Aquilegia, Vol. 22 No. 3, May-June 1998: Newsletter of the Colorado Native Plant Society

https://epublications.regis.edu/aquilegia/1173/thumbnail.jp

The Use of Rank Transformation and Multiple Regression Analysis in Estimating Residential Property Values With A Small Sample

Conventional multiple regression analysis which has been used in estimating residential property values typically relies upon cardinal data. This paper argues that appraisal theory requires the appraiser to rank the comparables from best to worst and use a regression technique which can be applied to ordinal data. The rank regression procedure illustrated here was successfully used on small sample sizes, and did not violate the critical assumptions underlying conventional multiple regression. The results indicate that the rank regression technique illustrated here is more theoretically correct than conventional multiple regression and produces a better model with more accurate price estimates.

A Procedure for Uncovering Acceptable and Nonacceptable Mortgage Applications through Discriminant Analysis Using Ranked Data

The procedure developed in this paper uses a less biased statistical technique than conventional discriminant analysis and parallels the ranking procedure used by loan officers. A variety of univariate and multivariate statistical procedures as well as comprehensive validation methods are used to develop a "best" model. The resulting model provides more accurate classification than other studies have shown, without violating federal law regarding discrimination.

Leolani: a reference machine with a theory of mind for social communication

Our state of mind is based on experiences and what other people tell us. This may result in conflicting information, uncertainty, and alternative facts. We present a robot that models relativity of knowledge and perception within social interaction following principles of the theory of mind. We utilized vision and speech capabilities on a Pepper robot to build an interaction model that stores the interpretations of perceptions and conversations in combination with provenance on its sources. The robot learns directly from what people tell it, possibly in relation to its perception. We demonstrate how the robot's communication is driven by hunger to acquire more knowledge from and on people and objects, to resolve uncertainties and conflicts, and to share awareness of the per- ceived environment. Likewise, the robot can make reference to the world and its knowledge about the world and the encounters with people that yielded this knowledge.Comment: Invited keynote at 21st International Conference on Text, Speech and Dialogue, https://www.tsdconference.org/tsd2018

Who's been framed? Framing effects are reduced in financial gambles made for others

Background: Decisions made on behalf of other people are sometimes more rational than those made for oneself. In this study we used a monetary gambling task to ask if the framing effect in decision-making is reduced in surrogate decision-making. Methods: Participants made a series of choices between a predetermined sure option and a risky gambling option of winning a proportion of an initial stake. Trials were presented as either a gain or a loss relative to that initial stake. In half of the trials participants made choices to earn money for themselves and in the other half they earned money for another participant. Framing effects were measured as risk seeking in loss frames and risk aversion in gain frames. Results: Significant framing effects were observed both in trials in which participants earned money for themselves and those in which they earned money for another person; however, these framing effects were significantly reduced when making decisions for another person. It appears that the reduced emotional involvement when the decision-maker is not affected by the outcome of the decision thus lessens the framing effect without eradicating it altogether. Conclusions: This suggests that the deviation from rational choices in decision-making can be significantly reduced when the emotional impact on the decision maker is lessened. These results are discussed in relation to Somatic Distortion Theory

Should we welcome robot teachers?

Abstract Current uses of robots in classrooms are reviewed and used to characterise four scenarios: (s1) Robot as Classroom Teacher; (s2) Robot as Companion and Peer; (s3) Robot as Care-eliciting Companion; and (s4) Telepresence Robot Teacher. The main ethical concerns associated with robot teachers are identified as: privacy; attachment, deception, and loss of human contact; and control and accountability. These are discussed in terms of the four identified scenarios. It is argued that classroom robots are likely to impact children’s’ privacy, especially when they masquerade as their friends and companions, when sensors are used to measure children’s responses, and when records are kept. Social robots designed to appear as if they understand and care for humans necessarily involve some deception (itself a complex notion), and could increase the risk of reduced human contact. Children could form attachments to robot companions (s2 and s3), or robot teachers (s1) and this could have a deleterious effect on their social development. There are also concerns about the ability, and use of robots to control or make decisions about children’s behaviour in the classroom. It is concluded that there are good reasons not to welcome fully fledged robot teachers (s1), and that robot companions (s2 and 3) should be given a cautious welcome at best. The limited circumstances in which robots could be used in the classroom to improve the human condition by offering otherwise unavailable educational experiences are discussed

Are Expectations Formed by the Anchoring-and-Adjustment Heuristic? - An Experimental Investigation

Previous experimental investigations have shown that expectations are not perfectly rational due to bias. Traditional adaptive models, however, in many cases do not perfectly describe the formation of expectations either. This paper makes two contributions to the experimental literature on the formation of expectations: First, we investigate whether subjects who have more information about the economic model than in previous studies also form biased expectations. Second, we argue that in some cases macroeconomic expectations might be formed by the anchoring-and-adjustment heuristic, which is well known in psychology. We find that subjects' expectations are biased although the design might be more favorable to rational expectations. The anchoring-and-adjustment model of expectations gets some support by our data, but the best model encompasses both the anchoring-and-adjustment model and the traditional adaptive model

Aquilegia, Vol. 16 No. 4, July-August 1992: Newsletter of the Colorado Native Plant Society

https://epublications.regis.edu/aquilegia/1172/thumbnail.jp

Peer norm guesses and self-reported attitudes towards performance-related pay

Due to a variety of reasons, people see themselves differently from how they see others. This basic asymmetry has broad consequences. It leads people to judge themselves and their own behavior differently from how they judge others and others’ behavior. This research, first, studies the perceptions and attitudes of Greek Public Sector employees towards the introduction of Performance-Related Pay (PRP) systems trying to reveal whether there is a divergence between individual attitudes and guesses on peers’ attitudes. Secondly, it is investigated whether divergence between own self-reported and peer norm guesses could mediate the acceptance of the aforementioned implementation once job status has been controlled for. This study uses a unique questionnaire of 520 observations which was designed to address the questions outlined in the preceding lines. Our econometric results indicate that workers have heterogeneous attitudes and hold heterogeneous beliefs on others’ expectations regarding a successful implementation of PRP. Specifically, individual perceptions are less skeptical towards PRP than are beliefs on others’ attitudes. Additionally, we found that managers are significantly more optimistic than lower rank employees regarding the expected success of PRP systems in their jobs. However, they both expect their peers to be more negative than they themselves are

Moral Hypocrisy and Acting for Reasons: How Moralizing Can Invite Self-Deception

According to some, contemporary social psychology is aptly described as a study in moral hypocrisy. In this paper we argue that this is unfortunate when understood as establishing that we only care about appearing to act morally, not about true moral action. A philosophically more interesting interpretation of the “moral hypocrisy”-findings understands it to establish that we care so much about morality that it might lead to (1) self-deception about the moral nature of our motives and/or (2) misperceptions regarding what we should or should not do in everyday or experimental situations. In this paper we argue for this claim by elaborating on a fascinating series of experiments by Daniel Batson and his colleagues who have consistently contributed to the moral hypocrisy findings since the late nineties, and showing in what way they contribute to a better understanding of moral agency, rather than undermine the idea that we are moral agents