Religious actions speak louder than words::exposure to credibilityenhancing displays predicts theism

One of the central aims of the cognitive science of religion (CSR) is to explain why supernatural agent beliefs are so widespread. A related but distinct aim is to explain why some individuals hold supernatural agent beliefs but others do not. Here, we aim to provide an initial test of the power of exposure to what Henrich calls “credibility enhancing displays” (or “CREDs”) in determining whether or not an individual holds explicit supernatural agent beliefs. We present evidence from two studies of Americans suggesting that exposure to CREDs, as measured by a scale we developed and validated, predicts current theism vs. non-theism, certainty of God’s existence/non-existence, and religiosity while controlling for overall religious socialization. These results are among the first to empirically support the theorized significance of CREDs for the acquisition of supernatural agent beliefs.

Enhancing the shopping experience with ambient displays: A field study in a retail store

This paper discusses the prototypical implementation of an ambient display and the results of an empirical study in a retail store. It presents the context of shopping as an application area for Ambient Intelligence (AmI) technologies. The prototype consists of an ambient store map that enhances the awareness of customer activity. The results of our study indicate potentials and challenges for an improvement of the shopping experience with AmI technologies. Based on our findings we discuss challenges and future developments for applying AmI technologies to shopping environments.

Enhancing the trust of location acquisition systems for critical applications and location-based security services

This paper identifies a number of critical infrastructure applications that are reliant on location services from cooperative location technologies such as GPS and GSM. We show that these location technologies can be represented in a general location model, such that the model components can be used for vulnerability analysis. We perform a vulnerability analysis on these components of GSM and GPS location systems as well as a number of augmentations to these systems.

Enhancing the Expressiveness of the Bunge-Wand-Weber Ontology

In practical terms, conceptual modeling is at the core of systems analysis and design. The plurality of modeling methods available has however been regarded as detrimental, and as a strong indication that a common view or theoretical grounding of modeling is wanting. This theoretical foundation must universally address all potential matters to be represented in a model, which consequently suggested ontology as the point of departure for theory development. The Bunge–Wand–Weber (BWW) ontology has become a widely accepted modeling theory. Its application has simultaneously led to the recognition that, although suitable as a meta-model, the BWW ontology needs to be enhanced regarding its expressiveness in empirical domains. In this paper, a first step in this direction has been made by revisiting BUNGE’s ontology, and by proposing the integration of a “hierarchy of systems” in the BWW ontology for accommodating domain specific conceptualizations.