Multiple Criteria Decision‐Making in Management Accounting and Control‐State of the Art and Research Perspectives Based on a Bibliometric Study

As an academic discipline as well as in practice, decision support is one of the most important functions of management accounting and control (MAC). Owing to decision settings' increasing complexity, suitable multiple criteria methods are becoming increasingly important for MAC. We, therefore, examine the extent to which certain multiple criteria decision‐making (MCDM) methods are used in the MAC context. In order to do so, we undertook an extensive bibliometric analysis of the management accounting field during the last three decades. The results indicate an increase in the importance of MCDM. Furthermore, recent research activities were classified into different areas of decision‐making within MAC since the majority of publications deal with the areas of strategic management, budgeting and performance management. More specifically, strategy and performance evaluation, strategic planning and the selection of alternatives are the most prominent MCDM applications. Our analysis reveals that the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is the most popular analytical tool with which to support management in complex decision‐making situations. The results of the study prove that technical MAC literature does not cover a desirable range of MCDM applications and that the AHP, as well as the analytic network process (ANP) are of increasing importance in respect of the international scope of MAC. Therefore, the area of MCDM continues to be an active part of management science research and application, specifically of MAC. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Intrinsic Ethics Regarding Integrated Assessment Models for Climate Management

In this essay we develop and argue for the adoption of a more comprehensive model of research ethics than is included within current conceptions of responsible conduct of research (RCR). We argue that our model, which we label the ethical dimensions of scientific research (EDSR), is a more comprehensive approach to encouraging ethically responsible scientific research compared to the currently typically adopted approach in RCR training. This essay focuses on developing a pedagogical approach that enables scientists to better understand and appreciate one important component of this model, what we call intrinsic ethics. Intrinsic ethical issues arise when values and ethical assumptions are embedded within scientific findings and analytical methods. Through a close examination of a case study and its application in teaching, namely, evaluation of climate change integrated assessment models, this paper develops a method and case for including intrinsic ethics within research ethics training to provide scientists with a comprehensive understanding and appreciation of the critical role of values and ethical choices in the production of research outcomes.     

The Geneva affective picture database (GAPED): a new 730-picture database focusing on valence and normative significance

In emotional research, efficient designs often rely on successful emotion induction. For visual stimulation, the only reliable database available so far is the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). However, extensive use of these stimuli lowers the impact of the images by increasing the knowledge that participants have of them. Moreover, the limited number of pictures for specific themes in the IAPS database is a concern for studies centered on a specific emotion thematic and for designs requiring a lot of trials from the same kind (e.g., EEG recordings). Thus, in the present article, we present a new database of 730 pictures, the Geneva Affective PicturE Database, which was created to increase the availability of visual emotion stimuli. Four specific negative contents were chosen: spiders, snakes, and scenes that induce emotions related to the violation of moral and legal norms (human rights violation or animal mistreatment). Positive and neutral pictures were also included: Positive pictures represent mainly human and animal babies as well as nature sceneries, whereas neutral pictures mainly depict inanimate objects. The pictures were rated according to valence, arousal, and the congruence of the represented scene with internal (moral) and external (legal) norms. The constitution of the database and the results of the picture ratings are presented.     

On Minimizing Guessing Effects on Multiple‐Choice Items: Superiority of a two solutions and three distractors item format to a one solution and five distractors item format

Multiple‐choice response formats are troublesome, as an item is often scored as solved simply because the examinee may be lucky at guessing the correct option. Instead of pertinent Item Response Theory models, which take guessing effects into account, this paper considers a psycho‐technological approach to re‐conceptualizing multiple‐choice response formats. The free‐response format is compared with two different multiple‐choice formats: a traditional format with a single correct response option and five distractors (‘1 of 6’), and another with five response options, three of them being distractors and two of them being correct (‘2 of 5’). For the latter format, an item is scored as mastered only if both correct response options and none of the distractors are marked. After the exclusion of a few items, the Rasch model analyses revealed appropriate fit for 188 items altogether. The resulting item‐difficulty parameters were used for comparison. The multiple‐choice format ‘1 of 6’ differs significantly from the multiple‐choice format ‘2 of 5’, while the latter does not differ significantly from the free‐response format. The lower difficulty of items ‘1 of 6’ suggests guessing effects.     

Aktuelle Aspekte des Gefängnissuizids

Suicides present a major complication during imprisonment and contribute essentially to the high mortality rate of prisoners. All international studies found increased suicide rates among prisoners in comparison to the general population. This article reviews general and individual risk factors for suicide in prison and possible contributing specific stress factors during imprisonment. The main results of the analysis of the European Annual Prison Statistics from 1997 to 2007 are presented referring to macrostructural determining risk factors for suicide in prison. Measurements and prevention strategies are briefly discussed.     

When do motor behaviors (mis)match affective stimuli? An evaluative coding view of approach and avoidance reactions

Affective-mapping effects between affective stimuli and lever movements are critically dependent upon the evaluative meaning of the response labels that are used in the task instructions. In Experiments 1 and 2, affective-mapping effects predicted by specific-muscle-activation and distance-regulation accounts were replicated when the standard response labels towards and away were used but were reversed when identical lever movements were labeled downwards and upwards. In Experiment 3, affective-mapping effects were produced with affectively labeled right and left lever movements that are intrinsically unrelated to approach and avoidance. Experiments 4 and 5 revealed that affective-mapping effects are not mediated by memory retrieval processes and depend on the execution of affectively coded responses. The results support the assumption that evaluative implications of action instructions assign affective codes to motor responses on a representational level that interact with stimulus evaluations on a response selection stage.     

Comparing elemental and configural associative theories in human causal learning: a case for attention

In two causal learning experiments with human participants, the authors compared various associative theories that assumed either elemental (unique cue, modified unique cue, replaced elements model, and Harris' model) or configural processing of stimuli (Pearce's theory and a modification of it). The authors used modified patterning problems initially suggested by Redhead and Pearce (1995). Predictions for all theories were generated by computer simulations. Both configural theories and the unique cue approach failed to account for the observations. The replaced elements model was able to account for part of the data, but only if the replacement parameters could vary across discrimination problems. The Harris model and the modified unique cue approach, assuming that the salience of stimuli decreases with an increasing number of stimuli in a compound, successfully accounted for all of our data. This success implies that attentional factors should be explicitly taken into account in associative learning theory.     

How to say no: single- and dual-process theories of short-term recognition tested on negative probes

Three experiments with short-term recognition tasks are reported. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants decided whether a probe matched a list item specified by its spatial location. Items presented at study in a different location (intrusion probes) had to be rejected. Serial position curves of positive, new, and intrusion probes over the probed location's position were mostly parallel. Serial position curves of intrusion probes over their position of origin were again parallel to those of positive probes. Experiment 3 showed largely parallel serial position effects for positive probes and for intrusion probes plotted over positions in a relevant and an irrelevant list, respectively. The results support a dual-process theory in which recognition is based on familiarity and recollection, and recollection uses 2 retrieval routes, from context to item and from item to context.