Showing papers in "Systems Research and Behavioral Science in 2007"

The concept of power

Abstract: What is “power”? Most people have an intuitive notion of what it means. But scientists have not yet formulated a statement of the concept of power that is rigorous enough to be of use in the systematic study of this important social phenomenon. Power is here defined in terms of a relation between people, and is expressed in simple symbolic notation. From this definition is developed a statement of power comparability, or the relative degree of power held by two or more persons. With these concepts it is possible for example, to rank members of the United States Senate according to their “power” over legislation on foreign policy and on tax and fiscal policy.

Toward a theory of schizophrenia

Abstract: Schizophrenia—its nature, etiology, and the kind of therapy to use for it—remains one of the most puzzling of the mental illnesses. The theory of schizophrenia presented here is based on communications analysis, and specifically on the Theory of Logical Types. From this theory and from observations of schizophrenic patients is derived a description, and the necessary conditions for, a situation called the “double bind”—a situation in which no matter what a person does, he “can't win.” It is hypothesized that a person caught in the double bind may develop schizophrenic symptoms. How and why the double bind may arise in a family situation is discussed, together with illustrations from clinical and experimental data.

Symbolic psycho‐logic: A model of attitudinal cognition

Abstract: Several lines of theoretical and research interest have gradually been converging upon the study of "cognitive structure," especially in the area of social attitudes. Theorists are reluctant even to consider cognitive units of an attitude apart from other cognitive units, preferring to treat cognition as "structured" into meaningful wholes. If psychologists are to talk about "cognitive structure," they must do something about it; there must be a correspondence between theory and some sort of research operation. F. Heider's theory is addressed to structural details of cognition, but there has been no research operation available to investigate these details with particular attitude contents. The chapter focuses on some inspiration from D. Cartwright and F. Harary's objective system for the examination of "structural balance," from Heider's ideas on cognitive balance. It discusses the "psychological model" and the "mathematical system". The mathematical system is designed specifically for dealing analytically with the structure of attitudinal cognitions.

Psychological deficit in schizophrenia.

Abstract: Here a distinguished psychologist sums up over thirty years' research on schizophrenia. This was the Second Stanley R. Dean Research Award Lecture, presented May 2, 1963, under the auspices of the Mental Health Research Institute, The University of Michigan.

The effect of experimenter bias on the performance of the albino rat.

Abstract: That an experimenter can very easily influence his subjects to give him the response he wants is a problem that every investigator recognizes and takes precautions to avoid. But how does one cope with the problem of unconscious influence? It is possible that a good many contradictory or unexpected findings are due to the fact that the experimenter unknowingly communicated his desires or expectations to his subjects. Though this problem has been generally recognized and much discussed, there has heretofore been no systematic test of the hypothesis that an experimenter can obtain from his subjects the data he expects or wants to obtain. This paper reports just such a test, and discusses what can be done to avoid experimenter influence, both conscious and unconscious.

Simple games: An outline of the descriptive theory

Abstract: In parliamentary bodies coalitions turn out to be either all-powerful or ineffectual. Conflicts which have such outcomes have been called simple games. This paper outlines their theoretical structure, sketching out their application to the United States Congress, the United Nations Security Council, or any other such body in which the acquisition of power is the payoff.

A study of a large sociogram.

Abstract: Sociometry is concerned with networks of relationship among groups of people If the group is very large, the work of tracing all the relationships becomes tedious, and the task of describing the resulting net precisely becomes impossible Here the problem of such large sociometric nets is approached with probabilistic and statistical methods

Stochastic models of choice behavior

Abstract: The notion of “utility” is fundamental in most current theories of human decision. The problem of determining the utility function of a given decision maker, however, presents grave difficulties. It is not sufficient to determine the decision maker's rank-order preference of choices, because such a rank-order preference would determine his utility only on an ordinal scale, not the interval scale required in many decision problems. The problem is further complicated by the fact that even the preference choices of the chooser are often inconsistent with each other. T o circumvent the latter difficulty, stochastic definitions of utilities have been proposed in which probabilities (frequencies) of preference choices become the basic data. Here the implications of some of these models are derived which enable the experimenter to decide whether a given model is consistent with a set of data. Appropriate statistical sampling tests are worked out.

Measurement of social power, opportunity costs, and the theory of two-person bargaining games.

Abstract: Recent papers by Simon (1957), by March (1955, 1957), and by Dahl (1957) have suggested measuring person A’s power over person B in terms of its actual or potential effects, that is, in terms of the changes that A causes or can cause in Bs behavior.1 As Dahl puts it, A has power over B to the extent to which ‘he can get B to do something that B would not otherwise do’ (1957, p. 203).

On the measurement of structural balance

Abstract: If in a group of people every one loves his friends' friends and also his enemies' enemies and hates his friends' enemies and his enemies' friends, the “signed graph” representing the network of relations will be balanced. The degree of balance of a graph, then, provides a sociometric index which may be of importance in constructing theories of group structure and behavior. There are several ways of defining the degree of balance, and the group has several ways of altering this index, for example by reversing existing relationships, by deleting them, or by expelling members. There may be tendencies other than toward balance operating in a group, and these may be opposed to each other. This paper continues the exploration of the mathematical properties of signed graphs with special reference to specific assumptions about the evolution of human groups.

Aspects of judgment and decision making: interrelationships and changes with age.

Abstract: In making supposedly rational decisions, we must estimate at least two types of quantity, namely, the relative probabilities of different outcomes of alternative courses of action and the degree of our preference for the different outcomes. The extent to which the fear of failure deters us and the hope of success spurs us on, as well as the degree of our confidence in what may happen, all determine our decisions. In this article, the values of parameters related to the factors influencing judgment are compared in young and old people.

A contribution to a history of the placebo effect

Abstract: A crystallized tear From the eye of a deer— Bitten by a snake— Made people well. So who can foretell What cures placebos make?.

The cross-cultural generality of visual-verbal synesthetic tendencies.

Abstract: The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis that the structure of a language influences cognitive behavior is questioned in this study of comparability of experience in different sense modalities. Do the Navajo, like ourselves, see HAPPY as more up and SAD as more down? Do the Japanese, like ourselves, conceive of EXCITEMENT as colorful and CALM as colorless? Do the Navajos and Anglos differ widely in their connotative meanings of the words “blue” and its correlate in Navajo, yet agree closely on their meanings for a specific BLUE color chip? Here is a first attempt to demonstrate that the visualverbal synesthetic relationships characteristic of our own language/culture community are shared by peoples who speak different languages and enjoy different cultures. Perhaps there is a “world view” that is relatively stable despite differences in both language and culture.

Experimental games: a review.

Abstract: A fresh view of the strategies employed by individuals, groups, or social institutions in conflict situations has been stimulated by the mathematics of game theory. This has provided us with norms concerning reasonable decision policies to follow under various circumstances, but not with information on actual behavior. Something about this can be learned from experiments in which subjects resolve dilemmas involving opposition of interests. Such research is rapidly becoming voluminous, but an overview of it can still be crammed into one article. Such a review must deal with 2- and with n-person games, with zero-sum and nonzero-sum games, with games where payoffs are known and unknown, and with simulations which involve games.

Economic development, research and development, policy making: Some converging views†

Abstract: Order, harmony, planning, method, comprehensive understanding—these qualities, it is almost universally agreed, are necessary and invaluable for any organized effort. But are they? The authors of this paper are persuaded that an unbalanced economy may be more productive and quicker to develop than a balanced one, that a carefully thought-out plan of research may be a hindrance rather than a help in achieving the desired goal, and that sometimes it may be easier to solve a problem if it is not fully understood.

Studies of autonomic functions in practitioners of Yoga in India.

Abstract: Dr. Wenger, one of the authors, explains this article as follows: In 1933, a student from India first stimulated my interest in Yoga. In an experiment on muscular relaxation his performance far exceeded that of any other subject. He explained that he employed a Yogic method which was commonly used in India, and I made a mental note to go to India someday. The note got unburied over twenty years later when I discovered an article by Therese Brosse, a French cardiologist who had taken a portable electrocardiograph to India in 1935 and measured a few yogis as they at- tempted to control their heart action. One of her published EKG records was amazing. It showed a gradual reduction in heart potentials to near zero. She concluded that the heart could be controlled voluntarily. A review of the literature disclosed similar claims, and other claims off voluntary control over other visceral muscles—none, however, so objectively documented. Claims of fire walking, pit burials of many hours' duration, and needle penetration without bleeding are fairly common. Less common are reports of voluntary control of regurgitation and defecation, of great increases in body heat, and of relaxation of the sphincters of the anus and urethra so that water or other fluids can be sucked into the bowel or bladder with the aid of another practice (uddiyana) that apparently creates negative pressure in the abdomen. Testing these various claims of voluntary control of autonomic functions and recording physiological changes during Yogic meditation were our major purposes in going to India.

The design of a fungus-eater: A model of human behavior in an unsophisticated environment

Abstract: Is dexterity at pressing a buzzer on cue or fitting a peg into the proper hole a true measure of efficiency? The author of this paper thinks not. In the real world, he states, man's efficiency in coping with his environment depends not on how well he performs isolated tasks, but on how well he can co-ordinate several different functions in order to solve the problems of daily life. One way to study man as a problem-solver is to construct an artificial environment and examine the strategies used by human subjects in order to survive in this environment. N-person games are examples of this approach. The author suggests an alternative: begin with the environment, and attempt to design a subject with the minimal optimal qualities to function effectively in this environment. Suppose there were a planet where just two resources were in abundance, uranium and a nutritious fungus. How would one design a robot to go there to mine the uranium, using the fungus as his source of energy? The “fungus-eater” must also orient himself on the planet, the surface of which is paved with black and white pebbles randomly distributed. What are the minimum abilities which the robot must have in order to survive and to perform his task effectively?

Getting the big picture in natural resource management - Systems thinking as 'method' for scientists, policy makers and other stakeholders

Abstract: This paper discusses the benefits of applying Systems Thinking to solving natural resource management problems. It first explains the Systems Thinking concept and briefly outlines its history and emergence in agriculture and natural resource management. A series of case studies are then presented which illustrate practical examples of how Systems Thinking has been used to address real life natural resource management issues. The case studies build on the conclusions of each other by adding additional ways (lessons learnt) of incorporating Systems Thinking into practice to address issues more systemically. The first case study deals with examples of how Systems Thinking facilitated the sharing and integration of disparate sources and forms of knowledge, and making sense of the factors influencing tree density in the tropical savanna region of northern Queensland. The second case study deals with how Systems Thinking has been imbedded in the design and implementation of a research project investigating how to improve financial returns to smallholder tree farmers in the Philippines. The third case study illustrates how Systems Thinking was used to design and facilitate an adaptive rodent management project in Cambodia based on participatory research, development and extension. From these experiences, the authors' highlight a variety of key points that lead to the proposition that Systems Thinking should be 'absorbed' into scientific research, in the same way that statistics, is today an integral part of all sciences. A framework for the application of Systems Thinking is presented to help improve sustainable land management.

Decision rules, types of error, and their consequences in medical diagnosis

Abstract: “It can be of no importance to me of what religion my physician or my lawyer is; this consideration has nothing in common with the offices of friendship which they owe me.”—Montaigne Not so, says the author of this article: the moral code of a physician or a lawyer has a great deal to do with the professional services which he supplies to his clients. When a judge, a jury, or a doctor must decide a case or make a diagnosis on the basis of insufficient or conflicting evidence, the final decision is based to a considerable extent on moral and ethical standards. Some kinds of wrong decisions are felt to be less harmful than others, and when risk of error is present, the less harmful decision will usually be made. This article discusses a particular decision rule of the medical profession, and some possible harmful consequences of its application.

What do scientists do

Abstract: How should enquiry be conducted? This basic question is faced at some time or other by every scientist—be he natural or social. Here is a formulation of principles of enquiry common to scientists—notions which initiate and guide the course of a line of research—and a grand strategy of enquiry is proposed. It is suggested that this theoretical framework can be used to investigate why scientists have these patterns of enquiry.

Information theory and music

Abstract: Jonathan Swift once said that good writing was a matter of getting the right words in the right order, Similarity, a sounds and arranging these sounds into some sort of pattern. The uses of information theory to analyze and describe this creative process, its limitations and possibilities, are discussed in this paper.

A systematization of the Whorfian hypothesis

Abstract: Interest in the Whorfian hypothesis—that the characteristics of a language have determining influences on cognitive processes—is increasing, not only among linguists and social anthropologists, but also among general semanticists, psychologists, social psychologists, and sociologists. Here is an interesting attempt by a social psychologist to systematize some of the work in this problem area, by proposing a double dichotomy which gives rise to a discussion of the hypothesis at four levels.

An experimental business game

Abstract: Most of us have played Monopoly for amusement, but now industry is beginning to take similar games seriously as training situations for management personnel. Groups of executives are sent to “retreats” to play business games to learn what is involved in makiig decisions. Here is an example of a business game used as a research tool for the study of human behavior in conflict situations.

The psychotherapist's contribution to the treatment process

Abstract: It is probably safe to say that there is nothing that has not been done to try to help people who have what is called “mental illness”–soft music and scalding in hot water, snake pits and electric current through the brain, stinging showers, starvation, milk diets, tranquilizing drugs and free association and casting out of devils and good hard work–but none can yet be said to be truly effective. Psychotherapy, especially since the days of Freud, has come to mean a treatment that is made up mainly of talk, a verbal exchange between the patient and the person who is trying to help him. With the development of this kind of treatment, it has been increasingly recognized that psychotherapy is characterized not only by its techniques, but also by the personal relationship between the patient and his therapist. This being so, the therapist himself, his background, attitudes, experiences, and personality must be put under the microscope for careful scrutiny and analysis if valid knowledge about how to treat mental illness is to be obtained.

A use of simulation in the study of inter-nation relations

Abstract: Macmillan talks to Khrushchev. Eisenhower talks to DeGaulle. Can the nations' representatives be better trained for such vital meetings? Just as “generals” compete in simulated war games, can “chiefs of state” and “foreign ministers” learn their skills from similar games among nations? Alliances, international parleys, governmental conferences, and internal decisions all are part of the simulation techniques suggested below. Exciting possibilities for the development of international relations theory and training are in the offing.

Models in a behavioral theory of the firm

Abstract: How do business organizations make decisions? What process do they follow in deciding how much to produce? And at what price? A behavioral theory of the firm is here explored. Using a specific type of duopoly, a model is written explicity as a computer program to deal with the complex theory implicit in the process by which businesses make decisions. This model highlights our need for more empirical observations of organizational decision-making.

A model of riskless choice

Abstract: Current researches on how we arrive at decisions concentrate on utility functions. This article deals with individuals' choices among pairs of dternatives involving only two components, in situations where no risks are incurred. For instance, Alice's father announces he will buy her a Ford coupe for graduation. Sheispermitted toselect between blue and yellow, and to decide whether or not it is to be convertible. A model for choices of this type is detailed here and a test of it reported.