Disentangling help-seeking and giving up: differential human-directed gazing by dogs in a modified unsolvable task paradigm

Dogs are renowned for ‘looking back’ at humans when confronted with a problem, but it has been questioned whether this implies help-seeking or giving up. We tested 56 pet dogs from two breed groups (herding dogs and terriers) in a modified unsolvable task paradigm. One reward type (food or toy) was enclosed in a box, while the respective other reward was accessible. With both reward types, human-directed gazing in relation to the box was significantly positively correlated with interaction with the box, as long as an alternative was available. This suggests that both behaviours served to attain the unavailable reward and reflected individual motivation for the inaccessible vs the accessible reward. Furthermore, we varied whether the owner or the experimenter was responsible for handling the rewards. In the owner-responsible group, dogs rarely gazed at the experimenter. In the experimenter-responsible group, dogs preferentially directed box-related gazing (prior to or after looking at or interacting with the box) at the owner. Still, they gazed at the experimenter significantly longer than the owner-responsible group. Conversely, toy-related gazing was directed significantly more at the experimenter. Thus, dogs adjust their gazing behaviour according to the people’s responsibility and their current goal (help-seeking vs play). Gaze duration did not differ between herding dogs and terriers. We conclude that dogs use gazing at humans’ faces as a social problem-solving strategy, but not all gazing can be classified as such. Dogs’ human-directed gazing is influenced by the social relationships with the persons, situational associations, and context (unsolvable problem vs play).

COLLABORATIVE LEARNING AND INDIVIDUAL WORK PERFORMANCE IN COWORKING SPACES

Coworking spaces are becoming increasingly popular. Throughout literature, coworking spaces are commonly known as collaborative environments. Yet, there is a lack of research on the mechanisms of the collaborative practices within coworking spaces. This research identifies collaborative learning as a major collaborative practice within coworking spaces, and develops a conceptual framework including two other variables: individual motivation to learn and individual work performance. Exploratory factor analysis to establish the reliability and validity of this framework. Next, a survey study was conducted of 169 coworking space members and PLS-SEM was used to do a factor analysis and evaluate the structural model created. It is found that individual motivation to learn positively impacts collaborative learning, collaborative learning positively impacts individual work performance, and that collaborative learning acts as a full mediator between individual motivation to learn and individual work performance. These findings demonstrate how collaborative learning can be key in improving individual work performance in coworking spaces. Furthermore, these findings position collaborative learning as a theory that deserves further attention in coworking space research. These findings also suggest that coworking space operators may want to further encourage collaboration and incentivize learning in their space.

The CO-MAsk approach: Tips for fostering mask use among older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic

Face masks are effective at limiting contagion of the coronavirus. However, adherence to face mask use among the older adult population is often unsatisfactory due to cognitive impairment, misconceptions, and difficulty in retrieving face masks. This brief note provides healthcare professionals with simple suggestions about how to improve face mask adoption in the older adults, in particular if they suffer from mild cognitive impairment. Thus, clinical reflections and psychoeducational suggestions are summarized into a simple mental roadmap. Specifically, the CO-MAsk approach underlines the necessity to consider the following factors: Cognition (possible cognitive impairment), Occasions (real chances to access correct information and proper protection equipment), Motivation (individual motivation towards sanitary prescriptions) and Assumptions (personal beliefs and understandings). Possible obstacles and practical suggestions for are also discussed. It is of paramount importance that healthcare professionals pay attention to emotional, cognitive and psychological aspects to effectively improve the face masks adherence among older adults, specifically when cognitive decline is present.

Point of Contact

COVID-19 exposed the need to identify newer tools to understand perception of information, behavioral conformance to instructions and model the effects of individual motivation and decisions on the success of measures being put in place. We approach this challenge through the lens of serious games. Serious games are designed to instruct and inform within the confines of their magic circle. We built a multiplayer serious game, Point of Contact (PoC), to investigate effects of a serious game on perception and behavior. We conducted a study with 23 participants to gauge perceptions of COVID-19 preventive measures and quantify the change after playing PoC. The results show a significant positive change to participants' perceptions towards COVID-19 preventive measures, shifting perceptions towards following guidelines more strictly due to a greater awareness of how the virus spreads. We discuss these implications and the value of a serious game like PoC towards pandemic risk modelling at a microcosm level.

Changes in livelihoods: coastal community responses to artisanal gold mining at Anggai village

This study aims to describe changes in the livelihoods of coastal communities in Anggai village as a response to artisanal gold mining. The study used a descriptive approach the selection of respondents by purposive sampling. The results showed a change in the livelihood pattern, marked by a change in job orientation shifting work orientation from being farmers/fishers as the primary/main livelihood to being miners. Internal factors driving the change were individual motivation, work duration, and offspring needs. Meanwhile, external factors included job opportunities offered/invited by relatives, simple technology that was easy to apply, and growing mobilization. Meanwhile, artisanal mining had impact in increasing community (family) income.

Semantic and motivational characteristics of enmity vocabulary: the relevance of structural motivation

The object of the research includes the actual designations of the subject with the semantics of enmity, formed with the active foreign language word-formation components, functioning in Russian-language online media and Internet communication in 2000-2020. The approaches used include system-centric and text-centric, semasiological and onomasiological approaches, motivational, definitional, functional-semantic and contextual analysis. It analyses the syntagmatics, semantics, word's inner form, type of motivation, motivational form and meaning, motivational and classification features, lexical and structural motivators, ways of discursive actualising the motivational relations of the studied words. It is shown that selected lexical units with the component –phobe, -phrenic, - saur, -down, -hater, -oid, -oholik, -path, -man, -(e)rast belong to the vocabulary of enmity depending on their significative or pragmatic component, implement a negative assessment of intellectual, psychological, moral qualities of the subject. The actual vectors of developing the nominal vocabulary of enmity in the Russian language are determined by integration, intensification, internationalization, intensification. The relevant word-forming tendencies in the studied group of nouns are highlighted – the frequency of word composition, non-usual ways of word formation, nominations by analogy, the increasing role of onyms, the activity of word-forming components with a negative rating. It is demonstrated that motivational relations of lexemes are discursively implemented through the actualization of lexical and structural motivation, the paradigmatic value of lexemes, the subjective modality that the addressee uses, his/her individual motivation of words.

International Students’ Motivations and Decisions to do a PhD in Canada: Proposing a Three-Layer Push-Pull Framework

The study aims to explore which factors influence international students’ decision to pursue doctoral studies in Canada. Drawing on the push-pull model and the mechanism of educational decision making, this study uses semi-structured interviews to gather data and explores themes such as political and economic forces, institutional factors, social background and experience, and individual motivation in students’ decision making. Our study identifies multiple factors at the individual, institutional, and country levels that influence students’ decision making, including students’ past experiences, funding, faculty members, and immigration policies. Moreover, it finds that the factors vary by students’ regions of origin and disciplines of study. Our findings, focused on international doctoral students in Canada, add to the ongoing conversation about student mobility and add nuances on international students’ decision-making process in times of shifting landscape of higher education internationalization.

Business Entrepreneurship And Education

This study is a review of the literature regarding business entrepreneurship and education. The main aim is to study the social and educational factors affecting the creation of self-employment for young people as a contribution to the development of local entrepreneurship, reducing unemployment and leveraging economic development. Of the various social influencers, it was important to understand the role of the family, especially of the parents, in motivating and sustaining the creation of one's own job and in the actions of entrepreneurship. In the same sense, at the educational level, to perceive the consequences of access to new resources that expand and support knowledge and skills acquisition useful for creating one's own job and reducing risk aversion of business activities. Finally, to understand the role of endogenous factors such as intelligence and individual motivation in the pursuit of entrepreneurship activities and their relationship with social and educational influencers.

How do Individuals Form Their Motivations to Expatriate? A Review and Future Research Agenda

For two decades, individual motivations to expatriate have received substantial attention in the expatriation literature examining self-initiated and assigned expatriation. Recently, however, this literature has changed direction, demonstrating that prior to forming their actual motivations, individuals undergo a process wherein they actively form those motivations. No review has yet unraveled this motivation process, and this systematic literature review fills this gap. Using the Rubicon Action model that discusses the motivation process of expatriation, this article demonstrates that for self-initiated and assigned expatriation, individuals follow similar processes: expatriation expectations are formed; then, they are evaluated; and finally, preferences are built that result in motivations to expatriate. Findings for each stage are discussed in light of their contributions to the expatriation literature. For major gaps, new research suggestions are offered to advance our understanding of the individual motivation process that expats experience prior to forming their motivations to move abroad.

Conceptualizing Personhood for Sustainability: A Buddhist Virtue Ethics Perspective

This conceptual paper addresses the role the individual plays in sustainability against the backdrop of the ethical dimensions of sustainability. We discuss the relevance of moral personhood as a basis for sustainability and develop a model of personhood for sustainability. The paper outlines the ethical dimensions of sustainability and discusses the role of individual morality for sustainability from a virtue ethics perspective. We employ a Buddhist virtue ethical approach for conceptualizing a model of the sustainable person that is characterized by sustainability virtues, interdependent personhood, and an inherent concern for the wellbeing of others, nature, and future beings. In contrast to many Western-based conceptions of the individual actor, our model of sustainable personhood conceptualizes and explains a coherent and inherent individual motivation for sustainability. The paper contributes to the methodological question of how to best consider the individual in sustainability research and sustainability approaches and suggests a conceptual basis for integrating individual, institutional, and systemic aspects of sustainability.