Manipulating reliance on intuition reduces risk and ambiguity aversion

Prior research suggests that those who rely on intuition rather than effortful reasoning when making decisions are less averse to risk and ambiguity. The evidence is largely correlational, however, leaving open the question of the direction of causality. In this paper, we present experimental evidence of causation running from reliance on intuition to risk and ambiguity preferences. We directly manipulate participants’ predilection to rely on intuition and find that enhancing reliance on intuition lowers the probability of being ambiguity averse by 30 percentage points and increases risk tolerance by about 30 percent in the experimental sub-population where we would a priori expect the manipulation to be successful(males)

The Right Amount of Trust

A vast literature has investigated the relationship between trust and aggregate economic performance. We investigate the relationship between individual trust and individual economic performance. We .nd that individual income is hump-shaped in a measure of intensity of trust beliefs available in the European Social Survey. We show that heterogeneity of trust beliefs in the population, coupled with the tendency of individuals to extrapolate beliefs about others from their own level of trustworthiness, could generate the non-monotonic relationship between trust and income. Highly trustworthy individuals think others are like them and tend to form beliefs that are too optimistic, causing them to assume too much social risk, to be cheated more often and ultimately perform less well than those who happen to have a trustworthiness level close to the mean of the population. On the other hand, the low-trustworthiness types form beliefs that are too conservative and thereby avoid being cheated, but give up prfitable opportunities too often and, consequently, underperform. Our estimates imply that the cost of either excessive or too little trust is comparable to the income lost by foregoing college. Furthermore, we find that people who trust more are cheated more often by banks as well as when purchasing goods second hand, when relying on the services of a plumber or a mechanic and when buying food. We complement the survey evidence with experimental evidence showing that own trustworthiness and expectations of others' trustworthiness in a trust game are strongly correlated and that performance in the game is hump-shaped.Trust, trustworthiness, economic performance, culture, false consensus

The belief in meritocracy perpetuates inequality

Inequality leads people to believe they're less able and deserve the disadvantage, argues Jeffrey Butle

The role of intuition and reasoning in driving aversion to risk and ambiguity

Using information on a large sample of retail investors and experimental data we find that risk aversion and risk ambiguity are correlated: individuals who dislike risk also dislike ambiguity. We show that what links these traits is the way people handle decisions. Intuitive thinkers are less averse to risk and less averse to ambiguity than individuals who base their decisions on effortful reasoning. We confirm this finding in a series of experiments. One interpretation of our results is that the high-speed of intuitive thinking puts intuitive thinkers at a comparative advantage in situations involving high risk and ambiguity, making them less averse to both. Consistent with this view we show evidence from the field and from the lab that intuitive thinkers perform better than deliberative thinkers when making decisions in highly ambiguous and risky environments. We also find that attitudes toward risk and ambiguity are related to different individual characteristics and wealth. While the wealthy are less averse to risk, they dislike ambiguity more, a finding that has implications for financial puzzles.Risk Aversion, Risk Ambiguity, Decision Theory, Dual Systems, Intuitive Thinking

Protecting tenant interests in an Expiring Use Restriction HUD Section 236 privately owned, federally subsidized multi-family affordable housing development

As stated in the thesis project, "In 1991 I was organizing tenants in a large apartment complex in which I had lived since November of 1990. I had worked for a number of years in human services, most recently in the areas of homelessness and welfare rights. The owners of the complex sent out notices that they were going to sell. After I got involved with the housing issue I became frustrated with the complexity of the problem and my lack of information about it. During the Summer of 1991, I re-discovered a graduate program that dealt with injustice at a different level than the one I had been working at. When I contacted the CED program I learned their philosophy of development through changes at the community level and through economics. I also learned that there were courses which would teach me the things I needed to know to be successful in dealing with the housing issues I was working with. Part of the program included completing a year-long project. I was told I could use my work with my community housing issue for my project. This paper is supposed to address the project completed during four terms of graduate work from September, 1991 through December, 1992. However, the project must be described in context of the development of the Royal-Concord Gardens Tenants' Association (beginning in February, 1991), as well as within the context of the other sub-projects funded by separate grants. In addition, my work included an internship with the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund in the final months of the project. The Mott-funded Tenant Organizing Project through the Community Training Assistance Center (CTAC) ran from July, 1991 through June, 1992. The Tenant Education Project funded by the Haymarket People's Fund ran from December, 1991 through December, 1992. So, the boundaries between one project and another are not often clear and there can be no way to describe only the graduate project as a discrete project. It will be necessary to discuss the aspects of all parts of the projects. For simplicity, the graduate project is focused as much as possible on the housing development issues and activities.Included in this project report are assignments completed for course work which relate directly to my project." (Library-derived description)Butler, J. W. (1993). Protecting tenant interests in an Expiring Use Restriction HUD Section 236 privately owned, federally subsidized multi-family affordable housing development. Retrieved from http://academicarchive.snhu.eduMaster of Science (M.S.)School of Community Economic Developmen

Tomorrow's Godly Americans: Citizenship Education and National Identity in Conservative Christian Homeschools

"This dissertation examines citizenship discourse and national identity in conservative evangelical homeschools in the U.S. Using the Christian Home-Educators of Colorado (CHEC) as an ethnographic case study, it elucidates the role of evangelical homeschoolers in the managed construction of their children's political identities, putting forward an account of citizenship discourses that shows how they are produced, managed, taken up and contested through CHEC activities and homeschool teaching and learning.· The dissertation illuminates the role of civic discourses in the lives of homeschool parents endeavouring to shape their children into ""Christian-Americans"". Analyzing four data sources: interviews with CHEC homeschoolers and leaders (N=34), ethnographic observation of the 2009 CHEC conference, speeches delivered at the annual CHEC convention between 2004 and 2010 (N=22), and texts and materials from several organizations for conservative Christian youth geared towards civic · education, the dissertation hones in on the concept of ""world view"", an important category that CHEC homeschoolers actively construct. The two components of the ""conservative Christian nationalist worldview"" - one backward-looking and the other forward-facing - unite in the present. The dissertation explores how Christian homeschool parents pass this worldview on and build civic identity in their children through the social organization of citizenship education. It contends that evangelical home-educators draw on particular interpretations of history to establish membership and belonging. This national identity is constituted by responding to ""others"" who lie outside homeschoolers' political imaginary with discourses of ""contamination vs. purity"" and ""discernment"". Accomplished through meticulous social organization that combines deliberate role modeling, participation in certain activities, and the mobilization of specific discursive resources, homeschool parents shape their children into passionate citizens. Finally, the dissertation demonstrates how patriarchal discourses of gender tie into nationalist ideology, guiding gendered socialization and civic learning.

Development and Packaging of Microsystems Using Foundry Services

Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) are a new and rapidly growing field of research. Several advances to the MEMS state of the art were achieved through design and characterization of novel devices. Empirical and theoretical model of polysilicon thermal actuators were developed to understand their behavior. The most extensive investigation of the Multi-User MEMS Processes (MUMPs) polysilicon resistivity was also performed. The first published value for the thermal coefficient of resistivity (TCR) of the MUMPs Poly 1 layer was determined as 1.25 x 10(exp -3)/K. The sheet resistance of the MUMPs polysilicon layers was found to be dependent on linewidth due to presence or absence of lateral phosphorus diffusion. The functional integration of MEMS with CMOS was demonstrated through the design of automated positioning and assembly systems, and a new power averaging scheme was devised. Packaging of MEMS using foundry multichip modules (MCMs) was shown to be a feasible approach to physical integration of MEMS with microelectronics. MEMS test die were packaged using Micro Module Systems MCM-D and General Electric High Density Intercounect and Chip-on-Flex MCM foundries. Xenon difluoride (XeF2) was found to be an excellent post-packaging etchant for bulk micromachined MEMS. For surface micromachining, hydrofluoric acid (HF) can be used

How Operational Leaders Can Help Nurses Keep Older People Functioning in Hospital

Nearly half of older people admitted to hospital experience functional decline, which is loss in the ability to independently perform basic activities of daily life such as walking or dressing. This study looked at ways that hospital leaders can support nurses in preventing functional decline. Key issues include leaders’ emphasis on efficiency, which undermines nurses’ efforts to promote older people’s functioning in hospital.Knowledge Mobilization at York - York University’s Knowledge Mobilization Unit provides services for faculty, graduate students, community and government seeking to maximize the impact of academic research and expertise on public policy, social programming, and professional practice. This summary has been supported by the Office of the Vice-President Research and Innovation at York and project funding from SSHRC and CIHR. [email protected] www.researchimpact.c

Do me a syntax: Doggo memes, language games and the internal structure of English

This paper provides a sketch of an analysis of an Internet-based language-game known as Doggo. We show that the properties of the Doggo language game illustrate the underlying syntactic structure of English—where the understood verb is derived from two separate pieces. We also provide suggestions for future research into Internet language games