Many of the practical implications of behavioral decision-making research are based on the assumption that behavioral trends have to be compared with normative prescriptions. The present article demonstrates that in certain settings this approach is both inapplicable because there is no "normative" prescription and unnecessary because robust quantitative predictions can be made without reference to normative prescriptions. Experiment 1 demonstrates that a simple learning rule can be used to predict the base-rate effect in consensus games with multiple equilibria. Experiment 2 shows that information about the payoff rule affects participants' initial propensities but does not affect the learning process. Some implications of these results for the understanding of decision groups in social contexts, such as employment decisions in organizations, are pointed out. Most attempts to derive practical implications from research on judgment and decision making are based on comparisons of observed descriptive tendencies to normative prescriptions of rational decision theory. Much of this research focuses on a debiasing technique that reduces the difference between observed decisions and the optimal prescription (e.g., see Von Winterfeldt & Edwards, 1986). Whereas this normative-based approach has led to useful results, its applicability is

Body surface potential mapping (BSPM) is an electrocardiographic measuring technique which produces the data as a series of three-dimensional maps. These maps are assumed to contain information which may help classify subjects for diagnostic purposes more effectively than standard ECGs. As quantitative classification of the complete sequences of maps is complex and cumbersome, the present study uses extracted features which characterise the data. The features, which have been presented and evaluated in a recent work, have been extracted after the maps were processed by a compression technique which conserved the spatial details of the maps. The compression by two-level thresholding converted the sequences of maps into sequences of annuli, from which the following features were extracted: time indices, velocity vector magnitude, loci in three-dimensional space of the centres of mass and cross-correlation coefficients between successive annuli in the sequence. Here, three different classification methods are applied to these features: statistical methods, the Fisher linear discriminant method and visual inspection. BSPMs from 54 subjects are used: 25 normal, 11 WPW syndrome and 18 CAD cases. It is found that by applying a decision role which comprises all features, the procedure offers a completely accurate classification of the subjects to their groups. The three-dimensional centre of mass is found to be the single best classifier; successfully categorising 20/25 of the normals 17/18 of the CAD patients and 11/11 of the WPW patients.

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Body Surface Potential Mapping (BSPM), is a technique used t o improve the spatial resolution of measurement of bioelectrical information originating from myocardial sources, which is poorly represented in standard ECG. The BSPM are represented as a series of 3-D maps, which are time consuming t o process and expensive t o store. Fine spatial details, which are usually extracted from low level surface potentials, were reported t o be significant in diagnostic electrocardiography. In spite of the growing interest in the technique, its use has not become common in clinics. This is due to the overwhelming amount of data recorded and lack of quantitative methods t o analyze them. A technique is presented which concurrently compresses the data and preserves fine but significant details. By accurately chosen two low positive levels thresholding of each map, a sequence of annula is generated which is shown t o describe the dynamic nature of the process and t o preserve the spatial details. This sequence of annula are further characterized by a set of parameters which quantify its dynamic behaviour. The parameters are: Time of annula sequence appearance, its duration, 3-D loci of centers of mass of the annula, distances between successive centers of mass, and cross-correlation coefficients between successive annula. Maps from 20 subjects have been studied (normals and various pathologies). It has been found that these indices, which vary in time, well represent the changes in location of the annula and their dynamic variations of shape.The indices have also been found t o be grouped together for the maps of the normals and each pathology.