Effect of insult upon personal space preferences

After sixty male undergraduates individually were either insulted or not insulted by the experimenter, each was tested for body-buffer zone (the physical distance between themselves and an approaching person at which they first reported being uncomfortable) by either the experimenter or an assistant. The body-buffer zones of the insulted subjects were larger when tested by the experimenter than when tested by his assistant; but for those not insulted, there were no differences in body-buffer zone produced by the identity of the tester. The results are discussed in terms of the interaction between affect and interpersonal proxemics.This project was facilitated by the senior author's Margaret Bosshardt Pace and Paul David Pace Research Fellowship.     

Robust Confidence Regions for Incomplete Models

Call an economic model incomplete if it does not generate a probabilistic prediction even given knowledge of all parameter values. We propose a method of inference about unknown parameters for such models that is robust to heterogeneity and dependence of unknown form. The key is a Central Limit Theorem for belief functions; robust confidence regions are then constructed in a fashion paralleling the classical approach. Monte Carlo simulations support tractability of the method and demonstrate its enhanced robustness relative to existing methods.     

Multiscale drivers of amphibian community occupancy in urban ponds

Urban Ecosystems - Urbanization has driven the loss of natural aquatic habitats while concurrently increasing the abundance of artificial urban ponds. Urban ponds are not typically designed for...