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Belief Structures (belief + structure)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Humanities and Social Sciences25%

Selected Abstracts

Dempster,Shafer belief structures with interval valued focal weights

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS, Issue 4 2001
Ronald R. Yager
Dempster,Shafer belief structures provide a useful framework for the representation of information about a variable whose value is uncertain. Important parameters in these structures are the weights associated with the focal elements. These weights, which can be viewed as probabilities, are required to be precisely known. Here we relax this requirement and we consider the situation in which our knowledge of the weights associated with the focal elements is that they lie in some known interval rather then being precisely specified. This relaxation will allow us to more realistically model situations in which the weights cannot be precisely obtained. At a formal level, this situation can be viewed as one in which we have some uncertainty as to what is the actual belief structure, this uncertainty being of the possibilistic type. We introduce the measures of plausibility and belief in this environment. We also look at the issue of combining belief structures for these interval type belief structures. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [source]

Interaction Appearance Theory: Changing Perceptions of Physical Attractiveness Through Social Interaction

COMMUNICATION THEORY, Issue 1 2002
Kelly Fudge Albada
Can the effectiveness of your social interaction with a prospective romantic partner make him or her see you as more physically attractive? If so, under what conditions does this process occur? These questions prompted the development of a theoretical perspective to explain this process. Interaction appearance theory (IAT) requires (a) a set of beliefs about the importance and interdependence of physical attractiveness and social interaction in a satisfactory romantic relationship; (b) an initial perception of the other's physical attractiveness that is not high enough to trigger the pursuit of a romantic relationship but is not low enough to preclude it; (c) social interaction that is eventually perceived as more desirable than the perception of the other's physical attractiveness; and (d) bringing the discrepant perceptions into alignment by actually seeing the other person as more physically attractive. While providing support for the theory, the interviews in Study 1 also provided insights into how the process can vary. Study 2, using a sample of new daters, provided quantitative support for the belief structure. Study 3, using diaries, found changes in perceptions of a partner's physical attractiveness to be a function of positive and negative interactions. These studies provided support for IAT and the idea that perceptions of physical attractiveness can be changed by social interaction. [source]

Evidential reasoning-based nonlinear programming model for MCDA under fuzzy weights and utilities,

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS, Issue 1 2010
Mi Zhou
In a multiple-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) problem, qualitative information with subjective judgments of ambiguity is often provided by people, together with quantitative data that may also be imprecise or incomplete. There are several uncertainties that may be considered in an MCDA problem, such as fuzziness and ambiguity. The evidential reasoning (ER) approach is well suited for dealing with such MCDA problems and can generate comprehensive distributed assessments for different alternatives. Many researches in dealing with imprecise or uncertain belief structures have been conducted on the ER approach. In this paper, both triangular fuzzy weights of criteria and fuzzy utilities assigned to evaluation grades are introduced to the ER approach, which may be incurred in several circumstances such as group decision-making situation. The Hadamard multiplicative combination of judgment matrix is extended for the aggregation of triangular fuzzy judgment matrices, the result of which is applied as the fuzzy weights used in the fuzzy ER approach. The consistency of the aggregated triangular fuzzy judgment matrix is also proved. Several pairs of ER-based programming models are designed to generate the total fuzzy belief degrees and the overall expected fuzzy utilities for the comparison of alternatives. A numerical example is conducted to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]

Dempster,Shafer belief structures with interval valued focal weights

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS, Issue 4 2001
Ronald R. Yager
Dempster,Shafer belief structures provide a useful framework for the representation of information about a variable whose value is uncertain. Important parameters in these structures are the weights associated with the focal elements. These weights, which can be viewed as probabilities, are required to be precisely known. Here we relax this requirement and we consider the situation in which our knowledge of the weights associated with the focal elements is that they lie in some known interval rather then being precisely specified. This relaxation will allow us to more realistically model situations in which the weights cannot be precisely obtained. At a formal level, this situation can be viewed as one in which we have some uncertainty as to what is the actual belief structure, this uncertainty being of the possibilistic type. We introduce the measures of plausibility and belief in this environment. We also look at the issue of combining belief structures for these interval type belief structures. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [source]

U.S. Perceptions of Nuclear Security in the Wake of the Cold War: Comparing Public and Elite Belief Systems

INTERNATIONAL STUDIES QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2002
Kerry G. Herron
Our research adds new evidence to the continuing debate about capacities of mass publics to contribute to foreign and security policy processes. Focusing on U.S. beliefs and preferences about nuclear security in the post,Cold War era, we examine not only linear relationships among elite and mass belief structures, but also combinations of beliefs that may be precursors to policy coalitions. We examine attitudes and preferences about nuclear issues among two elite publics,scientists and legislators,surveyed in 1997, and among two samples of the U.S. general public surveyed in 1997 and 1999. We compare elite and mass belief structures using three different methods: descriptive comparisons of central tendencies, relational analyses using bivariate and multivariate regressions, and coalitional analyses using cluster analytical techniques. With each method of analysis we find evidence of similar belief structures and similar relationships between beliefs and nuclear policy preferences among our elite and mass samples. [source]

Beliefs of and attitudes toward political advertising: An exploratory investigation

PSYCHOLOGY & MARKETING, Issue 6 2009
Hyun Seung Jin
The major goals of this study were to identify voters' belief structures about political advertising, develop a scale to measure beliefs, and examine how the identified beliefs are related to overall attitudes toward political advertising. The reliabilities, factor structure, and validity tests indicate that five belief dimensions,information, veracity, cynicism, money politics, and entertainment,have sound and stable properties. The scale demonstrates that voters assess political advertising at the instrumental level (e.g., information, veracity, and entertainment) as well as the institutional level (e.g., cynicism and money politics). The results showed that not all beliefs predicted overall attitudes. Furthermore, the results indicated that political involvement was a significant factor in influencing both beliefs and attitudes. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]

A longitudinal look at rural consumer adoption of online shopping

PSYCHOLOGY & MARKETING, Issue 4 2007
Sharron J. Lennon
Innovation diffusion theory guided research on the process of online apparel shopping adoption (i.e., changes in online shopping adoption) among rural consumers. Rural consumers in 11 states completed surveys in 2000 ( n = 2,198) and in 2003 (n = 879). Variables measured in 2000 were used to predict online apparel purchasing in 2003; structural equation modeling was used for data analysis and yielded satisfactory fit. Results revealed strong support for innovation diffusion theory: Previous practice and characteristics of the decision-making unit ( education, income, innovativeness) affected belief structures. Although beliefs about online shopping measured in 2000 did not affect online apparel shopping adoption in 2000, they did affect online apparel shopping adoption in 2003, demonstrating the dynamic nature of innovation diffusion. Characteristics of the decision-making unit (education, income) indirectly affected online apparel shopping via their influence on previous practice, which was the strongest predictor of online apparel purchasing in 2000 and 2003. General beliefs about the Internet and beliefs about the compatibility of online shopping with respondents' lifestyles predicted online apparel shopping in 2003, whereas beliefs about the benefits and advantages of online shopping did not. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]