A Theoretical Framework for Analysing the Notion of Relative Importance of Criteria

Multiple-criteria decision aid almost always requires the use of weights, importance coefficients or even a hierarchy of criteria, veto thresholds, etc. These are importance parameters that are used to differentiate the role devoted to each criterion in the construction of comprehensive preferences. Many researchers have studied the problem of how to assign values to such parameters, but few of them have tried to analyse in detail what underlies the notion of importance of criteria and to give a clear formal definition of it. In this paper our purpose is to define a theoretical framework so as to analyse the notion of the importance of criteria under very general conditions. Within this framework it clearly appears that the importance of criteria is taken into account in very different ways in various aggregation procedures. This framework also allows us to shed new light on fundamental questions such as: Under what conditions is it possible to state that one criterion is more important than another? Are importance parameters of the various aggregation procedures dependent on or independent of the encoding of criteria? What are the links between the two concepts of the importance of criteria and the compensatoriness of preferences? This theoretical framework seems to us sufficiently general to ground further research in order to define theoretically valid elicitation methods for importance parameters.     

Age‐related differences in everyday prospective memory tasks: The role of planning and personal importance

The aim of the present studies was to investigate whether age‐related improvement found in naturalistic but experimenter‐given prospective memory (PM) tasks can be generalized to real‐life intentions. In Study 1, younger, middle‐aged, and older adults generated a list of intended activities for the following week; one week later they marked the tasks that they had performed. The participants were also asked to rate the importance of each listed intention and to describe the circumstances of completion that were already known to them. We found that, compared with younger adults, older adults attributed a higher degree of importance to their intentions and had the circumstances of their completion better planned. However, the age‐related benefit in the PM performance for all listed intentions was not present for the very important and well‐planned tasks. In Study 2 we manipulated whether younger adults engaged or not in the detailed planning of when their intentions could be completed. It was demonstrated that younger adults who had to perform detailed planning completed their intended activities more often than those who did not plan for their intentions. The results support explanations of the age‐related benefit in everyday PM that highlight the role of importance and planning.     

Is history important for a historical argument in religious studies?

This review article addresses the historical argument of Norenzayan's Big Gods. It questions the claim that there is enough historical evidence to support the thesis that gods, who are observing human behaviour from high, enable societies to grow beyond the stage of face-to-face groups.     

Not all cultural values are created equal: Cultural change in China reexamined through Google books

Given its major transformations in recent decades, China has figured prominently in research on cultural change. Previous research converges in showing a general trend towards individualism in contemporary China while noting that rising individualism tends to coexist with enduring collectivism. To further understand this, we tested whether perceived traditional importance of cultural values would modulate the trajectory of cultural change reflected in word usage frequencies in published books. We re‐analysed Google's Chinese corpus since 1980 based on a broad sample of words associated with individualism–collectivism. We replicated the pattern of rising individualism and declining collectivism among words of modest and low perceived traditional importance. Most important, however, collectivistic words of high perceived traditional importance increased in usage frequencies with time, thus departing from the general trend towards individualism. Overall, our research underscores the role of core culture in cultural maintenance during times of rapid cultural change.     

绝对重要性和认知负荷影响基于事件的前瞻记忆

操作前瞻记忆任务的重要性的方式有两种,研究发现相对重要性会造成进行中任务的损耗,而绝对重要性的研究较少且结果不尽一致,这种差异可能与进行中任务占用认知资源的情况有关。我们使用绝对重要性的指导语来操纵前瞻记忆任务的重要性高或者低,并且以Stroop任务作为进行中任务,来考察绝对重要性和认知资源占用的交互影响。结果发现,在进行中任务一致条件下,绝对重要性的增高促进了进行中任务的完成;而不一致条件下,则会阻碍进行中任务的完成。这说明,进行中任务的认知资源变化与前瞻记忆任务重要性对进行中任务的影响有着交互调节作用。     

从伦理学的视角看宗教的灵魂不朽观

灵魂不朽是不可能的 ,但在伦理领域中具有一定的必要性 ,其伦理意义主要体现为帮助人们祛除死亡恐惧和消解人生虚无感 ,促使人们勉力行善而弃绝邪恶 ,满足人的道德补偿心理以缓解现实的德福矛盾。     

Career decision status as a predictor of resignation behavior five years later

This paper extends earlier research exploring the relationship between career decision status and work outcomes by examining resignation behavior in a group of new graduates five years after initial appointment. On appointment various measures were collected including career decision status variables. Earlier research identified a significant relationship between a number of important work outcomes and career decision status. In the current study two variables–career decidedness and career choice importance–predicted resignation behavior. Those people who on appointment scored higher on career decidedness or lower on career choice importance were significantly more likely to stay in the organization than others. The implications of this finding for individuals and organizations are discussed.     

Identity Importance and the Overreporting of Religious Service Attendance: Multiple Imputation of Religious Attendance Using the American Time Use Study and the General Social Survey

The difference between religious service attendance measured using conventional surveys and time diaries has been attributed to identity processes; a high level of religious identity importance may prompt overreporting on a survey question. This article tests the hypothesized role of identity importance as an individual determinant of overreporting and the result of socially desirable behavior. A time diary measure of attendance (from the American Time Use Study 2003–2008) is imputed for conventional survey data (from the General Social Survey 2002–2008) using the multiple imputation for multiple studies procedure ( Gelman, King, and Liu 1998a ). Logistic regression models predicting self‐reported attendance and overreported attendance are estimated using identity importance as a key covariate and controlling for demographic variables associated with attendance. Identity importance is a strong predictor of both self‐reported and overreported attendance. Attendance, while a biased measure of actual behavior, may be a good indicator of religiosity.     

"仁"——医德的元德

医德是医学道德的简称,具言之,它是指医务人员在医疗卫生服务的职业活动中应该具备的仁爱、救死扶伤等的品德,是道德德目在医务人员身上的内化,也是对医务人员必须具备的最起码的要求.我们评价一个医生,首先是直面他的医德,医德是医生形象的体现,没有医德的医生即使技艺再高超,也算不上一个完整意义上的医生,"无德不成医".事实上一个医德低下的医生,他的技艺也不会高超的.