Testing transitivity using inequality-constrained inference: Transitivity, probabilistic models, and inequality-constrained inference

This dissertation investigates rational decision-making through transitivity, probabilistic choice models, and inequality-constrained statistical inference. Applying established statistical frameworks to new domains, it examines transitivity in animal dominance hierarchies, moral judgment, and social choice theory. The work demonstrates that dominance hierarchies in animals and moral preferences in humans largely satisfy transitivity, while providing empirical evaluations of social choice methods. A key methodological contribution is a new algorithm for computing Bayes factors in high-dimensional inequality-constrained models, offering superior performance for high-dimensional statistical analyses. This work extends existing theoretical and statistical tools to new empirical domains while advancing our understanding of rational choice behavior.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Huang, Yu

Contributors dc:contributor

• Regenwetter, Michel
• Koehn, Hans Friedrich
• Hotaling, Jared
• Cervantes, V´ıctor
• Cavagnaro, Daniel

• Rational Choice Theory
• Transitivity
• Probabilistic Choice
• Inequality-constrained Statistical Methods
• Bayes Factors
• Convex Polytopes
• Social Dominance Hierarchies
• Social Choice Theory
• Random Utility Model

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2024 Yu Huang

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/127479

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F127479