Imperial College London

DrAnsVercammen

Faculty of Natural SciencesCentre for Environmental Policy

Honorary Research Fellow
 
 
 
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Contact

 

ans.vercammen15

 
 
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Location

 

503Weeks BuildingSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Publication Type
Year
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13 results found

Vercammen A, Marcoci A, Burgman M, 2021, Pre-screening workers to overcome bias amplification in online labour markets, PLoS One, Vol: 16, ISSN: 1932-6203

Groups have access to more diverse information and typically outperform individuals on problem solving tasks. Crowdsolving utilises this principle to generate novel and/or superior solutions to intellective tasks by pooling the inputs from a distributed online crowd. However, it is unclear whether this particular instance of “wisdom of the crowd” can overcome the influence of potent cognitive biases that habitually lead individuals to commit reasoning errors. We empirically test the prevalence of cognitive bias on a popular crowdsourcing platform, examining susceptibility to bias of online panels at the individual and aggregate levels. We then investigate the use of the Cognitive Reflection Test, notable for its predictive validity for both susceptibility to cognitive biases in test settings and real-life reasoning, as a screening tool to improve collective performance. We find that systematic biases in crowdsourced answers are not as prevalent as anticipated, but when they occur, biases are amplified with increasing group size, as predicted by the Condorcet Jury Theorem. The results further suggest that pre-screening individuals with the Cognitive Reflection Test can substantially enhance collective judgement and improve crowdsolving performance.

Journal article

Dietsch AM, Wallen KE, Clayton S, Kretser HE, Kyle GT, Ma Z, Vercammen Aet al., 2020, Introduction: New directions in conservation psychology at a critical time, CONSERVATION BIOLOGY, Vol: 34, Pages: 1335-1338, ISSN: 0888-8892

Journal article

Thiermann U, Sheate W, Vercammen A, 2020, Practice matters: pro-environmental motivations and diet-related impact vary with meditation experience, Frontiers in Psychology, Vol: 11, ISSN: 1664-1078

Mindfulness has emerged as a potential motivator for sustainable lifestyles, yet few studies provide insight into the relationship between mindfulness practice levels and individual engagement in pro-environmental behaviors. We also lack information about the significance of meditators’ behavioral differences in terms of their measurable environmental impact and the motivational processes underlying these differences in pro-environmental performance. We classified 300 individuals in three groups with varying meditation experience and compared their pro-environmental motivations and levels of animal protein consumption. Exceeding prior attempts to compare high-impact behaviors of mindfulness practitioners and non-practitioners, we created the most detailed classification of practice engagement by assessing frequency, experience and type of meditation practice. This nuanced view on mindfulness practice reveals that advanced meditators, who reported high levels of connectedness with nature (CWN), subjective happiness and dispositional mindfulness showed significantly more concern for the environment. They also demonstrated the lowest levels of greenhouse gas emissions, land occupation and water use related to their animal-protein consumption. This study is the first to follow a self-determination theory perspective to deepen our understanding of the motivational differences between meditator groups. We revealed that advanced meditators reported significantly more integrated motivation toward the environment than non-meditators. We also provided preliminary evidence for a new theoretical framework suggesting that experiential strategies such as mindfulness practices could strengthen the relational pathway of pro-environmental behaviors. Using sequential mediation analysis, we confirmed that the negative effect of mindful compassion practice on greenhouse gas emissions from animal-protein consumption is partially mediated by CWN and integrated motivation toward the

Journal article

Vercammen A, Park C, Goddard R, Lyons-White J, Knight Aet al., 2020, A Reflection on the Fair Use of Unpaid Work in Conservation, CONSERVATION & SOCIETY, Vol: 18, Pages: 399-404, ISSN: 0972-4923

Journal article

Vercammen A, Burgman M, 2019, Untapped potential of collective intelligence in conservation and environmental decision making, Conservation Biology, Vol: 33, Pages: 1247-1255, ISSN: 0888-8892

Environmental decisions are often deferred to groups of experts, committees, or panels to develop climate policy, plan protected areas, or negotiate trade-offs for biodiversity conservation. There is, however, surprisingly little empirical research on the performance of group decision making related to the environment. We examined examples from a range of different disciplines, demonstrating the emergence of collective intelligence (CI) in the elicitation of quantitative estimates, crowdsourcing applications, and small-group problem solving. We explored the extent to which similar tools are used in environmental decision making. This revealed important gaps (e.g., a lack of integration of fundamental research in decision-making practice, absence of systematic evaluation frameworks) that obstruct mainstreaming of CI. By making judicious use of interdisciplinary learning opportunities, CI can be harnessed effectively to improve decision making in conservation and environmental management. To elicit reliable quantitative estimates an understanding of cognitive psychology and to optimize crowdsourcing artificial intelligence tools may need to be incorporated. The business literature offers insights into the importance of soft skills and diversity in team effectiveness. Environmental problems set a challenging and rich testing ground for collective-intelligence tools and frameworks. We argue this creates an opportunity for significant advancement in decision-making research and practice.

Journal article

Vercammen A, McGowan J, Knight AT, Pardede S, Muttaqin E, Harris J, Ahmadia G, Estradivari, Dallison T, Selig E, Beger Met al., 2019, Evaluating the impact of accounting for coral cover in large-scale marine conservation prioritizations, Diversity and Distributions, Vol: 25, Pages: 1564-1574, ISSN: 1366-9516

AimMega‐diverse coral reef ecosystems are declining globally, necessitating conservation prioritizations to protect biodiversity and ecosystem services of sites with high functional integrity to promote persistence. In practice however, the design of marine‐protected area (MPA) systems often relies on broad classifications of habitat class and size, making the tacit assumption that all reefs are of comparable condition. We explored the impact of this assumption through a novel, pragmatic approach for incorporating variability in coral cover in a large‐scale regional spatial prioritization plan.LocationThe Coral Triangle.MethodsWe developed a spatially explicit predictive model of hard coral cover based on freely available macro‐ecological data to generate a complete regional map of coral cover as a proxy for reef condition. We then incorporate this information in spatial conservation prioritization software Marxan to design an MPA system that meets specific conservation objectives.ResultsWe discover prioritizations using area‐based representation of reef habitat alone may overestimate the conservation benefit, defined as the amount of hard coral cover protected, by up to 64%. We find substantial differences in conservation priorities and an overall increase in habitat quality metrics when accounting for predicted coral cover.Main conclusionsThis study shows that including habitat condition in a large‐scale marine spatial prioritization is feasible within time and resource constraints, and calls for increased implementation, and evaluation, of such ecologically relevant planning approaches to enhance potential conservation effectiveness.

Journal article

Weickert TW, Salimuddin H, Lenroot RK, Bruggemann J, Loo C, Vercammen A, Kindler J, Weickert CSet al., 2019, Preliminary findings of four-week, task-based anodal prefrontal cortex transcranial direct current stimulation transferring to other cognitive improvements in schizophrenia, PSYCHIATRY RESEARCH, Vol: 280, ISSN: 0165-1781

Journal article

Reeves JP, Knight AT, Strong EA, Heng V, Neale C, Cromie R, Vercammen Aet al., 2019, The application of wearable technology to quantify health and wellbeing co-benefits from urban wetlands, Frontiers in Psychology, Vol: 10, Pages: 1-16, ISSN: 1664-1078

Improved nature provision in urban environments offers great potential for achieving both biodiversity conservation and public health objectives. Yet there are few experimental studies that address links between specific natural environments and physiological and/or psychological changes that could contribute to the health and wellbeing co-benefits of urban nature. In addition, relative to green space, the salutogenic impact of aquatic environments are understudied. Here, we present a feasibility study examining the use of low-cost wearable technology to quantify the psychophysiological effects of short-term exposure to urban wetlands. The study took place at the WWT London Wetland Centre, which is characterized by its contrasting biodiverse wetland habitat and surrounding urban setting. Thirty-six healthy participants experienced counterbalanced exposures to an indoor space, a wetland, an urban site. We continuously recorded electroencephalographic (EEG) data and real-time physiological stress responses; with additional monitoring of post-exposure self-reported mood states. We found a significant effect of site on mean resting heart rate (HR), with increased HR in the urban setting, although this was only observed in participants with pre-existing high stress. We found no significant differences in other measures of physiological stress responses (heart rate variability and electrodermal activity). The EEG data showed modulation of high beta band activity only in the wetland setting, potentially related to changes in attention. However, the EEG findings were confounded by low quality signals and artifacts caused by movement and environmental interference. Assessments of self-reported mood states demonstrated an increase in positive feelings in the wetland setting. A pronounced decrease in negative feelings in the wetland setting was observed in stressed individuals only. Our results suggest that pre-existing stress levels may be an important modulator of the saluto

Journal article

Marcoci A, Burgman M, Kruger A, Silver E, McBride M, Thorn F, Fraser H, Wintle B, Fidler F, Vercammen Aet al., 2019, Better together: reliable application of the post-9/11 and post-Iraq US intelligence tradecraft standards requires collective analysis, Frontiers in Psychology, Vol: 9, ISSN: 1664-1078

Background: The events of 9/11 and the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq’s Continuing Programs for Weapons of Mass Destruction precipitated fundamental changes within the United States Intelligence Community. As part of the reform, analytic tradecraft standards were revised and codified into a policy document – Intelligence Community Directive (ICD) 203 – and an analytic ombudsman was appointed in the newly created Office for the Director of National Intelligence to ensure compliance across the intelligence community. In this paper we investigate the untested assumption that the ICD203 criteria can facilitate reliable evaluations of analytic products.Methods: Fifteen independent raters used a rubric based on the ICD203 criteria to assess the quality of reasoning of 64 analytical reports generated in response to hypothetical intelligence problems. We calculated the intra-class correlation coefficients for single and group-aggregated assessments.Results: Despite general training and rater calibration, the reliability of individual assessments was poor. However, aggregate ratings showed good to excellent reliability.Conclusion: Given that real problems will be more difficult and complex than our hypothetical case studies, we advise that groups of at least three raters are required to obtain reliable quality control procedures for intelligence products. Our study sets limits on assessment reliability and provides a basis for further evaluation of the predictive validity of intelligence reports generated in compliance with the tradecraft standards.

Journal article

Burgman M, Marcoci A, Vercammen A, 2019, ODNI as an analytic ombudsman: Is Intelligence Community Directive 203 up to the task?, Intelligence and National Security, Vol: 34, Pages: 205-224, ISSN: 0268-4527

In the wake of 9/11 and the war in Iraq, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence adopted Intelligence Community Directive (ICD) 203 – a list of analytic tradecraft standards – and appointed an ombudsman charged with monitoring their implementation. In this paper, we identify three assumptions behind ICD203: (1) tradecraft standards can be employed consistently; (2) tradecraft standards sufficiently capture the key elements of good reasoning; and (3) good reasoning leads to more accurate judgments. We then report on two controlled experiments that uncover operational constraints in the reliable application of the ICD203 criteria for the assessment of intelligence products.

Journal article

Vercammen A, Ji Y, Burgman M, 2019, The collective intelligence of random small crowds: A partial replication of Kosinski et al. (2012), JUDGMENT AND DECISION MAKING, Vol: 14, Pages: 91-+, ISSN: 1930-2975

Journal article

Sinclair S, Knight A, Milner-Gulland EJ, Smith B, McIntosh E, Vercammen Aet al., 2018, The use and usability of spatial conservation prioritizations, Conservation Letters, ISSN: 1755-263X

Journal article

Rushby JA, Vercammen A, Loo C, Short B, Weickert CS, Weickert TWet al., 2011, Frontal and Parietal Contributions to Probabilistic Association Learning, CEREBRAL CORTEX, Vol: 21, Pages: 1879-1888, ISSN: 1047-3211

Journal article

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