Trust-based belief change

International audienceWe propose a modal logic that supports reasoning about trust-based belief change. The term trust-based belief change refers to belief change that depends on the degree of trust the receiver has in the source of information

Talking Nets: A Multi-Agent Connectionist Approach to Communication and Trust between Individuals

A multi-agent connectionist model is proposed that consists of a collection of individual recurrent networks that communicate with each other, and as such is a network of networks. The individual recurrent networks simulate the process of information uptake, integration and memorization within individual agents, while the communication of beliefs and opinions between agents is propagated along connections between the individual networks. A crucial aspect in belief updating based on information from other agents is the trust in the information provided. In the model, trust is determined by the consistency with the receiving agents’ existing beliefs, and results in changes of the connections between individual networks, called trust weights. Thus activation spreading and weight change between individual networks is analogous to standard connectionist processes, although trust weights take a specific function. Specifically, they lead to a selective propagation and thus filtering out of less reliable information, and they implement Grice’s (1975) maxims of quality and quantity in communication. The unique contribution of communicative mechanisms beyond intra-personal processing of individual networks was explored in simulations of key phenomena involving persuasive communication and polarization, lexical acquisition, spreading of stereotypes and rumors, and a lack of sharing unique information in group decisions

Identity, Knowledge, and Environmentalism: How the Media can Affect the Politics of Climate Change in the United States

This paper will examine how individual identities can affect both their news media preferences and their belief in climate change. Identity impacts what news sources an individual finds trustworthy, and therefore what news sources they read and watch. Identity also affects an individual’s belief that climate change is already happening, and that it is manmade. Media preferences can also shape those beliefs, based on the way they frame the same story, and what rhetoric is used within each frame. The media uses rhetoric and framing to influence individuals’ knowledge on particular topics, which impacts their voting behaviors. A person’s identity can influence many things, including their chosen media source. This identity can have several different implications, including the knowledge that they have on climate change and climate change policy based solely on the media sources that they trust. Media sources have the power to influence individuals’ knowledge of climate change and climate change policy because of the way that they present the same news story

Charitable trusts and advancement of religion: On a whim and a prayer?

The advancement of religion is a controversial head of charitable trusts: whilst its foundations are based on tenets of intangible belief systems, New Zealand law, alongside other common law jurisdictions, supports the notion that the public benefit requirement of all charitable trusts be presumed in this particular head. Common law also reflects decades of evolution of the interpretation of the advancement of religion, thus not limiting the advancement of religion to only the traditional methods of yesteryear, such as offering church services. Nevertheless, with the recent contentious judgment in the New Zealand case of Liberty Trust v Charities Commission, this article submits that the established doctrines associated with the advancement of religion have been advanced beyond envisioned boundaries. The article supports a more conservative interpretation based on established case law. This would not only continue to support fully the evolution of the advancement of religion, but would also provide judicial certainty in an area of law that is undergoing continued change

Joint trust for belief revision

The process of belief revision is impacted by trust relationships between agents. In the simplest case, information is reported from a single source and the belief change that occurs is dependent on the extent to which that source is trusted over a particular domain. In this paper, we are concerned with the more complicated case where the new information is reported by a set of agents. We first introduce a simple model of trust in an agent, and show how it influences the process of belief revision. We then define an joint notion of trust that is built by combining the trust held in each individual agent in the reporting set. We use this formal framework to define precisely when a collection of agents can be seen as a trusted authority over a particular formula for revision. While our framework is based on a particular model of trust, we argue that this approach can be used to define a suitable notion of joint trust in a wide range of settings

Elite Cues and the Rapid Decline of Trust in Science Agencies on COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has been marked by political divisions in US public trust of scientists. Such divisions are well known on other science topics, but regarding COVID-19 they arose suddenly, with disastrous results. Public distrust of scientists has been variously explained in terms of conflicts with belief systems, psychology, peer influences, or communication from elites. Three surveys conducted from March to July 2020 in the US state of New Hampshire observed changing perceptions on COVID-19, providing a test of alternative explanations. Over this period trust in science agencies such as the CDC for information on the coronavirus fell dramatically among Republicans, while views among Democrats and Independents changed little. Elite cues provide an obvious explanation—specifically, a reversal of views toward the CDC expressed by President Donald Trump. The change was consequential: people expressing lower trust in scientists also report less compliance with science-based behavioral recommendations, and less support for scientifically-informed policies. On several items, partisan differences are narrowest among college graduates, opposite to patterns previously seen with other science-trust issues. The primacy of elite cues regarding COVID-19 agrees, however, with earlier conclusions about the origins of distrust in scientists on climate change and environmental protection

Transforming A School\u27s Culture Through Collaboration, Relationships, And Shared Values: A Change Leadership Plan

The change leadership paper centers around transforming a school culture with the focus being on collaboration, relationships, and shared values among its stakeholders.Building trust among staff and administration while making daily decisions based on the same value system is necessary to enact an effective transformation. Tools used to collect data included the School Culture Triage Survey and the Teacher Belief Survey. The staff completed the School Culture Triage Survey to establish baseline data and then completed the survey a second time with the results confirming growth in the three main categories: professional collaboration, collegial relationships, and self-determination. Correlating and comparing these results with those from the Teacher Belief Survey (also completed by staff) helped paint a clearer picture of how classroom culture is connected to building-wide culture. The change leadership plan also involved analyzing the roles and structures that are in place by utilizing Wagner and Kegan\u27s (2006) “as is” and the “to be” change leadership model. The change leadership model helped guide the staff in building structures (procedures, student behavior code), confirming administrative roles and responsibilities (becoming self-sufficient and independent), developing strong lines of communication (content and leadership team meetings and communications), and creating core values

Polarization and Belief Dynamics in the Black and White Communities: An Agent-Based Network Model from the Data

Public health care interventions—regarding vaccination, obesity, and HIV, for example—standardly take the form of information dissemination across a community. But information networks can vary importantly between different ethnic communities, as can levels of trust in information from different sources. We use data from the Greater Pittsburgh Random Household Health Survey to construct models of information networks for White and Black communities--models which reflect the degree of information contact between individuals, with degrees of trust in information from various sources correlated with positions in that social network. With simple assumptions regarding belief change and social reinforcement, we use those modeled networks to build dynamic agent-based models of how information can be expected to flow and how beliefs can be expected to change across each community. With contrasting information from governmental and religious sources, the results show importantly different dynamic patterns of belief polarization within the two communities

Parental Confidence in U.S. Government and Medical Authorities, Measles (Rubeloa) Knowledge, and MMR Vaccine Compliance

Parents\u27 refusal to immunize their children with the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine has resulted in a surge of measles outbreaks in the United States. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationships between parental knowledge and trust of the MMR vaccine, and their trust in government and medical authorities. The theoretical foundation for this study was the health belief model (HBM). This study determined if there was any relationship between general trust in doctors/governments (i.e., the predictor variable) and attitudes toward MMR vaccine (i.e., the sole dependent variable), and whether gender, age group, or level of education moderated that general trust. A Survey Monkey subscriber database and researcher-developed survey was used to identify and email 2,500 parents of immunization-aged children, resulting in 237 respondents who met the required parameters. The analysis revealed a significant, positive relationship between the criterion and predictor variables, R = .32, R2 = .10, F(1, 235) = 26.39, p. \u3c .001, regardless of gender, age, or education, suggesting an association between higher trust and greater likelihood of a parent allowing vaccination. This study offers significant insights for positive social change by providing pediatricians, primary health care providers, and vaccine educators, with information for communicating with vaccine-hesitant parents: It is not enough to address parental concerns of vaccine safety, efficacy, and necessity. It is also not enough to provide evidence-based scientific data, as doing so has been proven to be ineffective and for some parents counter-productive when government and medical authorities are sited as the source. What we need to do is start focusing upon the role of parental trust, including how to best establish that trust, and equally important, what steps are necessary to sustain that trust

Leadership and trust

Leadership is an influence process. It means leaving a mark on others. It is initiating and guiding others and the result is change. The product is new character or direction that otherwise would never be. Trust is based on the belief that one will not behave opportunistically and is defined as “a psychological state comprising the intention to accept vulnerability based upon positive expectation of the intentions and behavior of another.” (Rousseau, Sitkin, Burt & Camerer, 1998, p.395). Trust is the building block of social exchange and role relationship. Leader member relationship needs trust. It is impossible to lead people who do not trust you. Trust in leader has been found to influence employees work commitment, intention to stay in the organization, organizational citizenship behavior, quality of communication, and decision making. Unfortunately, growing number of scandals and resultant corporate failures, as well as reengineering and downsizing is seriously eroding employees trust in their leaders. The paper examines the nature of trust and its relationship with organizational leadership. Further it suggests ways through which trust can be promoted in organizations