human judgment in diagnosing problem behavior in horses using

types of proximal cues given by the environment (the horse and the environment
surrounding it) and also the different behavior problems related to them.
1.3 Lens Model
As mentioned in section 1.2, the judgment process can be represented by the Lens Model
(Cooksey, 1996). An example is explained in Gunderson & Brown’s (2001) paper on
predicting computer crime and the behavior model of a criminal. They explained using a
simple example of estimating the distance to a child’s building block, lying on a table.
Based on the Lens Model, the actual distance to the block is an environmental (distal)
variable (ye). The onlooker has a series of observable (proximal) cues (ci) relating to this
distal variable, such as the size of the retinal representation of the block, the differences
of the image in the right and left eyes, and the blurring of the image. These cues have a
correlation to the actual state (Ecological Validity). The subject then weighs the cues and
uses a function of these weighted cues to make a judgment as to the true state (ys). This
cue weighting has a correlation to the relationship of the cues to the actual state (Cue
Utilization Validity). The actual achievement (performance) in the judgment task can be
used to update the weights placed on the cues in future judgment tasks (Gunderson &
Brown, 2001). This model is shown graphically in Figure 1.1.
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