These are the current projects in my lab. Temple University students interested in working on any of these projects should email me (hantula AT temple.edu) for further information. Programmers (especially VisualBASIC and JAVAScript) are always very welcome and appreciated!

Evolutionary Behavioral Economics: This research program synthesizes matching theory, foraging theory and the economics of uncertainty in an ongoing analysis of decision making as an adaptive enterprise. 

Escalation & persistence of commitment

Current projects concern  group decision making in escalation contexts, emotional correlates of escalation, and a reconsideration of the role of sunk costs in escalation situation.

Foraging theory

Current work focuses on an analysis of the best methods for studying delay discounting, and within a video game context (SpaceForager), the degree to which the discounting parameter (k or AUC) reflects an organismic trait or a more malleable adaptive behavior, realistic manipulation of ‘energy budget’ with human subjects, and the relationship of discounting to demographic differences and such common individual difference variables as impulsivity and intelligence. Additional projects include an assessment of change in preference when online stores increase their service speed (an extension of foraging to marketing strategy) and an attempt to study the role of predation in online foraging.

Managerial & Consumer Decision Making

Current projects focus on using banner ads to transfer  affect (both positive and negative emotions) to brand logos via banner ads and a study of the determinants of credit card use and debt formation in students. Managerial studies include studies of present and future valuation of  salary and vacation time  in well paid participants (IT consultants, nurses) as well as with students.

Performance Improvement: This research program focuses on conditions of the workplace and how they may be improved. 

OBM (Organizational Behavior Management)

Current applications are in the human services industry, focusing on an analysis of in-service training for paraprofessional staff (revisiting the classic 4 levels of training evaluation)  as well as methods to  improve daily job performance.

Applications in drug treatment

Now we are busily burrowing into the reams of data from the  Patient Feedback Project; a web based performance improvement system for counselors in community drug clinics.

Occupational Health, Safety & Workplace Conditions: This research focuses on aspects of the work environment that have significant influence on employee well-being.

Sexual Harassment

This is a series of laboratory studies, accomplished in collaboration with a colleague in clinical psychology who specializes in sexual victimization, using a computer simulation to study where the ‘line’ between acceptable workplace banter and sexual harassment may be found. We are currently investigating contextual influences such as prior relationship and possible power differentials between the actors and actresses in the vignettes.

Technology: This research program explores innovative and effective use of technology in education, research, and in teamwork. 

Behavior & Technology

Although most current theories of communication predict that virtual teamwork should not be as effective as face to face teamwork, both practical experience and some recent studies show the opposite. In collaboration with colleagues in Management Information Systems (MIS), this stream of research focuses on analyzing communication in virtual teams in terms of adapting to constraints imposed by the media in use, and their relative naturalness. Current projects include problem solving processes and outcomes in teams using media of varying levels of naturalness and idea creation in large, technologically supported teams. We are also in the midst of developing a large scale theory (Media Compensation Theory) that accounts for the relative success of virtual team technology and the paradoxical difficulties with other technologies such as videoconferencing.

Does the technology used to create a work of art change its aesthetic qualities? A current project is studying  whether or not the use of artistic technology such as the camera obscura changes people's evaluation of the artwork, and this analysis will be extended to music and maybe even wine.

Education & Training Technology

Two longstanding questions involve using computer technology to provide more effective education and melding the Internet and related technologies with Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) methods. A virtual (entirely Internet based) course in Industrial/Organizational Psychology  (PSYCH 215 online) has been the test bed for many of these projects. Current work focuses on methods to best include video in asynchronous online instruction.