A Comment on Mithen's Ecological Interpretation of Palaeolithic Art

1992 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. Clark
Keyword(s):  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Individual Selection ◽  
Individual Decision ◽  
Individual Organism ◽  
Individual Decision Making ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Human Creativity ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Palaeolithic Art

Steven Mithen's ‘Ecological Interpretations of Palaeolithic Art’ (PPS 57, 103–14) reminded me of a Chinese meal — initially satisfying, but it doesn't stick with you for very long. While I subscribe to broadly similar paradigmatic biases at the level of the metaphysic, the ‘thoughtful forager’ model itself, proposed to relate various aspects of the art under the aegis of a particular kind of adaptationist perspective, seems to be conceptually muddled and operationally problematic. Also, Mithen's starting-point, the notion of an inherent contradiction between human creativity and an adaptationist point of view, is a red herring—wherever did he get it?! I will confine these brief remarks to three points that bear on different conceptions of adaptation and how they effect construals of pattern and the meaning of pattern in Palaeolithic art. I also respond to referees' comments.Mithen takes me, Straus and Gamble to task for omitting the individual and individual decision-making in our conceptions of adaptation (pp. 104, 105). A conception of adaptation that is focused on the group is juxtaposed with one invoking selection operating at the level of the individual organism in a direct analogy with group vs. individual selection in biological evolution.

Individuals, Groups and the Palaeolithic Record: A Reply to Clark

1993 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 393-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Mithen
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Individual Decision ◽  
Individual Decision Making ◽  
Individual Agency ◽  
Post Hoc ◽  
Palaeolithic Art

I am very grateful to Geoff Clark for his comment on my ecological interpretation of Palaeolithic art (PPS 58, 107–109, see Mithen 1990, 1991). I had no idea that it was a ‘post hoc accommodative argument’ with an ‘underaxiomatised’ theoretical framework and ‘unwieldy systematics’. I suppose this means he doesn't like it. Clark says that my interpretation reminds him of a Chinese meal — initially satisfying but not ‘sticking with you’ for very long. In 1992 Clark wrote that ‘Mithen's … work goes a long way to explaining the art of this period’ (Lindly & Clark 1990, 61) — he seems to have taken two years to digest the Chinese meal of my interpretation.Clark's main objection is that I tried to develop a theoretical framework around individual decision making and then attempted to use this to interpret the variability and patterning in Palaeolithic art and other elements of the archaeological record. He objects to this on paradigmatic grounds, seeing no rationale for models of individual agency, but primarily on operational grounds, arguing that individuals cannot be monitored in the archaeological record.

scholarly journals Protocol of reporting items for public versions of guidelines: the Reporting Tool for Practice Guidelines in Health Care—public versions of guidelines

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. e023147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoqin Wang ◽  
Qi Zhou ◽  
Yaolong Chen ◽  
Liang Yao ◽  
Qi Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Practice Guidelines ◽  
Reporting Guidelines ◽  
Pilot Test ◽  
Individual Decision ◽  
Individual Decision Making ◽  
Modified Delphi ◽  
Equator Network ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Patient Consent ◽  
Reporting Tool

IntroductionPatient and public versions of guidelines (PVGs) can help with individual decision making and enhance the patient–clinician relationship by providing easily understandable and reliable information. An increasing number of guideline organisations are developing PVGs. However, the reporting of PVGs by different groups and organisations varies widely. This study aims to develop a reporting checklist for PVGs for healthcare.Methods and analysisWe will develop the PVG reporting checklist as an extension of the Reporting Tool for Practice Guidelines in Healthcare (RIGHT) statement. We will build on the methods recommended by the EQUATOR network, which is our starting point. We will conduct a literature review, establish an international multidisciplinary team, run a modified Delphi process to identify the reporting items and pilot test the draft reporting checklist. We plan to update the checklist every 3 years.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval and patient consent are not required since this study will not undertake any formal data collection involving humans or animals. The results of this protocol will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication.Trial registrationWe registered the protocol on the EQUATOR network (http://www.equator-network.org/library/reporting-guidelines-under-development/#84).

Individuelles Entscheidungsverhalten im Emissionszertifikatehandel

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bertil Kapff
Keyword(s):  
Emissions Trading ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Eu Ets ◽  
Individual Decision ◽  
Trading System ◽  
Individual Decision Making ◽  
Emission Rights ◽  
Framework Conditions ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Emissions Trading System

Fuel emissions in the heating and transport sectors will be covered by a national emissions trading system in Germany from 2021. The European certificate trading system EU ETS will also be further tightened for the fourth trading phase from 2021 to 2030. Under unknown framework conditions and uncertainty regarding the development of certificate prices, the actors involved will have to make a variety of decisions: How many emission rights are to be acquired and when? Are investments in new technologies or fuels worthwhile? This laboratory experiment on emissions trading examined which patterns and strategies can be identified in the individual decision-making behaviour of the actors. The paper was awarded the Dr. Tyczka Energy Prize in 2018.

scholarly journals Image of the multinational trade chains functioning in the Slovak food market

2008 ◽  
Vol 54 (No. 8) ◽  
pp. 384-391
Author(s):  
Ľ. Nagyová ◽  
Z. Tonkovičová
Keyword(s):  
Image Analysis ◽  
Production Quality ◽  
Differential Method ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Target Market ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Determining Factors ◽  
Food Market ◽  
Questionnaire Research ◽  
The Individual

The image of a shop is the perception of the attributes of trade chains which are stated by consumers or the target market. The part of the shop image can be the assortment, the production quality and price, services of the shop, organization, the location and atmosphere of the shop, advertising and the shop reputation. The basis for conceiving this paper was an assumption that the image of a shop is one of the determining factors of the shopping place choice. The individual attributes of a shop can affect the perception of a consumer and therefore affect his decision about the choice of a shop and buying goods. The image analysis of trade chains was processed on the basis of a 5-point scale which shows the respondents’ attitude toward each and every of 29 attributes of the researched trade chains. The basic data were gained by the means of a questionnaire research in the field of Slovak consumers’ behaviour and the results were analysed by the means of the semantic differential method. The shop image analysis hands out information which can be a starting point for understanding the importance of the attributes of the trade chains from the point of view of the consumer perception and attitude. Based on the image analysis of the foreign trade chains in the Slovak market, we can say that the consumers are satisfied with the opening hours, shops location, cleanliness and appearance of shops and the sufficient number of shopping trolleys. Minuses were noticed in the field of promotion activities and the waiting time at the registers.

Assumptions of Rationality and Non-Rationality in Models of the International System

1961 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sidney Verba
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International System ◽  
Individual Decision ◽  
Individual Decision Making ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Simplifying Assumptions ◽  
Explicit Consideration ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

It is a truism that all action within the international system can be reduced to the action of individuals. It is also true, however, that international relations cannot be adequately understood in terms of individual attitudes and behaviors. Models of the international system usually deal with larger units, nation-states, as prime actors. To what extent can such models give us adequate explanations of international relations without some built-in variables to deal with individual decision-making?It may be that some processes in international relations can be adequately explained on the level of social structure without explicit consideration of the personality, predispositions, attitudes, and behavior of the individual decision-maker. In that case, the introduction of variables dealing with individual behavior would complicate the model without commensurate payoff in terms of increased understanding and prediction. This would be true if the impact of individual decision-making on the behavior of nations in their relations with other nations were slight, or if the impact varied randomly (because, for instance, of idiosyncratic factors) among the population of international events that one was trying to explain. If, on the other hand, models of the international system that either ignore or make grossly simplifying assumptions about individual decision-making can explain international relations only very imperfectly, it may well be worth the additional effort to build variables about individual decision-making into them.

Emotional experience and personality traits influence individual and joint risk-based decision making

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 881-892 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Wang ◽  
Yu Pan ◽  
Kecheng Zhang ◽  
Yujia Sui ◽  
Tingjie Lv ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Big Five ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Big Five Personality Traits ◽  
Big Five Personality ◽  
Individual Decision ◽  
Joint Decision ◽  
Individual Decision Making ◽  
The Individual

We compared individual and joint risk-based decision making using the Balloon Analogue Risk Task, with a focus on participants' (160 Chinese men) emotional experience during decision making and their Big Five personality traits as measured by the NEO Five-Factor Inventory. We found that, compared with the individual decision-making process, making a joint decision led to reduced risk taking and increased earnings, and brought a greater sense of control, stronger feelings of achievement and happiness, and a reduced sense of regret for the participants. The Big Five personality traits of the participants were related to their risk-based decision making; participants tended to act differently according to their personality traits during individual and joint decision making. Our findings show that, compared with individual decision making, joint decision making has many advantages.

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