Constructivist and Ecological Rationality in Economics

When we leave our closet, and engage in the common affairs of life, (reason's) conclusions seem to vanish, like the phantoms of the night on the appearance of the morning; and 'tis difficult for us to retain even that conviction, which we had attained with difficulty (Hume, 1739/, p 507). we must constantly adjust our lives, our thoughts and our emotions, in order to live simultaneously within different kinds of orders according to different rules. If we were to apply the unmodified, uncurbed rules (of caring intervention to do visible 'good') of the small band or troop, or our families to the (extended order of cooperation through markets), as our instincts and sentimental yearnings often make us wish to do, we would destroy it. Yet if we were to always apply the (noncooperative) rules of the extended order to our more intimate groupings, we would crush them. (Hayek, 1988, p 18). (Italics are his, parenthetical reductions are mine).behavioral economics; experimental economics

Polyether-polyester graft copolymer

Described is a polyether graft polymer having improved solvent resistance and crystalline thermally reversible crosslinks. The copolymer is prepared by a novel process of anionic copolymerization. These polymers exhibit good solvent resistance and are well suited for aircraft parts. Previous aromatic polyethers, also known as polyphenylene oxides, have certain deficiencies which detract from their usefulness. These commercial polymers are often soluble in common solvents including the halocarbon and aromatic hydrocarbon types of paint thinners and removers. This limitation prevents the use of these polyethers in structural articles requiring frequent painting. In addition, the most popular commercially available polyether is a very high melting plastic. This makes it considerably more difficult to fabricate finished parts from this material. These problems are solved by providing an aromatic polyether graft copolymer with improved solvent resistance and crystalline thermally reversible crosslinks. The graft copolymer is formed by converting the carboxyl groups of a carboxylated polyphenylene oxide polymer to ionic carbonyl groups in a suitable solvent, reacting pivalolactone with the dissolved polymer, and adding acid to the solution to produce the graft copolymer

FAIRNESS AND SHORT RUN PRICE ADJUSTMENT IN POSTED OFFER MARKETS

Questionnaire studies show that perceptions of fairness cause people to resist price increases following abrupt changes in conditions with no cost justification. We examine this hypothesis in posted-offer markets extending previous work. Consistent with the hypothesis, in the profit disclosure (fairness) treatment prices are initially below those in the cost and the no disclosure treatments. Over time prices converge in all treatments to the competitive surplus maximizing equilibrium. Fairness is thus interpreted as being a result of expectations that are not sustainable. Expectations adapt as the market converges to the predicted competitive equilibrium.

Isotropic thin-walled pressure vessel experiment

The objectives are: (1) to investigate the stress and strain distributions on the surface of a thin walled cylinder subject to internal pressure and/or axial load; and (2) to relate stress and strain distributions to material properties and cylinder geometry. The experiment, supplies, and procedure are presented

Exploring modality switching effects in negated sentences: further evidence for grounded representations

Theories of embodied cognition (e.g., Perceptual Symbol Systems Theory; Barsalou, 1999, 2009) suggest that modality specific simulations underlie the representation of concepts. Supporting evidence comes from modality switch costs: participants are slower to verify a property in one modality (e.g., auditory, BLENDER-loud) after verifying a property in a different modality (e.g., gustatory, CRANBERRIES-tart) compared to the same modality (e.g., LEAVES-rustling, Pecher et al., 2003). Similarly, modality switching costs lead to a modulation of the N400 effect in event-related potentials (ERPs; Collins et al., 2011; Hald et al., 2011). This effect of modality switching has also been shown to interact with the veracity of the sentence (Hald et al., 2011). The current ERP study further explores the role of modality match/mismatch on the processing of veracity as well as negation (sentences containing “not”). Our results indicate a modulation in the ERP based on modality and veracity, plus an interaction. The evidence supports the idea that modality specific simulations occur during language processing, and furthermore suggest that these simulations alter the processing of negation

The 2HDM-X and Large Hadron Collider Data

We study the consistency of two Higgs doublet models in light of the new bosonic particle discovery at the LHC. We work within a general setup that we call the 2HDM-X, in which the quarks couple to both scalar doublets with aligned couplings such that flavor-changing neutral currents are absent at tree level. The 2HDM-X encompasses the traditional Type I, Type II, lepton specific, and flipped models, but also provides for more general possibilities. The best fit to the current data with a suppressed tau tau signal and a b bbar signal of Standard Model strength is given by the 2HDM-X with specific parameter choices; however, very good fits are also obtained within the lepton-specific model and a democratic model, the 2HDM-D, in which both the up-type and down-type quarks couple to each doublet with equal strengths. The approach provides a general framework in which to interpret future LHC Higgs data within extensions of the Standard Model with two Higgs doublets.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure