Weight approximations in multi‐attribute decision models

The use of surrogate weights based on rankings has been proposed as a method for avoiding difficulties associated with the elicitation of weights in multi‐attribute decision analysis. When the simple multiattribute rating technique using swings (SMARTS) method is being employed it has been suggested that rank order centroid (ROC) weights are the best surrogate weights to use. This study shows that ROC weights are appropriate to use as a substitute for original weights that are constrained to sum to a fixed total (usually 1 or 100) as used in the point allocation method. If, however, the original weights are determined without any initial restrictions, as in the direct rating method, and are then normalized, which is the common procedure in SMARTS analysis, then the ROC weights do not provide the best approximations to the original weights. This paper shows how to obtain rank order distribution (ROD) weights that provide a better approximation than the ROC approach to unrestricted original weights. The paper also shows that, as the number of attributes in a decision problem increases, the ROD weights approximate to the more easily calculated rank sum weights. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The social phobia and social interaction anxiety scales: An exploration of the dimensions of social anxiety and sex differences in structure and relations with pathology

This study sought to provide information on the Social Phobia Scale (SPS) and Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) of Mattick and Clarke (1989) with respect to factor structure, relations with psychopathology, and sex differences. A sample of 200 university students completed the SPS and SIAS and various measures of anxiety symptoms and depression. The results from the factor analyses for the sample as a whole suggest the presence of three factors corresponding to scrutiny fears, social interaction anxiety, and a general level of discomfort in social interactions. The results for men replicated this structure. For women, the three-factor solution demonstrated a blurring between the types of anxiety-provoking situations, and a general discomfort in situations involving differences in social power. In general, the discomfort factor was not correlated with measures of pathology, raising the possibility that uneasiness in these situations represents a process that is not part of social anxiety. The distinction between scrutiny fears and social interaction anxiety was also supported by the pattern of partial correlations that suggests that the presence of scrutiny fears is a stronger predictor of psychopathology than is social interaction anxiety, especially for men.     

Use of HyperCard to create pages on the World-Wide Web

A variety of commercial and shareware programs are now available to assist in creating HTML pages for a World-Wide Web (WWW) site. However, users with some knowledge of HTML coding and a simple programming language, such as the HyperTalk language in HyperCard, can create custom tools that will simplify the task of creating and maintaining multiple-page WWW sites. This paper presents examples of two such tools and describes the basic steps they use to create HTML documents.     

Strengths-Based Assessment of Children with SED: Consistency of Reporting by Teachers and Parents

Parents and teachers rated the strengths of a group of 20 children diagnosed as having serious emotional disturbance. The degree of consistency between different informants' reports was examined to determine whether certain items and scales on the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (BERS) were more appropriately answered by different sources or in different situations, and whether there were method effects associated with each group. A repeated measures ANOVA and correlations between the informants on each subscale demonstrated significant convergent and discriminant validity as well as possible assessment biases. Results also supported the need for developing separate norms for different informants.     

Millisecond timing on the IBM PC/XT/AT and PS/2: A review of the options and corrections for the Graves and Bradley algorithm

Eleven methods of obtaining millisecond timing on the IBM microcomputer family are briefly reviewed. In our view, the approach recommended by Smith and Puckett (1984) has the fewest limitations, but it must be modified to prevent rare, yet unacceptable, errors. The modified algorithm has been presented for Turbo Pascal, C, and in the present paper, for BASIC and QuickBASIC.     

Measuring the quality of residential care

Administrative personnel require objective, reliable and valid information in order to monitor the effects of allocating resources to different components of the service that they are providing. The initial problem is to define and measure the dependent variable—the ‘quality of care’ —against which the effects of changing various independent variables can be evaluated. The paper describes an attempt to use the operant conditioning model as a basis for constructing such a measure of the quality of care provided in residential settings for severely mentally handicapped people. The rationale for adopting this model is described, against a background of other studies in which the same problem has been addressed. The hypothesis, the tasks generated, and the methodological problems encountered, are outlined and discussed.

A subsequent paper will present the results obtained when using the method to measure the quality of care, so defined, in two residential units for severely mentally handicapped children.     

A chamber for separating visual and physical prey access from predators

A chamber is described that provides automated separation of various phases of depredation dynamics. Two solenoid actuated doors control visual and physical access to prey items. A lever operandum is programmable to require differential response outputs by the predator. Search lever responses open one door and allow detection which may then be followed by pursuit lever responses and ultimate access for capture. The chamber is suitable for such medium sized predators as foxes and coyotes.