Propagators that combine reasoning about satisfiability and reasoning about the cost of a solution, such as weighted all-different, or global cardinality with costs, can be much more effective than reasoning separately about satisfiability and cost. The cost-mdd constraint is a generic propagator for reasoning about reachability in a multi-decision diagram with costs attached to edges (a genera...

The essential variables in a finite function f are defined as variables which occur in f and weigh with the values of that function. The number of essential variables is an important measure of complexity for discrete functions. When replacing some variables in a function with constants the resulting functions are called subfunctions, and when replacing all essential variables in a function wit...

In this communication, we study decision influence diagrams using fuzzy sets and fuzzy random variables t,o model problems in which assessing real-valued ~t i l i t~ies , and employing real-valued random variables t o model random magnit,udes, are considered to be too restrictive. We propose conditions allowing us to solve decision influence diagrams when uncertainty magnitudes are formalized b...

The globalization of work within organizations has generated a greater need for all type of workers to exert interpersonal influence through technology-mediated communication tools. This paper sheds light on the analysis of interpersonal relations in virtual environments from a specific perspective: the choice of upward influence tactics. We propose that virtual work settings may impact the upw...

The aim of this study was to identify the efficacy of three different teaching methods existing in contemporary sport: the analytical, synthetic and situational methods. The sample of subjects comprised 90 boys, 9 – 10 years of age, who were beginners in basketball. A six-month program was implemented that, regarding the groups analyzed, varied only according to the selection of the motor teach...

Evaluation of decision trees in which imprecise information prevails is complicated. Especially when the tree has some depth, i.e. consists of more than one level, the effects of the choice of representation and evaluation procedures are significant. Second-order representation and evaluation may significantly increase a decision-maker’s understanding of a decision situation when handling aggre...

In the past, gift-giving has interested mainly anthropologists because it was taken to be a primitive mode of exchange. Recent contributions of economists acknowledge however that gift-giving is still present in modern exchange economies. In this paper gifts are characterized by motivations. Two main features of gift giving are to be explained: (in-)adequacy and (non-)reciprocity. It is argued ...

The aim of this paper to explain gift-giving by means of social approval. In a simple framework we are able to account for a number of stylized facts. These are that gift-giving is often reciprocal, that gifts tend to be inadequate, and that gift-giving is sometimes reduced after a monetary compensation is o¤ered. The implication for the interaction between gift-giving and the market institutio...

This paper presents Networks of Influence Diagrams (NID), a compact, natural and highly expressive language for reasoning about agents’ beliefs and decision-making processes. NIDs are graphical structures in which agents’ mental models are represented as nodes in a network; a mental model for an agent may itself use descriptions of the mental models of other agents. NIDs are demonstrated by exa...

Does desire for an outcome inflate optimism? Previous experiments have produced mixed results regarding the desirability bias, with the bulk of supportive findings coming from one paradigm—the classic marked-card paradigm in which people make discrete predictions about desirable or undesirable cards being drawn from decks. We introduce a biased-guessing account for the effects from this paradig...