This ethnographic and phenomenological study examined the relationship between the benefits and compensation afforded to emergency responders; their perceptions of work equity, equality, justice, and risk management; and the effect of perceived equity, equality, justice, and risk management on the execution of an emergency responder's duties. The data was collected through interviews with members of the culture group, including law enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency medical responder's (n = 24). The interviews were audio recorded, then manually transcribed by the researcher. The raw data was coded for reoccurring themes and commonalities. The reoccurring themes were organized and displayed in tables based on subcategory of the culture group. The results of the study indicate that the benefits and compensation afforded to professionals working in this field have an impact on their perception of work equity, justice, and risk management. It was further found that these benefits do not have an impact on the perception of work equality among members of this culture group. Understanding how to effectively motivate these professionals can have many positive effects regarding social change. These effects could be seen at the local and individual level for these responder's, at the community level for those that they serve, and at the policy level.

A resolução de problemas é uma metodologia de investigação utilizada pela Psicologia experimental desde sua fundação. Um debate na área é quais os efeitos de variáveis de treino sobre a resolução de problemas, e como ocorre um tipo específico de resolução, a chamada resolução súbita, tradicionalmente descrita como Insight. O presente trabalho teve por objetivo averiguar a resolução de problemas a partir do treino independente de habilidades pré-requisito em diferentes tarefas de recombinação de repertórios com diferentes espécies. Adicionalmente, foram feitos testes de entendimento de propriedades funcionais de objetos e repertórios treinados. No Experimento I, dois pombos (Columba livia) foram testados no procedimento padrão de deslocamento de caixa. Os sujeitos aprenderam: a) empurrar uma caixa em direção a um alvo, e b) subir e bicar outro alvo. O teste final requeria que o animal empurrasse a caixa para debaixo de um alvo, subisse e o bicasse. Os dois sujeitos resolveram a tarefa final. No Experimento II, quatro pombos passaram por histórias assimétricas de treino das duas habilidades pré-requisito também da tarefa de deslocamento de caixa. Apenas um dos sujeitos resolveu o problema, e sem a mesma fluidez apresentada pelos sujeitos do Experimento I. O Experimento III manipulou a consequência utilizada no treino de cada habilidade pré-requisito, também na tarefa de deslocamento de caixas. Empurrar em direção a uma luz foi treinado com alimento como consequência, e subir e bicar foi treinado com água como consequência. Nenhum dos quatro pombos resolveu a tarefa em sua primeira tentativa. Todos os sujeitos que resolveram a tarefa nos Experimentos I, II ou III apresentaram resultados similares nos testes de entendimento de propriedades funcionais, que indicaram que pequenas mudanças na situação de teste dificultam a resolução. No Experimento IV, com ratos (Rattus norvegicus), uma nova tarefa foi desenvolvida, que envolvia a recombinação de a) cavar maravalha, e b) subir escadas. Na tarefa final os ratos deveriam cavar a maravalha, encontrar uma passagem escondida que dava acesso a um segundo ambiente no qual haviam escadas que levavam a um pedaço de alimento. Dois ratos aprenderam os dois repertórios e resolveram a tarefa, de forma súbita. Outros quatro ratos que aprenderam somente um dos repertórios não resolveram a tarefa. O Experimento V testou os efeitos da quantidade de treino (Experimento II), tipo de consequência (Experimento III) e contexto de treino e teste, em uma tarefa específica com corvos da Nova Caledônia (Corvus moneduloides). Todos os animais resolveram a tarefa final, entretanto, de forma não súbita. Os dados indicam que a resolução súbita, a partir da recombinação de repertórios aprendidos independentemente é passível do efeito de uma série de variáveis de treino e teste até então pouco estudadas, como a quantidade de treino, tipo de consequência e contexto de treino e teste / Experimental Psychology utilizes problem-solving methodology since its inception. Much was debated about the effects of training variables upon the solution of a problem, especially concerning the sudden solution of specific problem, called Insight. The present work aimed to investigate the solution of different problem in different species after the independent training of pre-requisite repertoires. Additionally, tests regarding the understanding of functional properties of stimuli were made. In Experiment I, two pigeons (Columba livia) were tested in the box-displacement test. The subjects learned to, a) push a box towards a target, and b) to climb and peck another target. The final task required to subjects to push one box towards a target hanging in the ceiling, climb the box and then peck the target. The two subjects solved the final task. In Experiment II, four pigeons had an asymmetric training of the two abilities. Only one of the subjects solved the final task, not as fluidly as the subjects from Experiment I. In Experiment III, the consequence used during the training of each ability was different. Pushing towards a target was reinforced with food, and to climb and peck with water. None of the four birds solved the task in its first presentation. All the subjects that solved the tasks in Experiments I, II and III showed similar performances in the tests regarding the understanding of functional properties of stimuli, suggesting that even minima changes in the test situation can impair the solution. Experiment IV employed a new task, with rats (Rattus norvegicus). Subjects learned to a) digg shavings, and b) climb stairs. In the final task, the rats had to digg and find a passage leading to another ambient containing stairs that lead to food. Two rats that learned the two abilities solved the problem, suddenly. Other four rats that learned only one of the two abilities (dig or climb) didnt solved the problem. Experiment V tested the effects of quantities of training (Experiment II), consequences of trained abilities (Experiment III), and context of training and testing with new caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides). All four crows solved the problem, but not suddenly. The data of all experiments suggests that the sudden solution, when acquired through the interconnection of repertoires is more subtle then it is usualy regarded, and that variables of training and testing are crucial for the solution of a problem

In this dissertation, I propose a reductive account of causation. This account may be stated as follows: Causation: c is a cause of e within a possibility horizon ℓ if a) c is process-connected to e, and b) e security-depends on c within ℓ. More precisely, my suggestion is that there are two kinds of causal relata: instantaneous events (defined in Chapter 4) and possibility horizons (defined in Chapter 5). Causation is a ternary relation between two actual instantaneous events - the cause c and the effect e - and a possibility horizon ℓ. I argue that causation has a dual nature: on the one hand, a cause must be connected to its effect via a genuine process; on the other hand, a cause must make a difference to its effect. The first condition - namely, the condition of process-connection (defined in Chapter 6) - captures the sense in which a cause must be connected to its effect via a genuine process. This condition allows my account to separate causation from mere correlation, distinguish genuine causes from preempted backups, and capture how a cause must be at the right level of detail relative to its effect (Chapter 7). The second condition - namely, the condition of security-dependence (defined in Chapter 8) - captures the sense in which a cause must make a difference to its effect. This condition allows my account to yield intuitively correct verdicts on the counterexamples to the transitivity and intrinsicness of causation, resolve the problem of profligate omissions, accommodate structurally isomorphic but causally different cases, and handle contrastive causal claims (Chapter 9 and 10). Finally, my proposed account of causation logically entails restricted versions of three important principles of causal reasoning concerning the sufficiency of counterfactual dependence for causation, and the transitivity and intrinsicness of causation (Chapter 11).

A resolução de problemas é uma metodologia de investigação utilizada pela Psicologia experimental desde sua fundação. Um debate na área é quais os efeitos de variáveis de treino sobre a resolução de problemas, e como ocorre um tipo específico de resolução, a chamada resolução súbita, tradicionalmente descrita como Insight. O presente trabalho teve por objetivo averiguar a resolução de problemas a partir do treino independente de habilidades pré-requisito em diferentes tarefas de recombinação de repertórios com diferentes espécies. Adicionalmente, foram feitos testes de entendimento de propriedades funcionais de objetos e repertórios treinados. No Experimento I, dois pombos (Columba livia) foram testados no procedimento padrão de deslocamento de caixa. Os sujeitos aprenderam: a) empurrar uma caixa em direção a um alvo, e b) subir e bicar outro alvo. O teste final requeria que o animal empurrasse a caixa para debaixo de um alvo, subisse e o bicasse. Os dois sujeitos resolveram a tarefa final. No Experimento II, quatro pombos passaram por histórias assimétricas de treino das duas habilidades pré-requisito também da tarefa de deslocamento de caixa. Apenas um dos sujeitos resolveu o problema, e sem a mesma fluidez apresentada pelos sujeitos do Experimento I. O Experimento III manipulou a consequência utilizada no treino de cada habilidade pré-requisito, também na tarefa de deslocamento de caixas. Empurrar em direção a uma luz foi treinado com alimento como consequência, e subir e bicar foi treinado com água como consequência. Nenhum dos quatro pombos resolveu a tarefa em sua primeira tentativa. Todos os sujeitos que resolveram a tarefa nos Experimentos I, II ou III apresentaram resultados similares nos testes de entendimento de propriedades funcionais, que indicaram que pequenas mudanças na situação de teste dificultam a resolução. No Experimento IV, com ratos (Rattus norvegicus), uma nova tarefa foi desenvolvida, que envolvia a recombinação de a) cavar maravalha, e b) subir escadas. Na tarefa final os ratos deveriam cavar a maravalha, encontrar uma passagem escondida que dava acesso a um segundo ambiente no qual haviam escadas que levavam a um pedaço de alimento. Dois ratos aprenderam os dois repertórios e resolveram a tarefa, de forma súbita. Outros quatro ratos que aprenderam somente um dos repertórios não resolveram a tarefa. O Experimento V testou os efeitos da quantidade de treino (Experimento II), tipo de consequência (Experimento III) e contexto de treino e teste, em uma tarefa específica com corvos da Nova Caledônia (Corvus moneduloides). Todos os animais resolveram a tarefa final, entretanto, de forma não súbita. Os dados indicam que a resolução súbita, a partir da recombinação de repertórios aprendidos independentemente é passível do efeito de uma série de variáveis de treino e teste até então pouco estudadas, como a quantidade de treino, tipo de consequência e contexto de treino e teste / Experimental Psychology utilizes problem-solving methodology since its inception. Much was debated about the effects of training variables upon the solution of a problem, especially concerning the sudden solution of specific problem, called Insight. The present work aimed to investigate the solution of different problem in different species after the independent training of pre-requisite repertoires. Additionally, tests regarding the understanding of functional properties of stimuli were made. In Experiment I, two pigeons (Columba livia) were tested in the box-displacement test. The subjects learned to, a) push a box towards a target, and b) to climb and peck another target. The final task required to subjects to push one box towards a target hanging in the ceiling, climb the box and then peck the target. The two subjects solved the final task. In Experiment II, four pigeons had an asymmetric training of the two abilities. Only one of the subjects solved the final task, not as fluidly as the subjects from Experiment I. In Experiment III, the consequence used during the training of each ability was different. Pushing towards a target was reinforced with food, and to climb and peck with water. None of the four birds solved the task in its first presentation. All the subjects that solved the tasks in Experiments I, II and III showed similar performances in the tests regarding the understanding of functional properties of stimuli, suggesting that even minima changes in the test situation can impair the solution. Experiment IV employed a new task, with rats (Rattus norvegicus). Subjects learned to a) digg shavings, and b) climb stairs. In the final task, the rats had to digg and find a passage leading to another ambient containing stairs that lead to food. Two rats that learned the two abilities solved the problem, suddenly. Other four rats that learned only one of the two abilities (dig or climb) didnt solved the problem. Experiment V tested the effects of quantities of training (Experiment II), consequences of trained abilities (Experiment III), and context of training and testing with new caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides). All four crows solved the problem, but not suddenly. The data of all experiments suggests that the sudden solution, when acquired through the interconnection of repertoires is more subtle then it is usualy regarded, and that variables of training and testing are crucial for the solution of a problem

The performance of Internet-based services depends on many server-side, client-side, and network related factors. Often, the interaction among the factors or their effect on service performance is not known or well-understood. The complexity of these services makes it difficult to develop analytical models. Lack of models impedes network management tasks, such as predicting performance while planning for changes to service infrastructure, or diagnosing causes of poor performance. We posit that we can use statistical causal methods to model performance for Internet-based services and facilitate performance related network management tasks. Internet-based services are well-suited for statistical learning because the inherent variability in many factors that affect performance allows us to collect comprehensive datasets that cover service performance under a wide variety of conditions. These conditional distributions represent the functions that govern service performance and dependencies that are inherent in the service infrastructure. These functions and dependencies are accurate and can be used in lieu of analytical models to reason about system performance, such as predicting performance of a service when changing some factors, finding causes of poor performance, or isolating contribution of individual factors in observed performance. We present three systems, What-if Scenario Evaluator (WISE), How to Improve Performance (HIP), and Network Access Neutrality Observatory (NANO), that use statistical causal methods to facilitate network management tasks. WISE predicts performance for what-if configurations and deployment questions for content distribution networks. For this, WISE learns the causal dependency structure among the latency-causing factors, and when one or more factors is changed, WISE estimates effect on other factors using the dependency structure. HIP extends WISE and uses the causal dependency structure to invert the performance function, find causes of poor performance, and help answers questions about how to improve performance or achieve performance goals. NANO uses causal inference to quantify the impact of discrimination policies of ISPs on service performance. NANO is the only tool to date for detecting destination-based discrimination techniques that ISPs may use. We have evaluated these tools by application to large-scale Internet-based services and by experiments on wide-area Internet. WISE is actively used at Google for predicting network-level and browser-level response time for Web search for new datacenter deployments. We have used HIP to find causes of high-latency Web search transactions in Google, and identified many cases where high-latency transactions can be significantly mitigated with simple infrastructure changes. We have evaluated NANO using experiments on wide-area Internet and also made the tool publicly available to recruit users and deploy NANO at a global scale.

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Le concept de confiance est un concept sociocognitif qui adresse la question de l'interaction dans les systèmes concurrents. Quand la complexité d'un système informatique prohibe l'utilisation de solutions traditionnelles de sécurité informatique en amont du processus de développement (solutions dites de type dur), la confiance est un concept candidat, pour le développement de systèmes d'aide à l'interaction. Dans cette thèse, notre but majeur est de présenter une vue d'ensemble de la discipline de la modélisation de la confiance dans les systèmes informatiques, et de proposer quelques modèles logiques pour le développement de module de confiance. Nous adoptons comme contexte applicatif majeur, les applications basées sur les architectures orientées services, qui sont utilisées pour modéliser des systèmes ouverts telle que les applications web. Nous utiliserons pour cela une abstraction qui modélisera ce genre de systèmes comme des systèmes multi-agents. Notre travail est divisé en trois parties, la première propose une étude de la discipline, nous y présentons les pratiques utilisées par les chercheurs et les praticiens de la confiance pour modéliser et utiliser ce concept dans différents systèmes, cette analyse nous permet de définir un certain nombre de points critiques, que la discipline doit aborder pour se développer. La deuxième partie de notre travail présente notre premier modèle de confiance. Cette première solution basée sur un formalisme logique (logique dynamique épistémique), démarre d'une interprétation de la confiance comme une croyance sociocognitive, ce modèle présentera une première modélisation de la confiance. Apres avoir prouvé la décidabilité de notre formalisme. Nous proposons une méthodologie pour inférer la confiance en des actions complexes : à partir de notre confiance dans des actions atomiques, nous illustrons ensuite comment notre solution peut être mise en pratique dans un cas d'utilisation basée sur la combinaison de service dans les architectures orientées services. La dernière partie de notre travail consiste en un modèle de confiance, où cette notion sera perçue comme une spécialisation du raisonnement causal tel qu'implémenté dans le formalisme des règles de production. Après avoir adapté ce formalisme au cas épistémique, nous décrivons trois modèles basés sur l'idée d'associer la confiance au raisonnement non monotone. Ces trois modèles permettent respectivement d'étudier comment la confiance est générée, comment elle-même génère les croyances d'un agent et finalement, sa relation avec son contexte d'utilisation. / The concept of trust is a socio-cognitive concept that plays an important role in representing interactions within concurrent systems. When the complexity of a computational system and its unpredictability makes standard security solutions (commonly called hard security solutions) inapplicable, computational trust is one of the most useful concepts to design protocols of interaction. In this work, our main objective is to present a prospective survey of the field of study of computational trust. We will also present two trust models, based on logical formalisms, and show how they can be studied and used. While trying to stay general in our study, we use service-oriented architecture paradigm as a context of study when examples are needed. Our work is subdivided into three chapters. The first chapter presents a general view of the computational trust studies. Our approach is to present trust studies in three main steps. Introducing trust theories as first attempts to grasp notions linked to the concept of trust, fields of application, that explicit the uses that are traditionally associated to computational trust, and finally trust models, as an instantiation of a trust theory, w.r.t. some formal framework. Our survey ends with a set of issues that we deem important to deal with in priority in order to help the advancement of the field. The next two chapters present two models of trust. Our first model is an instantiation of Castelfranchi & Falcone's socio-cognitive trust theory. Our model is implemented using a Dynamic Epistemic Logic that we propose. The main originality of our solution is the fact that our trust definition extends the original model to complex action (programs, composed services, etc.) and the use of authored assignment as a special kind of atomic actions. The use of our model is then illustrated in a case study related to service-oriented architecture. Our second model extends our socio-cognitive definition to an abductive framework that allows us to associate trust to explanations. Our framework is an adaptation of Bochman's production relations to the epistemic case. Since Bochman approach was initially proposed to study causality, our definition of trust in this second model presents trust as a special case of causal reasoning, applied to a social context. We end our manuscript with a conclusion that presents how we would like to extend our work.

1 SUMMARY In general this thesis deals with the question whether or to what extent human thinking is rational in terms of the optimality of the way people achieve their goals and in terms of the consistency between people's beliefs and the structure of the world. This question is quite difficult to answer unequivocally because the answer will always depend on the nature of the particular task and the exact way in which we define rationality. Among other things, that's the reason why we can meet two contradictory schools of thought within the so-called Great Rationality Debate, one of which is convinced of the systematic irrationality of human thinking (in the sense of the systematic deviation of human thinking from normative predictions stemming from the principles of rational thinking as they are captured by the statistical theory of probability, formal logic or decision theory), while the other one considers human thought to be more or less rational, and finds the source of its (alleged) failure elsewhere. In the case of the latter, however, the question is how to explain the apparent existence of irrational behavior and interindividual differences in such behavior. One possible answer to this question is illustrated by Griffiths and Tenenbaum's Bayesian model of causal reasoning based on perceived...

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