Transformative Decision Rules

A transformative decision rule transforms a given decision probleminto another by altering the structure of the initial problem,either by changing the framing or by modifying the probability orvalue assignments. Examples of decision rules belonging to thisclass are the principle of insufficient reason, Isaac Levi'scondition of E-admissibility, the de minimis rule, andthe precautionary principle. In this paper some foundationalissues concerning transformative decision rules are investigated,and a couple of formal properties of this class of rules areproved.     

Transformative Decision Rules, Permutability, and Non-Sequential Framing of Decision Problems

The concept of transformative decision rules provides auseful tool for analyzing what is often referred to as the`framing', or `problem specification', or `editing' phase ofdecision making. In the present study we analyze a fundamentalaspect of transformative decision rules, viz. permutability. A setof transformative decision rules is, roughly put, permutable justin case it does not matter in which order the rules are applied.It is argued that in order to be normatively reasonable, sets oftransformative decision rules have to satisfy a number ofstructural conditions that together imply permutability. Thisformal result gives support to a non-sequential theory of framing,i.e., a theory which prescribes no uniform order in which differentsteps in the framing process have to be performed.     

Risk's Place in Decision Rules

To handle epistemic and pragmatic risks, Gärdenfors and Sahlin (1982, 1988) design a decision procedure for cases in which probabilities are indeterminate. Their procedure steps outside the traditional expected utility framework. Must it do this? Can the traditional framework handle risk? This paper argues that it can. The key is a comprehensive interpretation of an option's possible outcomes. Taking possible outcomes more broadly than Gärdenfors and Sahlin do, expected utility can give risk its due. In particular, Good's (1952) decision procedure adequately handles indeterminate probabilities and the risks they generate.     

Perceptual Categorization: Connectionist Modelling and Decision Rules

Although it is currently popular to model human associative learning using connectionist networks, the mechanism by which their output activations are converted to probabilities of response has received relatively little attention. Several possible models of this decision process are considered here, including a simple ratio rule, a simple difference rule, their exponential versions, and a winner-take-all network. Two categorization experiments that attempt to dissociate these models are reported. Analogues of the experiments were presented to a single-layer, feed-forward, delta-rule network. Only the exponential ratio rule and the winner-take-all architecture, acting on the networks' output activations that corresponded to responses available on test, were capable of fully predicting the mean response results. In addition, unlike the exponential ratio rule, the winner-take-all model has the potential to predict latencies. Further studies will be required to determine whether latencies produced under more stringent conditions conform to the model's predictions.     

Transformative Treatments

Contemporary social‐scientific research seeks to identify specific causal mechanisms for outcomes of theoretical interest. Experiments that randomize populations to treatment and control conditions are the “gold standard” for causal inference. We identify, describe, and analyze the problem posed by transformative treatments. Such treatments radically change treated individuals in a way that creates a mismatch in populations, but this mismatch is not empirically detectable at the level of counterfactual dependence. In such cases, the identification of causal pathways is underdetermined in a previously unrecognized way. Moreover, if the treatment is indeed transformative it breaks the inferential structure of the experimental design. Transformative treatments are not curiosities or “corner cases,” but are plausible mechanisms in a large class of events of theoretical interest, particularly ones where deliberate randomization is impractical and quasi‐experimental designs are sought instead. They cast long‐running debates about treatment and selection effects in a new light, and raise new methodological challenges.     

Transformative Contextual Realism

Ethical Theory and Moral Practice - Realist political theory is often confronted with the objection that it is biased towards the status quo. Although this criticism overlooks the fact that realist...     

Liberal Theology and Transformative Pedagogy

The author makes a case for the contributions of liberal theology to the transformative pedagogy that is essential for the flourishing of human beings in the twenty-first century. First he advocates the retention of liberal theology, but in a postmodern form that is open, critical, experiential, visionary, and culturally transformative. Then he demonstrates points of contact between this revisioned theology and liberal education, particularly those connections manifested in five elements of transformative pedagogy: education and life-formation, the rhythm of education, constructive and interactive knowledge, connected and imaginative teaching, and education as the practice of freedom. The author concludes that a revisioned liberal theology can contribute significantly to the recovery and explication of the religious dimension of education and its incumbent power of transformation.     

Interactions Between Jurors as a Function of Majority vs. Unanimity Decision Rules

Ruling on the constitutionality of less than unanimous juries, the majority and dissenting Justices of the Supreme Court offered differing theories of social influence processes in jury deliberations. Some areas of disagreement involved verdict distribution, majority-minority interactions, and community confidence as a function of unanimity vs. non-unanimity requirements. The present series of three studies concentrated on these issues. In the first two studies, groups that were split 4:2 in initial vote deliberated a case involving first degree murder. In the third study, individuals served as jurors in each of seven mock trials (both civil and criminal). Half of these groups were required to deliberate to unanimity, the other half being required to deliberate to 2/3 majority. Results indicated that verdicts were not appreciably altered as a result of unanimity vs. non-unanimity requirements. However, unanimity groups were more likely to reach full consensus; their deliberations were characterized by more "conflict"; more opinions were changed as a result of the deliberation process; they reported more confidence in the verdict and tended to feel that justice had been administered. The findings tend to corroborate the influence theories of the dissenting Justices.     

Global Feminism and Transformative Identity Politics

In this paper, Weir reconsiders identity politics and their relation to feminist solidarity. She argues that the dimension of identity as “identification‐with” has been the liberatory dimension of identity politics, and that this dimension has been overshadowed and displaced by a focus on identity as category. Weir addresses critiques of identification as a ground of solidarity, and sketches a model of identity and identity politics based not in sameness, but in transformative historical process.     

Transformative experience and the shark problem

Philosophical Studies - In her ground-breaking and highly influential book Transformative Experience, L.A. Paul makes two claims: (1) one cannot evaluate and compare certain experiential outcomes...     

Ecopsychology: The Transformative Power of Home

In this article, I approach the meaning of ecopsychology in an attempt to broaden it to include clinical practice. I begin by articulating the history of the word ecopsychology. The etymological understanding of the word suggests “the home” to be the defining interest of ecopsychology, which includes the Earth, in addition to other meanings of home. I then review The Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram (1996) Abram, D. 1996. The spell of the sensuous: Perception and language in a more-than-human world, New York: Vintage Books.  [Google Scholar] alongside classic texts from phenomenology to reveal the profound participatory and formative experience of the home. Finally, I offer my own work on the middle voice to articulate the home as a place of transformation with a sensitivity to both language and the body. Throughout the article, I offer my own experience, a sophisticated approach to language, an appreciation of phenomenology, and philosophical depth of writing to open doors for ecopsychology beyond the classroom and the workshop retreat.     

Dialogue as a Site of Transformative Possibility

This article examines how affect allows us to view the relational form of dialogue, as built upon the work of Derrida and Levinas, to be a site of transformative possibility for students as they encounter and address issues of social justice and difference in the classroom. The understanding of affect that attends this form of dialogue demands from educators a re-visioning of how their educational arrangements and pedagogies might facilitate the transformative capacities of their students. Accordingly, the relational conception of dialogue cannot be viewed as providing educators with another strategy or method for addressing issues of social justice and difference or for tapping into the transformative capacity of their students. Instead, it would be better viewed as pointing educators towards a different orientation towards education which is not focused upon producing particular outputs or outcomes, but does still indicate the need for a responsible response from the educator.