fits. Mediation testing further revealed two paths with complete mediation. In sum, students' epistemic beliefs of 'uncertainty' and 'justification' in biology were statistically significant in explaining the constructivist and reproductive COLB, respectively; and 'uncertainty' was statistically significant in explaining the deep SLB as well. The results of mediation testing further revealed that 'uncertainty' predicted surface strategies through the mediation of 'reproductive' conceptions; and the relationship between 'justification' and deep strategies was mediated by 'constructivist' COLB. This study provides evidence for the essential roles some epistemic beliefs play in predicting students' learning.

Exploring the relationships between epistemic beliefs about medicine and approaches to learning medicine: a structural equation modeling analysis.

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Chiu, Yen-Lin; Liang, Jyh-Chong; Hou, Cheng-Yen; Tsai, Chin-Chung

2016-07-18

Students' epistemic beliefs may vary in different domains; therefore, it may be beneficial for medical educators to better understand medical students' epistemic beliefs regarding medicine. Understanding how medical students are aware of medical knowledge and how they learn medicine is a critical issue of medical education. The main purposes of this study were to investigate medical students' epistemic beliefs relating to medical knowledge, and to examine their relationships with students' approaches to learning medicine. A total of 340 undergraduate medical students from 9 medical colleges in Taiwan were surveyed with the Medical-Specific Epistemic Beliefs (MSEB) questionnaire (i.e., multi-source, uncertainty, development, justification) and the Approach to Learning Medicine (ALM) questionnaire (i.e., surface motive, surface strategy, deep motive, and deep strategy). By employing the structural equation modeling technique, the confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis were conducted to validate the questionnaires and explore the structural relations between these two constructs. It was indicated that medical students with multi-source beliefs who were suspicious of medical knowledge transmitted from authorities were less likely to possess a surface motive and deep strategies. Students with beliefs regarding uncertain medical knowledge tended to utilize flexible approaches, that is, they were inclined to possess a surface motive but adopt deep strategies. Students with beliefs relating to justifying medical knowledge were more likely to have mixed motives (both surface and deep motives) and mixed strategies (both surface and deep strategies). However, epistemic beliefs regarding development did not have significant relations with approaches to learning. Unexpectedly, it was found that medical students with sophisticated epistemic beliefs (e.g., suspecting knowledge from medical experts) did not necessarily engage in deep approaches to learning medicine

Description of Adults Seeking Hearing Help for the First Time According to Two Health Behavior Change Approaches: Transtheoretical Model (Stages of Change) and Health Belief Model.

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Saunders, Gabrielle H; Frederick, Melissa T; Silverman, ShienPei C; Nielsen, Claus; Laplante-Lévesque, Ariane

2016-01-01

Several models of health behavior change are commonly used in health psychology. This study applied the constructs delineated by two models-the transtheoretical model (in which readiness for health behavior change can be described with the stages of precontemplation, contemplation and action) and the health belief model (in which susceptibility, severity, benefits, barriers, self-efficacy, and cues to action are thought to determine likelihood of health behavior change)-to adults seeking hearing help for the first time. One hundred eighty-two participants (mean age: 69.5 years) were recruited following an initial hearing assessment by an audiologist. Participants' mean four-frequency pure-tone average was 35.4 dB HL, with 25.8% having no hearing impairment, 50.5% having a slight impairment, and 23.1% having a moderate or severe impairment using the World Health Organization definition of hearing loss. Participants' hearing-related attitudes and beliefs toward hearing health behaviors were examined using the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (URICA) and the health beliefs questionnaire (HBQ), which assess the constructs of the transtheoretical model and the health belief model, respectively. Participants also provided demographic information, and completed the hearing handicap inventory (HHI) to assess participation restrictions, and the psychosocial impact of hearing loss (PIHL) to assess the extent to which hearing impacts competence, self-esteem, and adaptability. Degree of hearing impairment was associated with participation restrictions, perceived competence, self-esteem and adaptability, and attitudes and beliefs measured by the URICA and the HBQ. As degree of impairment increased, participation restrictions measured by the HHI, and impacts of hearing loss, as measured by the PIHL, increased. The majority of first-time help seekers in this study were in the action stage of change. Furthermore, relative to individuals with less hearing impairment

Factor structure and internal reliability of an exercise health belief model scale in a Mexican population

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oscar Armando Esparza-Del Villar

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Mexico is one of the countries with the highest rates of overweight and obesity around the world, with 68.8% of men and 73% of women reporting both. This is a public health problem since there are several health related consequences of not exercising, like having cardiovascular diseases or some types of cancers. All of these problems can be prevented by promoting exercise, so it is important to evaluate models of health behaviors to achieve this goal. Among several models the Health Belief Model is one of the most studied models to promote health related behaviors. This study validates the first exercise scale based on the Health Belief Model (HBM in Mexicans with the objective of studying and analyzing this model in Mexico. Methods Items for the scale called the Exercise Health Belief Model Scale (EHBMS were developed by a health research team, then the items were applied to a sample of 746 participants, male and female, from five cities in Mexico. The factor structure of the items was analyzed with an exploratory factor analysis and the internal reliability with Cronbach’s alpha. Results The exploratory factor analysis reported the expected factor structure based in the HBM. The KMO index (0.92 and the Barlett’s sphericity test (p < 0.01 indicated an adequate and normally distributed sample. Items had adequate factor loadings, ranging from 0.31 to 0.92, and the internal consistencies of the factors were also acceptable, with alpha values ranging from 0.67 to 0.91. Conclusions The EHBMS is a validated scale that can be used to measure exercise based on the HBM in Mexican populations.

Addressing Value and Belief Systems on Climate Literacy in the Southeastern United States

Science.gov (United States)

McNeal, K. S.

2012-12-01

influence classroom climate instruction. In order to assist this educator group, CLiPSE has aligned a sub-set of the Climate and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN) education resources to 11 SEUS state standards in order to better enable educators to implement climate topics in their classrooms. As a potential method to address the unique belief systems in the SEUS, CLiPSE has determined that the best way to engage individuals in the SEUS on the topic of climate change is to invite them into an honest dialogue surrounding climate. To facilitate these conversations effectively, CLiPSE utilizes a dialogical community model that values diversity, encourages respect for one another, recognizes and articulates viewpoints, and prioritizes understanding over resolution. CLiPSE emphasizes people's values and beliefs as they relate to climate change information. Results from pilot studies indicate that this is a promising method to bring together diverse individuals on the climate change topic and initiate the conversation about this very important issue that can often be considered "taboo" in the SEUS.

Renal Transplant Recipients: The Factors Related to Immunosuppressive Medication Adherence Based on the Health Belief Model.

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Kung, Pen-Chen; Yeh, Mei Chang; Lai, Ming-Kuen; Liu, Hsueh-Erh

2017-10-01

Kidney transplant failures are caused primarily by lack of adherence to immunosuppressive medication regimens by patients after transplantation. A number of studies have indicated that health-related beliefs are an effective predictor of health-related behavior. The aim of this study is to understand the influence of the personal characteristics and health-related beliefs of patients on adherence to treatment with immunosuppressive medication based on the Health Belief Model. This cross-sectional study distributed questionnaires to patients who had been recruited via purposive sampling at one medical center in Taipei. All of the potential participants had undergone kidney transplantation at least 6 months previously. The self-developed questionnaire collected data in three areas: personal characteristics, health-related beliefs regarding transplant rejection, and adherence to the immunosuppressive medication regimen. One hundred twenty-two valid questionnaires were received. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t test, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson's correlation, and multiple regression. Participants who had received dialysis treatment or had experienced rejection perceived susceptibility to rejection more strongly than those who had not. Participants who had undergone transplantation in Taiwan, had experienced more drug-related symptoms, or had contracted severe to extremely severe infections in the past showed lower rates of adherence to treatment with immunosuppressive medication. Adherence to medication regimens correlated negatively with length of time since transplantation. Length of time since transplantation, drug-related symptoms, perceived susceptibility to rejection, and perceived benefits of treatment were identified as major predictors of adherence to immunosuppressive medication regimens. The results partially conformed to the concepts of the Health Belief Model. Perceived susceptibility to rejection and

An approximately Bayesian delta-rule model explains the dynamics of belief updating in a changing environment.

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Nassar, Matthew R; Wilson, Robert C; Heasly, Benjamin; Gold, Joshua I

2010-09-15

Maintaining appropriate beliefs about variables needed for effective decision making can be difficult in a dynamic environment. One key issue is the amount of influence that unexpected outcomes should have on existing beliefs. In general, outcomes that are unexpected because of a fundamental change in the environment should carry more influence than outcomes that are unexpected because of persistent environmental stochasticity. Here we use a novel task to characterize how well human subjects follow these principles under a range of conditions. We show that the influence of an outcome depends on both the error made in predicting that outcome and the number of similar outcomes experienced previously. We also show that the exact nature of these tendencies varies considerably across subjects. Finally, we show that these patterns of behavior are consistent with a computationally simple reduction of an ideal-observer model. The model adjusts the influence of newly experienced outcomes according to ongoing estimates of uncertainty and the probability of a fundamental change in the process by which outcomes are generated. A prior that quantifies the expected frequency of such environmental changes accounts for individual variability, including a positive relationship between subjective certainty and the degree to which new information influences existing beliefs. The results suggest that the brain adaptively regulates the influence of decision outcomes on existing beliefs using straightforward updating rules that take into account both recent outcomes and prior expectations about higher-order environmental structure.

High School Students' Epistemological Beliefs, Conceptions of Learning, and Self-Efficacy for Learning Biology: A Study of Their Structural Models

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Sadi, Özlem; Dagyar, Miray

2015-01-01

The current work reveals the data of the study which examines the relationships among epistemological beliefs, conceptions of learning, and self-efficacy for biology learning with the help of the Structural Equation Modeling. Three questionnaires, the Epistemological Beliefs, the Conceptions of Learning Biology and the Self-efficacy for Learning…

Attitudes Towards Seeking Psychological Help: An Integrative Model Based on Contact, Essentialist Beliefs About Mental Illness, and Stigma.

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Hantzi, Alexandra; Anagnostopoulos, Fotios; Alexiou, Eva

2018-06-16

Based on intergroup contact theory, a proposed comprehensive model of attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help was tested, including both potential barriers to mental health help-seeking (i.e., public stigma and self-stigma of seeking help, prejudicial and essentialist beliefs about mental illness, intergroup anxiety) and potential facilitators (i.e., direct and extended contact with persons with mental illness). Relevant measures were completed by 119 community-dwelling participants. Path analysis showed that direct (but not extended) contact with mental illness, by reducing intergroup anxiety, led to less negative beliefs about mental illness and weaker essentialist beliefs about mental illness (the latter being directly and positively associated with negative beliefs about mental illness). Moreover, less negative beliefs about mental illness, by reducing perceptions of self (but not public) stigma of seeking psychological help, were related to more positive attitudes towards help-seeking. Results are discussed in the context of the (unintentional) adverse effects of biogenetic (essentialist) explanations of mental disorders, and the clinical implications regarding interventions that aim at improving help-seeking attitudes.

Toward the modelling of safety violations in healthcare systems.

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Catchpole, Ken

2013-09-01

When frontline staff do not adhere to policies, protocols, or checklists, managers often regard these violations as indicating poor practice or even negligence. More often than not, however, these policy and protocol violations reflect the efforts of well intentioned professionals to carry out their work efficiently in the face of systems poorly designed to meet the diverse demands of patient care. Thus, non-compliance with institutional policies and protocols often signals a systems problem, rather than a people problem, and can be influenced among other things by training, competing goals, context, process, location, case complexity, individual beliefs, the direct or indirect influence of others, job pressure, flexibility, rule definition, and clinician-centred design. Three candidates are considered for developing a model of safety behaviour and decision making. The dynamic safety model helps to understand the relationship between systems designs and human performance. The theory of planned behaviour suggests that intention is a function of attitudes, social norms and perceived behavioural control. The naturalistic decision making paradigm posits that decisions are based on a wider view of multiple patients, expertise, systems complexity, behavioural intention, individual beliefs and current understanding of the system. Understanding and predicting behavioural safety decisions could help us to encourage compliance to current processes and to design better interventions.

A Bayesian belief network approach for assessing uncertainty in conceptual site models at contaminated sites

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomsen, Nanna Isbak; Binning, Philip John; McKnight, Ursula S.

2016-01-01

the most important site-specific features and processes that may affect the contaminant transport behavior at the site. However, the development of a CSM will always be associated with uncertainties due to limited data and lack of understanding of the site conditions. CSM uncertainty is often found...... to be a major source of model error and it should therefore be accounted for when evaluating uncertainties in risk assessments. We present a Bayesian belief network (BBN) approach for constructing CSMs and assessing their uncertainty at contaminated sites. BBNs are graphical probabilistic models...... that are effective for integrating quantitative and qualitative information, and thus can strengthen decisions when empirical data are lacking. The proposed BBN approach facilitates a systematic construction of multiple CSMs, and then determines the belief in each CSM using a variety of data types and/or expert...

Indonesian teachers' epistemological beliefs and inclusive education.

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Sheehy, Kieron; Budiyanto; Kaye, Helen; Rofiah, Khofidotur

2017-01-01

A growing number of children with intellectual disabilities attend inclusive schools in Indonesia. Previous research has suggested that teachers' type of school and experience influences their beliefs about inclusive education. This research collected questionnaire data from 267 Indonesian teachers and compared the responses from those working in inclusive, special and regular schools regarding their epistemological and pedagogical beliefs. The results showed that teachers in inclusive schools expressed stronger social constructivist beliefs than those in other schools. However, it was teachers' epistemological beliefs, rather than their type of school or experience, which were the significant predictor of their beliefs about inclusive education. The findings suggest that international epistemological research needs to have a more nuanced view of constructivist models of learning to better understand and inform how inclusive pedagogy is being enacted in different contexts.

Understanding Weight Management Perceptions in First-Year College Students Using the Health Belief Model

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Das, Bhibha M.; Evans, Ellen M.

2014-01-01

Objective: To examine weight management barriers, using the Health Belief Model, in first-year college students. Participants: First-year college students (n = 45), with data collected in April, May, and November 2013. Methods: Nominal group technique sessions (n = 8) were conducted. Results: First-year students recognize benefits to weight…

Examining the incremental contribution of metacognitive beliefs beyond content-specific beliefs in relation to posttraumatic stress in a community sample.

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Fergus, Thomas A; Bardeen, Joseph R

2017-11-01

Cognitive-behavioral models of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) propose that the content of one's thoughts, including negative beliefs about the self, others, and world, play a fundamental role in our understanding and treatment of PTSD. Metacognitive theory suggests that metacognitive beliefs (i.e., beliefs about thinking), rather than content-specific beliefs, underlie PTSD. The present study provided the first known examination of the incremental contribution of metacognitive beliefs and trauma-related cognitions in relation to posttraumatic stress. Community adults recruited through an online crowdsourcing website who reported experiencing a criterion A traumatic event (N = 299) completed self-report measures of the study variables. Results from multiple linear regression analyses indicated that metacognitive beliefs of the uncontrollability and danger of thinking shared associations with each posttraumatic stress symptom cluster after accounting for the effects of content-specific beliefs and other covariates. The individual content-specific beliefs did not consistently share associations with posttraumatic stress symptoms in the regression analyses. The contribution of the individual content-specific beliefs to posttraumatic stress symptoms was consistently attenuated or rendered nonsignificant after accounting for metacognitive beliefs. These results are consistent with metacognitive theory in suggesting that metacognitive beliefs may be more important than trauma-related thought content in relation to posttraumatic stress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

The BEL information extraction workflow (BELIEF): evaluation in the BioCreative V BEL and IAT track.

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Madan, Sumit; Hodapp, Sven; Senger, Philipp; Ansari, Sam; Szostak, Justyna; Hoeng, Julia; Peitsch, Manuel; Fluck, Juliane

2016-01-01

Network-based approaches have become extremely important in systems biology to achieve a better understanding of biological mechanisms. For network representation, the Biological Expression Language (BEL) is well designed to collate findings from the scientific literature into biological network models. To facilitate encoding and biocuration of such findings in BEL, a BEL Information Extraction Workflow (BELIEF) was developed. BELIEF provides a web-based curation interface, the BELIEF Dashboard, that incorporates text mining techniques to support the biocurator in the generation of BEL networks. The underlying UIMA-based text mining pipeline (BELIEF Pipeline) uses several named entity recognition processes and relationship extraction methods to detect concepts and BEL relationships in literature. The BELIEF Dashboard allows easy curation of the automatically generated BEL statements and their context annotations. Resulting BEL statements and their context annotations can be syntactically and semantically verified to ensure consistency in the BEL network. In summary, the workflow supports experts in different stages of systems biology network building. Based on the BioCreative V BEL track evaluation, we show that the BELIEF Pipeline automatically extracts relationships with an F-score of 36.4% and fully correct statements can be obtained with an F-score of 30.8%. Participation in the BioCreative V Interactive task (IAT) track with BELIEF revealed a systems usability scale (SUS) of 67. Considering the complexity of the task for new users-learning BEL, working with a completely new interface, and performing complex curation-a score so close to the overall SUS average highlights the usability of BELIEF.Database URL: BELIEF is available at http://www.scaiview.com/belief/. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Pharmaceutical industry gifts to physicians: patient beliefs and trust in physicians and the health care system.

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Grande, David; Shea, Judy A; Armstrong, Katrina

2012-03-01

Pharmaceutical industry gifts to physicians are common and influence physician behavior. Little is known about patient beliefs about the prevalence of these gifts and how these beliefs may influence trust in physicians and the health care system. To measure patient perceptions about the prevalence of industry gifts and their relationship to trust in doctors and the health care system. Cross sectional random digit dial telephone survey. African-American and White adults in 40 large metropolitan areas. Respondents' beliefs about whether their physician and physicians in general receive industry gifts, physician trust, and health care system distrust. Overall, 55% of respondents believe their physician receives gifts, and 34% believe almost all doctors receive gifts. Respondents of higher socioeconomic status (income, education) and younger age were more likely to believe their physician receives gifts. In multivariate analyses, those that believe their personal physician receives gifts were more likely to report low physician trust (OR 2.26, 95% CI 1.56-3.30) and high health care system distrust (OR 2.03, 95% CI 1.49-2.77). Similarly, those that believe almost all doctors accept gifts were more likely to report low physician trust (OR 1.69, 95% CI 1.25-2.29) and high health care system distrust (OR 2.57, 95% CI 1.82-3.62). Patients perceive physician-industry gift relationships as common. Patients that believe gift relationships exist report lower levels of physician trust and higher rates of health care system distrust. Greater efforts to limit industry-physician gifts could have positive effects beyond reducing influences on physician behavior.

The Relationship among Pre-Service EFL Teachers' Beliefs about Language Learning, Pedagogical Beliefs, and Beliefs about ICT Integration

Science.gov (United States)

Inayati, Dian; Emaliana, Ive

2017-01-01

This paper elucidates the relationship among pre-service teachers' beliefs about language learning, pedagogical beliefs, and beliefs about ICT Integration through survey methodology. This study employed a quantitative approach, particularly a correlational relationship to investigate the relationships among beliefs about language learning,…

Information and Heterogeneous Beliefs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Peter Ove; Qin, Zhenjiang

2014-01-01

In an incomplete market with heterogeneous prior beliefs, we show public information can have a substantial impact on the ex ante cost of capital, trading volume, and investor welfare. The Pareto effcient public information system is the system enjoying the maximum ex ante cost of capital...... and the maximum expected abnormal trading volume. Imperfect public information increases the gains-to-trade based on heterogeneously updated posterior beliefs. In an exchange economy, this leads to higher growth in the investors' certainty equivalents and, thus, a higher equilibrium interest rate, whereas the ex...... ante risk premium is unaffected by the informativeness of the public information system. Similar results are obtained in a production economy, but the impact on the ex ante cost of capital is dampened compared to the exchange economy due to welfare improving reductions in real investments to smooth...

The role of idiotypic interactions in the adaptive immune system: a belief-propagation approach

Science.gov (United States)

Bartolucci, Silvia; Mozeika, Alexander; Annibale, Alessia

2016-08-01

In this work we use belief-propagation techniques to study the equilibrium behaviour of a minimal model for the immune system comprising interacting T and B clones. We investigate the effect of the so-called idiotypic interactions among complementary B clones on the system’s activation. Our results show that B-B interactions increase the system’s resilience to noise, making clonal activation more stable, while increasing the cross-talk between different clones. We derive analytically the noise level at which a B clone gets activated, in the absence of cross-talk, and find that this increases with the strength of idiotypic interactions and with the number of T cells sending signals to the B clones. We also derive, analytically and numerically, via population dynamics, the critical line where clonal cross-talk arises. Our approach allows us to derive the B clone size distribution, which can be experimentally measured and gives important information about the adaptive immune system response to antigens and vaccination.

Cholinergic stimulation enhances Bayesian belief updating in the deployment of spatial attention.

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Vossel, Simone; Bauer, Markus; Mathys, Christoph; Adams, Rick A; Dolan, Raymond J; Stephan, Klaas E; Friston, Karl J

2014-11-19

The exact mechanisms whereby the cholinergic neurotransmitter system contributes to attentional processing remain poorly understood. Here, we applied computational modeling to psychophysical data (obtained from a spatial attention task) under a psychopharmacological challenge with the cholinesterase inhibitor galantamine (Reminyl). This allowed us to characterize the cholinergic modulation of selective attention formally, in terms of hierarchical Bayesian inference. In a placebo-controlled, within-subject, crossover design, 16 healthy human subjects performed a modified version of Posner's location-cueing task in which the proportion of validly and invalidly cued targets (percentage of cue validity, % CV) changed over time. Saccadic response speeds were used to estimate the parameters of a hierarchical Bayesian model to test whether cholinergic stimulation affected the trial-wise updating of probabilistic beliefs that underlie the allocation of attention or whether galantamine changed the mapping from those beliefs to subsequent eye movements. Behaviorally, galantamine led to a greater influence of probabilistic context (% CV) on response speed than placebo. Crucially, computational modeling suggested this effect was due to an increase in the rate of belief updating about cue validity (as opposed to the increased sensitivity of behavioral responses to those beliefs). We discuss these findings with respect to cholinergic effects on hierarchical cortical processing and in relation to the encoding of expected uncertainty or precision. Copyright © 2014 the authors 0270-6474/14/3415735-08$15.00/0.

Self-deception as pseudo-rational regulation of belief.

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Michel, Christoph; Newen, Albert

2010-09-01

Self-deception is a special kind of motivational dominance in belief-formation. We develop criteria which set paradigmatic self-deception apart from related phenomena of auto-manipulation such as pretense and motivational bias. In self-deception rational subjects defend or develop beliefs of high subjective importance in response to strong counter-evidence. Self-deceivers make or keep these beliefs tenable by putting prima-facie rational defense-strategies to work against their established standards of rational evaluation. In paradigmatic self-deception, target-beliefs are made tenable via reorganizations of those belief-sets that relate relevant data to target-beliefs. This manipulation of the evidential value of relevant data goes beyond phenomena of motivated perception of data. In self-deception belief-defense is pseudo-rational. Self-deceivers will typically apply a dual standard of evaluation that remains intransparent to the subject. The developed model of self-deception as pseudo-rational belief-defense is empirically anchored. So, we hope to put forward a promising candidate. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Developing a new model for cross-cultural research: synthesizing the Health Belief Model and the Theory of Reasoned Action.

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Poss, J E

2001-06-01

This article discusses the development of a new model representing the synthesis of two models that are often used to study health behaviors: the Health Belief Model and the Theory of Reasoned Action. The new model was developed as the theoretic framework for an investigation of the factors affecting participation by Mexican migrant workers in tuberculosis screening. Development of the synthesized model evolved from the concern that models used to investigate health-seeking behaviors of mainstream Anglo groups in the United States might not be appropriate for studying migrant workers or persons from other cultural backgrounds.

Undergraduates' Attitudes Toward Science and Their Epistemological Beliefs: Positive Effects of Certainty and Authority Beliefs

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Fulmer, Gavin W.

2014-02-01

Attitudes toward science are an important aspect of students' persistence in school science and interest in pursuing future science careers, but students' attitudes typically decline over the course of formal schooling. This study examines relationships of students' attitudes toward science with their perceptions of science as inclusive or non-religious, and their epistemological beliefs about epistemic authority and certainty. Data were collected using an online survey system among undergraduates at a large, public US university (n = 582). Data were prepared using a Rasch rating scale model and then analyzed using multiple-regression analysis. Gender and number of science and mathematics courses were included as control variables, followed by perceptions of science, then epistemological beliefs. Findings show that respondents have more positive attitudes when they perceive science to be inclusive of women and minorities, and when they perceive science to be incompatible with religion. Respondents also have more positive attitudes toward science when they believe scientific knowledge is uncertain, and when they believe knowledge derives from authority. Interpretations of these findings and implications for future research are discussed.

Subjective health complaints, functional ability, fear avoidance beliefs, and days on sickness benefits after work rehabilitation - a mediation model.

Science.gov (United States)

Øyeflaten, Irene; Opsahl, Jon; Eriksen, Hege R; Braathen, Tore Norendal; Lie, Stein Atle; Brage, Søren; Ihlebæk, Camilla M; Breivik, Kyrre

2016-05-23

Long-term sick leave and withdrawal from working life is a concern in western countries. In Norway, comprehensive inpatient work rehabilitation may be offered to sick listed individuals at risk of long-term absence from work. Knowledge about prognostic factors for work outcomes after long-term sick leave and work rehabilitation is still limited. The aim of this study was to test a mediation model for various hypothesized biopsychosocial predictors of continued sick leave after inpatient work rehabilitation. One thousand one hundred fifty-five participants on long-term sick leave from eight different work rehabilitation clinics answered comprehensive questionnaires at arrival to the clinic, and were followed with official register data on sickness benefits for 3 years. Structural equation models were conducted, with days on sickness benefits after work rehabilitation as the outcome. Fear avoidance beliefs for work mediated the relation between both musculoskeletal complaints and education on days on sickness benefits after work rehabilitation. The relation between musculoskeletal complaints and fear avoidance beliefs for work was furthermore fully mediated by poor physical function. Previous sick leave had a strong independent effect on continued sick leave after work rehabilitation. Fear avoidance beliefs for work did not mediate the small effect of pseudoneurological complaints on continued sick leave. Poor coping/interaction ability was neither related to continued sick leave nor fear avoidance beliefs for work. The mediation model was partly supported by the data, and provides some possible new insight into how fear avoidance beliefs for work and functional ability may intervene with subjective health complaints and days on sickness benefits after work rehabilitation.

The Prevalence of Cigarette Smoking among Adolescents in Marivan city- Iran: Based on Health Belief Model

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Naseh Ghaderi

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Background Cigarette smoking is a common problem among teenagers. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Cigarette Smoking among Teen Boys in Marivan city, based on Health Belief Model. Materials and Methods A cluster randomized sample of 470 male students with16.2±2.5   from 6 secondary schools of Marivan city- Iran, completed a self-report and questionnaire consisting of Health Belief Model constructs Data was analyzed by Chi-square and independent t-test, using SPSS-16. Results The rate of smoking the cigarette among students was 21/470 (4.7%. The experience of smoking in the last 30 days and throughout life reported 6.4% and 34.7% respectively. Significant differences between smokers and nonsmokers were found for perceived benefits (P

Suppressed Belief

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Komarine Romdenh-Romluc

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Moran’s revised conception of conscious belief requires us to reconceptualise suppressed belief. The work of Merleau-Ponty offers a way to do this. His account of motor-skills allows us to understand suppressed beliefs as pre-reflective ways of dealing with the world.

The influence of the pre-scientific and scientific belief system of both counsellor and client on the success of the narrative process

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W. Luyt

2006-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of this article is to investigate to what extent the belief system of both counsellor and client plays a role in counselling. It is generally accepted that beliefs play a central role in the life of all people. This article applies this notion, as described by, among others, Wright, Watson and Bell (1986, to the field of pastoral care and more specifically to the narrative approach within it. The narrative approach is an important instrument that helps people to understand how their life stories have been shaped by their beliefs about themselves. Throughout the article the researcher attempts to indicate how the counsellor, client and counselling process are influenced by their respective scientific and pre-scientific roots and development, as well as by their system of belief in general.

Measuring Student Teachers' Practices and Beliefs about Teaching Mathematics Using the Rasch Model

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Kaspersen, Eivind; Pepin, Birgit; Sikko, Svein Arne

2017-01-01

Several attempts have been made to measure and categorize beliefs and practices of mathematics teachers [Swan, M. 2006. "Designing and Using Research Instruments to Describe the Beliefs and Practices of Mathematics Teachers." "Research in Education" 75 (1): 58-70]. One of the reasons for measuring both beliefs and practices is…

Patient compliance in hypertension: role of illness perceptions and treatment beliefs.

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Ross, S; Walker, A; MacLeod, M J

2004-09-01

Despite many years of study, questions remain about why patients do or do not take medicines and what can be done to change their behaviour. Hypertension is poorly controlled in the UK and poor compliance is one possible reason for this. Recent questionnaires based on the self-regulatory model have been successfully used to assess illness perceptions and beliefs about medicines. This study was designed to describe hypertensive patients' beliefs about their illness and medication using the self-regulatory model and investigate whether these beliefs influence compliance with antihypertensive medication. We recruited 514 patients from our secondary care population. These patients were asked to complete a questionnaire that included the Beliefs about Medicines and Illness Perception Questionnaires. A case note review was also undertaken. Analysis shows that patients who believe in the necessity of medication are more likely to be compliant (odds ratio (OR)) 3.06 (95% CI 1.74-5.38), Pcompliance influence it indirectly. The self-regulatory model is useful in assessing patients health beliefs. Beliefs about specific medications and about hypertension are predictive of compliance. Information about health beliefs is important in achieving concordance and may be a target for intervention to improve compliance.

Toward a Tripartite Model of L2 Reading Strategy Use, Motivations, and Learner Beliefs

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Matsumoto, Hiroyuki; Hiromori, Tomohito; Nakayama, Akira

2013-01-01

The present study proposes a tripartite model of L2 reading strategy use, reading motivations, and general learner beliefs by examining the relationships among them in an L2 context. Reading strategy instruction was performed for 360 first-year university students enrolled in a reading-based course, in expectation of affecting their motivations…

Effect of Micro-Teaching Practices with Concrete Models on Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers' Self-Efficacy Beliefs about Using Concrete Models

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Ünlü, Melihan

2018-01-01

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effect of micro-teaching practices with concrete models on the pre-service teachers' self-efficacy beliefs about using concrete models and to determine the opinions of the pre-service teachers about this issue. In the current study, one of the mixed methods, the convergent design (embedded)…

Mentalizing Deficits Constrain Belief in a Personal God

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Norenzayan, Ara; Gervais, Will M.; Trzesniewski, Kali H.

2012-01-01

Religious believers intuitively conceptualize deities as intentional agents with mental states who anticipate and respond to human beliefs, desires and concerns. It follows that mentalizing deficits, associated with the autistic spectrum and also commonly found in men more than in women, may undermine this intuitive support and reduce belief in a personal God. Autistic adolescents expressed less belief in God than did matched neuro-typical controls (Study 1). In a Canadian student sample (Study 2), and two American national samples that controlled for demographic characteristics and other correlates of autism and religiosity (Study 3 and 4), the autism spectrum predicted reduced belief in God, and mentalizing mediated this relationship. Systemizing (Studies 2 and 3) and two personality dimensions related to religious belief, Conscientiousness and Agreeableness (Study 3), failed as mediators. Mentalizing also explained the robust and well-known, but theoretically debated, gender gap in religious belief wherein men show reduced religious belief (Studies 2–4). PMID:22666332

Testicular Self-Examination: A Test of the Health Belief Model and the Theory of Planned Behaviour

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McClenahan, Carol; Shevlin, Mark; Adamson, Gary; Bennett, Cara; O'Neill, Brenda

2007-01-01

The aim of this study was to test the utility and efficiency of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and the health belief model (HBM) in predicting testicular self-examination (TSE) behaviour. A questionnaire was administered to an opportunistic sample of 195 undergraduates aged 18-39 years. Structural equation modelling indicated that, on the…

Predicting dyadic adjustment from general and relationship-specific beliefs.

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DeBord, J; Romans, J S; Krieshok, T

1996-05-01

The cognitive mediation model of human psychological functioning has received increasing attention by researchers studying the role of cognitive variables in relationship distress. This study is an examination of the role of general irrational beliefs, as measured by the Irrational Beliefs Test (IBT; Jones, 1968), and relationship-specific irrational beliefs, as measured by the Relationship Belief Questionnaire (RBQ; Romans & DeBord, 1994), in predicting the perceived quality of relationships by married or cohabiting couples. Results indicated that respondents who reported higher levels of relationship-specific irrational beliefs also reported higher levels of dyadic adjustment; but contrary to expectation, higher levels of general irrational beliefs correlated with lower levels of dyadic adjustment. Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the depressive realism hypothesis.

Belief Revision in the GOAL Agent Programming Language

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Spurkeland, Johannes Svante; Jensen, Andreas Schmidt; Villadsen, Jørgen

2013-01-01

Agents in a multiagent system may in many cases find themselves in situations where inconsistencies arise. In order to properly deal with these, a good belief revision procedure is required. This paper illustrates the usefulness of such a procedure: a certain belief revision algorithm is consider...... in order to deal with inconsistencies and, particularly, the issue of inconsistencies, and belief revision is examined in relation to the GOAL agent programming language....

The organization of irrational beliefs in posttraumatic stress symptomology: testing the predictions of REBT theory using structural equation modelling.

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Hyland, Philip; Shevlin, Mark; Adamson, Gary; Boduszek, Daniel

2014-01-01

This study directly tests a central prediction of rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT) that has received little empirical attention regarding the core and intermediate beliefs in the development of posttraumatic stress symptoms. A theoretically consistent REBT model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was examined using structural equation modelling techniques among a sample of 313 trauma-exposed military and law enforcement personnel. The REBT model of PTSD provided a good fit of the data, χ(2) = 599.173, df = 356, p depreciation beliefs. Results were consistent with the predictions of REBT theory and provides strong empirical support that the cognitive variables described by REBT theory are critical cognitive constructs in the prediction of PTSD symptomology. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Investigating Health Belief model component about sexual and reproductive health in college female students

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Akram Aslani

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Background and objective: One of the critical steps in providing social and family health by concentrating on women's health is expanding sexual and reproductive health and addressing it in various aspects of the national and international level. Therefore in this study the goal is analyzing the components of the health belief model about sexual and reproductive health of female students of University of Medical Sciences of Shahroud. Methods: The present study is a cross-sectional analysis which conducted by participation of 397 female students of University of Medical Sciences of Shahroud in 2014. The data collecting tool was a questionnaire that was consisted of demographic information, knowledge and structures of health belief model. The data was analyzed by SPSS software and t-test and chi-square test. Results: The results showed that students had high self-efficacy (17.7 ± 2 in reproductive health care but the rate of their perceived barriers (3.02± 1.37 that was reported was almost high. Also there was a direct relation between demographic variable of age and the knowledge of students. The average score of students' awareness of sexually transmitted disease that was obtained was 9.97 ± 2.62. There was no significant relationship between age, marital status and their study major with structures of health belief model about sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS and its preventive behaviors. Conclusion: The findings of this study show that the self-efficacy of students about preventive behaviors of unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS is high. In other hand the average of perceived barriers in students is relatively high. Considering the findings it is recommended that sexual and reproductive health programs should be applied in order to reduce the barriers and to further increase the ability of young people. Paper Type: Research Article.

Family influences on mania-relevant cognitions and beliefs: a cognitive model of mania and reward.

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Chen, Stephen H; Johnson, Sheri L

2012-07-01

The present study proposed and tested a cognitive model of mania and reward. Undergraduates (N = 284; 68.4% female; mean age = 20.99 years, standard deviation ± 3.37) completed measures of family goal setting and achievement values, personal reward-related beliefs, cognitive symptoms of mania, and risk for mania. Correlational analyses and structural equation modeling supported two distinct, but related facets of mania-relevant cognition: stably present reward-related beliefs and state-dependent cognitive symptoms in response to success and positive emotion. Results also indicated that family emphasis on achievement and highly ambitious extrinsic goals were associated with these mania-relevant cognitions. Finally, controlling for other factors, cognitive symptoms in response to success and positive emotion were uniquely associated with lifetime propensity towards mania symptoms. Results support the merit of distinguishing between facets of mania-relevant cognition and the importance of the family in shaping both aspects of cognition. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Relationships between beliefs about medications and nonadherence to prescribed chronic medications.

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Phatak, Hemant M; Thomas, Joseph

2006-10-01

Medication beliefs of patients with a specific medical condition have been associated with nonadherence to drugs used to treat that condition. However, associations between medication beliefs and nonadherence of individuals on chronic, multiple medications have not been studied. To investigate associations between patients' medication beliefs and nonadherence to chronic drug therapy. A cross-sectional, self-administered survey of patients waiting to see pharmacists at an outpatient pharmacy in a primary care clinic was conducted. Participants' medication beliefs were assessed using the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire, and nonadherence was assessed using the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale. Pearson correlation analysis was used to assess bivariate associations between medication beliefs and nonadherence. Regression was used to assess relative strength of associations between various medication beliefs and nonadherence and also to assess the significance of the interactions between those beliefs and nonadherence. There were positive bivariate associations between specific concerns about medications (p harmful effects of medications (p belief and nonadherence was assessed, while controlling for other medication beliefs, specific-necessity (p = 0.02) and specific-concerns (p = 0.01) exhibited significant negative and positive associations with nonadherence, respectively. All two-way interactions between variables in the model were insignificant. A model consisting of age, total number of drugs used, and medication beliefs, that is, specific-necessity, specific-concerns, general-overuse, and general-harm, accounted for 26.5% of variance. Medication beliefs alone explained 22.4% of variation in nonadherence to chronic drug therapy. Patients' medication beliefs explained a significant portion of variation in medication nonadherence.

Evolving Beliefs about Teaching and Learning. The View from Hofstra University: A Perspective on Teachers' Beliefs and Their Effects.

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O'Loughlin, Michael

This paper examines the notion of teacher beliefs as complex ideological systems which have a bearing on actions. The focus is on the beliefs that students bring into their formal teacher education program, which are based on their predominantly authoritarian and didactic schooling experience. These students enter teacher education with…

Teacher participation in facilitating beliefs and values in life ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Teacher participation in facilitating beliefs and values in life orientation programmes: ... strategies of belief and value orientations in a multicultural education system. ... and religious backgrounds of learners represented in participating schools.

Refugees in Conflict: Creating a Bridge Between Traditional and Conventional Health Belief Models.

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Ben-Arye, Eran; Bonucci, Massimo; Daher, Michel; Kebudi, Rejin; Saad, Bashar; Breitkreuz, Thomas; Rassouli, Maryam; Rossi, Elio; Gafer, Nahla; Nimri, Omar; Hablas, Mohamed; Kienle, Gunver Sophia; Samuels, Noah; Silbermann, Michael

2018-06-01

The recent wave of migration from Middle Eastern countries to Europe presents significant challenges to the European health profession. These include the inevitable communication gap created by differences in health care beliefs between European oncologists, health care practitioners, and refugee patients. This article presents the conclusions of a workshop attended by a group of clinicians and researchers affiliated with the Middle East Cancer Consortium, as well as four European-based health-related organizations. Workshop participants included leading clinicians and medical educators from the field of integrative medicine and supportive cancer care from Italy, Germany, Turkey, Israel, Palestine, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and Sudan. The workshop illustrated the need for creating a dialogue between European health care professionals and the refugee population in order to overcome the communication barriers to create healing process. The affinity for complementary and traditional medicine (CTM) among many refugee populations was also addressed, directing participants to the mediating role that integrative medicine serves between CTM and conventional medicine health belief models. This is especially relevant to the use of herbal medicine among oncology patients, for whom an open and nonjudgmental (yet evidence-based) dialogue is of utmost importance. The workshop concluded with a recommendation for the creation of a comprehensive health care model, to include bio-psycho-social and cultural-spiritual elements, addressing both acute and chronic medical conditions. These models need to be codesigned by European and Middle Eastern clinicians and researchers, internalizing a culturally sensitive approach and ethical commitment to the refugee population, as well as indigenous groups originating from Middle Eastern and north African countries. European oncologists face a communication gap with refugee patients who have recently immigrated from Middle Eastern and

Bayesian Image Segmentations by Potts Prior and Loopy Belief Propagation

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Tanaka, Kazuyuki; Kataoka, Shun; Yasuda, Muneki; Waizumi, Yuji; Hsu, Chiou-Ting

2014-12-01

This paper presents a Bayesian image segmentation model based on Potts prior and loopy belief propagation. The proposed Bayesian model involves several terms, including the pairwise interactions of Potts models, and the average vectors and covariant matrices of Gauss distributions in color image modeling. These terms are often referred to as hyperparameters in statistical machine learning theory. In order to determine these hyperparameters, we propose a new scheme for hyperparameter estimation based on conditional maximization of entropy in the Potts prior. The algorithm is given based on loopy belief propagation. In addition, we compare our conditional maximum entropy framework with the conventional maximum likelihood framework, and also clarify how the first order phase transitions in loopy belief propagations for Potts models influence our hyperparameter estimation procedures.

Feeling Is Believing: Inspiration Encourages Belief in God.

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Critcher, Clayton R; Lee, Chan Jean

2018-05-01

Even without direct evidence of God's existence, about half of the world's population believes in God. Although previous research has found that people arrive at such beliefs intuitively instead of analytically, relatively little research has aimed to understand what experiences encourage or legitimate theistic belief systems. Using cross-cultural correlational and experimental methods, we investigated whether the experience of inspiration encourages a belief in God. Participants who dispositionally experience more inspiration, were randomly assigned to relive or have an inspirational experience, or reported such experiences to be more inspirational all showed stronger belief in God. These effects were specific to inspiration (instead of adjacent affective experiences) and a belief in God (instead of other empirically unverifiable claims). Being inspired by someone or something (but not inspired to do something) offers a spiritually transcendent experience that elevates belief in God, in part because it makes people feel connected to something beyond themselves.

Science teachers' beliefs about teaching and reform: Case studies from a restructured high school

Science.gov (United States)

King, Elizabeth A.

A qualitative research study of the beliefs of three science teachers about teaching and educational reform was carried out at a restructured high school belonging to the Coalition of Essential Schools (CES), a nationally prominent restructuring movement. One problem of educational reform is to sustain change in the science classroom. A new wave of reform is shifting the focus away from curriculum changes and towards professionalism of teachers empowered to restructure schools. The beliefs of the teachers are key to decisions made in the classroom. The teachers and staff of Metro High School adopted the Ten Common Principles of CES as their guide to restructuring and sustaining change. Changes included increased authority for teachers in shared decision making, increased staff time for professional development, grouping students heterogeneously, grouping students and faculty in teams for extended time periods, and organizing instruction around small group and individual student study (student-centered). The theoretical framework centers on the constructivist theory of learning, particularly Vygotsky's socio-cultural model, and Bakhtin's dialogic function of language. Nespor's belief system model was used to describe the four characteristic features of beliefs: episodic memories, alternativity, existential presumption, and evaluative loading. My research questions were: What memories of teaching have influenced the teachers? What are the teachers' beliefs about the learning environment? What are the teachers' beliefs about their students? What are the teachers' beliefs about student activities? Interviews were the primary data source for the case studies of the three teachers, with additional data from lesson plans, photo-voice, and other artifacts. The teachers shared many common beliefs including that strong peer support is necessary for reform. The teachers' beliefs allied themselves to the majority of the common principles of CES, especially personalization and

Modeling Land-Use Decision Behavior with Bayesian Belief Networks

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Inge Aalders

2008-06-01

Full Text Available The ability to incorporate and manage the different drivers of land-use change in a modeling process is one of the key challenges because they are complex and are both quantitative and qualitative in nature. This paper uses Bayesian belief networks (BBN to incorporate characteristics of land managers in the modeling process and to enhance our understanding of land-use change based on the limited and disparate sources of information. One of the two models based on spatial data represented land managers in the form of a quantitative variable, the area of individual holdings, whereas the other model included qualitative data from a survey of land managers. Random samples from the spatial data provided evidence of the relationship between the different variables, which I used to develop the BBN structure. The model was tested for four different posterior probability distributions, and results showed that the trained and learned models are better at predicting land use than the uniform and random models. The inference from the model demonstrated the constraints that biophysical characteristics impose on land managers; for older land managers without heirs, there is a higher probability of the land use being arable agriculture. The results show the benefits of incorporating a more complex notion of land managers in land-use models, and of using different empirical data sources in the modeling process. Future research should focus on incorporating more complex social processes into the modeling structure, as well as incorporating spatio-temporal dynamics in a BBN.

Identifying values and beliefs in an outcomes-based curriculum ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

There is therefore a need for teachers to be sensitised to the different values embedded in each belief system and all cultureal orientations. The prevalence of values and belief systems in the OBE curricula of C2005 and the NCS will have to be acknowledged, identified, and promoted. South African Journal of Education ...

Health Belief Model Scale for Human Papilloma Virus and its Vaccination: Adaptation and Psychometric Testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Guvenc, Gulten; Seven, Memnun; Akyuz, Aygul

2016-06-01

To adapt and psychometrically test the Health Belief Model Scale for Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and Its Vaccination (HBMS-HPVV) for use in a Turkish population and to assess the Human Papilloma Virus Knowledge score (HPV-KS) among female college students. Instrument adaptation and psychometric testing study. The sample consisted of 302 nursing students at a nursing school in Turkey between April and May 2013. Questionnaire-based data were collected from the participants. Information regarding HBMS-HPVV and HPV knowledge and descriptive characteristic of participants was collected using translated HBMS-HPVV and HPV-KS. Test-retest reliability was evaluated and Cronbach α was used to assess internal consistency reliability, and exploratory factor analysis was used to assess construct validity of the HBMS-HPVV. The scale consists of 4 subscales that measure 4 constructs of the Health Belief Model covering the perceived susceptibility and severity of HPV and the benefits and barriers. The final 14-item scale had satisfactory validity and internal consistency. Cronbach α values for the 4 subscales ranged from 0.71 to 0.78. Total HPV-KS ranged from 0 to 8 (scale range, 0-10; 3.80 ± 2.12). The HBMS-HPVV is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring young Turkish women's beliefs and attitudes about HPV and its vaccination. Copyright © 2015 North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Beliefs About Appearance, Cognitive Distraction and Sexual Functioning in Men and Women: A Mediation Model Based on Cognitive Theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, Elizabet; Pascoal, Patrícia M; Nobre, Pedro

2016-09-01

Dysfunctional beliefs about body appearance and cognitive distraction from body appearance during sexual activity have been associated with sexual problems, particularly in women. However, there are no studies examining the interplay between these dimensions and the mechanisms by which they affect sexual functioning. To examine the mediating role of cognitive distraction with body appearance on the relation between beliefs about appearance and sexual functioning. The study sample consisted of 426 heterosexual participants (129 men and 297 women) involved in an exclusive dyadic committed relationship who answered an online questionnaire. The Body Appearance Cognitive Distraction Scale, the Beliefs About Appearance Scale, the International Index of Erectile Function, and the Female Sexual Function Index. The findings indicated that cognitive distraction with body appearance fully mediated the relation between beliefs about appearance and sexual functioning in men and women. The results support the role of beliefs about appearance and cognitive distraction based on body appearance in predicting sexual functioning, reaffirming the role of cognitive models in explaining sexual functioning in men and women. Copyright © 2016 International Society for Sexual Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A belief network approach for development of a nuclear power plant diagnosis system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hwang, I K; Kim, J T; Lee, D Y; Jung, C H; Kim, J Y; Lee, J S; Ham, C S [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1999-12-31

Belief network (or Bayesian network) based on Bayes` rule in probabilistic theory can be applied to the reasoning of diagnostic system. This paper describes the basic theory of concept and feasibility of using the network for diagnosis of nuclear power plants. An example shows that the probabilities of root causes of a failure are calculated from the measured or believed evidences. 6 refs., 3 figs. (Author)

A belief network approach for development of a nuclear power plant diagnosis system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hwang, I. K.; Kim, J. T.; Lee, D. Y.; Jung, C. H.; Kim, J. Y.; Lee, J. S.; Ham, C. S. [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1998-12-31

Belief network (or Bayesian network) based on Bayes` rule in probabilistic theory can be applied to the reasoning of diagnostic system. This paper describes the basic theory of concept and feasibility of using the network for diagnosis of nuclear power plants. An example shows that the probabilities of root causes of a failure are calculated from the measured or believed evidences. 6 refs., 3 figs. (Author)

Sructure in political beliefs. A new model for Stochastic Unfolding with Application to European Party Activists

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schuur, Hendrik van

1984-01-01

This study investigates interrelationships among the political beliefs of more than ten thousand active members of fifty political parties in nine countries of the European Community. These interrelationships are explored in part with a newly developed model for the analysis of preferences:

Conscious Belief

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David Pitt

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Tim Crane maintains that beliefs cannot be conscious because they persist in the absence of consciousness. Conscious judgments can share their contents with beliefs, and their occurrence can be evidence for what one believes; but they cannot be beliefs, because they don’t persist. I challenge Crane’s premise that belief attributions to the temporarily unconscious are literally true. To say of an unconscious agent that she believes that p is like saying that she sings well. To say she sings well is to say that when she sings, her singing is good. To say that she believes that p is (roughly to say that when she consciously considers the content that p she consciously affirms (believes it. I also argue that the phenomenal view of intentional content Crane appears to endorse prima facie commits him to the view, at least controversial, perhaps incoherent, that there is unconscious phenomenology (the intentional contents of unconscious beliefs.

Evaluating a Health Belief Model-Based Educational Program for School Injury Prevention among Hard-of-Hearing/Deaf High School Students

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Fatemeh Vejdani-Aram

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Background and Objectives: While all students are vulnerable to injuries, such vulnerability may even be higher in the deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Therefore, this study evaluated a health belief model-based educational program to prevent school injuries among deaf and hard-of-hearing high school students. Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on all deaf and hard-of-hearing students who attended two special schools in Hamadan (Iran during 2014. They were randomly assigned to either the intervention group (n = 23 or the control group (n = 27. Data were collected using a self-report questionnaire containing items on demographic characteristics, constructs of the health belief model, and knowledge and preventive behaviors. In both groups, the questionnaires were filled out through interviews before and two months after the intervention. The intervention included distributing booklets and holding five educational sessions. Data were analyzed with paired t, independent t, chi square, and Fisher’s exact tests in SPSS16. Results: After the educational intervention, the mean scores of knowledge (P=0.002, preventive behaviors (P=0.001, and constructs of the health belief model, i.e. perceived severity (P=0.001, perceived benefits (P=0.001, self-efficacy (P=0.001, and cues to action (P=0.001, were significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group. Conclusion: According to our findings, an educational intervention based on the health belief model can promote behaviors to prevent school injuries among deaf and hard-of-hearing students.

Causal beliefs about depression in different cultural groups—what do cognitive psychological theories of causal learning and reasoning predict?

OpenAIRE

Hagmayer, York; Engelmann, Neele

2014-01-01

Cognitive psychological research focuses on causal learning and reasoning while cognitive anthropological and social science research tend to focus on systems of beliefs. Our aim was to explore how these two types of research can inform each other. Cognitive psychological theories (causal model theory and causal Bayes nets) were used to derive predictions for systems of causal beliefs. These predictions were then applied to lay theories of depression as a specific test case. A systematic lite...

Public beliefs about and attitudes towards bipolar disorder: testing theory based models of stigma.

Science.gov (United States)

Ellison, Nell; Mason, Oliver; Scior, Katrina

2015-04-01

Given the vast literature into public beliefs and attitudes towards schizophrenia and depression, there is paucity of research on attitudes towards bipolar disorder despite its similar prevalence to schizophrenia. This study explored public beliefs and attitudes towards bipolar disorder and examined the relationship between these different components of stigma. Using an online questionnaire distributed via email, social networking sites and public institutions, 753 members of the UK population were presented with a vignette depicting someone who met DSM-IV criteria for bipolar disorder. Causal beliefs, beliefs about prognosis, emotional reactions, stereotypes, and social distance were assessed in response to the vignette. Preacher and Hayes procedure for estimating direct and indirect effects of multiple mediators was used to examine the relationship between these components of stigma. Bipolar disorder was primarily associated with positive beliefs and attitudes and elicited a relatively low desire for social distance. Fear partially mediated the relationship between stereotypes and social distance. Biomedical causal beliefs reduced desire for social distance by increasing compassion, whereas fate causal beliefs increased it through eliciting fear. Psychosocial causal beliefs had mixed effects. The measurement of stigma using vignettes and self-report questionnaires has implications for ecological validity and participants may have been reluctant to reveal the true extent of their negative attitudes. Dissemination of these findings to people with bipolar disorder has implications for the reduction of internalised stigma in this population. Anti-stigma campaigns should attend to causal beliefs, stereotypes and emotional reactions as these all play a vital role in discriminatory behaviour towards people with bipolar disorder. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of Educational Intervention on Oral Health Behaviour based on Health Belief Model in Female Secondary School Students of Paveh in 2011

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mostafa Hosseini

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Education is a powerful tool in reducing dental diseases. It is known as an essential part of oral health services. This study evaluated the impact of education on oral health behavior of students based on health belief model. Methods: This educational intervention study was carried out on secondary school girls of Paveh, Iran in 2011. A standard questionnaire was used to collect the data, including demographic characteristics, dimensions of health belief model and performance of students before and after intervention. The educational intervention was conducted over three sessions. To examine differences between groups in terms of demographic factors, dimensions of health belief model and performance status before and after the intervention, Chi-square test and logistic regression were used. P0.05. Conclusion: The importance of education caused promoting dental health behaviors of students. It also emphasized adopting more appropriate methods for oral health training.

Effect of an Educational Program Based on the Health Belief Model to Reduce Cell Phone Usage During Driving in Taxi drivers

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Babak Moeini

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Cell phone usage during driving has become a threat to traffic safety. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of an educational program based on the health belief model to reduce cell phone usage during driving in taxi drivers of Tuyserkan. Materials and Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 110 taxi drivers younger than 35 years were randomly divided into two experimental and control groups in Tuyserkan, Iran. Data was collected using a questionnaire including the health belief model constructs, knowledge, behaviors of using cell phone and demographic variables. The questionnaires were self-reported. Intervention was three sessions applied in the experimental group. Both groups were followed for two months after the intervention. Finally, data analysis was performed using SPSS- 19 by Chi-square, Independent T-test, Paired T-test and McNemar. Results: The mean scores for the constructs of health belief model (perceived susceptibility, severity, barriers, perceived benefits, self-efficacy and cues to action, knowledge and desired behaviors about the use of cell phone during driving showed no significant differences between the two groups before the intervention. After the educational intervention, significant differences were observed in experimental group compared to control group. After educational intervention, cell phone usage reduced by 35.14% in the experimental group. Conclusion: An educational intervention based on the health belief model could reduce cell phone usage during driving in taxi drivers.

Contrasting the theory of planned behavior with the value-belief-norm model in explaning conservation behavior

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kaiser, F.G.; Hübner, G.; Bogner, F.X.

2005-01-01

In this paper, we contrast the value-belief-norm (VBN) model and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) for the first time regarding their ability to explain conservation behavior. The participants represent a convenience sample of 468 university students. Using survey data and adopting previously

Strategic Belief Management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Foss, Nicolai Juul

While (managerial) beliefs are central to many aspects of strategic organization, interactive beliefs are almost entirely neglected, save for some game theory treatments. In an increasingly connected and networked economy, firms confront coordination problems that arise because of network effects....... The capability to manage beliefs will increasingly be a strategic one, a key source of wealth creation, and a key research area for strategic organization scholars.......While (managerial) beliefs are central to many aspects of strategic organization, interactive beliefs are almost entirely neglected, save for some game theory treatments. In an increasingly connected and networked economy, firms confront coordination problems that arise because of network effects...

Peer beliefs and smoking in adolescence: a longitudinal social network analysis.

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Ragan, Daniel T

2016-03-01

Peer smoking is one of the strongest predictors of adolescent cigarette use, but less is known about whether other peer characteristics also contribute to this behavior. This study examined the links between adolescent cigarette use and peer beliefs about smoking. It tested whether peer beliefs about smoking are associated with changes in cigarette use, whether this association is a result of changes in individual beliefs about smoking, and how beliefs inform friendship choices. Analyses drew on data collected from 29 school-based networks, each measured at five occasions as students moved from 6th through 9th grade, as part of the study of the PROSPER partnership model. Longitudinal social network models provided estimates of friendship selection and behavior for an average of 6,200 students at each measurement point and more than 9,000 students overall. Peer beliefs about smoking influenced cigarette use both directly and through their impact on individual beliefs. Respondents tended to name friends whose beliefs about smoking were similar to their own, and the likelihood of being named as a friend was higher for those who reported more positive beliefs about smoking. The results from this study suggest that peer beliefs about smoking, in addition to peer cigarette use itself, are associated with adolescent smoking through several mechanisms. Because beliefs favorable to cigarette use are present before adolescents actually smoke, these results underscore the importance of implementing smoking prevention programs in early adolescence.

Disruption of the Right Temporoparietal Junction Impairs Probabilistic Belief Updating.

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Mengotti, Paola; Dombert, Pascasie L; Fink, Gereon R; Vossel, Simone

2017-05-31

Generating and updating probabilistic models of the environment is a fundamental modus operandi of the human brain. Although crucial for various cognitive functions, the neural mechanisms of these inference processes remain to be elucidated. Here, we show the causal involvement of the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) in updating probabilistic beliefs and we provide new insights into the chronometry of the process by combining online transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with computational modeling of behavioral responses. Female and male participants performed a modified location-cueing paradigm, where false information about the percentage of cue validity (%CV) was provided in half of the experimental blocks to prompt updating of prior expectations. Online double-pulse TMS over rTPJ 300 ms (but not 50 ms) after target appearance selectively decreased participants' updating of false prior beliefs concerning %CV, reflected in a decreased learning rate of a Rescorla-Wagner model. Online TMS over rTPJ also impacted on participants' explicit beliefs, causing them to overestimate %CV. These results confirm the involvement of rTPJ in updating of probabilistic beliefs, thereby advancing our understanding of this area's function during cognitive processing. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Contemporary views propose that the brain maintains probabilistic models of the world to minimize surprise about sensory inputs. Here, we provide evidence that the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) is causally involved in this process. Because neuroimaging has suggested that rTPJ is implicated in divergent cognitive domains, the demonstration of an involvement in updating internal models provides a novel unifying explanation for these findings. We used computational modeling to characterize how participants change their beliefs after new observations. By interfering with rTPJ activity through online transcranial magnetic stimulation, we showed that participants were less able to update

Social Cognition and Democracy: The Relationship Between System Justification, Just World Beliefs, Authoritarianism, Need for Closure, and Need for Cognition in Hungary

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László Kelemen

2014-09-01

Full Text Available This research was aimed at examining just-world beliefs, system justification, authoritarianism, and cognitive style in a nationally representative sample (N = 1000 in Hungary, and at relating these phenomena to various demographic and political variables to find out whether the findings in Hungary would differ from its Western counterparts. According to system justification theory, there is a psychological motive to defend and justify the status quo. This theory has been tested several times in North American and Western European samples. The core finding of our study was that Hungarian people, unlike people in Western democracies, did not justify the existing establishment. There was strong pessimism with regard to the idea that the system serves the interests of the people. Members of disadvantaged groups (people with low economic income and/or far right political preference strongly rejected the system. System justification beliefs were moderately related to just world beliefs, and there was a significant relationship between some aspects of need for closure (need for order, discomfort with ambiguity, and closed-mindedness and authoritarian beliefs. Need for cognition was only related to one aspect of need for closure: closed-mindedness. The voters of right-wing parties did not display higher levels of authoritarianism than the voters of the left social-democrat party. The role of demographic and political variables, limitations, and possible developments of this research are discussed.

A Study on Quantitative Assessment of Design Specification of Reactor Protection System Software Using Bayesian Belief Networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eom, H. S.; Kang, H. G.; Chang, S. C.; Park, G. Y.; Kwon, K. C.

2007-02-01

This report propose a method that can produce quantitative reliability of safety-critical software for PSA by making use of Bayesian Belief Networks (BBN). BBN has generally been used to model the uncertain system in many research fields. The proposed method was constructed by utilizing BBN that can combine the qualitative and the quantitative evidence relevant to the reliability of safety-critical software, and then can infer a conclusion in a formal and a quantitative way. A case study was also carried out with the proposed method to assess the quality of software design specification of safety-critical software that will be embedded in reactor protection system. The V and V results of the software were used as inputs for the BBN model. The calculation results of the BBN model showed that its conclusion is mostly equivalent to those of the V and V expert for a given input data set. The method and the results of the case study will be utilized in PSA of NPP. The method also can support the V and V expert's decision making process in controlling further V and V activities

Introducing the modified paranormal belief scale: distinguishing between classic paranormal beliefs, religious paranormal beliefs and conventional religiosity among undergraduates in Northern Ireland and Wales

OpenAIRE

Williams, Emyr; Francis, Leslie J.; Lewis, Christopher Alan

2009-01-01

Previous empirical studies concerned with the association between paranormal beliefs and conventional religiosity have produced conflicting evidence. Drawing on Rice's (2003) distinction between classic paranormal beliefs and religious paranormal beliefs, the present study proposed a modified form of the Tobacyk Revised Paranormal Belief Scale to produce separate scores for these two forms of paranormal belief, styled 'religious paranormal beliefs' and 'classic paranormal beliefs'. Data provi...

Anxiety and depression in people with epilepsy: The contribution of metacognitive beliefs.

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Fisher, Peter L; Noble, Adam J

2017-08-01

Anxiety and depressive disorders frequently occur in people with epilepsy (PWE). An information processing model of psychopathology, the Self-Regulatory Executive Function (S-REF) model specifies that maladaptive metacognitive beliefs and processes play a fundamental role in the development and maintenance of anxiety and depression. This study explored whether metacognitive beliefs would explain additional variance in anxiety and depression after accounting for demographics, physical and/or psychiatric illnesses, epilepsy characteristics and medication issues. The mediational relationships between metacognitive beliefs, worry and anxiety and depression, predicted by the metacognitive model were also explored, METHODS: Three hundred and forty-nine PWE participated in an online survey and completed self-report questionnaires measuring anxiety, depression, metacognitive beliefs and worry. Participants also provided information on epilepsy characteristics, demographics, comorbid physical and/or psychiatric illnesses, number of, and perceived side effects of, anti-epileptic medication. Regression analysis showed that metacognitive beliefs were associated with symptoms of anxiety, depression, and explained additional variance in these outcomes after accounting for the control variables. Furthermore, the fundamental tenet of the metacognitive model was supported; the relationship between negative metacognitive beliefs about uncontrollability and danger of worry and anxious and depressive symptoms was partially mediated by worry. This is the first study to demonstrate that metacognitive beliefs and processes contribute to anxiety and depression beyond variables often associated with emotional distress in PWE. Further research is required to test if modification of metacognitive beliefs and processes using metacognitive therapy would effectively alleviate anxiety and depression in PWE. Copyright © 2017 British Epilepsy Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights

Recursive belief manipulation and second-order false-beliefs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Braüner, Torben; Blackburn, Patrick Rowan; Polyanskaya, Irina

2016-01-01

it indicate that a more fundamental *conceptual change* has taken place? In this paper we extend Braüner's hybrid-logical analysis of first-order false-belief tasks to the second-order case, and argue that our analysis supports a version of the conceptual change position.......The literature on first-order false-belief is extensive, but less is known about the second-order case. The ability to handle second-order false-beliefs correctly seems to mark a cognitively significant step, but what is its status? Is it an example of *complexity only* development, or does...

The Structuring Principle: Political Socialization and Belief Systems

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Searing, Donald D.; And Others

1973-01-01

Assesses the significance of data on childhood political learning to political theory by testing the structuring principle,'' considered one of the central assumptions of political socialization research. This principle asserts that basic orientations acquired during childhood structure the later learning of specific issue beliefs.'' The…

Modeling the stylized facts in finance through simple nonlinear adaptive systems

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Hommes, Cars H.

2002-01-01

Recent work on adaptive systems for modeling financial markets is discussed. Financial markets are viewed as evolutionary systems between different, competing trading strategies. Agents are boundedly rational in the sense that they tend to follow strategies that have performed well, according to realized profits or accumulated wealth, in the recent past. Simple technical trading rules may survive evolutionary competition in a heterogeneous world where prices and beliefs co-evolve over time. Evolutionary models can explain important stylized facts, such as fat tails, clustered volatility, and long memory, of real financial series. PMID:12011401

Individualized measurement of irrational beliefs in remitted depressives.

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Solomon, Ari; Arnow, Bruce A; Gotlib, Ian H; Wind, Brian

2003-04-01

Recent reviews of cognitive theories of depression have noted that individualized assessment strategies might help to resolve mixed findings regarding the stability of depressotypic beliefs and attitudes. We describe encouraging results for an individualized measure of one such cognitive construct, irrational beliefs. Twenty depression-prone women (recurrent major depressives in full remission) and twenty closely matched never-depressed controls completed leading forced-choice measures of irrational beliefs (the Belief Scale; BS) and sociotropy-autonomy (The Revised Personal Style Inventory), as well as the Specific Demands on Self Scale (SDS). The BS requires participants to rate their agreement with twenty preselected statements of irrational beliefs, while the SDS focuses on whether participants harbor any strongly held irrational beliefs, even if uncommon or idiosyncratic. Consistent with previous research, there were no group differences on the traditional measure of irrational beliefs. In contrast, depression-prone participants strongly exceeded controls on the SDS, and this difference persisted after controlling for residual depression, anxiety symptoms, anxiety diagnoses, sociotropy, and autonomy. These findings provide some initial support for a key assumption of the rational-emotive model of depression, and, more broadly, suggest that individualized assessment strategies may help researchers capture the core negative beliefs of asymptomatic individuals, even in the absence of mood or cognitive priming. Copyright 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 59: 439-455, 2003.

A meta-analysis of the relationship between rational beliefs and psychological distress.

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Oltean, Horea-Radu; David, Daniel Ovidiu

2018-06-01

 Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) model of psychological health assumes that rational beliefs cause functional emotions and adaptive behavior, but the presumed role of rational beliefs as protective factor against psychological distress/disorders is still in debate. An important step in validating an evidence-based therapy is to investigate the underling theoretical assumptions. Thus, the aim of the present meta-analysis is to investigate the direction and magnitude of the relationship between rational beliefs and psychological distress.  Our search identified 26 studies that met our criteria. We evaluated the effect size using the random-effects model and we tested the moderator role of several variables. The overall results revealed a medium negative association between rational beliefs and psychological distress, r = -0.31. The strongest association was found for unconditional acceptance beliefs (r = -0.41). The results add empirical evidence for the underling theory of REBT and revealed that the strength of the association between rational beliefs and distress is robust for a wide range of emotional problems. Therefore, rational beliefs could be a trans-diagnostic protective factor against distress. Moreover, results emphasized that rational beliefs type is an important factor, suggesting an increased focus in therapy on the developing of unconditional acceptance and self-acceptance beliefs. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Loss Aversion, Adaptive Beliefs, and Asset Pricing Dynamics

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Kamal Samy Selim

2015-01-01

Full Text Available We study asset pricing dynamics in artificial financial markets model. The financial market is populated with agents following two heterogeneous trading beliefs, the technical and the fundamental prediction rules. Agents switch between trading rules with respect to their past performance. The agents are loss averse over asset price fluctuations. Loss aversion behaviour depends on the past performance of the trading strategies in terms of an evolutionary fitness measure. We propose a novel application of the prospect theory to agent-based modelling, and by simulation, the effect of evolutionary fitness measure on adaptive belief system is investigated. For comparison, we study pricing dynamics of a financial market populated with chartists perceive losses and gains symmetrically. One of our contributions is validating the agent-based models using real financial data of the Egyptian Stock Exchange. We find that our framework can explain important stylized facts in financial time series, such as random walk price behaviour, bubbles and crashes, fat-tailed return distributions, power-law tails in the distribution of returns, excess volatility, volatility clustering, the absence of autocorrelation in raw returns, and the power-law autocorrelations in absolute returns. In addition to this, we find that loss aversion improves market quality and market stability.

Belief Importance in Expectancy-Value Models of Attitudes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Pligt, J.; de Vries, N.K.

1998-01-01

In this study, 312 respondents were asked to indicate their attitude toward smoking and their smoking behavior. Attitudes were assessed by a direct attitude measure (4 items) and a series of 15 belief statements about the possible consequences of smoking. Next, respondents were asked to select the 3

Can Bayesian Belief Networks help tackling conceptual model uncertainties in contaminated site risk assessment?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Troldborg, Mads; Thomsen, Nanna Isbak; McKnight, Ursula S.

different conceptual models may describe the same contaminated site equally well. In many cases, conceptual model uncertainty has been shown to be one of the dominant sources for uncertainty and is therefore essential to account for when quantifying uncertainties in risk assessments. We present here......A key component in risk assessment of contaminated sites is the formulation of a conceptual site model. The conceptual model is a simplified representation of reality and forms the basis for the mathematical modelling of contaminant fate and transport at the site. A conceptual model should...... a Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) approach for evaluating the uncertainty in risk assessment of groundwater contamination from contaminated sites. The approach accounts for conceptual model uncertainty by considering multiple conceptual models, each of which represents an alternative interpretation of the site...

The Nature and Predictive Value of Mothers’ Beliefs Regarding Infants’ and Toddlers’ TV/Video Viewing: Applying the Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction

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Vaala, Sarah E.

2014-01-01

Viewing television and video programming has become a normative behavior among US infants and toddlers. Little is understood about parents’ decision-making about the extent of their young children’s viewing, though numerous organizations are interested in reducing time spent viewing among infants and toddlers. Prior research has examined parents’ belief in the educational value of TV/videos for young children and the predictive value of this belief for understanding infant/toddler viewing rates, though other possible salient beliefs remain largely unexplored. This study employs the integrative model of behavioral prediction (Fishbein & Ajzen, 2010) to examine 30 maternal beliefs about infants’ and toddlers’ TV/video viewing which were elicited from a prior sample of mothers. Results indicate that mothers tend to hold more positive than negative beliefs about the outcomes associated with young children’s TV/video viewing, and that the nature of the aggregate set of beliefs is predictive of their general attitudes and intentions to allow their children to view, as well as children’s estimated viewing rates. Analyses also uncover multiple dimensions within the full set of beliefs, which explain more variance in mothers’ attitudes and intentions and children’s viewing than the uni-dimensional index. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed. PMID:25431537

Descriptor revision belief change through direct choice

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Hansson, Sven Ove

2017-01-01

This book provides a critical examination of how the choice of what to believe is represented in the standard model of belief change. In particular the use of possible worlds and infinite remainders as objects of choice is critically examined. Descriptors are introduced as a versatile tool for expressing the success conditions of belief change, addressing both local and global descriptor revision. The book presents dynamic descriptors such as Ramsey descriptors that convey how an agent’s beliefs tend to be changed in response to different inputs. It also explores sentential revision and demonstrates how local and global operations of revision by a sentence can be derived as a special case of descriptor revision. Lastly, the book examines revocation, a generalization of contraction in which a specified sentence is removed in a process that may possibly also involve the addition of some new information to the belief set.

Religious beliefs are factual beliefs: Content does not correlate with context sensitivity.

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Levy, Neil

2017-04-01

Neil Van Leeuwen argues that religious beliefs are not factual beliefs: typically, at least, they are attitudes of a different type. He argues that they exhibit much more sensitivity to context than factual beliefs: outside of contexts in which they are salient, they do not govern behaviour or inference, or provide background assumptions for cognition. This article surveys a large range of data to show that the kind of context sensitivity that Van Leeuwen thinks is the province of religious beliefs does not correlate with belief content. Beliefs about matters of fact beyond the theological realm exhibit this kind of sensitivity too. Conversely, theological and supernatural beliefs often guide behaviour across contexts. It is the intuitiveness of representations across contexts that predicts context (in)sensitivity, and intuitiveness is powerfully influenced by processing fluency. Fluency, in turn, is sensitive to cues that vary across contexts. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Negative emotions can attenuate the influence of beliefs on logical reasoning.

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Goel, Vinod; Vartanian, Oshin

2011-01-01

Although the influence of beliefs on logical reasoning is well documented, how emotions modulate the effect of beliefs during reasoning remains unexamined. We instructed participants to reason about syllogisms involving neutral or emotionally charged content. We also manipulated the consistency of beliefs with logical validity. When content was neutral, participants exhibited the belief-bias effect observed in previous studies of reasoning. In contrast, when confronted with emotionally charged content participants were less likely to be influenced by their beliefs. Our results suggest that under certain conditions negative emotions can attenuate the influence of beliefs during logical reasoning. Drawing on the affect infusion model, we attribute this effect to a more vigilant, systematic scrutiny of beliefs in the presence of negative emotions. © 2010 Psychology Press, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business

Evolution of Religious Beliefs

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2009-01-01

Humans may be distinguished from all other animals in having beliefs about the causal interaction of physical objects. Causal beliefs are a developmental primitive in human children; animals, by contrast, have very few causal beliefs. The origin of human causal beliefs comes from the evolutionary advantage it gave in relation to complex tool making and use. Causal beliefs gave rise religion and mystical thinking as our ancestors wanted to know the causes of events that affected their lives.

Comparison between the Health Belief Model and Subjective Expected Utility Theory: predicting incontinence prevention behaviour in post-partum women.

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Dolman, M; Chase, J

1996-08-01

A small-scale study was undertaken to test the relative predictive power of the Health Belief Model and Subjective Expected Utility Theory for the uptake of a behaviour (pelvic floor exercises) to reduce post-partum urinary incontinence in primigravida females. A structured questionnaire was used to gather data relevant to both models from a sample antenatal and postnatal primigravida women. Questions examined the perceived probability of becoming incontinent, the perceived (dis)utility of incontinence, the perceived probability of pelvic floor exercises preventing future urinary incontinence, the costs and benefits of performing pelvic floor exercises and sources of information and knowledge about incontinence. Multiple regression analysis focused on whether or not respondents intended to perform pelvic floor exercises and the factors influencing their decisions. Aggregated data were analysed to compare the Health Belief Model and Subjective Expected Utility Theory directly.

The moderating role of rational beliefs in the relationship between irrational beliefs and posttraumatic stress symptomology.

Science.gov (United States)

Hyland, Philip; Shevlin, Mark; Adamson, Gary; Boduszek, Daniel

2014-05-01

Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) assumes that rational beliefs act as cognitive protective factors against the development of psychopathology; however little empirical evidence exists regarding the nature of the possible protective effects that they offer. The current study investigates whether rational beliefs moderate the impact of irrational beliefs on posttraumatic stress symptomology (PTS). Three hundred and thirteen active law enforcement, military, and related emergency service personnel took part in the current study. Sequential moderated multiple regression analysis was employed to investigate: (i) the direct impact of irrational beliefs on PTS; (ii) the direct impact of rational beliefs on PTS; (iii) the moderating effects of rational beliefs in the relationship between irrational beliefs and PTS. The irrational beliefs predicted by REBT theory emerged as critical predictors of PTS symptomology, in particular Depreciation beliefs. Rational beliefs (Preferences, and Acceptance beliefs) had a direct, negative impact on levels of PTS, and Acceptance beliefs moderated the impact of Catastrophizing beliefs on PTS. Irrational beliefs are important cognitive vulnerability factors in symptoms of PTS, while rational beliefs (Acceptance) appear to have a protective role in the emergence of PTS symptoms, both directly and by moderating the impact of Catastrophizing beliefs.

Belief in complementary and alternative medicine is related to age and paranormal beliefs in adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Van den Bulck, Jan; Custers, Kathleen

2010-04-01

The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is widespread, even among people who use conventional medicine. Positive beliefs about CAM are common among physicians and medical students. Little is known about the beliefs regarding CAM among the general public. Among science students, belief in CAM was predicted by belief in the paranormal. In a cross-sectional study, 712 randomly selected adults (>18 years old) responded to the CAM Health Belief Questionnaire (CHBQ) and a paranormal beliefs scale. CAM beliefs were very prevalent in this sample of adult Flemish men and women. Zero-order correlations indicated that belief in CAM was associated with age (r = 0.173 P paranormal belief (r = 0.365 P paranormal. Paranormal beliefs accounted for 14% of the variance of the CAM beliefs (regression coefficient: 0.376; 95%: CI 0.30-0.44). The level of education (regression coefficient: 0.06; 95% CI: -0.014-0.129) and social desirability (regression coefficient: -0.023; 95% CI: -0.048-0.026) did not make a significant contribution to the explained variance (paranormal beliefs.

Overdose beliefs and management practices among ethnic Vietnamese heroin users in Sydney, Australia

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Maher Lisa

2009-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Ethnic Vietnamese injecting drug users (IDUs in Australia draw on a range of beliefs and etiologic models, sometimes simultaneously, in order to make sense of health and illness. These include understandings of illness as the result of internal imbalances and Western concepts of disease causation including germ/pollution theory. Methods Observational fieldwork and in-depth interviews were conducted between 2001 and 2006 in neighbourhoods characterised by high proportions of Asian background IDUs and street-based drug markets. Eligibility criteria for the study were: 1 ethnic Vietnamese cultural background; 2 aged 16 years and over and; 3 injected drugs in the last 6 months. Results Participants commonly attempted to treat heroin overdose by withdrawing blood (rút máu from the body. Central to this practice are cultural beliefs about the role and function of blood in the body and its relationship to illness and health. Participants' beliefs in blood were strongly influenced by understandings of blood expressed in traditional Chinese and Vietnamese medicine. Many participants perceived Western drugs, particularly heroin, as "hot" and "strong". In overdose situations, it was commonly believed that an excessive amount of drugs (particularly heroin entered the bloodstream and traveled to the heart, making the heart work too hard. Withdrawing blood was understood to reduce the amount of drugs in the body which in turn reduced the effects of drugs on the blood and the heart. Conclusion The explanatory model of overdose employed by ethnic Vietnamese IDUs privileges traditional beliefs about the circulatory, rather than the respiratory, system. This paper explores participants' beliefs about blood, the effects of drugs on blood and the causes of heroin overdose in order to document the explanatory model of overdose used by ethnic Vietnamese IDUs. Implications for overdose prevention, treatment and management are identified and

Towards the Measurement of EFL Listening Beliefs with Item Response Theory Methods

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Nix, John-Michael L.; Tseng, Wen-Ta

2014-01-01

The present research aims to identify the underlying English listening belief structure of English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners, thereby informing methodologies for subsequent analysis of beliefs with respect to listening achievement. Development of a measurement model of English listening learning beliefs entailed the creation of an…

Stroke survivors' endorsement of a "stress belief model" of stroke prevention predicts control of risk factors for recurrent stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, L Alison; Tuhrim, Stanley; Kronish, Ian M; Horowitz, Carol R

2014-01-01

Perceptions that stress causes and stress-reduction controls hypertension have been associated with poorer blood pressure (BP) control in hypertension populations. The current study investigated these "stress-model perceptions" in stroke survivors regarding prevention of recurrent stroke and the influence of these perceptions on patients' stroke risk factor control. Stroke and transient ischemic attack survivors (N=600) participated in an in-person interview in which they were asked about their beliefs regarding control of future stroke; BP and cholesterol were measured directly after the interview. Counter to expectations, patients who endorsed a "stress-model" but not a "medication-model" of stroke prevention were in better control of their stroke risk factors (BP and cholesterol) than those who endorsed a medication-model but not a stress-model of stroke prevention (OR for poor control=.54, Wald statistic=6.07, p=.01). This result was not explained by between group differences in patients' reported medication adherence. The results have implications for theory and practice, regarding the role of stress belief models and acute cardiac events, compared to chronic hypertension.

Belief Elicitation in Experiments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Blanco, Mariana; Engelmann, Dirk; Koch, Alexander

Belief elicitation in economics experiments usually relies on paying subjects according to the accuracy of stated beliefs in addition to payments for other decisions. Such incentives, however, allow risk-averse subjects to hedge with their stated beliefs against adverse outcomes of other decisions......-belief elicitation treatment using a financial investment frame, where hedging arguably would be most natural....

Intimate Partner Violence and Belief Systems in Liberia

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Allen, Mary; Devitt, Catherine

2012-01-01

Intimate partner violence is endemic in parts of the African continent. A small scale survey (n = 229) was conducted in 2009 in Northern Liberia, West Africa, to determine the prevalence and nature of intimate partner violence, and the cultural beliefs and gender norms that underpin respondent experiences and views towards intimate partner…

Treatment Related Thoughts Based on Health Belief Model and Medication Nonadherence in Patients who Prescribed Anxiolytics and Antidepressants

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Meltem Meric

2010-10-01

Full Text Available AIM: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between treatment adherence and treatment related thoughts based on health belief model in patients who currently take medication due to depression and anxiety disorder. METHOD: The present study was performed at the Psychiatry Department of a teaching hospital. The sample of the study consisted from 112 individuals who take medications due to depression and anxiety disorder. Personal information form and an inquiry form including treatment related thoughts based on health belief model were used to collect data. Chi- Square and Percentages were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Of the patients, 58.9% were diagnosed as depression and 41.1% anxiety disorder. 60.7% stated that they had a non-adherence experience in the past. Of these non-adherent patients, 29.5% stopped to take the medication with the idea “I can do it without medication” and 14.3% stopped the medication because of the side effects. Gender, age, marital status and education level were not related to the non-adherence. Only two treatment related thoughts based on health belief concepts were significantly related to the non adherence experience. These thoughts were “If I do not take the medications properly the problems may be permanent” and “If I do not take the medications properly my illness may get worse”. Most of the patients marked “agree” options of the items under the perceived severity, self-efficacy, benefits, susceptibility and health motivation subheads. CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that the thoughts and perceptions based on health belief concepts helps to identify and express the thoughts related to treatment adherence. These concepts can be used to describe and classify the thoughts about the treatments of patients. However, prospective and qualitative studies may be useful to clarify the influence of the health beliefs on treatment adherence. [TAF Prev Med Bull 2010; 9

Adaptive cyber-attack modeling system

Science.gov (United States)

Gonsalves, Paul G.; Dougherty, Edward T.

2006-05-01

The pervasiveness of software and networked information systems is evident across a broad spectrum of business and government sectors. Such reliance provides an ample opportunity not only for the nefarious exploits of lone wolf computer hackers, but for more systematic software attacks from organized entities. Much effort and focus has been placed on preventing and ameliorating network and OS attacks, a concomitant emphasis is required to address protection of mission critical software. Typical software protection technique and methodology evaluation and verification and validation (V&V) involves the use of a team of subject matter experts (SMEs) to mimic potential attackers or hackers. This manpower intensive, time-consuming, and potentially cost-prohibitive approach is not amenable to performing the necessary multiple non-subjective analyses required to support quantifying software protection levels. To facilitate the evaluation and V&V of software protection solutions, we have designed and developed a prototype adaptive cyber attack modeling system. Our approach integrates an off-line mechanism for rapid construction of Bayesian belief network (BN) attack models with an on-line model instantiation, adaptation and knowledge acquisition scheme. Off-line model construction is supported via a knowledge elicitation approach for identifying key domain requirements and a process for translating these requirements into a library of BN-based cyber-attack models. On-line attack modeling and knowledge acquisition is supported via BN evidence propagation and model parameter learning.

The Effect of Education about Preventive Behaviors of Urinary Infection Based on Health Belief Model by Attending and Non- Attending Educational Programs in Pregnant Women

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F. Noroozi

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Background: Urinary tract infection is the second most common complication of pregnancy, maternal and fetal complications and serious consequences will follow. So, the purpose of this study is comparison of education effect between attend and non-attend methods on promotion prevailing behavior from urinary tract infection in pregnant women based on the health belief model. Materials and Methods: In this clinical trial, 140 pregnant women coming to Bushehr medical center, in two group (70 people each were studied. In attend group, two education meetings, including 1.5 hour were hold based on the health belief model with an interval of a week. Non-attend education group, just received a booklet arranged based on health belief model. The information about awareness, structures model and function were collected before, one week and three months later via questionnaire. The urinary test results were collected before and three months after the intervention. After getting information, data were analyzed by software SPSS version 20 via perfect tests. Results: Before educational intervention, knowledge, preventive behaviors of urinary infection and all structures model were same in both groups. After the intervention, average of perceived susceptibility, severity, benefit and self-efficacy increased and average of perceived barrier decreased significantly in attend education group (P≤0/001, and in non-attend education group, awareness score and perceived susceptibility, benefit and self-efficacy increased and average of perceived barrier decreased significantly. Average of perceived susceptibility, barrier, self-efficacy, awareness, and mean of preventive behaviors of urinary infection between two groups were different significantly (P≤0/001. Conclusion: Regarding to changes in health belief model constructs, knowledge and function in two groups after education, using booklets based on health belief model for pregnant women can be useful due to their

ENERGY AWARE NETWORK: BAYESIAN BELIEF NETWORKS BASED DECISION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

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Santosh Kumar Chaudhari

2011-06-01

Full Text Available A Network Management System (NMS plays a very important role in managing an ever-evolving telecommunication network. Generally an NMS monitors & maintains the health of network elements. The growing size of the network warrants extra functionalities from the NMS. An NMS provides all kinds of information about networks which can be used for other purposes apart from monitoring & maintaining networks like improving QoS & saving energy in the network. In this paper, we add another dimension to NMS services, namely, making an NMS energy aware. We propose a Decision Management System (DMS framework which uses a machine learning technique called Bayesian Belief Networks (BBN, to make the NMS energy aware. The DMS is capable of analysing and making control decisions based on network traffic. We factor in the cost of rerouting and power saving per port. Simulations are performed on standard network topologies, namely, ARPANet and IndiaNet. It is found that ~2.5-6.5% power can be saved.

Procedural justice, legitimacy beliefs, and moral disengagement in emerging adulthood: Explaining continuity and desistance in the moral model of criminal lifestyle development.

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Walters, Glenn D

2018-02-01

Research has shown that procedural justice reliably predicts future offending behavior, although there is some indication that this may be more a function of legitimacy beliefs than of procedural justice per se. The current study sought to explain continuity and desistance in the moral model of criminal lifestyle development by comparing legitimacy beliefs, procedural justice, and moral disengagement as initiators and mediators of pathways leading to early adult offending. It was hypothesized that low legitimacy beliefs but not perceived procedural (in)justice or moral disengagement would initiate, and that moral disengagement but not low legitimacy beliefs or procedural injustice would mediate, the effect of low legitimacy beliefs on subsequent offending behavior. This hypothesis was tested in a group of 1,142 young adult males (age range = 18 to 20) from the Pathways to Desistance study (Mulvey, 2012). Results showed that as predicted, the target pathway (legitimacy → moral disengagement → offending) but none of the control pathways achieved a significant indirect effect. Hence, 1 way legitimacy beliefs reduce future offending and lead to desistance is by inhibiting moral disengagement. Besides the theoretical implications of these results, there is also the suggestion that legitimacy beliefs and moral disengagement should be considered for inclusion in secondary prevention and criminal justice intervention programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Changing Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers' Beliefs about Using Computers for Teaching and Learning Mathematics: The Effect of Three Different Models

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Karatas, Ilhan

2014-01-01

This study examines the effect of three different computer integration models on pre-service mathematics teachers' beliefs about using computers in mathematics education. Participants included 104 pre-service mathematics teachers (36 second-year students in the Computer Oriented Model group, 35 fourth-year students in the Integrated Model (IM)…

Extreme Overvalued Beliefs: How Violent Extremist Beliefs Become "Normalized".

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Rahman, Tahir

2018-01-12

Extreme overvalued beliefs (EOB) are rigidly held, non-deusional beliefs that are the motive behind most acts of terrorism and mass shootings. EOBs are differentiated from delusions and obsessions. The concept of an overvalued idea was first described by Wernicke and later applied to terrorism by McHugh. Our group of forensic psychiatrists (Rahman, Resnick, Harry) refined the definition as an aid in the differential diagnosis seen in acts of violence. The form and content of EOBs is discussed as well as group effects, conformity, and obedience to authority. Religious cults such as The People's Temple, Heaven's Gate, Aum Shinrikyo, and Islamic State (ISIS) and conspiracy beliefs such as assassinations, moon-hoax, and vaccine-induced autism beliefs are discussed using this construct. Finally, some concluding thoughts on countering violent extremism, including its online presence is discussed utilizing information learned from online eating disorders and consumer experience.

The Partisan Brain: An Identity-Based Model of Political Belief.

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Van Bavel, Jay J; Pereira, Andrea

2018-03-01

Democracies assume accurate knowledge by the populace, but the human attraction to fake and untrustworthy news poses a serious problem for healthy democratic functioning. We articulate why and how identification with political parties - known as partisanship - can bias information processing in the human brain. There is extensive evidence that people engage in motivated political reasoning, but recent research suggests that partisanship can alter memory, implicit evaluation, and even perceptual judgments. We propose an identity-based model of belief for understanding the influence of partisanship on these cognitive processes. This framework helps to explain why people place party loyalty over policy, and even over truth. Finally, we discuss strategies for de-biasing information processing to help to create a shared reality across partisan divides. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development and Validity Testing of Belief Measurement Model in Buddhism for Junior High School Students at Chiang Rai Buddhist Scripture School: An Application for Multitrait-Multimethod Analysis

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Chaidi, Thirachai; Damrongpanich, Sunthorapot

2016-01-01

The purposes of this study were to develop a model to measure the belief in Buddhism of junior high school students at Chiang Rai Buddhist Scripture School, and to determine construct validity of the model for measuring the belief in Buddhism by using Multitrait-Multimethod analysis. The samples were 590 junior high school students at Buddhist…

Posttraumatic Maladaptive Beliefs Scale: Evolution of the Personal Beliefs and Reactions Scale

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Vogt, Dawne S.; Shipherd, Jillian C.; Resick, Patricia A.

2012-01-01

The Posttraumatic Maladaptive Beliefs Scale (PMBS) was developed to measure maladaptive beliefs about current life circumstances that may occur following trauma exposure. This scale assesses maladaptive beliefs within three domains: (a) Threat of Harm, (b) Self-Worth and Judgment, and (c) Reliability and Trustworthiness of Others. Items for the…

Effects of Application of Social Marketing Theory and the Health Belief Model in Promoting Cervical Cancer Screening among Targeted Women in Sisaket Province, Thailand.

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Wichachai, Suparp; Songserm, Nopparat; Akakul, Theerawut; Kuasiri, Chanapong

2016-01-01

Cervical cancer is a major public health problem in Thailand, being ranked second only to breast cancer. Thai women have been reported to have a low rate of cervical cancer screening (27.7% of the 80% goal of WHO). We therefore aimed to apply the social marketing theory and health belief model in promoting cervical cancer screening in Kanthararom District, Sisaket Province. A total of 92 from 974 targeted women aged 3060 years were randomly divided into two groups. The experimental group underwent application of social marketing theory and a health belief model program promoting cervical cancer screening while the control group received normal services. Two research tools were used: (1) application of social marketing theory and health belief model program and (2) questionnaire used to evaluate perceptions of cervical cancer. Descriptive and inferential statistics including paired sample ttest and independent ttest were used to analyze the data. After the program had been used, the mean score of perception of cervical cancer of experimental group was at a higher level (x=4.09; S.D. =0.30), than in the control group (x=3.82; S.D. =0.20) with statistical significance (psocial marketing and the health belief model be used to promote cervical cancer screening in targeted women and it can be promoted as a guideline for other health services, especially in health promotion and disease prevention.

The Relationship between Metacognition and Obsessive Beliefs, and Procrastination in Students of Tabriz and Mohaghegh Ardabili Universities, Iran.

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Sadeghi, Hasan; Hajloo, Nader; Babayi, Karim; Shahri, Maryam

2014-01-01

The aim of the current study is to investigate the relationship between metacognition and obsessive beliefs, and procrastination. 285 students of Tabriz and Mohaghegh Ardabili Universities, Iran, were selected by random sampling, and completed the metacognition (MCQ-30) questionnaire, obsessive beliefs questionnaire (OBQ-44), and General Procrastination Scale. The research method was descriptive. Data was implemented by structural equation modeling, using Amos software (version 19) and Anderson and Greenberg's (1988) two-step approach was followed. First, the model measurement, and then the structural model were examined. RESULTS showed that obsessive beliefs and metacognitive beliefs, directly and indirectly, predict the behavior of procrastination. Cognitive confidence, need for control of thoughts, and positive beliefs about worry from metacognitive beliefs were positively and significantly correlated with procrastination. In addition, cognitive self-consciousness was inversely correlated with procrastination. Perfectionism/certainty from obsessive beliefs was inversely correlated with procrastination. Moreover, the relationship between obsessive beliefs and metacognitive beliefs were positive and significant. Our findings show a significant relationship between obsessive and metacognitive beliefs and procrastination. To reduce behaviors of procrastination, control of obsessive beliefs and metacognition seems to be necessary. Moreover, controlling and shaping metacognitive beliefs can be effective in reducing compulsive behavior. None.

Conditional Belief Types

Science.gov (United States)

2016-04-19

Rationality of a player is determined by comparing her actual expected payoff to her expected payoff when her strategy is changed , while her beliefs —and...reduced strategies, and it is possible that under such conditions, beliefs about other players’ reduced strategies change as well. Thus, independence...assumptions, whether they concern observability of moves or subjective beliefs of any other kind, can be all accommodated by changing the informational

Prosociality: the contribution of traits, values, and self-efficacy beliefs.

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Caprara, Gian Vittorio; Alessandri, Guido; Eisenberg, Nancy

2012-06-01

The present study examined how agreeableness, self-transcendence values, and empathic self-efficacy beliefs predict individuals' tendencies to engage in prosocial behavior (i.e., prosociality) across time. Participants were 340 young adults, 190 women and 150 men, age approximately 21 years at Time 1 and 25 years at Time 2. Measures of agreeableness, self-transcendence, empathic self-efficacy beliefs, and prosociality were collected at 2 time points. The findings corroborated the posited paths of relations, with agreeableness directly predicting self-transcendence and indirectly predicting empathic self-efficacy beliefs and prosociality. Self-transcendence mediated the relation between agreeableness and empathic self-efficacy beliefs. Empathic self-efficacy beliefs mediated the relation of agreeableness and self-transcendence to prosociality. Finally, earlier prosociality predicted agreeableness and empathic self-efficacy beliefs assessed at Time 2. The posited conceptual model accounted for a significant portion of variance in prosociality and provides guidance to interventions aimed at promoting prosociality. 2012 APA, all rights reserved

The Effect of Content Representation Design Principles on Users' Intuitive Beliefs and Use of E-Learning Systems

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Al-Samarraie, Hosam; Selim, Hassan; Zaqout, Fahed

2016-01-01

A model is proposed to assess the effect of different content representation design principles on learners' intuitive beliefs about using e-learning. We hypothesized that the impact of the representation of course contents is mediated by the design principles of alignment, quantity, clarity, simplicity, and affordance, which influence the…

The separate roles of the reflective mind and involuntary inhibitory control in gatekeeping paranormal beliefs and the underlying intuitive confusions.

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Svedholm, Annika M; Lindeman, Marjaana

2013-08-01

Intuitive thinking is known to predict paranormal beliefs, but the processes underlying this relationship, and the role of other thinking dispositions, have remained unclear. Study 1 showed that while an intuitive style increased and a reflective disposition counteracted paranormal beliefs, the ontological confusions suggested to underlie paranormal beliefs were predicted by individual differences in involuntary inhibitory processes. When the reasoning system was subjected to cognitive load, the ontological confusions increased, lost their relationship with paranormal beliefs, and their relationship with weaker inhibition was strongly accentuated. These findings support the argument that the confusions are mainly intuitive and that they therefore are most discernible under conditions in which inhibition is impaired, that is, when thinking is dominated by intuitive processing. Study 2 replicated the findings on intuitive and reflective thinking and paranormal beliefs. In Study 2, ontological confusions were also related to the same thinking styles as paranormal beliefs. The results support a model in which both intuitive and non-reflective thinking styles and involuntary inhibitory processes give way to embracing culturally acquired paranormal beliefs. ©2012 The British Psychological Society.

The effect of safety education based on Health Belief Model (HBM on the workers practice of Borujen industrial town in using the personal protection respiratory equipments

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A. Hasanzadeh

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Background and aims   Every year 50-158 million occupational diseases and job accidents occur in the world. Studies on the job injuries show that about 150000 injuries occur annually in  Iran. Unhealthy behaviors are important problems in public health. Education is one of the best ways to change unhealthy behaviors. Interventions based on model and theories have many  capacities for behavior change. Health Belief Model is one of the health education models that are  useful for behavior change. This research has been performed in order to assess the effect of health  education program based on health belief model (HBM to prevent occupational respiratory   diseases in workers.   Methods   Aquasi-experimental design was used for this interventional study, in which 88 of workers of Borujen industrial town participated, who were randomly assigned to experimental and control group. Data collecting tool were a self-administered questionnaire including 53 questions based on health belief model that was completed by the workers, in addition to the performance check list which was conducted by researcher via insensible controlling the workers' safety behaviour. Validity and reliability of the tools were examined prior to the study. Educational  intervention was conducted in the first stage following by the second data collection one month  later. The data of both experimental and control group were compared statistically before and  after the intervention.   Results   The results showed that the mean of the grade of all parts of health belief model  (HBM and performance mark of the workers about safety and use of personal respiratory  preventive equipment in experimental group after educational intervention compared to prior the  study and also compared to control group were significantly increased.   Conclusion   The results of this survey showed that by enhancement of health belief model (HBM components including

Causal beliefs about depression in different cultural groups – What do cognitive psychological theories of causal learning and reasoning predict?

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York eHagmayer

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Cognitive psychological research focusses on causal learning and reasoning while cognitive anthropological and social science research tend to focus on systems of beliefs. Our aim was to explore how these two types of research can inform each other. Cognitive psychological theories (causal model theory and causal Bayes nets were used to derive predictions for systems of causal beliefs. These predictions were then applied to lay theories of depression as a specific test case. A systematic literature review on causal beliefs about depression was conducted, including original, quantitative research. Thirty-six studies investigating 13 non-Western and 32 Western cultural groups were analysed by classifying assumed causes and preferred forms of treatment into common categories. Relations between beliefs and treatment preferences were assessed. Substantial agreement between cultural groups was found with respect to the impact of observable causes. Stress was generally rated as most important. Less agreement resulted for hidden, especially supernatural causes. Causal beliefs were clearly related to treatment preferences in Western groups, while evidence was mostly lacking for non-Western groups. Overall predictions were supported, but there were considerable methodological limitations. Pointers to future research, which may combine studies on causal beliefs with experimental paradigms on causal reasoning, are given.

Assessing the Multidimensional Relationship Between Medication Beliefs and Adherence in Older Adults With Hypertension Using Polynomial Regression.

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Dillon, Paul; Phillips, L Alison; Gallagher, Paul; Smith, Susan M; Stewart, Derek; Cousins, Gráinne

2018-02-05

The Necessity-Concerns Framework (NCF) is a multidimensional theory describing the relationship between patients' positive and negative evaluations of their medication which interplay to influence adherence. Most studies evaluating the NCF have failed to account for the multidimensional nature of the theory, placing the separate dimensions of medication "necessity beliefs" and "concerns" onto a single dimension (e.g., the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire-difference score model). To assess the multidimensional effect of patient medication beliefs (concerns and necessity beliefs) on medication adherence using polynomial regression with response surface analysis. Community-dwelling older adults >65 years (n = 1,211) presenting their own prescription for antihypertensive medication to 106 community pharmacies in the Republic of Ireland rated their concerns and necessity beliefs to antihypertensive medications at baseline and their adherence to antihypertensive medication at 12 months via structured telephone interview. Confirmatory polynomial regression found the difference-score model to be inaccurate; subsequent exploratory analysis identified a quadratic model to be the best-fitting polynomial model. Adherence was lowest among those with strong medication concerns and weak necessity beliefs, and adherence was greatest for those with weak concerns and strong necessity beliefs (slope β = -0.77, pnecessity beliefs had lower adherence than those with simultaneously low concerns and necessity beliefs (slope β = -0.36, p = .004; curvature β = -0.25, p = .003). The difference-score model fails to account for the potential nonreciprocal effects. Results extend evidence supporting the use of polynomial regression to assess the multidimensional effect of medication beliefs on adherence.

For Better or Worse? System-Justifying Beliefs in Sixth-Grade Predict Trajectories of Self-Esteem and Behavior Across Early Adolescence.

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Godfrey, Erin B; Santos, Carlos E; Burson, Esther

2017-06-19

Scholars call for more attention to how marginalization influences the development of low-income and racial/ethnic minority youth and emphasize the importance of youth's subjective perceptions of contexts. This study examines how beliefs about the fairness of the American system (system justification) in sixth grade influence trajectories of self-esteem and behavior among 257 early adolescents (average age 11.4) from a diverse, low-income, middle school in an urban southwestern city. System justification was associated with higher self-esteem, less delinquent behavior, and better classroom behavior in sixth grade but worse trajectories of these outcomes from sixth to eighth grade. These findings provide novel evidence that system-justifying beliefs undermine the well-being of marginalized youth and that early adolescence is a critical developmental period for this process. © 2017 The Authors. Child Development © 2017 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

A Bayesian Framework for False Belief Reasoning in Children: A Rational Integration of Theory-Theory and Simulation Theory.

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Asakura, Nobuhiko; Inui, Toshio

2016-01-01

Two apparently contrasting theories have been proposed to account for the development of children's theory of mind (ToM): theory-theory and simulation theory. We present a Bayesian framework that rationally integrates both theories for false belief reasoning. This framework exploits two internal models for predicting the belief states of others: one of self and one of others. These internal models are responsible for simulation-based and theory-based reasoning, respectively. The framework further takes into account empirical studies of a developmental ToM scale (e.g., Wellman and Liu, 2004): developmental progressions of various mental state understandings leading up to false belief understanding. By representing the internal models and their interactions as a causal Bayesian network, we formalize the model of children's false belief reasoning as probabilistic computations on the Bayesian network. This model probabilistically weighs and combines the two internal models and predicts children's false belief ability as a multiplicative effect of their early-developed abilities to understand the mental concepts of diverse beliefs and knowledge access. Specifically, the model predicts that children's proportion of correct responses on a false belief task can be closely approximated as the product of their proportions correct on the diverse belief and knowledge access tasks. To validate this prediction, we illustrate that our model provides good fits to a variety of ToM scale data for preschool children. We discuss the implications and extensions of our model for a deeper understanding of developmental progressions of children's ToM abilities.

O sistema de crenças do aprendiz brasileiro de inglês: fatores que influenciam na construção de crenças Belief systems of Brazilians learning English: factors that influence in the building of beliefs

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Fábio Madeira

2008-06-01

Full Text Available As crenças sobre aprendizagem de línguas têm sido tópico de interesse entre autores em pesquisadores na área de ensino de línguas. Este trabalho traz uma discussão sobre os fatores que atuam na formação das crenças de alunos e professores de Língua Inglesa. Inicialmente, comento sobre o interesse pela investigação do sistema de crenças do aprendiz de inglês como língua estrangeira. Mostro a influência que as crenças que compõem o imaginário dos professores e aprendizes exercem na maneira como abordam o processo de ensino/aprendizagem. Passo então para a discussão dos principais fatores responsáveis pela formação das crenças, entre os quais alguns estão intimamente relacionados ao contexto brasileiro de ensino/aprendizagem da língua inglesa.Language learning beliefs has been a frequently discussed topic of Applied Linguistics in the area of language learning and teaching. This paper discusses the beliefs learners and teachers of English as a second language hold about the learning/teaching process. I will start the discussion exposing the reason why more and more researchers are interested in investigating the beliefs system of those involved in the task of learning the English language to show the influence that the beliefs that compose this system have in the way they approach the process of learning a new language. I will next present and discuss some of the main factors that act in the construction of students and teachers´ beliefs and some of the beliefs they hold, not all of which beneficial for the good performance in that process.

The relationship between beliefs about emotions and quality of life in irritable bowel syndrome.

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Bowers, Hannah; Wroe, Abigail; Pincus, Tamar

2017-12-01

Suppression of undesirable emotions, as well as beliefs about the unacceptability of experiencing and expressing emotions, have both been shown to be related to poorer health-related outcomes in several clinical groups. Potential models through which these variables relate have yet to be tested in those with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and are therefore examined in the current article. Online questionnaires were administered to people with IBS (n = 84) to test a mediation model in which beliefs about the unacceptability of emotions are associated with greater emotional suppression, which in turn relates to increased affective distress and consequently poorer quality of life. An alternate model to test the direction of effect along with two further models using support-seeking as mediators of the same predictor and outcome were also tested. Emotional suppression and affective distress (in that particular order) mediate the relationship between beliefs about emotions and quality of life IBS. The models using support-seeking as mediators of the relationship between beliefs about emotions and the two outcomes were not supported. These findings suggest a role for emotional processing in medically unexplained symptoms and imply the need to address such beliefs about emotions in psychological therapies.

The SDT Model of Belief Bias: Complexity, Time, and Cognitive Ability Mediate the Effects of Believability

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Trippas, Dries; Handley, Simon J.; Verde, Michael F.

2013-01-01

When people evaluate conclusions, they are often influenced by prior beliefs. Prevalent theories claim that "belief bias" affects the quality of syllogistic reasoning. However, recent work by Dube, Rotello, and Heit (2010) has suggested that belief bias may be a simple response bias. In Experiment 1, receiver operating characteristic…

Belief Propagation Algorithm for Portfolio Optimization Problems.

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Shinzato, Takashi; Yasuda, Muneki

2015-01-01

The typical behavior of optimal solutions to portfolio optimization problems with absolute deviation and expected shortfall models using replica analysis was pioneeringly estimated by S. Ciliberti et al. [Eur. Phys. B. 57, 175 (2007)]; however, they have not yet developed an approximate derivation method for finding the optimal portfolio with respect to a given return set. In this study, an approximation algorithm based on belief propagation for the portfolio optimization problem is presented using the Bethe free energy formalism, and the consistency of the numerical experimental results of the proposed algorithm with those of replica analysis is confirmed. Furthermore, the conjecture of H. Konno and H. Yamazaki, that the optimal solutions with the absolute deviation model and with the mean-variance model have the same typical behavior, is verified using replica analysis and the belief propagation algorithm.

Belief Propagation Algorithm for Portfolio Optimization Problems.

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Takashi Shinzato

Full Text Available The typical behavior of optimal solutions to portfolio optimization problems with absolute deviation and expected shortfall models using replica analysis was pioneeringly estimated by S. Ciliberti et al. [Eur. Phys. B. 57, 175 (2007]; however, they have not yet developed an approximate derivation method for finding the optimal portfolio with respect to a given return set. In this study, an approximation algorithm based on belief propagation for the portfolio optimization problem is presented using the Bethe free energy formalism, and the consistency of the numerical experimental results of the proposed algorithm with those of replica analysis is confirmed. Furthermore, the conjecture of H. Konno and H. Yamazaki, that the optimal solutions with the absolute deviation model and with the mean-variance model have the same typical behavior, is verified using replica analysis and the belief propagation algorithm.

Development of a definition, classification system, and model for cultural geology

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Mitchell, Lloyd W., III

study concludes that cultural geology can be introduced as a merged discipline by using a three-foci framework consisting of a definition, classification system, and model. Additionally, this study reveals that cultural beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors, can be incorporated into a geology course during the curriculum development process, using an approach known as 'learner-centered'. This study further concludes that cultural beliefs, derived from class members, are an important source of curriculum materials.

Belief Change in Reasoning Agents

OpenAIRE

Jin, Yi

2007-01-01

The capability of changing beliefs upon new information in a rational and efficient way is crucial for an intelligent agent. Belief change therefore is one of the central research fields in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for over two decades. In the AI literature, two different kinds of belief change operations have been intensively investigated: belief update, which deal with situations where the new information describes changes of the world; and belief revision, which assumes the world is st...

Illness causal beliefs in Turkish immigrants

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Klimidis Steven

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background People hold a wide variety of beliefs concerning the causes of illness. Such beliefs vary across cultures and, among immigrants, may be influenced by many factors, including level of acculturation, gender, level of education, and experience of illness and treatment. This study examines illness causal beliefs in Turkish-immigrants in Australia. Methods Causal beliefs about somatic and mental illness were examined in a sample of 444 members of the Turkish population of Melbourne. The socio-demographic characteristics of the sample were broadly similar to those of the Melbourne Turkish community. Five issues were examined: the structure of causal beliefs; the relative frequency of natural, supernatural and metaphysical beliefs; ascription of somatic, mental, or both somatic and mental conditions to the various causes; the correlations of belief types with socio-demographic, modernizing and acculturation variables; and the relationship between causal beliefs and current illness. Results Principal components analysis revealed two broad factors, accounting for 58 percent of the variation in scores on illness belief scales, distinctly interpretable as natural and supernatural beliefs. Second, beliefs in natural causes were more frequent than beliefs in supernatural causes. Third, some causal beliefs were commonly linked to both somatic and mental conditions while others were regarded as more specific to either somatic or mental disorders. Last, there was a range of correlations between endorsement of belief types and factors defining heterogeneity within the community, including with demographic factors, indicators of modernizing and acculturative processes, and the current presence of illness. Conclusion Results supported the classification of causal beliefs proposed by Murdock, Wilson & Frederick, with a division into natural and supernatural causes. While belief in natural causes is more common, belief in supernatural causes

Illness causal beliefs in Turkish immigrants.

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Minas, Harry; Klimidis, Steven; Tuncer, Can

2007-07-24

People hold a wide variety of beliefs concerning the causes of illness. Such beliefs vary across cultures and, among immigrants, may be influenced by many factors, including level of acculturation, gender, level of education, and experience of illness and treatment. This study examines illness causal beliefs in Turkish-immigrants in Australia. Causal beliefs about somatic and mental illness were examined in a sample of 444 members of the Turkish population of Melbourne. The socio-demographic characteristics of the sample were broadly similar to those of the Melbourne Turkish community. Five issues were examined: the structure of causal beliefs; the relative frequency of natural, supernatural and metaphysical beliefs; ascription of somatic, mental, or both somatic and mental conditions to the various causes; the correlations of belief types with socio-demographic, modernizing and acculturation variables; and the relationship between causal beliefs and current illness. Principal components analysis revealed two broad factors, accounting for 58 percent of the variation in scores on illness belief scales, distinctly interpretable as natural and supernatural beliefs. Second, beliefs in natural causes were more frequent than beliefs in supernatural causes. Third, some causal beliefs were commonly linked to both somatic and mental conditions while others were regarded as more specific to either somatic or mental disorders. Last, there was a range of correlations between endorsement of belief types and factors defining heterogeneity within the community, including with demographic factors, indicators of modernizing and acculturative processes, and the current presence of illness. Results supported the classification of causal beliefs proposed by Murdock, Wilson & Frederick, with a division into natural and supernatural causes. While belief in natural causes is more common, belief in supernatural causes persists despite modernizing and acculturative influences. Different

A study on students' beliefs about nuclear power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Savellano, R.A.; Bulaon, C.A.; Leonin, T.V. Jr.; Caccam, G.S.

1981-05-01

Factor analysis of the students' beliefs about the use of nuclear energy yielded four factors: psychological/environmental risks, technological benefits, economic benefits and sociopolitical risks. The five items loading highest on each factor served as the basis for specifying dimensions of perceptions of nuclear power. The pattern of statistical relationship between each dimension was identified. The overall attitude of the respondents towards nuclear power was determined using three attitude measures: the Fishbein model, Osgood's semantic differential technique, and the direct response to favourability/unfavourability scale. The attitude scores obtained were correlated with the different factor-level scores to determine the contribution of each belief dimension to attitude. Differences in beliefs held by the PROS and CON the use of nuclear energy groups are also presented here. Responses to the importance scale showed that the belief statements or attributes included in the questionnaire used covered the more important issues raised in the present-day nuclear controversy. (author)

Extreme Overvalued Beliefs: How Violent Extremist Beliefs Become “Normalized”

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Tahir Rahman

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Extreme overvalued beliefs (EOB are rigidly held, non-deusional beliefs that are the motive behind most acts of terrorism and mass shootings. EOBs are differentiated from delusions and obsessions. The concept of an overvalued idea was first described by Wernicke and later applied to terrorism by McHugh. Our group of forensic psychiatrists (Rahman, Resnick, Harry refined the definition as an aid in the differential diagnosis seen in acts of violence. The form and content of EOBs is discussed as well as group effects, conformity, and obedience to authority. Religious cults such as The People’s Temple, Heaven’s Gate, Aum Shinrikyo, and Islamic State (ISIS and conspiracy beliefs such as assassinations, moon-hoax, and vaccine-induced autism beliefs are discussed using this construct. Finally, some concluding thoughts on countering violent extremism, including its online presence is discussed utilizing information learned from online eating disorders and consumer experience.

Extreme Overvalued Beliefs: How Violent Extremist Beliefs Become “Normalized”

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Rahman, Tahir

2018-01-01

Extreme overvalued beliefs (EOB) are rigidly held, non-deusional beliefs that are the motive behind most acts of terrorism and mass shootings. EOBs are differentiated from delusions and obsessions. The concept of an overvalued idea was first described by Wernicke and later applied to terrorism by McHugh. Our group of forensic psychiatrists (Rahman, Resnick, Harry) refined the definition as an aid in the differential diagnosis seen in acts of violence. The form and content of EOBs is discussed as well as group effects, conformity, and obedience to authority. Religious cults such as The People’s Temple, Heaven’s Gate, Aum Shinrikyo, and Islamic State (ISIS) and conspiracy beliefs such as assassinations, moon-hoax, and vaccine-induced autism beliefs are discussed using this construct. Finally, some concluding thoughts on countering violent extremism, including its online presence is discussed utilizing information learned from online eating disorders and consumer experience. PMID:29329259

Cultural Beliefs about Disability in Practice: Experiences at a Special School in Tanzania

Science.gov (United States)

Stone-MacDonald, Angi

2012-01-01

This article examines cultural beliefs and values about disability in one Tanzanian community and the influence of those beliefs on a school for children with disabilities. The larger ethnographic study examined the role of beliefs in the community and the development of the school curriculum. This study used the models of disability as a…

Witchcraft Beliefs and Witch Hunts

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koning, N.B.J.

2013-01-01

This paper proposes an interdisciplinary explanation of the cross-cultural similarities and evolutionary patterns of witchcraft beliefs. It argues that human social dilemmas have led to the evolution of a fear system that is sensitive to signs of deceit and envy. This was adapted in the evolutionary

Longitudinal Modeling of Adolescent Normative Beliefs and Substance Initiation

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Lillehoj, Catherine J.; Trudeau, Linda; Spoth, Richard

2005-01-01

Pstudy investigated the effects of baseline levels of academic achievement and longitudinal trends in normative beliefs on adolescent substance initiation across a 42-month time period. Participants were 272 rural adolescents who were an average of 12.3 years old at the baseline assessment. Academic achievement positively predicted the intercept…

You Are What You Read: The Belief Systems of Cyber-Bystanders on Social Networking Sites.

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Leung, Angel N M; Wong, Natalie; Farver, JoAnn M

2018-01-01

The present study tested how exposure to two types of responses to a hypothetical simulated Facebook setting influenced cyber-bystanders' perceived control and normative beliefs using a 4 cyberbully-victim group (pure cyberbullies, non-involved, pure cyberbullied victims, and cyberbullied-victims) × 2 condition (offend vs. defend) experimental design. 203 Hong Kong Chinese secondary school and university students (132 females, 71 males; 12 to 28; M = 16.70; SD = 3.03 years old) were randomly assigned into one of two conditions. Results showed that participants' involvement in cyberbullying significantly related to their control beliefs about bully and victim assisting behaviors, while exposure to the two different conditions (offend vs. defend comments) was related to both their control and normative beliefs. In general, the defend condition promoted higher control beliefs to help the victims and promoted higher normative beliefs to help the victims. Regardless of their past involvement in cyberbullying and exposure to offend vs. defend conditions, both cyber-bullies and cyber-victims were more inclined to demonstrate normative beliefs to help victims than to assist bullies. These results have implications for examining environmental influences in predicting bystander behaviors in cyberbullying contexts, and for creating a positive environment to motivate adolescents to become "upstanders" in educational programs to combat cyberbullying.

You Are What You Read: The Belief Systems of Cyber-Bystanders on Social Networking Sites

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Angel N. M. Leung

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The present study tested how exposure to two types of responses to a hypothetical simulated Facebook setting influenced cyber-bystanders’ perceived control and normative beliefs using a 4 cyberbully-victim group (pure cyberbullies, non-involved, pure cyberbullied victims, and cyberbullied-victims × 2 condition (offend vs. defend experimental design. 203 Hong Kong Chinese secondary school and university students (132 females, 71 males; 12 to 28; M = 16.70; SD = 3.03 years old were randomly assigned into one of two conditions. Results showed that participants’ involvement in cyberbullying significantly related to their control beliefs about bully and victim assisting behaviors, while exposure to the two different conditions (offend vs. defend comments was related to both their control and normative beliefs. In general, the defend condition promoted higher control beliefs to help the victims and promoted higher normative beliefs to help the victims. Regardless of their past involvement in cyberbullying and exposure to offend vs. defend conditions, both cyber-bullies and cyber-victims were more inclined to demonstrate normative beliefs to help victims than to assist bullies. These results have implications for examining environmental influences in predicting bystander behaviors in cyberbullying contexts, and for creating a positive environment to motivate adolescents to become “upstanders” in educational programs to combat cyberbullying.

You Are What You Read: The Belief Systems of Cyber-Bystanders on Social Networking Sites

Science.gov (United States)

Leung, Angel N. M.; Wong, Natalie; Farver, JoAnn M.

2018-01-01

The present study tested how exposure to two types of responses to a hypothetical simulated Facebook setting influenced cyber-bystanders’ perceived control and normative beliefs using a 4 cyberbully-victim group (pure cyberbullies, non-involved, pure cyberbullied victims, and cyberbullied-victims) × 2 condition (offend vs. defend) experimental design. 203 Hong Kong Chinese secondary school and university students (132 females, 71 males; 12 to 28; M = 16.70; SD = 3.03 years old) were randomly assigned into one of two conditions. Results showed that participants’ involvement in cyberbullying significantly related to their control beliefs about bully and victim assisting behaviors, while exposure to the two different conditions (offend vs. defend comments) was related to both their control and normative beliefs. In general, the defend condition promoted higher control beliefs to help the victims and promoted higher normative beliefs to help the victims. Regardless of their past involvement in cyberbullying and exposure to offend vs. defend conditions, both cyber-bullies and cyber-victims were more inclined to demonstrate normative beliefs to help victims than to assist bullies. These results have implications for examining environmental influences in predicting bystander behaviors in cyberbullying contexts, and for creating a positive environment to motivate adolescents to become “upstanders” in educational programs to combat cyberbullying. PMID:29740362

Children's informal reasoning skills and epistemological beliefs within the family : the role of parenting practices, parental epistemological beliefs and family communication patterns

OpenAIRE

Chng, Grace Shiao En

2012-01-01

Objectives: The current work formulated theoretical models for empirical testing based on three objectives: 1) to explore the associations of familial variables, specifically with regards to parental socialization, with two cognitive aspects of good thinking in children - their informal reasoning skills and their epistemological beliefs, 2) to test the relation between these two competencies as epistemological beliefs have been found to enhance or constrain reasoning, and 3) to investigate...

THE EFFECT OF FAMILY THERAPY WITH SPIRITUAL APPROACH TOWARD FAMILY’S HEALTH BELIEF MODEL IN TAKING CARE OF PATIENT WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA

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Ah. Yusuf

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Schizophrenia is the problem with kognitive, mal-adaptive thought and behavior. Family who have a member with mental disorder can experience serious conflict, become an objective and subjective burden, blame each other, get involved in hostility among family members. Various negative effect faced by family can caused by wrong family’s health belief model about Schizophrenia, hence the failure on choosing the treatment and taking care of patient at home. Someone with severe stress will seek comfort and strength from God. But so far, the most effective spiritual models to improve the health belief model of the family in caring for patients with schizophrenia has not been found. Method: Design used in this study was experimental (pre post test control group design. The population was every family of patient with mental disorder in Menur Mental Hospital along the year of 2010, chosen by alocation simple random. Samples were 13 persons in each treatment and control group. The intervention was given in 60–120 minute in 8 times meeting with average interval about 1 week. Data analysis was done using paired t-test and independent t-test. Results: There were significant changes in total of family’s health belief model (p=0,004, there was significantly change in aspects of (1 perceptions about bene fi ts (p=0,009, (2 perception about barriers (p=0,035 and perception about self efficacy (p=0,002. There were no significant changing in perception about susceptibility and severity (p=0,052. Discussion: Family believes that all events experienced by the patient and the family is God's will, hoping the patient can be more independent, and believe mental disorders can be changed for the better. The conclusion of this study is that family therapy with a spiritual approach can improve the health belief model of the family in caring for patients with mental disorders.

Classical Belief Conditioning and its Generalization to DSm Theory

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Daniel, Milan

2008-01-01

Roč. 2, č. 4 (2008), s. 267-279 ISSN 1752-8917 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR 1ET100300419 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10300504 Keywords : belief functions * Dempster-Shafer theory * belief conditioning * DSm theory * overlapping elements * hyper-power set * DSm model Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics http://www.worldacademicunion.com/journal/jus/jusVol02No4paper04.pdf

Free will and paranormal beliefs.

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Mogi, Ken

2014-01-01

Free will is one of the fundamental aspects of human cognition. In the context of cognitive neuroscience, various experiments on time perception, sensorimotor coordination, and agency suggest the possibility that it is a robust illusion (a feeling independent of actual causal relationship with actions) constructed by neural mechanisms. Humans are known to suffer from various cognitive biases and failures, and the sense of free will might be one of them. Here I report a positive correlation between the belief in free will and paranormal beliefs (UFO, reincarnation, astrology, and psi). Web questionnaires involving 2076 subjects (978 males, 1087 females, and 11 other genders) were conducted, which revealed significant positive correlations between belief in free will (theory and practice) and paranormal beliefs. There was no significant correlation between belief in free will and knowledge in paranormal phenomena. Paranormal belief scores for females were significantly higher than those for males, with corresponding significant (albeit weaker) difference in belief in free will. These results are consistent with the view that free will is an illusion which shares common cognitive elements with paranormal beliefs.

Free will and paranormal beliefs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ken eMogi

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Free will is one of the fundamental aspects of human cognition. In the context of cognitive neuroscience, various experiments on time perception, sensorimotor coordination, and agency suggest the possibility that it is a robust illusion (a feeling independent of actual causal relationship with actions constructed by neural mechanisms. Humans are known to suffer from various cognitive biases and failures, and the sense of free will might be one of them. Here I report a positive correlation between the belief in free will and paranormal beliefs (UFO, reincarnation, astrology, and psi. Web questionnaires involving 2076 subjects (978 males, 1087 females, and 11 other genders were conducted, which revealed significant positive correlations between belief in free will (theory and practice and paranormal beliefs. There was no significant correlation between belief in free will and knowledge in paranormal phenomena. Paranormal belief scores for females were significantly higher than those for males, with corresponding significant (albeit weaker difference in belief in free will. These results are consistent with the view that free will is an illusion which shares common cognitive elements with paranormal beliefs.

Free will and paranormal beliefs

Science.gov (United States)

Mogi, Ken

2014-01-01

Free will is one of the fundamental aspects of human cognition. In the context of cognitive neuroscience, various experiments on time perception, sensorimotor coordination, and agency suggest the possibility that it is a robust illusion (a feeling independent of actual causal relationship with actions) constructed by neural mechanisms. Humans are known to suffer from various cognitive biases and failures, and the sense of free will might be one of them. Here I report a positive correlation between the belief in free will and paranormal beliefs (UFO, reincarnation, astrology, and psi). Web questionnaires involving 2076 subjects (978 males, 1087 females, and 11 other genders) were conducted, which revealed significant positive correlations between belief in free will (theory and practice) and paranormal beliefs. There was no significant correlation between belief in free will and knowledge in paranormal phenomena. Paranormal belief scores for females were significantly higher than those for males, with corresponding significant (albeit weaker) difference in belief in free will. These results are consistent with the view that free will is an illusion which shares common cognitive elements with paranormal beliefs. PMID:24765084

Using Co-Occurrence to Evaluate Belief Coherence in a Large Non Clinical Sample

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Pechey, Rachel; Halligan, Peter

2012-01-01

Much of the recent neuropsychological literature on false beliefs (delusions) has tended to focus on individual or single beliefs, with few studies actually investigating the relationship or co-occurrence between different types of co-existing beliefs. Quine and Ullian proposed the hypothesis that our beliefs form an interconnected web in which the beliefs that make up that system must somehow “cohere” with one another and avoid cognitive dissonance. As such beliefs are unlikely to be encapsulated (i.e., exist in isolation from other beliefs). The aim of this preliminary study was to empirically evaluate the probability of belief co-occurrence as one indicator of coherence in a large sample of subjects involving three different thematic sets of beliefs (delusion-like, paranormal & religious, and societal/cultural). Results showed that the degree of belief co-endorsement between beliefs within thematic groupings was greater than random occurrence, lending support to Quine and Ullian’s coherentist account. Some associations, however, were relatively weak, providing for well-established examples of cognitive dissonance. PMID:23155383

Using co-occurrence to evaluate belief coherence in a large non clinical sample.

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Rachel Pechey

Full Text Available Much of the recent neuropsychological literature on false beliefs (delusions has tended to focus on individual or single beliefs, with few studies actually investigating the relationship or co-occurrence between different types of co-existing beliefs. Quine and Ullian proposed the hypothesis that our beliefs form an interconnected web in which the beliefs that make up that system must somehow "cohere" with one another and avoid cognitive dissonance. As such beliefs are unlikely to be encapsulated (i.e., exist in isolation from other beliefs. The aim of this preliminary study was to empirically evaluate the probability of belief co-occurrence as one indicator of coherence in a large sample of subjects involving three different thematic sets of beliefs (delusion-like, paranormal & religious, and societal/cultural. Results showed that the degree of belief co-endorsement between beliefs within thematic groupings was greater than random occurrence, lending support to Quine and Ullian's coherentist account. Some associations, however, were relatively weak, providing for well-established examples of cognitive dissonance.

Five-Year-Olds’ Systematic Errors in Second-Order False Belief Tasks Are Due to First-Order Theory of Mind Strategy Selection: A Computational Modeling Study

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Arslan, Burcu; Taatgen, Niels A.; Verbrugge, Rineke

2017-01-01

The focus of studies on second-order false belief reasoning generally was on investigating the roles of executive functions and language with correlational studies. Different from those studies, we focus on the question how 5-year-olds select and revise reasoning strategies in second-order false belief tasks by constructing two computational cognitive models of this process: an instance-based learning model and a reinforcement learning model. Unlike the reinforcement learning model, the instance-based learning model predicted that children who fail second-order false belief tasks would give answers based on first-order theory of mind (ToM) reasoning as opposed to zero-order reasoning. This prediction was confirmed with an empirical study that we conducted with 72 5- to 6-year-old children. The results showed that 17% of the answers were correct and 83% of the answers were wrong. In line with our prediction, 65% of the wrong answers were based on a first-order ToM strategy, while only 29% of them were based on a zero-order strategy (the remaining 6% of subjects did not provide any answer). Based on our instance-based learning model, we propose that when children get feedback “Wrong,” they explicitly revise their strategy to a higher level instead of implicitly selecting one of the available ToM strategies. Moreover, we predict that children’s failures are due to lack of experience and that with exposure to second-order false belief reasoning, children can revise their wrong first-order reasoning strategy to a correct second-order reasoning strategy. PMID:28293206

Five-Year-Olds' Systematic Errors in Second-Order False Belief Tasks Are Due to First-Order Theory of Mind Strategy Selection: A Computational Modeling Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Arslan, Burcu; Taatgen, Niels A; Verbrugge, Rineke

2017-01-01

The focus of studies on second-order false belief reasoning generally was on investigating the roles of executive functions and language with correlational studies. Different from those studies, we focus on the question how 5-year-olds select and revise reasoning strategies in second-order false belief tasks by constructing two computational cognitive models of this process: an instance-based learning model and a reinforcement learning model. Unlike the reinforcement learning model, the instance-based learning model predicted that children who fail second-order false belief tasks would give answers based on first-order theory of mind (ToM) reasoning as opposed to zero-order reasoning. This prediction was confirmed with an empirical study that we conducted with 72 5- to 6-year-old children. The results showed that 17% of the answers were correct and 83% of the answers were wrong. In line with our prediction, 65% of the wrong answers were based on a first-order ToM strategy, while only 29% of them were based on a zero-order strategy (the remaining 6% of subjects did not provide any answer). Based on our instance-based learning model, we propose that when children get feedback "Wrong," they explicitly revise their strategy to a higher level instead of implicitly selecting one of the available ToM strategies. Moreover, we predict that children's failures are due to lack of experience and that with exposure to second-order false belief reasoning, children can revise their wrong first-order reasoning strategy to a correct second-order reasoning strategy.

Measuring Cross-Cultural Supernatural Beliefs with Self- and Peer-Reports.

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Bluemke, Matthias; Jong, Jonathan; Grevenstein, Dennis; Mikloušić, Igor; Halberstadt, Jamin

2016-01-01

Despite claims about the universality of religious belief, whether religiosity scales have the same meaning when administered inter-subjectively-or translated and applied cross-culturally-is currently unknown. Using the recent "Supernatural Belief Scale" (SBS), we present a primer on how to verify the strong assumptions of measurement invariance required in research on religion. A comparison of two independent samples, Croatians and New Zealanders, showed that, despite a sophisticated psychometric model, measurement invariance could be demonstrated for the SBS except for two noninvariant intercepts. We present a new approach for inspecting measurement invariance across self- and peer-reports as two dependent samples. Although supernatural beliefs may be hard to observe in others, the measurement model was fully invariant for Croatians and their nominated peers. The results not only establish, for the first time, a valid measure of religious supernatural belief across two groups of different language and culture, but also demonstrate a general invariance test for distinguishable dyad members nested within the same targets. More effort needs to be made to design and validate cross-culturally applicable measures of religiosity.

Measuring Cross-Cultural Supernatural Beliefs with Self- and Peer-Reports

Science.gov (United States)

Bluemke, Matthias; Jong, Jonathan; Grevenstein, Dennis; Mikloušić, Igor; Halberstadt, Jamin

2016-01-01

Despite claims about the universality of religious belief, whether religiosity scales have the same meaning when administered inter-subjectively–or translated and applied cross-culturally–is currently unknown. Using the recent “Supernatural Belief Scale” (SBS), we present a primer on how to verify the strong assumptions of measurement invariance required in research on religion. A comparison of two independent samples, Croatians and New Zealanders, showed that, despite a sophisticated psychometric model, measurement invariance could be demonstrated for the SBS except for two noninvariant intercepts. We present a new approach for inspecting measurement invariance across self- and peer-reports as two dependent samples. Although supernatural beliefs may be hard to observe in others, the measurement model was fully invariant for Croatians and their nominated peers. The results not only establish, for the first time, a valid measure of religious supernatural belief across two groups of different language and culture, but also demonstrate a general invariance test for distinguishable dyad members nested within the same targets. More effort needs to be made to design and validate cross-culturally applicable measures of religiosity. PMID:27760206

Measuring Cross-Cultural Supernatural Beliefs with Self- and Peer-Reports.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthias Bluemke

Full Text Available Despite claims about the universality of religious belief, whether religiosity scales have the same meaning when administered inter-subjectively-or translated and applied cross-culturally-is currently unknown. Using the recent "Supernatural Belief Scale" (SBS, we present a primer on how to verify the strong assumptions of measurement invariance required in research on religion. A comparison of two independent samples, Croatians and New Zealanders, showed that, despite a sophisticated psychometric model, measurement invariance could be demonstrated for the SBS except for two noninvariant intercepts. We present a new approach for inspecting measurement invariance across self- and peer-reports as two dependent samples. Although supernatural beliefs may be hard to observe in others, the measurement model was fully invariant for Croatians and their nominated peers. The results not only establish, for the first time, a valid measure of religious supernatural belief across two groups of different language and culture, but also demonstrate a general invariance test for distinguishable dyad members nested within the same targets. More effort needs to be made to design and validate cross-culturally applicable measures of religiosity.

Part-time farmers and accidents with agricultural machinery: a moderated mediated model on the role played by frequency of use and unsafe beliefs.

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Caffaro, Federica; Roccato, Michele; Micheletti Cremasco, Margherita; Cavallo, Eugenio

2018-01-25

We aimed at testing a model of the direct and indirect effects of being a part-time farmer on the probability of being involved in an agricultural machinery-related accident, considering the role played by unsafe beliefs and the frequency of use of machinery. Two-hundred and fifty-two Italian men, regular users of agricultural machinery (age: Mean = 45.1 years, standard Deviation = 17.5), were administered a paper-and-pencil questionnaire addressing their relation with work, unsafe beliefs, and previous experience of machinery-related accidents. Being a part-time farmer showed a positive association with unsafe beliefs only among occasional machinery users. Unsafe beliefs in turn showed a positive association with accidents. The study gave a novel contribution to the knowledge of the chain of events connecting part-time farmers with machinery-related accidents. Preventive training interventions targeting part-timer farmers using agricultural machinery just occasionally should be developed.

Cultural evolution of a belief controlling human mate choice: dynamic modeling of the hinoeuma superstition in Japan.

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Tanaka, Cinthia Marie; Iwasa, Yoh

2012-09-21

We develop a simple cultural dynamics model to dicuss the spread of the hinoeuma superstition in Japan. A large drop in the number of newborn babies observed in 1966 was attributed mainly to parents' avoiding having a child born in a hinoeuma year. Presumably, Japanese parents were afraid that a daughter born in 1966 (a hinoeuma year) might later have difficulty finding a mate. We construct mathematical models to examine whether the hinoeuma superstition would likely become extinct or be stably maintained in the population. We classify members of a population according to whether they believed the hinoeuma superstition (believer or nonbeliever), their gender (male or female), and their year of birth (born in a hinoeuma year or not). We compare several cases that differ according to (1) whether the belief in the superstition was transmitted to children by matrilineal, patrilineal, or Mendelian inheritance; (2) which parent controlled the timing of pregnancy and childbirth (maternal or paternal birth control); and (3) the probability of birth control failure. Our results show that the hinoeuma superstition is likely to spread if the mother has a strong influence on birth control and on the belief of their children. In contrast, if birth control is paternal and the belief is passed down from father to child, the hinoeuma superstition is likely to become extinct. In between these extremes, whether the superstition becomes extinct or fixed in the population depends on the initial frequency of believers in the population. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Impact of a Practice-Teaching Professional Development Model on Teachers' Inquiry Instruction and Inquiry Efficacy Beliefs

Science.gov (United States)

Lotter, Christine R.; Thompson, Stephen; Dickenson, Tammiee S.; Smiley, Whitney F.; Blue, Genine; Rea, Mary

2018-01-01

This study examined changes in middle school teachers' beliefs about inquiry, implementation of inquiry practices, and self-efficacy to teach science through inquiry after participating in a year-long professional development program. The professional development model design was based on Bandura's (1986) social cognitive theory of learning and…

The "Health Belief Model" Applied to Two Preventive Health Behaviors Among Women from a Rural Pennsylvania County. AE & RS 115.

Science.gov (United States)

Hazen, Mary E.

In order to test the usefulnes of the Health Belief Model (a model designed to measure health practices, attitudes, and knowledge), a survey of Potter County, Pennsylvania was conducted, and 283 responses from adult females without chronic illnesses were analyzed. The dependent variables employed were regulating diet and getting regular exercise.…

Teacher Justice and Students’ Class Identification: Belief in a Just World and Teacher–Student Relationship as Mediators

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Ronghuan Jiang

2018-05-01

Full Text Available For school-age adolescents, teacher justice plays an important role in their learning and social outcomes. The present study examined the relation between teacher justice and students’ class identification in 1735 Chinese school-age adolescents by considering belief in a just world (BJW and teacher–student relationship as mediators. Structure equation modeling (SEM was used to reveal the direct and indirect effects. The analyses showed that all the direct and indirect effects were significant. These findings indicated that teacher justice had a positive effect on students’ class identification. In addition, teacher justice impacted students’ class identification through students’ just-world belief and teacher–student relationships. These results suggested that for adolescents, teacher justice played an important role in shaping their just-world belief system and their interpersonal relationships with teachers, which in turn affected their sense of belonging and values in relation to their class. Thus, it is important for teachers to be aware that their injustice may negatively impact their relationships with students, students’ belief systems, and their psychological engagement at school. There is a need to develop teacher-training programs to help teachers to establish classroom reward-punishment systems with the consideration of social justice, to communicate with students through an unbiased approach, and to increase student participation in the important decision making of the whole class.

Teacher Justice and Students’ Class Identification: Belief in a Just World and Teacher–Student Relationship as Mediators

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Jiang, Ronghuan; Liu, Ru-De; Ding, Yi; Zhen, Rui; Sun, Yan; Fu, Xinchen

2018-01-01

For school-age adolescents, teacher justice plays an important role in their learning and social outcomes. The present study examined the relation between teacher justice and students’ class identification in 1735 Chinese school-age adolescents by considering belief in a just world (BJW) and teacher–student relationship as mediators. Structure equation modeling (SEM) was used to reveal the direct and indirect effects. The analyses showed that all the direct and indirect effects were significant. These findings indicated that teacher justice had a positive effect on students’ class identification. In addition, teacher justice impacted students’ class identification through students’ just-world belief and teacher–student relationships. These results suggested that for adolescents, teacher justice played an important role in shaping their just-world belief system and their interpersonal relationships with teachers, which in turn affected their sense of belonging and values in relation to their class. Thus, it is important for teachers to be aware that their injustice may negatively impact their relationships with students, students’ belief systems, and their psychological engagement at school. There is a need to develop teacher-training programs to help teachers to establish classroom reward-punishment systems with the consideration of social justice, to communicate with students through an unbiased approach, and to increase student participation in the important decision making of the whole class. PMID:29875726

Paranormal beliefs and religiosity: Chinese version of the Revised Paranormal Belief Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Shiah, Yung-Jong; Tam, Wai-Cheong Carl; Wu, Ming-Hsun; Chang, Frances

2010-10-01

This paper reports an initial study investigating the relations of paranormal beliefs with religiosity in a Chinese sample, as well as the development of a Chinese version of the Revised Paranormal Belief Scale and a test of its psychometric properties with 310 college students (5.5% Christians, 21.3% Buddhists, 61% believers in traditional Chinese religions, and 12% atheists). The reliability and validity of the Chinese version were satisfactory. In general, traditional Chinese religious believers had higher scores on paranormal belief than did Christians and atheists, and the mean total score of the Chinese participants was higher than previously reported in a Western sample. It was concluded that the greater involvement of practitioners of traditional Chinese religions in activities emphasizing paranormal experiences might contribute to their greater paranormal belief, especially as compared to the minority Christian group. The results are consistent with the idea that Christianity may offer the least support for paranormal belief.

Determinants of puberty health among female adolescents residing in boarding welfare centers in Tehran: An application of health belief model.

Science.gov (United States)

Shirzadi, Shayesteh; Asghari Jafarabadi, Mohammad; Nadrian, Haidar; Mahmoodi, Hassan

2016-01-01

Background: Adolescence is a critical stage of growth and development. That is associated with changes in body shape and appearance. Issues such as irregular menstrual periods, amenorrhea, and menstrual cycle are major issues in women's health. The purpose of this study was to examine the determinants of physical puberty health based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) among female adolescents. Methods: This analytical cross sectional study was conducted in welfare boarding centers in Tehran, Iran. Data were collected in 2011 by a structured and valid questionnaire. Total 61 female adolescents (age range: 12-19 yrs) participated in this study from welfare boarding centers in Iran, Tehran, by using convenience sampling method. The questionnaire consisted of demographic characteristics, health belief model constructs and physical puberty health behaviors gathered by using interview. A series of univariate general linear models were used to assess the relationship between puberty health and health belief model constructs. Results: According to the results of this study there were positive significant relationships between perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, cues to action and increased puberty health in female adolescents (p<0.05). Perceived benefits, perceived barriers and cues to action were predictors of physical puberty health behaviors. Conclusion: Based on the results of the study to improve the physical Puberty health behaviors of female adolescents should make them aware of the benefits of health behaviors, and remove or reform the perceived barriers of health behaviors. Also, the appropriate information resources should be introduced for obtaining information about puberty health.

PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS’ BELIEFS ABOUT TEACHING ENGLISH TO PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN

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Tripti K. Karekatti

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper is a part of an ongoing doctoral research on ‘Teacher Talk in ESL Classrooms’. The idea for this was gained through the hypothesis that teachers’ beliefs about English teaching may also mould their talk. The researcher intends here to analyse and comment on teachers’ English teaching beliefs. It is generally accepted that teaching is greatly affected by the belief systems of its practitioners-teachers. Teachers’ beliefs influence their consciousness, teaching attitude, teaching methods and teaching policies, and finally, learners’ development. Horwitz (1987 also states rightly that the formation of teachers’ educational beliefs in language teaching/ learning process will influence, though indirectly, on forming effective teaching methods and will bring about the improvement of learners’ language learning abilities. In Indian context, there is dearth of research evaluating teachers’ beliefs about English teaching. This study explores teachers’ beliefs regarding teaching English to children and tries to explore whether medium of instruction makes any difference in their beliefs. It also intends to determine what similar and different beliefs might be held by in-service teachers from two different mediums. A total of 100 pre-service teachers are the subjects of this study. In order to recognize these teachers’ specific beliefs in a more systematic way, a research instrument, The Questionnaire of Primary School Pre-service English Teachers’ Teaching Beliefs was developed. Almost all of these pre-service teachers expected to have training regarding how to make their talk effective and relevant in classrooms.

Applying the Health Belief Model to college students' health behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Hak-Seon; Ahn, Joo

2012-01-01

The purpose of this research was to investigate how university students' nutrition beliefs influence their health behavioral intention. This study used an online survey engine (Qulatrics.com) to collect data from college students. Out of 253 questionnaires collected, 251 questionnaires (99.2%) were used for the statistical analysis. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) revealed that six dimensions, "Nutrition Confidence," "Susceptibility," "Severity," "Barrier," "Benefit," "Behavioral Intention to Eat Healthy Food," and "Behavioral Intention to do Physical Activity," had construct validity; Cronbach's alpha coefficient and composite reliabilities were tested for item reliability. The results validate that objective nutrition knowledge was a good predictor of college students' nutrition confidence. The results also clearly showed that two direct measures were significant predictors of behavioral intentions as hypothesized. Perceived benefit of eating healthy food and perceived barrier for eat healthy food to had significant effects on Behavioral Intentions and was a valid measurement to use to determine Behavioral Intentions. These findings can enhance the extant literature on the universal applicability of the model and serve as useful references for further investigations of the validity of the model within other health care or foodservice settings and for other health behavioral categories. PMID:23346306

Modeling cognition as querying a database of labeled beliefs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heuvelink, A.

2006-01-01

One of the most important conditions for an agent to ensure that it selects the right plans for fulfilling its goals, is that its knowledge about its own status and that of the world is consistent, and as correct as possible. The knowledge of an agent is referred to as its belief set. The common

Cultural influences on causal beliefs about depression among Latino immigrants.

Science.gov (United States)

Caplan, Susan; Escobar, Javier; Paris, Manuel; Alvidrez, Jennifer; Dixon, Jane K; Desai, Mayur M; Scahill, Lawrence D; Whittemore, Robin

2013-01-01

This study describes causal beliefs about depression among Dominican, Colombian, and Ecuadorian immigrants. The authors describe participants' narratives about how particular supernatural or religious beliefs may contribute to or alleviate depression. Latino primary care patients (n = 177) were interviewed with the Beliefs About Causes of Depression Scale, a list of 35 items rated from not at all important to extremely important. Participants had the option of expanding on responses using an informal conversational approach. Underlying themes of these explanatory comments were derived from narrative and content analysis. Major themes that emerged were Psychosocial and Religious and Supernatural causal beliefs. A third theme emerged that represented the integration of these categories in the context of the immigrant experience. This article adds to the understanding of cross-cultural beliefs about depression. Psychosocial stressors related to the immigrant experience and adverse life events were highly endorsed, but the meaning of these stressors was construed in terms of religious and cultural values. To provide culturally appropriate services, nurses should be aware of and discuss the patient's belief systems, illness interpretations, and expectations of treatment.

Scandinavian belief in fate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Åke Ström

1967-02-01

Full Text Available In point of principle, Christianity does not give room for any belief in fate. Astrology, horoscopes, divination, etc., are strictly rejected. Belief in fate never disappeared in Christian countries, nor did it in Scandinavia in Christian times. Especially in folklore we can find it at any period: People believed in an implacable fate. All folklore is filled up with this belief in destiny. Nobody can escape his fate. The future lies in the hands of fate, and the time to come takes its form according to inscrutable laws. The pre-Christian period in Scandinavia, dominated by pagan Norse religion, and the secularized epoch of the 20th century, however, show more distinctive and more widespread beliefs in fate than does the Christian period. The present paper makes a comparison between these forms of belief.

Belief attribution despite verbal interference.

Science.gov (United States)

Forgeot d'Arc, Baudouin; Ramus, Franck

2011-05-01

False-belief (FB) tasks have been widely used to study the ability of individuals to represent the content of their conspecifics' mental states (theory of mind). However, the cognitive processes involved are still poorly understood, and it remains particularly debated whether language and inner speech are necessary for the attribution of beliefs to other agents. We present a completely nonverbal paradigm consisting of silent animated cartoons in five closely related conditions, systematically teasing apart different aspects of scene analysis and allowing the assessment of the attribution of beliefs, goals, and physical causation. In order to test the role of language in belief attribution, we used verbal shadowing as a dual task to inhibit inner speech. Data on 58 healthy adults indicate that verbal interference decreases overall performance, but has no specific effect on belief attribution. Participants remained able to attribute beliefs despite heavy concurrent demands on their verbal abilities. Our results are most consistent with the hypothesis that belief attribution is independent from inner speech.

The Boundaries of Woman's Spirituality in the Beliefs-Spirituality-Religiousness (B-S-R) Model: A Third Perspective-Beliefs as a Cognitive Basis.

Science.gov (United States)

Skrzypińska, Katarzyna

2017-10-01

The real nature of the phenomenon of woman's Spirituality is the main contemporary challenge for empirical research. The literature needs many more examples of the cognitive genesis of worldviews, Spirituality and Religiousness. The first aim of this article is to present the central tenet of the Threefold Nature of Spirituality model which theoretically explains the nature of Spirituality and the theoretical relationship between beliefs (worldviews), Spirituality and Religiousness (B-S-R model). The second aim is the empirical verification of this relationship through the application of an analysis of mediation. The 308 participants were women aged 18-50 years (M = 25.25, SD = 9.42). The results obtained indicate that is a good mediator between an individual's worldview and Religiousness. Presented analysis of mediation allows us to describe the basic functioning mechanism of the spiritual sphere and the relationship between the three elements: worldview, Spirituality and Religiousness.

[Parental beliefs on medication and satisfaction with child healthcare].

Science.gov (United States)

Fernández-Castillo, Antonio; Vílchez-Lara, María José

2015-01-01

The aim of this study is to explore a possible significant relationship between parental beliefs about medication and satisfaction with the medical care their children receive in two different healthcare settings. The study included a total of 1,517 parents whose children were being treated either in pediatric primary care or pediatric emergency centers in eastern Andalusia. Of these, 489 were men and 1,028 women. The research instruments used were the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire (BMQ) and the Scale of Satisfaction with Health Care Services. Our results indicate that high levels of negative beliefs about medication were significantly associated with lower levels of parent satisfaction with healthcare received. Satisfaction with pediatric healthcare depends on aspects relating to the healthcare system, but certainly personal psychological and social variables like beliefs and parent’s previous expectations may play an important role too.

Developmental Trajectories of Work Values and Job Entitlement Beliefs in the Transition to Adulthood

Science.gov (United States)

Chow, Angela; Krahn, Harvey J.; Galambos, Nancy L.

2014-01-01

Employing a life span developmental systems perspective, this study used a 5-wave (1985-1992) Canadian longitudinal data set (N = 404) to examine trajectories of intrinsic and extrinsic work values and job entitlement beliefs from age 18 to 25. Piecewise growth models (Slope 1: age 18-20; Slope 2: age 20-25) showed intriguing patterns of change.…

Marked differences in core beliefs about self and others, between sociotropy and autonomy: personality vulnerabilities in the cognitive model of depression

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Otani K

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Koichi Otani, Akihito Suzuki, Yoshihiko Matsumoto, Toshinori Shirata Department of Psychiatry, Yamagata University School of Medicine, Yamagata, Japan Objective: The cognitive model of depression posits two distinctive personality vulnerabilities termed sociotropy and autonomy, each of which is composed of a cluster of maladaptive self-schemas. It is postulated that negative core beliefs about self underlie maladaptive self-schemas as a whole, whereas those about others may be implicated in the autonomous self-schemas. Therefore, the present study examined the relations of sociotropy and autonomy with core beliefs about self and others.Methods: The sample of this study consisted of 321 healthy Japanese volunteers. Sociotropy and autonomy were evaluated by the corresponding subscales of the Sociotropy–Autonomy Scale. Core beliefs about self and others were assessed by the negative-self, positive-self, negative-other and positive-other subscales of the Brief Core Schema Scales.Results: In the forced multiple regression analysis, sociotropy scores were correlated with negative-self scores (β = 0.389, P < 0.001. Meanwhile, autonomy scores were correlated with positive-self scores (β = 0.199, P < 0.01 and negative-other scores (β = 0.191, P < 0.01.Conclusion: The present study suggests marked differences in core beliefs about self and others between sociotropy and autonomy, further contrasting the two personality vulnerabilities to depression. Keywords: sociotropy, autonomy, core belief, self, other, personality, cognitive vulnerability

Changes in teacher efficacy and beliefs during a one-year teacher preparation program

Science.gov (United States)

Lockman, Alison Schirmer

This study attempted to further understanding of factors affecting the teacher efficacy beliefs of secondary science preservice teachers, and to develop a model relating teacher efficacy to beliefs about teaching and students. A mixed quantitative and qualitative methodology was utilized in order to track participants' beliefs both broadly and in depth throughout a one-year teacher preparation program. Results from this analysis revealed that preservice teachers at the end of the program had significantly higher personal science teaching efficacy beliefs than at the beginning of the program. No significant difference in science teaching outcome expectancy beliefs was found, although individual preservice teachers did develop alternate beliefs. Teacher efficacy beliefs were directly affected by three of Bandura's four sources of self-efficacy beliefs---Mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, and verbal persuasion---with the influence of each source of self-efficacy information appearing to change during the course of the teacher preparation program. No evidence was found that affective states by themselves had resulted in belief changes, although many of the other experiences were more powerful because they were accompanied by an emotional incident. Connections between teacher efficacy beliefs, beliefs about students, and beliefs about teaching were uncovered, as was the importance of content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge on a teacher's sense of efficacy.

Beliefs about the causes of schizophrenia among Aymara and non-Aymara patients and their primary caregivers in the Central-Southern Andes.

Science.gov (United States)

Caqueo-Urízar, Alejandra; Breslau, Joshua; Gilman, Stephen E

2015-02-01

The aim of this study is to investigate differences in the beliefs about the causes of schizophrenia between Aymara and non-Aymara patients with schizophrenia and their primary caregivers. Ethnic background plays an important role in the formation of beliefs regarding the causes of schizophrenia, and there have been no prior studies on such beliefs among the Aymara, an indigenous community with a population of about 2 million people living in the Andes. We focused on three systems of beliefs distinguished in the literature: biological, psychosocial and magical-religious. The sample comprised 253 patients (n=117 Aymara, and n=136 non-Aymara) of public mental health centers in Chile (33.6%), Peru (33.6%) and Bolivia (32.8%) with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, and each patient's primary caregiver. We administered to patients and caregivers a questionnaire with scales assessing the perceived causes of schizophrenia. Linear regression models were fitted to compare differences in the levels of causal beliefs between Aymara and non-Aymara patients and caregivers, and to identify socio-demographic and clinical predictors of different types of beliefs about the causes of schizophrenia. Adjusted for socio-demographic and clinical covariates, levels of psychosocial beliefs were significantly higher for Aymara caregivers (0.33, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.05, 0.62) than non-Aymara caregivers. Contrary to expectations, beliefs about the causes of schizophrenia among Aymara are not more magical-religious than those of their non-Aymara counterparts. It may be necessary for mental health staff members to evaluate beliefs about the disorder, especially in ethnic minorities, before applying a standard model of treatment. © The Author(s) 2014.

The Interactions between Problem Solving and Conceptual Change: System Dynamic Modelling as a Platform for Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Chwee Beng

2010-01-01

This study examines the interactions between problem solving and conceptual change in an elementary science class where students build system dynamic models as a form of problem representations. Through mostly qualitative findings, we illustrate the interplay of three emerging intervening conditions (epistemological belief, structural knowledge…

Nursing opinion leadership: a preliminary model derived from philosophic theories of rational belief.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Christine A; Whall, Ann L

2013-10-01

Opinion leaders are informal leaders who have the ability to influence others' decisions about adopting new products, practices or ideas. In the healthcare setting, the importance of translating new research evidence into practice has led to interest in understanding how opinion leaders could be used to speed this process. Despite continued interest, gaps in understanding opinion leadership remain. Agent-based models are computer models that have proven to be useful for representing dynamic and contextual phenomena such as opinion leadership. The purpose of this paper is to describe the work conducted in preparation for the development of an agent-based model of nursing opinion leadership. The aim of this phase of the model development project was to clarify basic assumptions about opinions, the individual attributes of opinion leaders and characteristics of the context in which they are effective. The process used to clarify these assumptions was the construction of a preliminary nursing opinion leader model, derived from philosophical theories about belief formation. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A Qualitative Application of the Belsky Model to Explore Early Care and Education Teachers' Mealtime History, Beliefs, and Interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Swindle, Taren M; Patterson, Zachary; Boden, Carrie J

Studies on factors associated with nutrition practices in early care and education settings often focus on sociodemographic and programmatic characteristics. This qualitative study adapted and applied Belsky's determinants of parenting model to inform a broader exploration of Early Care and Education Teachers (ECETs) practices. Qualitative cross-sectional study with ECETs. The researchers interviewed ECETs in their communities across a Southern state. Purposive sampling was employed to recruit ECETs (n = 28) from Head Start or state-funded centers serving low-income families. Developmental histories of ECETs regarding food and nutrition, beliefs about child nutrition, and teaching interactions related to food. Qualitative interviews were coded using a deductive content analysis approach. Three distinct interrelationships were observed across the themes. First, rules and routines regarding food and mealtime in the educators' childhood often aligned with educator beliefs and behaviors at meals in their classroom. Second, some ECETs described motivations to leave a healthy food legacy for children in their class. Finally, an experience of food insecurity appeared in narratives that also emphasized making sure children got enough through various strategies. The influence of ECET developmental histories and their related beliefs can be addressed through professional development and ongoing support. Future study should quantify model constructs in a larger sample and study their relationships over time. Copyright © 2017 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

STATED VS. ENACTED BELIEFS: LOOKING AT PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS' PEDAGOGICAL BELIEFS THROUGH CLASSROOM INTERACTION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alberto Fajardo

2013-08-01

Full Text Available This article explores the relationship between pedagogical beliefs and classroom practice. Two Colombian pre-service primary school language teachers in the final stage of their five-year training programme were the research participants. Interview and classroom observation were the methods used, and content analysis was the analytical approach. It is argued in this study that by comparing the stated beliefs (as articulated in interviews and enacted beliefs (as manifested in classroom interaction, it is possible to gain a fine-grained understanding of the relationship between beliefs and teaching practice. The findings suggested that while there were significant cases of coherence between beliefs and classroom action, there was also evidence of some incongruent relationships.

The birth beliefs scale - a new measure to assess basic beliefs about birth.

Science.gov (United States)

Preis, Heidi; Benyamini, Yael

2017-03-01

Basic beliefs about birth as a natural and safe or a medical and risky process are central in the decisions on where and how to birth. Despite their importance, they have not been studied separately from other childbirth-related constructs. Our aim was to develop a measure to assess these beliefs. Pregnant Israeli women (N = 850, gestational week ≥14) were recruited in women's health centers, in online natural birth forums, and through home midwives. Participants filled in questionnaires including sociodemographic and obstetric background, the Birth Beliefs Scale (BBS), dispositional desire for control (DC) and planned mode of delivery. Factor analyses revealed that the BBS is composed of two factors: beliefs about birth as a natural process and beliefs about birth as a medical process. Both subscales showed good internal and test-retest reliability. They had good construct validity, predicted birth choices, and were weakly correlated with DC. Women's medical obstetric history was associated with the BBS, further supporting the validity of the scale. Beliefs about birth may be the building blocks that make up perceptions of birth and drive women's preferences. The new scale provides an easy way to distinctly assess them so they can be used to further understand planned birth behaviors. Additional studies are needed to comprehend how these beliefs form in different cultural contexts and how they evolve over time.

Second-year medical students' motivational beliefs, emotions, and achievement.

Science.gov (United States)

Artino, Anthony R; La Rochelle, Jeffery S; Durning, Steven J

2010-12-01

A challenge for medical educators is to better understand the personal factors that lead to individual success in medical school and beyond. Recently, educational researchers in fields outside medicine have acknowledged the importance of motivation and emotion in students' learning and performance. These affective factors have received less emphasis in the medical education literature. This longitudinal study examined the relations between medical students' motivational beliefs (task value and self-efficacy), achievement emotions (enjoyment, anxiety and boredom) and academic achievement. Second-year medical students (n=136) completed motivational beliefs and achievement emotions surveys following their first and second trimesters, respectively. Academic achievement was operationalised as students' average course examination grades and national board shelf examination scores. The results largely confirmed the hypothesised relations between beliefs, emotions and achievement. Structural equation modelling revealed that task value beliefs were positively associated with course-related enjoyment (standardised regression coefficient [β] = 0.59) and were negatively related to boredom (β= -0.25), whereas self-efficacy beliefs were negatively associated with course-related anxiety only (β = -0.47). Furthermore, student enjoyment was positively associated with national board shelf examination score (β = 0.31), whereas anxiety and boredom were both negatively related to course examination grade (β= -0.36 and -0.27, respectively). The overall structural model accounted for considerable variance in each of the achievement outcomes: R(2) = 0.20 and 0.14 for the course examination grade and national board shelf examination score, respectively. This study suggests that medical students' motivational beliefs and achievement emotions are important contributors to their academic achievement. These results have implications for medical educators striving to understand the

Deep Belief Networks for dimensionality reduction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Noulas, A.K.; Kröse, B.J.A.

2008-01-01

Deep Belief Networks are probabilistic generative models which are composed by multiple layers of latent stochastic variables. The top two layers have symmetric undirected connections, while the lower layers receive directed top-down connections from the layer above. The current state-of-the-art

Threats and Supports to Female Students' Math Beliefs and Achievement.

Science.gov (United States)

McKellar, Sarah E; Marchand, Aixa D; Diemer, Matthew A; Malanchuk, Oksana; Eccles, Jacquelynne S

2018-03-23

This study examines how student perceptions of teacher practices contribute to female high school students' math beliefs and achievement. Guided by the expectancy-value framework, we hypothesized that students' motivation beliefs and achievement outcomes in mathematics are fostered by teachers' emphasis on the relevance of mathematics and constrained by gender-based differential treatment. To examine these questions, structural equation modeling was applied to a longitudinal panel of 518 female students from the Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study. While controlling for prior achievement and race, gendered differential treatment was negatively associated with math beliefs and achievement, whereas relevant math instruction was positively associated with these outcomes. These findings suggest inroads that may foster positive math motivational beliefs and achievement among young women. © 2018 Society for Research on Adolescence.

Beliefs concerning the reliability of nuclear power plant in-service inspections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kettunen, J.

1997-01-01

The aim of the study was to investigate belief systems held by the officials responsible for the planning and supervision of NDT operations within the Finnish nuclear industry. They were asked to express their opinions on (1) the reliability of NDT methods in general, (2) the factors influencing the reliability of in-service inspections, and (3) the degree of reliability of the current inspections operations conducted by means of NDT methods in the Finnish nuclear power plants. Another goal of the study was to assess the adequacy of officials' beliefs (or belief systems). The research data was collected by interviewing representatives from Finnish power companies (Imatran Voima Oy and Teollisuuden Voima Oy), independent inspection organisations, and the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety (STUK). The adequacy of the beliefs expressed was assessed by means of the results obtained from international NDT reliability studies and on the basis of interviewees' own justification. (refs.)

Further insight into the role of metacognitive beliefs in schizophrenia and OCD patients: testing a mediation model.

Science.gov (United States)

Bortolon, Catherine; Larøi, Frank; Stephan, Yannick; Capdevielle, Delphine; Yazbek, Hanan; Boulenger, Jean-Philippe; Gely-Nargeot, Marie-Christine; Raffard, Stéphane

2014-12-15

This study explored the mediation effect of metacognitive beliefs on the relationship between intrusive thoughts and emotional distress in schizophrenia (N=49) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) (N=35). Intrusive thoughts impact on anxiety and depression through beliefs about uncontrollability and danger of thoughts in schizophrenia. Negative beliefs in general mediated the effect of intrusive thoughts on anxiety in obsessive-compulsive disorder. The results suggest that metacognitive beliefs may be a vulnerability factor for emotional and psychological disorder. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of zinc and "health belief model" education on upper respiratory infections in hajj travelers: a randomized clinical trial

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Mahmoudian S.A

2007-09-01

Full Text Available Background: The common cold is the most prevalent sickness and an important cause of absence from job. Furthermore, it often disturbs travel, including the practice of hajj, causing the use of many inappropriate drugs by these travelers. The health belief model is a psychological model that attempts to explain and predict health behaviors. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of zinc and health belief model based educational intervention on the behavior of hajj travelers with regard to viral upper respiratory tract infections (URTI.Methods: This double-blinded randomized controlled trial was performed among hajj travelers in 2005. Preventive measures were randomly allocated to four groups: 1- education + zinc sulfate. 2- education + placebo. 3- zinc sulfate only 4- placebo only. Data regarding incidence and duration of URTIs, background disorders, vaccination and health behaviors for cold were gathered by questionnaire by physicians and finally analyzed by SPSS 11.5 software using chi-square, t-test and independent samples t-test.Results: A total of 646 travelers were studied. The incidence of common cold in groups receiving zinc were significantly less than that for those receiving the placebo. (P=0.05. However, incidence was statistically the same for those who received education versus those who did not. Use of handkerchief was the most prevalent behavior and use of mask was the least prevalent behavior. Mean duration of symptoms was less in those receiving zinc and education (3.7 days comparing to those who received placebo and education (5.6 days.  Conclusions: This study showed that zinc consumption can decrease the incidence and duration of the common cold. Health belief model based education could promote some preventive behaviors although most people do not take advantage of them. We recommend the use of zinc by those attending hajj.

Opinions on nuclear energy: Evaluations, beliefs, and attitudes.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meertens, R.W.; Stallen, P.J.

1981-01-01

Used the expectancy-value model of attitudes (M. Fishbein and I. Ajzen, 1975) to investigate the attitudes, evaluations, and beliefs concerning the peaceful use of nuclear energy in 252 Dutch social and natural scientists. The model received empirical support. A factor analysis revealed 2

Using Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) modelling for rapid source term prediction. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Knochenhauer, M.; Swaling, V.H.; Dedda, F.D.; Hansson, F.; Sjoekvist, S.; Sunnegaerd, K. [Lloyd' s Register Consulting AB, Sundbyberg (Sweden)

2013-10-15

The project presented in this report deals with a number of complex issues related to the development of a tool for rapid source term prediction (RASTEP), based on a plant model represented as a Bayesian belief network (BBN) and a source term module which is used for assigning relevant source terms to BBN end states. Thus, RASTEP uses a BBN to model severe accident progression in a nuclear power plant in combination with pre-calculated source terms (i.e., amount, composition, timing, and release path of released radio-nuclides). The output is a set of possible source terms with associated probabilities. One major issue has been associated with the integration of probabilistic and deterministic analyses are addressed, dealing with the challenge of making the source term determination flexible enough to give reliable and valid output throughout the accident scenario. The potential for connecting RASTEP to a fast running source term prediction code has been explored, as well as alternative ways of improving the deterministic connections of the tool. As part of the investigation, a comparison of two deterministic severe accident analysis codes has been performed. A second important task has been to develop a general method where experts' beliefs can be included in a systematic way when defining the conditional probability tables (CPTs) in the BBN. The proposed method includes expert judgement in a systematic way when defining the CPTs of a BBN. Using this iterative method results in a reliable BBN even though expert judgements, with their associated uncertainties, have been used. It also simplifies verification and validation of the considerable amounts of quantitative data included in a BBN. (Author)

Using Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) modelling for rapid source term prediction. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knochenhauer, M.; Swaling, V.H.; Dedda, F.D.; Hansson, F.; Sjoekvist, S.; Sunnegaerd, K.

2013-10-01

The project presented in this report deals with a number of complex issues related to the development of a tool for rapid source term prediction (RASTEP), based on a plant model represented as a Bayesian belief network (BBN) and a source term module which is used for assigning relevant source terms to BBN end states. Thus, RASTEP uses a BBN to model severe accident progression in a nuclear power plant in combination with pre-calculated source terms (i.e., amount, composition, timing, and release path of released radio-nuclides). The output is a set of possible source terms with associated probabilities. One major issue has been associated with the integration of probabilistic and deterministic analyses are addressed, dealing with the challenge of making the source term determination flexible enough to give reliable and valid output throughout the accident scenario. The potential for connecting RASTEP to a fast running source term prediction code has been explored, as well as alternative ways of improving the deterministic connections of the tool. As part of the investigation, a comparison of two deterministic severe accident analysis codes has been performed. A second important task has been to develop a general method where experts' beliefs can be included in a systematic way when defining the conditional probability tables (CPTs) in the BBN. The proposed method includes expert judgement in a systematic way when defining the CPTs of a BBN. Using this iterative method results in a reliable BBN even though expert judgements, with their associated uncertainties, have been used. It also simplifies verification and validation of the considerable amounts of quantitative data included in a BBN. (Author)

Intention and Normative Belief

OpenAIRE

Chislenko, Eugene

2016-01-01

I defend the view that we act “under the guise of the good.” More specifically, I argue that an intention to do something is a belief that one ought to do it. I show how conflicts in intention and belief, as well as more complex impairments in these states, account for the central problem cases: akrasia in belief and intention, apparently unintelligible choices, and lack of motivation or accidie.

Marked differences in core beliefs about self and others, between sociotropy and autonomy: personality vulnerabilities in the cognitive model of depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Otani, Koichi; Suzuki, Akihito; Matsumoto, Yoshihiko; Shirata, Toshinori

2018-01-01

The cognitive model of depression posits two distinctive personality vulnerabilities termed sociotropy and autonomy, each of which is composed of a cluster of maladaptive self-schemas. It is postulated that negative core beliefs about self underlie maladaptive self-schemas as a whole, whereas those about others may be implicated in the autonomous self-schemas. Therefore, the present study examined the relations of sociotropy and autonomy with core beliefs about self and others. The sample of this study consisted of 321 healthy Japanese volunteers. Sociotropy and autonomy were evaluated by the corresponding subscales of the Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale. Core beliefs about self and others were assessed by the negative-self, positive-self, negative-other and positive-other subscales of the Brief Core Schema Scales. In the forced multiple regression analysis, sociotropy scores were correlated with negative-self scores ( β = 0.389, P vulnerabilities to depression.

Perceptions and Beliefs on Aging and Their Impact on Elderly General Health: An Appraisal of Self-Regulation Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ebrahim Masoudnia

2016-07-01

Conclusion: The perception toward aging is one of the important determinants and key predictors of elderly general health. Also, the self-regulation model proves to be an appropriate framework to explain the role of beliefs, perceptions, and understanding of the experiences of aging on the physical and mental health status of the elderly.

The Interplay between Parental Beliefs about Children's Emotions and Parental Stress Impacts Children's Attachment Security

Science.gov (United States)

Stelter, Rebecca L.; Halberstadt, Amy G.

2011-01-01

This study investigated how parental beliefs about children's emotions and parental stress relate to children's feelings of security in the parent-child relationship. Models predicting direct effects of parental beliefs and parental stress, and moderating effects of parental stress on the relationship between parental beliefs and children's…

Against Motivational Efficacy of Beliefs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seungbae Park

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Danielle Bromwich (2010 argues that a belief is motivationally efficacious in that, other things being equal, it disposes an agent to answer a question in accordance with that belief. I reply that what we are disposed to do is largely determined by our genes, whereas what we believe is largely determined by stimuli from the environment. We have a standing and default disposition to answer questions honestly, ceteris paribus, even before we are exposed to environmental stimuli. Since this standing and default disposition is innate, and our beliefs have their source in environmental stimuli, our beliefs cannot be the source of the disposition. Moreover, a recent finding in neuroscience suggests that motivation is extrinsic to belief.

The belief systems of protesting college students.

Science.gov (United States)

Blumenthal, M D

1973-06-01

A group of 29 college students who had been arrested or nominated as having participated in a street disturbance aimed at producing social change were interviewed. The interview schedule was highly similar to one which had been used to investigate attitudes toward violence in a random, representative sample of American men. The data collected from the arrestees are compared with data from college students in the national sample. This study shows that the arrestees are more likely to think that violence is necessary to produce social change than are college students generally, and are more likely to believe that existing social institutions are inadequate. As a group, the arrestees are more identified with white student demonstrators and black protestors than are college students generally. The arrestees are also likely to regard the police as untrusworthy, looking for trouble, and apt to dislike people like themselves. In addition to the negative attitudes toward the police held by the student arrestees, they are more likely to regard police actions as violence (and hence provocative) than are other college students. The arrestees are far more likely than other college students to cleave to humanistic values. However, most of the differences between the arrestees and other American college students could be predicted from a general model of the justification of violence, so that it appears that the student activists' beliefs differ not so much in kind from those of other Americans as they do in degree.

Underestimating belief in climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Jost, John T.

2018-03-01

People are influenced by second-order beliefs — beliefs about the beliefs of others. New research finds that citizens in the US and China systematically underestimate popular support for taking action to curb climate change. Fortunately, they seem willing and able to correct their misperceptions.

The Meeting with Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy: A Case Study of Syncretism in the Hmong System of Beliefs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kao-Ly Yang

2007-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this case study is to shed light on the identity of the spirit of fertility called Lady Kaying –Niam Nkauj Kab Yeeb—, its religious origin and the general processes of borrowing her fromother cultures within the Hmong culture. Hmong popular beliefs pertaining to Kaying reveal that Kaying is in fact the Chinese Goddess of Mercy Guanyin. She was imported from MahayanaBuddhism by the Hmong people of China who had retained her roles of the “Bestower of Children", the “Guardian Angel” or the "Conductor of the Dead Children". An analysis of the process of borrowing of the Chinese deity into the Hmong pantheon shows that Lady Kaying overlaps with an ancient spirit, the “Ancestor Spirit of Fertility” or Niam Poj Dab Pog. This case study demonstrates that the processes of borrowing are selective, integrative and comprehensive: some traits or fragments were taken from Buddhism and incorporated into the Hmong beliefs through a superimposing of a Hmong pre-existing system of beliefs.

Narcissism and belief in the paranormal.

Science.gov (United States)

Roe, Chris A; Morgan, Claire L

2002-04-01

The present study was designed to assess whether the relationship between narcissistic personality and paranormal belief identified by Tobacyk and Mitchell earlier could be replicated with a general population and to see whether the effect could be found with a narrower definition of paranormal beliefs that focuses only on belief in psychic phenomena. 75 participants completed the Narcissistic Personality Inventory and two measures of paranormal belief, the Paranormal Belief Scale and the Australian Sheep-Goat Scale. There was no correlation between narcissism and Paranormal Belief Scale scores, but narcissism and Australian Sheep-Goat Scale scores were significantly positively correlated. Of the three subscales to the Australian Sheep-Goat measure, scores for narcissism correlated with belief in ESP and PK but not in Life after death. These relationships were interpreted in terms of need for control.

Hypnosis and belief: A review of hypnotic delusions.

Science.gov (United States)

Connors, Michael H

2015-11-01

Hypnosis can create temporary, but highly compelling alterations in belief. As such, it can be used to model many aspects of clinical delusions in the laboratory. This approach allows researchers to recreate features of delusions on demand and examine underlying processes with a high level of experimental control. This paper reviews studies that have used hypnosis to model delusions in this way. First, the paper reviews studies that have focused on reproducing the surface features of delusions, such as their high levels of subjective conviction and strong resistance to counter-evidence. Second, the paper reviews studies that have focused on modelling underlying processes of delusions, including anomalous experiences or cognitive deficits that underpin specific delusional beliefs. Finally, the paper evaluates this body of research as a whole. The paper discusses advantages and limitations of using hypnotic models to study delusions and suggests some directions for future research. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Relation between belief and performance in perceptual decision making.

Science.gov (United States)

Drugowitsch, Jan; Moreno-Bote, Rubén; Pouget, Alexandre

2014-01-01

In an uncertain and ambiguous world, effective decision making requires that subjects form and maintain a belief about the correctness of their choices, a process called meta-cognition. Prediction of future outcomes and self-monitoring are only effective if belief closely matches behavioral performance. Equality between belief and performance is also critical for experimentalists to gain insight into the subjects' belief by simply measuring their performance. Assuming that the decision maker holds the correct model of the world, one might indeed expect that belief and performance should go hand in hand. Unfortunately, we show here that this is rarely the case when performance is defined as the percentage of correct responses for a fixed stimulus, a standard definition in psychophysics. In this case, belief equals performance only for a very narrow family of tasks, whereas in others they will only be very weakly correlated. As we will see it is possible to restore this equality in specific circumstances but this remedy is only effective for a decision-maker, not for an experimenter. We furthermore show that belief and performance do not match when conditioned on task difficulty--as is common practice when plotting the psychometric curve--highlighting common pitfalls in previous neuroscience work. Finally, we demonstrate that miscalibration and the hard-easy effect observed in humans' and other animals' certainty judgments could be explained by a mismatch between the experimenter's and decision maker's expected distribution of task difficulties. These results have important implications for experimental design and are of relevance for theories that aim to unravel the nature of meta-cognition.

Integrating health belief model and technology acceptance model: an investigation of health-related internet use.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahadzadeh, Ashraf Sadat; Pahlevan Sharif, Saeed; Ong, Fon Sim; Khong, Kok Wei

2015-02-19

Today, people use the Internet to satisfy health-related information and communication needs. In Malaysia, Internet use for health management has become increasingly significant due to the increase in the incidence of chronic diseases, in particular among urban women and their desire to stay healthy. Past studies adopted the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Health Belief Model (HBM) independently to explain Internet use for health-related purposes. Although both the TAM and HBM have their own merits, independently they lack the ability to explain the cognition and the related mechanism in which individuals use the Internet for health purposes. This study aimed to examine the influence of perceived health risk and health consciousness on health-related Internet use based on the HBM. Drawing on the TAM, it also tested the mediating effects of perceived usefulness of the Internet for health information and attitude toward Internet use for health purposes for the relationship between health-related factors, namely perceived health risk and health consciousness on health-related Internet use. Data obtained for the current study were collected using purposive sampling; the sample consisted of women in Malaysia who had Internet access. The partial least squares structural equation modeling method was used to test the research hypotheses developed. Perceived health risk (β=.135, t1999=2.676) and health consciousness (β=.447, t1999=9.168) had a positive influence on health-related Internet use. Moreover, perceived usefulness of the Internet and attitude toward Internet use for health-related purposes partially mediated the influence of health consciousness on health-related Internet use (β=.025, t1999=3.234), whereas the effect of perceived health risk on health-related Internet use was fully mediated by perceived usefulness of the Internet and attitude (β=.029, t1999=3.609). These results suggest the central role of perceived usefulness of the Internet and

Coexistence of equilibria in a New Keynesian model with heterogeneous beliefs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agliari, Anna; Pecora, Nicolò; Spelta, Alessandro

2015-01-01

The recent macroeconomic literature has been stressing the importance of considering heterogeneous expectations while addressing monetary policy. In this paper we consider a standard New Keynesian model, described by a two-dimensional nonlinear map, to analyze the bifurcation structure when agents have heterogeneous expectations and update their beliefs based on past performance. Depending on the degree of reactivity of the monetary policy to inflation and output deviations from the target equilibrium, different kind of dynamics may occur. We find that multiple equilibria and complicated dynamics, associated to codimension-2 bifurcations, may arise even if the monetary policy is set to respond more than point for point to inflation, as the Taylor principle prescribes. We show that if the monetary policy accommodates for a sufficient degree of output stabilization, complicated dynamics can be avoided and the number of coexisting equilibria reduces.

Attitudes and beliefs as verbal behavior

OpenAIRE

Guerin, Bernard

1994-01-01

Attitudes and beliefs are analyzed as verbal behavior. It is argued that shaping by a verbal community is an essential part of the formation and maintenance of both attitudes and beliefs, and it is suggested that verbal communities mediate the important shift in control from events in the environment (attitudes and beliefs as tacts) to control by other words (attitudes and beliefs as intraverbals). It appears that both attitudes and beliefs are constantly being socially negotiated through aut...

Perceived parental beliefs about the causes of success in sport: relationship to athletes' achievement goals and personal beliefs.

Science.gov (United States)

White, Sally A; Kavussanu, Maria; Tank, Kari M; Wingate, Jason M

2004-02-01

This study examined the relationship between perceived parental beliefs and young athletes' achievement goal orientations and personal beliefs about the causes of success in sport. Participants were 183 male and female athletes, 11-18 years old, involved in team sports. Athletes completed the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire, the Beliefs about the Causes of Sport Success Questionnaire, and two modified versions of the latter inventory to assess their perceptions of their parents' beliefs. Canonical correlation analysis revealed that perceived parental beliefs were related to goal orientations and personal beliefs in a conceptually coherent fashion. Thus, the perceived parental belief that effort leads to success in sport was related to athletes' task orientation and personal belief that effort causes sport success. In contrast, the perceived parental beliefs that superior ability, external factors, and using deceptive tactics are precursors to success in sport corresponded to athletes' ego orientation and the same personal beliefs. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for understanding the socialization experiences of young athletes.

Algebraic Structures Related to the Combination of Belief Functions

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Daniel, Milan

2004-01-01

Roč. 60, č. 2 (2004), s. 245-255 ISSN 1346-0862 R&D Projects: GA MŠk OC 274.001 Grant - others:COST(XE) Action 274 TARSKI Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z1030915 Keywords : belief functions * Dempster-Shafer theory * combination of belief functions * Dempster's semigroup * uncertainty processing * decision making * expert systems Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics http://www.jams.or.jp/ scm /contents/Vol-10-5/10-50.pdf

Exploring Relationships Among Belief in Genetic Determinism, Genetics Knowledge, and Social Factors

Science.gov (United States)

Gericke, Niklas; Carver, Rebecca; Castéra, Jérémy; Evangelista, Neima Alice Menezes; Marre, Claire Coiffard; El-Hani, Charbel N.

2017-12-01

Genetic determinism can be described as the attribution of the formation of traits to genes, where genes are ascribed more causal power than what scientific consensus suggests. Belief in genetic determinism is an educational problem because it contradicts scientific knowledge, and is a societal problem because it has the potential to foster intolerant attitudes such as racism and prejudice against sexual orientation. In this article, we begin by investigating the very nature of belief in genetic determinism. Then, we investigate whether knowledge of genetics and genomics is associated with beliefs in genetic determinism. Finally, we explore the extent to which social factors such as gender, education, and religiosity are associated with genetic determinism. Methodologically, we gathered and analyzed data on beliefs in genetic determinism, knowledge of genetics and genomics, and social variables using the "Public Understanding and Attitudes towards Genetics and Genomics" (PUGGS) instrument. Our analyses of PUGGS responses from a sample of Brazilian university freshmen undergraduates indicated that (1) belief in genetic determinism was best characterized as a construct built up by two dimensions or belief systems: beliefs concerning social traits and beliefs concerning biological traits; (2) levels of belief in genetic determination of social traits were low, which contradicts prior work; (3) associations between knowledge of genetics and genomics and levels of belief in genetic determinism were low; and (4) social factors such as age and religiosity had stronger associations with beliefs in genetic determinism than knowledge. Although our study design precludes causal inferences, our results raise questions about whether enhancing genetic literacy will decrease or prevent beliefs in genetic determinism.

The Making of Paranormal Belief: History, Discourse Analysis and the Object of Belief

OpenAIRE

White, Lewis

2013-01-01

The present study comprises a discursive analysis of a cognitive phenomenon, paranormal beliefs. A discursive psychological approach to belief highlights that an important component of the cognitivist work has been how the object of paranormal belief has been defined in formal study. Using discourse analysis, as developed as a method in the history of psychology, this problem is explored through analysis of published scales. The findings highlight three rhetorical themes that are deployed in ...

Examining College Students' Social Environment, Normative Beliefs, and Attitudes in Subsequent Initiation of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Agarwal, Deepti; Loukas, Alexandra; Perry, Cheryl L

2017-11-01

Although use of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) is increasingly prevalent among young adults, little is known about predictors of ENDS initiation among this population. We examined the roles of the social environment (i.e., peer ENDS use and household ENDS use), normative beliefs (i.e., social acceptability of ENDS use), and attitudes (i.e., inclination to date someone who uses ENDS) in prospectively predicting initiation of ENDS over a 1-year period among 18- to 29-year-old college students. Participants were 2,110 (18- to 29-year-old) students ( M = 20.27, SD = 2.17) from 24 colleges in Texas who participated in a three-wave online survey, with 6 months between each wave. All participants reported never using ENDS at baseline. A multivariable, multilevel logistic regression model, accounting for clustering of students within colleges, was used to assess if students' social environment, normative beliefs, and attitudes predicted subsequent initiation of ENDS up to 1 year later, adjusting for various sociodemographic factors and number of other tobacco products used. In all, 329 college students (16%) initiated ENDS within 1 year. Results from the logistic regression indicated that college students who were younger (18-24 years old), ever used other tobacco products, indicated a more dense peer network of ENDS users, and had a higher inclination to date someone who uses ENDS had higher odds of initiating ENDS than their peers. Preventing ENDS initiation should be included in college health promotion programs, which should highlight the roles of students' social environment and attitudes regarding ENDS use.

Epistemological beliefs of physics undergraduate and graduate students and faculty in the context of a well-structured and an ill-structured problem

Science.gov (United States)

Mercan, Fatih C.

This study examines epistemological beliefs of physics undergraduate and graduate students and faculty in the context of solving a well-structured and an ill-structured problem. The data collection consisted of a think aloud problem solving session followed by a semi-structured interview conducted with 50 participants, 10 participants at freshmen, seniors, masters, PhD, and faculty levels. The data analysis involved (a) identification of the range of beliefs about knowledge in the context of the well-structured and the ill-structured problem solving, (b) construction of a framework that unites the individual beliefs identified in each problem context under the same conceptual base, and (c) comparisons of the problem contexts and expertise level groups using the framework. The results of the comparison of the contexts of the well-structured and the ill-structured problem showed that (a) authoritative beliefs about knowledge were expressed in the well-structured problem context, (b) relativistic and religious beliefs about knowledge were expressed in the ill-structured problem context, and (c) rational, empirical, modeling beliefs about knowledge were expressed in both problem contexts. The results of the comparison of the expertise level groups showed that (a) undergraduates expressed authoritative beliefs about knowledge more than graduate students and faculty did not express authoritative beliefs, (b) faculty expressed modeling beliefs about knowledge more than graduate students and undergraduates did not express modeling beliefs, and (c) there were no differences in rational, empirical, experiential, relativistic, and religious beliefs about knowledge among the expertise level groups. As the expertise level increased the number of participants who expressed authoritative beliefs about knowledge decreased and the number of participants who expressed modeling based beliefs about knowledge increased. The results of this study implied that existing developmental and

Erosion of belief and disbelief: effects of religiosity and negative affect on beliefs in the paranormal and supernatural.

Science.gov (United States)

Beck, R; Miller, J P

2001-04-01

The authors investigated the effects of religiosity and negative affect on beliefs in the paranormal and supernatural among 94 undergraduate students enrolled in psychology classes at a small, private U.S. university. They hypothesized that religiosity would predict differential beliefs in the supernatural versus the paranormal but that negative affect would attenuate these beliefs. In addition, the authors predicted that belief in the supernatural and negative affect would interact to predict belief in the paranormal. Overall, the results were consistent with predictions. The religious participants were skeptical of paranormal phenomena but were accepting of supernatural phenomena. In addition, increased reports of negative affect over the preceding year appeared to attenuate belief in the supernatural for the religious participants. By contrast, for the nonreligious participants, increased belief in both the supernatural and paranormal was predicted when reports of negative affect were high. Finally, the interaction of supernatural belief and negative affect significantly predicted belief in the paranormal.

Changing beliefs about leisure noise: using health promotion models to investigate young people's engagement with, and attitudes towards, hearing health.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilliver, Megan; Beach, Elizabeth Francis; Williams, Warwick

2015-04-01

To investigate factors influencing young people's motivation to reduce their leisure noise exposure, and protect their hearing health. Questionnaires were conducted online to investigate young people's hearing health attitudes and behaviour. Items were developed using an integrated health promotion approach. The stage of change model was used to group participants in relation to their engagement with noise reduction behaviour. The health belief model was used to compare each group's perceptions of susceptibility and severity of hearing loss, as well as the benefits and barriers to noise reduction. Results are presented for 1196 young Australians aged between 18 and 35 years. Participants' engagement with noise reduction behaviour was used to assign them to stage of change groupings: Maintenance (11%), Action (28%), Contemplation (14%), or Pre-contemplation (43%). Each group's responses to health belief model items highlighted key differences across the different stages of engagement. Future hearing health promotion may benefit from tailoring intervention activities to best suit the stage of change of individuals. Different information may be useful at each stage to best support and motivate young people to look after their hearing health.

Laterality of pain: modulation by placebo and participants' paranormal belief.

Science.gov (United States)

Klemenz, Caroline; Regard, Marianne; Brugger, Peter; Emch, Oliver

2009-09-01

To investigate the effects of placebo and paranormal belief on the laterality of pain perception. The right hemisphere is dominantly involved in both the mediation of pain sensation and the belief in paranormal phenomena. We set out to assess a possible influence of long-term belief systems on placebo analgesia in response to unilateral nociceptive stimuli. Forty healthy participants (20 high and 20 low believers as indexed by the Magical Ideation Scale) underwent a placebo analgesia study measuring stimulus detection, pain threshold, and pain tolerance by electrostimulation on the right and left hand. Placebo treatment consisted of the application of a sham cream on the hands. Placebo had a positive influence on pain perception in the 3 variables. Enhanced pain sensitivity for the left side was only found for the disbelievers. Placebo treatment resulted in a double dissociation: in believers, it increased tolerance exclusively on the left side, in disbelievers on the right side. Our results confirm laterality effects in pain perception. However, only disbelievers conformed to the expected higher left-sided sensitivity. Placebo effects were dissociated between believers and disbelievers suggesting that short-term reactions to a placebo are modulated by a person's long-term belief system.

SCIENCE PRE SERVICE TEACHERS BELIEF ON ASSESMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ridwan Effendi

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This study aims to reveal personal beliefs of prospective science teachers about assessment. The study involved 46 prospective science teachers who have passed the 7th semester the course evaluation. Personal beliefs of prospective science teachers about assessment revealed using Personal Beliefs about Assessment Scale (SKDA. SKDA developed based on standards of assessment literacy and construct validity is done using Rasch models, with a Cronbach Alpha value of 0.93. Analysis and classification level of personal beliefs of prospective science teacher about assessment is done using the Rasch model is based on the logit ability of prospective science teachers based on the separation. The results showed that personal beliefs of prospective science teachers about assessment varies between two or three levels, depending on the standard of assessment literacy. There are still some aspects of the assessment of each standard that is trusted or considered less important by prospective teachers of science, namely: 1 consider the learning targets, learning experiences, and learning decision in choosing methods of assessment; 2 using the existing assessment and available in developing assessment methods; 3 interpret summary score; 4 use the assessment results to decision-making about the school and curriculum development; 5 consider extracurricular activities when developing procedures for judging; 6 report the result to another level with appropriate means and methods; and 7 to know when the assessment results are used inappropriately/inappropriate by others. Abstrak Studi ini bertujuan mengungkap kepercayaan calon guru sains tentang asesmen. Studi melibatkan 46 mahasiswa calon guru sains semester 7 yang telah lulus perkuliahan evaluasi pembelajaran. Kepercayaan calon guru sains tentang asesmen diungkap dengan menggunakan Skala Kepercayaan Diri Asesmen (SKDA. SKDA dikembangkan mengacu pada standar literasi asesmen dan validitas konstruk dilakukan dengan

Markov decision processes and the belief-desire-intention model bridging the gap for autonomous agents

CERN Document Server

Simari, Gerardo I

2011-01-01

In this work, we provide a treatment of the relationship between two models that have been widely used in the implementation of autonomous agents: the Belief DesireIntention (BDI) model and Markov Decision Processes (MDPs). We start with an informal description of the relationship, identifying the common features of the two approaches and the differences between them. Then we hone our understanding of these differences through an empirical analysis of the performance of both models on the TileWorld testbed. This allows us to show that even though the MDP model displays consistently better behavior than the BDI model for small worlds, this is not the case when the world becomes large and the MDP model cannot be solved exactly. Finally we present a theoretical analysis of the relationship between the two approaches, identifying mappings that allow us to extract a set of intentions from a policy (a solution to an MDP), and to extract a policy from a set of intentions.

Social norms and efficacy beliefs drive the Alarmed segment’s public-sphere climate actions

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Doherty, Kathryn L.; Webler, Thomas N.

2016-09-01

Surprisingly few individuals who are highly concerned about climate change take action to influence public policies. To assess social-psychological and cognitive drivers of public-sphere climate actions of Global Warming’s Six Americas `Alarmed’ segment, we developed a behaviour model and tested it using structural equation modelling of survey data from Vermont, USA (N = 702). Our model, which integrates social cognitive theory, social norms research, and value belief norm theory, explains 36-64% of the variance in five behaviours. Here we show descriptive social norms, self-efficacy, personal response efficacy, and collective response efficacy as strong driving forces of: voting, donating, volunteering, contacting government officials, and protesting about climate change. The belief that similar others took action increased behaviour and strengthened efficacy beliefs, which also led to greater action. Our results imply that communication efforts targeting Alarmed individuals and their public actions should include strategies that foster beliefs about positive descriptive social norms and efficacy.

Activities, self-referent memory beliefs, and cognitive performance: evidence for direct and mediated relations.

Science.gov (United States)

Jopp, Daniela; Hertzog, Christopher

2007-12-01

In this study, the authors investigated the role of activities and self-referent memory beliefs for cognitive performance in a life-span sample. A factor analysis identified 8 activity factors, including Developmental Activities, Experiential Activities, Social Activities, Physical Activities, Technology Use, Watching Television, Games, and Crafts. A second-order general activity factor was significantly related to a general factor of cognitive function as defined by ability tests. Structural regression models suggested that prediction of cognition by activity level was partially mediated by memory beliefs, controlling for age, education, health, and depressive affect. Models adding paths from general and specific activities to aspects of crystallized intelligence suggested additional unique predictive effects for some activities. In alternative models, nonsignificant effects of beliefs on activities were detected when cognition predicted both variables, consistent with the hypothesis that beliefs derive from monitoring cognition and have no influence on activity patterns. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved.

Global Diversity and Local Consensus in Status Beliefs : The Role of Network Clustering and Resistance to Belief Change

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Grow, André; Flache, Andreas; Wittek, Rafael

2017-01-01

Formal models of status construction theory suggest that beliefs about the relative social worth and competence of members of different social groups can emerge from face-to-face interactions in task-focused groups and eventually become consensual in large populations. We propose two extensions of

BELIEF dashboard - a web-based curation interface to support generation of BEL networks

OpenAIRE

Madan, Sumit; Hodapp, Sven; Fluck, Juliane

2015-01-01

The relevance of network-based approaches in systems biology to achieve a better understanding of biological mechanisms has increased enormously. The Biological Expression Language (BEL) is well designed to collate findings from scientific literature into biological network models. To facilitate encoding and biocuration of such findings in BEL, a free and user-friendly web-based curation interface called BELIEF Dashboard has been developed. The interface incorporates an information extraction...

Modeling mutual feedback between users and recommender systems

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, An; Yeung, Chi Ho; Medo, Matúš; Zhang, Yi-Cheng

2015-07-01

Recommender systems daily influence our decisions on the Internet. While considerable attention has been given to issues such as recommendation accuracy and user privacy, the long-term mutual feedback between a recommender system and the decisions of its users has been neglected so far. We propose here a model of network evolution which allows us to study the complex dynamics induced by this feedback, including the hysteresis effect which is typical for systems with non-linear dynamics. Despite the popular belief that recommendation helps users to discover new things, we find that the long-term use of recommendation can contribute to the rise of extremely popular items and thus ultimately narrow the user choice. These results are supported by measurements of the time evolution of item popularity inequality in real systems. We show that this adverse effect of recommendation can be tamed by sacrificing part of short-term recommendation accuracy.

Homo economicus belief inhibits trust.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ziqiang Xin

Full Text Available As a foundational concept in economics, the homo economicus assumption regards humans as rational and self-interested actors. In contrast, trust requires individuals to believe partners' benevolence and unselfishness. Thus, the homo economicus belief may inhibit trust. The present three experiments demonstrated that the direct exposure to homo economicus belief can weaken trust. And economic situations like profit calculation can also activate individuals' homo economicus belief and inhibit their trust. It seems that people's increasing homo economicus belief may serve as one cause of the worldwide decline of trust.

Homo Economicus Belief Inhibits Trust

Science.gov (United States)

Xin, Ziqiang; Liu, Guofang

2013-01-01

As a foundational concept in economics, the homo economicus assumption regards humans as rational and self-interested actors. In contrast, trust requires individuals to believe partners’ benevolence and unselfishness. Thus, the homo economicus belief may inhibit trust. The present three experiments demonstrated that the direct exposure to homo economicus belief can weaken trust. And economic situations like profit calculation can also activate individuals’ homo economicus belief and inhibit their trust. It seems that people’s increasing homo economicus belief may serve as one cause of the worldwide decline of trust. PMID:24146907

Beliefs of people taking antidepressants about causes of depression and reasons for increased prescribing rates.

Science.gov (United States)

Read, John; Cartwright, Claire; Gibson, Kerry; Shiels, Christopher; Haslam, Nicholas

2014-10-01

Public beliefs about the causes of mental health problems are related to desire for distance and pessimism about recovery, and are therefore frequently studied. The beliefs of people receiving treatment are researched less often. An online survey on causal beliefs about depression and experiences with antidepressants was completed by 1829 New Zealand adults prescribed anti-depressants in the preceding five years, 97.4% of whom proceeded to take antidepressants. The most frequently endorsed of 17 causal beliefs were family stress, relationship problems, loss of loved one, financial problems, isolation, and abuse or neglect in childhood. Factor analysis produced three factors: 'bio-genetic', 'adulthood stress' and 'childhood adversity'. The most strongly endorsed explanations for increases in antidepressant prescribing invoked improved identification, reduced stigma and drug company marketing. The least strongly endorsed was 'Anti-depressants are the best treatment'. Regression analyses revealed that self-reported efficacy of the antidepressants was positively associated with bio-genetic causal beliefs, negatively associated with childhood adversity beliefs and unrelated to adulthood stress beliefs. The belief that 'People cannot׳ get better by themselves even if they try' was positively associated with bio-genetic beliefs. The convenience sample may have been biased towards a favourable view of bio-genetic explanations, since 83% reported that the medication reduced their depression. Clinicians׳ should consider exploring patients׳ causal beliefs. The public, even when taking antidepressants, continues to hold a multi-factorial causal model of depression with a primary emphasis on psycho-social causes. A three factor model of those beliefs may lead to more sophisticated understandings of relationships with stigma variables. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Testing the metacognitive model against the benchmark CBT model of social anxiety disorder: Is it time to move beyond cognition?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henrik Nordahl

Full Text Available The recommended treatment for Social Phobia is individual Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT. CBT-treatments emphasize social self-beliefs (schemas as the core underlying factor for maladaptive self-processing and social anxiety symptoms. However, the need for such beliefs in models of psychopathology has recently been questioned. Specifically, the metacognitive model of psychological disorders asserts that particular beliefs about thinking (metacognitive beliefs are involved in most disorders, including social anxiety, and are a more important factor underlying pathology. Comparing the relative importance of these disparate underlying belief systems has the potential to advance conceptualization and treatment for SAD. In the cognitive model, unhelpful self-regulatory processes (self-attention and safety behaviours arise from (e.g. correlate with cognitive beliefs (schemas whilst the metacognitive model proposes that such processes arise from metacognitive beliefs. In the present study we therefore set out to evaluate the absolute and relative fit of the cognitive and metacognitive models in a longitudinal data-set, using structural equation modelling. Five-hundred and five (505 participants completed a battery of self-report questionnaires at two time points approximately 8 weeks apart. We found that both models fitted the data, but that the metacognitive model was a better fit to the data than the cognitive model. Further, a specified metacognitive model, emphasising negative metacognitive beliefs about the uncontrollability and danger of thoughts and cognitive confidence improved the model fit further and was significantly better than the cognitive model. It would seem that advances in understanding and treating social anxiety could benefit from moving to a full metacognitive theory that includes negative metacognitive beliefs about the uncontrollability and danger of thoughts, and judgements of cognitive confidence. These findings challenge

Testing the metacognitive model against the benchmark CBT model of social anxiety disorder: Is it time to move beyond cognition?

Science.gov (United States)

Nordahl, Henrik; Wells, Adrian

2017-01-01

The recommended treatment for Social Phobia is individual Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT). CBT-treatments emphasize social self-beliefs (schemas) as the core underlying factor for maladaptive self-processing and social anxiety symptoms. However, the need for such beliefs in models of psychopathology has recently been questioned. Specifically, the metacognitive model of psychological disorders asserts that particular beliefs about thinking (metacognitive beliefs) are involved in most disorders, including social anxiety, and are a more important factor underlying pathology. Comparing the relative importance of these disparate underlying belief systems has the potential to advance conceptualization and treatment for SAD. In the cognitive model, unhelpful self-regulatory processes (self-attention and safety behaviours) arise from (e.g. correlate with) cognitive beliefs (schemas) whilst the metacognitive model proposes that such processes arise from metacognitive beliefs. In the present study we therefore set out to evaluate the absolute and relative fit of the cognitive and metacognitive models in a longitudinal data-set, using structural equation modelling. Five-hundred and five (505) participants completed a battery of self-report questionnaires at two time points approximately 8 weeks apart. We found that both models fitted the data, but that the metacognitive model was a better fit to the data than the cognitive model. Further, a specified metacognitive model, emphasising negative metacognitive beliefs about the uncontrollability and danger of thoughts and cognitive confidence improved the model fit further and was significantly better than the cognitive model. It would seem that advances in understanding and treating social anxiety could benefit from moving to a full metacognitive theory that includes negative metacognitive beliefs about the uncontrollability and danger of thoughts, and judgements of cognitive confidence. These findings challenge a core

Extraterrestrial beliefs and experiences: an application of the theory of reasoned action.

Science.gov (United States)

Patry, A L; Pelletier, L G

2001-04-01

The authors expanded the applicability of I. Ajzen and M. Fishbein's (1980) theory of reasoned action by assessing the participants' beliefs, attitudes, and experiences related to sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and to alien abductions. The authors designed and administered a survey on UFO phenomena to 398 Canadian students. The survey contains items relating to each component of Ajzen and Fishbein's model, as well as scales that evaluate paranormal beliefs and social desirability. A majority of the sample believed in UFOs, although most had never seen one. However, only a minority believed in alien abductions--again, most without having had any reported experience. According to path analyses, UFO beliefs originated from societal forces rather than from personal experiences as the model would predict.

Teacher Beliefs and Technology Integration

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, ChanMin; Kim, Min Kyu; Lee, Chiajung; Spector, J. Michael; DeMeester, Karen

2013-01-01

The purpose of this exploratory mixed methods study was to investigate how teacher beliefs were related to technology integration practices. We were interested in how and to what extent teachers' (a) beliefs about the nature of knowledge and learning, (b) beliefs about effective ways of teaching, and (c) technology integration practices were…

Measurement of math beliefs and their associations with math behaviors in college students.

Science.gov (United States)

Hendy, Helen M; Schorschinsky, Nancy; Wade, Barbara

2014-12-01

Our purpose in the present study was to expand understanding of math beliefs in college students by developing 3 new psychometrically tested scales as guided by expectancy-value theory, self-efficacy theory, and health belief model. Additionally, we identified which math beliefs (and which theory) best explained variance in math behaviors and performance by college students and which students were most likely to have problematic math beliefs. Study participants included 368 college math students who completed questionnaires to report math behaviors (attending class, doing homework, reading textbooks, asking for help) and used a 5-point rating scale to indicate a variety of math beliefs. For a subset of 84 students, math professors provided final math grades. Factor analyses produced a 10-item Math Value Scale with 2 subscales (Class Devaluation, No Future Value), a 7-item single-dimension Math Confidence Scale, and an 11-item Math Barriers Scale with 2 subscales (Math Anxiety, Discouraging Words). Hierarchical multiple regression revealed that high levels of the newly discovered class devaluation belief (guided by expectancy-value theory) were most consistently associated with poor math behaviors in college students, with high math anxiety (guided by health belief model) and low math confidence (guided by self-efficacy theory) also found to be significant. Analyses of covariance revealed that younger and male students were at increased risk for class devaluation and older students were at increased risk for poor math confidence. (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Student-Perceived Mothers' and Fathers' Beliefs, Mathematics and English Motivations, and Career Choices.

Science.gov (United States)

Lazarides, Rebecca; Watt, Helen M G

2017-12-01

According to Eccles and Jacobs' (1986) parent socialization model, parents' gendered ability and value beliefs influence girls' and boys' interpretations of those beliefs, and hence students' domain-specific valuing of tasks and competence beliefs and subsequent career plans. Studies have rarely analyzed how both student-perceived mothers' and fathers' beliefs affect girls' and boys' task values, success expectancies, and career plans across domains. This study analyzed survey data of 459 students (262 boys) assessed through Grades 9, 10, and 11 from three coeducational secondary schools in Sydney, Australia. Longitudinal structural equation models revealed gendered value transmission pathways for girls in mathematics. Although mathematics test scores did not vary statistically significantly, girls reported statistically significantly lower mothers' ability beliefs for them in mathematics than boys at Time 1, which led to their statistically significantly lower mathematics intrinsic value at Time 2 and mathematics-related career plans at Time 3. Such gendered pathways did not occur in English. Matched same-gender effects and gendered pathways in parent socialization processes were evident; perceived mothers' value beliefs were more strongly related to girls' than boys' importance values in English. Student-perceived fathers' ability beliefs positively predicted boys', not girls', importance value in mathematics. Implications for educational practice emphasize the need to target girls' and boys' interest when aiming to enhance their mathematical career motivations. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Research on Adolescence © 2017 Society for Research on Adolescence.

Characterizing and improving generalized belief propagation algorithms on the 2D Edwards–Anderson model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Domínguez, Eduardo; Lage-Castellanos, Alejandro; Mulet, Roberto; Ricci-Tersenghi, Federico; Rizzo, Tommaso

2011-01-01

We study the performance of different message passing algorithms in the two-dimensional Edwards–Anderson model. We show that the standard belief propagation (BP) algorithm converges only at high temperature to a paramagnetic solution. Then, we test a generalized belief propagation (GBP) algorithm, derived from a cluster variational method (CVM) at the plaquette level. We compare its performance with BP and with other algorithms derived under the same approximation: double loop (DL) and a two-way message passing algorithm (HAK). The plaquette-CVM approximation improves BP in at least three ways: the quality of the paramagnetic solution at high temperatures, a better estimate (lower) for the critical temperature, and the fact that the GBP message passing algorithm converges also to nonparamagnetic solutions. The lack of convergence of the standard GBP message passing algorithm at low temperatures seems to be related to the implementation details and not to the appearance of long range order. In fact, we prove that a gauge invariance of the constrained CVM free energy can be exploited to derive a new message passing algorithm which converges at even lower temperatures. In all its region of convergence this new algorithm is faster than HAK and DL by some orders of magnitude

Autonomy and interdependence: beliefs of Brazilian mothers from state capitals and small towns.

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Vieira, Mauro Luis; Seidl-de-Moura, Maria Lucia; Macarini, Samira Mafioletti; Martins, Gabriela Dal Forno; Lordelo, Eulina da Rocha; Tokumaru, Rosana Suemi; Oliva, Angela Donate

2010-11-01

This study aimed to investigate characteristics of Brazilian mothers' beliefs system, in the dimensions of autonomy and interdependence. A group of 600 women, half from state capitals and half from small towns, participated in the study. They were individually interviewed with Scales of Allocentrism, Beliefs about Parental Practices and Socialization Goals. Paired and Independent samples t tests and Multivariate GLM were performed. The results indicate that although mothers from both contexts value autonomy, mothers inhabiting small towns considered the relational dimension as the most important; whereas mothers inhabiting capitals valued equally both dimensions, either in their beliefs about practices or in the socialization goals for their children. Mothers from small towns have a higher mean score for allocentrism than mothers living in capitals. Thus, place of residence proved to be a relevant variable in the modulation of maternal beliefs. Educational level was not a significant factor in the variables considered and with this group of mothers. The study results are discussed in terms of their contribution to the understanding of the complex relationship between dimensions of autonomy and interdependence in mothers' beliefs system.

Effects of a persuasive communication on beliefs, attitudes, and career choice.

Science.gov (United States)

Strader, M K; Katz, B M

1990-04-01

Fishbein's Theory of Reasoned Action was used to formulate a persuasive communication in an attempt to influence unclassified American college students' beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and behaviors regarding signing up for a career as a registered nurse. A two-stage cluster sample was used to assign 90 male and female students to either an experimental or control group. After persuasive communication exposure, the experimental group showed a significantly more positive change in beliefs, attitudes, and intentions than did the control group exposed to a neutral message. Sign-up rate was also statistically significant for the experimental group. With the Fishbein model to predict sign-up behavior, no other scores were found to add to the prediction once behavioral intention was entered into the model. Change in behavioral intention explained 49% of the variation in behavior. Normative belief scores did not approach statistical significance.

The relationships between patients' and caregivers' beliefs about the causes of schizophrenia and clinical outcomes in Latin American countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Caqueo-Urízar, Alejandra; Boyer, Laurent; Baumstarck, Karine; Gilman, Stephen E

2015-09-30

Beliefs about the causes of schizophrenia are thought to impact treatment outcomes. We investigated 3 theoretically opposing belief systems (biological, psychosocial, magical-religious) in relation to the severity of positive and negative symptoms and to attitudes towards medications. We recruited 253 patients with schizophrenia and their primary caregivers from public mental health clinics in Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. We assessed patients' and caregivers' beliefs about the causes of schizophrenia, which were used as predictors of symptom severity and medication attitudes in linear regression analyses. Patients' scores on biological, psychosocial, and magical-religious beliefs were positively correlated with one another, indicating that these domains were not, as anticipated, "opposing". Patients with higher levels of biological and psychosocial beliefs had significantly lower levels of positive and negative symptoms; in contrast, higher levels of magical-religious beliefs were associated with increased positive symptoms and less favorable attitudes towards medications. Patients' belief systems are significant predictors of symptom severity and medication attitudes. Research is needed on the extent to which psychotherapeutic treatments for schizophrenia should bolster patients' beliefs in the biological and psychosocial domains and weaken beliefs in the magical-religious domain; this research should also attend to the ethical considerations involved in intervening on belief systems cross-culturally. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Relation between Belief and Performance in Perceptual Decision Making

Science.gov (United States)

Drugowitsch, Jan; Moreno-Bote, Rubén; Pouget, Alexandre

2014-01-01

In an uncertain and ambiguous world, effective decision making requires that subjects form and maintain a belief about the correctness of their choices, a process called meta-cognition. Prediction of future outcomes and self-monitoring are only effective if belief closely matches behavioral performance. Equality between belief and performance is also critical for experimentalists to gain insight into the subjects' belief by simply measuring their performance. Assuming that the decision maker holds the correct model of the world, one might indeed expect that belief and performance should go hand in hand. Unfortunately, we show here that this is rarely the case when performance is defined as the percentage of correct responses for a fixed stimulus, a standard definition in psychophysics. In this case, belief equals performance only for a very narrow family of tasks, whereas in others they will only be very weakly correlated. As we will see it is possible to restore this equality in specific circumstances but this remedy is only effective for a decision-maker, not for an experimenter. We furthermore show that belief and performance do not match when conditioned on task difficulty – as is common practice when plotting the psychometric curve – highlighting common pitfalls in previous neuroscience work. Finally, we demonstrate that miscalibration and the hard-easy effect observed in humans' and other animals' certainty judgments could be explained by a mismatch between the experimenter's and decision maker's expected distribution of task difficulties. These results have important implications for experimental design and are of relevance for theories that aim to unravel the nature of meta-cognition. PMID:24816801

Are essentialist beliefs associated with prejudice?

Science.gov (United States)

Haslam, Nick; Rothschild, Louis; Ernst, Donald

2002-03-01

Gordon Allport (1954) proposed that belief in group essences is one aspect of the prejudiced personality, alongside a rigid, dichotomous and ambiguity-intolerant cognitive style. We examined whether essentialist beliefs-beliefs that a social category has a fixed, inherent, identity-defining nature-are indeed associated in this fashion with prejudice towards black people, women and gay men. Allport's claim, which is mirrored by many contemporary social theorists, received partial support but had to be qualified in important respects. Essence-related beliefs were associated strongly with anti-gay attitudes but only weakly with sexism and racism, and they did not reflect a cognitive style that was consistent across stigmatized categories. When associations with prejudice were obtained, only a few specific beliefs were involved, and some anti-essentialist beliefs were associated with anti-gay attitudes. Nevertheless, the powerful association that essence-related beliefs had with anti-gay attitudes was independent of established prejudice-related traits, indicating that they have a significant role to play in the psychology of prejudice.

How psychotic-like are paranormal beliefs?

Science.gov (United States)

Cella, Matteo; Vellante, Marcello; Preti, Antonio

2012-09-01

Paranormal beliefs and Psychotic-like Experiences (PLE) are phenotypically similar and can occur in individuals with psychosis but also in the general population; however the relationship of these experiences for psychosis risk is largely unclear. This study investigates the association of PLE and paranormal beliefs with psychological distress. Five hundred and three young adults completed measures of paranormal beliefs (Beliefs in the Paranormal Scale), psychological distress (General Health Questionnaire), delusion (Peters et al. Delusions Inventory), and hallucination (Launay-Slade Hallucination Scale) proneness. The frequency and intensity of PLE was higher in believers in the paranormal compared to non-believers, however psychological distress levels were comparable. Regression findings confirmed that paranormal beliefs were predicted by delusion and hallucination-proneness but not psychological distress. The use of a cross-sectional design in a specific young adult population makes the findings exploratory and in need of replication with longitudinal studies. The predictive value of paranormal beliefs and experiences for psychosis may be limited; appraisal or the belief emotional salience rather than the belief per se may be more relevant risk factors to predict psychotic risk. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Childhood trauma and the origins of paranormal belief: a constructive replication.

Science.gov (United States)

Irwin, H J

1994-02-01

Previous research suggests that, as a group, people who believe in the paranormal tend to have a history of traumatic events in childhood. This relationship has been incorporated into Irwin's 1993 model of the psychological origins and functions of paranormal belief. A constructive replication of the relationship and a test of Irwin's model was undertaken in relation to a specific context, namely, a childhood spent with an alcoholic parent. Compared to 89 control participants, a sample of 32 adults who were children of alcoholics had stronger beliefs in witchcraft, superstitions, and precognition. The results are discussed in relation to two components of Irwin's model.

Agency Beliefs Over Time and Across Cultures: Free Will Beliefs Predict Higher Job Satisfaction

Science.gov (United States)

Feldman, Gilad; Farh, Jiing-Lih; Wong, Kin Fai Ellick

2017-01-01

In three studies, we examined the relationship between free will beliefs and job satisfaction over time and across cultures. Study 1 examined 252 Taiwanese real-estate agents over a 3-months period. Study 2 examined job satisfaction for 137 American workers on an online labor market over a 6-months period. Study 3 extended to a large sample of 14,062 employees from 16 countries and examined country-level moderators. We found a consistent positive relationship between the belief in free will and job satisfaction. The relationship was above and beyond other agency constructs (Study 2), mediated by perceived autonomy (Studies 2-3), and stronger in countries with a higher national endorsement of the belief in free will (Study 3). We conclude that free-will beliefs predict outcomes over time and across cultures beyond other agency constructs. We call for more cross-cultural and longitudinal studies examining free-will beliefs as predictors of real-life outcomes. PMID:29191084

Effects of Epistemological Beliefs and Topic-Specific Beliefs on Undergraduates' Cognitive and Strategic Processing of Dual-Positional Text.

Science.gov (United States)

Kardash, CarolAnne M.; Howell, Karen L.

2000-01-01

Investigates effects of epistemological beliefs and topic-specific beliefs on undergraduates' (N=40) cognitive and strategic processing of a dual-positional text. Findings reveal that epistemological beliefs about the speed of learning affected the overall number of cognitive processes exhibited, whereas topic-specific beliefs interacted with the…

Conceptions about the mind-body problem and their relations to afterlife beliefs, paranormal beliefs, religiosity, and ontological confusions.

Science.gov (United States)

Riekki, Tapani; Lindeman, Marjaana; Lipsanen, Jari

2013-01-01

We examined lay people's conceptions about the relationship between mind and body and their correlates. In Study 1, a web survey (N = 850) of reflective dualistic, emergentistic, and monistic perceptions of the mind-body relationship, afterlife beliefs (i.e., common sense dualism), religiosity, paranormal beliefs, and ontological confusions about physical, biological, and psychological phenomena was conducted. In Study 2 (N = 73), we examined implicit ontological confusions and their relations to afterlife beliefs, paranormal beliefs, and religiosity. Correlation and regression analyses showed that reflective dualism, afterlife beliefs, paranormal beliefs, and religiosity were strongly and positively related and that reflective dualism and afterlife beliefs mediated the relationship between ontological confusions and religious and paranormal beliefs. The results elucidate the contention that dualism is a manifestation of universal cognitive processes related to intuitions about physical, biological, and psychological phenomena by showing that especially individuals who confuse the distinctive attributes of these phenomena tend to set the mind apart from the body.

Conceptions about the mind-body problem and their relations to afterlife beliefs, paranormal beliefs, religiosity, and ontological confusions

Science.gov (United States)

Riekki, Tapani; Lindeman, Marjaana; Lipsanen, Jari

2013-01-01

We examined lay people’s conceptions about the relationship between mind and body and their correlates. In Study 1, a web survey (N = 850) of reflective dualistic, emergentistic, and monistic perceptions of the mind-body relationship, afterlife beliefs (i.e., common sense dualism), religiosity, paranormal beliefs, and ontological confusions about physical, biological, and psychological phenomena was conducted. In Study 2 (N = 73), we examined implicit ontological confusions and their relations to afterlife beliefs, paranormal beliefs, and religiosity. Correlation and regression analyses showed that reflective dualism, afterlife beliefs, paranormal beliefs, and religiosity were strongly and positively related and that reflective dualism and afterlife beliefs mediated the relationship between ontological confusions and religious and paranormal beliefs. The results elucidate the contention that dualism is a manifestation of universal cognitive processes related to intuitions about physical, biological, and psychological phenomena by showing that especially individuals who confuse the distinctive attributes of these phenomena tend to set the mind apart from the body. PMID:25247011

Self-esteem and evaluative beliefs in paranoia.

Science.gov (United States)

Valiente, Carmen; Cantero, Dolores; Sánchez, Alvaro; Provencio, María; Wickham, Sophie

2014-06-01

Psychological models have implicated negative self-esteem as an important factor underlying paranoia. However, research investigating the role of self-esteem in paranoia suffers from poor conceptual and methodological understanding, resulting in conflicting findings. Central to this problem is the use of measures investigating global self-esteem and self-evaluative beliefs interchangeably. In the present study we aimed to analyze differences in self-esteem domains and self-evaluation. The present study used interviews and questionnaires to compare a clinical sample of participants who were currently paranoid (n = 55) with healthy controls (n = 57) on global self-esteem domains and negative evaluative beliefs, in order to investigate the multi-faceted role of "the self". There was no significant difference in self-esteem domains between groups, highlighting that self-esteem is preserved in currently paranoid individuals. However, the paranoid group had significantly more negative evaluative beliefs. Interestingly, our global measures of self-esteem and measures of negative evaluative beliefs were uncorrelated, highlighting the importance of understanding the differences underlying these concepts. This study does not address dynamic aspects of self-esteem and self-evaluation. The present study provides undeniable evidence to investigate self-concept dimensions separately. These findings must be considered by researchers interested in the role of the self in the onset and maintenance of paranoia. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Managers’ Beliefs about Measures to Retain Senior Workforce

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reidar J. Mykletun

2012-08-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to describe and explain the beliefs of public sector managers regarding measures to promote active ageing within organizations and how these beliefs can relate to their own attitudes, age, gender, organizational roles, and structures. Data were collected by mailed questionnaires from 672 managers on operative and administrative levels in the Norwegian municipal and health sectors. It was found that managers believe in the usefulness of at least seven different measures, identified by factor analyses. Sum scores were calculated from the factors, and five of them showed sufficient reliability. Ranked according to their mean values, the factor-based sum scores were 1 reducing working hours, increasing the number of holidays, and offering flexible part-time schedules without a reduction in wages; 2 reducing workload and demands; 3 increasing wages, pensions, and bonuses; 4 increasing esteem, learning, and job enrichment for the senior workers; and 5 repositioning the workers to other, less demanding parts of the organization. In multiple regression analyses, these sum scores were found to be influenced mainly by the managers’ individual attributes, like age, gender, own retirement plans, beliefs, and attitudes. Organizational and structural factors seemed less important. The findings are discussed within three schools of thought: the ‘Human Relations Model,’ the ‘Market Model,’ and the ‘Age Management Model.’ A fourth ‘school,’ the ‘Laissez-faire Model,’ is indicated by the 26% of managers who claimed no responsibility for the age management issues.

Changing Conspiracy Beliefs through Rationality and Ridiculing.

Science.gov (United States)

Orosz, Gábor; Krekó, Péter; Paskuj, Benedek; Tóth-Király, István; Bőthe, Beáta; Roland-Lévy, Christine

2016-01-01

Conspiracy theory (CT) beliefs can be harmful. How is it possible to reduce them effectively? Three reduction strategies were tested in an online experiment using general and well-known CT beliefs on a comprehensive randomly assigned Hungarian sample ( N = 813): exposing rational counter CT arguments, ridiculing those who hold CT beliefs, and empathizing with the targets of CT beliefs. Several relevant individual differences were measured. Rational and ridiculing arguments were effective in reducing CT, whereas empathizing with the targets of CTs had no effect. Individual differences played no role in CT reduction, but the perceived intelligence and competence of the individual who conveyed the CT belief-reduction information contributed to the success of the CT belief reduction. Rational arguments targeting the link between the object of belief and its characteristics appear to be an effective tool in fighting conspiracy theory beliefs.

Aquatic Instructors' Beliefs Toward Inclusion: The Theory of Planned Behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Conatser, Phillip; Block, Martin; Gansneder, Bruce

2002-04-01

The purpose was to (a) examine aquatic instructors' beliefs (female, n = 82; male, n = 29) about teaching swimming to individuals with disabilities in inclusive settings and (b) test the theory of planned behavior model (Ajzen, 1985, 1988, 2001). Aquatic instructors from 25 states representing 122 cities across the U.S. participated in this study. The instrument, named Aquatic Instructors' Beliefs Toward Inclusion (AIBTI), was an extended version of the Physical Educators' Attitudes Toward Teaching Individuals with Disabilities- Swim (Conatser, Block, & Lepore, 2000). A correlated t test showed aquatic instructors' beliefs (attitudes toward the behavior, normative beliefs, perceived behavioral control, intention, behavior) were significantly more favorable toward teaching aquatics to individuals with mild disabilities than individuals with severe disabilities. Stepwise multiple regression showed perceived behavioral control and attitude significantly predicted intention, and intention predicted instructors' inclusive behavior for both disability groups. Further, results indicated the theory of planned behavior predicts aquatic instructors' behavior better than the theory of reasoned action.

Lossed in translation: an off-the-shelf method to recover probabilistic beliefs from loss-averse agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Offerman, Theo; Palley, Asa B

2016-01-01

Strictly proper scoring rules are designed to truthfully elicit subjective probabilistic beliefs from risk neutral agents. Previous experimental studies have identified two problems with this method: (i) risk aversion causes agents to bias their reports toward the probability of [Formula: see text], and (ii) for moderate beliefs agents simply report [Formula: see text]. Applying a prospect theory model of risk preferences, we show that loss aversion can explain both of these behavioral phenomena. Using the insights of this model, we develop a simple off-the-shelf probability assessment mechanism that encourages loss-averse agents to report true beliefs. In an experiment, we demonstrate the effectiveness of this modification in both eliminating uninformative reports and eliciting true probabilistic beliefs.

The Nature of Belief-Directed Exploratory Choice in Human Decision-Making

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. Bradley Knox

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In non-stationary environments, there is a conflict between exploiting currently favored options and gaining information by exploring lesser-known options that in the past have proven less rewarding. Optimal decision making in such tasks requires considering future states of the environment (i.e., planning and properly updating beliefs about the state of environment after observing outcomes associated with choices. Optimal belief-updating is reflective in that beliefs can change without directly observing environmental change. For example, after ten seconds elapse, one might correctly believe that a traffic light last observed to be red is now more likely to be green. To understand human decision-making when rewards associated with choice options change over time, we develop a variant of the classic bandit task that is both rich enough to encompass relevant phenomena and sufficiently tractable to allow for ideal actor analysis of sequential choice behavior. We evaluate whether people update beliefs about the state of environment in a reflexive (i.e., only in response to observed changes in reward structure or reflective manner. In contrast to purely "random" accounts of exploratory behavior, model-based analyses of the subjects’ choices and latencies indicate that people are reflective belief-updaters. However, unlike the Ideal Actor model, our analyses indicate that people's choice behavior does not reflect consideration of future environmental states. Thus, although people update beliefs in a reflective manner consistent with the ideal actor, they do not engage in optimal long-term planning, but instead myopically choose the option on every trial that is believed to have the highest immediate payoff.

The Nature of Belief-Directed Exploratory Choice in Human Decision-Making

Science.gov (United States)

Knox, W. Bradley; Otto, A. Ross; Stone, Peter; Love, Bradley C.

2011-01-01

In non-stationary environments, there is a conflict between exploiting currently favored options and gaining information by exploring lesser-known options that in the past have proven less rewarding. Optimal decision-making in such tasks requires considering future states of the environment (i.e., planning) and properly updating beliefs about the state of the environment after observing outcomes associated with choices. Optimal belief-updating is reflective in that beliefs can change without directly observing environmental change. For example, after 10 s elapse, one might correctly believe that a traffic light last observed to be red is now more likely to be green. To understand human decision-making when rewards associated with choice options change over time, we develop a variant of the classic “bandit” task that is both rich enough to encompass relevant phenomena and sufficiently tractable to allow for ideal actor analysis of sequential choice behavior. We evaluate whether people update beliefs about the state of environment in a reflexive (i.e., only in response to observed changes in reward structure) or reflective manner. In contrast to purely “random” accounts of exploratory behavior, model-based analyses of the subjects’ choices and latencies indicate that people are reflective belief updaters. However, unlike the Ideal Actor model, our analyses indicate that people’s choice behavior does not reflect consideration of future environmental states. Thus, although people update beliefs in a reflective manner consistent with the Ideal Actor, they do not engage in optimal long-term planning, but instead myopically choose the option on every trial that is believed to have the highest immediate payoff. PMID:22319503

A Constructivist Connectionist Model of Transitions on False-Belief Tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Berthiaume, Vincent G.; Shultz, Thomas R.; Onishi, Kristine H.

2013-01-01

How do children come to understand that others have mental representations, e.g., of an object's location? Preschoolers go through two transitions on verbal false-belief tasks, in which they have to predict where an agent will search for an object that was moved in her absence. First, while three-and-a-half-year-olds usually fail at approach…

DNA motif elucidation using belief propagation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Ka-Chun; Chan, Tak-Ming; Peng, Chengbin; Li, Yue; Zhang, Zhaolei

2013-09-01

Protein-binding microarray (PBM) is a high-throughout platform that can measure the DNA-binding preference of a protein in a comprehensive and unbiased manner. A typical PBM experiment can measure binding signal intensities of a protein to all the possible DNA k-mers (k=8∼10); such comprehensive binding affinity data usually need to be reduced and represented as motif models before they can be further analyzed and applied. Since proteins can often bind to DNA in multiple modes, one of the major challenges is to decompose the comprehensive affinity data into multimodal motif representations. Here, we describe a new algorithm that uses Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) and can derive precise and multimodal motifs using belief propagations. We describe an HMM-based approach using belief propagations (kmerHMM), which accepts and preprocesses PBM probe raw data into median-binding intensities of individual k-mers. The k-mers are ranked and aligned for training an HMM as the underlying motif representation. Multiple motifs are then extracted from the HMM using belief propagations. Comparisons of kmerHMM with other leading methods on several data sets demonstrated its effectiveness and uniqueness. Especially, it achieved the best performance on more than half of the data sets. In addition, the multiple binding modes derived by kmerHMM are biologically meaningful and will be useful in interpreting other genome-wide data such as those generated from ChIP-seq. The executables and source codes are available at the authors' websites: e.g. http://www.cs.toronto.edu/∼wkc/kmerHMM.

DNA motif elucidation using belief propagation

KAUST Repository

Wong, Ka-Chun; Chan, Tak-Ming; Peng, Chengbin; Li, Yue; Zhang, Zhaolei

2013-01-01

Protein-binding microarray (PBM) is a high-throughout platform that can measure the DNA-binding preference of a protein in a comprehensive and unbiased manner. A typical PBM experiment can measure binding signal intensities of a protein to all the possible DNA k-mers (k = 8 ?10); such comprehensive binding affinity data usually need to be reduced and represented as motif models before they can be further analyzed and applied. Since proteins can often bind to DNA in multiple modes, one of the major challenges is to decompose the comprehensive affinity data into multimodal motif representations. Here, we describe a new algorithm that uses Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) and can derive precise and multimodal motifs using belief propagations. We describe an HMM-based approach using belief propagations (kmerHMM), which accepts and preprocesses PBM probe raw data into median-binding intensities of individual k-mers. The k-mers are ranked and aligned for training an HMM as the underlying motif representation. Multiple motifs are then extracted from the HMM using belief propagations. Comparisons of kmerHMM with other leading methods on several data sets demonstrated its effectiveness and uniqueness. Especially, it achieved the best performance on more than half of the data sets. In addition, the multiple binding modes derived by kmerHMM are biologically meaningful and will be useful in interpreting other genome-wide data such as those generated from ChIP-seq. The executables and source codes are available at the authors' websites: e.g. http://www.cs.toronto.edu/?wkc/kmerHMM. 2013 The Author(s).

DNA motif elucidation using belief propagation

KAUST Repository

Wong, Ka-Chun

2013-06-29

Protein-binding microarray (PBM) is a high-throughout platform that can measure the DNA-binding preference of a protein in a comprehensive and unbiased manner. A typical PBM experiment can measure binding signal intensities of a protein to all the possible DNA k-mers (k = 8 ?10); such comprehensive binding affinity data usually need to be reduced and represented as motif models before they can be further analyzed and applied. Since proteins can often bind to DNA in multiple modes, one of the major challenges is to decompose the comprehensive affinity data into multimodal motif representations. Here, we describe a new algorithm that uses Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) and can derive precise and multimodal motifs using belief propagations. We describe an HMM-based approach using belief propagations (kmerHMM), which accepts and preprocesses PBM probe raw data into median-binding intensities of individual k-mers. The k-mers are ranked and aligned for training an HMM as the underlying motif representation. Multiple motifs are then extracted from the HMM using belief propagations. Comparisons of kmerHMM with other leading methods on several data sets demonstrated its effectiveness and uniqueness. Especially, it achieved the best performance on more than half of the data sets. In addition, the multiple binding modes derived by kmerHMM are biologically meaningful and will be useful in interpreting other genome-wide data such as those generated from ChIP-seq. The executables and source codes are available at the authors\\' websites: e.g. http://www.cs.toronto.edu/?wkc/kmerHMM. 2013 The Author(s).

Psychics, aliens, or experience? Using the Anomalistic Belief Scale to examine the relationship between type of belief and probabilistic reasoning.

Science.gov (United States)

Prike, Toby; Arnold, Michelle M; Williamson, Paul

2017-08-01

A growing body of research has shown people who hold anomalistic (e.g., paranormal) beliefs may differ from nonbelievers in their propensity to make probabilistic reasoning errors. The current study explored the relationship between these beliefs and performance through the development of a new measure of anomalistic belief, called the Anomalistic Belief Scale (ABS). One key feature of the ABS is that it includes a balance of both experiential and theoretical belief items. Another aim of the study was to use the ABS to investigate the relationship between belief and probabilistic reasoning errors on conjunction fallacy tasks. As expected, results showed there was a relationship between anomalistic belief and propensity to commit the conjunction fallacy. Importantly, regression analyses on the factors that make up the ABS showed that the relationship between anomalistic belief and probabilistic reasoning occurred only for beliefs about having experienced anomalistic phenomena, and not for theoretical anomalistic beliefs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An investigation on the effect of Health Belief Model-based education on refusal skills in high risk situations among female students.

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Boroumandfar, Khadijeh; Shabani, Fatemeh; Ghaffari, Mohtasham

2012-03-01

Various studies show an association between lack of social skills in adolescents and the future incidence of behavioral disorders. If girls, as future mothers, lack adequate health, awareness, self confidence and social skills, they may act as a source of many social problems. Therefore, the present study has tried to educate this group on one of the most essential social skills, refusal skill in high risk situation. This is a field quasi experimental study conducted on 145 female students in middle schools in Arak, Iran in 2010-2011. The schools were randomly selected. The subjects were selected through systematic random sampling from the schools' log book. The data were collected by questionnaires containing personal and familial characteristics, three health belief model structures, and behavioral intention in high risk situations. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistical tests (frequency distribution, mean, SD) and inferential tests of repetitive variance analysis and T-test through SPSS. In the present study, repetitive variance analysis showed that education by use of a health belief model had a positive effect on refusal skills in high risk situations as well as perceived barriers (p = 0.007), self-efficacy (p = 0.015), behavioral intention (p = 0.048) after educational intervention in the study group, but not on perceived benefits (p = 0.180). The results showed that education significantly increased refusal skills in high risk situations in the study group through the health belief model. With regard to the results, it is essential to equip the students with preventive behaviors to guarantee their physical, emotional and social health.

Using the Health Belief Model to Explain Mothers? and Fathers? Intention to Participate in Universal Parenting Programs

OpenAIRE

Salari, Raziye; Filus, Ania

2016-01-01

Using the Health Belief Model (HBM) as a theoretical framework, we studied factors related to parental intention to participate in parenting programs and examined the moderating effects of parent gender on these factors. Participants were a community sample of 290 mothers and 290 fathers of 5- to 10-year-old children. Parents completed a set of questionnaires assessing child emotional and behavioral difficulties and the HBM constructs concerning perceived program benefits and barriers, percei...

Internet-Specific Epistemic Beliefs and Self-Regulated Learning in Online Academic Information Searching

Science.gov (United States)

Chiu, Yen-Lin; Liang, Jyh-Chong; Tsai, Chin-Chung

2013-01-01

Epistemic beliefs have been considered as important components of the self-regulatory model; however, their relationships with self-regulated learning processes in the Internet context need further research. The main purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between Internet-specific epistemic belief dimensions and self-regulated…

Effect of Education by Text Messaging Based on Health Belief Model on Food Handling Behaviors in Health Volunteers\\' Yazd City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MA Morowatisharifabad

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The text message can be presented as a way to change patterns of behavior-based prevention programs, such as the theory of planned behavior and health belief model to be used., And as an alternative approach to the individual and group training programs should be considered. The present study examined the effectiveness of this new method in promoting food handling behavior of a team of health volunteers on health belief model was based. Methods: This study was an evaluation of an intervention in which 16 health centers, 200 health volunteers who were actively involved Yazd city who were randomly divided into two groups. After the initial test, chi-square test, t test were analyzed. The intervention group received an educational package on the SMS regarding  food handling behavior on health Belief Model was designed for codification; wantonly within a month and a half a day and after 8 weeks of the last SMS sent from any intervention and control groups was performed in a secondary assessment. Tool for data gathering questionnaire consisting of structures of health belief model including demographic variables, respectively. Data were using 18spss and employing applied, statistical tests of non-parametric Wilcoxon, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis, Chi-square and correlation coefficient the analysis was. Results: The overall food handling behavior, after training significantly increased in the intervention group (p =0/01, while the control group was not significant (p=0/21. Cooling behavior after training in the experimental group and the control group was significantly increased (p =0/00. Cooking behavior, after training in the intervention group (p =0/11 and control group( p =0/17 was not significantly increased. Individual health behavior, after training in the intervention group (p =0/13 and control group (p =0/07 was not significantly increased. Separation behavior after training has not significantly increased in the

Development and validation of the Patriarchal Beliefs Scale.

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Yoon, Eunju; Adams, Kristen; Hogge, Ingrid; Bruner, John P; Surya, Shruti; Bryant, Fred B

2015-04-01

The purpose of this research was to develop and validate a conceptually and psychometrically solid measure for patriarchal beliefs in samples of U.S. American adults from diverse demographic and geographic backgrounds. In Study 1, we identified 3 correlated factors of the Patriarchal Beliefs Scale (PBS) in data collected from the Internet (N = 279): Institutional Power of Men, Inferiority of Women, and Gendered Domestic Roles. In Study 2, data collected from the Internet (N = 284) supported both an oblique 3-factor structure and a bifactor structure of the PBS, through confirmatory factor analyses. Construct validity of the PBS was supported in relation to other gender-related measures. The PBS was correlated in expected directions with modern sexism, antifeminist attitudes, and egalitarian attitudes toward women. In Study 3, we examined measurement invariance across gender by using combined data from Study 1 and Study 2. All 3 factors of the oblique 3-factor model indicated measurement invariance, whereas the general factor represented in the bifactor model indicated nonequivalence. Mean differences in patriarchal beliefs were found for such demographic variables as gender, sexual orientation, education, and social class. Recommendations for using the PBS, as well as implications for research and practice, are discussed. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Interaction Effects of Gender and Motivational Beliefs on Self-Regulated Learning: A Study at ICT- Integrated Schools

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Abdullah, Melissa Ng Lee Yen

2016-01-01

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the interaction effects of gender and motivational beliefs on students' self-regulated learning. Specifically, three types of motivational beliefs under the Expectancy-Value Model were examined, namely self-efficacy, control beliefs and anxiety. Methodology: A quantitative correlational research design was used…

A textbook of belief dynamics solutions to exercises

CERN Document Server

Hansson, Sven Ove

1999-01-01

The mid-1980s saw the discovery of logical tools that make it possible to model changes in belief and knowledge in entirely new ways. These logical tools turned out to be applicable to both human beliefs and to the contents of databases. Philosophers, logicians, and computer scientists have contributed to making this interdisciplinary field one of the most exciting in the cognitive scientists - and one that is expanding rapidly. This, the first textbook in the new area, contains both discursive chapters with a minimum of formalism and formal chapters in which proofs and proof methods are presented. Using different selections from the formal sections, according to the author's detailed advice, allows the book to be used at all levels of university education. A supplementary volume contains solutions to the 210 exercises. The volume's unique, comprehensive coverage means that it can also be used by specialists in the field of belief dynamics and related areas, such as non-monotonic reasoning and knowledge repre...

Examining the Role of Self-Disclosure and Connectedness in the Process of Instructional Dissent: A Test of the Instructional Beliefs Model

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Johnson, Zac D.; LaBelle, Sara

2015-01-01

The current study examined the relationship between student-to-student communicative behaviors and communication outcomes in the college classroom. The instructional beliefs model was used to examine student self-disclosures, student perceptions of connectedness, and student enactment of instructional dissent. Students (N = 351) completed…

Idealized cultural beliefs about gender: implications for mental health.

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Mahalingam, Ramaswami; Jackson, Benita

2007-12-01

In this paper, we examined the relationship between culture-specific ideals (chastity, masculinity, caste beliefs) and self-esteem, shame and depression using an idealized cultural model proposed by Mahalingam (2006, In: Mahalingam R (ed) Cultural psychology of immigrants. Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ, pp 1-14). Participants were from communities with a history of extreme male-biased sex ratios in Tamilnadu, India (N = 785). We hypothesized a dual-process model of self-appraisals suggesting that achieving idealized cultural identities would increase both self-esteem and shame, with the latter leading to depression, even after controlling for key covariates. We tested this using structural equation modeling. The proposed idealized cultural identities model had an excellent fit (CFI = 0.99); the effect of idealized identities on self-esteem, shame and depression differed by gender. Idealized beliefs about gender relate to psychological well-being in gender specific ways in extreme son preference communities. We discuss implications of these findings for future research and community-based interventions.

A Micro-simulation model of updating expected travel time in provision of travel information : A bayesian belief approach implemented in a multi-state supernetwork

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Parvaneh, Z.; Liao, F.; Arentze, T.A.; Timmermans, H.J.P.; Shakshuki, Elhadi; Yasar, Ansar

2014-01-01

This study introduces a model of individual belief updating of subjective travel times as a function of the provision of different types of travel information. Travel information includes real-time prescriptive or descriptive, and public or personal information. The model is embedded in a

Belief Control Practices and Organizational Performances: A Survey ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Belief Control Practices and Organizational Performances: A Survey of Sugar Industry in Kenya. ... employees in the company core values and design of strategic control systems to cope with changing internal and external operating business ...

Emergency Department Staff Beliefs About Self-Harm: A Thematic Framework Analysis.

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Koning, Kate Louise; McNaught, Angela; Tuffin, Keith

2017-11-03

To explore the beliefs and attitudes of emergency department staff about self-harm behaviour. Existing studies looking at views regarding self-harm rely solely on the information provided by medical and nursing staff using a questionnaire format. No studies currently consider ancillary staff members' beliefs about self-harm, even though they also work with these patients. A thematic framework analysis of interview transcripts was carried out. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted from December 2015 to February 2016. Fifteen medical, nursing, and ancillary staff members from a large, tertiary emergency department participated. There were 5 major themes identified-causes of self-harm are multifactorial; beliefs about self-harm can change over time; emergency departments should only focus on the physical; self-harm occurs on a spectrum; and the system has failed. The results suggest participants felt ill-prepared and lacking in appropriate training to help patients that self-harm, and furthermore they have little faith in the mental health system. Staff beliefs and attitudes may change over time with exposure to patients who self-harm, possibly becoming more positive in response to a greater understanding of why the self-harm behaviour is occurring.

Neural correlates of belief-bias reasoning under time pressure: a near-infrared spectroscopy study.

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Tsujii, Takeo; Watanabe, Shigeru

2010-04-15

The dual-process theory of reasoning explained the belief-bias effect, the tendency for human reasoning to be erroneously biased when logical conclusions are incongruent with belief about the world, by proposing a belief-based fast heuristic system and a logic-based slow analytic system. Although the claims were supported by behavioral findings that the belief-bias effect was enhanced when subjects were not given sufficient time for reasoning, the neural correlates were still unknown. The present study therefore examined the relationship between the time-pressure effect and activity in the inferior frontal cortex (IFC) during belief-bias reasoning using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Forty-eight subjects performed congruent and incongruent reasoning tasks, involving long-span (20 s) and short-span trials (10 s). Behavioral analysis found that only incongruent reasoning performance was impaired by the time-pressure of short-span trials. NIRS analysis found that the time-pressure decreased right IFC activity during incongruent trials. Correlation analysis showed that subjects with enhanced right IFC activity could perform better in incongruent trials, while subjects for whom the right IFC activity was impaired by the time-pressure could not maintain better reasoning performance. These findings suggest that the right IFC may be responsible for the time-pressure effect in conflicting reasoning processes. When the right IFC activity was impaired in the short-span trials in which subjects were not given sufficient time for reasoning, the subjects may rely on the fast heuristic system, which result in belief-bias responses. We therefore offer the first demonstration of neural correlates of time-pressure effect on the IFC activity in belief-bias reasoning. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Development of preservice elementary teachers' science self- efficacy beliefs and its relation to science conceptual understanding

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Menon, Deepika

-efficacy beliefs included: (1) enhanced science conceptual understandings, (2) active learning experiences, (3) teaching strategies, and (4) instructor as a role-model. Findings suggest that despite of the nature of prior science experiences preservice elementary teachers previously had, an exposure to a course that integrates relevant science content along with modeled instructional strategies can positively impact science self-efficacy beliefs. While some course elements such as active learning experiences and teaching models seemed to impact all groups positively, the low group participants were particularly influenced by the multiple representations of the content and the course instructor as a role model. These findings have important implications for preservice science teacher preparation programs.

A temporal modelling environment for internally grounded beliefs, desires and intentions

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Jonker, C.M.; Treur, J.; Wijngaards, W.C.A.

In this paper the internal dynamics of mental states, in particular states based on beliefs, desires and intentions, is formalised using a temporal language. A software environment is presented that can be used to specify, simulate and analyse temporal dependencies between mental states in

The Puerto Rican Prison Experience: A Multicultural Understanding of Values, Beliefs, and Attitudes.

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Rivera, Edil Torres; Wilbur, Michael P.; Roberts-Wilbur, Janice

1998-01-01

Counselors are challenged to use a nontraditional, multicultural approach with Puerto Rican inmates, to strive to understand their values, beliefs, experiences, and behaviors; and to question their own underlying assumptions and linear models of therapy. Five specific recommendations are made, and a comparison of beliefs and values is appended.…

Development and Validation of the Family Beliefs Inventory: A Measure of Unrealistic Beliefs among Parents and Adolescents.

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Roehling, Patricia Vincent; Robin, Arthur L.

1986-01-01

Evaluated the criterion-related validity of the Family Beliefs Inventory, a new self-report measure of unreasonable beliefs regarding parent-adolescent relationships. Distressed fathers displayed more unreasonable beliefs concerning ruination, obedience, perfectionism, and malicious intent than nondistressed fathers. Distressed adolescents…

Does Closeness to Someone Who Is Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual Influence Etiology Beliefs About Homosexuality?

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Chonody, Jill M; Kavanagh, Phillip S; Woodford, Michael R

2016-12-01

Research suggests that contact with sexual minorities and etiology beliefs regarding the origins of homosexuality are associated with antigay bias; however, factors related to etiology beliefs have received little empirical attention. Our primary research question is: Does closeness to someone who is gay, lesbian, or bisexual influence etiology beliefs? Students (n = 851) from four U.S. universities completed an anonymous survey, and regression results indicated that contact and closeness were not significantly associated with etiology beliefs. Because both contact and relationship closeness were associated with antigay attitudes, and closeness demonstrated the largest effect, we tested three alternative structural equation models to determine if contact and closeness mediated etiology beliefs. Results suggested that contact and the degree of closeness are indirectly associated with students' etiology beliefs through antigay bias.

Constructivism, Factoring, and Beliefs.

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Rauff, James V.

1994-01-01

Discusses errors made by remedial intermediate algebra students in factoring polynomials in light of student definitions of factoring. Found certain beliefs about factoring to logically imply many of the errors made. Suggests that belief-based teaching can be successful in teaching factoring. (16 references) (Author/MKR)

Deep Belief Network Based Hybrid Model for Building Energy Consumption Prediction

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Chengdong Li

2018-01-01

Full Text Available To enhance the prediction performance for building energy consumption, this paper presents a modified deep belief network (DBN based hybrid model. The proposed hybrid model combines the outputs from the DBN model with the energy-consuming pattern to yield the final prediction results. The energy-consuming pattern in this study represents the periodicity property of building energy consumption and can be extracted from the observed historical energy consumption data. The residual data generated by removing the energy-consuming pattern from the original data are utilized to train the modified DBN model. The training of the modified DBN includes two steps, the first one of which adopts the contrastive divergence (CD algorithm to optimize the hidden parameters in a pre-train way, while the second one determines the output weighting vector by the least squares method. The proposed hybrid model is applied to two kinds of building energy consumption data sets that have different energy-consuming patterns (daily-periodicity and weekly-periodicity. In order to examine the advantages of the proposed model, four popular artificial intelligence methods—the backward propagation neural network (BPNN, the generalized radial basis function neural network (GRBFNN, the extreme learning machine (ELM, and the support vector regressor (SVR are chosen as the comparative approaches. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed DBN based hybrid model has the best performance compared with the comparative techniques. Another thing to be mentioned is that all the predictors constructed by utilizing the energy-consuming patterns perform better than those designed only by the original data. This verifies the usefulness of the incorporation of the energy-consuming patterns. The proposed approach can also be extended and applied to some other similar prediction problems that have periodicity patterns, e.g., the traffic flow forecasting and the electricity consumption

Contested collaboration: A descriptive model of intergroup communication in information system design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sonnenwald, D.H.

1995-01-01

. The model describes design phases, roles, themes, and intergroup communication networks as they evolve throughout the design process and characterizes design as a process of ''contested collaboration.'' It is a first step towards a predictive design model that suggests strategies which may help participants......Many information system design situations today include users, designers, and developers who, with their own unique group and individual perspectives, need to interact so that they can come to a working understanding of how the information system being developed will coexist with and ideally...... support patterns of work activities, social groups, and personal beliefs. In these situations, design is fundamentally an interactive process that requires communication among users, designers, and developers. However, communication among these groups is often difficult although of paramount importance...

Modeling quality of life in patients with rheumatic diseases: the role of pain catastrophizing, fear-avoidance beliefs, physical disability, and depression.

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Shim, Eun-Jung; Hahm, Bong-Jin; Go, Dong Jin; Lee, Kwang-Min; Noh, Hae Lim; Park, Seung-Hee; Song, Yeong Wook

2018-06-01

To examine factors in the fear-avoidance model, such as pain, pain catastrophizing, fear-avoidance beliefs, physical disability, and depression and their relationships with physical and psychological quality of life in patients with rheumatic diseases. The data were obtained from 360 patients with rheumatic diseases who completed self-report measures assessing study variables. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the hypothesized relationships among factors specified in the fear-avoidance model predicting physical and psychological quality of life. Final models fit the data well, explaining 96% and 82% of the variance in physical and psychological quality of life, respectively. Higher pain catastrophizing was related to stronger fear-avoidance beliefs that had a direct negative association with physical disability and depression, which, in turn, negatively affected physical quality of life. Pain severity was also directly related to physical disability. Physical disability also affected physical quality of life indirectly through depression. The hypothesized relationships specified in the model were also confirmed for psychological quality of life. However, physical disability had an indirect association with psychological quality of life via depression. The current results underscore the significant role of cognitive, affective, and behavioral factors in perceived physical disability and their mediated detrimental effect on physical and psychological quality of life in patients with rheumatic diseases. Implications for rehabilitation The fear-avoidance model is applicable to the prediction of quality of life in patients with rheumatic diseases. As pain-catastrophizing and fear-avoidance beliefs are important factors linked to physical disability and depression, intervening these cognitive factors is necessary to improve physical function and depression in patients with rheumatic diseases. Considering the strong association between depression and

Dissociation, Paranormal Belief, and Quality of Life in Older People

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tungshan Chou

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The measurement of religiosity in current health-related literature is mostly based on the traditional Christian belief system. It has been argued that such a measurement approach may misrepresent the true degree of religiosity in Taiwanese people. In this study, religiosity was measured in two ways: self-reported religion type and a qualitatively derived index of religious piety based on principles as suggested by Gries, Su, and Schak to be used in the Taiwanese context. Their effects on dissociation, paranormal belief, and quality of life were juxtaposed for comparison. In addition, the beneficial effect of religious piety was examined in the framework of McClenon’s ritual healing theory. A total of 266 healthy older adults across Taiwan were interviewed by four trained assistants over a 4-month period. Factor scores were used to represent the dissociative tendencies (depersonalization/derealization, forgetfulness, amnesia, and psychological absorption and paranormal belief facets (precognition, psi power, other forms of life, traditional religious belief, superstition, and telepathy. The results showed that older people of high religious piety display better quality of life profiles than their counterparts in the low religious piety group. The effects of self-reported religion type were mainly seen with paranormal beliefs compatible with their religious beliefs, whereas the effects of religious piety were more pronounced in relation to quality of life than dissociation and paranormal belief. The beneficial advantage of dissociation hypothesized by ritual healing theory did not receive empirical support in the nonclinical sample of this study.

Beliefs in Context: Understanding Language Policy Implementation at a Systems Level

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Hopkins, Megan

2016-01-01

Drawing on institutional theory, this study describes how cognitive, normative, and regulative mechanisms shape bilingual teachers' language policy implementation in both English-only and bilingual contexts. Aligned with prior educational language policy research, findings indicate the important role that teachers' beliefs play in the policy…

Concern beliefs in medications: changes over time and medication use factors related to a change in beliefs.

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Shiyanbola, Olayinka O; Farris, Karen B; Chrischilles, Elizabeth

2013-01-01

Concern belief in medication is a construct that may characterize patients' attitude toward managing medicines, and this could change with time. Understanding the factors that would impact a change in concern beliefs would be helpful in interventions that could reframe patients' perceptions about their medicines. To examine if patient concern beliefs in medications change over time, assess the characteristics of individuals whose beliefs change, and determine what factors might impact a change in patient beliefs. Secondary data analysis using 2 longitudinal studies. The first study was an Internet-based survey of Medicare enrollees pre-post Medicare Part D. The second study was a randomized controlled trial evaluating a medication management intervention among adults with physical limitations. Respondents were classified as those whose beliefs remained stable and those whose beliefs increased and decreased over 2 separate periods. Chi-square analysis examined significant differences across the groups. Multiple linear regressions examined factors that influence changes in patient beliefs. Among older adults, there were differences in perceived health status (χ(2)=26.05, P=.001), number of pharmacies used (χ(2)=17.41, P=.008), and number of medicines used after the start of Medicare Part D. There were no significant differences among adults with physical limitations. Among older adults, having an increased number of medicines over time and reporting a self-reported adverse effect to a physician were positively associated with an increase in concern beliefs in medication. Having an increase in adherence was associated with a decrease in concern beliefs over time. Concern beliefs in medications may contribute independent information about individuals' response to drug programs and policies. Outcomes of medication use may influence patient anxieties about medicines. The instability of patient concerns in medications that occurs with prescription drug coverage changes