Trusting the messenger because of the message: feedback dynamics from information quality to source evaluation

Published Online: 28 August 2013International audienceInformation provided by a source should be assessed by an intelligent agent on the basis of several criteria: most notably, its content and the trust one has in its source. In turn, the observed quality of information should feed back on the assessment of its source, and such feedback should intelligently distribute among different features of the source--e.g., competence and sincerity. We propose a formal framework in which trust is treated as a multi-dimensional concept relativized to the sincerity of the source and its competence with respect to specific domains: both these aspects influence the assessment of the information, and also determine a feedback on the trustworthiness degree of its source. We provide a framework to describe the combined effects of competence and sincerity on the perceived quality of information. We focus on the feedback dynamics from information quality to source evaluation, highlighting the role that uncertainty reduction and social comparison play in determining the amount and the distribution of feedback

Tracking Uncertainty Propagation from Model to Formalization: Illustration on Trust Assessment

International audienceThis paper investigates the use of the URREF ontology to characterize and track uncertainties arising within the modeling and formalization phases. Estimation of trust in reported information, a real-world problem of interest to practitioners in the field of security, was adopted for illustration purposes. A functional model of trust was developed to describe the analysis of reported information, and it was implemented with belief functions. When assessing trust in reported information, the uncertainty arises not only from the quality of sources or information content, but also due to the inability of models to capture the complex chain of interactions leading to the final outcome and to constraints imposed by the representation formalism. A primary goal of this work is to separate known approximations, imperfections and inaccuracies from potential errors, while explicitly tracking the uncertainty from the modeling to the formalization phases. A secondary goal is to illustrate how criteria of the URREF ontology can offer a basis for analyzing performances of fusion systems at early stages, ahead of implementation. Ideally, since uncertainty analysis runs dynamically, it can use the existence or absence of observed states and processes inducing uncertainty to adjust the tradeoff between precision and performance of systems on-the-fly

Developing a fengshui-based strategic decision-making model for Malaysia's property industry

In the property industry, stakes are high. The perfect condition of a reasonable time and information for stakeholders to get a sense of confidence to make well-guided decisions is unheard-of. To compound the problem, conscious and subconscious belief-based factors like Fengshui is pervasive in Malaysia's property industry. Although this phenomenon significantly impacts strategic decision (SD) making in the property industry, few mainstream academics would like to indulge too much in an esoteric subject like Fengshui. Whether we choose to ignore this phenomenon or not, Fengshui continues to impact local players and any global players operating or wishing to invest in Malaysia. This study aims to develop a model to address Fengshui-based SD making for Malaysia's property industry. Transcendental phenomenology was adopted to examine the Fengshui-based SD makers' experience without losing its lived, first-person character. Fourteen participants of Malaysia's captains of the property industry formed the purposive sample. The researcher has prior familiarity and prolonged engagement with the subject matter. Therefore, the Modified Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method was employed, including pre-reflective descriptions from the participants and revelations from the researcher. Criteria of this method also require that the researcher's profile fits the purposive sample, and the research question under investigation is also his passion. Data were simultaneously collected via in-depth interviews, analysed and organised into themes until saturation. The final model informs the business leader if the business opponent he interacts with is an Aliever SD maker, Acquiescer SD maker, or a Believer SD maker. Understanding this enables business leaders to adapt to their environment and act according to the way (Wuwei in Daoist philosophy) the situation naturally encourages. Findings in this study reveal theoretical gaps to explore in pursuing Fengshui-related cognitive biases such as confirmation bias and authority bias. The proposed model will benefit multinational corporations by assisting them in better preparing for foreign assignments on this abstract yet impactful area of study in Malaysia's property industry

Arguing about the Trustworthiness of the Information Sources

Trust minimizes the uncertainty in the interactions among the information sources. To express the possibly conflicting motivations about trust and distrust, we reason about trust using argumentation theory. First, we show how to model the sources and how to attack untrustworthy sources. Second, we provide a focused representation of trust about the sources in which trust concerns not only the sources but also the information items and the relation with other information