Power Game Research Articles

Social Power Games in Concatenated Opinion Dynamics

Social Power Games in Concatenated Opinion Dynamics

Fronteiras urbanas, mercados em disputa: jogos de poder na produção de espaços

Abstract In this article, we view the expansion fronts of urban borders as privileged spaces to understand practical agencies, the network of actors, and the power games involved in the production of urban land and housing markets in São Paulo. An unavoidable presence in those places today, the men of Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC – First Capital Command), in interaction with this intricate network of actors, act as operators of these markets and the internal management of popular territories. The fact is that the PCC's businesses expand as occupations and precarious settlements expand. In the ambivalent game of protection and extortion, between acceptance and coercion, they mobilize power resources in agreements, disputes, conflicts, and accommodations that constitute the production and management of informal land and housing markets.

THE POWER STATUS OF ASIAN AND PACIFIC REGION STATES ON THE BASIS OF SYNTHETIC POWER MEASURES FROM 1992 TO 2022

This paper presents power status in Asia and the Pacific region states – an issue that has a major impact on the international security of countries. To illustrate this, the study takes the period after the end of the Cold War, from 1992 to 2022. The purpose of the paper is to characterize the power status of the Asian and Pacific region countries based on synthetic power measures, adopting the powermetrics model of Professor Mirosław Sułek to calculate the power of states. The analysis proves that the most important role in international security is played by the countries known as superpowers and world powers, whose power enables the implementation of relevant strategic goals, especially in such an important region as Asia and the Pacific. In the coming decades, there is a high probability that China will gain the status of a superpower, while the US must fight to maintain its global position among the rapidly developing countries of the Asia-Pacific region, which in the game for power may take away some of Washington’s current advantage.

The Effect of Verbal Intelligence Games on Primary School 2nd Grade Students’ to the Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence Areas and the Turkish Course Attitudes

The aim of this research is to determine the verbal-linguistic intelligence levels, which is one of the intelligence areas determined in line with Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Theory, and their attitudes towards the Turkish lesson, and to examine the effects of verbal intelligence games on the development of this intelligence area and their attitudes towards the Turkish lesson. This research was carried out using a quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest control group, one of the quantitative research methods. The study group of the research consists of 2nd grade primary school students studying in public schools in Yeşilyurt district of Malatya province. As data collection tools in the study, the "Multiple Intelligence Scale for Children" developed by Susar Kırmızı (2006) to determine the verbal-linguistic intelligence levels of the students, and the "Attitude Scale Towards Turkish Lesson" developed by Topçuoğlu Ünal and Köse (2014) to determine their attitudes towards the Turkish lesson. used after obtaining necessary permissions. During the research process, the verbal intelligence games "resfebe", "deleted letters", "missing letters" and "cryptic word" games were applied as a lesson hour two days a week for eight weeks. With the control group students, educational activities continued in a pre-planned manner. For the statistical analysis of the obtained data, an appropriate analysis program was used and the statistical data were interpreted by tabulating. According to the research findings, it was concluded that verbal intelligence games were effective in the development of verbal-linguistic intelligence areas of primary school 2nd grade students and in developing positive attitudes towards the Turkish lesson. Based on these results, it has been suggested that activities for verbal intelligence games should be given more place in primary school programs and even mind games should be included in the curriculum as an independent discipline area by associating them with other lessons at primary school level.

Re-reading J.M. Coetzee’s Dusklands:

J.M. Coetzee’s Dusklands overtly offers more of a novelistic discourse than a political pontification. It presents two narratives – one about Eugene Dawn, working for the US government agency in Vietnam in the twentieth centruy and the other moves around Jacobus Coetzee in the eighteenth century, representing a threat to the cultural integrity and undermining true African culture and traditionalism. In the postcolonial and postmodernist contexts, crony capitalism and neocolonial incursions move in the framework set by the power-structure, mostly controlled by the corporate economy. War, not only military but also psychological, even in the postcolonial situations, turns into a power game for the capitalist countries by exercising imperialist hegemony over the economically backward Third World countries while simultaneously maximizing their monetary interest. This potential disposition of the imperial enterprise questions the versions of historical truth, arbitrarily used for silencing and Othering. In Dusklands, Coetzee presents a critical assessment of historical truth inherent in power relations. In varied degrees, war affects both the target victims and the ethically lived soldiers who are forcibly appointed to cause physical and mental damage. Through the portrayal of America’s war in Vietnam in the first segment of Dusklands and Afrikaner’s colonial incursions in South Africa in the second segment of the same text, Coetzee questions the versions of historical truth. This paper examines how J.M.Coetzee exhibits the dialectical process of the construction of knowledge which works as a counter discourse to the power relations controlled by the capitalist forces assuming the role of the imperialist hegemony and, under the subterfuge of globalization and modernity, turning Africa into an endless source of raw materials for the manufacturing factories of the First World countries.

On Ludic Elements in Glottodidactics: The Use of Language and Mind Games in Teaching Italian

On Ludic Elements in Glottodidactics: The Use of Language and Mind Games in Teaching Italian

Research progress of brain-computer interface application paradigms based on rapid serial visual presentation

Rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) is a type of psychological visual stimulation experimental paradigm that requires participants to identify target stimuli presented continuously in a stream of stimuli composed of numbers, letters, words, images, and so on at the same spatial location, allowing them to discern a large amount of information in a short period of time. The RSVP-based brain-computer interface (BCI) can not only be widely used in scenarios such as assistive interaction and information reading, but also has the advantages of stability and high efficiency, which has become one of the common techniques for human-machine intelligence fusion. In recent years, brain-controlled spellers, image recognition and mind games are the most popular fields of RSVP-BCI research. Therefore, aiming to provide reference and new ideas for RSVP-BCI related research, this paper reviewed the paradigm design and system performance optimization of RSVP-BCI in these three fields. It also looks ahead to its potential applications in cutting-edge fields such as entertainment, clinical medicine, and special military operations.

Personal lies

Using the mind game, we provide experimental evidence that people are more likely to lie when they disclose non-personal information (e.g., reporting a number they thought of) compared with personal information (e.g., reporting the last digit of their birth year). Our findings suggest that the type of information is an important factor for lying behavior.

Strategie narracyjne destabilizujące porządek czasowy w neoserialach

The serial narrative mode, regularly used in episodic productions with a repetitive plot structure, is now rarely used. As for contemporary series, researchers agree that filmmakers adhere to a new paradigm of television storytelling which Jason Mittell termed “narrative complexity.” One of its distinguishing features are temporal disturbances in which the creators use various narrative strategies that destabilize the temporal order, ranging from flashbacks that fill in the plot gaps to “mind game” strategies. In this article I analyze narrative strategies disrupting the linear plot in quality TV dramas and the characteristics of formal procedures used by artists.

”The Book Creates a Feeling of its Aliveness”

A review on the book ”Games People Play in Russia. The Psychological Games of Modern Russia” by V.V. Makarov and G.A. Makarova, in which the author shares his thoughts and emotions that have appeared during the reading. The theme of the games revealed in the book will be relevant both for specialists of helping professions and to everyone who contacts people, be it family, society or the state. This book consolidates the ideas of Transactional Analysis concerning the game theory and presents a catalog of the games.

Evolution of the South China Sea geo-pattern based on the “geo-potential-strategic triangle” framework

The South China Sea region is one of the most important international geopolitical problem regions. Against the background of international power transfer and China's peaceful rise, the changes in the South China Sea geo-pattern based on the power game not only concern China's national territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, but also profoundly affect the security order of the Asia-Pacific region and even the world. In order to better study the evolution of the South China Sea geo-pattern and to judge the overall security situation, this study constructs a “geo-potential-strategic triangle” analytical framework to explore the evolution of the South China Sea geo-pattern from 2000 to 2018. The study shows that: (1) the geo-potential of each geo-actor shows a generally increasing trend. Based on the evolution curve of the South China Sea geo-pattern obtained from the geo-potential comparison, the South China Sea geo-pattern during the study period can be divided into the overall stabilization stage (2000–2010) and the tense phase(2010–2018). (2) through the mutual corroboration analysis of the evolution curve of the South China Sea geo-pattern and the interaction facts of related geo-actors, the assessment results coincide with the development of the security situation in the South China Sea region. This validates the applicability of the analytical framework in the geo-strategic intersection areas. The study aims to provide a new way of thinking for the quantitative assessment and analysis of the geo-pattern in the South China Sea region and other geo-strategic intersection areas. The study can help to objectively depict the evolution of the South China Sea geo-pattern, grasp the security situation in the South China Sea, and provide decision-making aids for sustainable peace and security, and differences management among the nations in the South China Sea region. This will further promote the construction of the regional ocean governance system and the construction of a closer “maritime community with a shared future”.

Creative thinking does not promote dishonesty.

We assessed the relation of creativity and unethical behaviour by manipulating the thinking style of participants (N = 450 adults) and measuring the impact of this manipulation on the prevalence of dishonest behaviour. Participants performed one of three inducer tasks: the alternative uses task to promote divergent thinking, the remote associates task to promote convergent thinking, or a simple classification task for rule-based thinking. Before and after this manipulation, participants conducted the mind game as a straightforward measure of dishonesty. Dishonest behaviour increased from before to after the intervention, but we found no credible evidence that this increase differed between induced mindsets. Exploratory analyses did not support any relation of trait creativity and dishonesty either. We conclude that the influence of creative thinking on unethical behaviour seems to be more ambiguous than assumed in earlier research or might be restricted to specific populations or contexts.

Violation of territorial integrity as a tool for waging long-term hybrid warfare (against the backdrop of power games in the South Caucasus region)

This paper seeks to examine the violation of territorial integrity as a stage of hybrid warfare. Grounded in the theoretical framework of neoclassical realism, this study analyses nations’ foreign policy strategies considering both global and domestic factors. Employing primarily qualitative research, this study concentrates on a case study of the South Caucasus region. Against the backdrop of the war which broke out in the early 2022 between Russia and Ukraine, the preservation of territorial integrity emerges as an imperative aspect of national security policy. Despite the longstanding recognition of territorial integrity as a fundamental tenet of international law over the centuries, this war has galvanised all nations with regard to the violation of territorial integrity. The paper delineates the principles of territorial integrity vis-à-vis the national security of the South Caucasus countries, substantiating the assertion that violation of the territorial integrity of the particular countries in this region serves the interests of external actors, either directly or indirectly, and is employed as a strategic tool in the pursuit of protracted hybrid warfare.

Психологическая игра как инструмент развития личностных ресурсов в профилактике суицидального поведения обучающихся

<p style="text-align: justify;">The article is aimed at describing and revealing the possibilities of the psychological play in the development of personal resources in the prevention of suicidal behavior of students. Our earlier empirical study of the personal resources of students of an educational organization with different levels of suicidal activity showed that the key personal resources that help to level the risk of developing suicidal behavior are resilience, social intelligence and optimism. In accordance with the results obtained in the study, for the development of students’ personal resources as a condition for the prevention of suicidal behavior, we have developed a psychological and pedagogical program with elements of the gaming practice “Today is about a happy tomorrow”. The implementation of the program made it possible to achieve significant changes in students in terms of the level of expression of personal resources, as well as significantly reduce the suicide risk. Thus, the developing psychological and pedagogical program “Today about a happy tomorrow” is organically interwoven into the system of prevention of suicidal behavior of students in an educational organization, being an element of primary prevention.</p>

The Stock Price Changes and Performance of JD after Second Listing in Hong Kong

In recent years, the trend of Chinese concept stocks returning to Hong Kong stocks market has been continuously strengthening due to multiple factors. This article analyzes the changes of JD's stock price after its second listing, as well as its financial performance after its second listing. According to the analysis, the changes in costs and benefits of JD after its second listing can to some extent explain the changes in its stock price after its second listing. In addition, this study investigates the macro market environment of JD after its second listing, and finds that bearish factors such as the power game between the Chinese and American governments and the Chinese government's antitrust policies for Internet industry also affect JD's stock price. Overall, this study to some extent supplements the current research gap and provides suggestions for other Chinese concept stocks planning to return to the Hong Kong stock market in the future.

Subversion of Gender and Marriage in Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf"

If we imagine culture as a rainbow, Literature can be defined as one of its various shades of colour which not just constitutes it but also expresses it to some extent. Literature can be called an important bi- product of culture which constitutes the ideas, customs, practices, and social behaviour of human beings living in a specific time- period in society, impacted by the varied social, political, and economic conditions of the times. Edward Albee’s plays comes under the genre of Absurd Theatre which was a predominant product of literature after World War II. His plays give us a preliminary glimpse of post-modernist society, in rebellion against order and structure, its disillusionment, confused identities, shattered values, fumble beliefs and the acknowledgement and acceptance of it without offering resistance. One of the major themes in the play “Who is Afraid of Virginia Woolf” is the theme of Gender identities and marital relationships. In this play, Albee has subverted the conventional notion of marriage and gender, which has provided more agency and control to the male counterpart as compared to the female. Love also defies the usual notions of ‘love you forever’ and ‘till death do us apart’ by being based on ‘If not you, then somebody else’, ‘Not a big deal as it is not a commitment of lifetime’, mind games, teasing, exploitation, jealousy, infidelity overall, doing as one likes.

Coaches' Mind Games: Harnessing Technical Fouls for Psychological Momentum in Basketball.

This study explored the emotional and cognitive dimensions associated with technical fouls (TFs) in basketball coaching. Using in-depth interviews with Israeli first-division basketball coaches, we aimed to uncover the emotional and cognitive intricacies involved in TFs. Through rigorous thematic content analysis, we delved into coaches' ability to perceive and manipulate psychological momentum on the court. We revealed that coaches intentionally use TFs as strategic tools. TFs were employed to elicit specific emotional responses and cognitive shifts in players, affecting their emotional states, arousal levels, motivation, and overall team performance. However, coaches approached TFs with caution due to the associated emotional and cognitive risks. They carefully weighed potential benefits against unforeseen consequences in their decision-making. Furthermore, our research highlighted coaches' belief in the immediate positive impact of TFs on referee decisions, underscoring the interplay between emotional influence and strategic advantage. Nevertheless, this advantage was perceived as short-lived, emphasizing that TFs are a two-edged sword with unpredictable outcomes.

Quantifying leadership in climate negotiations: A social power game.

We consider complex multistage multiagent negotiation processes such as those occurring at climate conferences and ask ourselves how can an agent maximize its social power, intended as influence over the outcome of the negotiation. This question can be framed as a strategic game played over an opinion dynamics model, in which the action of an agent consists in stubbornly defending its own opinion. We show that for consensus-seeking opinion dynamics models in which the interaction weights are uniform, the optimal action obeys to an early mover advantage principle, i.e. the agents behaving stubbornly in the early phases of the negotiations achieve the highest social power. When looking at data collected from the climate change negotiations going on at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, we find evidence of the use of the early mover strategy. Furthermore, we show that the social powers computed through our model correlate very well with the perceived leadership roles assessed through independent survey data, especially when non-uniform weights incorporating economical and demographic factors are considered.

Exploring the Psychosocial Needs of Adults with Haematological Cancer under Watch-and-Wait: A Qualitative Study

Objective. Research reporting the unmet needs of individuals with haematological cancers under watch-and-wait is scarce, despite reports of elevated levels of psychological distress. This qualitative study aimed to explore the psychosocial needs of these individuals, and when these were met, if so at all. Methods. A longitudinal design using semistructured interviews was used. Individuals with a diagnosis of haematological cancer living under watch-and-wait were recruited through online support groups. Participants were each invited to two semistructured interviews, six months apart. Interviews took place in March 2022 and September 2022 and were therefore in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Reflexive thematic analysis and pattern-oriented longitudinal analysis were used to analyse the data. Results. Of the fifteen participants interviewed initially, twelve attended a second interview. The sample was predominantly White and female. Across participants and time points, a theme was generated that individuals experienced a “Psychological battle of watch-and-wait.” Under this overarching theme, four themes were constructed: “Understanding the impossible: Cancer that does not require treatment;” “Sense of abandonment under watch and wait;” “The importance of peer connection;” and “Trying to live after COVID-19.” The themes were understood to predominantly represent needs for information, communication, peer support, and emotional support and were most often met when individuals engaged with relevant charities. Conclusion. People living with haematological cancer under watch-and-wait may be at risk of having unmet needs across domains, and without support, these needs will likely remain unmet over time. The findings add to the growing literature base how Oncology and Haematology services can holistically support individuals with indolent cancers to live well alongside their diagnosis.

The Effect of Mind and Intelligence Games on University Students’ Perceived Stress and Psychological Well-Being Level

This study aims to examine whether mind and intelligence games that support cognitive, social, and emotional skills have an effect on university students' perceived stress and psychological well-being levels. The population of the study consists of students actively studying at Kastamonu University Tosya Vocational School in the 2021-2022 academic year. Two groups of students were included in the study. While one of the groups had mind and intelligence game activities, the other group did not have these activities. The obtained data were analyzed using the statistical package program. As a result of the analysis, it was concluded that the psychological well-being levels of those who participated in the mind and intelligence game workshops were significantly higher in the positive direction and the perceived stress level was significantly lower in the negative direction compared to those who did not participate. According to the results of the research, it can be said that mind and intelligence games are an important educational tool used to support the psychosocial development of students and individuals and reduce stress.