Who Really Wants to be a Millionaire : Estimates of Risk Aversion from Game Show Data

Risk aversion ; gameshow

Who really wants to be a millionaire? Estimates of risk aversion from gameshow data

This paper analyses the behaviour of contestants in one of the most popular TV gameshows ever to estimate risk aversion. This gameshow has a number of features that makes it well suited for our analysis: the format is extremely straightforward, it involves no strategic decision-making, we have a large number of observations, and the prizes are cash and paid immediately, and cover a large range – from £100 up to £1 million. Our data sources have the virtue that we are able to check the representativeness of the gameshow participants. Even though the CRRA model is extremely restrictive we find that a coefficient or relative risk aversion which is close to unity fits the data across a wide range of wealth remarkably well.Risk aversion ; gameshow

Modelling Direct Current Resistivity Of Wood Polymer Composites

Resistivity of wood and treated wood decreased with increasing MC and increasing polymer loading. A rule of mixtures model using decreasing resistivities of polymer and wood with increase in MC agreed reasonably with experimental results

Who really wants to be a millionaire: estimates of risk aversion from game show data

There is a considerable variation in estimates of the degree of risk aversion in the literature. This paper analyses the behaviour of contestants in one of the most popular TV gameshows ever to estimate a CRRA model of behaviour. This gameshow has a number of features that makes it well suited for our analysis: the format is extremely straightforward, it involves no strategic decision-making, we have a large number of observations, and the prizes are cash and paid immediately, and cover a large range - up to £1 million. Our data sources have the virtue that we are able to check the representativeness of the gameshow participants. While the game requires skill, which complicates our analysis, the structure of the game is very simple so that complex probability calculations are not required of the participants. The CRRA model is complex despite its restrictiveness because of the sequential nature of this game - answering a question correctly opens the option to hear the next question and this has a value that depends on the stage of the game and the player's view about the difficulty of subsequent questions. We use the data to estimate the degree of risk aversion and how it varies across individuals. We investigate a number of departures from this simple model including allowing the RRA parameter to vary by gender and age. Even though the model is extremely restrictive, in particular, it features a single RRA parameter we find that it fits the data across a wide range of wealth remarkably well and yields very plausible parameter values

Juggling lecture halls and netball within a tertiary education setting in South Africa

The objective of this study was to explore how student-athletes experience their dual careers (academics and netball) within a tertiary education setting. This was achieved by investigating their experiences through an ecological model that comprises of the student-athlete (individual) at its core, a Micro-system and a Macro-system. The five participants were purposively selected and required to be bona fide students. All five of the participants represented their country nationally, either at age group level or for the main national team. As a sample their academic year of study spanned from 1st year to honours or 4th year respectively. The participants were asked to map out their environment according to the model which then informed how they gave a written account (narrative) of their student-athlete experiences in relation to the past, present and future. A metaphor was then provided by the participants to describe their stories. These written accounts were then used to formulate the semi-structured interview questions that were used. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and then analyzed using a thematic analysis. The findings of the study provided a holistic and comprehensive understanding of how the participants experienced their dual careers within their milieus. It was found that the participants of this study all had difficulty with finding and maintaining balance. In addition to this the study uncovers the factors within their environment that add to or detract from balance. Among the key findings of this study was that all of the participants were aware of and affected by matters related to finances, whether it be the expectations around bursaries and the financial strain placed on parents and family members should these expectations fail to be met. The participants felt their options for free and safe expression of their concerns was limited and they desired a safe space to do so. Despite these challenges another key finding showed that there was an inherent belief that it is possible to succeed as a student-athlete, but success was also largely dependent on the support from family and the ability to function autonomously between the academic and sporting spheres.Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2017.PsychologyMAUnrestricte

Cheryl's Birthday

We present four logic puzzles and after that their solutions. Joseph Yeo designed 'Cheryl's Birthday'. Mike Hartley came up with a novel solution for 'One Hundred Prisoners and a Light Bulb'. Jonathan Welton designed 'A Blind Guess' and 'Abby's Birthday'. Hans van Ditmarsch and Barteld Kooi authored the puzzlebook 'One Hundred Prisoners and a Light Bulb' that contains other knowledge puzzles, and that can also be found on the webpage http://personal.us.es/hvd/lightbulb.html dedicated to the book.Comment: In Proceedings TARK 2017, arXiv:1707.0825

Brain activity underlying the recovery of meaning from degraded speech: a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) study

The purpose of this study was to establish whether functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), an emerging brain-imaging technique based on optical principles, is suitable for studying the brain activity that underlies effortful listening. In an event-related fNIRS experiment, normally-hearing adults listened to sentences that were either clear or degraded (noise vocoded). These sentences were presented simultaneously with a non-speech distractor, and on each trial participants were instructed to attend either to the speech or to the distractor. The primary region of interest for the fNIRS measurements was the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG), a cortical region involved in higher-order language processing. The fNIRS results confirmed findings previously reported in the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) literature. Firstly, the LIFG exhibited an elevated response to degraded versus clear speech, but only when attention was directed towards the speech. This attention-dependent increase in frontal brain activation may be a neural marker for effortful listening. Secondly, during attentive listening to degraded speech, the haemodynamic response peaked significantly later in the LIFG than in superior temporal cortex, possibly reflecting the engagement of working memory to help reconstruct the meaning of degraded sentences. The homologous region in the right hemisphere may play an equivalent role to the LIFG in some left-handed individuals. In conclusion, fNIRS holds promise as a flexible tool to examine the neural signature of effortful listening

Determining Hybridization in Jack Pine and Lodgepole Pine from British Columbia

This study was conducted to find wood quality evidence of hybridization between jack pine (Pinus banksiana) and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) in northeast British Columbia (BC). To determine if wood and fiber traits could be used as distinguishing features among jack pine, lodgepole pine, and their hybrids, differences in morphology and wood and fiber traits were related to the genetic identity of each sample. Thirty samples each of pure lodgepole pine, pure jack pine, and potential hybrids were collected from the Prince George area of BC, the Smoky Lake area of Alberta, and the Fort Nelson region of BC, respectively. Two 10-mm cores (bark to bark) were taken from each tree and analyzed for fiber length and coarseness, microfibril angle (MFA), basic density, earlywood:latewood ratios, and cell dimensions. Needle and cone morphology was used to distinguish among species groups in the field. Based on genetically identified samples, the fiber traits that best differentiated among pure jack pine, lodgepole pine, and hybrids were MFA and cell area

Gate-to-Gate Life-Cycle Inventory of Softwood Lumber Production

To perform a life-cycle analysis, a life-cycle inventory is needed. Data from surveys of manufacturers are presented for the energy and materials required to produce 1.623 m3 (1 mbf) of planed, dry, dimension lumber from logs in the western and southern U.S. In the West and South, 53 and 41% of the log volume (3.05 and 3.92 m3) leaves the mill as planed, dry dimension lumber, respectively. A much greater portion of the energy used for production in the South is produced on site from wood fuels. CO2 emissions were greater in the South because of the wood fuel, 574 kg versus 419 kg per 1.623 m3 produced