Foundations for an Ontology of Belief, Desire and Intention

Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence and Applications - Formal Ontology in Information Systems ◽

10.3233/faia200667 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Fumiaki Toyoshima ◽

Adrien Barton ◽

Olivier Grenier

Keyword(s):

Decision Process ◽

Cognitive Biases ◽

Wishful Thinking

Belief, desire, and intention are central notions in mentality and agency. We provide conceptual and formal foundations for an ontology of those mental entities. In this framework, beliefs and desires have a dual face: dispositional and occurrent. As distinct from beliefs and desires, intentions are dispositions to actions that emerge from a decision process in which occurrent beliefs and occurrent desires interact. We also discuss how our theory can be extended to some major philosophical accounts of desires, and cognitive biases such as wishful thinking.

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International market selection for small firms: a fuzzy-based decision process

European Journal of Marketing ◽

10.1108/ejm-09-2012-0512 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 48 (11/12) ◽

pp. 2198-2212 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Gianluca Marchi ◽

Marina Vignola ◽

Gisella Facchinetti ◽

Giovanni Mastroleo

Keyword(s):

Decision Process ◽

Small Firms ◽

Cognitive Biases ◽

Single Case ◽

International Market ◽

Market Selection ◽

Content Type ◽

Study Approach ◽

First Time

Purpose – This study aims to build and test an International Market Selection (IMS) decision process method that is able to capture, within a small firm’s risk-averse setting, the entrepreneur's experience, reduce cognitive biases, and preserve the flexibility of the decision, by combining the advantages of systematic and behavioural-based international market selection approaches. Design/methodology/approach – The unit of analysis is the IMS decision process of a small firm venturing abroad. We adopt a ranking approach based on three-step screening. We assess the markets through a multi-criteria approach with a wider set of variables aggregated within a tree-shaped model. To obtain the ranking, we use a Fuzzy Expert System (FES) as an evaluative tool. Findings – The results show that the proposed decision method is consistent with the entrepreneur’s strategic orientation and experience, while preserving the flexibility requested for decision-making in small firms. Unlike traditional behavioural IMS approaches, the method demonstrates an ability to reduce the cognitive biases associated with the use of a limited set of variables and unreliable evaluation models. Research limitations/implications – The single-case-study approach limits generalization of the findings. Practical implications – The proposed methodology helps the decision-maker to improve the quality of the IMS decision by reducing the effect of cognitive biases that usually affect traditional behavioural models. Originality/value – For the first time, a decision-process methodology based on an FES is applied to a small firm’s IMS problem.

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Cognitive biases in private branding (an fMRI experiment of over-the-counter drugs)

MERCATI & COMPETITIVITÀ ◽

10.3280/mc2012-002010 ◽

2012 ◽

pp. 105-123

Author(s):

Gianpiero Lugli ◽

Donata Tania Vergura ◽

Cinzia Di Dio ◽

Beatrice Luceri

Keyword(s):

Decision Process ◽

Cognitive Biases ◽

Neural Mechanisms ◽

Private Label ◽

Main Question ◽

Emotional Involvement ◽

Over The Counter ◽

Otc Drugs ◽

Industrial Companies ◽

Marketing Decision

The present study aims to analyze the neural mechanisms involved in private label choice by means of fMRI. The purpose is to answer the following main question: is the mental process that leads to the choice of the private label similar to that developed for the industrial brand? The experiment in the otc drugs category showed that the private label determines emotional brain activation equivalent to that of the industrial brand; that the price information increases the level of consumer concentration; that the higher the price gap between the private label and the leading brand, the greater the emotional involvement of private label purchasers; that the lower the price gap between the private label and the leading brand, the greater the emotional involvement of leading brand purchasers. The outcome can improve marketing decision process of both retailers and industrial companies.

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Critical Thinking in Introductory Psychology Texts and Supplements

Teaching of Psychology ◽

10.1080/00986289809709711 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 25 (4) ◽

pp. 254-266 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Richard A. Griggs ◽

Sherri L. Jackson ◽

Pam Marek ◽

Andrew N. Christopher

Keyword(s):

Critical Thinking ◽

Decision Process ◽

Cognitive Biases ◽

Introductory Psychology ◽

Full Length ◽

Statistical Reasoning ◽

Scientific Thinking ◽

Introductory Course

The importance of critical thinking to education in psychology prompted us to examine the coverage of critical thinking in the 37 full-length introductory psychology textbooks published during the period 1995 to 1997. In addition, we checked for coverage of scientific thinking, cognitive biases in thinking, and difficulties in statistical reasoning. We also reviewed critical thinking supplements. The findings should guide and facilitate the review and decision process for teachers interested in incorporating critical thinking into the introductory course.

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Multidimensional Anxiety and Content-specificity Effects in Preferential Processing of Threat

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027//1016-9040.8.4.252 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 252-265 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Manuel G. Calvo ◽

P. Avero ◽

M. Dolores Castillo ◽

Juan J. Miguel-Tobal

Keyword(s):

Selective Attention ◽

Cognitive Biases ◽

Naming Task ◽

Color Naming ◽

Memory Bias ◽

Ego Threat ◽

Phobic Anxiety ◽

Relative Contribution ◽

Content Specificity ◽

Specificity Effects

We examined the relative contribution of specific components of multidimensional anxiety to cognitive biases in the processing of threat-related information in three experiments. Attentional bias was assessed by the emotional Stroop word color-naming task, interpretative bias by an on-line inference processing task, and explicit memory bias by sensitivity (d') and response criterion (β) from word-recognition scores. Multiple regression analyses revealed, first, that phobic anxiety and evaluative anxiety predicted selective attention to physical- and ego-threat information, respectively; cognitive anxiety predicted selective attention to both types of threat. Second, phobic anxiety predicted inhibition of inferences related to physically threatening outcomes of ambiguous situations. And, third, evaluative anxiety predicted a response bias, rather than a genuine memory bias, in the reporting of presented and nonpresented ego-threat information. Other anxiety components, such as motor and physiological anxiety, or interpersonal and daily-routines anxiety made no specific contribution to any cognitive bias. Multidimensional anxiety measures are useful for detecting content-specificity effects in cognitive biases.

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Prime Proportion Affects Masked Priming of Fixed and Free-Choice Responses

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169/a000043 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 57 (5) ◽

pp. 360-366 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Glen E. Bodner ◽

Rehman Mulji

Keyword(s):

Decision Process ◽

Free Choice ◽

Masked Priming ◽

Local Context ◽

Previous Trial ◽

Target Response ◽

Global Context ◽

Sequential Trial

Left/right “fixed” responses to arrow targets are influenced by whether a masked arrow prime is congruent or incongruent with the required target response. Left/right “free-choice” responses on trials with ambiguous targets that are mixed among fixed trials are also influenced by masked arrow primes. We show that the magnitude of masked priming of both fixed and free-choice responses is greater when the proportion of fixed trials with congruent primes is .8 rather than .2. Unconscious manipulation of context can thus influence both fixed and free choices. Sequential trial analyses revealed that these effects of the overall prime context on fixed and free-choice priming can be modulated by the local context (i.e., the nature of the previous trial). Our results support accounts of masked priming that posit a memory-recruitment, activation, or decision process that is sensitive to aspects of both the local and global context.

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