Choice Situation Research Articles

An investigation of economic interactions between social reinforcement and heroin or cocaine in rats.

The primary goal of the present study was to determine the economic relationship between heroin and social reinforcement in rats: are they substitutes, independents, or complements? In Experiment 1, one group of rats was given a budget of responses that they could allocate between heroin and social reinforcement offered at various combinations of prices. A second group chose between two levers that each resulted in social reinforcement at varying prices when pressed. There was no relationship between the relative allocation of responses between heroin and social reinforcement and changes in their relative prices, indicating that these reinforcers are best viewed as independents. In contrast, when choosing between two sources of social reinforcement, rats increased the allocation of behavior to the cheaper option, confirming that the method used here was sensitive to detecting substitution effects. In Experiment 2, the same method was used to compare one group that chose between heroin and social reinforcement with a second group that chose between cocaine and social reinforcement. The finding that heroin and social reinforcement were independents was replicated. Additionally, there was some evidence that cocaine and social reinforcement were substitutes, at least when the first few minutes of the session were excluded. These results add to our knowledge of how drug and nondrug reinforcers interact in choice situations in rats and may model factors that influence drug use in humans.

Innovation and interculturalism are important features of future teachers' training in modern society

The processes of globalization, the formation of a post-industrial society, the European integration aspirations of Ukraine and the integration of the Ukrainian education system into the European educational space set the pedagogical science the task of bringing the traditional scientific apparatus into line with the system of pedagogical concepts generally accepted in Europe. The developing Ukrainian society needs highly educated people with appropriate professional and general competences who can independently make responsible decisions in a choice situation, predicting their possible consequences, capable of cooperation, distinguished by mobility, dynamism, constructiveness, a developed sense of responsibility for the fate of the country. Decisions and programs aimed at the implementation of scientific achievements, civilizational and cultural trends are implemented through the activities of subjects who perceive them. In this connection, the level of requirements of modern society for the activity and training of teachers in higher education institutions is increasing. Strengthening the integrative and cultural status of education dictates the need to train pedagogical staff capable of realizing its cultural focus. The needs of modern educational practice create the need for cross-cultural training of the future teacher of the Ukrainian language and literature, who not only acts as a mediator between the student and culture, but also contributes to the formation of the young generation's readiness to live and act in an open intercultural space of general civilization.

Skewness preferences: Evidence from online poker

We test for skewness preferences in a large set of observational panel data on online poker games (n=4,450,585). Each observation refers to a choice between a safe option and a binary risk of winning or losing the game. Our setting offers a real-world choice situation with substantial incentives where probability distributions are simple, transparent, and known to the decision-makers. Individuals reveal a strong and robust preference for skewness, which is inconsistent with expected utility theory. The effect of skewness is most pronounced among experienced and unsuccessful players but remains significant in all subsamples that we investigate, in contrast to the effect of variance.

A novel choice model combining utility maximization and the disjunctive decision rules, application to two case studies

Most choice models, e.g. Multinomial Logit (MNL), rely on random utility theory, which assumes that a compensatory utility maximization decision rule explains an individual’s choice behaviour. Research has shown, however, that behaviour is sometimes better explained by non-compensatory decision rules. While some research has used Latent Class Choice Models (LCCMs) to account for multiple decision rules, many of them – such as the disjunctive rule – have yet to be explored. This paper formulates, estimates, and evaluates a LCCM that combines the MNL with a Generalised Random Disjunctive Model (GRDM), a new choice model we develop. Addressing deficiencies of existing disjunctive choice models, the GRDM allows for relative importance between attributes and is insensitive to irrelevant attributes. Unlike most non-compensatory models, it is tractable and incorporates random error terms for capturing unobserved heterogeneity across choice situations. The GRDM can be expressed as a Universal Logit (UL) model, which helps derive welfare metrics such as Marginal Rates of Substitution and elasticities and makes it possible to estimate the model with traditional software packages. The LCCM combining the GRDM and the MNL is estimated in two large-scale case studies: cyclists’ route choice and public transport route choice. Results are compared with other relevant LCCM specifications and the individual choice models, where it is found that the MNL + GRDM LCCM provides the best fit to the data. We also interpret the fitted parameters and calculate the Marginal Rates of Substitution, which align with behavioural expectations.

Research Ethics: Ideas and Practices of Russian Young Scientists

Scientists’ misconduct in their research activities is an important problem for science in many countries, including Russia. It leads to negative consequences both for the quality of scientific knowledge obtained and for the reputation of researchers and scientific organizations. However, there is still a small number of empirical studies of this problem in Russia. This work is based on a survey method to explore the ideas of young scientists from all federal districts of Russia about research ethics and the situations of ethical dilemmas that they encounter in their work. In accordance with the chosen theoretical framework: ideas about ethics as an action that is situational by nature, determined by sustainable practices and patterns, the survey was conducted in two stages: an open question about situations of ethical choice in research activities, on the basis of which a detailed questionnaire was then created. As a result, it was revealed that the vast majority of young scientists are faced with situations of violation of ethical standards both in scientific publications and communications, and in the processes of organizing research work. Violations of research procedures, data manipulation, falsification of research results – this is a set of violations in the organization of research that almost three-quarters of respondents encountered themselves or heard about such situations from colleagues. However, there are gaps in consensus about the sources of knowledge about ethics and a lack of institutional practices to prevent violations such as the work of ethics committees or ethical standards.

Formation of students’ value attitude towards health in physical education classes

The article poses the problem of educating students focused on preserving and strengthening health. The specificity of value as a relationship and as a value is revealed and the relationship between the concepts of «value» and «attitude» is revealed. It is substantiated that health, acquiring significance for the student, is thereby endowed with personal meaning, acquiring the status of value. The features of the value attitude towards health as a structural formation, the components of which have specific content, are revealed. The structure of students’ value attitude towards health is determined, including cognitive, motivational-value and behavioral components. The content of the components of students’ value attitude towards health is revealed: knowledge about human health, about a healthy lifestyle (cognitive component); the values of «health», «healthy lifestyle», «responsibility», «independence», which take the form of motives for the student’s activities to preserve and strengthen his own health (motivational-value component); actions and actions aimed at preserving and strengthening health – physical activity, proper nutrition, etc. (behavioral component). The possibilities of physical education classes at a university in forming a value-based attitude towards health among students are revealed. The choice of methods is substantiated to effectively form the cognitive component of students’ value attitude towards health (methods such as story, explanation, clarification), the motivational-value component (ethical dialogue, discussion, example, situation of value choice), and the behavioral component (exercise and training). Examples are given of the use of explanation, ethical dialogue, and situations of value choice in physical education classes at a university in order to form students’ value-based attitude to health.

Analysis of the subjective quality of choice of term paper topic selection in humanities

Introduction. Global educational trends (pedagogy using artificial intelligence, personalization, lifelong learning, pedagogy of care and relationships, etc.) and the specifics of their influence and spread in the Russian context contribute to the introduction of innovations in the educational process at all levels. Among the significant innovations is a change in the positions of the teacher and the student, the characteristics of their interaction and educational relations: the teacher in the role of a supportive and guiding mentor, a mentor for the “self-managing” student. At the level of higher education, student coursework can be identified as a pedagogical means that promotes the development of the skills of “self-managing” teachers. Choosing a topic for course work is an integral part of the educational process, in which a large share of responsibility lies with the student. The purpose of this article is to analyze the retrospective reflection of the subjective quality of choice of term paper topic selection in humanities. Research methods. 80 third-year students of the Faculty of Linguistics and Translation and the Institute of Education and Practical Psychology of Chelyabinsk State University took part in the empirical study. As diagnostic tools for studying retrospective reflection of the process of choosing a topic for a course work, students used: questionnaire “Subjective quality of choice” D.A. Leontyev, Method for analyzing the argumentation of choice D.A. To statistically verify the results obtained, the Mann-Whitney U test was used. Results of the study. A qualitative analysis of students' choice of coursework topic reveals irrelevant differences between two groups of humanities students. According to the results of the study, it is important to note the following positive manifestations of the majority of students of both specialties (70-95%) in choosing a topic, characterizing them as “self-managing” students: activity, independence, responsibility, taking on a certain degree of risk, a meaningful attitude towards the situation of choice. However, at the same time, students need psychological and pedagogical support from their supervisor, which, in our opinion, allows them to reduce the identified anxiety (40% of educational psychologists and 60% of linguists) and the feeling of pressure (65% of educational psychologists and 75% of linguists) in the process of selecting and actually writing the course work, subject to the necessary requirements. The results obtained allow university teachers to build effective subject-subject interaction based on cooperation and taking into account the “self-governing” position of students. Conclusion. Subjective assessment of the quality of choice allows faculties and departments to moderate their work on the preparatory activities for writing term papers.

To end the eternal Wednesday afternoon: The search for the foundations of human existence in “The Last Gentleman” by Walker Percy

The article examines the philosophical issues in Walker Percy’s novel “The Last Gentleman”, revealed in the author’s modeling of the plot development and in creating character images with conscious reliance on the provisions of Kierkegaard’s and Marcel’s existentialist philosophy. The main problem in the book centers round the desire of a person to find his own way in a situation of existential choice, the search for faith as the significant basis for human existence. The protagonist, Will Barrett, is put by the author into the situation of absolute freedom and is presented with the choice of various conceptual models of life, personified in the images of the people surrounding him: his father’s stoic ethics, Rita’s secular humanism, Val’s uncompromising religious faith, Sutter’s desperate nihilism. The turning point in Will’s life comes with his falling in love with Kitty: it changes his way of thinking, laying the foundation for the subsequent discovery of God. The article discloses the symbolic meaning of the character’s way in the novel: from a crowded metropolis to the open wilderness of southwestern deserts, from feeling lost to the discovery of faith, from loneliness to the search for the significant Other. The dynamic movement becomes the most important element in the novel, the character’s actual travelling through the country acquires the features of a spiritual journey to truth. Despite the absence of Will’s crucial inner transformation at the end of the novel, the author, in accordance with Marcel’s philosophical concept, gives paramount importance to the journey itself, regarding it as the main event that gives meaning to human life.

Individual differences in the discounting of combination outcomes in which immediate gains are followed by delayed losses.

The vast majority of studies on discounting have focused on simple delayed outcomes, but most everyday decisions are more complicated. The present experiment focused on one such scenario, an iconic self-control situation in which immediate gains are followed by delayed losses. The same participants were studied in all conditions to permit examination of individual differences in choice behavior using intercorrelations and factor analysis. Consistent with previous research, the hyperboloid model accurately described the form of the discounting function and discounting was not affected by the amount of the delayed loss when it was presented alone. However, replicating other studies, smaller delayed losses were discounted more steeply than larger ones when presented in combination with immediate gains. Exploratory factor analysis revealed two factors, one loading primarily on loss-only conditions and the other loading primarily on conditions involving outcomes that combined gains and losses. These results imply that there are individual differences in how one combines gains and losses and that this characteristic of individual decision making might be an important predictor of decisions in the many everyday choice situations that involve complex outcomes.

BIOLOGIE ET NUTRITION DE LA CHENILLE LEGIONNAIRE DAUTOMNE, SPODOPTERAFRUGIPERDA(J.E. SMITH) (LEPIDOPTERA : NOCTUIDAE) SUR CINQ PLANTES HOTESAU BURKINA FASO

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, is an insect pest that feeds on over 300 species of host plants, causing significant damage. In order to control this pest, it is essential to know its life cycle on its host plants. The aim of this study was to contribute to a better understanding of the biology and feeding preferences of S. frugiperda in choice and non-choice situations on five host plants (maize, millet, sorghum, cowpea and ricin) encountered in Burkina Faso. The results of the biology study showed that S. frugiperda larval development passes through six larval stages on maize and ricin and seven on millet, sorghum and cowpea. The duration of S. frugiperda larval development time was shortest on maize (10.43 ± 0.16 days) and longest on sorghum (19.59 ± 0.50 days). In general, females lived longer than males, between 7.58 and 8.44 days. S. frugiperda fecundity varied significantly according to food substrate, with hatching rates ranging from 97.39 to 99.20%. Results on food preference showed that in both choice and no-choice situations, maize, followed by ricin, were the preferred substrates for stage 1 and 3 larvae.These results can be used for sustainable and effective management of S. frugiperda in Burkina Faso.

Ethics of Organ Donation and the Problem of the Sacred

The purpose of this article is to analyze the interaction between relatives of potential donors and transplant professionals within the framework of a cultural sociological approach in order to develop valid bioethical recommendations. The key thesis of this article is the assertion that principalist ethical conflicts regarding the problems of organ donation, as well as the tools of narrative ethics, are not sufficient to reveal the motivation of agents. As part of the search for the origins of this, it is proposed to reconstruct the situation of moral choice of family members within the framework of E. Durkheim’s theory of the sacred. The concept of the sacred is revealed with the orientation on the given by P. Smith and D. Alexander. The concept of sacred is revealed with the orientation on the autonomous role of culture given by F. Smith and D. Alexander, oriented to the study of the emotional dimension of social life and the study of cultural structures as a social text. Based on the analysis of the category of the sacred in the context of social circumstances of organ donation in Spain, it is shown that the successful experience of the latter in the field of transplantology is connected with the desacralization of the body undertaken by the Catholic Church in Spain and the subsequent sacralization of the gift of life. The analysis of the narratives of donor relatives and medical professionals shows that the driving force behind the relatives’ motivation is often the sacralization of the deceased’s will, which implies the possibility of a posthumous gift and reinforces the solidarity of the deceased with the society experiencing a shortage of donor organs. Obstacles to successful transplantation are perceived by donor relatives as a possible desecration of the gift of a loved one’s life. Thus, on the way to creating valid bioethical recommendations for interacting with relatives of potential donors, it is recommended to focus on the study of pre-individual cultural and social constructs of the sacred that relate to situations of donation and death. In this case, the sacred is considered as an important constant of social life, not necessarily related directly to religion.

Incommensurability and healthcare priority setting

AbstractThis paper argues that accepting incommensurability can be a useful step for developing attractive hybrid theories to how to distribute scarce health-related resources. If one provides opportunity for distributive options to be incommensurable with respect to substantive criteria, one can hold on to substantive criteria while also providing room for decision processes to play a significant role. The paper also argues that the strategy of accepting incommensurability is preferable to the strategy of having substantive criteria establish sets of options that are equally, explains why incommensurability gives us reason to go hybrid, and argues that reasons grounded in decision processes have properties that make them appropriate as “tiebreakers” in choice situations characterized by incommensurability.

Network-based representations and dynamic discrete choice models for multiple discrete choice analysis

In many choice modeling applications, consumer demand is frequently characterized as multiple discrete, which means that consumer choose multiple items simultaneously. The analysis and prediction of consumer behavior in multiple discrete choice situations pose several challenges. In this paper, to address this, we propose a random utility maximization (RUM) based model that considers each subset of choice alternatives as a composite alternative, where individuals choose a subset according to the RUM framework. While this approach offers a natural and intuitive modeling approach for multiple-choice analysis, the large number of subsets of choices in the formulation makes its estimation and application intractable. To overcome this challenge, we introduce directed acyclic graph (DAG) based representations of choices where each node of the DAG is associated with an elemental alternative and additional information such as the number of selected elemental alternatives. Our innovation is to show that the multi-choice model is equivalent to a recursive route choice model on the DAG, leading to the development of new efficient estimation algorithms based on dynamic programming. In addition, the DAG representations enable us to bring some advanced route choice models to capture the correlation between subset choice alternatives. Numerical experiments based on synthetic and real datasets show many advantages of our modeling approach and the proposed estimation algorithms.

Cocaine and heroin interact differently with nondrug reinforcers in a choice situation.

The present study used a rat choice model to test how cocaine or heroin economically interacted with two different nondrug reinforcers along the substitute-to-complement continuum. In Experiment 1, the nondrug alternative was the negative reinforcer timeout-from-avoidance (TOA)-that is, rats could press a lever to obtain a period of safety from footshock. One group of rats chose between cocaine and TOA and another group chose between heroin and TOA. The relative prices of the reinforcers were manipulated across phases while controlling for potential income effects. When cocaine was the reinforcer, rats reacted to price changes by increasing their allocation of behavior to the more expensive option, thereby maintaining relatively proportional intake of cocaine and TOA reinforcers across prices, suggesting these reinforcers were complements here. In contrast, when heroin became relatively cheap, rats increased allocation of income to heroin and decreased allocation of income to TOA, suggesting that heroin substituted for safety. Additionally, rats were willing to accept more footshocks when heroin was easily available. In Experiment 2, the nondrug alternative was saccharin, a positive reinforcer. Heroin and saccharin were complements, but there was no consistent effect of price changes on the allocation of behavior between cocaine and saccharin. As a model of the processes that could be involved in human drug use, these results show that drug-taking behavior depends on the type of drug, the type of nondrug alternative available, and the prices of both. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Relevance of diet diversification in the coexistence between Orius laevigatus and Amblyseius swirskii: prey switching and intraguild predation

AbstractOmnivores obtain resources from more than one trophic level, choosing food based on quantity and quality. They usually engage in intraguild predation (IGP) when prey is scarce. Orius laevigatus is an example of omnivore that becomes superior predator of the predatory mite Amblyseius swirskii when released in a combined system under low levels of the preferred prey, the thrips Frankliniella occidentalis. Here, we test two genetically enhanced O. laevigatus strains for bigger size and better fitness feeding on pollen (BIG30 and 2POL-11, respectively), hence with a wider dietary diversification, to elucidate the potential effects on prey preference and IGP on the predatory mite, in comparison with a commercial population of O. laevigatus. To do that, predation rates were registered on adult phytoseiids solely or in a choice situation at different availability ratios of adult thrips under laboratory conditions. The effect of pollen as supplemental food on IGP and prey preference was examined, too. We found that our two enhanced lines killed up to 9% less predatory mites and fed preferably on adult thrips, compared to the commercial population. While BIG30 showed a significantly higher total predation rate, killing up to 150% more adult thrips, 2POL-11 is defined as an efficient user of resources, switching between different prey and pollen showing low IGP. Pollen supplementation had a significant effect on reducing IGP, but only for 2POL-11 the influence on prey preference was significant. The theory of intraguild predation and the impact of prey switching on food webs and biological control strategies are also discussed.

Hierarchical processing of feature, egocentric and relational information for spatial orientation in domestic chicks.

Animals can use different types of information for navigation. Domestic chicks (Gallus gallus) prefer to use local features as a beacon over spatial relational information. However, the role of egocentric navigation strategies is less understood. Here, we tested domestic chicks' egocentric and allocentric orientation abilities in a large circular arena. In experiment 1, we investigated whether domestic chicks possess a side bias during viewpoint-dependent egocentric orientation, revealing facilitation for targets on the chicks' left side. Experiment 2 showed that local features are preferred over viewpoint-dependent egocentric information when the two conflict. Lastly, in experiment 3, we found that in a situation where there is a choice between egocentric and allocentric spatial relational information provided by free-standing objects, chicks preferentially rely on egocentric information. We conclude that chicks orient according to a hierarchy of cues, in which the use of the visual appearance of an object is the dominant strategy, followed by viewpoint-dependent egocentric information and finally by spatial relational information.

The place and role of Chinese themes in Russian literature of the XIX – early XX centuries

The article presents the artistic perception of Chinese culture in the Russian literature of the XIX – early XX centuries. The author sets out to show a generalized image of China in the works of Russian prose writers and poets in a given historical period of time. The relevance of the research lies in the increased interest of modern linguistic science in the problems of intercultural dialogue. It is noted that the study of Chinese subjects in Russian literature is of indisputable interest for understanding the peculiarities of intercultural communication between Russia and China. The multifaceted Chinese culture is revealed through the eyes of Russian writers of the past centuries, who were attracted by Chinese images, plots, and motives. The history of Russian-Chinese relations is traced in the mirror of advanced Russian culture of the XIX – early XX centuries. The tendency to understand China as a unique civilization distinct from the European one, which had already emerged at that time, stands out. It is stated that the substantial development of ideas about China in Russian literature, at the time interval of interest to the researcher, is directly related to the emerging socio-political situation in the Russian Empire, the emergence of alternatives, both in terms of determining the further vector of social development, taking into account the problem of "West – Russia – East", i.e. the emerging situation of internal choice, self–determination and awareness by the ruling circles of the urgent need to work out a further path for the development of Russian statehood, taking into account the borrowing, on the one hand, of the Western, on the other – of the eastern model. This, in the author's opinion, explains the interest of representatives of Russian literature in the culture of the East, spiritual and moral values, philosophical reflections on the nature of goodness and justice, which had a centuries-old tradition in China.

Is Norbert Elias Right With His Assumption of the Increasing Peacefulness of People in Recent History?

The article discusses the fastness of Elias´ theory of violence according to it violence has decreased in history not only due to the increasing power of state and police but also due to advanced psychology and civilization of people. It is shown that Elias was right but could not prove of his theory, thus being liable to attacks of primitive sociologies such as that of the rational choice type or situation theory. It is also shown that nobody among Elias´ disciples or critics truly realized the weakness entrenched in Elias´ theory. Accordingly, the article shows both the empirical weakness of Elias´ theory and the possibilities to verify it by using other material and data.

The value of time in a repeated and one-off setup

Some recent studies have highlighted the importance of considering the temporal context as a potential factor influencing time valuation estimates. However, in studies that compare shorter and longer-run choice settings, various elements tend to differ between the two settings, rendering it difficult to infer what drives short- and long-run estimates apart. This paper focuses on the comparison between time valuations associated with one-off vs. repeated events. We present the results of a lab experiment on the valuation of waiting time, which has been carefully designed such that the only element varying between the two treatments is whether the choice has a repetitive character or concerns a one-off event. We find no significant differences between the two treatments, and hence can conclude that the repetitive character of a choice situation is unlikely to drive differences between short- and long-run estimates, at least if the concerned travel or waiting times are relatively short (¡10 min).

Optimization and Beyond

This paper will be concerned with hard choices—that is, choice situations where an agent cannot make a rationally justified choice. Specifically, this paper asks: if an agent cannot optimize in a given situation, are they facing a hard choice? A pair of claims are defended in light of this question. First, situations where an agent cannot optimize because of incompleteness of the binary preference or value relation constitute a hard choice. Second, situations where agents cannot optimize because the binary preference or value relation violates acyclicity do not constitute a hard choice.