Computational Psychometrics in Communication and Implications in Decision Making

Prevalence and health correlates of Onine Fatigue: A cross-sectional study on the Italian academic community during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people had to shift their social and work life online. A few researchers and journalists described a new form of fatigue associated with a massive use of technology, including videoconferencing platforms. In this study, this type of fatigue was referred to as Online Fatigue. A new tool (the Online Fatigue Scale) was developed, and its psychometric properties were evaluated. This tool was used to assess Online Fatigue among Italian academics and to examine its associations with psychological and physical health.

Methods

An online survey was conducted in December 2020 on a sample of Italian academics. Besides the Online Fatigue Scale (11 items) used to assess Online Fatigue, the survey was composed of questionnaires (including validated measures) focused on sociodemographic and job-related information, technostress creators, health status, psychological well-being, and COVID-related perceived distress. The psychometric properties of the Online Fatigue Scale were evaluated, and statistical analyses were conducted to examine the associations between Online Fatigue and all the other variables.

Results

Participants were 307 academics aged 24–70 years old (mean age = 40.7; SD = 10.1). The Online Fatigue Scale showed good psychometric properties. Two subscales were identified: Off-Balance Fatigue and Virtual Relations Fatigue. High levels of Off-Balance Fatigue were associated with a greater use of technology, female gender, and presence of minor children. Participants with high scores on both subscales reported a greater frequency of psychosomatic symptoms, unhealthy habits, poorer psychological well-being, and greater Covid-related perceived distress.

Conclusions

The Online Fatigue Scale can be considered a reliable tool to assess Online Fatigue, which was significantly detected in our sample of Italian academics, along with its negative effects on physical and psychological health. Being a woman and having young children represent important risk factors. Universities should promote the separation between work and private life by encouraging self-care activities.

Clinical Decision-making among Emergency Physicians: Experiential or Rational?

It has been postulated that everyone has an affinity for one of two cognitive approaches: experiential (intuitive) or rational (conscious). The aim of this study was to analyze the thinking processes of Saudi emergency physicians at nine hospitals in Riyadh. This was a cross-sectional study, which was undertaken in Riyadh using a psychometric tool called the Rational–Experiential Inventory-40. The survey, sent by e-mail to 202 emergency physicians, had a 53% response rate. Most respondents were male (86%). The total surveyed participants included consultants (36%), associate consultants (19%), registrars, fellow or staff physicians (7%), and residents (38%). The results found a mean (standard deviation) score of 3.73 (0.51) for rational approaches to decision-making and 3.09 (0.45) for experiential approaches among the emergency physicians surveyed. The difference of 0.46 between the two scores was not statistically significant (p = 0.23). Female emergency physicians tended toward slower logical thinking (rational). Consultant emergency physicians had a higher score for fast intuitive automatic thinking (experiential) than nonconsultant physicians. This was statistically significant, t₁₀₅ = 2.1, p = 0.4. Our results suggest that although both thinking styles are used in clinical decision-making, consultant emergency physicians prefer rational approaches to decision-making.

Preference of cognitive approaches for decision making among anesthesiologists' in Saudi Arabia

Aims:

The aim of this study was to analyze the thinking processes of anesthesia physicians at in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam cities in Saudi Arabia.

Subjects and Methods:

This cross-sectional study was undertaken in the cities of Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam in Saudi Arabia. Using a previously published psychometric tool (the Rational and Experiential Inventory, REI-40), the survey was sent through email and social networks to anesthesia physicians working in the targeted hospitals. An initial survey was sent out, followed by a reminder and a second survey to nonrespondents. Analysis included descriptive statistics and Student's t-tests.

Results:

Most of the participants (69.2%) were males. At the time of the study, 35% of participants were consultants; 9.6% were associate consultants; 19.2% were registrars, fellows, or staff physicians; and 35.8% were senior residents. Anesthesia physicians’ mean “rational” score was 3.22 [standard deviation (SD) =0.49)] and their mean “experiential” score was 3.01 (SD = 0.31). According to Pearson's correlation, the difference of 0.21 between these two scores was not statistically significant (P = 0.35). Male anesthesia physicians tended more toward faster, logical thinking. Consultant anesthesia physicians had faster rational thinking than nonconsultant physicians (P = 0.01). Anesthesia physicians with more than 10 years in practice had faster rational thinking than physicians who had worked for fewer than 10 years (P = 0.001).

Conclusions:

This study evaluated anesthesia physicians’ general decision-making approaches. Despite the fact that both rational and experiential techniques are used in clinical decision-making, male consultants and physicians with more than 10 years’ experience and certified non-Saudi board anesthesiologists prefer rational decision-making style.

Computational Psychometrics for Modeling System Dynamics during Stressful Disasters

Disasters can be very stressful events. However, computational models of stress require data that might be very difficult to collect during disasters. Moreover, personal experiences are not repeatable, so it is not possible to collect bottom-up information when building a coherent model. To overcome these problems, we propose the use of computational models and virtual reality integration to recreate disaster situations, while examining possible dynamics in order to understand human behavior and relative consequences. By providing realistic parameters associated with disaster situations, computational scientists can work more closely with emergency responders to improve the quality of interventions in the future.

Computational Psychometrics Meets Hollywood: The Complexity in Emotional Storytelling

Expressions of emotions are pervasive in media, especially in movies. In this article, we focus on the emotional relationships of movie characters in narrative thought and emotional storytelling. Several studies examine emotion elicitation through movies, but there is a gap in scientific literature and in the practice to quantitatively consider emotions among the characters of a movie story, which in turn provide the basis of spectator emotion elicitation. Some might argument that the ultimate purpose of a movie is to elicit emotions in the viewers; however, we are highlighting that the path to emotional stimulation entails emotions among the characters composing a narrative and manipulating to enable the effective elicitation of viewers' emotions. Here we provided and tested an effective quantitative method for analyzing these relationships in emotional networks, which allow for a clear understanding of the effects of story changes on movie perceptions and pleasantness.