A quantum theoretical explanation for probability judgment errors

A quantum probability model is introduced and used to explain human probability judgment errors including the conjunction and disjunction fallacies, averaging effects, unpacking effects, and order effects on inference. On the one hand, quantum theory is similar to other categorization and memory models of cognition in that it relies on vector spaces defined by features and similarities between vectors to determine probability judgments. On the other hand, quantum probability theory is a generalization of Bayesian probability theory because it is based on a set of (von Neumann) axioms that relax some of the classic (Kolmogorov) axioms. The quantum model is compared and contrasted with other competing explanations for these judgment errors, including the anchoring and adjustment model for probability judgments. In the quantum model, a new fundamental concept in cognition is advanced--the compatibility versus incompatibility of questions and the effect this can have on the sequential order of judgments. We conclude that quantum information-processing principles provide a viable and promising new way to understand human judgment and reasoning.     

Sometimes it does hurt to ask: The constructive role of articulating impressions

Decisions can sometimes have a constructive role, so that the act of, for example, choosing one option over another creates a preference for that option (e.g., , ,  and ). In this work we explore the constructive role of just articulating an impression, for a presented visual stimulus, as opposed to making a choice (specifically, the judgments we employ are affective evaluations). Using quantum probability theory, we outline a cognitive model formalizing such a constructive process. We predict a simple interaction, in relation to how a second image is evaluated, following the presentation of a first image, depending on whether there is a rating for the first image or not. The interaction predicted by the quantum model was confirmed across three experiments and a variety of control manipulations. The advantages of using quantum probability theory to model the present results, compared with existing models of sequence order effects in judgment (e.g., Hogarth & Einhorn, 1992) or other theories of constructive processes when a choice is made (e.g.,  and ) are discussed.     

Different Realities: What Is Reality and What Difference Does It Make?

Consciousness does not exist apart from psyche; it reflects it. Different realities are not interchangeable with other manifestations of psychic reality. “Borderland consciousness” is the term I have conceived for people who, in one way or another, have a living dynamic connection to and relationship with nature. Given this understanding, the oral traditional and Native American cultures manifest a reciprocity psyche, and are today the closest manifestation of the psychic reality in Genesis, pre-expulsion from Eden. Navajo language contains no words for religion, guilt, human, inanimate, psyche, or ego. The Western psyche manifests a dominion psyche; that is, a binary consciousness borne as a result of the expulsion in Genesis, and wedded to logic as an uncompromising characteristic of sanity and health. This kind of consciousness too often crushes the spirit dimension, which is transrational. An awareness of borderland consciousness is entering into the Western cultural collective. This is the telos of the Garden of Eden expulsion, and itself represents the dominion psyche and the reciprocity psyche in dialogue. This dialogue offers a critical counterbalance to the rogue behavior of the overspecialized Western ego of the dominion psyche. This article urges Jungians to develop new methods of connecting with borderland consciousness since the dominion psyche and its technology alone cannot save our species in the face of the threat of a global climate change disaster.     

Correlates of tattoos and reference groups

520 college students from a public university in the southwest were questioned to examine correlations between having a tattoo and the presence of tattoos among their family and friends. Tattoos among both friends and family were positively correlated with respondents' having a tattoo. The magnitude of friends' influence was about double the influence of family.     

In My Era: Evidence for the Perception of a Special Period of the Past

Do individuals perceive a time of their lives that is special with regard to their identity as part of a generation or era? In an interview study, 89 subjects were asked to list favourite films (and the ages at which they saw them) and to list films that defined their era (and the ages at which they saw them). Subjects also stated the years that they felt began and ended their eras. Additional age-information questions about ages of schooling and co-workers and friends were asked. Results suggest that subjects perceive their era to be between ages 14 and 24; the mean age at which subjects viewed era films was 21.85 (inside the era), whereas the mean age at which subjects viewed favourite films was 27.59 (outside the era). Although most subjects perceived their eras to begin at approximately the same age (14), those subjects who attended college perceived extended era periods (by 2.5 years). Relationships between an era and social identity are discussed, as well as the relationship between the era and the autobiographical memory phenomenon of the reminiscence peak.     

The Effects of Interpatient and Group Influences in a General Hospital

This article discusses the leader's use of metaphor in outpatient, psychodynamic group psychotherapy. Four clinical examples are provided that illustrate how the phase of group envelopment informs the leader's use of metaphor. Therapeutic features and uses of metaphor include (1) the development of ego skills that transform passivity into activity and foster the examination of unhealthy norms; (2) the modulation and rechanneling of potentially destructive affect and the intensification of affect that is denied, minimized, or avoided; (3) the creation of a verbal play space in which shared group language evolves; (4) and the provision of various levels of concreteness and abstraction as well as differing perspectives. Abuses of metaphorical interventions are discussed.     

Moral worry and religiosity in US and Canadian college samples

The objective of this study was to investigate the presence of worry about personal moral attitudes and behaviors in two college samples, and to check associations with religiosity, age, gender, personality traits, and geographic region. The study sample was drawn from college students in Minneapolis, Minnesota (N?=?333) and Sydney, Nova Scotia (N?=?137). Instruments consisted of moral worry and religiosity questionnaires, and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Principal-components analysis was used to develop components for the worry and religiosity scales, and MANOVA for correlations between variables. Moral worry emerged as a domain distinct from worry about practical issues. Moral worry was not related to religiosity, age, gender, or Eysenck personality traits. Whereas the US sample scored higher in religiosity than the Canadian sample, the Canadian sample scored higher on moral worry. The present study supports our previous work and that of others that worry about one's moral emotions and behaviors is an important aspect of daily life. As such, consideration should be given to including some inquiry about moral worries (guilt, shame, regret, remorse, and others) in psychiatric assessments.