The origins and function of the reference point in risky group decision making the case of the Cuban missile crisis

This case study explores reference level effects on group decision making during the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. The group is composed of American President John F. Kennedy and his advisers. The results are consistent with much experimental evidence showing that reference levels play an important role in determining preferences. The results also extend the notion of reference-dependent risky choice to the group level, where the group consists of seasoned experts who each have a different role to play within the group and who are dealing with an issue of great importance.     

不同框架下的视觉定位

本实验探讨了对置于正方形、等边三角形和圆中的刺激点所进行的１点定位、２点定位、３点定位,并比较了在定位有框架和定位无框架时的情况。结果发现：（１）在刺激呈现时间为１００ｍｓ和３００ｍｓ时．在３种定位任务中,当定位有框架时被试定位的绝对误差均小于定位无框架的。（２）在两种呈现时间下被试在３种定位任务中的绝对误差均处于同一水平,表现出现了视觉定位中的结构效应,并且几个不同的框架没有不同的作用。     

Choice Between Two Discrimination Tasks in Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of cognitive effort on a chimpanzee's choice between discrimination tasks. The tasks were of the matching-to-sample type. In Experiment 1, the chimpanzee was required to choose between a task providing a high reinforcement rate with high cognitive effort and a task providing a low reinforcement rate with low cognitive effort. Her choice depended on the reinforcement rate more than the cognitive effort. Experiments 2, 3, and 4 examined whether the kind of cognitive effort influenced the chimpanzee's choice. Experiment 2 manipulated the sample-choice relationship, so-called symmetry in the matching-to-sample tasks. Experiment 3 manipulated the number of comparison stimuli. Experiment 4 manipulated the delay interval between the sample and the comparison stimuli. In Experiments 2 and 3, the effects of the cognitive effort were confounded with those of the reinforcement rates. However, in one condition of Experiment 4, the chimpanzee preferred the simultaneous task to the delayed task, despite the lack of a significant difference in reinforcement rates between the two tasks. The present study demonstrated that the chimpanzee's choice of discrimination task depended on the cognitive effort involved, in addition to the reinforcement rate.     

IDENTIFYING INSTRUCTIONAL TASKS THAT OCCASION PROBLEM BEHAVIORS AND ASSESSING THE EFFECTS OF STUDENT VERSUS TEACHER CHOICE AMONG THESE TASKS

Levels of problem behavior were assessed when 4 students with severe disabilities received instruction on preferred versus nonpreferred tasks and when tasks of each type were chosen by the teacher rather than by the student. In Phase 1, interview and direct observation assessments were conducted to identify relative preferences for academic tasks. In Phase 2, the effects of these lower preference and higher preference tasks on the rate of problem behavior were evaluated using a multielement design. The results showed that lower preference tasks were associated with higher rates of problem behaviors and that students, when given a choice, consistently selected the tasks that had been identified through interview and direct observation as higher preference. In Phase 3, we assessed whether allowing the students to choose between pairs of lower preference tasks or between pairs of higher preference tasks reduced problem behavior relative to a condition in which the teacher selected the same tasks. For 2 of 4 students, the rates of problem behavior were lower when students (rather than the teacher) selected the lower preference activity. Higher preference tasks for 3 students were associated with relatively low rates of problem behavior regardless of whether the student or the teacher selected the task.     

国有企业职工需要结构及其态势研究

运用问卷法对中国国有企业职工的需要结构及其态势进行调查。结果表明,１．国有企业职工意识到的基本需要有２８种;２．这２８种需要共分六类、六个层次,按由低到高的层次排列,依次是生存、安全、社交、自主、尊重和发展需要,其中安全、发展和生存需要是国有企业职工的主导需要;３．企业、年龄和文化程度不同,职工的主导需要及其需求度存在某些差异     

换位棋问题规则的表征与解题正确率间关系的研究

本研究通过对被试求解换位棋过程的记录与分析,重点研究了问题表征在换位棋求解过程中的作用。实验结果表明：（1）正确表征问题规则是解题的必要前提.对问题规则信息的误解和遗漏,是影响解题正确率的重要因素。其中对非隐含问题规则的错误表征也占全部错误表征的很大比率。（2）“关键结构”的发现是解决换位棋的必要条件,对问题规则的错误表征影响“关键结构”的发现.（3）前置问题的解决经验对目标问题的正确表征无显著的影响作用。     

On the relation between preference and resistance to change

Nevin (1979) noted that preference in concurrent chains and resistance to change in multiple schedules were correlated, in that both measures were affected similarly by variations in parameters of reinforcement such as rate, immediacy, and magnitude. To investigate the relationship between preference and resistance to change directly, we used a within-session procedure that arranged concurrent chains in one half of the session and a multiple schedule in the other half. The same variable-interval schedules served as terminal links in concurrent chains and as the components of the multiple schedule, and were signaled by the same stimuli. After performances had stabilized, responding in the multiple schedule was disrupted by delivering response-independent reinforcement during the blackout periods between components. Both preference in concurrent chains and relative resistance to change of multiple-schedule responding were well described as power functions of relative reinforcement rate, as predicted by current quantitative models (Grace, 1994; Nevin, 1992b). In addition, unsystematic variation in preference and resistance to change was positively correlated, which suggests that preference and resistance to change are independent measures of a single construct. That construct could be described as the learning that occurs regarding the prevailing conditions of reinforcement in a distinctive stimulus situation.     

The control of choice by its consequences

Five pigeons were trained on concurrent variable-interval schedules in which equal rates of reinforcement were always arranged for left- and right-key responses, but different overall rates were signaled by key colors. Sessions began with both keys lit yellow for the instrumental phase. If, after 20 s of this phase, the relative number of responses that had been made to the left key equaled or exceeded .75, both keys changed red for the contingent phase. The contingent phase arranged another concurrent variable-interval schedule for a further 20 s before the instrumental phase was reinstated. However, if preference in the instrumental phase did not exceed .75, the instrumental phase continued for a further 20 s before preference was again compared with the criterion. In Part 1, the reinforcer rate arranged in the instrumental phase was held constant at 4.8 reinforcers per minute, while the reinforcer rate arranged in the contingent phase was varied across conditions from 0 to 19.2 over five steps. In Part 2, reinforcer rates in the contingent phase were kept constant at 36 per minute, while reinforcer rates in the instrumental phase were varied from 0 to 36 over seven steps. Part 3 replicated Part 2 but used reinforcer rates in both phases that were one third of those arranged in Part 2. Measures of choice obtained by summing responses across presentations of the instrumental phase became more extreme toward the left key as the reinforcer rate obtained in the contingent phase was increased (Part 1) and as the reinforcer rate obtained in the instrumental phase was decreased (Parts 2 and 3). Changes in these measures of choice were accompanied by systematic changes in the relative frequency with which the criterion was exceeded. Changes in both these measures were correlated with changes in the relative frequency with which subjects responded exclusively to the left key. These results are discussed with respect to the two choices that were concurrently available in this procedure and the response alternatives that might constitute the concurrent operants in each choice.     

BASIC AND APPLIED RESEARCH ON CHOICE RESPONDING

Choice responding refers to the manner in which individuals allocate their time or responding among available response options. In this article, we first review basic investigations that have identified and examined variables that influence choice responding, such as response effort and reinforcement rate, immediacy, and quality. We then describe recent bridge and applied studies that illustrate how the results of basic research on choice responding can help to account for human behavior in natural environments and improve clinical assessments and interventions.     

EFFECTS OF REINFORCEMENT CHOICE ON TASK RESPONDING IN INDIVIDUALS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES

The effects of reinforcement choice on task performance were examined with 6 individuals who had been diagnosed with severe to profound mental retardation. Five highly preferred items were identified for each participant via stimulus preference assessments. Participants then were exposed to choice and no-choice conditions that were alternated within reversal and multielement designs. During choice sessions, participants were permitted to select between two preferred stimuli contingent on responding. During no-choice sessions, the therapist delivered a single item contingent on responding. Preference for the stimuli was held constant across conditions by yoking the items delivered during no-choice sessions to those selected during the immediately preceding choice sessions. All participants exhibited similar rates of responding across choice and no-choice conditions. These findings indicate that for individuals with severe disabilities, access to choice may not improve task performance when highly preferred items are already incorporated into instructional programs.