Estudo de Antropologia Social elaborado a partir de uma pesquisa feita com um grupo que utiliza um chat de Internet como forma de sociabilidade. Reflete sobre a relação entre o homem e as Novas Tecnologias, assim como a cultura local e a Globalização. A sociabilidade virtual é vista em constante relação com a cidade de Porto Alegre. É investigada a relação da imagem digital com a interação social. A pesquisa também procura contribuir à reflexão sobre o papel da Antropologia diante de fenômenos sociais contemporâneos.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T18:35:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo7580_1.pdf: 1894132 bytes, checksum: f824b8d337668464969ea01c49081053 (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Este trabalho, situado no paradigma sociointeracionista de linguagem, é fundamentado por algumas teorias baseadas na análise do funcionamento da língua, em especial naquelas que circulam nos domínios da Lingüística Textual. Trata-se de um estudo comparativo entre dois gêneros textuais bastante parecidos, a conversação face a face e a conversação mediada por computador, mas concretizados a partir de diferentes modalidades da língua, a fala e a escrita. Nosso objetivo específico é analisar, nesses dois gêneros, aspectos formais e funcionais daquilo que a literatura entende por expressões indiciais . Também refletimos sobre o que denominamos processo de virtualização da conversação face a face a transposição, para o ciberespaço, dos elementos verbais e não-verbais e das estratégias lingüísticas e interacionais que caracterizam a conversação face a face , bem como sobre os critérios de distinção entre as duas categorias lingüísticas que costumam ser relacionadas às expressões indiciais: os dêiticos discursivos e os anafóricos indiciais. Defendemos o afrouxamento das fronteiras entre essas duas categorias, com base nas seguintes constatações: em todo procedimento dêitico discursivo sempre há uma remissão anafórica; e todo anafórico indicial possui um certo grau de deiticidade. Trabalhamos com um corpus constituído de sessões de interação face a face e no MSN Messenger, cuja análise indica haver algumas especificidades do ciberespaço que dotam os chats de características próprias, repercutindo em sua organização lingüística e discursiva. Nesse sentido, a virtualização da conversação face a face altera o funcionamento e o cenário organizacional das expressões indiciais

The Internet allows individuals to make contact with other individuals, without divulging personal details or information. This means that the user has the choice to remain anonymous. Although the Internet has numerous advantages, the anonymity with which it can be used could cause certain problems. The anonymous nature of the Internet makes it extremely difficult to determine who is gaining access to personal information about Internet users. Thus it becomes an ideal avenue for paedophiles to gain access to information about adolescents and to use this information in the process to get close to, and to abuse them. Few parents who allow their children to use the Internet are aware of paedophiles’ activities on the Internet. This dearth of knowledge about the ways in which paedophiles operate, necessitates that parents and guardians should be educated about the potential dangers the Internet could hold for their children. This is especially necessary “as computers are becoming more and more a part of our daily lives, and computer literacy is a necessity in today’s computer driven world” (Haupt, 2001:26). Within this study the qualitative approach has been used. Interviewing was used as a method of data collection. The purpose of the interviews was to probe particular aspects in depth. An interview schedule was used during the interviews as a guide for the interviewer, and contained relevant questions which ensured that all the necessary aspects were covered during the interview. The focus of the interviews was to determine new avenues that paedophiles utilise to approach children for sexual purposes. In addition, the interviewer enquired if the experts have dealt with South African case studies, where an individual used the Internet to gain access to children. The adequacy of current South African legislation regarding child pornography and sexual activities with adolescents via the Internet was explored. Research participants were asked to discuss the existence of preventative measures to curb the use of the Internet for the enticement of adolescents for sexual purposes. Subsequently the existence of awareness campaigns to make parents or caregivers and children more aware of the dangers that the Internet poses for adolescents was discussed. After conducting the interviews, they were transcribed and interpreted. The research findings derived from the interviews were categorised and these categories were discussed. The analysis of the data indicate that the global problem with regards to the use of the Internet as an avenue to initiate sexual activities with adolescents is still vaguely grasped in South Africa. The fact that only one reported case of a child in South Africa that was approached by a paedophile online was identified, accentuates the dearth of knowledge regarding this social problem. Although it is not easily detectable, it is still a serious problem that needs to be attended to, especially when taking into account that more than three million South Africans have access to the Internet. In addition, children spend the majority of their leisure time using computers and being on the Internet (CIA – The world factbook: Communications South Africa, n.d.). Thus, this problem can only become worse in future. The Internet can be the child’s best friend, or worst enemy. Therefore it is the responsibility of all parents, guardians and the community to protect children against the negative aspects of the Internet. / Dissertation (MA (Criminology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Social Work and Criminology / MA / unrestricted

Shy children often have difficulty communicating; however, it is not clear whether these difficulties stem from a skills deficit or from an anxiety-driven performance deficit. Therefore, the present study examined how shy children’s communication skills differed from those of average, non-shy children, using the Internet as a medium for social communication. It was hypothesized that shy children may be more reticent than average children to initiate conversation in a novel situation. However, over time shy children were expected to become more comfortable in discussions with their on-line partner and to become less anxious as they acknowledge the anonymity of chat groups. This study also investigated potential changes in negative effects associated with shyness over time. Fifteen shy children (Mean shyness score=72.3; SD=6.43) and 15 average children (Mean shyness score=53.7; SD=5.6) participated in the 10 MSN conversation groups. Children were also given a series of questionnaires prior to and after the 10 sessions. Results from this study suggest that shy children communicate in a similar manner to their average partners when online. Results also suggest that shy children had higher levels of social anxiety than average children before beginning an online conversation with an unknown partner. However, by the end of the 10 sessions, their anxiety had been significantly reduced. No other changes or differences in psychological functioning were noted between shy and average children.

We hypothesized that estradiol (E2) serves as a neurotrophomodulatory substance for basal forebrain cholinergic neurons thought to be involved in learning and memory. Learning/memory was assessed using the two-way active avoidance paradigm and the Morris water task. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were either ovariectomized (OVX) or OVX for 3 weeks, followed by s.c. implantation of a Silastic pellet containing 17-ß E2 (E2 pellet), resulting in a replacement of E2 to physiological levels. Ovary-intact (INTACT) animals served as our positive control. Active avoidance behavior and choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity in the frontal cortex and hippocampus were assessed at 5 and 28 weeks postovariectomy while performance on the Morris water task and high-affinity choline uptake (HACU) were measured only at the 5-week time point. At the 5-week time point, E2 replacement caused a significant elevation in the level of active avoidance performance relative to OVX animals. At the 28-week time point, OVX animals demonstrated a significantly lower number of avoidances relative to controls (61%) whereas E2-pellet animals not only demonstrated superior performance relative to OVX animals but also showed an accelerated rate of learning. Morris water task performance, on the other hand, was not significantly affected by estrogenic milieu despite a trend towards better performance in the E2-pellet group. Neurochemical analyses revealed that 5 weeks of ovariectomy was sufficient to reduce HACU in both the frontal cortex and hippocampus by 24 and 34%, respectively, while E2 replacement was successful in elevating HACU relative to OVX animals in both regions. ChAT activity was decreased in the hippocampus but not the frontal cortex of 5-week OVX animals. E2 replacement resulted in a reversal of this effect. At the 28-week time period, an unexpected decrease in ChAT activity was observed across all treatment groups. Interestingly, E2-pellet animals demonstrated the least severe decline in ChAT. This phenomenon was most evident in the frontal cortex where ChAT decreased by 61 and 56% in INTACT and OVX animals, respectively, whereas the decline in E2-pellet animals was only 16% over the same time period, suggesting a previously unreported cytoprotective effect of E2. Taken together, these findings demonstrate important effects of estrogens on cholinergic neurons and support the potential use of estrogen therapy in treatment of dementias in postmenopausal women.

AI is now more often being used by individuals to write entire texts. This makes it more difficult for readers to determine who or what has written the text. In the future, it may be necessary to disclose who or what has written the text. What does this mean for how we relate to the text? Do we evaluate the text equally regardless of the author? Previous research shows that people have a certain negative bias towards AI in different situations.This study investigates whether there is a difference in how people evaluate text depending on whether the text is stated to be written by a human or generated by ChatGPT. In the study an experiment was conducted with a between-group design. The participants were 20 students from the Media Technology program at KTH who were asked to read and evaluate texts. Half of the participants were informed that the texts were written by a human, while the remaining participants were informed that the texts were generated by ChatGPT. The participants evaluated the texts by responding to twelve statements about the text's quality in a questionnaire. Data was analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U-test to identify any differences in evaluations.The results showed significant differences in evaluations for six out of 48 statements. These were in the evaluations of the statements: mature, personal, emotional, liked and good. Although not all evaluations could show significant differences, the mean values of the evaluations show that all texts were perceived as more emotional and personal by participants who were informed that the texts were written by a human. Additionally, all texts were perceived as more analytical and intelligent by participants who were informed that the texts were generated by AI. This suggests that there is a certain bias among people towards AI. / AI används alltmer av privatpersoner för att författa hela texter. Det gör det svårare att avgöra vem eller vad som skrivit texten. I framtiden kanske man kommer att behöva redovisa vem eller vad som skrivit texten. Vad betyder det för hur vi förhåller oss till texten? Bedömer vi texten lika oavsett vem som är författare? Tidigare forskning visar att människor i olika situationer har viss negativ bias gentemot AI. I denna studie undersöks ifall det finns skillnad i hur människor bedömer text beroende på om texten uppges vara skriven av en människa eller generad av ChatGPT. I studien genomfördes ett experiment med mellangruppsdesign. Deltagarna var 20 studenter från programmet Civilingenjör inom Medieteknik på KTH som fick läsa och bedöma texter. Hälften av deltagarna fick informationen att texterna var skrivna av en människa, resterande att texterna var genererade av ChatGPT. Deltagarna utvärderade texterna genom att svara på tolv påståenden om textens kvalitet i ett frågeformulär. Data analyserades med Mann-Whitney U-test för att identifiera eventuella skillnader i bedömningarna. Resultaten visade signifikanta skillnader i bedömning för sex av 48 bedömningar. Dessa var i bedömning av påståendena mogen, personlig, känslosam, gillade och bra. Även om inte signifikanta skillnader kunde påvisas i alla jämförelser visar medelvärden att samtliga texter bedömdes vara mer känslosamma och mer personliga av deltagare som blev informerade att texterna var skrivna av en människa. Samtliga texter bedömdes även vara mer analytiska och mer intelligenta av deltagare som blev informerade att texterna var genererade av AI. Detta tyder på att det finns en viss bias hos människor gentemot AI.

The gap between actual and expected use of technology in education prompted an exploration of my suspicions that human thoughts, feelings, and experiences with technology are central to the problem. While many internal factors influence teachers, this study explores the impact Lankshear and Knobel's mindsets have on teachers' decisions to implement digital technologies in education. Specifically I ask how mindsets about knowledge production and technology are mediators of, and mediated by, the activity of literacy teaching and learning in homeschooling environments. I reached over a hundred homeschooling parents through network sampling and a hundred parents submitted a survey designed to place them in one of four quadrants on a grid, assigning them a Mindset 1 rating and Mindset 2 rating. I randomly selected volunteers for each quadrant. I coded and analyzed nineteen interviews according the elements in the Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) heuristic and Lankshear and Knobel's mindsets. Findings indicate that mindsets do mediate technology use in literacy teaching; educators with high Mindset 1 (M1) ratings engage in more traditional educational methods, using technology for enhancing traditional literacy practices. Educators with high Mindset 2 (M2) ratings only implement technology for transformative practices if they also hold a low M1 rating. Regarding transformative use of technology (an M2 outcome), educational institutions must decide whether they want technology to transform instructional processes, literacy outcomes, or products or both. / Teaching & Learning

Coincidental increases in online instruction at institutions of higher education and in online social networking generally in the U.S. have created opportunities for research into how digital interpersonal connectivity affects online learning. This study examined interactive webcasts, or webcasts plus chat, that were part of an online undergraduate course covering Internet knowledge and skills at a large public university. Symbolic interactionism served as the theoretical framework for explicating interactive webcasts as useful online learning environments by exploring the complex processes that instructional staff employed to manage their actions and interactions as moderators in the webcasts and chats. A constructivist grounded theory approach guided the collection and analysis of empirical data in the form of webcast media and transcripts, chat logs, students‘ reflective writing, and semi-structured, intensive interviews with instructional staff. From the study emerged theoretical categories in three tiers related to a generalized moderator process called minding the verge: moderators minded the verge in three conditions of interaction– converging, attending, and diverging; in three loci of interaction – webcasts, chats, and webcasts+chat; and through six actions of moderating – bonding, orientating, guiding, tending, validating, and branching. The results of this study provide moderators for the course with insights into their actions in the interactive webcasts and with concepts moderators can use to explore how to manage interactive webcasts more effectively. Beyond effecting substantive changes to interactive webcasts for the course, the study may guide others who wish to pursue further studies of webcasts+chat as they occur in the course or elsewhere, or of other mixed-media environments, or who wish to adopt mixed-media environments for instruction. Other potential areas for research that emerged from this study include the affective states of participants in the webcasts+chat and the use of affective devices, such as emoticons and abbreviations, for showing affective states; the effect that format has on the efficacy of webcasts+chat used for computer-mediated instruction; and the processes students employ to manage actions and interactions in the webcasts and chats. / text

This research aimed to investigate the uses of the written language in the Internet chat rooms and in similar virtual discourses, examining the heterogeneity, affluence and complexity of the language in those means as well as demonstrating as the traditional dichotomy between spoken and written discourse has been unmade regarding the peculiar features of these new discursive forms. The virtual chat came up trough Internet advent and its written code has revealed a new relation of the man with writing once it has brought up linguistic innovations, has detached language as a phenomenon of linguistic diversity and differences and has made linguistics to realize how theoretically irrelevant has been the acclaimed spoken/written dichotomy. For the initially described aims, this research based its theoretical perspective in the language uses, which points out language as a heterogeneous and dynamical phenomenon. / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Este trabalho objetivou investigar o comportamento da língua escrita nas salas de bate-papo da Internet e em gêneros afins, tanto para mostrar a heterogeneidade, riqueza e complexidade da língua no meio, quanto para apresentar como a dicotomia oralidade/escrita encontra-se diluída dentro das especificidades e características peculiares desta nova forma discursiva. O bate-papo on-line é um gênero que emergiu com surgimento da Internet e seu código escrito acabou revelando uma nova relação do indivíduo com a forma de escrever por trazer inovações lingüísticas, privilegiar a heterogeneidade e a diversidade lingüísticas e ter mostrado a tênue fronteira entre oralidade e escrita, desconstruindo perspectivas dicotômicas sobre o assunto. Para os objetivos inicialmente descritos, este trabalho baseou-se na perspectiva dos usos lingüísticos, que aponta a língua como um fenômeno dinâmico e heterogêneo.

[pt] As relações interpessoais são hoje, mais do que nunca, virtuais. E-mails, chats, listas de discussões, Twitter, entre outras ferramentas de comunicação estão em expansão, seja em ambientes profissionais, seja na vida pessoal. Por conta da chamada revolução virtual, muito se fala sobre a linguagem da Internet, porém pouco se faz para descrevê-la e aproveitá-la como fonte de estudos sobre o português atual. Acreditamos que o entendimento da estrutura do internetês seja útil para diversas áreas de pesquisa, como a Linguística de Corpus. Partindo desse pressuposto, esta tese procura descrever os processos de síntese do internetês, a fim de comprovarmos que há regras na formação de abreviaturas e outras palavras que são típicas dessa nova forma de expressão. Encontramos, por meio de uma pesquisa quantitativa, padrões de formação do internetês, o que prova que essa linguagem não se configura como um desvio anárquico da língua padrão. Esses padrões refletem a fonética e a estrutura silábica do português de forma bastante sistemática, demonstrando o conhecimento implícito dos falantes sobre a gramática da língua e sua preocupação em seguir os princípios de comunicabilidade. Encontramos também diferenças quantitativas e qualitativas no uso da abreviação de acordo com o gênero textual em que aparecem. Acreditamos que a maior compreensão sobre os processos do internetês seja importante para o ensino da escrita formal e que sua descrição pode trazer respostas às críticas a essa forma de se comunicar, que advêm tanto de professores quanto de alunos. Por isso, na parte final deste trabalho, sugerimos tarefas que aproveitem a maior atividade de leitura e escrita proporcionada pela grande expansão das comunicações on-line, para alcançar níveis mais sofisticados de letramento. Mais do que descrever as abreviaturas do internetês, sem propor como lidar com elas, tentaremos trazer um novo olhar a estudiosos de diversas áreas que lidam com a linguagem da Internet, a professores e alunos que têm uma visão equivocada sobre essa linguagem. / [en] Interpersonal relationships are more than ever virtual. E-mails, chats, discussion lists, Twitter, and other communication tools are expanding their use, both in professional environments and in personal life. On account of the virtual revolution, a lot has been said about the language of the Internet, but little effort is made to describe and use it as a source of studies on the current Portuguese language. We believe that the understanding of the structure of the netspeak is useful for several research areas, such as the Corpus Linguistics. Based on this assumption, this paper aims at describing the synthesis processes found on Internet texts in order to prove that there are rules on the formation of abbreviations and other words that are typical of this new form of expression. We found, through quantitative research, patterns of the netspeak, which proves that this language is not configured as an anarchic deviation of cultivated language. These patterns reflect the phonetic and syllabic structure of the Portuguese language rather systematically, showing the speakers implicit knowledge of the grammar and its eagerness to follow the principles of communicability. We also found qualitative and quantitative differences in the use of abbreviation according to the textual gender in which they appear. We believe that the understanding of the processes of the language used on the internet is important for the teaching of writing as well as its formal description can provide answers to criticisms against this form of communicating, which coming from both teachers and students. So, at the end of this thesis, we suggest some tasks that make better use of the increasing activity of reading and writing provided by the boom in online communications, in order to achieve more sophisticated levels of literacy. Rather than describing the abbreviations used on the Internet without suggesting how to deal with them, we try to provide a new perspective to scholars from various fields that deal with the Internet language, as well as to teachers and students who have a wrong view about this language.