ISSUE 3

FALL 2011

Content

Our Members

Congratulations to Jolie Martin, who is now an Assistant Professor in Strategic Communication at the University of Minnesota's School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Similarly, congratulations to Tomas Lejarraga, who is now a Visiting Professor at the University of Balearic Islands in Spain.

In the coming semester, the Dynamic Decision Making Laboratory will be joined by new members:

Muniba Saleem completed her Ph.D. in Psychology from Iowa State University working with Dr. Craig Anderson. She also holds a MS in Psychology from Iowa State University and a BA in Psychology and Arabic from the Ohio State University. Her past research has focused on understanding what personal and situational factors are involved in increasing or decreasing aggressive and prosocial behaviors. Her other research interests include: stereotypes and prejudice, terrorism, and media effects. Muniba's current work is focused on understanding how intergroup bias and conflict can be reduced and how cooperative and prosocial strategies within these contexts can be encouraged.

Noam Ben-Asher completed both his MS and Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Managment; and Human Factors Engineering from Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheva, Israel. His previous experience and research has focused on UI usability, authentication methods and security models for mobile devices, and developing and testing processes of network access equipments.

In addtion, Sara Levens has transitioned into a full-time post-doc position with the lab. Sara's recent work with the lab focuses on the neurological characteristics of decisions from experience and risky choices.

We are also excited to have two student Research Assistants, Tina Hwang and Michelle Lin, join our lab for the semester.

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New Research

We continue to make exciting progress on research related to decisions from experience, both behaviorally and computationally. We have advanced the Instance-Based Learning Theory to account for a large diversity of choice tasks and laboratory experimental paradigms.

Some examples include the recently accepted paper to Psychological Review, which highlights the breadth and predictive potential of the theory.

Considerable progress has been made this year regarding our cyber situation awareness project. A study was conducted to investigate the detection of cyber threats by human participants, and a computational model has been built to explain the process of detection based on diverse attack strategies. Several book chapters and conference publications have resulted from this work.

Interesting new directions are emerging with our extension of IBLT to situations involving more than one participant in onflict situations, such as the Prisoner's Dilemma and Chicken games. This work is done under the Defense Threat Reduction Agency grant.

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Recent Publications

This has been an extremely productive year regarding new publications. For a full list of publications, please refer here.

Dutt, V. (2011). Explaining human behavior in dynamic tasks through reinforcement learning. Journal of Advances in Information Technology, 2(3), 177-188.

Dutt, V., Ahn, Y., Gonzalez, C. (2011). Cyber situation awareness: Modeling the security analyst in a cyber-attack scenario through Instance-Based Learning. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 6818, 280-292.

Gonzalez, C., & Dutt, V. (2011). A generic dynamic control task for behavioral research and education. Computers in Human Behavior, 27, 1904-1914.

Gonzalez, C., & Dutt, V. (2011). Instance-based learning: Integrating decisions from experience in sampling and repeated choice paradigms. Psychological Review, 118(4), 523-551.

Gonzalez, C., Dutt, V., & Lejarraga, T. (2011). A loser can be a winner: Comparisons of two instance-based learning models in a market entry competition. Games, 2(1), 136-162.

Gonzalez, C., & Madhavan, P. (2011). Diversity during practice enhances detection of novel stimuli. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 23(3), 342-350.

Gonzalez, C., & Martin, J. M. (2011). Scaling up instance-based learning theory to account for social interaction. Negotiation and Conflict Management Research, 4(2), 110-128.

Juvina, I., Lebiere, C., Martin, J. M., & Gonzalez, C. (2011). Intergroup prisoner's dilemma with intragroup power dynamics. Games, 2, 21-51.

Lejarraga, T. & Gonzalez, C. (2011). Effects of feedback and complexity on repeated decisions from description. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 116, 286-295.

Brunstein, A. & Gonzalez, C. (in press). Preparing for novelty with diverse training. Applied Cognitive Psychology. doi: 10.1002/acp.1739

Dutt, V., & Gonzalez, C. (in press). Why do we want to delay actions on climate change? Effects of probability and timing of climate consequences. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making.

Dutt, V., & Gonzalez, C. (in press). Reducing the linear perception of non-linearity: Use of a physical representation. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making.

Dutt, V., & Gonzalez, C. (in press). Human control of climate. Climatic Change. doi: 10.1007/s10584-011-0202-x

Dutt, V., & Gonzalez, C. (in press). Cyber situation awareness: Modeling the security analyst in a cyber-attack scenario through Instance-based Learning. In C. Onwubiko & T. Owens (Eds.). Situational awareness in computer network defense: Principles, methods and applications. doi: 10.4018/978-1-46660-104-8

Gonzalez, C. (in press). Training decisions from experience with decision making games. In P. Durlach & A. M. Lesgold (Eds.), Adaptive technologies for training and education. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Gonzalez, C., & Martin, J. M. (in press). Dynamic decision making and cultural affiliation. In R. W. Proctor, S. Noff, & Y. Yih (Eds.), Cultural factors in systems design: Decision making and action. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Gonzalez, C., & Saner, L. (in press). Thinking or feeling? Effects of decision making personality in conflict resolution. In J. V. Brinken, H. Konietzny, & M. Meadows (Eds.), Emotional gaming.

Lejarraga, T., Dutt, V., & Gonzalez, C. (in press). Instance-based learning: A general model of repeated binary choice. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making.

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Conferences Proceedings

Arlo-Costa, H., Dutt, V., Gonzalez, C. & Helzner J. (2011). The description-experience gap in the case of uncertainty. In Proceedings of the Seventh International Symposium on Imprecise Probability: Theories and Applications (ISIPTA'11). Innsbruck, Austria. July 25-28, 2011.

Dutt, V., Cassenti, D. N., & Gonzalez, C. (2011). Modeling a robotics operator manager in a tactical battlefield. In Proceedings of the 2011 IEEE International Multi-Disciplinary conference on Cognitive Methods in Situation Awareness and Decision Support (CogSIMA) (pp. 82-87).

Dutt, V., & Gonzalez, C. (2011). Cyber situation awareness: Modeling the security analyst in a cyber-attack scenario through instance-based learning. In Proceedings of the 20th Behavior Representation in Modeling & Simulation (BRIMS) Conference (pp. 292-294).

Dutt, V., & Gonzalez, C. (2011). Making instance-based learning theory usable, transparent, and understandable: Instance-based Learning Tool. In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 55th Annual Meeting (pp. 1813-1817). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Dutt, V., Yu, M., & Gonzalez, C. (2011). Deciding when to escape a mine emergency: Modeling accumulation of evidence about emergencies through Instance-based Learning. In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 55th Annual Meeting (pp. 841-845). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Gonzalez, C., Dutt, V. & Lejarraga, T. (2011). A loser can be a winner: Comparison of two Instance-Based Learning Models in a Market Entry Competition. In Proceedings of the 23rd Subjective Probability, Utility, and Decision Making Conference (SPUDM 2011). Kingston University London, August 21-25, 2011.

Gonzalez, C., Dutt, V. & Martin, J. (2011). Scaling up Instance-Based Learning Models of Individual Decision Making to Models of Behavior in Conflict Situations. In Proceedings of the 2011 International Conference on Behavioral Decision Making (pp. 4). The Interdisciplinary Center IDC Herzliya, Israel, May 30- June 1, 2011.

Juvina, I., Lebiere, C., Martin, J. M. & Gonzalez, C. (2011). Cognitive aspects of power in a two-level game. In J. Salerno, S. J. Yang, D. Nau, & S. Chai (Eds.), SBP 2011, LNCS 6589 (pp. 34-41). Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag Berlin.

Lejarraga, T., Hertwig, R., & Gonzalez, C. (2011). An ecological analysis of search. In Proceedings of the 23rd Subjective Probability, Utility, and Decision Making Conference (SPUDM 2011). Kingston University London, August 21-25, 2011.

Lejarraga, J., Lejarraga, T. & Gaston-Breton, C. (in press). Let me handle this, I’ve done it before: Experience and self-involvement in superstitious learning. In G. T. Solomon (Ed.), Proceedings of the Seventy-First Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management.

Martin, J. M., Juvina, I., Lebiere, & Gonzalez, C. (2011). The effects of individual and context on aggression in repeated social interaction. In D. Harris (Ed.), Engineering Psychology and Cognitive Ergonomics, HCII 2011, LNAI 6781 (pp. 442-451). Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag Berlin.

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Presentations & Invited Talks

December 10, 2011 Instance-based learning: A general model of decision making in dynamic environments. International Conference on Decision Making. University of Allahabad, India.

October 14, 2011 A game-theoretic approach to study cyber situation awareness. Second ARO Workshop on Moving Target Defense. University of Maryland.

August 24, 2011 How do I get research grants? Early Career Networking Conference at the 23rd Subjective Probability, Utility, and Decision Making Conference. October 21-25, 2011. Kingston University, London, UK.

June 10, 2011 Decisions from experience in advanced technological systems. University of Buffalo; Human Factors Program. ISE seminar.

March 21, 2011 Instance-based learning tool: Making Instance-based Learning Theory usable, transparent, and understandable. Invited tutorial presented at the 20th Behavior Representation in Modeling and Simulation (BRIMS) conference. March 21-24, 2011. Sundance Resort, UT.

Members of the lab attended/will attend the following conferences this year:

February 22-24, 2011 2011 IEEE Conference on Cognitive Methods in Situation Awareness and Decision Support in Miami Beach, FL
February 25-26, 2011 Princeton Graduate Student Conference on Psychology and Policymaking in Princeton, NJ
March 21-24, 2011 20th Behavior Representation in Modeling and Simulation (BRIMS) Conference at Sundance Resort, UT in March
May 30-June 1, 2011 2011 International Conference on Behavioral Decision Making in Herzliya, Israel
June 21-28, 2011 Tomas attended the Summer 2011 Institute on Bounded Rationality in Psychology and Economics organized by the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, Germany
June 26-29, 2011 Sixth Biennial Conference of the United States Society for Ecological Economics East Lansing, MI
July 11-13, 2011 25th Annual WG 11.3 Conference on Data and Application Security and Privacy in Richmond, VA
August 21-25, 2011 23rd Subjective Probability, Utility, and Decision Making Conference at Kingston University, London, UK
September 19-23, 2011 55th Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society in Las Vegas, NV
November 4-7, 2011 32nd Annual Conference of the Society for Judgment and Decision Making in Seattle, WA
December 4-7, 2011 2011 Annual Meeting of the Society for Risk Analysis in Charleston, SC

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The Dynamic Decision Making Laboratory is part of the Social and Decision Sciences Department,  Carnegie Mellon University. For updates and comments, please email hauyuw@andrew.cmu.edu.