Functional measurement approach to self-estimation in multiattribute evaluation

Multiattribute analysis depends on measurement of values and weights. Unless these measures reflect the decision maker's true values and weights, the multiattribute formula may put a less-preferred alternative in first place. To avoid such disordinality requires stringent measurement conditions: First, the values and weights must be on linear (equal interval) or ratio (known zero) scales. Second, these scales must satisfy a condition of common unit across disparate attribute dimensions. Most methods of range adjustment beg both of these measurement questions. Functional measurement theory can solve both problems and so can be useful in multiattribute analysis. Past work has established the operation of a general cognitive algebra as an empirical reality. The averaging model, in particular, makes possible the definition and estimation of weights and values as distinct psychological parameters. It can also solve the problem of common unit. Cognitive algebra thus provides a grounded theoretical foundation on which to develop self-estimation methodology, in which decision makers provide direct estimates of their values and weights. The logic is straightforward. Functional measurement can analyze global judgments to obtain validated psychological scales. These scales may then be used as validational criteria for the self-estimates. Procedures to eliminate biases in the self-estimates can thus be tested and refined in well-learned multiattribute tasks, such as judgments of meals, in which global judgments are trustworthy. Once developed, such self-estimation procedures may be used with some confidence for general multiattribute analysis. A number of studies from 20-odd years of work on the theory of information integration are summarized to show good, although not unmixed promise for self-estimation.     

Recent developments in non-traditional employment testing: An introduction

The purpose of this special issue of theJournal of Business and Psychology is to provide a review and update of several key types of non-traditional employment tests. Non-traditional employment tests can be divided into two categories. One category consists ofbiological/physiological tests. The second category consists ofnarrow-based personality tests. A framework for thinking about non-traditional employment tests is provided.     

Logical pragmatism and dialectical materialism: The beginning of dialogue

A philosophical movement, correctly called logical pragmatism, is growing up around the philosophy of W. V. O. Quine, Soviet scholars follow this development with clear and well-grounded understanding of the origins and tenets of the system. This essay continues the dialogue between contemporary Marxism-Leninism and logical pragmatism recommended by Soviet scholars.A Russian translation of this article is being published inFilosofskie nauki (Moscow).     

A simulation-based tutorial system for exploring parallel distributed processing

This article presents a simulation-based tutorial system for exploring parallel distributed processing (PDP) models of information processing. The system consists of software and an accompanying handbook. The intent of the package is to make the ideas underlying PDP accessible and to disseminate some of the main simulation programs that we have developed. This article presents excerpts from the handbook that describe the approach taken, the organization of the handbook, and the software that comes with it. An example is given that illustrates the approach we have taken to teaching PDP, which involves presentation of relevant mathematical background, together with tutorial exercises that make use of the simulation programs.     

Contemporary theories of group psychotherapy: a systems approach to the group-as-a-whole.

The author discusses how subgroups represent the basic focus of the systems-centered group therapist. Particular attention is given to boundary issues and to how therapy takes place by facilitating the process of discriminating, communicating, and integrating perception of differences in the apparently similar and similarities in the seemingly different. Communication occurs at the boundaries between systems at all levels of the hierarchy: the group, the subgroup, and its members. Clinical vignettes are provided to illustrate important process issues, such as work with difficult patients, levels of intervention, and group resistance and defense.     

Cognitive Biases in Playing the Lottery: Estimating the Odds and Choosing the Numbers

Three experiments were conducted to examine the operation of the representativeness and anchoring and adjustment heuristics in lottery play. Subjects in Experiments 1 and 2 indicated their chances of winning a lottery with an objective probability of 1 in 10. Consistent with the anchoring and adjustment heuristic, subjects (in both experiments) perceived their chances of winning to be greater when the lottery was based on a single event than when it was based on a disjunctive event. Subjects in these two experiments also selected numbers to play in a pick-3 (Experiment 1) or pick-4 (Experiment 2) lottery. Consistent with the representativeness heuristic, subjects in Experiment 2 demonstrated a preference for numbers without repeating digits. This also occurred in Experiment 3 wherein the numbers actually played in the Indiana daily Pick-3 lottery were examined.     

Postural requirements and progression velocity in young walkers

This article describes developmental changes in gait velocity and relates these changes to gait parameters that index postural stability (step width and lateral acceleration) and two components of velocity (cadence and step length). Five children were observed longitudinally over a 2-year period after onset of independent walking. Their range of speed increased threefold in the first 6 months of independent walking and then remained constant. In contrast, step width decreased approximately twofold. Whereas in adults, cadence and step length contribute approximately equally to speed, when infants first begin to walk independently, increase in velocity is due mostly to increased step length. After 5 months of independent walking, the pattern reverses, and increase in velocity is due primarily to increased cadence. The pattern remains constant over the next 18 months. From a developmental point of view, the data lead us to interpret early walking (the first 5 months) as a process of integration of postural constraints into the dynamic necessities of gait movement. A second phase, beginning after 4 to 5 months of independent walking, is considered to be a tuning phase characterized by a more precise adjustment of the gait parameters.     

Controlling the uncontrollable: effects of stress on illusory perceptions of controllability.

Individuals' failure to exercise actual control over an event might be compensated for by trying to bolster a generalized, subjective sense of control. Control might then be sought by undertaking acts the effect of which on the environment is illusory. This observation led to the hypothesis that stress, which undermines persons' sense of control, would engender illusory perceptions of controllability. The hypothesis was tested in 3 experiments that required Ss to choose between 2 gambling forms. Although the 2 forms were essentially identical, 1 was designed to instill an illusion of control. The results showed that highly stressed Ss, compared with those who experienced low stress, preferred gambling forms that heightened perceptions of controllability.