Creating safe environments: optimal acoustic alarming of laypeople in fire prevention.

Hazards like fires occur regularly and can cost people's lives. Optimal auditory alarm signals enable laypeople to recognise dangers and to protect themselves. Existing fire alarm sound research focuses on alarm sounds and voice alerts presented singularly. We explored a combination of both and aimed to identify alarm signals that work optimally in everyday life. Thus, we conducted two online experiments: In Study 1 (N = 379), we tested eight alarm sounds regarding their typicality, their familiarity, their arousal, their valence, and their dominance. Siren-like alarm sounds were the most effective. In Study 2 (N = 206), we combined the four most effective alarm sounds with a voice alert. The voice alert reinforced ambiguity reduction, action motivation, and action intention. Hence, we suggest using alarm sounds with siren-like patterns. They should be combined with a voice alert to foster a quick and specific (target task-oriented) reaction.Practitioner summary: Warning laypeople is of great importance in time-critical hazards. In two remote testing studies (NTotal = 585), auditory alarm sounds with siren-like patterns resulted in the most distinct and emotional perception. Combining the alarm sound with a voice alert adds meaning to the alarm and fosters action intention.Abbreviations: DIN: Deutsches Institut für Normung [German Institute for Standardization]; ISO: International Organization for Standardization; Mixed MANOVA: mixed measures multivariate analysis of variance; rmMANOVA: repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance.

Managing Pandemics-Demands, Resources, and Effective Behaviors Within Crisis Management Teams.

Pandemics, such as the COVID-19 crisis, are very complex emergencies that can neither be handled by individuals nor by any single municipality, organization or even country alone. Such situations require multidisciplinary crisis management teams (CMTs) at different administrative levels. However, most existing CMTs are trained for rather local and temporary emergencies but not for international and long-lasting crises. Moreover, CMT members in a pandemic face additional demands due to unknown characteristics of the disease and a highly volatile environment. To support and ensure the effectiveness of CMTs, we need to understand how CMT members can successfully cope with these multiple demands. Connecting teamwork research with the job demands and resources approach as starting framework, we conducted structured interviews and critical incident analyses with 144 members of various CMTs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Content analyses revealed both perceived demands as well as perceived resources in CMTs. Moreover, structuring work processes, open, precise and regular communication, and anticipatory, goal-oriented and fast problem solving were described as particularly effective behaviors in CMTs. We illustrate our findings in an integrated model and derive practical recommendations for the work and future training of CMTs.

Fight or flight? Behaviour and experiences of laypersons in the face of an incipient fire.

Within minutes, an incipient fire can develop into a life-threatening full fire. Consequently, it should be fought as early as possible. But are laypersons capable of doing this? In such a situation, how do they behave and feel? These questions are addressed in the current study. Persons without any professional firefighting training (N = 64) were confronted in two experimental runs with a real incipient fire in the form of a burning pillow. The results show that most participants were motivated and able to extinguish the fire successfully. However, most of them made a number of mistakes. Of central importance for extinguishing the fire was self-efficacy. Furthermore, participants improved greatly in the second round, especially regarding reaction time span and various psychological variables (e.g. stress, mood). Particularly on the basis of these exercise effects, we can derive a number of practical implications. Practitioner Summary: Laypersons are willing and able to successfully fight an incipient fire. Yet, their behaviour is not optimal and could lead to self-endangerment. Thus, it is critically important that people perform practical exercises as part of fire safety trainings and repeat them after some time. Abbreviatons: TPB: theory of planned behaviour; CIT: critical incident technique; MANOVA: multivariate analysis of variance.

[Toolbox for user-experience evaluation of online health information]. / Toolbox zur Website-Evaluation: Erfassung der User Experience von Onlinegesundheitsinformationen.

The Internet is now a central source of health information. An ideal design of web services and e­health programs requires valid evaluations of users' perceptions, the so-called user experience. As part of a research project with the German Federal Centre for Health Education (BZgA), a toolbox for website evaluation (for screening and monitoring) was compiled for this purpose from freely available quantitative empirical questionnaires. With this toolbox, key aspects of the web user experience can be reliably and validly assessed. In this article, we describe the toolbox's components, underlying quality criteria, and practical experiences.The aim of the toolbox is to facilitate methodically high-quality, comprehensive, and time-efficient analyses. A total of nine standardized instruments and supplementary single items from three areas are documented. In the standard version of the toolbox, 35 items are used that can be answered in less than 10 min. For an extended examination of a website, the toolbox documents additional measures on website content, usability, and aesthetics. We discuss both the advantages and limitations of the toolbox and give an outlook on possible future developments.

Trust is essential: positive effects of information systems on users' memory require trust in the system.

Initial results suggest that decision support systems (DSSs) can trigger 'directed forgetting' in business settings if users trust in the DSS. In the present study, we further examined this trust effect on DSS-cued forgetting and related positive effects on users' cognitive resources, performance, and well-being. Moreover, we investigated how trust translates into behavioural intentions to use a DSS, and into actual usage of the DSS. Finally, we examined if risk-related framing of decision outcomes (loss vs. gain framing) moderates trust effects on directed forgetting and behavioural intentions. In line with our expectations, results of an experiment with N = 200 participants confirmed that trust significantly enhances directed forgetting, performance, and well-being. Behavioural intentions fully mediated the trust effect on DSS use. Framing of decision outcomes showed no moderation but a main effect on directed forgetting, with loss framing reducing the directed forgetting effect. Practitioner summary: This experimental study demonstrates the importance of trust in information systems to leverage positive effects of these systems on users' cognitive resources, performance, and well-being in a simulated complex business setting. Abbreviations: DSS(s): decision support system(s); R-F: remember-forget difference; ANOVA: difference analysis of variance.

Experimental investigation on the effects of website aesthetics on user performance in different virtual tasks.

In Human-Computer Interaction research, the positive effect of aesthetics on users' subjective impressions and reactions is well-accepted. However, results regarding the influence of interface aesthetics on a user's individual performance as an objective outcome are very mixed, yet of urgent interest due to the proceeding of digitalization. In this web-based experiment (N = 331), the effect of interface aesthetics on individual performance considering three different types of tasks (search, creative, and transfer tasks) is investigated. The tasks were presented on an either aesthetic or unaesthetic website, which differed significantly in subjective aesthetics. Goal orientation (learning versus performance goals) was included as a possible moderator variable, which was manipulated by using different task instructions. Both aesthetics and goal orientation were a between-subject factor, leading to a 2 × 2 between subject design. Manipulation checks were highly significant. Yet the results show neither significant main effects of aesthetics and goal orientation on performance regarding both accuracy and response times in each of the three tasks, nor significant interaction effects. Nevertheless, from a practical perspective aesthetics still should be considered due to its positive effects on subjective perceptions of users, even as no substantial effects on user performance occurred in the present experiment.

Directed forgetting in organisations: the positive effects of decision support systems on mental resources and well-being.

Decision makers in organisations are often overtaxed by huge amounts of information in daily business processes. As a potential support strategy, this study examined 'directed forgetting' (Bjork, 1970) in a simulated sales planning scenario. We assumed that the availability of a computer-based decision support system (DSS) triggers the forgetting of decision-related background information. Such directed forgetting should not only release memory capacities for additional tasks but also enhance decision quality and decrease strain of decision makers. Assumptions were tested in an experimental study with N = 90 participants. Consistent with our assumptions, results revealed a higher recall of decision-unrelated information, higher decision quality and higher well-being when participants could use a DSS as compared to two Control conditions without a DSS. Moreover, directed forgetting effects were qualified by participants' trust in the DSS. This study provides the first evidence for directed forgetting effects cued by information systems in a business context. Practitioner summary: Information overload is an increasing challenge in modern business organisations. Extending findings from basic memory research, this study shows that availability of a computer-based decision support system triggers forgetting of decision-related background information, which in turn increases users' mental resources for additional tasks, decision quality, and well-being.

Reliability and validity of the Spinal Appearance Questionnaire (SAQ) and the Trunk Appearance Perception Scale (TAPS).

BACKGROUND: The Spinal Appearance Questionnaire (SAQ) and the Trunk Appearance Perception Scale (TAPS) are questionnaires that mostly rely on drawings to assess scoliosis patients' subjective viewpoints on their trunk deformity. Our aim was to perform an in-depth assessment of the psychometric quality of both measures, the SAQ (version 1.1) and TAPS, and compare them to provide practical recommendations. METHODS: Web-based survey study with 255 patients suffering from idiopathic scoliosis (age 30.0 ± 16.7 years, Cobb angle 43.5 ± 20.9°) and 189 matched healthy control individuals. Participants answered a broad set of validated questionnaires including SRS 22-r, PHQ-9, PANAS, FKS, WHO-5, BFI-S, and PTQ. We calculated reliability (Cronbach's α, test-retest correlations) as well as factorial, convergent, divergent, concurrent, and discriminant validity. RESULTS: Reliability was high (Cronbach's α ≥ .86; test-retest r ≥ .80), except for test-retest correlation of the SAQ Expectations scale (r = 0.67). Both the SAQ and TAPS measures showed clear factor solutions, indicating factorial validity. High correlations with theoretically related measures (e.g., SRS 22-r, overall stress, Cobb angle) indicated convergent validity. Moderate correlations occurred with concurrent criteria such as mood, depression, body dysmorphic disorder, and well-being. The matched-pair analysis revealed strong evidence for discriminant validity (Cohen's d > 2 for SAQ total score and TAPS). Subgroup analyses showed that patients with more severe Cobb angles (≥ 40°) and those ≥ 46 years of age had significantly worse SAQ and TAPS scores. CONCLUSION: We recommend using the TAPS for future clinical workups and research, as it is much shorter and revealed slightly higher psychometric quality in comparison to the SAQ.

Trust and distrust in information systems at the workplace.

Digitalization of work processes is advancing, and this is increasingly supported by complex information systems (IS). However, whether such systems are used by employees largely depends on users' trust in these IS. Because there are few systematic studies on this topic, this research provides an initial exploration and validation of preconditions for trust in work-related IS. In Study 1, N = 30 professionals were asked to describe occupational incidents in which they had highly trusted or distrusted an IS. Content analysis of 111 critical incidents described in the in-depth interviews led to 12 predictors of trust and distrust in IS, which partly correspond to the structure of the established IS success model (Delone & McLean, 2003) but also exceed this structure. The resulting integrative model of trust in IS at work was validated in Study 2 using an online questionnaire with N = 179 professionals. Based on regression analyses, reliability (system quality) and credibility (information quality) of IS were identified as the most important predictors for both trust and distrust in IS at work. Contrasting analyses revealed diverging qualities of trust and distrust in IS : whereas well-being and performance were rated higher in trust events, experienced strain was rated higher in distrust events. Together, this study offers a first comprehensive model of trust in IS at work based on systematic empirical research. In addition to implications for theory advancement, we suggest practical implications for how to support trust and to avoid distrust in IS at work.

Depressive symptoms and web user experience.

BACKGROUND: Depression, as one of the most prevalent mental disorders, is expected to become a leading cause of disability. While evidence-based treatments are not always easily accessible, Internet-based information and self-help appears as a promising approach to improve the strained supply situation by avoiding barriers of traditional offline treatment. User experience in the domain of mental problems therefore emerges as an important research topic. The aim of our study is to investigate the impact of depressive symptoms on subjective and objective measures of web user experience. METHOD: In this two-part online study (Ntotal = 721) we investigate the relationship between depressive symptoms of web users and basic website characteristics (i.e., content, subjective and objective usability, aesthetics). Participants completed search and memory tasks on different fully-functional websites. In addition, they were asked to evaluate the given websites with standardized measures and were screened for symptoms of depression using the PHQ-9. We used structural equation modeling (SEM) to determine whether depression severity affects users' perception of and performance in using information websites. RESULTS: We found significant associations between depressive symptoms and subjective user experience, specifically of website content, usability, and aesthetics, as well as an effect of content perception on the overall appraisal of a website in terms of the intention to visit it again. Small yet significant negative effects of depression severity on all named subjective website evaluations were revealed, leading to an indirect negative effect on the intention to revisit a website via impaired content perceptions. However, objective task performance was not influenced by depressiveness of users. DISCUSSION: Depression emerges as capable of altering the subjective perception of a website to some extend with respect to the main features content, usability, and aesthetics. The user experience of a website is crucial, especially as it facilitates revisiting a website and thus might be relevant in avoiding drop-out in online interventions. Thus, the biased impression of persons affected by symptoms of depression and resulting needs of those users should be considered when designing and evaluating E-(Mental)-Health-platforms. The high prevalence of some mental disorders such as depression in the general population stresses the need for further investigations of the found effects.

German validation of the quality of life profile for spinal disorders (QLPSD).

BACKGROUND: The Quality of Life Profile for Spine Deformities (QLPSD) is a self-reporting questionnaire designed for studying patients with spinal deformities. PURPOSE: The aim of the present study was to systematically translate the QLPSD into German (G-QLPSD) and to test its reliability and validity. Special emphasis was intended to be given to patients with different Cobb angles and ages. METHODS: The QLPSD was systematically translated into German and was responded to in a web-based online survey by patients with idiopathic scoliosis and by healthy control individuals to carry out a matched-pair analysis. Participants aged 14 years and older were included. All participants answered a battery of validated questionnaires (SRS 22-r, PHQ-9, PANAS, FKS, WHO-5, BFI-S, PTQ). Reliability testing included Cronbach's alpha and test-retest reliability (retest 8 weeks after initial testing). Factorial, convergent, divergent, concurrent, and discriminant validity were calculated. RESULTS: A total of 255 scoliosis patients (age 30.0 ± 16.7 years, Cobb angle 43.5° ± 20.9°) and 189 matched healthy control individuals were finally included. Cronbach's alpha for the G-QLPSD total score was 0.93 and the test-retest reliability was 0.84. The G-QLPSD total score correlated with the SRS 22-r total score (r = -0.86). All concurrently applied scores showed strong correlations with the G-QLPSD (e.g., depression score PHQ-9: r = 0.70). The matched-pair analysis of 189 pairs showed strong discriminant validity (Cohen's d = 0.78). Patients with more severe Cobb angles (≥40°) and those ≥18 years of age had significantly poorer results than patients with minor curves and younger patients. CONCLUSION: The G-QLPSD proved to be a highly reliable and valid instrument that can be recommended for clinical use in scoliosis patients.

Electrophysiological correlates of aesthetic processing of webpages: a comparison of experts and laypersons.

We investigated whether design experts or laypersons evaluate webpages differently. Twenty participants, 10 experts and 10 laypersons, judged the aesthetic value of a webpage in an EEG-experiment. Screenshots of 150 webpages, judged as aesthetic or as unaesthetic by another 136 participants, served as stimulus material. Behaviorally, experts and laypersons evaluated unaesthetic webpages similarly, but they differed in their evaluation of aesthetic ones: experts evaluated aesthetic webpages as unaesthetic more often than laypersons did. The ERP-data show main effects of level of expertise and of aesthetic value only. There was no interaction of expertise and aesthetics. In a time-window of 110-130 ms after stimulus onset, aesthetic webpages elicited a more negative EEG-amplitude than unaesthetic webpages. In the same time window, experts had more negative EEG-amplitudes than laypersons. This patterning of results continued until a time window of 600-800 ms in which group and aesthetic differences diminished. An interaction of perceiver characteristics and object properties that several interactionist theories postulate was absent in the EEG-data. Experts seem to process the stimuli in a more thorough manner than laypersons. The early activation differences between aesthetic and unaesthetic webpages is in contrast with some theories of aesthetic processing and has not been reported before.

German validation of the BIDQ-S questionnaire on body image disturbance in idiopathic scoliosis.

PURPOSE: The Body Image Disturbance Questionnaire-Scoliosis (BIDQ-S) is a seven-item questionnaire inquiring into patients' worries about back shape and associated problems at school, at work, with friends or family, and whether the patients are avoiding certain activities. The aim of this study was to translate the BIDQ-S into German (G-BIDQ-S), test its reliability, and establish its convergent, divergent, concurrent, and discriminant validity. METHODS: In a prospective cohort study, 259 patients with idiopathic scoliosis (mean age 30.2; 221 female; mean Cobb angle 43.8°) completed the G-BIDQ-S; Scoliosis Research Society 22-r (SRS 22-r); Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9); Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS); Questionnaire on Body Dysmorphic Symptoms (FKS); and WHO-5 Well-Being Index. Healthy control individuals matched by age, sex and BMI (n = 149; mean age 36.1; 133 female; BMI = 23.0) answered the same questions to establish discriminant validity. Discriminant statistics, and Pearson and Spearman correlations were calculated. RESULTS: The G-BIDQ-S proved to be one-factorial, internally consistent (Cronbach alpha = 0.87), and stable over time (total score 2.22 vs. 2.21 during retest; retest reliability r = 0.79, P < 0.001). It correlated significantly with the mean SRS 22-r (r = -0.72, P < 0.001) and with Cobb angles (r = 0.30, P < 0.001)-convergent validity; much less with body mass index (r = 0.19, P < 0.001)-divergent validity; and with the PANAS (r = 0.55, P < 0.001), PHQ-9 (r = 0.53, P < 0.001), FKS (r = 0.67, P < 0.001), and WHO-5 (r = -0.54, P < 0.001)-concurrent validity. The G-BIDQ-S also showed discriminant validity, with a strong difference between the scoliosis group (total score 2.19) and the control group (total score 1.13; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The G-BIDQ-S showed good internal consistency, reliability, and convergent, divergent, concurrent, and discriminant validity. This questionnaire is the first one inquiring into patients' body image disturbances that has been validated and is available in German.

Establishing meaningful cut points for online user ratings.

Subjective perceptions of websites can be reliably measured with questionnaires. But it is unclear how such scores should be interpreted in practice, e.g. is an aesthetics score of 4 points on a seven-point-scale satisfactory? The current paper introduces a receiver-operating characteristic (ROC)-based methodology to establish meaningful cut points for the VisAWI (visual aesthetics of websites inventory) and its short form the VisAWI-S. In two studies we use users' global ratings (UGRs) and website rankings as anchors. A total of 972 participants took part in the studies which yielded similar results. First, one-item UGRs correlate highly with the VisAWI. Second, cut points on the VisAWI reliably differentiate between sites that are perceived as attractive versus unattractive. Third, these cut points are variable, but only within a certain range. Together the research presented here establishes a score of 4.5 on the VisAWI which is a reasonable goal for website designers and highlights the utility of the ROC methodology to derive relevant scores for rating scales.

Reliabilities of mental rotation tasks: limits to the assessment of individual differences.

Mental rotation tasks with objects and body parts as targets are widely used in cognitive neuropsychology. Even though these tasks are well established to study between-groups differences, the reliability on an individual level is largely unknown. We present a systematic study on the internal consistency and test-retest reliability of individual differences in mental rotation tasks comparing different target types and orders of presentations. In total n = 99 participants (n = 63 for the retest) completed the mental rotation tasks with hands, feet, faces, and cars as targets. Different target types were presented in either randomly mixed blocks or blocks of homogeneous targets. Across all target types, the consistency (split-half reliability) and stability (test-retest reliabilities) were good or acceptable both for intercepts and slopes. At the level of individual targets, only intercepts showed acceptable reliabilities. Blocked presentations resulted in significantly faster and numerically more consistent and stable responses. Mental rotation tasks-especially in blocked variants-can be used to reliably assess individual differences in global processing speed. However, the assessment of the theoretically important slope parameter for individual targets requires further adaptations to mental rotation tests.

Spatial frequencies in aesthetic website evaluations--explaining how ultra-rapid evaluations are formed.

This study investigates how aesthetic website evaluations, especially those formed after very brief presentations, depend on visual information that is encoded in low- or high-spatial frequencies. A total of 92 participants took part in the experiment. The study used a 3 × 3 mixed design in which presentation time (50, 500 and 10000 ms) and spatial filtering (low-pass filtered, high-pass filtered and unfiltered stimuli) were manipulated. First, we replicate prior results from online studies of high- and low-spatial frequencies. Second, we confirm a prediction from neurocognitive models that only low-spatial frequencies are relevant to aesthetic judgements in ultra-rapid presentation modes. Third, we demonstrate that stimulus repetitions lead to an overestimation of the importance of ultra-rapid stimulus presentations. Taken together, our results highlight the utility of neurocognitive models of visual processing to explain the rapid aesthetic evaluation of websites. PRACTITIONER SUMMARY: Using neurocognitive models we present an approach to explain how aesthetic impressions are formed. We show that ultra-rapid judgements are connected with low- but not with high-spatial frequencies, which are neurologically processed in different visual pathways. Furthermore we identify possible methodological problems in previous studies of ultra-rapid website perception.

High and low spatial frequencies in website evaluations.

Which features of websites are important for users' perceptions regarding aesthetics or usability? This study investigates how evaluations of aesthetic appeal and usability depend on high vs. low spatial frequencies. High spatial frequencies convey information on fine details, whereas low spatial frequencies convey information about the global layout. Participants rated aesthetic appeal and usability of 50 website screenshots from different domains. Screenshots were presented unfiltered, low-pass filtered with blurred targets or high-pass filtered with high-pass filtered targets. The main result is that low spatial frequencies can be seen to have a unique contribution in perceived website aesthetics, thus confirming a central prediction from processing fluency theory. There was no connection between low spatial frequencies and usability evaluations, whereas strong correlations were found between ratings of high-pass filtered websites and those of unfiltered websites in aesthetics and usability. This study thus offers a new perspective on the biological basis of users' website perceptions. This research links ergonomics to neurocognitive models of visual processing. This paper investigates how high and low spatial frequencies, which are neurologically processed in different visual pathways, independently contribute to users' perceptions of websites. This is very relevant for theories of website perceptions and for practitioners of web design.