Surprise

About: Surprise is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 4371 publications have been published within this topic receiving 99386 citations.

Surprise for Science, Resilience for Ecosystems, and Incentives for People

Abstract: It is an open question whether ecosystem management will become a passing fad, an expansion of existing rigid bureaucratic procedures, or a sustaining foundation for learning to deal with the interactions between people, nature, and economic activities. The report of the Ecological Society of America Committee on the Scientific Basis for Ecosystem Management makes a major contribution to the very best of those possibilities. Here I will comment on three consequences that flow from their conclusions-consequences for the kind of science, theory, and practice needed.

Young children's (Homo sapiens) understanding of knowledge formation in themselves and others.

Abstract: Three- and 4-year-old children (Homo sapiens) were tested for comprehension of knowledge formation. In Experiment 1, 34 subjects watched as a surprise was hidden under 1 of 4 obscured cups. The experimenter then pointed to the cup. All children searched under the correct cup, but no 3-year-olds (in contrast to most 4-year-olds) could explain how they knew where to look. Subjects then discriminated between simultaneous pointing by 2 adults, one who had hidden a surprise and one who had left the room before the surprise was hidden. Most 4-year-olds (but no 3-year-olds) showed clear discrimination between the adults. In Experiment 2, 16 subjects were tested with procedures designed to make the source of their own knowledge more obvious, but this had no effect on performance. We conclude that studies using very similar procedures with chimpanzees and rhesus macaques were measuring an ability (or inability) to understand how knowledge states form.

The Effects of Incongruity, Surprise and Positive Moderators on Perceived Humor in Television Advertising

Abstract: Few studies have tested models incorporating cognitive as well as affective mechanisms that help explain different levels of perceived humorousness in advertising (cf. Alden and Hoyer 1993; Speck 1991). In the first of two studies, an extended incongruity resolution model of humor perception in television advertising is proposed and tested. In that test, schema familiarity is found to moderate surprise resulting from ad content incongruity. Furthermore, playfulness of the ad, ease of resolution of the incongruity in the ad and warmth created by the ad moderate the effects of surprise on humor. Thus, surprise appears to be a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for humor in television advertising. In the second study, the role of surprise in generating humor is examined in more detail. Specifically, evidence supports the hypothesis that, following exposure to incongruity, surprise can be transformed into diverse affective outcomes such as fear and humor depending on the presence of different c...

Prognostic significance of the "surprise" question in cancer patients.

Abstract: Background Physicians consistently overestimate survival for patients with cancer. The "surprise" question--"Would I be surprised if this patient died in the next year?"--improves end-of-life care by identifying patients with a poor prognosis. It has not been previously studied in patients with cancer. Objective To determine the efficacy of the surprise question in patients with cancer. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Academic cancer center. Patients 853 consecutive patients with breast, lung, or colon cancer. Measurements Surprise question classification and patient status at 12 months, alive or dead, by surprise question response. Results Oncologists classified 826 of 853 prospective patients with cancer (97%) with 131 (16%) classified into the "No" group and 695 (84%) into the "Yes" group. In multivariate analysis, a "No" response identified patients with cancer who had a seven times greater hazard of death in the next year compared to patients in the "Yes" group (HR 7.787, p Limitations Single center study. Conclusion The surprise question is a simple, feasible, and effective tool to identify patients with cancer who have a greatly increased risk of 1-year mortality.