Cognitive processes, models and metaphors in decision research

Decision research in psychology has traditionally been influenced by the homo oeconomicus metaphor with its emphasis on normative models and deviations from the predictions of those models. In contrast, the principal metaphor of cognitive psychology conceptualizes humans as ‘information processors’, employing processes of perception, memory, categorization, problem solving and so on. Many of the processes described in cognitive theories are similar to those involved in decision making, and thus increasing cross-fertilization between the two areas is an important endeavour. A wide range of models and metaphors has been proposed to explain and describe ‘information processing ’ and many models have been applied to decision making in ingenious ways. This special issue encourages cross-fertilization between cognitive psychology and decision research by providing an overview of current perspectives in one area that continues to highlight the benefits of the synergistic approach: cognitive modeling of multi-attribute decision making. In this introduction we discuss aspects of the cognitive system that need to be considered when modeling multi-attribute decision making (e.g., automatic versus controlled processing, learning and memory constraints, metacognition) and illustrate how such aspects are incorporated into the approaches proposed by contributors to the special issue. We end by discussing the challenges posed by the contrasting and sometimes incompatible assumptions of the models and metaphors

Influence of pressure on droplet splashing behaviour inside gas turbine compressors during wet compression

International audienceThe injection of water sprays into the compressor inlet of gas turbines is used to augment power output and perform fast load changes. During wet compression, many drops enter the compressor and since droplets above a specific size cannot follow the flow of air, they are likely to collide with compressor blades and disintegrate. To apprehend the occurring splashing phenomena, impacts of single droplets on substrates with different surface roughness are studied under gas pressures from 100 to 500 kPa. For these disintegrations, the quantity of secondary droplets as well as their size and velocity distributions are measured using backlit high-speed video recordings. Analysis shows that the secondary droplet diameter distribution is dependent on surface roughness as well as pressure. Surface roughness increases the quantity of large secondary droplets, while the number of droplets with small diameters is unaltered. Increasing pressure increases the quantity of secondary droplets of all sizes. Both variations lead to significant increase in overall ejected volume of the primary drop. The evaluation of the influence of surface roughness and pressure on the secondary droplet velocity showed that there is a minor dependency on variations in both parameters

„Sa[x]t man hier so!“ : Eine soziolinguistische Untersuchung der Sprache in Gütersloh

Die vorliegende Arbeit ist eine Untersuchung der Stadtsprache Güterslohs, genauer: der Aussprache von Gütersloher*innen. Vordergründig geht es um die Beantwortung folgender Fragen: 1. Inwiefern weicht die Sprache der Gütersloher*innen von der standarddeutschen Hochlautung ab und wie stark ist sie dabei von ausgewählten norddeutschen Aussprachemerkmalen gezeichnet? 2. Sind sich die Gütersloher*innen dieser Aussprachemerkmale bewusst? 3. Bestehen Zusammenhänge zwischen der Sprachproduktion und der Sprachwahrnehmung? Eine Sprachdatenerhebung mit 40 Versuchspersonen lieferte die empirischen Daten für die Beantwortung dieser Fragen. Wie ausgehend von Ergebnissen anderer norddeutscher Stadtsprachenstudien bereits vermutet (wie der Hannover-Studie von IKENAGA 2018 und der Herford-Studie von OEPPING 2020), entspricht auch die Gütersloher Aussprache nicht gänzlich der standarddeutschen Aussprache, sondern ist zum Teil stark gekennzeichnet von den untersuchten norddeutschen Aussprachemerkmalen. Insgesamt sind die Merkmale eher weniger auffällig, da zwei Drittel der standarddivergenten Stimuli nicht wahrgenommen wurden. Die einzelnen linguistischen Variablen schwanken jedoch stark hinsichtlich ihrer Gebrauchsfrequenzen und ihrer Salienzwerte. Es konnten zudem Zusammenhänge zwischen der Sprachproduktion und -perzeption gefunden werden. So wurden beispielsweise einige hochfrequente Aussprachemerkmale seltener als auffällig wahrgenommen als weniger gebrauchte standarddivergente Aussprachevarianten. Die Studie liefert einen Überblick über die aktuelle Sprachsituation in Gütersloh hinsichtlich ausgewählter norddeutscher Aussprachemerkmale und deren Auffälligkeit

What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow? modeling numerical judgments of realistic stimuli

Research on processes of multiple-cue judgments usually uses artificial stimuli with predefined cue structures, such as artificial bugs with four binary features like back color, belly color, gland size, and spot shape. One reason for using artifical stimuli is that the cognitive models used in this area need known cues and cue values. This limitation makes it difficult to apply the models to research questions with complex naturalistic stimuli with unknown cue structure. In two studies, building on early categorization research, we demonstrate how cues and cue values of complex naturalistic stimuli can be extracted from pairwise similarity ratings with a multidimensional scaling analysis. These extracted cues can then be used in a state-of-the-art hierarchical Bayesian model of numerical judgments. In the first study, we show that predefined cue structures of artificial stimuli are well recovered by an MDS analysis of similarity judgments and that using these MDS-based attributes as cues in a cognitive model of judgment data from an existing experiment leads to the same inferences as when the original cue values were used. In the second study, we use the same procedure to replicate previous findings from multiple-cue judgment literature using complex naturalistic stimuli

Cognitive integration of recognition information and additional cues in memory-based decisions

Glöckner and Bröder (2011) have shown that for 77.5% of their participants’ decision making behavior in decisions involving recognition information and explicitly provided additional cues could be better described by weighted-compensatory Parallel Constraint Satisfaction (PCS) Models than by non-compensatory strategies such as recognition heuristic (RH) or Take the Best (TTB). We investigate whether this predominance of PCS models also holds in memory-based decisions in which information retrieval is effortful and cognitively demanding. Decision strategies were analyzed using a maximum-likelihood strategy classification method, taking into account choices, response times and confidence ratings simultaneously. In contrast to the memory-based-RH hypothesis, results show that also in memory-based decisions for 62% of the participants behavior is best explained by a compensatory PCS model. There is, however, a slight increase in participants classified as users of the non-compensatory strategies RH and TTB (32%) compared to the previous study, mirroring other studies suggesting effects of costly retrieval

Utilization, release, and long-term fate of ancient carbon from eroding permafrost coastlines

About 34% of global coast lines are underlain by permafrost. Rising temperatures cause an acceleration in erosion rates of up to 10s of meters annually, exporting increasing amounts of carbon and nutrients to the coastal ocean. The degradation of ancient organic carbon (OC) from permafrost is an important potential feedback mechanism in a warming climate. However, little is known about permafrost OC degradation after entering the ocean and its long term-fate after redeposition on the sea floor. Some recent studies have revealed CO2 release to occur when ancient permafrost materials are incubated with sea water. However, despite its importance for carbon feedback mechanisms, no study has directly assessed whether this CO2 release is indeed derived from respiration of ancient permafrost OC. We used a multi-disciplinary approach incubating Yedoma permafrost from the Lena Delta in natural coastal seawater from the south-eastern Kara Sea. By combining biogeochemical analyses, DNA-sequencing, ramped oxidation, pyrolysis and stable and radiocarbon isotope analysis we were able to: 1) quantify CO2 emissions from permafrost utilization; 2) for the first time demonstrate the amount of ancient OC contributing to CO2 emissions; 3) link the processes to specific microbial communities; and 4) characterize and assess lability of permafrost OC after redeposition on the sea floor. Our data clearly indicate high bioavailability of permafrost OC and rapid utilization after thawed material has entered the water column, while observing only minor changes in permafrost OC composition over time. Microbial communities are distinctly different in suspended Yedoma particles and water. Overall, our results suggest that under anthropogenic Arctic warming, enhanced coastal erosion will result in increased greenhouse gas emissions, as formerly freeze-locked ancient permafrost OC is remineralized by microbial communities when released to the coastal ocean

Deliberation versus automaticity in decision making: Which presentation format features facilitate automatic decision making?

The idea of automatic decision making approximating normatively optimal decisions without necessitating much cognitive effort is intriguing. Whereas recent findings support the notion that such fast, automatic processes explain empirical data well, little is known about the conditions under which such processes are selected rather than more deliberate stepwise strategies. We investigate the role of the format of information presentation, focusing explicitly on the ease of information acquisition and its influence on information integration processes. In a probabilistic inference task, the standard matrix employed in prior research was contrasted with a newly created map presentation format and additional variations of both presentation formats. Across three experiments, a robust presentation format effect emerged: Automatic decision making was more prevalent in the matrix (with high information accessibility), whereas sequential decision strategies prevailed when the presentation format demanded more information acquisition effort. Further scrutiny of the effect showed that it is not driven by the presentation format as such, but rather by the extent of information search induced by a format. Thus, if information is accessible with minimal need for information search, information integration is likely to proceed in a perception-like, holistic manner. In turn, a moderate demand for information search decreases the likelihood of behavior consistent with the assumptions of automatic decision making

Approximating rationality under incomplete information: Adaptive inferences for missing cue values based on cue-discrimination

In a highly uncertain world, individuals often have to make decisions in situations with incomplete information. We investigated in three experiments how partial cue information is treated in complex probabilistic inference tasks. Specifically, we test a mechanism to infer missing cue values that is based on the discrimination rate of cues (i.e., how often a cue makes distinct predictions for choice options). We show analytically that inferring missing cue values based on discrimination rate maximizes the probability for a correct inference in many decision environments and that it is therefore adaptive to use it. Results from three experiments show that individuals are sensitive to the discrimination rate and use it when it is a valid inference mechanism but rely on other inference mechanisms, such as the cues’ base-rate of positive information, when it is not. We find adaptive inferences for incomplete information in environments in which participants are explicitly provided with information concerning the base-rate and discrimination rate of cues (Exp. 1) as well as in environments in which they learn these properties by experience (Exp. 2). Results also hold in environments of further increased complexity (Exp. 3). In all studies, participants show a high ability to adaptively infer incomplete information and to integrate this inferred information with other available cues to approximate the naïve Bayesian solution