Descriptive And Normative Approaches To Human Behavior

The aim of the book is to present side-by-side representative and cutting-edge samples of work in mathematical psychology and the analytic philosophy with prominent use of mathematical formalisms.

The book explores the variety of meanings of contextuality across different disciplines, with the emphasis on quantum physics and on psychology. Contents:Conversations on Contextuality (Ehtibar N Dzhafarov & Janne V Kujala)Contextual Semantics (Samson Abransky)From Coupling to Copula (Hans Colonius)Einstein, Bohm, and Leggett-Garg (Guido Bacciagaluppi)It is the Theory Which Decides What We Can Observe (Thomas Filk)Reality, Contextuality, and Probability in Quantum Theory and Beyond (Arkady Plotnitsky)Contextual Emergence (Harald Atmanspacher)Contextuality in Physics and Quantum Cognition (J Acacio de Barros & Gary Oas)End-Directedness and Context in Nonliving Dissipative Systems (James A Dixon, Dilip Kondepudi, Bruce A Kay & Tehran J Davis)Foregrounding the Background (J Scott Jordan, Jiuyang Bai, Vincent Cialdella & Daniel Schloesser)Symmetry-Breaking in Multiagent Coordination (Michael J Richardson & Rachel W Kallen)Probabilistic Contextuality (Janne V Kujala & Ehtibar N Dzhafarov)Quantum Thinking and Counterfactual Reasoning (Louis Narens)Quantum Theory, Active Information and the Mind-Matter Problem (Paavo Pylkkänen)Principles Defining Quantum Mechanics (Gary Oas & J Acacio de Barros)Our (Represented) World: A Quantum-Like Object (Ariane Lambert-Mogiliansky & Francois Dubois)Why Would You Want to Borrow from My Discipline? (Emmanuel Haven)Quantum Information Biology (Masanari Asano, Irina Basieva, Andrei Khrennikov, Masanori Ohya, Yoshiharu Tanaka & Ichiro Yamato)Similarity Judgments: From Classical to Complex Vector Psychological Spaces (Albert Barque Duran, Emmanuel M Pothos, James M Yearsley, James A Hampton, Jerome R Busemeyer & Jennifer S Trueblood)A Quantum Bayes Net Approach to Causal Reasoning (Jennifer S Trueblood, Percy K Mistry & Emmanuel M Pothos) Readership: Researchers in quantum physics, mathematical modelling and cognitive science. Key Features:It is historically the first book dedicated entirely to contextualityIt is interdisciplinary, involving quantum physicists, computer scientists, mathematicians, analytic philosophers, economists, and psychologistsIts chapters are written by leading specialists in these various fieldsKeywords:Contextuality;Quantum Physics;Psychology

This is the first comprehensive survey of Descriptive Psychology. It provides a systematic account of the basic formulations and characteristic methodologies of this discipline which was developed by Peter G. Ossorio of the University of Colorado at Boulder. Dr. Ossorio defines Descriptive Psychology as "a set of systematically related concepts which is designed to provide formal access to all the facts and possible facts concerning persons and behavioróand therefore everything else as well."

There are many books on lattice theory in the field, but none interfaces with the foundations of probability. This book does. It also develops new probability theories with rigorous foundations for decision theory and applies them to specific well-known problematic examples. There is only one other book that attempts this. It uses quantum probability theory from physics. The new probability theories developed in this book are different; they are not borrowed from physics but are explicitly designed for decision theory. Contents:IntroductionBasic Lattice TheoryPseudo Complemented Distributive LatticesProbability and CoherenceRationality, Heuristics, and Human Judgments of ProbabilityOrthomodular Modeling of Psychological Paradigms Readership: Researchers in probability theory, logic and mathematical psychology. Key Features:Systematic, foundational development of probability theories based on Boolean and non-Boolean algebrasNew theoretical foundations for theories of belief that emphasize the logical structure of event spacesNew methods for modeling the Kahnemann and Tversky heuristics and other psychological paradigms based on intuitionistic logic and a generalization of quantum logicKeywords:Probability on Lattices;Decision Theory;Intuitionistic Logic;Lattice Theory

'The Oxford Handbook of Population Ethics' presents up-to-date theoretical analyses of various problems associated with the moral standing of future people and animals in current decision-making. The essays in this handbook shed light on the value of population change and the nature of our obligations to future generations. It brings together world-leading philosophers to introduce readers to some of the paradoxes of population ethics, challenge some fundamental assumptions that may be taken for granted in debates concerning the value of population change, and apply these problems and assumptions to real-world decisions.--

At a practical level, mathematical programming under multiple objectives has emerged as a powerful tool to assist in the process of searching for decisions which best satisfy a multitude of conflicting objectives, and there are a number of distinct methodologies for multicriteria decision-making problems that exist. These methodologies can be categorized in a variety of ways, such as form of model (e.g. linear, non-linear, stochastic), characteristics of the decision space (e.g. finite or infinite), or solution process (e.g. prior specification of preferences or interactive). Scientists from a variety of disciplines (mathematics, economics and psychology) have contributed to the development of the field of Multicriteria Decision Making (MCDM) (or Multicriteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), Multiattribute Decision Making (MADM), Multiobjective Decision Making (MODM), etc.) over the past 30 years, helping to establish MCDM as an important part of management science. MCDM has become a central component of studies in management science, economics and industrial engineering in many universities worldwide. Multicriteria Decision Making: Advances in MCDM Models, Algorithms, Theory and Applications aims to bring together `state-of-the-art' reviews and the most recent advances by leading experts on the fundamental theories, methodologies and applications of MCDM. This is aimed at graduate students and researchers in mathematics, economics, management and engineering, as well as at practicing management scientists who wish to better understand the principles of this new and fast developing field.

In the study of human thinking, two main research questions can be asked: “Descriptive Q: What is human thinking like? Normative Q: What ought human thinking be like?” For decades, these two questions have dominated the field, and the relationship between them generated many a controversy. Empirical normativist approaches regard the answers to these questions as positively correlated – in essence, human thinking is what it ought to be (although what counts as the ‘ought’ standard is moot). In contemporary theories of reasoning and decision making, this is often associated with a Panglossian framework, an adaptationist approach which regards human thinking as a priori rational. In contrast, prescriptive normativism sees the answers to these two questions as negatively correlated. Normative models are still relevant to human thought, but human behaviour deviates from them quite markedly (with the invited conclusion that humans are often irrational). Prescriptive normativism often results in a Meliorist agenda, which sees rationality as amenable to education. Both empirical and prescriptive normativism can be contrasted with a descriptivist framework for psychology of human thinking. Following Hume’s strict divide between the ‘is’ and the ‘ought’, descriptivism regards the descriptive and normative research questions as uncorrelated, or dissociated, with only the former question suitable for psychological study of human behaviour. This basic division carries over to the relation between normative (‘ought’) rationality, based on conforming to normative standards; and instrumental (‘is’) rationality, based on achieving one’s goals. Descriptivist approaches regard the two as dissociated, whereas normativist approaches tend to see them as closely linked, with normative arguments defining and justifying instrumental rationality. This research topic brings together diverse contributions to the continuing debate. Featuring contributions from leading researchers in the field, the e-book covers a wide range of subjects, arranged by six sections: The standard picture: Normativist perspectives In defence of soft normativism Exploring normative models Descriptivist perspectives Evolutionary and ecological accounts Empirical reports With a total of some 24 articles from 55 authors, this comprehensive treatment includes theoretical analyses, meta-theoretical critiques, commentaries, and a range of empirical reports. The contents of the Research Topic should appeal to psychologists, linguists, philosophers and cognitive scientists, with research interests in a wide range of domains, from language, through reasoning, judgment and decision making, and moral judgment, to epistemology and theory of mind, philosophical logic, and meta-ethics.

A significant topic in American society, sports ethics has also been the subject of an increasing number of scholarly studies during the past two decades. Moreover, a growing number of courses on sports are being offered at colleges and universities. In Sports Ethics in America, Donald G. Jones provides a valuable reference tool for teaching and research in a variety of sports-related disciplines. The book is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary bibliography with some 2,800 entries. Entries include both scholarly works and works written by journalists during the two decades from 1970 to 1990. The volume is divided into five major sections (1) General Works and Philosophy, (2) The Team, Players, and Coaches, (3) The Game, Competition, and Contestants, (4) Sport and Society, and (5) Reference Works. Each entry includes a brief listing of the subjects covered in the work. The volume also includes a full subject index and an author index.