scholarly journals Using free association networks to extract characteristic patterns of affect dynamics

Author(s):  
Yaniv Dover ◽  
Zohar Moore

The dynamics of human affect in day-to-day life are an intrinsic part of human behaviour. Yet, it is difficult to observe and objectively measure how affect evolves over time with sufficient resolution. Here, we suggest an approach that combines free association networks with affect mapping, to gain insight into basic patterns of affect dynamics. This approach exploits the established connection in the literature between association networks and behaviour. Using extant rich data, we find consistent patterns of the dynamics of the valence and arousal dimensions of affect. First, we find that the individuals represented by the data tend to feel a constant pull towards an affect-neutral global equilibrium point in the valence–arousal space. The farther the affect is from that point, the stronger the pull. We find that the drift of affect exhibits high inertia, i.e. is slow-changing, but with occasional discontinuous jumps of valence. We further find that, under certain conditions, another metastable equilibrium point emerges on the network, but one which represents a much more negative and agitated state of affect. Finally, we demonstrate how the affect-coded association network can be used to identify useful or harmful trajectories of associative thoughts that otherwise are hard to extract.

Organizational contradictions and process studies offer interwoven and complementary insights. Studies of dialectics, paradox, and dualities depict organizational contradictions that are oppositional as well as interrelated such that they persistently morph and shift over time. Studies of process often examine how contradictions fuel emergent, dynamic systems and stimulate novelty, adaptation, and transformation. Drawing from rich conversations at the Eighth International Symposium on Process Organization Studies, the contributors to this volume unpack these relationships in more depth. The chapters explore three main, connected themes through both conceptual and empirical studies, including (1) offering insight into how process theorizing advances understandings of organizational contradictions; (2) shedding light on how dialectics, paradoxes, and dualities fuel organizational processes that affect persistence and transformation; and (3) exploring the convergence and divergence of dialectics, paradox, and dualities lenses. Taken together, this book offers key insights in order to inform persistent, contradictory dynamics in organizations and organizational studies.


Brazil constitutes a globally vital but troubled economy. It accounts for the largest GDP in Latin America and ranks among the world’s largest exporters of critical commodities including iron ore, soya, coffee, and beef. In recent years Brazil’s global economic importance has been magnified by a surge in both outward and inward foreign direct investment. This has served to further internationalize what has been historically a relatively closed economy. The purpose of this Handbook is to offer real insight into the Brazil’s economic development in contemporary context, understanding its most salient characteristics and analyzing its structural features across various dimensions. At a more granular level, this volume accomplishes the following tasks. First, it provides an understanding of the economy’s evolution over time and the connection of its current characteristics to this evolution. Second, it analyzes Brazil’s broader place in the global economy, and considers the ways in which this role has changed, and is likely to change, over coming years. Third, reflecting contemporary concerns, the volume offers an understanding, not only of how one of the world’s key economies has developed and transformed itself, but also of the ways in which this process has yet to be completed. The volume thus analyzes the current challenges facing the Brazilian economy and the kinds of issues that need to be tackled for these to be addressed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 122 (1) ◽  
pp. 681-699 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Tattershall ◽  
G. Nenadic ◽  
R. D. Stevens

AbstractResearch topics rise and fall in popularity over time, some more swiftly than others. The fastest rising topics are typically called bursts; for example “deep learning”, “internet of things” and “big data”. Being able to automatically detect and track bursty terms in the literature could give insight into how scientific thought evolves over time. In this paper, we take a trend detection algorithm from stock market analysis and apply it to over 30 years of computer science research abstracts, treating the prevalence of each term in the dataset like the price of a stock. Unlike previous work in this domain, we use the free text of abstracts and titles, resulting in a finer-grained analysis. We report a list of bursty terms, and then use historical data to build a classifier to predict whether they will rise or fall in popularity in the future, obtaining accuracy in the region of 80%. The proposed methodology can be applied to any time-ordered collection of text to yield past and present bursty terms and predict their probable fate.


Author(s):  
M. Luisa Navarro-Pérez ◽  
M. Coronada Fernández-Calderón ◽  
Virginia Vadillo-Rodríguez

In this paper, a simple numerical procedure is presented to monitor the growth of Streptococcus sanguinis over time in the absence and presence of propolis, a natural antimicrobial. In particular, it is shown that the real-time decomposition of growth curves obtained through optical density measurements into growth rate and acceleration can be a powerful tool to precisely assess a large range of key parameters [ i.e. lag time ( t 0 ), starting growth rate ( γ 0 ), initial acceleration of the growth ( a 0 ), maximum growth rate ( γ max ), maximum acceleration ( a max ) and deceleration ( a min ) of the growth and the total number of cells at the beginning of the saturation phase ( N s )] that can be readily used to fully describe growth over time. Consequently, the procedure presented provides precise data of the time course of the different growth phases and features, which is expected to be relevant, for instance, to thoroughly evaluate the effect of new antimicrobial agents. It further provides insight into predictive microbiology, likely having important implications to assumptions adopted in mathematical models to predict the progress of bacterial growth. Importance: The new and simple numerical procedure presented in this paper to analyze bacterial growth will possibly allow identifying true differences in efficacy among antimicrobial drugs for their applications in human health, food security, and environment, among others. It further provides insight into predictive microbiology, likely helping in the development of proper mathematical models to predict the course of bacterial growth under diverse circumstances.


Author(s):  
Giovanni R. Ruffini

Nubian texts provide valuable insight into Nubian social and economic history. Accounts reveal economic priorities both secular and sacred. Documentary evidence hints at the nature of state centralization and the movement of goods and coins in and out of Nubia. Magic reveals Nubia’s deep-seated hopes and fears. Literature shows innovative theology and Nubia’s sense of its place in world history. Funerary inscriptions record the careers of the elite and their sense of their own place in the cosmos. But much is missing from the Nubian textual record as well, suggesting that major literary genres never indigenized in Nubia the way they did in Egypt or Ethiopia. Other genres ebb and flow over time, hinting at the economy of Nubian literacy and the processes through which it ultimately dies.


Author(s):  
Narges Kasiri ◽  
G. Scott Erickson ◽  
Gerd Wolfram

Radio frequency identification (RFID) has been viewed as a promising technology for quite some time. Initially developed a couple of decades ago, the technology has been accompanied by predictions of imminent widespread adoption since its beginnings. A majority of retailers and other users are now using or planning to use the technology. This paper employs a combination of the technology-organization-environment (TOE) model and the 3-S (substitution, scale, structural) model to analyze the long journey of RFID adoption in retail. Top retail executives in the US and Europe were interviewed to investigate RFID adoption patterns based on differences in technological, organizational, and environmental circumstances. As the retail industry is moving into a post-adoption era, these results demonstrate the current stage of retail RFID adoption, identify factors playing important roles over time as motivators or impediments, and provide some insight into the slow pace of adoption.


2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 446-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley Barnwell

This article explores how wider national narratives facilitate families’ choices about what information to keep secret over time. I argue that attention to the ways family secrets operate reveals how social and moral codes are both sustained and challenged on an intimate scale. The article also makes an argument for using life writing and literature to explore the often-illusive contours of family secrets. To illustrate, I examine Lynette Russell’s memoir A Little Bird Told Me: Family Secrets, Necessary Lies and Richard Flanagan’s novel Death of a River Guide. Anchoring the analysis within the transition from colonial to postcolonial societies, these texts lend insight into the collective practices families use to manage secrets and to construct socially sanctioned identities. The discussion foregrounds the enduring impact of colonial policies upon the intimate formation of families, and the role families play in reproducing and challenging these legacies via collective secret-keeping and silences.


Author(s):  
Е.Ю. Лебедева ◽  
А.Ю. Сергеев

В статье представлены результаты археоботанических исследований в Московском Кремле и обсуждается проблема использования растений жителями города с особым акцентом на потреблении зерновой продукции. Материалы рассматриваются по двум хронологическим выборкам (XII - перв. пол. XIII в. и втор. пол. XIII - XV в.), что позволяет проследить динамику изменения археоботанических спектров. Выделяются три специфические черты, характеризующие коллекцию зерновых в Москве. Во-первых, высокая насыщенность зерном культурного слоя во-вторых, стабильно высокий показатель доли ржи на протяжении столетий (ок. 70 ) и, в-третьих, остающийся непонятным факт сокращения на 10 доли овса в поздней выборке. Последнее, по мнению авторов, противоречит логике развития города, требующей увеличения фуражных запасов для лошадей - основного транспортного средства средневековья. Авторы приходят к выводу, что при отсутствии или скудости находок экзотических растений, выступающих маркерами элитного питания в европейских городах, в средневековой Руси в этом качестве могут интерпретироваться обычные зерновые культуры, в частности - мягкая пшеница. The paper presents the results of archaeobotanical studies in the Moscow Kremlin and discusses the use of plants by the city residents with a focus on consumption of crops. The analysis is based on two chronological selections (the 12th - first half of the 13th centuries and the first half of the 13th - 15th centuries) it gives an insight into the changes over time of archaeobotanical spectra. Three specific features characterizing the crop grains in Moscow are singled out. Firstly, abundance of crop plants in the occupation layers secondly, consistently high values of the rye share in total crops throughout centuries (around 70 ) and, thirdly, the reduction in the share of oats by 10 in the later sample for some inexplicable reasons. In the view of the authors, the latter fact contradicts the logical development of the city that required increase in forage reserves for horses which was the main animal for transportation in the medieval times. The authors come to the conclusion that in the absence or scarcity of exotic plant finds used as markers of luxury food in European cities, common grain crops such as bread wheat can be used as elite food indicator in Medieval Russia.


2002 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hollis Ashbaugh ◽  
Karla M. Johnstone ◽  
Terry D. Warfield

This paper reports the outcome assessment of our accounting department's writing-skill improvement initiative. We employ complementary experimental designs to examine the effects of professionally relevant writing experiences on accounting students' writing-skill development. Using a between-subjects experimental design, we compare the writing skills of accounting students who participated in our writing initiative with the writing skills of other business students who did not participate. Using a within-subjects experimental design, we track improvements of accounting students' writing skills over time. Results from both outcome assessment methodologies indicate that accounting students' writing skills improve as students participate in our writing initiative. This paper provides insight into the features of a successful writing initiative and offers methodological suggestions for conducting outcome assessments of writing initiatives.


2019 ◽  
pp. 286-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Alexander ◽  
Justine Megan Gatt

Resilience refers to the process of adaptive recovery following adversity or trauma. It is likely to include an intertwined series of dynamic interactions between neural, developmental, environmental, genetic, and epigenetic factors over time. Neuroscientific research suggests the potential role of the brain’s threat and reward systems, as well as executive control networks. Developmental research provides insight into how the environment may affect these neural systems across the lifespan towards greater risk or resilience to stress. Genetic work has revealed numerous targets that alter key neurochemical systems in the brain to influence mental health. Current challenges include ambiguities in the definition and measurement of resilience and a simplified focus on resilience as the absence of psychopathology, irrespective of levels of positive mental functioning. Greater emphasis on understanding the protective aspects of resilience and related well-being outcomes are important to delineate the unique neurobiological factors that underpin this process, so that effective interventions can be developed to assist vulnerable populations and resilience promotion.


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