scholarly journals A Conceptual Framework for the Study of Demonstrative Reference

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Peeters ◽  
Emiel Krahmer ◽  
Alfons Maes

Language allows us to efficiently communicate about the things in the world around us. Seemingly simple words like this and that are a cornerstone of our capability to refer, as they contribute to guiding the attention of our addressee to the specific entity we are talking about. Such demonstratives are acquired early in life, ubiquitous in everyday talk, often closely tied to our gestural communicative abilities, and present in all spoken languages of the world. Based on a review of recent experimental work, we here introduce a new conceptual framework of demonstrative reference. In the context of this framework, we argue that several physical, psychological, and referent-intrinsic factors dynamically interact to influence whether a speaker will use one demonstrative form (e.g., this) or another (e.g., that) in a given setting. However, the relative influence of these factors themselves is argued to be a function of the cultural language setting at hand, the theory-of-mind capacities of the speaker, and the affordances of the specific context in which the speech event takes place. It is demonstrated that the framework has the potential to reconcile findings in the literature that previously seemed irreconcilable. We show that the framework may to a large extent generalize to instances of endophoric reference (e.g., anaphora) and speculate that it may also describe the specific form and kinematics a speaker’s pointing gesture takes. Testable predictions and novel research questions derived from the framework are presented and discussed.

Author(s):  
David Peeters ◽  
Emiel Krahmer ◽  
Alfons Maes

Abstract Language allows us to efficiently communicate about the things in the world around us. Seemingly simple words like this and that are a cornerstone of our capability to refer, as they contribute to guiding the attention of our addressee to the specific entity we are talking about. Such demonstratives are acquired early in life, ubiquitous in everyday talk, often closely tied to our gestural communicative abilities, and present in all spoken languages of the world. Based on a review of recent experimental work, here we introduce a new conceptual framework of demonstrative reference. In the context of this framework, we argue that several physical, psychological, and referent-intrinsic factors dynamically interact to influence whether a speaker will use one demonstrative form (e.g., this) or another (e.g., that) in a given setting. However, the relative influence of these factors themselves is argued to be a function of the cultural language setting at hand, the theory-of-mind capacities of the speaker, and the affordances of the specific context in which the speech event takes place. It is demonstrated that the framework has the potential to reconcile findings in the literature that previously seemed irreconcilable. We show that the framework may to a large extent generalize to instances of endophoric reference (e.g., anaphora) and speculate that it may also describe the specific form and kinematics a speaker’s pointing gesture takes. Testable predictions and novel research questions derived from the framework are presented and discussed.


2013 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Slančová

AbstractThe main aim of the study is to introduce a new method which has not been applied in the Slovak study of child language so far, and to answer 4 main research questions: (1) What is the development of understanding and production of verbs in early lexical development of Slovak-speaking children? (2) Are there any differences in verbs understanding and production between Slovak-speaking girls and boys? (3) What is the linguistic picture of the world given by incipient verbal lexicon of Slovak-speaking children? (4) Is there any difference between the linguistic picture of the world of Slovak-speaking girls and boys? The method is based on the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the lexical part of the Slovak version of CDI 1 Test of communicative abilities TEKOS 1: Words and gestures with 44 verbs in the part “actions and states”. Parents were asked to fill in the checklist and choose from three options: i) child understands and speaks, ii) understands, iii) does not understand The research sample consists of 323 girls and 330 boys in their age from 8 to 16 months. The results show the unanimous developmental trajectory in verbs acquisition in both, girls and boys. The differences shown in production in favor of girls in last two months are not statistically significant. The linguistic picture of the world is cognitively and semantically gender-universal, concentrated on corporeal concepts connected with social concept. The prototypical verbs in first 16 months of the age of the children are jesť (to eat) and dať (to give)


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan De Houwer ◽  
Juliette Richetin ◽  
Sean Hughes ◽  
Marco Perugini

Various phenomena such as halo effects, spontaneous trait inferences, and evaluative conditioning have in common that assumptions about object features (e.g., whether a person is intelligent or likeable) are influenced by other object features (e.g., whether that person is attractive or co-occurs with other liked persons). Surprisingly, these phenomena have rarely been related to each other, most likely because different phenomena are described using different terms. To overcome this barrier, we put forward a conceptual framework that can be used to describe a wide range of these phenomena. After introducing the four core concepts of the framework, we illustrate how it can be applied to various phenomena. Doing so helps to reveal similarities and differences between those phenomena, thus improving communication and promoting interactions between different areas of research. Finally, we illustrate the generative power of the framework by discussing some of the new research questions that it highlights.


2019 ◽  
pp. 81-88
Author(s):  
Ozoem Martha ◽  
Chibuike Victoria C. ◽  
Ugwunwoti Emeka P.

This study was carried out to determine the modern office technology competencies expected of office technology and management (OTM) graduate workers by supervisors in Delta State. The study was guided by two research questions and two hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance. The respondents consisted of 142 supervisors, made up of 74 heads of department and directors of government establishments, and 68 managers and directors of private establishments in the study area. Descriptive survey research design was used to conduct the study and 28 – items questionnaire were used to collect data from respondents. The instrument was validated by three experts and had a Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient of 0.77. Means with standard deviations were used to answer the research questions, while t-test was used to test the null hypotheses. The extent of supervisor‟s expectations of information processing competencies did not differ significantly based on the mean ratings of male and female supervisors of OTM graduates in government and private establishments. The findings also revealed that supervisors expect much information processing and communication competencies from the OTM graduate workers. Based on the findings and the implications, it was recommended among others that, curriculum planners, business and OTM education lecturers should ensure that the competencies required for modern office technologies are entrenched and taught in the institutions to prepare the OTM graduates for the world of work.


Author(s):  
Tan Yigitcanlar ◽  
Juan M. Corchado ◽  
Rashid Mehmood ◽  
Rita Yi Man Li ◽  
Karen Mossberger ◽  
...  

The urbanization problems we face may be alleviated using innovative digital technology. However, employing these technologies entails the risk of creating new urban problems and/or intensifying the old ones instead of alleviating them. Hence, in a world with immense technological opportunities and at the same time enormous urbanization challenges, it is critical to adopt the principles of responsible urban innovation. These principles assure the delivery of the desired urban outcomes and futures. We contribute to the existing responsible urban innovation discourse by focusing on local government artificial intelligence (AI) systems, providing a literature and practice overview, and a conceptual framework. In this perspective paper, we advocate for the need for balancing the costs, benefits, risks and impacts of developing, adopting, deploying and managing local government AI systems in order to achieve responsible urban innovation. The statements made in this perspective paper are based on a thorough review of the literature, research, developments, trends and applications carefully selected and analyzed by an expert team of investigators. This study provides new insights, develops a conceptual framework and identifies prospective research questions by placing local government AI systems under the microscope through the lens of responsible urban innovation. The presented overview and framework, along with the identified issues and research agenda, offer scholars prospective lines of research and development; where the outcomes of these future studies will help urban policymakers, managers and planners to better understand the crucial role played by local government AI systems in ensuring the achievement of responsible outcomes.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Kofi Awuviry-Newton ◽  
Kylie Wales ◽  
Meredith Tavener ◽  
Paul Kowal ◽  
Julie Byles

Abstract Ghana's older population is projected to increase in coming decades and as a result will see increasing care needs. Understanding the functional difficulties older adults experience, and the associated factors, will help identify relevant intervention to assist older adults in meeting their care needs. This study aimed to analyse the prevalence of functional difficulties among older adults in Ghana, and examine how the World Health Organization International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (WHO-ICF) conceptual framework can relate to toileting difficulty to understand the factors that increase older adults’ care needs. Data were for 5,096 adults aged ⩾50 years from the WHO Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) Ghana Wave 1. Difficulties were assessed using self-reported difficulty on 22 functional items, including toileting. Multivariate logistic regression tested associations between toileting and other factors as related to the WHO-ICF conceptual framework. Older adults reported climbing one flight of stairs without resting as a common functional difficulty. Difficulty eating was the item least identified. Toileting difficulty was ranked second among five total activities of daily living difficulties. Age, marital status, self-reported health, memory, bodily pain, short- and far-distance vision, obesity, stroke, chronic lung disease, trust at individual and neighbourhood level, toilet facility type, socialising with co-workers, and public and religious meeting attendance were statistically significantly associated with toileting difficulty in the final parsimonious model. Post-hoc analysis testing interaction revealed that interaction existed between female sex and never married marital status (p = 0.04), and obesity and widowed marital status (p = 0.01), with toileting as the outcome. A significant level of functional difficulty existed among Ghanaian older adults in this sample. Toileting difficulty was associated with factors across different components in the WHO-ICF, emphasising functional, social and environmental factors related to this fundamental human activity.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  

Abstract As vaccine hesitancy and decreasing immunization coverage have been identified by the World Health Organization as global alarming health threats, it is of crucial importance to exploit the potential offered by digital solutions to enhance immunization programmes and ultimately increase vaccine uptake. We have previously developed and published a conceptual framework outlining how digitalization can support immunization at different levels: i) when adopted for health education and communication purposes, ii) in the context of immunization programmes delivery, and iii) in the context of immunization information systems management. The proposed workshop is co-organized by the EUPHA Digital health section (EUPHA-DH) and EUPHA Infectious diseases control section (EUPHA-IDC) and aims at discussing the current AVAILABILITY, USE and IMPACT of digital solutions to support immunization programmes at the international, national and local level, as well as, debating on how technical infrastructures on one side and normative and policy frameworks on the other side enable their implementation. We plan to have a rich set of contributions covering the following: the presentation of a conceptual framework identifying and mapping the digital solutions' features having the potential to bolster immunization programmes, namely: i) Personalization and precision; ii) Automation; iii) Prediction; iv) Data analytics (including big data and interoperability); and v) Interaction; the dissemination of key results and final outputs of a Europe-wide funded project on the use of Information & Communication Technology to enhance immunization, with particular reference to the use and comparative impact of email remainders and personal electronic health records, as well as the results of an international survey conducted to map and collect best practices on the use of different digital solutions within immunization programmes at the national and regional level; the firsthand experience of the United Kingdom NHS Digital Child Health Programme which developed, implemented and is currently evaluating a number of solutions to increase childhood vaccination uptake in England, including an information standard and information sharing services developed to ensure that the details of children's vaccinations can be shared between different health care settings the perspective and experience of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) for Europe and of the World Health Organization (WHO) for the global level of what has worked so far in the digitalization of immunization programmes around the world, what recommendations were developed and which barriers identified at the technical normative and policy level Key messages Digitalization has great potential to support immunization programmes but its practice and impact need to be measured. Country-level and international experiences have created qualitative and quantitative evidence on the effectiveness of digital intervention aimed at increasing vaccine uptake.


Author(s):  
Luzian Messmer ◽  
Braida Thom ◽  
Pius Kruetli ◽  
Evans Dawoe ◽  
Kebebew Assefa ◽  
...  

AbstractMany regions around the world are experiencing an increase in climate-related shocks, such as drought. This poses serious threats to farming activities and has major implications for sustaining rural livelihoods and food security. Farmers’ ability to respond to and withstand the increasing incidence of drought events needs to be strengthened and their resilience enhanced. Implementation of measures to enhance resilience is determined by decisions of farmers and it is important to understand the reasons behind their behavior. We assessed the viability of measures to enhance resilience of farmers to drought, by developing a general framework that covers economic-technical and psychological-cognitive aspects, here summarized under the terms (1) motivation and (2) feasibility. The conceptual framework was applied to cocoa farmers in Ghana and tef farmers in Ethiopia by using questionnaire-based surveys. A portfolio of five specific measures to build resilience (i.e., irrigation, shade trees, fire belts, bookkeeping, mulching, early mature varieties, weather forecast, reduced tillage, improved harvesting) in each country was evaluated with a closed-ended questionnaire that covered the various aspects of motivation and feasibility whereby farmers were asked to (dis)agree on a 5-point Likert scale. The results show that if the motivation mean score is increased by 0.1 units, the probability of implementation increases by 16.9% in Ghana and by 7.7% in Ethiopia. If the feasibility mean score is increased by 0.1 units, the probability of implementation increases by 24.9% in Ghana and by 11.9% in Ethiopia. We can conclude that motivation and feasibility matter, and we improve our understanding of measure implementation if we include both feasibility and motivation into viability assessments.


2002 ◽  
Vol 10 (01) ◽  
pp. 67-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
LISA K. GUNDRY ◽  
BEN-YOSEPH MIRIAM ◽  
MARGARET POSIG

The study of women's entrepreneurship has grown steadily during the last two decades, as the number of women-owned businesses worldwide has increased dramatically. This article presents an examination of major research questions and highlights the most recent scholarship on women's entrepreneurship within several key domains. The findings integrate broad areas of inquiry, including the emergence of women-owned firms in the global economy, entrepreneurial and firm characteristics, financing patterns, the greatest challenges to enterprise growth, and the influence of culture and family on the entrepreneurial organization. Recommendations are provided to contribute to an increased understanding of the dynamics of women-headed entrepreneurial enterprises around the world.


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