Les études d’opinion se contentent généralement de mesurer une opinion, une réponse considérée comme l’attitude dusujet. Pourtant, si on nous pose la question, nous sommes capables de donner plusieurs opinions, plusieurs réponses que nous avons intériorisées lors de nos interactions avec autrui, dans un répertoire de réponses (Moscovici, 1970). Ce faisant, nous assumons l’attitude d’Autrui (Mead, 1934) qui médiatise ainsi notre rapport à l’objet (Moscovici, 1984) : chaque prise de position est le résultat d’un dialogue interne entretenu par le sujet avec autrui et ses réponses (Marková, 2005). Notre objectif dans cette thèse est d’inventer une méthode permettant d’appréhender ce répertoire de réponses.Nous avons testé ainsi un paradigme qui va nous permettre d’observer, dans nos deux premières études, la multiplicité deréponses dont nous disposons dans notre répertoire, ainsi que leur caractère partagé et cohérent. Une troisième étude, appuyée sur cette méthode, nous a permis de constater que le niveau d’élaboration des répertoires de réponses est lié à l’implication de l’individu vis-à-vis de l’objet. Nous avons également pu observer le développement d’un répertoire de réponses, lors d’une étude de terrain menée, sur deux ans, dans un groupe restreint qui découvrait une nouvelle technologie. De façon générale, cette thèse apporte sa contribution à l’écriture de la grammaire du répertoire de réponses en présentant un paradigme qui souligne le caractère multiple de l’opinion. / Opinion surveys usually settle for measuring opinion, an answer considered to be the participant’s attitude toward the subject. Yet when further questioned, we are able to give several opinions, several answers, that we have internalized from our interactions with others, into a repertoire of responses (Moscovici, 1970). In doing so, we assume the attitude of others (Mead, 1934) thus mediating our relationship to the object (Moscovici, 1984): each position is the result of an internal dialogue, maintained by the subject with others and their responses (Markova, 2005). Our goal in this thesis is to invent a method to understand this repertoire of responses. Thus, in our first two studies, we tested a paradigm that allows us to observe, the multiplicity of responses that are available in our repertoire, as well as their shared and coherent nature. A thirdstudy based on this method, enabled us to observe that the degree of development of the repertoire of responses is related to the involvement of the individual in regard to the object. We were also able to observe the development of a repertoire of responses in a field study lasting over two years, in a small group who discovered a new technology. Generally, this thesis contributes to writing the grammar of the repertoire of responses by presenting a paradigm that emphasizes the varied nature of opinion.

Historically, a dominant view has been that we understand others by directly matching their actions to our own motor system, emphasising the importance of bottom-up processes during social perception. However, more recent theories suggest that instead we actively anticipate others actions based upon intentions inferred outside of the motor system, from social cues such as language, eye gaze and object information. Across 13 experiments, the established representational momentum paradigm, as well as a cross-modal visuotactile paradigm were employed to test the hypothesis that people’s perceptual processes while observing the actions of others would be affected by such top-down cues about the actor’s intentions. We found, first, that people overestimate other people’s actions in the direction of motion. Importantly, these overestimations were directly influenced by social cues. Saying or hearing a word congruent with a subsequently observed action resulted in the action being perceived as further along its trajectory. Second, we found that people anticipate the tactile outcomes of other people’s actions with their own sensory tactile systems but that the mechanisms differed for bottom-up and top-down driven predictions. In a task in which people had to detect tactile stimulation while watching others, seeing impending hand-object contact increased the bias to perceive tactile stimulation, even when there was none, while impending contact that could not be seen but only inferred increased tactile sensitivity. These findings are discussed in the context of recent theories of top-down predictive processing during social perception and from the perspective of multisensory integration.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T12:59:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1379485 bytes, checksum: ae907e91268da44815445844aa82dc49 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-03-11 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / 8(17),12e,14-labdatrien-18 oic acid (labdane-302), is a diterpene isolated from the stem bark of Xylopia langsdorfiana A. St.-Hil. & Tul. In a preliminary study, Ribeiro (2003) demonstrated that labdane-302 inhibited the phasic contractions induced by carbachol (CCh) or histamine (IC50 = 1.7  0.5 and 0.9  0.2 x 10-5 M, respectively) on guinea-pig ileum. The aim of the present study was to investigate the spasmolytic action mechanism of labdane-302 in that organ. Isometric and isotonic contractions were monitored, and the parameters of relative potency and efficacy were determined from cumulative concentration-response curves. Labdane-302 inhibited (pD´2 = 4.9  0.2; r2 = 0.8  0.1) the cumulative concentration-response curves to histamine, and these were shifted to the right, in a non-parallel manner (Schild plot slope = 4.2  1.4), with depression of the maximal effect (Emax), suggesting a noncompetitive antagonism. Labdane-302 relaxed, in an equipotent manner, the ileum pre-contracted with KCl, CCh or histamine, suggesting that this diterpene could be acting on Cav. This assumption was confirmed by observation that labdane-302 antagonized the CaCl2 induced contractions in the depolarizing medium without Ca2+ (pD´2 = 5.3  0.1; r2 = 0.5  0.05 ), with shift of the concentration-response curve to the right, in a non-parallel manner (Schild plot slope = 2.6  0.5), with depression of Emax. As in the guinea-pig ileum the major CaV subtype is the Cav 1, we decided to investigated its role in the action mechanism of labdane-302, and was verified that the diterpene relaxed (EC50 = 3.6  0.8 x 10-5 M) the ileum pre-contracted with S-(-)-Bay K8644, a selective agonist of the Cav1. As the potent relaxing of labdane-302 was no different when ileum pre-contracted with KCl or S-(-)-Bay K8644, it is suggestive of indirect blockade of the Cav1. Since K+ channels play a major role in the regulation of membrane potential and modulation of CaV, we decided to investigate the participation of K+ channels in the spasmolytic action of labdane-302. The relaxant potency of labdane-302 (EC50 = 1.5  0.3 x 10-5 M) was decreased on 2.4 times in the presence of CsCl, a non-selective K+channels blocker (CE50 = 3,5  0,6 x 10-5 M), suggesting a possible involvement of the K+ channels in the spasmolytic effect caused by labdane-302. In order to verify which subtypes of K+ channels could be involved we used selectives blockers of these channels. The observation that 4-aminopyridine, a selective blocker of Kv, and that TEA+ 1 mM, a selective blocker of the BKca did not change the relaxant effect of labdane-302 suggests that KV and BKca are not involved in its action mechanism. On the other hand, the log concentration-response curve induced by labdane-302 was shifted to the right in the presence of apamine, selective blocker of the SKCa, (EC50 = 3.3  0.4 x 10-5 M) or glibenclamide, selective blocker of the KATP, (EC50 = 3.2  0.3 x 10-5 M), suggesting the involvement of SKCa and KATP in the spasmolytic action mechanism induced by labdane-302 on guinea-pig ileum. In the presence of aminophylline the potency of labdane-302 was increased (EC50 = 0.4 ± 0.03 x 10-5 M), which indicate participation of cyclic nucleotides. These results suggest that the relaxant effect of labdane-302 on guinea-pig ileum, involves the activation of the SKCa and KATP with the consequent blocking of Cav-L and involvement of the cyclic nucleotides. / O ácido 8(17),12e,14-labdatrieno-18-óico (labdano-302) é um diterpeno isolado das cascas do caule de Xylopia langsdorfiana A. St.-Hil. & Tul. Em estudos anteriores Ribeiro (2003) demonstrou que o labdano-302 inibiu as contrações fásicas induzidas por carbacol (CCh) e histamina (CI50 = 1,7  0,5 e 0,9  0,2 x 10-5 M, respectivamente) em íleo de cobaia. O objetivo desse estudo foi investigar o mecanismo de ação espasmolítica do labdano-302 neste órgão. As contrações isométricas e isotônicas foram monitoradas e os parâmetros de potência e eficácia relativas foram determinados a partir de curvas de concentrações-resposta cumulativas. O labdano-302 inibiu (pD´2 = 4,9  0,2; r2 = 0,8  0,1) as curvas cumulativas à histamina e estas foram desviadas para direita, de forma não paralela ( slope de Schild = 4,2  1,4) e com redução do Emax, sugerindo um antagonismo não competitivo. O labdano-302 relaxou, de maneira equipotente, o íleo pré-contraído com KCl, CCh ou histamina sugerindo que este diterpeno deve estar agindo Cav. Essa sugestão foi confirmada pelo fato do labdano-302 ter antagonizado as contrações induzidas por CaCl2 em meio despolarizante nominalmente sem Ca2+ (pD´2 = 5,3  0,1; r2 = 0,5  0,05 ), com desvio da curva concentrações-resposta para direita, de forma não paralela ( slope de Schild = 2,6  0,5) e com redução do Emax. Como em íleo de cobaia o CaV mais expresso é o Cav 1, decidiu-se investigar a sua participação no mecanismo de ação do labdano-302 e foi verificado que o diterpeno relaxou (CE50 = 3,6  0,8 x 10-5 M) o íleo pré-contraído com S-(-)-Bay K8644, um ativador seletivo dos Cav1. Como a potência relaxante do labdano-302 não foi diferente quando o órgão era pré-contraído com KCl ou S-(-)-Bay K8644, isto é sugestivo de bloqueio indireto dos Cav1. Uma vez que os canais de K+ desempenham um papel chave na regulação do potencial de membrana e modulação dos CaV, decidiu-se investigar a participação dos canais de K+ na ação espasmolítica do labdano-302. A potência relaxante de labdano-302 (CE50 = 1,5  0,3 x 10-5 M) foi reduzida em aproximadamente 2,4 vezes na presença de CsCl, bloqueador não seletivo dos canais de K+ (CE50 = 3,5  0,6 x 10-5 M), sugerindo a participação de canais de K+ no efeito do labdano-302. Para verificar qual(is) canal(is) de K+ estariam envolvidos usou-se bloqueadores seletivos desses canais. O fato da 4-aminopiridina, bloqueador seletivo dos Kv, e do tetraetilamônio 1 mM, bloqueador seletivo dos BKca não alterar o efeito relaxante do labdano-302 indica que os KV e os BKca não estão envolvidos em seu mecanismo de ação. Entretanto, a curva de relaxamento induzida pelo labdano-302 foi desviada para direita na presença de apamina, um bloqueador seletivo dos SKCa (CE50 = 3,3  0,4 x 10-5 M) ou de glibenclamida, um bloqueador seletivo dos KATP, (CE50 = 3,2  0,3 x 10-5 M), sugerindo o envolvimento dos SKCa e dos KATP no mecanismo de ação espasmolítica do labdano-302 em íleo isolado de cobaia. Na presença de aminofilina, a potência do labdano-302 foi aumentada (CE50 = 0.4 ± 0.03 x 10-5 M), o que indica a participação de nucleotídeos cíclicos. Esses resultados sugerem que o efeito relaxante do labdano-302 em íleo de cobaia, envolve a ativação dos SKCa e KATP com o conseqüente bloqueio de Cav-L e o envolvimento de nucleotídeos cíclicos.

Ergebnisbericht zu einer qualitativen Studie bei Entscheiden in Kommunikationsabteilungen von Unternehmen, Beratungen und Technologiedienstleistern in Deutschland zur Einführung digitaler Technologien (CommTech) in den Arbeitsprozessen der Unternehmenskommunikation.

Digitalization and demographic change represent two megatrends that impact organizations and workplaces around the globe. Rapid developments in information and communication technology (ICT) are fundamentally changing the ways in which work is conducted. At the same time, workforces are becoming increasingly older and age diverse. Integrating the model of workplace ICT use and work design with socioemotional selectivity theory from the lifespan development literature, we investigate employee age as a moderator of the indirect and total effects of ICT use for task and social functions on self-rated task proficiency and job satisfaction. As potential mediators, we focus on three job-related resources: job autonomy, team cohesion, and task significance. Data were collected from 1761 employees at three measurement points across two months. The results showed that ICT use for task and social functions were not significantly associated with job autonomy, team cohesion, task significance, task proficiency, and job satisfaction, while controlling for baseline levels of these mediator and outcome variables. Job autonomy was negatively related to task proficiency, and team cohesion was positively related, whereas both job autonomy and team cohesion were positively related to job satisfaction. Contrary to expectations, age did not moderate the indirect and total effects of ICT use for task and social functions on task proficiency and job satisfaction. We discuss the implications of our findings for future research and practice regarding ICT use and age in the work context.

Wie sind die Entwicklungen der Gender Studies vor dem Hintergrund ihrer Historie zu verstehen? Die Beiträger*innen des Bandes diskutieren diese Frage in drei thematischen Blöcken: Biografische Reflexionen treffen auf politische, künstlerische sowie wissenschaftliche Interventionen und stellen so das Potential der Disziplin heraus. Die einzelnen Beiträge entsprechen Schlaglichtern, die sowohl Dis- als auch Kontinuitäten der Diskurse beleuchten. Die dadurch entstehenden Synergieeffekte bestätigen die Notwendigkeit eines entgrenzenden Dialogs im Fach, transdisziplinär wie transnational.

In recent years Social Neuroscience has started to investigate how mood and culture influence social and emotional situations. In the present study differences in elicited emotion and neural activation were investigated when participants viewed films depicting social interactions. Film clips are preferred stimuli for elicitation of emotion in laboratory studies, but given the lack of standardised film sets in the literature, two behavioural studies were conducted prior to imaging. The first study (147 females, 30 males; 98.8% 18 to 24 years) identified a set of clips that elicited emotion profiles in which the target emotion (happy, sad) was strongest, as well as neutral clips, and demonstrated an effect of participants’ stable mood. The second study (143 females, 19 males; mean age 19.2 years) optimised the stimulus set and demonstrated effects of self-reported ethnic origin, mood and interest on profiles of elicited emotion. In the fMRI investigation 33 female and 8 male participants (mean age 19.2 years) viewed film clips in a block design experiment with loose and tight t-contrasts and retrospective ratings of elicited emotion. Across all-participants, social interaction depicting sadness activated key emotion-related structures such as left amygdala and insula, and medial frontal cortex that were not significantly activated with social interaction depicting happiness. However, greater activation was observed for Europeans than for non-Europeans in orbitofrontal cortex, anterior and posterior cingulate for happy social interaction and in hippocampus, precuneus and retrosplenial cortex for sad social interaction. Individual differences in trait emotions and stable mood were measured with PANAS-X. For high fatigue participants greater activation was observed in the left amgydala for happy social interaction. For participants with high positive stable mood greater activation was observed in the insula for happy and sad social interaction. The research described here indicates that self-reported ethnic origin and mood are potentially significant influences on elicited emotion and brain reactivity to positive and negative social and emotional situations.

Cultural transmission theory and methods focus on the qualities of cultural artefacts (e.g. religious beliefs, supernatural ideas, folk stories) to understand how and why some spread and last better than others. This epidemiological approach is part of a broader project, cognition and culture, which seeks to understand links between mind and culture. Cognition and culture is concerned with universal, recurrent cultural phenomena, whose developmental acquisition and patterns of distribution and variation may be linked to innate mental competencies. Anthropologists, ethno- and cognitive linguists, and cognitive and developmental psychologists have established that metaphor exhibits exactly these characteristics—universality, cultural variation, and developmental acquisition patterns. Yet, the cultural transmission of metaphor has not been addressed in the cognition and culture literature. This thesis proposes a novel application of an epidemiological account of cultural transmission to small-scale, linguistic, cultural artefacts—everyday, sensorimotor metaphorical talk about knowledge, learning, and understanding. Serial reproduction tasks, experiments, interviews, and metaphor analysis were used in a mixed-methods approach to investigate the use and transmission of metaphorical language. Three initial experimental studies, which aimed to investigate transmission advantages of metaphor, showed no statistically significant effects of metaphor on transmission fidelity of short stories across serial reproduction chains. Four further studies were conducted to follow up on these findings. Results of the first follow-up experiment, more sensitive to the agency of speakers in communicative exchange, indicated that metaphorical prompts to invent stories yielded more metaphors in the story endings and descriptions. Findings from experimental and conversation-based judgement tasks suggested that metaphorical language provided more inferential potential than non-metaphorical language to support assessments of the verbal material and inferences about the speaker. The final qualitative study revealed ways that metaphor is used to support social interaction and co-operation in more naturalistic conversation contexts. Overall, it was found that social and pragmatic aspects of communication, undetectable in traditional serial reproduction experiments, contribute significantly to the wide distribution, or cultural success, of metaphor. An account of the cultural success of metaphor based in inferential processes that support social interaction is proposed. Reflections are offered on its theoretical and methodological implications for the epidemiological view of cultural transmission and its generalisability to different types of cultural artefacts.

With increasing globalization, researchers are beginning to document the changing patterns of family life in collectivistic societies undergoing rapid economic development, such as India. With these changes, expectations of romantic relationships are also shifting as individuals re-calibrate their gender roles and attitudes towards romantic relationships to meet the challenges of modern society. Yet, not enough is known about the younger generation of collectivist youth and their evolving romantic habits and preferences. Therefore, the overarching goal of this thesis was to gain a more comprehensive understanding of cultural and familial influences in selecting a marital partner, maintaining a relationship, endorsing romantic beliefs, and anticipating future difficulties in marital life. In collectivist cultures, families tend to be characterized by respect for parental authority and strong, interdependent ties. Do these aspects of collectivism exert countervailing pressures on mate choices and relationship quality? In Study 1, I tested my predictions on a British sample by dividing participants into high or low collectivist groups based on their heritage cultural background, whereas in Study 2 I recruited participants from India and the United States. In both studies, I found that collectivism was associated with greater acceptance of parental influence over mate choice, thereby driving relationship commitment down, but collectivism was also associated with stronger family ties (referred to as family allocentrism), which drove commitment up (Study 2). Along similar lines, Study 1 found that collectivists’ greater acceptance of parental influence on mate choice contributed to their reduced relationship passion, whereas Study 2 found that their greater family allocentrism may have enhanced their passion. Study 2 also revealed that collectivists may have reported a smaller discrepancy between their own preferences for mates high in warmth and trustworthiness and their perception of their parents’ preferences for these qualities because of their stronger family allocentrism. However, their higher tolerance of parental V influence may have also contributed to a smaller discrepancy in their mate preferences versus their perceptions of their parents’ preferences for qualities signifying status and resources. Studies 3 and 4 moved away from familial dynamics and took a closer look at the cultural values of collectivism and gender role ideology. Previous studies have established that Indians tend to be greater in collectivism and gender role traditionalism than Americans. The purpose of Studies 3 and 4 was to examine whether these differences explained further cultural differences in romantic beliefs, traditional mate preferences, and anticipation of future difficulties in marital life. Results for both studies revealed that Indians reported greater collectivism than Americans and, in turn, held stronger romantic beliefs. Additionally, Indians’ greater collectivism, endorsement of more traditional gender roles and benevolent sexism in part predicted their preferences for a marital partner possessing traditional characteristics. Collectivism and gender role traditionalism accounted for Indians’ heightened concerns about encountering future difficulties in marital life in Study 3, while in Study 4 only collectivism explained these concerns. Overall, the results from these four studies shed light on the processes underlying cultural differences in relationship attitudes and preferences, and point to the need for greater cultural awareness and sensitivity to the diversity that exists in relationship functioning across societies.

In the four decades since Stanley Cohen (1972) first theorised the ‘moral panic’, there has been immense technological change in the field of communications and media. Whilst Cohen’s original model relies on elite-driven mediated narratives, I argue that moral panics have taken on a memetic quality in the convergent and participatory mediascape. In other words: in an age of social media, moral panic discourses are increasingly open to contestation, reinterpretation, and recirculation by multiple actors and groups. In this thesis, I examine one such group – the web’s largest white nationalist (WN) forum, Stormfront. To do so, I trace three racialized media events as they circulate on and through the Forum. Here, I show how the mechanics of the moral panic have fundamentally shifted in the digital age. I explore the means by which Stormfront users exploit this semi-democratised mediascape in an attempt to ‘manage’ and exploit moral panics surrounding episodes of racialized violence. To this end, I explore the topologically entangled shuttling back and forth of ‘online’ and ‘offline’ lives and spaces to argue for a more-than-digital geography of computer mediated communication. Here, I show how the Forum’s ‘collective voice’ is often given expression through selective quotation by mainstream media surrounding racialized moral panics. This process of remediation, I argue, allows explicitly racist groups fugitive access to mainstream discourse, and turns mainstream media outlets into unwitting nodes in a white nationalist broadcast network. However, I argue that this public-facing process, opens WNs up to increased scrutiny, leading to strategic and contingent deployments of contradictory repertoires of race. In doing so, I examine repertoires of race in such WN interventions - highlighting their flexible and contingent construction of racialized categories in the negotiation of contemporary structures of feeling (Williams 1977; Anderson 2014). I contend that a digitally-inflected antiracism must attend to the contingent, translocal, and assembled nature of racism online if it is to be effective.