A comparative analysis between two statistical deviation–based consensus measures in group decision making problems

The mean absolute deviation and the standard deviation, two statistical measures commonly used in quantifying variability, may become an interesting tool when defining consensus measures. Two consensus indexes which obtain the level of consensus in some problems of Group Decision Making are introduced in this paper by expanding the aforementioned statistical concepts. A comparative analysis reveals that the levels of consensus derived from these indexes are close to those obtained employing distance functions when a fuzzy preference relations frame is considered, so they turn out to be a useful tool in this context. In addition, these indexes are different from each other and with the distance functions considered. Thus, they are applicable tools in the calculation of consensus in our context and are different from those commonly used

Fostering collaborative knowledge construction with visualization tools

This study investigates to what extent collaborative knowledge construction can be fostered by providing students with visualization tools as structural support. Thirty-two students of Educational Psychology took part in the study. The students were subdivided into dyads and asked to solve a case problem of their learning domain under one of two conditions: 1) with content-specific visualization 2) with content-unspecific visualization. Results show that by being provided with a content-specific visualization tool, both the process and the outcome of the cooperative effort improved. More specifically, dyads under that condition referred to more adequate concepts, risked more conflicts, and were more successful in integrating prior knowledge into the collaborative solution. Moreover, those learning partners had a more similar individual learning outcome

Opinion Polarization by Learning from Social Feedback

We explore a new mechanism to explain polarization phenomena in opinion dynamics in which agents evaluate alternative views on the basis of the social feedback obtained on expressing them. High support of the favored opinion in the social environment, is treated as a positive feedback which reinforces the value associated to this opinion. In connected networks of sufficiently high modularity, different groups of agents can form strong convictions of competing opinions. Linking the social feedback process to standard equilibrium concepts we analytically characterize sufficient conditions for the stability of bi-polarization. While previous models have emphasized the polarization effects of deliberative argument-based communication, our model highlights an affective experience-based route to polarization, without assumptions about negative influence or bounded confidence.Comment: Presented at the Social Simulation Conference (Dublin 2017

Tools to integrate organoleptic quality criteria into breeding programs

This technical booklet provides methodologies and guidance to implement sensory evaluations for organoleptic quality assessment in multi-actor-projects for organic agriculture. It presents five detailed tests that can be used in sensory evaluation, methodologies on how to prepare the samples and a glossary. This booklet has been developed under Solibam project and updated during Diversifood project

A critical look at power law modelling of the Internet

This paper takes a critical look at the usefulness of power law models of the Internet. The twin focuses of the paper are Internet traffic and topology generation. The aim of the paper is twofold. Firstly it summarises the state of the art in power law modelling particularly giving attention to existing open research questions. Secondly it provides insight into the failings of such models and where progress needs to be made for power law research to feed through to actual improvements in network performance.Comment: To appear Computer Communication