Forms Of Social Interaction Research Articles

Body contact and synchronous diving in long-finned pilot whales

Synchronous behavior, as a form of social interaction, has been widely reported for odontocete cetaceans observed at the sea surface. However, few studies have quantified synchronous behavior underwater. Using data from an animal-borne data recorder and camera, we described how a pair of deep-diving odontocetes, long-finned pilot whales, coordinated diving behavior. Diving data during overlapping periods of 3.7h were obtained from two whales within a stable trio. The tagged whales made highly synchronous movements, and their dive durations differed only slightly (3±3s). The pair of whales maintained a constant and narrow vertical separation (ca. 3m) throughout synchronous dives. The overall fluking rate for the same travel speed during synchronous dives was virtually the same as that during asynchronous dives, suggesting that synchronous behavior did not affect locomotion effort. In addition, a possible affiliative behavior was recorded by the animal-borne camera: another individual appeared in 8% of the frames, both with and without body contact to the tagged whale. The primary type of body contact was flipper-to-body. Our study, the first on underwater synchronous behavior and body contact of pilot whales, highlights the utility of using animal-borne devices for enabling new insights into social interactions.

Qualitative themes of a listserv for parents of children with autism

AbstractDigital forms of social interaction and communication have become increasingly prevalent in our society. Parents of children with autism are among the groups taking advantage of such online opportunities. In this study, 14 parents from a local listserv for parents or families of children with autism volunteered to allow their autism listserv posts to be documented for a period of 3 months. The content of the parental listserv posts concerned a variety of topics, ranging from legislation to very personal stories of the group. Eight overall themes of the listserv were identified. A review of this listserv’s themes suggested that this group of parents worked as a team; had concerns about medical costs, therapies, school environments, and the development of their child; relied on other parental support; advocated to raise awareness; and supported efforts to find treatments or even a cure for autism spectrum disorders.

Could We Huddle on This Project? Participant Learning in Newsroom Conversations

Huddles—informal gatherings of two or more individuals, convened to discuss substantive issues regarding the work of one or more of the participants—are a form of social interaction that can play a critical role in the learning of organizational actors. We identify their defining properties and propose a multi-level framework for understanding the participant- and huddle-level factors that promote individual learning that is important to the work of the organization. We test our hypotheses using data obtained from huddles conducted in newspaper newsrooms using an experience sampling approach. Results confirm the importance of occupational tenure heterogeneity, perceived job relevance, attention to others’ emotions, and conversational reflexivity for participant learning in huddles. These results set the stage for understanding how the informal structure of an organization can be developed in ways that promote learning and adaptation.

Comment on Andrew Walton

Abstract Andrew Walton argues that, a Rawlsian property-owning democracy (POD) requires a fraternal ethos and certain forms of social interaction, such as high trade union membership. The basic structure objection could be used to challenge these claims as it indicates that Rawls’s principles of justice should only be applied to the basic structure of society, and not, for example, to an ethos. Walton has two responses to the objection: firstly, that it does not apply to his argument, and, secondly, even if it were to apply, the objection itself is unconvincing. In this article I argue however that (1) the basic structure objection does apply as a fraternal ethos is difficult to reconcile with Rawls’s understanding of what should be included as part of the basis structure, and (2) although I do not defend the basic structure objection, it is not made explicit in Walton’s argument why the objection should be dismissed as unconvincing.

Understanding Bullying in an Affluent, Academically Rigorous U.S. High School: A Grounded Theory Analysis

Students and staff members from a U.S. high school were asked to discuss their understanding of bullying within the context of their school social environment. Findings from the grounded theory analysis suggest that understandings of bullying are socially constructed and that how bullying is understood is influenced by context and by the negotiation of identity within that context. Furthermore, subjects focused on drama, a form of social interaction considered far more common than bullying. Findings suggest that research on bullying may benefit from shifting its emphasis on defining bullying and establishing prevalence, to exploring youths' contextual and developmental perspectives.

Adaptation and authority in scaffolding and teacher–student relationships

Abstract Three issues are addressed in this commentary. The first issue concerns the application of the concept of scaffolding to situations that go beyond its original context of one-to-one learning–teaching interactions, typically involving a parent and a child. Do interactions between a teacher and a whole classroom or a group of students still fit into the original conception of scaffolding as sensitive, responsive support which results in the eventual handover of responsibility to the learners? How can the concept of scaffolding be meaningfully related to other approaches to teaching, e.g., approaches that involve dialogic teaching or the use of new meditational means? The second issue is about the relationship between educational research and educational practice. It is important to ensure that descriptions of particular, efficacious teaching–learning interactions do not inadvertently become construed as prescriptions regarding the nature and conduct of effective teaching–learning interactions. A third issue relates to the social context of scaffolding interactions. Scaffolding is not merely a form of social interaction, it is significant precisely because it entails the assertion and acknowledgement of power and authority.

Art, Fashion, and Anti-consumption

Contemporary artists deal with many forms of social interaction, including consumption. In this commentary, I walk the fine line between art and fashion, distant sisters in history. Referring to fashion projects presented at dOCUMENTA(13), I show that art’s aesthetic language may speak against fashion’s ultimate commercial meaning. The aesthetic perspective is important because reasons against consumption are not merely intellectual. They include many emotional and symbolic forms of knowing, in this case about self-degrading styling concepts that are possible only through unsustainable production by global fast fashion retailers such as H&M, Zara, and Forever 21 and other cheap fashion brands. Referring to art critics’ assessments and aesthetic theory, I interpret my observations through theories of anti-consumption. Included is a review of Elizabeth Cline’s critical book Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion that reveals some of the motifs of the fast fashion industry resonating in contemporary artworks and investigates opportunities to reject, resist, and reclaim fashion.

The basic structure objection and the institutions of a property-owning democracy: Comment on Andrew Walton

Andrew Walton argues that a Rawlsian property-owning democracy (POD) requires a fraternal ethos and certain forms of social interaction, such as high trade union membership. The basic structure objection could be used to challenge these claims as it indicates that Rawls’s principles of justice should only be applied to the basic structure of society, and not, for example, to an ethos. Walton has two responses to the objection: firstly, that it does not apply to his argument, and, secondly, even if it were to apply, the objection itself is unconvincing. In this article I argue however that (1) the basic structure objection does apply as a fraternal ethos is difficult to reconcile with Rawls’s understanding of what should be included as part of the basis structure, and (2) although I do not defend the basic structure objection, it is not made explicit in Walton’s argument why the objection should be dismissed as unconvincing.

The ‘antinomian’ travel counterculture of Gavdos: An Alternative Mode of Travelling

This research study is confronted with the crystallization of a specific antinomian travel counterculture that advocates withdrawal from the social milieu by visiting the island of Gavdos (a Greek island on the margin of European civilization). By adopting two naturalistic data collection techniques, in-depth participant observation and interviewing, it explores antinomians’ specific travel patterns, motivations, activities, norms, beliefs, appearance and forms of social interaction. The main findings include that antinomians place an emphasis on independently organized, long-term and flexible travel schedules, non-mainstream activities, rejection of materialism and intense social interactions. The aforementioned attributes distinguish antinomians not only from institutionalized travel, but also from other forms of alternative budget traveling.

Co-participation among school children around a computer-based exhibit

This paper investigates the different forms of social interaction that emerge between young science centre visitors (aged 9–14 years) around a specific computer-based exhibit, which, like most computer-based exhibits, prioritizes an individual user. Based on video recordings, the paper shows that these young visitors, unlike adults, engage in various forms of co-participation around the exhibit. The empirical analysis compares different degrees of participation among the participants, ranging from minimal to full participation. The analysis shows that the affordances of a computer-based exhibit do not impose themselves upon visitors’ actions at that exhibit. While the exhibit has a preferred use – a ‘prescribed interaction’, which prioritizes an individual user – the schoolchildren in the study mould what may seem like natural functions of the exhibit.

The social fabric of elementary schools: a network typology of social interaction among teachers

While researchers are currently studying various forms of social network interaction among teachers for their impact on educational policy implementation and practice, knowledge on how various types of networks are interrelated is limited. The goal of this study is to understand the dimensionality that may underlie various types of social networks in schools. We assessed seven types of social interaction using social network data of 775 educators from 53 Dutch elementary schools. The quadratic assignment procedure, multidimensional scaling and network visualisations were used to discern underlying dimensions that may explain the interrelatedness of these seven types of social networks. Findings suggest small to moderate similarity between the seven forms of social interaction. Results support a distinction between instrumental and expressive networks and suggest a second dimension of mutual in(ter)dependence to explain differences in social interaction among teachers. Implications for practice and research on teacher collaboration are discussed.

Evaluating the use of a mobile annotation system for geography education

PurposeMobile devices used in educational settings are usually employed within a collaborative learning activity in which learning takes place in the form of social interactions between team members while performing a shared task. The authors aim to introduce MobiTOP (Mobile Tagging of Objects and People), a mobile annotation system that allows users to contribute and share geospatial multimedia annotations via mobile devices.Design/methodology/approachField observations and interviews were conducted. A group of trainee teachers involved in a geography field study were instructed to identify rock formations by collaborating with each other using the MobiTOP system. The trainee teachers who were in the field were guided by their lab counterparts on the tasks required to identify the rock formations.FindingsParticipants were able to appreciate the fieldwork task as it augmented their classroom lessons. The system allowed them to communicate with one another in order to meet the objectives of the study. However, there were some technical difficulties in relation to the affordance of the mobile and web applications that affected the usefulness of the applications.Originality/valueThis study reports the design and implementation of a mobile annotation system that was evaluated in an actual classroom setting. The results of this work have implications for both mobile applications design and mobile learning.

KRITIK IDEOLOGI ATAS GERAKAN ANTI HAK ASASI MANUSIA DI INDONESIA

Step Real Counteract Communist Movement that contrast to Human Right through Education: A Critique Ideology. This discussion describes the emancipatory critical social theory of Jurgen Habermas anti-thesis to the ideology of Marxist-Leninist-Maoist-Communist Party. It Explained that the concept of rationalization of community development; emancipatory form of social interaction, has proceeded in a fear and balanced. Include: the rationalization of technical/job dimensions, rationalization of practice/dimensions of interaction or communication, and rationalization of the system/power dimension. By this, they can expand the technical mastery of the external world, capable of conditioning the situation of human communication that is free as well, and may set technical goals and practice themselves perfectly. This is the development of community/human to fit his (human), without getting stuck in ideology. While the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist-Communist Party, stuck into a one-sided rationalization, i.e. technical/instrumental action, so that people/humans evolved in shades of rational action aims/production (reification of self; mechanical, linear, scientific, and indoctrination (ideological), because there is no interaction and communication. His idea can be implemented through his educational concept. First, human beings should lead to the achievement of human beings capable of managing the world with shades of deep understanding (hermeneutics and Verstehen) the reality of his next life, as well as in dialogical relations system; equivalent, communicative, and egalitarian. Second, it must be supported by a curriculum that be able to nurture the potential of cognitive interests: technical, practice and emancipatory. Third, it must be realized by the method of learning with the theoretical and practical model.

STRIVING FOR ADVANTAGE AS A DETERMINANT OF SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR

After the experience of alienation, insecurity, distrust and dismay in the family, getting into institutional care teenager is forced to feel it once more, on the other hand, new environment and intermittent situation in the care institution leads teenager to look for new ways for social interaction and often these ways are limited due to the peculiarities of teenager’s psychosocial development. It is complicated for youngster to master new and unusual forms of social interactions that are based on common activities and result planning, social activity and responsibility, because stereotypes of teenagers’ behaviour and reactions in the different situations cannot change so fast. The lack of social skills disturbs optimal development of social networks, determines low level of self control, decreases ability to solve conflict situations constructively, so usually they are forced to use known behavioural strategies (to behave aggressively and provocative in order to get advantage). In such situation the demonstration of advantage gets a specific attribution and transforms to the manifestations of concurrent aggression that are evident more and more often. Concurrent aggression determines complicated and difficult relationships between teenagers, institutional staff as well and with environment in general. The paper presents research which aim is to define concurrent behaviour among teenagers who are placed in the institutional care. With the authors’ permission approbated check list of self evaluation YSR 11/18 (Youth self report, Achenbach, Rescoria, 2001) was used and 14 – 17 years old 126 teenagers from different care institutions of Lithuania took place in the research. Approbated check list YSR 11/18 (Žukauskienė, Malinauskienė, 2008) consists of 20 statements that reveal social and behaviour (activeness) competences and 122 statements that let for the researcher to assess problems in behavioural and emotional performance. Six scales were used: anxiety/depression, withdrawal/depression, rules breaking, aggressive behaviour and scale of attention and social problems. The data of quantitative research point out those statistically significant correlate results of behaviour and emotional problems; the strongest ties among the teenagers group were set up between aggressive behaviour and breaking of the rules. The results of correlation analysis proved that anxiety/depression scale of teenagers placed into the institutional care closely correlates with social problems, and social problems are in tight relations with aggressive behaviour and lack of attention and lack of attention correlates with aggressive behaviour, as well. In qualitative research 6 interviewers were involved. Applying method of narrative research the subjective point of view of teenagers on striving for domination, manifestations of aggression signs and factors that determine such their behaviour was done. Key words: behavioural norm, concurrent aggression, institutional care.

In the Eye of the Beholder: Reduced Threat-Bias and Increased Gaze-Imitation towards Reward in Relation to Trait Anger

The gaze of a fearful face silently signals a potential threat's location, while the happy-gaze communicates the location of impending reward. Imitating such gaze-shifts is an automatic form of social interaction that promotes survival of individual and group. Evidence from gaze-cueing studies suggests that covert allocation of attention to another individual's gaze-direction is facilitated when threat is communicated and further enhanced by trait anxiety. We used novel eye-tracking techniques to assess whether dynamic fearful and happy facial expressions actually facilitate automatic gaze-imitation. We show that this actual gaze-imitation effect is stronger when threat is signaled, but not further enhanced by trait anxiety. Instead, trait anger predicts facilitated gaze-imitation to reward, and to reward compared to threat. These results agree with an increasing body of evidence on trait anger sensitivity to reward.

Lessons from learner experiences in a field-based inquiry in geography using mobile devices

Geographical inquiry involves collecting, using and making sense of the data to investigate some geographical phenomena. With the increasing number of mobile devices equipped with Internet access capabilities, there is a wide scope for using it in field inquiry where learning can take place in the form of social interactions between team members while performing a common task. The authors examine the use of MobiTOP (Mobile Tagging of Objects and People), a geospatial digital library system which allows users to contribute and share multimedia annotations via mobile devices, within a geographical field inquiry. A key feature of MobiTOP that is well suited for collaborative learning is that annotations are hierarchical, allowing annotations to be annotated by other users to an arbitrary depth. A group of student and teachers involved in an inquiry-based learning activity in geography was instructed to identify rock types and associated landforms by collaborating with each other using the MobiTOP system. A method combining several data collection methods was used. Four main findings on the affordances of the mobile phone, the need for specialized training in using the application with the mobile phone, design considerations of the application and the authentic context of learning with fieldwork are reported. A discussion on the implication of these findings and how mobile technology may be used for geographical field learning are also included in this paper.

Gender, agency, and embodiment theories in relation to space

Why (and how) is it important to query into the particular lived experiences and ‘embodied agency’ of women if we want to study urban spaces through the lens of gender? The paper discusses this overarching question in relation to recent dynamic and generative theories of gender, embodiment and agency. This theoretical approach is relevant since it is possible to analyse the singularity of lived experience, not only as a form of social interaction, but as linked to social structures and discourses, which implies negotiations of tensions, conflicts, and uncertainties. Such an approach is particularly fruitful because it makes it possible to analyse agents within a context of social, cultural and political change. It also means the possibility to grasp women’s narratives and body language as they engage in acts of resistance, as well as the marking of body and space. The actions of ‘the secret self’ among younger generations, for example, give increased space and have manipulative potential as long as these ‘morally forbidden’ and dishonourable acts are not brought out into the public sphere. The need to understand agency as the capacity to act according to the exigencies of the specific socio-cultural context forms the main premise of this paper; where each context comprises the complex interaction between the local and a variety of wider global forces.

Defending the Self in a Total Institution: Staff Prompting and Patient Burlesque

This paper offers an analysis of forms of social interaction between direct care staff and patient members of a state institution for the “Mentally Retarded” (MR) and dually-diagnosed (MR with a mental disorder diagnosis) located in the northeastern United States. This work’s significance is that it updates and extends Erving Goffman’s (1961) classic study of the underlife of total institutions. It does so by delineating a sub-type of secondary adjustment to total institutions, termed ancillary adjustment. Ancillary adjustment is defined as performances of patient role that undercut the institution’s official prescription for patient identity toward normalizing direct staff member identity. It is shown how ancillary adjustment arose as an unintended consequence of the institutional reforms of the 1970s, or how, under a professionally reformed and bureaucratized “New School”, direct care staff members experienced themselves as disempowered and discredited as “normal” professionals and defensively and repeatedly cued hyper-stigmatized comedic spectacles through types of staff-patient interaction termed staff prompting and patient burlesque. This paper is based on a three-year fieldwork study entitled Defending the Self in an Institution for the Mentally Retarded that utilized Glaser and Strauss’ (1967) and Strauss and Corbin’s (1990) grounded theory methods for qualitative research.

Publics and Politics

This review surveys the literature on publics: political subjects that know themselves and act by means of mass-mediated communication. It examines classic accounts of how publics form through interlocking modes of social interaction, as well as the forms of social interaction that publics have been defined against. It also addresses recent work that has sought to account for contradictions within theories of the public sphere and to develop alternative understandings of public culture. Historical and ethnographic research on this topic reveals that some concept of publicity is foundational for a number of theories of self-determination, but that the subject of publicity is irrevocably enmeshed in the very technological, linguistic, and conceptual means of its own self-production. Research on publics is valuable because it has focused on this paradox of mediation at the center of modern political life.

Social isolation and physical inactivity in older US adults: Results from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Physical inactivity is a risk factor for cardiovascular and other chronic diseases. It has been shown that both physical inactivity and social isolation increase with age, and that these factors are detrimental to physical and mental well-being. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between physical inactivity and social isolation in older US adults. Using data from a nationally representative cross-sectional survey, the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988–1994, we assessed the age- and race-specific prevalence of no leisure-time physical activity in relation to various forms of social interaction. The prevalence of no leisure-time physical activity increases with age in both men and women. In non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks, and Mexican Americans, the prevalence of no leisure-time physical activity is increased in older US adults who are socially isolated. Social isolation is related to physical inactivity among persons 60 years and older. Longitudinal and intervention studies are needed to establish whether increased social support translates to a more active population of older adults.