Testing the reference-dependent model: an experiment on asymmetrically dominated reference points

Standard choice theory assumes choice to be independent of the point of reference. Based on a number of studies which challenge this assumption, Tversky and Kahneman have proposed a reference-dependent model which captures the influence of reference points on individual choice. If choice is reference-dependent, switching the reference point so that it is first dominated by x and then by y increases the likelihood of choosing y. Switching the location of an asymmetrically dominated reference point without altering the dominance relationship should also influence reference-dependent choice in a predicted manner. In this paper the reference-dependent model is tested in two experiments which focus on asymmetrically dominated reference points. The results of these experiments give further confirmation to the reference-dependent model. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Risk-sensitive choice in humans as a function of an earnings budget

Risky choice in 3 adult humans was investigated across procedural manipulations designed to model energy-budget manipulations conducted with nonhumans. Subjects were presented with repeated choices between a fixed and a variable number of points. An energy budget was simulated by use of an earnings budget, defined as the number of points needed within a block of trials for points to be exchanged for money. During positive earnings-budget conditions, exclusive preference for the fixed option met the earnings requirement. During negative earnings-budget conditions, exclusive preference for the certain option did not meet the earnings requirement, but choice for the variable option met the requirement probabilistically. Choice was generally risk averse (the fixed option was preferred) when the earnings budget was positive and risk prone (the variable option was preferred) when the earnings budget was negative. Furthermore, choice was most risk prone during negative earnings-budget conditions in which the earnings requirement was most stringent. Local choice patterns were also frequently consistent with the predictions of a dynamic optimization model, indicating that choice was simultaneously sensitive to short-term choice contingencies, current point earnings, and the earnings requirement. Overall, these results show that the patterns of risky choice generated by energy-budget variables can also be produced by choice contingencies that do not involve immediate survival, and that risky choice in humans may be similar to that shown in nonhumans when choice is studied under analogous experimental conditions.     

A global optimization approach for generating efficient points for multiobjective concave fractional programs

In this article, we present a global optimization approach for generating efficient points for multiobjective concave fractional programming problems. The main work of the approach involves solving an instance of a concave multiplicative fractional program (W̄). Problem (W̄) is a global optimization problem for which no known algorithms are available. Therefore, to render the approach practical, we develop and validate a branch and bound algorithm for globally solving problem (W̄). To illustrate the performance of the global optimization approach, we use it to generate efficient points for a sample multiobjective concave fractional program. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Drone affect: Folded points of view as a co-affection method for empathy and care

Drone usage in fieldwork and participatory processes entails direct sensations that fold the pilot/planner and audience into one. Footage from drone filming entails direct kinesthetic and synesthetic effects that occur while one edits the film material, giving rise to affective responses. Through one experimental drone postproduction film, this article discusses how the interplay of vision, motion, and sound works as a set of gestures that comprise sensation as a (self- and co-) affection modus of immediation when one engages with moving images on-screen during drone filming, editing, and screening. The article builds upon Merleau-Ponty's film writings and Puig de la Bellacasa's touch/care perspectives. Specifically, it asks what constitutive aspects characterize the folding of the drone's/pilot's point of view (POV) in relation to the perceiver's POV during postediting, and to the conceiver's POV during subsequent viewings. The article's original contribution is to show how affective experiences are transposed as haptic touch via the same images and folded POVs. It also addresses a research methodological perspective on filmic mediations and written accounts. The article concludes by speculating about how the co-affective potential of the folding of POVs through drone imagery might inform fieldwork and participatory processes from perspectives of care and empathy.     

Resilience in developing systems: the promise of integrated approaches

Abstract

This article describes a contemporary systems approach to resilience in human development and its promise for integrating findings and applications across system levels. Resilience is defined as the capacity of a system for successful adaptation to disturbances that threaten system function, viability, or development. Advantages of this definition are delineated in regard to integrating sciences and disciplines across scales and levels of interaction in a bioecological systems framework. Central concepts of resilience, including pathways and cascades, are described in light of this approach, and advances that link system levels are highlighted. Given significant progress toward a more dynamic, integrated, multisystem approach, developmental resilience science stands at new frontier of possibilities that promises to inform science, practice, and policy focused on building human capacity for surviving and thriving in times of turbulence and change.     

Determinants of a Negotiator's Initial Opening Offer

Although the initial offer is a crucial aspect in the process of most negotiations, there is still a complete lack of empirical evidence on what underpins initial offer decisions. For this reason, the effects of different reference points on the negotiator's initial offer were examined in this study. Results from a sample of 596 managers indicate that knowledge of the opponent's best available alternative, or (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement BATNA), is by far the strongest determinant. Criteria of fairness, as reflected in an estimated market price, are also important. However, awareness of the dependency of the other party has no direct effect on the initial offer. Apparently, negotiators define the negotiation game as the management of interdependency in an extremely egocentric way and base their opening offers largely on cues regarding the power structure within the dyad.     

RESPONSE ACQUISITION BY HUMANS WITH DELAYED REINFORCEMENT

The present experiment examined whether a response class was acquired by humans with delayed reinforcement. Eight white circles were presented on a computer touch screen. If the undergraduates touched two of the eight circles in a specified sequence (i.e., touching first the upper‐left circle then the bottom‐left circle), then the touches initiated an unsignaled resetting delay culminating in point delivery. Participants experienced one of three different delays (0 s, 10 s, or 30 s). Rates of the target two‐response sequence were higher with delayed reinforcement than with no reinforcement. Terminal rates of the target sequence decreased and postreinforcement pauses increased as a function of delay duration. Other undergraduates exposed to yoked schedules of response‐independent point deliveries failed to acquire the sequence. The results demonstrate that a response class was acquired with delayed reinforcement, extending the generality of this phenomenon found with nonhuman animals to humans.     

Intentions and interactive transformations of decision problems

In this paper I study two ways of transforming decision problems on the basis of previously adopted intentions, ruling out incompatible options and imposing a standard of relevance, with a particular focus on situations of strategic interaction. I show that in such situations problems arise which do not appear in the single-agent case, namely that transformation of decision problems can leave the agents with no option compatible with what they intend. I characterize conditions on the agents’ intentions which avoid such problematic scenarios, in a way that requires each agent to take account of the intentions of others.