Interaction between decision makers may affect their preferences. We consider a setup in which each individual is characterized by two sets of preferences: his unchanged core preferences and his behavioral preferences. Each individual has a social influence function that determines his behavioral preferences given his core preferences and the behavioral preferences of other individuals in his g...

Influence Diagrams ( I D S ) are a graphic formal ism able to provide a compact representation of decision problems. IDs are based on the axioms of probabi l i ty and decision theory, and they define a normat ive framework to model decision mak ing . Unfor tunate ly , IDs require a large amount of in fo rmat ion that is not always available to the decision maker. Th is paper in troduces a new c...

Fundamental theories of quantum gravity such as supergravity include a four form field strength which contributes to the cosmological constant. The inclusion of such a field into our theory of open inflation [1] allows an anthropic solution to the cosmological constant problem in which cosmological constant gives a small but non-negligible contribution to the density of today's universe. We inc...

In inflationary models, the predicted amplitude of primordial density perturbations Q is much larger than the observed value (∼10(-5)) for natural choices of parameters. To explain the requisite exponential fine-tuning, anthropic selection is often invoked, especially in cases where microphysics is expected to produce a complex energy landscape. By contrast, we find examples of ekpyrotic models...

We consider the problem of learning about and comparing the consequences of dynamic treatment strategies on the basis of observational data. We formulate this within a probabilistic decision-theoretic framework. Our approach is compared with related work by Robins and others: in particular, we show how Robins’s ‘G-computation’ algorithm arises naturally from this decision-theoretic perspective....

This research examines the effects of GSS and task type on informational and normative influence in small groups by analyzing group process. It extends Kaplan and Miller' s research on task type and informational and normative influence in small groups in an unsupported setting to a GSS setting. The two tasks used are an intellective task and a preference task, and the two support levels are un...