Showing papers in "Systems Research and Behavioral Science in 1990"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyzed the differences between individual and corporate invention from a long-term perspective, by exploring, first, the process of resource allocation to invention, and then related to the macrosocietal innovative capacity, by analyzing inventive performance over a 106-year period (1880-1986) with U.S. invention patent data.
Abstract: The contrasting performances of individual and corporate invention are analyzed from a long-term perspective, by exploring, first, the process of resource allocation to invention. Experimential learning, experimentation, and uncertainty are assumed to be important micro-level characteristics of inventive processes, and are incorporated in a basic learning model of resource allocation and performance. Decision-making behavior in adaptive systems, derived from the work of Simon (1955, 1962), provides a link between the scientific system's microlevel perspective and its macro effects on long-term socieconomic patterns of change and stability. The process of invention is then related to the macrosocietal innovative capacity, by analyzing inventive performance over a 106-year period (1880–1986) with U.S. invention patent data. Fluctuations in the age distribution of patents, or age cycles, provide insights on the temporal structure of the societal innovative capacity, and help predict its fluctuations. The relationships between innovative capacity, individual and corporate invention, and long-term socio-economic trends are then explored statistically. The societal innovative capacity and, more significantly, corporate invention, explain a substantial proportion of long-term changes in net national income. Despite the importance of corporate inventive performance, the relationship between corporate invention and national income carries greater potential risk, however. National income trends are found to be important statistical predictors of new annual corporate inventive output, exposing the latter's potential vulnerability to major economic crises.
76 citations
TL;DR: In this article, experimental and empirical evidence is presented that strategic decision making can exhibit chaotic behavior, where decisions at the individual or subgroup level are contingent upon the choices and actions of others.
Abstract: Collective decision making in politics or economics often involves strategic behavior, where decisions at the individual or subgroup level are contingent upon the choices and actions of others This structure of interdependency implies a nonlinear process Because the dynamics of chaotic systems are nonlinear, chaos theory has recently begun to attract attention as a potential model in the social sciences However, these preliminary discussions have not been empirically supported This article presents experimental and empirical evidence that strategic decision making can indeed exhibit chaotic behavior
74 citations
TL;DR: A detailed analysis of current knowledge about the timer is presented, which has recently been included in the list of subsystems.
Abstract: Living systems theory (LST) is concerned with eight levels of living systems, each of which is composed of 20 critical subsystems that carry out essential life processes. As a result of a continuous biosocial evolution involving progressive fray-out of components, the more recently developed levels in this hierarchy have become very complex. A brief summary of LST is presented in this article. Following this is a detailed analysis of current knowledge about the timer, which we have recently included in our list of subsystems.
67 citations
TL;DR: By understanding at which point in the stress pathway a system is when observed, a clearer picture of both the biological mechanisms involved and the psychosocial ramifications of stress may be obtained and more optimal treatments for patients with stress-related disorders can be developed.
Abstract: In this article, the basic concepts used in conceptualizing stress and classifying its related phenomena are defined and a general conceptual framework for understanding the interrelationships among these concepts is proposed. The conceptual scheme described is intended to be applicable across disciplines including the biological and the behavioral and social sciences. This model is based largely on the living systems theory developed by Miller (1978) and the work of Selye (1950). It provides a coherent conceptual framework in which studies in the various disciplines engaged in stress research can be organized and integrated. Its use across disciplines will facilitate the sharing of information and prevent needless duplication of effort by researchers in different fields. It will also facilitate the generation and formulation of empirically testable hypotheses (including specific cross-level hypotheses), the development of more focused research designs and a clearer interpretation of findings. By understanding at which point in the stress pathway a system is when observed, a clearer picture of both the biological mechanisms involved and the psychosocial ramifications of stress may be obtained. As a consequence of this type of information becoming available, more optimal treatments for patients with stress-related disorders can be developed.
38 citations
TL;DR: The basic viewpoints of major systems theories throughout the world are outlined, and the system of systems science is introduced in which systems science consists of systemology, systems methodology, and systems engineering.
Abstract: In this paper we outline the basic viewpoints of major systems theories throughout the world, and introduce our system of systems science in which systems science consists of systemology, systems methodology, and systems engineering.
36 citations
TL;DR: This article deals with the levels of the organization, the society, and the supranational system of living systems theory, and considers likely that environmental turbulence will expand greatly both qualitatively and quantitatively and will be decreasingly beyond human understanding and control.
Abstract: This article deals with the levels of the organization, the society, and the supranational system of living systems theory. The reasons for and bases of extending the idea of the turbulent-field environment of sociotechnical systems are briefly noted. The familiar information-decision-action-feedback model is expanded in terms of kinds of uncertainty, the cognitive models of decision makers, and the counterintuitive effects of seemingly straightforward and rational decisions. The concept of turbulence is specified more fully via recent work on chaos, and the possibly unexpected and drastic effects of decision making in complex systems are explicated via the concepts of attractors, epigenetic landscapes, and basins of attraction. The structural stability/instability of systems and environments is then defined in terms of order parameter, potential functions, and catastrophe-theory models. This approach is continued using dissipative-structure theory. Two illustrative cases of real-world turbulence, the destruction of the ozone layer and the generation of social networks in migration, are next presented. It is considered likely that environmental turbulence will expand greatly both qualitatively and quantitatively and, if present trends and parctices continue, will be decreasingly beyond human understanding and control.
24 citations
TL;DR: Coleman et al. as mentioned in this paper proposed a multiperson generalization of the minimal social situation, called cooperation without awareness, which has been used in a variety of applications in behavioral science.
Abstract: This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Coleman, A.A.; Colman, A.M.; Thomas, R.M., ‘Cooperation without awareness: A multiperson generalization of the minimal social situation’ in Behavioral Science, 1990, 35 (2), pp. 115-121, which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bs.3830350204/abstract.
19 citations
TL;DR: The article was called to the authors' attention by an Australian scientist, Dr. William H. Weekes, now at the Melbourne Institute of Technology, and is republishing exactly as it appeared in October, 1962.
Abstract: EDITOR'S NOTE: This article represents an unusual departure from ordinary procedure for this journal. With the permission of its author and the publisher of the journal, Physics in Medicine and Biology, we are republishing it exactly as it appeared in October, 1962. The article was called to our attention by an Australian scientist, Dr. William H. Weekes, now at the Melbourne Institute of Technology.
As early as 1938, Professor Revans was concerned with a systems approach to health care. Perhaps his clearest presentation of his ideas on this topic appears in the following article. For more than 50 years, he has made recommendations for improving health care in numerous countries, and although health delivery systems have become more complex in that half-century, his concepts seem to be as relevant today as they were when the article was first published. Particularly remarkable are his relating of the concepts from physics to communication and information flow in a human system, including such ideas as noise and feedback loops. In addition, he recognizes the promise of digital computers, linear programming, and simulation for improving effectiveness of human organizations such as hospitals.
19 citations
TL;DR: Investigation of the frequency with which a Condorcet winner is elected under the plurality and approval procedures when voters are assumed to act sophisticatedly finds sophisticated voting under the approval procedure seems to be moreCondorcet-efficient than the sincere version of this procedure.
Abstract: All relevant contigencies have been investigated in order to establish the frequency with which a Condorcet winner is elected under the plurality and approval procedures when voters are assumed to act sophisticatedly, and given that: (1) there are three candidates of whom one must be elected; (2) voters have complete information regarding all other voters (strict) preference orderings; (3) the electorate consists, alternatively, of three, four, or five blocks of voters; 4) all contingencies are considered equally likely. The main results are: (i) the approval procedure is significantly more Condorcet-efficient than the plurality procedure; (ii) when a Condorcet winner exists, a non-Condorcet winner is elected very rarely under both voting procedures; (iii) voting under the approval procedure results more often in a determinate winner when a Condorcet winner exists, whereas voting under the plurality procedure results more often in a determinate outcome when there are cyclical majorities; (iv) sophisticated voting under the approval procedure seems to be more Condorcet-efficient than the sincere version of this procedure, whereas the Condorcet-efficiencies of sincere and sophisticated voting under the plurality procedure are not significant different.
18 citations
TL;DR: The field of exopsychology as mentioned in this paper has been proposed for the forecast, study, and interpretation of the cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects of extraterrestrial organisms, including search, contact, and post-contact activities, and includes study and work with humans as well as with any extraterrestrials that might be encountered.
Abstract: Recent developments in the physical and biological sciences have furthered the hypothesis that intelligent life forms exist outside of our solar system and have prompted a number of programs intended to confirm such life forms' existence. The proposed field of exopsychology would involve the forecast, study, and interpretation of the cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects of extraterrestrial organisms. Exopsychological research would encompass search, contact, and post-contact activities, and would include study and work with humans as well as with any extraterrestrials that might be encountered. Exopsychologists can learn from and facilitate the search process, gain an increased understanding of animal and human behavior on Earth, and help searchers, their sponsors, and the public in dealing with positive or negative search outcomes.
18 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an approach to modeling which is appropriate for variables treated in psychoanalysis, and it describes a method for reducing the number of variables without losing essential information.
Abstract: Psychoanalytic phenomena involve complex patterns of behavior which are difficult to model effectively and without oversimplification. This paper presents an approach to modeling which is appropriate for variables treated in psychoanalysis, and it describes a method for reducing the number of variables without losing essential information. The models used are from elementary catastrophe theory and are geometric in form. The approach is scientific in the strict sense that the models generate predictions which can be tested objectively. We illustrate this with an example involving the clinical phenomenon of affect-response. We present a ten-variable model based on the compact double cusp; the model generates an unforeseen, non-trivial, testable prediction.
TL;DR: It would seem obvious that the most productive conceptual and methodological approaches to long-term research investments focused upon human behavior in space environments will require multidisciplinary inputs from such wide-ranging fields as molecular biology, environmental physiology, behavioral biology, architecture, sociology, and political science, among others.
Abstract: This article deals with systems at multiple levels, at least from cell to organization. It also deals with learning, decision making, and other behavior at multiple levels. Technological development of a human behavioral ecosystem appropriate to space environments requires an analytic and synthetic orientation, explicitly experimental in nature, dictated by scientific and pragmatic considerations, and closely approximating procedures of established effectiveness in other areas of natural science. The conceptual basis of such an approach has its roots in environmentalism which has two main features: (1) knowledge comes from experience rather than from innate ideas, divine revelation, or other obscure sources; and (2) action is governed by consequences rather than by instinct, reason, will, beliefs, attitudes or even the currently fashionable cognitions. Without an experimentally derived data base founded upon such a functional analysis of human behavior, the overgenerality of "ecological systems" approaches render them incapable of ensuring the successful establishment of enduring space habitats. Without an experimentally derived function account of individual behavioral variability, a natural science of behavior cannot exist. And without a natural science of behavior, the social sciences will necessarily remain in their current status as disciplines of less than optimal precision or utility. Such a functional analysis of human performance should provide an operational account of behavior change in a manner similar to the way in which Darwin's approach to natural selection accounted for the evolution of phylogenetic lines (i.e., in descriptive, nonteleological terms). Similarly, as Darwin's account has subsequently been shown to be consonant with information obtained at the cellular level, so too should behavior principles ultimately prove to be in accord with an account of ontogenetic adaptation at a biochemical level. It would thus seem obvious that the most productive conceptual and methodological approaches to long-term research investments focused upon human behavior in space environments will require multidisciplinary inputs from such wide-ranging fields as molecular biology, environmental physiology, behavioral biology, architecture, sociology, and political science, among others.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined compatibility and conflict among outcomes of three organizational entry strategies (personnel selection, vocational guidance, and realistic job previews) and concluded that organizational entry is a complex process that is best approached from a social systems perspective.
Abstract: This article deals with living systems at the organizational and individual levels of analysis. We examine compatibility and conflict among outcomes of three organizational entry strategies—personnel selection, vocational guidance, and realistic job previews. Mechanistic and social systems perspectives of organizational entry strategies have different implications for single versus multiple outcomes, conflict among outcomes, and compatibility among strategies. We use experimental and correlational procedures with 164 newly hired bank employees to examine these issues. The results show that strategies have multiple outcomes, outcomes of a single strategy can conflict, and multiple strategies can have incompatible outcomes. The study suggests that organizational entry is a complex process that is best approached from a social systems perspective. Implications of a social systems perspective on organizational entry include shifting the focus of organizational entry from techniques to goals, reconciling multiple and conflicting goals, and adapting strategies to changes in the environment.
TL;DR: In this article, a formal theory of decision making in human migration is presented, and the link between migration decision-making and aggregate rates of migration has been left unspecified or it has been assumed that detailed micro-data are needed to apply decision making frameworks to migration data.
Abstract: This article represents an attempt to develop a formal theory of decision making in human migration. Other examinations of the decision process have had several shortcomings such as examining residential preferences without reference to other constraints acting on the migration decision which are addressed in this paper. Further the link between migration decision-making and aggregate rates of migration have been left unspecified or it has been assumed that detailed microdata are needed to apply decision-making frameworks to migration data. This paper aims to reexamine these issues within migration decision theory and presents conclusions which suggest that decision theory has a much broader application to migration data than previously specified. (EXCERPT)
TL;DR: It has been suggested that a 20th subsystem, the internal security subsystem, should be added to Miller's 19 matter-energy and information processes that are critical to living systems, but many characteristics of the proposed security subsystem already are found in existing ones, that is, the reproducer, channel and net, and distributor.
Abstract: It has been suggested that a 20th subsystem, the internal security subsystem, should be added to Miller's 19 matter-energy and information processes that are critical to living systems (Bosserman, 1982). This subsystem protects all levels of living systems from error and disruption resulting from internal and external sources. Yet many characteristics of the proposed security subsystem already are found in existing ones, that is, the reproducer, channel and net, and distributor. Therefore, a discrete internal security subsystem is not justified. There are, however, dormant aspects of the security system that are not described within the existing taxonomy that perhaps best fit as a mirror system across the organizational levels.
TL;DR: The Invited von Bertalanffy Lecture as discussed by the authors was delivered at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the ISGSS/ISSS Edinburgh, Scotland, July, 1989.
Abstract: This article was first presented as the Invited von Bertalanffy Lecture delivered at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the ISGSS/ISSS Edinburgh, Scotland, July, 1989.
Systems science is named the “discipline of epistemological domains,” where symbolism plays a preponderant role in the study of systems of high abstraction. Symbolism and abstraction were already important concepts in the work of Ludwig von Bertalanffy (1901–1972), to whom this lecture is dedicated. As a tribute to his vision, references and quotations from the founder of modern systems science are made. Other authors such as E. Cassirer, S. Langer, J. R. Royce, J. Piaget, etc., have also contributed to our modern understanding of symbolism/abstraction, a process which is fundamental to the epistemology of systems science, as well as that of all scholarly disciplines. A wide range of examples taken from several different fields are used to illustrate the importance of the process of abstraction in modern system thinking and in the design of the “global web,” and “artifact” of social, political, and economic interrelationships devoted to the solution of world problems. Symbolism and the underlying process of abstraction are studied further to show their role in language, cognition, communication, artificial intelligence, etc. The connection between symbolism/abstraction and the design of artifacts in organizations is made. It is shown that when decision makers neglect the study of inquiring systems of high abstraction where epistemological concerns are discussed, the risk of system failures is enhanced. Overlooking epistemology may also lead to the demise of a scientific discipline, through paradigm displacement and the disappearance of knowledge. On the other hand, resorting to high levels of abstraction in human thinking leads to knowledge creation, innovation, and artistic expression.
TL;DR: In this article, a conceptual approach is developed using the logic and concepts of requisite variety and regression to analyze social relations phenomena such as: attraction, power, conflict, stability, competition, and cooperation.
Abstract: A conceptual approach is developed in this paper using the logic and concepts of requisite variety and regression to analyze social relations phenomena such as: attraction, power, conflict, stability, competition, and cooperation. A social relationship between two social systems is conceptualized as a perceptual phenomenon by one member of the social dyad (target system) and is determined by psychological contiguity between perceived benefits and costs. The attraction felt by the target system toward the other system is conceptualized as the slope of the regression line, power in the intercept of the regression line, stability in the coefficient of determination, and conflict in the standard error of the estimate. Furthermore, competition is conceptualized in terms of proportion of variance in benefits accounted for by the target system relative to other competitor systems. Finally, cooperation is viewed as a special case in which the effort of multiple target systems is greater than the sum of the proportion of variance accounted for by each target system separately.
TL;DR: In this article, a model developed by Bass is used to partiion a set of diffusion curves into five standard adopter categories, viz., innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards.
Abstract: The previous use of new product growth models has focused on their forecasting accuracy and curve fitting ability. Here a model developed by Bass is used to partiion a set of diffusion curves into five standard adopter categories, viz., innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. Also, estimates of the initial sales rate, the time to reach the maximum rate of sales penetration, and the proportion of adopters at this point are derived. These parameters can be used to provide a rich description of different diffusion patterns across products. The adoption of color television for eight contries is used to illustrate use of the model parameters and to draw some conclusions about cross-cultural diffusion patterns.
TL;DR: A power-law model for simulating advancement of typing speed is discussed, through a long-term training experiment of a coded typing for inputting Japanese, some new properties have been found through the analysis of the training records of many subjects.
Abstract: A power-law model for simulating advancement of typing speed is discussed in this article. Through a long-term training experiment of a coded typing for inputting Japanese, some new properties have been found through the analysis of the training records of many subjects. The major one is that every practice time to complete each drill, which is a segment of practice, statistically satisfies a power law. A few versions of the model succeed in simulating this phenomenon, if they assume that advancement of strokes for every character satisfies a power law. However, they fail in detailing the initial records. An extended version further including a power-law advancement of recalling codes and a temporary memory holding a few codes succeeds in detailing them only when the temporary memory size is 2. This number agrees with the well-known one, or the number of chunks to be held in the short-term memory, unless one character code requires four chunks as a pair of two coordinates on a keyboard. Some keystroke timing data supporting the model are observed in another training system.
TL;DR: Understanding the proofs of compactness theorems regarding the consistency of the existence of infinite or infinitesimal numbers was found to be related to the dominance of the left cerebral hemisphere over the right one.
Abstract: Understanding the proofs of compactness theorems regarding the consistency of the existence of infinite or infinitesimal numbers was found to be related to the dominance of the left cerebral hemisphere over the right one. This phenomenon is not weakened when learning, the compactness theorem is followed by learning about internal and external sets, which is also related to such a dominance. However, when the learning of the compactness theorem is followed by learning about monads and galaxies instead of internal and external sets, the understanding of the consistency of the existence of the infinite or infinitesimal numbers was found to be related to the dominance of the right cerebral hemisphere over the left one. A cognitive and neuropsychological model is given to explain these phenomena.
TL;DR: In this article, Bierman, Jr. and Rapoport argued that their games are special cases of the classical Petersburg game of which a solution, based exclusively on probability theory, is given by Feller (1970).
Abstract: This note is a reply to the solution of a decision paradox by Harold Bierman, Jr. and Anatol Rapoport (Behavioral Science, October, 1989, 286–290), both expressing the need for psychological concepts to clarify the problem. It is argued that their games are special cases of the classical Petersburg game of which a solution, based exclusively on probability theory, is given by Feller (1970). Furthermore, it states that a serious practical problem remains to be solved.