Decision map for spatial decision making in urban planning

In this paper, we introduce the concept of decision map and illustrate the way this new concept can be used effectively to support participation in spatial decision making and in urban planning. First, we start by introducing our spatial decision process which is composed of five, non-necessary sequential, phases: problem identification and formulation, analysis, negotiation, concertation, and evaluation and choice. Negotiation and concertation are two main phases in spatial decision making but most available frameworks do not provide tools to support them effectively. The solution proposed here is based on the concept of decision map which is defined as an advanced version of conventional geographic maps which is enriched with preferential information and especially designed to clarify decision making. It looks like a set of homogenous spatial units; each one is characterised with a global, often ordinal, evaluation that represents an aggregation of several partial evaluations relative to different criteria. The decision map is also enriched with different spatial data exploration tools. The procedure of the construction of a decision map contains four main steps: definition of the problem (i.e. generation of criteria maps), generation of an intermediate map, inference of preferential parameters, and generation of a final decision map. The concept of decision map as defined here is a generic tool that may be applied in different domains. This paper focuses on the role of the decision map in supporting participation in spatial decision making and urban planning. Indeed, the decision map is an efficient communication tool in the sense that it permits to the different groups implied in the spatial decision process to ‘think visually’ and to communicate better between each other.ou

Eliciting Human Preferences with Language Models

Language models (LMs) can be directed to perform target tasks by using labeled examples or natural language prompts. But selecting examples or writing prompts for can be challenging--especially in tasks that involve unusual edge cases, demand precise articulation of nebulous preferences, or require an accurate mental model of LM behavior. We propose to use *LMs themselves* to guide the task specification process. In this paper, we introduce **Generative Active Task Elicitation (GATE)**: a learning framework in which models elicit and infer intended behavior through free-form, language-based interaction with users. We study GATE in three domains: email validation, content recommendation, and moral reasoning. In preregistered experiments, we show that LMs prompted to perform GATE (e.g., by generating open-ended questions or synthesizing informative edge cases) elicit responses that are often more informative than user-written prompts or labels. Users report that interactive task elicitation requires less effort than prompting or example labeling and surfaces novel considerations not initially anticipated by users. Our findings suggest that LM-driven elicitation can be a powerful tool for aligning models to complex human preferences and values.Comment: 26 pages, 15 figure

The Impact of Visual Elements on Rational Decision Making During Risk Elicitation Tasks

Understanding an individual’s risk propensity may provide insight into decision-making processes involving risk, and predict behaviour under various policy interventions. There are different ways to measure risk propensity. One of the principal methods is through risk lottery elicitation tasks where validity issues may be caused by participants’ irrational choices. Participants’ irrational choices are due to misunderstanding of the lotteries in these risk elicitation tasks which are presented as numerical probabilities. Such choices produce a high inconsistency rate as well as invalid predictions of individuals’ risk propensity. This thesis aims to help people understand the lotteries of such risk lottery elicitation tasks and assist in their rational decision making with the use of interactive approaches. To achieve this, the thesis shows the results of three quantitative empirical studies based on the overarching research question: “Can incorporating visual elements and interactive approaches with graphs in a risk elicitation task influence rational decision making?”. The first study investigated whether by introducing gamified elements into a risk lottery elicitation task, participants would be influenced to choose rationally. The second study explored the underlying factors, which influence participants’ rational choices in options of a risk lottery elicitation task. The third study examined whether using interactive visual media would influence rational choices in a risk lottery elicitation task. Results from the first experiment with 32 participants showed that, despite an acceptable level of the game’s usability, (as revealed from a validated usability satisfaction questionnaire, M = 6.86 of maximum 10 and SD= 0.62), there was no observable correlation between participant’ choices in the game and the standardised task, r (32) = .120, p < .511. Results from the second experiment with 60 participants, showed that participants who scored higher in a validated numeracy scale were more likely to answer rationally in the lottery options of a risk elicitation task, X2 (1, N= 60) = 4.176, p = .041. Similarly, participants who scored higher in a validated cognitive reflection task had greater chance of choosing rationally in the Holt and Laury task, p < 0.05. Furthermore, when participants used graphs to reason their choices in the task, they were more likely to choose rationally in the task, p < .020. Results from the third experiment with 225 participants, yielded significant evidence that both people who scored lower in the validated numeracy assessment scale and higher, chose more consistently when they interacted with pie charts that presented the lotteries than when they were presented with lotteries as numerical probabilities or passive pie charts, p < .00. The first experiment demonstrates high variance arising from inconsistency in the choices in both tasks. The results highlight the issues with irrational choices in risk lottery elicitation tasks and show that, despite evidenced usability the inconsistency of participants’ choices persisted in a gamified context similar to the standard Holt and Laury task. The second experiment results demonstrate that the use of visual methods, which may extend to game, is more likely to result in rational and therefore consistent choices for people with numerical difficulties or impulsive thinking. The third experiment results demonstrate that the use of interactive visual media has potential to increase consistency of choices in risk lottery elicitation tasks especially for people with numerical difficulties. These findings have implications for the future implementation of risk elicitation tasks that involve lotteries to convey risky situations particularly for audiences with score lower in validated numeracy and cognitive reflection tasks. The evidence provided by this thesis supports the assertion that by providing an interactive graphical presentational way of the lotteries in the task, the consistency of results can be increased. Interactive approaches with visual media were shown to assist on rational decision making for people who scored lower in the validated metrics of numeracy and impulsive thinking confirming empirical evidence which suggested the use of external representations to understand probability problems. Thus, these experiments’ results extended the theories supporting the use of external representations to solve probability problems by using specifically pie charts as external representations that assist the rational choice in the Holt and Laury task. This interactive approach, which could be extended through games, may reduce individuals’ irrational choices in risk lottery elicitation task and thus allow the accurate estimations of their risk propensity. The latter would help to provide more accurate predictions of individuals’ behaviour under various policies, in the context of financial investments

Capturing the Visitor Profile for a Personalized Mobile Museum Experience: an Indirect Approach

An increasing number of museums and cultural institutions around the world use personalized, mostly mobile, museum guides to enhance visitor experiences. However since a typical museum visit may last a few minutes and visitors might only visit once, the personalization processes need to be quick and efficient, ensuring the engagement of the visitor. In this paper we investigate the use of indirect profiling methods through a visitor quiz, in order to provide the visitor with specific museum content. Building on our experience of a first study aimed at the design, implementation and user testing of a short quiz version at the Acropolis Museum, a second parallel study was devised. This paper introduces this research, which collected and analyzed data from two environments: the Acropolis Museum and social media (i.e. Facebook). Key profiling issues are identified, results are presented, and guidelines towards a generalized approach for the profiling needs of cultural institutions are discussed