Information Aggregation with Costly Information and Random Ordering: Experimental Evidence

The cost of information is an often ignored factor in economic situations although the information acquisition behavior of the decision makers has a crucial influence on the outcome. In this experiment, we study an information aggregation process in which participants decide in a random sequence. Participants observe predecessors decisions and can acquire additional private information at a fixed price. We analyze participants information acquisition behavior and updating procedures. About one half of the individuals act rationally, whereas the other participants systematically overestimate the private signal value. This leads to excessive signal acquisitions and reduced conformity.

To buy or not to buy : why do people buy too much information?

Previous studies have shown that individuals exhibit a tendency to acquire an excessive amount of private information if information can only be communicated through a small and discrete action space. In this experiment we investigate demand for information when the action space is continuous. Participants sequentially assess their subjective probability which one out of two apriori equally likely states occurred at the beginning of a game. They observe the probability assessment of their predecessor and can acquire additional private information at a fixed price. Participants interact with either human or computer simulated players. We find that individuals in general acquire too many signals and that behavior does not depend on the rationality of their counterparts. A random utility model is able to explain most of the observed behavior

How do people take into account weight, strength and quality of segregated vs. aggregated data? Experimental evidence

In this experimental study we investigated how people aggregate two sets of signals about the state of the world to reach a single probability judgment. The signal sets may differ in the way signals are presented, in their number as well as their quality. By varying the presentation mode of the signals we investigated how people deal with segregated and aggregated evidence. We investigated whether subjects sufficiently take into account weight (number of signals), strength (composition) and quality of the information provided. The results indicate that consideration of the weight and strength of signals strongly depends on the type of their presentation. Particular patterns can be identified which determine if weight and/or strength are either under- or overweighted

Real Time Validation of Online Situation Awareness Questionnaires in Simulated Approach Air Traffic Control

Measuring Situation Awareness (SAw) to evaluate an operator's ability to handle complex dynamic situations and the use of assistance systems have become a standard approach in Human Factors research. Ideally, the operators should be supported by enabling and disabling assistance systems depending on their SAw. On the one hand, if the situation's complexity increases and therefore SAw is likely to be reduced, additional systems may help to prevent overextension by taking control over the specific task or task components. On the other hand, there has been evidence that high levels of automation may reduce the ability to intervene in a timely manner if needed due to mental underload. Adjusting the usage of assistance systems based on the operator's SAw may help to overcome both limitations. However, existing measurement tools for SAw require post-simulation analysis. This way it is not possible to make decisions based on the operator's SAw in parallel with the situation at hand. Software capable of analyzing the current state of a given situation has been developed to allow real time assessment of SAw. This software was designed to measure SAw of approach air traffic controllers in the real time NLR ATM Research Simulator. SAw was measured by presenting questionnaires during three different scenarios. Before an item was presented, the simulation's log files were analyzed to provide the software with the correct answer. This way, validating responses and evaluating SAw immediately was possible. In a first study, 57 non-expert subjects were presented with online probe questionnaires in real time simulated approach air traffic control scenarios. It was found that the software was able to measure SAw in real time. In the future, such systems could be used to make decisions about the need for further assistance while the situation is still happening. This way, operators would only get the necessary amount of assistance without reducing their work to passive monitoring

Information aggregation with costly information and random ordering : experimental evidence

The cost of information is an often ignored factor in economic situations although the information acquisition behavior of the decision makers has a crucial influence on the outcome. In this experiment, we study an information aggregation process in which participants decide in a random sequence. Participants observe predecessors decisions and can acquire additional private information at a fixed price. We analyze participants information acquisition behavior and updating procedures. About one half of the individuals act rationally, whereas the other participants systematically overestimate the private signal value. This leads to excessive signal acquisitions and reduced conformity

Useful shortcuts: Using design heuristics for consent and permission in smart home devices

Prior research in smart home privacy highlights significant issues with how users understand, permit, and consent to data use. Some of the underlying issues point to unclear data protection regulations, lack of design principles, and dark patterns. In this paper, we explore heuristics (also called “mental shortcuts” or “rules of thumb”) as a means to address security and privacy design challenges in smart homes. First, we systematically analyze an existing body of data on smart homes to derive a set of heuristics for the design of consent and permission. Second, we apply these heuristics in four participatory co-design workshops (n = 14) and report on their use. Third, we analyze the use of the heuristics through thematic analysis highlighting heuristic application, purpose, and effectiveness in successful and unsuccessful design outcomes. We conclude with a discussion of the wider challenges, opportunities, and future work for improving design practices for consent in smart homes

The history of space exploration

Presented are the acknowledgements and introduction sections of the book 'Space: Discovery and Exploration.' The goal of the book is to address some basic questions of American space history, including how this history compares with previous eras of exploration, why the space program was initiated when it was, and how the U.S. space program developed. In pursuing these questions, the intention is not to provide exhaustive answers, but to point the reader toward a more varied picture of how our venture in space has intersected with American government, politics, business, and science

“It becomes more of an abstract idea, this privacy”—Informing the design for communal privacy experiences in smart homes

In spite of research recognizing the home as a shared space and privacy as inherently social, privacy in smart homes has mainly been researched from an individual angle. Sometimes contrasting and comparing perspectives of multiple individuals, research has rarely focused on how household members might use devices communally to achieve common privacy goals. An investigation of communal use of smart home devices and its relationship with privacy in the home is lacking. The paper presents a grounded analysis based on a synergistic relationship between an ethnomethodologically-informed (EM-informed) study and a grounded theory (GT) approach. The study focuses on household members’ interactions to show that household members’ ability to coordinate the everyday use of their devices depends on appropriate conceptualizations of roles, rules, and privacy that are fundamentally different from those embodied by off-the-shelf products. Privacy is rarely an explicit, actionable, and practical consideration among household members, but rather a consideration wrapped up in everyday concerns. Roles and rules are not used to create social order, but to account for it. To sensitize to this everyday perspective and to reconcile privacy as wrapped up in everyday concerns with the design of smart home systems, the paper presents the social organization of communal use as a descriptive framework. The framework is descriptive in capturing how households navigate the ‘murky waters’ of communal use in practice, where prior research highlighted seemingly irreconcilable differences in interest, attitude, and aptitude between multiple individuals and with other stakeholders. Discussing how households’ use of roles, rules, and privacy in-practice differed from what off-the-shelf products afforded, the framework highlights critical challenges and opportunities for the design of communal privacy experiences

Further Exploring Communal Technology Use in Smart Homes: Social Expectations

Device use in smart homes is becoming increasingly communal, requiring cohabitants to navigate a complex social and technological context. In this paper, we report findings from an exploratory survey grounded in our prior work on communal technology use in the home [4]. The findings highlight the importance of considering qualities of social relationships and technology in understanding expectations and intentions of communal technology use. We propose a design perspective of social expectations, and we suggest existing designs can be expanded using already available information such as location, and considering additional information, such as levels of trust and reliability.Comment: to appear in CHI '20 Extended Abstracts, April 25--30, 2020, Honolulu, HI, US