Economists define risk in terms of the variability of possible outcomes, whereas clinicians and laypeople generally view risk as exposure to possible loss or harm. Neuroeconomic studies using relatively simple behavioral tasks have identified a network of brain regions that respond to economic risk, but these studies have had limited success predicting naturalistic risk-taking. By contrast, mor...

The word “drone” is commonly associated with the military. However, the same term is also used for multicopters that can be and are used by civilians for a multitude of purposes. Nowadays, drones are tested for commercial delivery of goods or building inspections. A survey of 200 people, laypersons and active users, on their acceptance and perceived barriers for drone use was conducted. In the ...

Based on a model of communication according to which not only words but also body signals constitute lexicons (Poggi, 2007), the study presented aimes at building a lexicon of conductors’ multimodal behaviours requesting intensification and attenuation of sound intensity. In a corpus of concerts and rehearsals, the conductors’ body signals requesting to play or sing forte, piano, crescendo, dim...

Recent theoretical research has shown that the assumptions that both laypeople and researchers make about random sequences can be erroneous. One strand of research showed that the probability of non-occurrence of streaks of repeated outcomes (e.g., HHHHHH) is much higher than that for a more irregular sequence (e.g., HTTHTH) in short series of coin flips. This tallies with human judgments of th...

This article concerns the Danish public service broadcaster, Danmark Radio, and the programmes on health it produced from 1990 to 2010. It applies a historical perspective and, methodologically, the study is based on a qualitative content analysis of selected health programmes. Theoretically, the article is informed by ‘mediatization’ theory and demonstrates how television influences changes to...

Building on a detailed study of the Woburn, Massachusetts, childhood leukemia cluster, this paper examines lay and professional ways of knowing about environmental health risks. Of particular interest are differences between lay and professional groups' definitions of data quality, methods of analysis, traditionally accepted levels of measurement and statistical significance, and relations betw...

The assumption that everyone wants to be happy is prevalent among psychologists and laypeople alike. The present investigation suggests that motives for happiness are not consistent across individuals or contexts. Three studies demonstrate that preferences for happiness vary as a function of trait extraversion and situational demands. When anticipating an effortful task that requires increased ...

BACKGROUND: Palliative care is received by a small number of patients with terminal illness, most of them with cancer. METHODS: Data are reviewed and evaluated that relate to the barriers and problems that limit access of patients to appropriate palliative and/or hospice care. RESULTS: Palliative care generally is not well integrated into the health care system. Access is limited, and many heal...

The "transfer" model in science communication has been addressed critically from different perspectives, while the advantages of the interactive model have been continuously praised. Yet, little is done to account for the specific role of the interactive model in communicating "unfinished science." The traditional interactive methods in museums are not sufficient to keep pace with rapid scienti...

In three studies, we investigated support for applying sex offender registry laws to juveniles. Family law attorneys supported registry laws less for juveniles than for adults. Laypeople and prosecutors supported juvenile and adult sex offender registration equally--even though they perceived juveniles as generally less threatening than adults (Study 1)--because most people spontaneously envisi...