Effects of Farmers' Risk Attitudes and Personality Types on Production and Marketing Decisions

Producers’ risk perceptions, as well as their empirical measurement, have been an ongoing concern for agricultural economists. Identification and categorization of producers’ risk attitudes is important in both research and extension contexts. This study explores some alternative measures of farmers’ attitudes and their relationships with observed producer behavior. The effect of farmers’ personality types, as derived from the Myers-Briggs personality type indicator test, on marketing behavior is also explored. There were positive and statistically significant correlations of producers’ risk attitudes in various areas of the farm business. However, there are also some differences in producers’ willingness to risk, especially in the finance area. Although a number of variables were statistically significant, farm operator characteristics, characteristics of the farm operation and risk attitudes of the farm operator had little effect on measures of behavior thought to involve risk/return trade-offs. The Myers-Briggs personality types were used in an analysis of marketing behavior that focused on marketing tools other than the spot (cash) market. Although some of the personality types had significant effects, there were often differences between the marketing behavior associated with corn and soybeans.Risk attitudes, risk perceptions, economic behavior, production, marketing, and Myers-Briggs type indicator

Near term measurements with 21 cm intensity mapping: neutral hydrogen fraction and BAO at z<2

It is shown that 21 cm intensity mapping could be used in the near term to make cosmologically useful measurements. Large scale structure could be detected using existing radio telescopes, or using prototypes for dedicated redshift survey telescopes. This would provide a measure of the mean neutral hydrogen density, using redshift space distortions to break the degeneracy with the linear bias. We find that with only 200 hours of observing time on the Green Bank Telescope, the neutral hydrogen density could be measured to 25% precision at redshift 0.54<z<1.09. This compares favourably to current measurements, uses independent techniques, and would settle the controversy over an important parameter which impacts galaxy formation studies. In addition, a 4000 hour survey would allow for the detection of baryon acoustic oscillations, giving a cosmological distance measure at 3.5% precision. These observation time requirements could be greatly reduced with the construction of multiple pixel receivers. Similar results are possible using prototypes for dedicated cylindrical telescopes on month time scales, or SKA pathfinder aperture arrays on day time scales. Such measurements promise to improve our understanding of these quantities while beating a path for future generations of hydrogen surveys.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. D. Addressed reviewer comments. Changed figure format, added more detailed technical discussion, and added forecasts for aperture arrays. Added references

Effects of a Social Robot's Autonomy and Group Orientation on Human Decision-Making

Social attributes of intelligent robots are important for human-robot systems. This paper investigates influences of robot autonomy (i.e., high versus low) and group orientation (i.e., ingroup versus outgroup) on a human decision-making process. We conducted a laboratory experiment with 48 college students and tested the hypotheses with MANCOVA. We find that a robot with high autonomy has greater influence on human decisions than a robot with low autonomy. No significant effect is found on group orientation or on the interaction between group orientation and autonomy level. The results provide implications for social robot design

The Magic of Slow-to-Fast and Constant: Evaluating Time Perception of Progress Bars by Bayesian Model

Objective: We aimed to use adaptive psychophysics methods, which is a Bayesian Model, to measure users' time perception of various progress bar quantitatively. Background: Progress bar informs users about the status of ongoing processes. Progress bars frequently display nonuniform speed patterns, such as acceleration and deceleration. However, which progress bar is perceived faster remain unclear. Methods: We measured the point of subject equality (PSE) of the constant progress bar toward four different 5-second progress bars with a non-constant speed. To measure PSE, in each trial, a constant progress bar and a non-constant progress bar were presented to participants. Participants needed to judge which one is shorter. Based on their choice, the model generated the time duration of constant progress bar in next trial. After 40 trials for each non-constant progress bar, the PSE was calculated by the model. Eye tracking was recorded during the experiment.Results: Our results show that the constant progress bar and speed-up progress bar are perceived to be faster. The anchoring effect fits the results of our study, indicating that the final part of the progress bar is more important for time perception. Moreover, the eye-tracking results indicate that the progress bar is perceived to be slower is related to the overload of cognitive resources.Conclusion: The constant progress bar and speed-up progress bar are perceived as the quickest. Application: The results suggest that UX design can use constant or speed-up progress bar, in order to improve user experience in waiting