How To Engage With Experimental Practices? Moderate Versus Radical Constructivism

A central question in constructivist studies of science is how the analyst should deal with the material objects handled by scientific practitioners in laboratories. Representatives of ‘radical constructivism’ such as Knorr-Cetina and Latour have gone furthest in exploring the role of these ‘non-humans’ but have also maneuvered themselves in untenable positions due to a fatal conflation of different meanings of the term ‘construction’. The epistemological and ontological commitments of ‘moderate constructivism’ especially of the Strong Program defended by Barnes and Bloor, are more suitable for dealing with the task at hand. While radical constructivists treat the domains of nature and human society as largely coterminous, an alternative ontology stresses that natural reality is never fully absorbed into the world of culture but only interacts with the latter at localizable interfaces such as practices and artifacts. This perspective promises a more relaxed relationship with current forms of scientific realism. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Preferences for leadership in social dilemmas: Public good dilemmas versus common resource dilemmas

It has been argued that a structural solution to social dilemmas is to install a leader, but here we consider the possibility that group members will oppose giving up their decisional freedom. Previous studies have shown that feedback indicating collective failure results in a stronger preference for the leadership option. We argue that preferences for the leadership option depend not only on the feedback group members receive, but also on the type of dilemma they are facing. The results of our experiment, in which we manipulated dilemma type as well as feedback, corroborate our reasoning. The distribution of initial property in public good and common resource dilemmas helps to explain these findings.     

Payment by Results Systems: A Review of Research 1945–1985

Le taux d'utilisation des systemés de "Payment by results" (PBR) varie considerablement selon les pays, aussi bien en Europe de l'ouest que de Test. Les donnees disponibles laissent entendre que les pays de Test appliquent le PBR a la plupart de leurs travailleurs. Parmi les pays de l'ouest, l'lrlande et le Royaume Uni se placent a un niveau eleve, tandis que les Pays-Bas sont en queue de liste. II est surprenant que des bilans des recherches sur l'efficacite comparee du PBR et des systemés de salaire fixe ne soient pas disponibles. Dans notre travail, les donnees sont dans la mesure du possible presentees par systemés distincts a partir desquels on discute les recherches portant sur l'efficacite relative du PBR. Le "merit rating" est decevant. Le "Scanlon Plan" donne des résultats encourageants. Toutefois, la plupart des donnees interdis-ent d'inferer avec certitude sur les relations causales. On insiste sur quelques-uns des domaines que la recherche se doit d'explorer et sur les conditions favorisant I'elaboration et le choix de strategies pertinentes de remuneration.     

Public good provision under environmental and social uncertainty

Social dilemmas face people with various kinds of uncertainty. To extend earlier research on environmental uncertainty in resource dilemmas (i.e. uncertainty about the resource size), the present experiment examines the effects of Environmental Uncertainty (low, high uncertainty about the provision point) and Social Uncertainty (low, high uncertainty about others' cooperation) in a public goods dilemma. In line with Social Comparison Theory, it was predicted and found that Environmental Uncertainty decreases cooperation only under High Social Uncertainty, but not under Low Social Uncertainty. The detrimental effects of Environmental Uncertainty can be counteracted by uncertainty reducing information on the provision point and/or on others' contributions as well. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

To plan or not to plan? Goal achievement or interrupting the performance of mundane behaviors

The present experiment investigated cognitive and behavioral effects of planning (i.e. forming implementation intentions) on goal pursuit during the performance of mundane behaviors. Participants received the goal to collect a coupon halfway the hall from the lab to the cafeteria. Later, they were also given the task to go from the lab to the cafeteria. Thus participants had to attain a new goal by interrupting a mundane behavior. Some participants enriched their goal with implementation intentions, others did not. Results showed that participants who formed implementation intentions were more effective in goal pursuit than the control group. Importantly, the data suggest that the effects of planning on goal completion are mediated by a heightened mental accessibility of environmental cues related to the goal completion task. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Habit,information acquisition,and the process of making travel mode choices

Three studies examined the role of habit on information acquisition concerning travel mode choices. On the basis of Triandis' (1980) model of attitude–behaviour relations it was expected that habit strength attenuates the elaborateness of choice processes. The studies focused on different phases in the choice process, namely the appreciation of situational cues and appreciation of choice option information. In line with expectations, it was found that, compared to weak habit participants, those who had a strong habit towards choosing a particular travel mode acquired less information and gave evidence of less elaborate choice strategies. It was attempted to break effects of habit by manipulating either accountability demands or level of attention. Although accountability demands raised the level of information acquisition, no interactions with habit were found. Enhanced attention to the choice process initially did override habit effects in a series of choice trials. However, in spite of this manipulation, chronic habit effects emerged during later trials. The results demonstrate the profound effects that habit may have on the appreciation of information about choice situations and choice options. ©1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.