A Cluster Analysis of Senses Effects on Consumer Behavior. Lessons for Businesses

Author(s): Ioana-Octavia Bratulescu,Simona Vasilache / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2014

The paper tests the correlation between sensorial marketing and consumer behavior. Most of our buying decisions, in practice, are based on emotions, rather than rationality. Using an experimental design, we have tested the influence of human senses, under various stimuli, on purchasing behavior of selected customers. We have also tested the features of chocolate related to the idea of tenderness, in the consumers’ minds. The findings revealed that customers are less influenced by visual stimuli, reacting more to texture and packaging.

A Comparative Approach of Cultural Intelligence Profile of Management and Non-Management Romanian Students

Author(s): Laura Brancu,Valentin P. Munteanu,Ionut Golet / Language(s): English / Issue: 4/2016

This paper discusses the results of a comparative research related to cultural intelligence (CQ) carried out for a sample of Romanian students of the same university from various fields of study. Cultural intelligence (CQ) is defined as the as individuals’ ability to act efficiently in different cultural contexts. Due to a significant growth of Internet-based communication, enabling virtual work teams, geographically and culturally dispersed (Stanko & Gibson , 2009), and to increased globalization over the past 20 years, the number of people who currently get in touch with other cultures has grown significantly (Eisenberg et al., 2013). In this context, it could be consider that developing cross - cultural competencies is useful, even necessary, for professionals in all fields, not only for current or future managers. Consequently, in order to better understanding students' CQ, we classified them into two distinct groups, management and non-management students, using Earley & Ang’s (2003) multidimensional concept as an analysis framework. Because CQ is a multidimensional concept, this paper will discuss the answers for each of the four CQ dimensions, in order to identify which of the four capabilities is more or less developed among students and which are the significant similarities and differences between the two groups of students. Taking into account that literature highlights the influence of crosscultural management academic courses on CQ (Eisenberg et al. 2013, Putranto et al., 2015; Ramsey & Lorentz, 2016), our main purpose is to understand differences/similarities between the two groups and consequently, adapting the university curricula to students' real needs related to developing their CQ.

A generative framework for creative learning: A tool for planning creative-collaborative tasks in the classroom

Author(s): Sylvia Truman / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2011

In this paper a generative framework for creativity is presented which extends upon Wallas’s model of creativity (1926), social learning theories and creativity theories. The framework offered here presents a distillation of learning and creativity theory drawing upon salient roots of both creativity and learning theories in the 21st century. The generative framework can be instantiated for use as a learning support tool to assist with the design of classroom and / or other creative learning experiences. Creativity theories are discussed in relation to their appropriateness of the framework. An explanation of the framework is present-ed and an example instantiation provided. The development of the generative framework has been influenced by psychological accounts of creativity and socio-constructivist accounts of learning. The framework presented here has a number of implications for creativity theory as well as teaching and learning practice.

A Little About Memory Traces

Author(s): Vitas Saldžiunas,Aleksandras Kovalenko / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2011

A model for conceptualizing drawing as a teaching-learning activity in biology education

Author(s): Eliza Rybska / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2016

The purpose of presented article is to propose a way of dividing a graphical activity of a student in accordance to his/her mental involvement. Presented proposition is not strictly limited to school situations. The three dimensions of drawing would include: 1) schemes – when students draws what they see, 2) drawings – where students draws what they understand, and 3) sketches – when basing on their knowledge and skills and understanding of the presented issue they can solve a biological problems, may create representations new for them as a result of creative problem solving. It seems like usually at the biological lessons the first type of drawing is used (if ever). Such situation may lead to limiting a creativity development among polish students. The additional claim of the presented article is to show and encourage everyone who is dealing with teaching to invite all three dimensions of drawing into regular practice. Especially that drawing used as a method might help and support learning progression in science education.

A new pedagogical frontier: from equality to diversity

Author(s): Bonetta Gaetano / Language(s): English / Issue: 9/2011

Recently, the world of education lives a deep crisis. The educational universe is more strongly dominated by a relentless set of phenomena that can hardly be interpreted with the traditional categories. The crisis of formal education, and then of school, is reflected in the emergence of an even more marked distance between educational outcomes and strategic programming objectives. Against school’s anachronism as a place of learning and against educational offer’s inadequacy, the challenge consists in trying to link formal educational experiences to the numerous other educational experiences lived outside the “official” educational environment in life and in everyday’s history. In other words, it is necessary to reinterpret the educational tasks for the educational institutions, re-positioning knowledge and its paths according multiple points of view, expanding in a creative and constructive way the cognitive space and think an original “encyclopedia” of knowledge and skills in permanent advance. The first arrangement which would have to surrender and be re-founded is the human psychic reality “vision” of man.

A new variant of the barberpole effect: Psychophysical data and computer simulations

Author(s): Dejan Todorovic / Language(s): English / Issue: 3-4/2002

The classic barberpole effect shows that perceived direction of motion of parallel line segments depends on the orientation of the frame defined by segment end points. A stimulus configuration was created by crossing two oblique barberpoles. Perceived motion in the crossed portion of the configuration is bi-stable, alternating between two oblique directions defined by the two component barberpoles. Ratings of dominance of perceived motion direction in the crossed portion of two barberpoles of different width and orientation revealed a strong preference for the wider component barberpole and a weak preference for the nearer-to-vertical component barberpole. A network model is presented in which each unit inhibits units with different direction sensitivity and co-extensive receptive fields, and excites units with equal direction sensitivity and neighboring receptive fields. Simulations of the temporal evolution of the spatial activity profile exhibit the effect of barberpole width and the bi-stability of percepts. Fatigue of highly adapted units enables the gradual emergence of non-adapted units. Small initial variations can lead to profound differences in the final state of the system, explaining the quasi-random fluctuation between the two perceptual variants.

A possible way to form the chemical equilibrium concept

Author(s): Florentina Ciomos / Language(s): English / Issue: 6/2008

Das Konzept des Chemiegleichgewichts ist ein Konzept mit starkem interdisziplinärem Charakter und ziemlich abstrakt für das Niveau der XII. Klasse. Deshalb erscheinen in der Konzeptualisation des Konzeptes Chemiegleichgewicht eine Menge Fehler oder Ungenauheiten, die wegen der Hindernisse während der Konzeptualisation bei den Schülern auftreten. Vorliegende Studie analysiert, durch Beispiele und entsprechende Einzelheiten, die Aspekte, die sich an diese Konzeptualisation knüpfen, sowie auch die Stützelemente wie zum Beispiel: Informationsdarstellung, Vorbegriffe, Fehler, Konzeptualisationskarte und die Entwicklung der Konzeptualisation für verscheidene psychogenetische Entwicklungsniveaus. Aufgrund dieser erwähnten Aspekte werden einige Verhaltungsweisen für die Vorbeugung/Überbrückung der Hindernisse vorgeschlagen.

A sokszínű társalgás egy sokszínű pszichológus szemével

Author(s): Imre Péntek / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 12/2012

Aberantno ponašanje i kognitivna sposobnost predškolske dece

Author(s): Gustav Bala,Ankica Hošek-Momirovic,Špela Golubovic / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 4/2007

The sample included 712 preschool boys and girls at the age of 4 to 7 years (mean 5.96 decimal years and standard deviation .96) from preschool institutions in Novi Sad, Sombor, Sremska Mitrovica and Bačka Palanka. Information concerning 36 indicators of aberrant behavior of the children were supplied by their parents, whereas their cognitive ability was tested by Raven’s progressive colored matrices. Based on factor analysis (promax method), four factors i.e. generators of aberrant behavior in children were singled out: aggression, anxiousness, dissociation, and hysteria, whose relations with cognitive functioning and age were also analyzed by factor analysis. Aberrant behavior and cognitive abilities show significant interrelatedness. Owing to orderly developed cognitive abilities, a child understands essence and reality of problems, realizes possibilities and manners of solving them, and succeeds in realizing successful psycho-social functioning. Developed cognitive abilities enable a child to recognize and understand her/his own reactions in different situations and develop manners of reacting, which leads to strengthening psycho-social safety and adapting behavior in accordance with her/his age and abilities.

ACTUAL TENDENCY IN INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA

Author(s): Andreea Szalontay,Alina Mihaela Pascu,Andreea Teodorescu,Dan Minea,Petru IFTENI / Language(s): English / Issue: 51/2015

Patients with schizophrenia requiring long-term institutionalization represent cases with poor outcome, often leading to high costs for patients and family and constituting a huge economical burden for society if patients are young. The aims of the study were identification of characteristics and predictors of institutionalization in schizophrenia. Retrospective study of all institutionalized patients with schizophrenia in Brasov County, Romania, with a DSM-IV-TR lifetime diagnosis of schizophrenia institutionalized between 1995 and 2014. Institutionalized patients between 2005 and 2014 (n=172) had lower age (51.15 vs. 57.08, p<0.05) and lower age at institutionalization compared with patients admitted between 1995 and 2004. Lower education level (8.23 vs. 13.22, p<0.05), only one parent, multiple antipsychotics treatments and suboptimal response under first generation long acting antipsychotics are predictors for institutionalization. Our study showed a tendency to institutionalize patients with schizophrenia at the younger age compared with other periods. Early intervention in psychosis, controlled treatment with SGAs should be solutions to avoid institutionalization of young patients with schizophrenia.

Adaptation to different types of cognitive confl ict. Are there common mechanisms?

Author(s): Marta Siedlecka,Kamila Smigasiewicz / Language(s): English / Issue: 8/2015

One of the functions of cognitive control is to detect difficulties in information processing and adjust the level of performance. This article presents study on confl ict adaptation in which we investigated how detection of cognitive conflict influences behaviour on a subsequent trial. In two experiments we aimed to find out whether the adjustment can be carried out across two kinds of cognitive conflicts: between competing responses and requirements of two tasks. The modified version of the flanker task in switching paradigm was used so that participants had to switch between two tasks that shared the same stimulus set. The results showed that the two kinds of confl icts did not interact with each other. Furthermore, each conflict evoked conflict adaptation, but this adaptation did not occurred across conflicts. This suggests that conflict adaptation covers a set of mechanisms functioning uniquely in one domain.

Amending the revisionist model of the Capgras delusion. A further argument for the role of patient experience in delusional belief formation

Author(s): Garry Young / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2014

Recent papers on the Capgras delusion have focused on the role played by subpersonal abductive inference in the formation and maintenance of the delusional belief. In these accounts, the delusional belief is posited as the first delusion-related event of which the patient is conscious. As a consequence, an explanatory role for anomalous patient experience is denied. The aim of this paper is to challenge this revisionist position and to integrate subpersonal inference within a model of the Capgras delusion which includes a role for experiential content. I argue that the following revisionist claims are problematic: (a) that a fully-formed belief enters consciousness, and (b) that this is the first conscious delusion-related event. Instead, it is my contention that a delusional thought (arrived at through subpersonal abductive inference) and an anomalous experience co-occur in consciousness prior to the formation of the delusional belief. The co-occurrence of thought and anomalous experience overcomes problems with the revisionist position resulting in an account of the Capgras delusion with greater explanatory efficacy.

Amodalno kompletiranje poluzaklonjenih figura: Efekat orijentacije konture

Author(s): Slobodan Markovic,Vasilije Gvozdenovic / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 3/2003

In present study the temporal dimension of amodal completion in visual occlusion was investigated. We supposed that the visual system prefers to complete normally (vertically-horizontally) oriented contours than the oblique ones. Using the prime-matching paradigm we investigated the strength of amodal primes effects on processing speed of relating test figures. Both, prime and test stimuli were presented in normal and oblique (45o ) orientations. The primes were pairs of identical figures: CC (truncked squares), SS (hexagons) and AA (amodal patterns: circle occludes either amodal C or amodal S). Temporal distribution of stimuli: prime 400ms, ISIs 20ms and test figures until response. Test figures were the “same” pairs, CC and SS, and the “different” pairs, SC and CS. Each “same” test figures had its identical prime (CC => CC or SS => SS) and its amodal prime (AA => CC and AA => SS). The subjects were asked to answer wether the figures in test stimuli were same or different. The “same” RTs were analysed. The effect of amodal prime was systematically weaker (longer RT) than the effect of identical primes. Orientation was not significant factor. The significant partial interaction prime x orientation was obtained for C test figures: the effect of amodal prime was closer to effect of identical prime when the contour was normally oriented. In the case of S test figures the interaction was not obtained. We concluded that the more symmetric test figure (S) was resistent to the prime effect.

An Analysis of 24 Syllogisms with Abstract-Symbolic Content in what Respects their Capacity to Indicate the Ability for the Categorical Syllogistic Reasoning.

Author(s): Lucia E. Faiciuc / Language(s): English / Issue: 15/2017

In the psychometric instruments that measure cognitive aptitudes like general intelligence, logical thinking, or formal reasoning, there are included, sometimes, some few categorical syllogisms, but why those particular syllogisms are selected is not very clear. On the other hand, in the empirical studies in which the theoretical models of the categorical syllogistic reasoning are tested, there are used syllogistic tasks in which tens of categorical syllogisms are included, as many as possible from the total number of 64 possible syllogisms (for the case in which only the two premises of a syllogism are taken into consideration). From pragmatic reasons (for example, administration time of a psychometric instrument), it would be desirable that, from those syllogistic tasks with a high number of categorical syllogisms to be selected for a psychometric purpose a small number of categorical syllogisms that have the highest potential to discriminate between the persons with a high ability for categorical syllogistic reasoning and the ones with a low ability in this respect, providing a more solid empirical base for the choice of the categorical syllogisms included in the cognitive tests. The present research is intended to be a contribution in that direction, an undertaking that, to my knowledge, lacks from the psychological literature. The research was based on the data obtained by me in a yet unpublished series of empirical studies, on a total number of 323 participants, having the same experimental design, through which there were investigated the cognitive processes involved in the syllogistic reasoning. In those studies, a syllogistic task with 24 categorical syllogisms with an abstract symbolic content, with two versions with a different linguistic format was used. In this research, from these 24 categorical syllogisms, there were selected a small number of syllogisms (five) as having the highest discriminative potential, based on the way they were solved by two groups of participants taken out from the entire sample as having the highest, and, respectively, the lowest stable performance at this syllogistic task in its two versions. The majority of the selected syllogisms (three) were invalid ones, with two negative premises. Future studies are needed in order to investigate the measure in which the selected categorical syllogisms have indeed a predictive value for the ability to reason syllogistically, in particular, or even for the formal thinking, or for intelligence, in general.

An empirical research upon the relation between emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior

Author(s): Kubilay Ozyer,Yucel Erol,Ismail Alici / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2012

In this study, it has been investigated whether there is a relation between emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior or not. Emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior are two important variables effective upon employees’ both private life and business life. In the global business world workforce for organizations are the most important competitive adavantage factor. That’s why it is too important to improve workforce of organizations. To this aim in this study it have been analysed individual and organizational aspects of workforce. These are emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior. To measure emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior were used questionnaires. According to the result of the study which included 77 students, there has been a significant and strong relation between emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior. There occurred different correlations in correlations between organization citizenship behavior sub-dimensions and emotional intelligence.

An Examination of the Relationship between Procrastination and Self-Efficacy: An Empirical Study

Author(s): Korhan Karacaoglu,Asli Kaplan / Language(s): English / Issue: 41/2016

Procrastination is used in a broad sense to postpone or defer the things until tomorrow. Many variables such as task avoidance, uncertainty, fear of failure, low self- esteem can be mentioned as the antecedents of procrastination in the literature; in addition, low self- efficacy is also considered one of the antecedents of procrastination. Self- efficacy refers to individuals' belief in fulfilling the specific tasks successively through needed behavior patterns and cognitive processes. In this respect, the primary objective of this study is to examine the relationship between self- efficacy and procrastination. The study uses a structural equation model (SEM) to produce causal relationship and analyze the data from 281 employees in Nevsehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University, in Turkey. The results showed that there was a negative relationship between self- efficacy and procrastination; besides, self- efficacy had low rate to account for procrastination.

An illness of one’s own. Memoir as art form and research as witness

Author(s): Arthur W. Frank / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2018

The author reviews his own experiences of writing an illness memoir, asking what makes such storytelling possible. How telling stories about suffering can precipitate healing is then considered. Finally, the argument pivots to health care research, asking what sort of research would be consistent with the ideas about illness that have been expressed.

AN INVESTIGATION OF CHRONOLOGICAL VERSUS COGNITIVE AGE IMPACT IN THE KUWAIT COFFEE SHOP MARKET

Author(s): Larry Pleshko,Richard Heiens / Language(s): English / Issue: 11/2015

Given the growing body of research dedicated to self-perceived age and the cognitive age construct, it is widely believed that one’s self-perceived age may actually be a better predictor of age-related psychological states or attitudes than mere chronological age. Extending the research on cognitive age, the current study examines the impact of both cognitive age and traditional chronological age on the behaviors of coffee shop users in Kuwait. The study finds that chronological age and cognitive age are highly correlated, both in age levels and in terms of consumer behavior. Nevertheless, a large portion of the sample perceived themselves to be younger than their chronological age. This is especially true of consumers aged 55 and over. The main findings that differentiate chronological age from cognitive age are that as Kuwaiti consumers become chronologically older, coffee drinks become more important to them. Also, as cognitive age increases, consumers are less likely to drink coffee with friends.

An Outline of a Phenomenology of Solidarity: Beyond the Bridge Problem

Author(s): Witold Plotka / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2018

The aim of the article is to present main elements, problems and preliminary solutions connected to a phenomenology of solidarity. The article is divided into three parts. In the first part, the author defines the bridge problem as an attempt to bind subjective and intersubjective levels of constitution, and he shows that neither Ingarden nor Tischner can solve the problem. In the second part, the author presents the act of solidarization as a complex act which binds cognitive, volitional and affective dimensions. Finally, the author sketches an alternative approach to a phenomenology of solidarity that leads beyond the bridge problem, namely, Husserl’s theory of constitution of groups in joint action.