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Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T20:31:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DayaneMaia.pdf: 2172981 bytes, checksum: fdb83cecd19729f89019ae864366e9f7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-07-04 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / In this work the aim was to analyze the possibilities and the limits of the development and the incorporation of the epistemological curiosity in the learning–teaching process in the initial formation of the professor and researcher of the Physics teaching. The research was developed in the context of an investigation-action educational program with independent background considered as a proposal for the formation of professors and researchers in the Physics teaching. This program is developed in the Physics course at the State University of Ponta Grossa PR, in the subject of supervised internship in the Physics teaching I and II. It has been used as research conception the educational investigation-action concept with independent background and, as a methodological approach the study of case. The procedures for collection of data were: The direct observation registered in a field diary and documental analysis. The results have shown that the development of the concept of the educational investigation-action research with independent background in the process of formation is a possible and promising way to the development and incorporation of the epistemological curiosity. / Neste trabalho objetivamos analisar as possibilidades e os limites do desenvolvimento e da incorporação da curiosidade epistemológica no processo ensino-aprendizagem na formação inicial do professor e pesquisador em Ensino de Física. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida no contexto de um programa de investigação-ação educacional de vertente emancipatória entendida como proposta de formação do professor e pesquisador em Ensino de Física. Esse programa é desenvolvido no curso de Licenciatura em Física da Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa – PR, na disciplina de Estágio Curricular Supervisionado em Ensino de Física I e II. Utilizamos como concepção de pesquisa a investigação-ação educacional de vertente emancipatória e, como abordagem metodológica o estudo de caso. Os procedimentos de coleta de dados utilizados foram: observação direta registrada em diário de campo e análise documental. Os resultados mostraram que o desenvolvimento da concepção de pesquisa investigação-ação educacional de vertente emancipatória no processo formativo é um caminho possível e promissor ao desenvolvimento e à incorporação da curiosidade epistemológica.

La thèse concerne le problème de la curiosité naturelle. La première partie clarifie la notion biologique d’instinct et abstrait dix-sept propriétés observables définissant l’instinct et permettant l’étude empirique de systèmes instinctifs en laboratoire. La seconde partie clarifie le problème de la curiosité naturelle, expose celui de l’intelligence humaine et détaille l’évolution du comportement exploratoire au cours de la phylogénie. La notion d’instinct est appliquée à la description de l’acquisition de connaissances chez l’homme. Les conséquences théoriques de cette application sont détaillées. La logique de la curiosité est examinée aux niveaux philosophique, historique, psychologique, biologique et mathématique. Un modèle formel de l’acquisition de connaissances est proposé. La relation entre apprentissage et conflit cognitif est soulignée. Le paradoxe de l’intelligence est décrit formellement. Des pistes théoriques sont proposées pour faciliter l’étude de la relation entre sens et connaissance. La troisième partie clarifie le problème de la satisfaction de la curiosité naturelle et déploie les conséquences théoriques d’une série d’expériences menée en Europe sur le problème des émotions esthétiques. L’hypothèse selon laquelle les émotions esthétiques correspondraient à une satisfaction de la curiosité naturelle est examinée aux niveaux biologique et psychologique. Le cas particulier de la relation entre température et cognition observable dans le cas des frissons non-thermorégulateurs est discuté et une série d’hypothèses physiques et biologiques sont proposées. Un modèle formel de la fluence de traitement est introduit pour faciliter son étude empirique. Une description mathématique du frisson psychogénique est proposée. Une description mathématique de la tension narrative est proposée. En annexe sont détaillés les résultats d’une série de cinq études psychophysiologiques concernant les frissons psychogéniques. Ces cinq études ont été répliquées avec succès trois fois sur deux populations européennes distinctes. Les résultats démontrent notamment que l’incohérence inhibe les frissons psychogéniques positifs. / The thesis concerns the problem of natural curiosity. The first part deals with the biological notion of the instinct and abstracts seventeen observable properties allowing the empirical study of instinctual systems in the laboratory. The second part clarifies the problem of natural curiosity, exposes that of human intelligence and details the evolution of exploratory behavior in the course of phylogeny. The notion of the instinct is applied to the description of knowledge-acquisition in humans. The theoretical consequences of this application are detailed. The logic of curiosity is examined at the philosophical, historical, psychological, biological and mathematical levels. A formal model of knowledge-acquisition is proposed. The relation between learning and conflict is underlined. The paradox of intelligence is described formally. Several theoretical leads are proposed to facilitate the study of the relation between knowledge and meaning. The third part deals with the problem of curiosity’s satiation and deploys the theoretical consequences of a series of experiments conducted in Europe regarding the problem of aesthetic emotions. The hypothesis that aesthetic emotions might correspond to a satiation of natural curiosity is examined at the biological and psychological levels. The particular case of the relation between temperature and cognition as observed in the case of non-thermoregulatory shivering is discussed and a series of physical and biological hypotheses are proposed. A formal model of processing fluency is introduced to facilitate its empirical study. A mathematical description of psychogenic shivering is proposed. A mathematical description of narrative tension is proposed. In the appendix, the results of a series of five psychophysiological studies concerning psychogenic shivers are detailed. These fives studies have been successfully replicated three times in two distinct European populations. Among others, the results demonstrate that incoherence inhibits positive psychogenic shivering.

This thesis asks how the curatorial framing of medieval objects - the processes of selection, classification, display and interpretation - affect how medieval objects are made legible within the museum. It investigates how different collectors and curators have deployed medieval objects over a period of two hundred and fifty years of museological practice. Throughout this history, medieval objects have been appropriated within a range of museological narratives that have positioned them variously as objects of curiosity, utility, scientific analysis, nationalistic interest and as sites of scholarly and popular attention. My purpose is to inquire how the epistemological re-positioning of objects is articulated through their presentation within the framework of the collection, museum or temporary exhibition and to question how the mechanics of display facilitate particular readings of medieval objects. I then consider how certain curatorial approaches may produce unintended effects that render the medieval object illegible or problematic in unexpected ways. I also acknowledge that unforeseen exhibitionary outcomes may not be solely due to the effects of curatorial intervention but may be wrought by the agency of objects themselves. This thesis therefore examines medieval objects as active participants that play a crucial role in influencing the communication of curatorial objectives and in affecting how they may be apprehended through exhibitionary practice. The thesis examines sixteen chronologically presented case studies, beginning in the mid eighteenth century and concluding in the early twenty-first century, that represent important or influential episodes in the history of the display of medieval art. It traces a selective history of the various ways medieval objects have been culturally positioned at particular points in time to reveal how curatorial techniques have worked to reinforce or undermine the perception of medieval objects as carriers of specific meanings. Through the examination of historical approaches to the display of medieval objects I reveal how familiar tropes of display, such as the use of specific lighting techniques and stained glass have characterized the museological staging of medieval objects and how these have endured into the twenty-first century. Drawing on performance theory, material culture theory and sensory theory I identify how the biographical histories, material characteristics and sensory properties of medieval objects have been re-activated or suppressed by curators to encourage audiences to engage with them in specific ways. This theoretical approach reveals a previously unacknowledged sensory cultural history of engagement with the medieval object and highlights how historical approaches that have privileged embodied engagement with objects continue to inform contemporary museological practice. I also draw on Actor-Network theory to illuminate how medieval objects may be understood as active agents within the chain of correspondences that links people, objects and exhibitions at particular points throughout this history. In this way I delineate an exhibitionary landscape through which we can understand medieval objects as multi-authored and polysemic entities but principally as the products of exhibitionary practice.

Nyfikenhet är inneboende strävan mot inhämtande av ny information. Länge har det ansetts vedertaget att yttre motivation hämmar nyfikenhet, men på senare år har det framkommit forskning som indikerar ett delvis annorlunda förhållande. För att undersöka interaktionen mellan nyfikenhet och yttre motivation konstruerades ett bildbaserat inlärningsexperiment i vilket deltagarna belönades respektive bestraffades för att inhämta information som stillade deras nyfikenhet. I experimentets första del skattade deltagarna sin nyfikenhet på mosaikmaskerade bilder. I experimentets andra del presenterades de skattade mosaikbilderna med en konstant bild. De 24 deltagarnas uppgift var att välja en av de två bilderna i varje spelomgång. Bilden deltagarna valde demaskerades efter olika väntetider. Väntetiden var antingen dragen från en lång eller kort väntetidsfördelning och avhängig om bilden var ny eller återkommande. Huruvida det var den nya eller återkommande bilden som hade kort respektive lång medelväntetid varierade mellan de två inomgrupps-betingelserna. Deltagarna antogs vara yttre motiverade att minimera väntetiden genom att lära sig och sedan föredra den bildkategori med kortast genomsnittlig väntetid. Deltagarna antogs dessutom vara nyfikna att se bilder demaskerade. I ena betingelsen sammanföll deltagarnas yttre motivation och nyfikenhet, i andra betingelsen var deltagarnas yttre motivation och nyfikenhet i konflikt. I en tredje kontrollbetingelse var nyfikenhetsdimensionen eliminerad för att mäta inlärning av väntetid. Experimentet visade att det krävdes fler spelomgångar för att lära sig väntetiden i kontrollbetingelsen jämfört med betingelsen där nya bilder också hade kortare medelväntetid. Betingelsen där nya bilder var förknippade med längre medelväntetid delade deltagarna i två grupper. Deltagare i den ena gruppen valde sällan nya bilder (proportionsmått: 0.75 – 1.0) medan deltagare i den andra gruppen valde nya bilder i hög utsträckning (proportionsmått: 0.0077 – 0.069). Dessa grupper utmärks också på personlighetsdrag kopplade till nyfikenhet. Sammantaget ger studien stöd för att nyfikenhet och yttre motivation kan integreras och att personlighetsdrag är relaterade till värderingen av information. / Curiosity is an intrinsic aspiration to obtain new information. It has been considered that external motivation inhibits curiosity, but over the last years new research has indicated a partially different relationship. To investigate the interaction between curiosity and external motivation a picture-based learning experiment was constructed, in which the participants were rewarded, alternatively punished for obtaining new information which pleased their curiosity. In the first part of the experiment, the participants scored their curiosity of mosaic-covered pictures. In the second part of the of the experiment, the scored mosaic-covered pictures were consequently presented next to a constant picture. The task for the 24 participants was then to choose one of the pictures in each round. The chosen mosaic-covered picture would then show according to a certain waiting time - either short or long - depending on if it was new or recurring. Whether the new or recurring picture had a short or long average waiting time varied between the two in-group conditions. It was hypothesized that the participants would be externally motivated to minimize the waiting time by learning and favouring the category of pictures with the shortest waiting time. In addition, it was hypothesized that the participants would be curious of the mosaic-covered pictures. In one of the conditions, the participants external motivation coincided with their curiosity, in the other condition the external motivation was in conflict with their curiosity. In a third controlling condition, the dimension of curiosity was eliminated to measure the learning of the waiting time. The experiment showed that more rounds are needed to learn the waiting time in the controlling conditions compared to when the new pictures also had a shorter average waiting time. When new pictures were associated with a longer average waiting time, it divided the participants into two groups. In one group the participant rarely chose new pictures (proportion: 0.75 – 1.0) while the participants in the other group to a large extent chose new pictures (proportion: 0.0077 – 0.069). These differences were also shown in the participants personal traits connected to curiosity. All together, the study supports the idea that curiosity and external motivation can be integrated and that personal traits are related to the evaluation of information.

On considère volontiers que la légende est un objet que se partagent les communautés « extra-modernes ». Traditionnelle, elle est donc lointaine dans le temps et/ou dans l’espace. C’est cette légende qu’étudient, par exemple, les anthropologues. Une autre alternative consiste à penser que la légende est, au contraire, très proche de notre « modernité ». Elle est alors urbaine ou contemporaine, n’est plus vraiment une légende mais une rumeur et s’impose comme le terrain privilégié des « rumorologues ». Traditionnelle, elle se manifeste ainsi dans un ailleurs de la modernité urbaine ; moderne, elle s’y incarne, mais n’est plus traditionnelle. En somme, on refuse à la légende, en tant qu’objet traditionnel, une opérativité socioculturelle à l’intérieur de nos propres sociétés. Or, si les guides les médiatisent, c’est bien qu’elle possède cette opérativité. Toute la question est de savoir comment la définir. À partir d’analyses sémiotiques menées sur un corpus de guides généralistes présentant New York et l’Écosse (Le Routard, les guides Bleu, Vert et Voir, le Lonely Planet, le Petit Futé et la Bibliothèque du voyageur) mais aussi de guides « spécialisés » (Guide du Paris mystérieux, Le Guide de la France mythologique et les Sites mystérieux et légendaires de nos provinces françaises), cette étude qui défend une approche communicationnelle se propose d’aborder le légendaire – à savoir les légendes et la façon dont elles sont commentées par les guides – comme un objet de discours capable d’instituer un certain rapport à la culture qui serait de l’ordre de la curiosité ou de l’insolite. La première partie met ainsi en évidence le fait que le légendaire se manifeste comme un objet anecdotique dans les guides de voyage. Ceux-ci disent, en effet, le caractère extraordinaire du référent légendaire tout en postulant et/ou en instituant, cependant, son insignifiance du point de vue culturel. Anecdotique, le légendaire est, en outre, insaisissable. C’est ce que montre la seconde partie en se concentrant sur la façon dont les guides font des énoncés légendaires des objets proprement inclassables : curieux, ils disent l’étrangeté de l’ordre du monde ; insolites, ils ne disent rien de plus que leur incongruité. S’il est à la fois anecdotique et insaisissable, comment se fait-il que le légendaire fasse pourtant culture ? La troisième partie répond à cette question en montrant que c’est précisément parce qu’il se définit comme tel qu’il fait culture. Ainsi, le légendaire est un objet de discours qui permet, à celui qui le dit, de se manifester dans le monde social à travers une forme d’auctorialité définie par une désinvolture à l’égard des hiérarchies de valeurs traditionnelles. Par ailleurs, elle montre qu’il est un objet de discours qui se livre au lecteur/voyageur dans le but d’être réitéré. Autrement dit, le légendaire circule, à partir de ces dispositifs touristiques que sont les guides, en proposant à ceux qui se l’approprieraient de renverser ou de détourner l’ordre culturel ; d’habiter le monde en tant qu’il est social, le temps infime de l’énonciation légendaire / It is a widespread thought that legends are either traditional or modern, but never both at the same time. When traditional, they are supposed to be told in far away countries, in space and/or in time. These legends are usually studied by anthropologists. When urban, they stop being traditional and are not really legends anymore. They are called “rumours” and are mostly studied by “rumourologists”. However, their presence in travel guides shows that they do have an operativity as traditional objects in our modern culture. Starting with a semiotic analysis of some French-written travel guides conducted through a communicational perspective, this research aims to show that legendary speech – i.e. legends and the way they are told and commented in travel guides – is an object that can institute a specific relationship to culture identified as curiosity or uniqueness (“insolite” in French). The first part of the research enlightens the fact that legendary speech appears as an anecdotal object in travel guides. Indeed, these books suggest that legendary speech does say something extraordinary, but they also seem to believe or want to prove that it is insignificant from a cultural point of view. Anecdotal, legendary speech is also elusive. It is what the second part of the research shows focusing on the way travel guides manage to build up the impossibility to classify this kind of speech. When curious, legendary speech tells us about the strangeness of the world order. When unique, it says no more than its own incongruity. If legendary speech is at the same time anecdotal and elusive, what makes it cultural? The third and last part of the research answers this question. It shows that legendary speech does deal with culture precisely because it appears as both anecdotal and elusive. It is an object of discourse that allows the one who implements it to come out into the social world as an “author”, in the sense that one signs a cultural point of view characterized by a certain casualness towards the common hierarchy of values. It also shows that this speech is delivered to the reader/traveller in order to be reiterated. In other words, the possible circulation of this speech, from travel guides to tourists, suggests that it can be appropriated, so as to reverse or divert the cultural order, so as to inhabit, for the one who says it, the social world, the fractional time of its enunciation

The concept of formal networks is widely spread and appreciated as a way of building long-term relationships and creating value for the company. Value contains a number of different meanings and can therefore be valued differently by different people and businesses. This thesis focus on micro companies and how they create value through formal business networks. The thesis is all through divided into four different themes; networking, intentions, values and problems with formal networks. The themes are focusing on both aspects from theory and our seven respondents. The data collected through theories as well as interviews with members and former members has given a conclusion of what is most important while being in a formal network. The respondents had different views on what exactly they wanted to get out of being active in business networks. Overall we got a clear picture of the importance of goals, dedication, curiosity, loyalty, trust and preparation while attending a formal network.

Only 200 years ago, virtually nothing was known about the biological workings of the mind. Today, there is a deep (though far from complete) understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the encoding of memory, arguably the most fundamental aspect of a cognitive being. In this thesis, I describe experiments that help complete this understanding and identify the very first molecules underlying curiosity. By using an inducible rtTA2-M2 double transgenic system to selectively overexpress the calcium sensor Ncs1 in the adult murine dentate gyrus, I created an animal with facilitated long-term potentiation, enhanced rapid acquisition of spatial memory and greater curiosity. These phenotypes are reversed by direct infusion of a small membrane-permeant interfering peptide designed to block complex formation between NCS-1 and Dopamine type-2 receptors (D2 receptors). Pharmacological antagonism of D2 receptors also attenuates plasticity in wild-type mice and direct antagonism of D2 receptors in the dentate of cannulized wild-type mice prevents spatial memory formation. Conversely, application of a dominant negative NCS-1 peptide reduces synaptic transmission in the dentate gyrus and impairs spatial fear learning. Far less understood than the mechanisms governing learning and memory, are the mechanisms used by the brain to generate curiosity. Strikingly, Ncs1 overexpressing mice also demonstrate increased exploratory behaviours in a variety of novel, non-fearful environments. But they do not explore novel fearful environments any more than their littermate controls. I argue that the specificity of this phenotype represents an effect on curiosity, thereby identifying NCS-1 and D2 receptors as the first known regulators of this primordial mental state. I propose that the generation of curiosity is a fundamental feature of the nervous system and is upstream of learning and cognition. As such, molecular cascades involved in curiosity likely also play roles in mental illnesses. To investigate this theory, I generated an NCS-1 point mutant mouse line. NCS-1P144S/P144S mice show endophenotypes of schizophrenia and depression, supporting the link between curiosity and mental illness. I integrate my findings with the current literature and propose a means to investigate the role of NCS-1 in humans with mental illnesses.

Martian clouds and dust play an important part of the radiative transfer and energy balance budget. To assist in fully understanding the impact of clouds and dust, the complete diurnal cycle needs to be characterized. One of the best methods to track diurnal variations on Mars is by measuring optical depth. The spatial and temporal trends of optical depth give insight into the dust and water cycles of the Martian atmosphere. Until now, spacecraft could only obtain optical depth during the day. In this thesis, nighttime images from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit are used to calculate nighttime optical depth using photometric methods to capture star flux. Bright stars in well-known constellations are used in this analysis. The observed flux was compared to the expected flux to give nighttime optical depth values. The observed nighttime optical depth was consistently similar to the daytime optical depth values on both an individual image and sol-averaged basis. Recommendations are made going forward to use the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity for conducting an optimal nighttime optical depth campaign to fully characterize the diurnal dust and water cycles of Mars. The Curiosity rover is well suited for nighttime imaging and can potentially provide valuable insight into the nighttime dust and cloud trends.

Only 200 years ago, virtually nothing was known about the biological workings of the mind. Today, there is a deep (though far from complete) understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the encoding of memory, arguably the most fundamental aspect of a cognitive being. In this thesis, I describe experiments that help complete this understanding and identify the very first molecules underlying curiosity. By using an inducible rtTA2-M2 double transgenic system to selectively overexpress the calcium sensor Ncs1 in the adult murine dentate gyrus, I created an animal with facilitated long-term potentiation, enhanced rapid acquisition of spatial memory and greater curiosity. These phenotypes are reversed by direct infusion of a small membrane-permeant interfering peptide designed to block complex formation between NCS-1 and Dopamine type-2 receptors (D2 receptors). Pharmacological antagonism of D2 receptors also attenuates plasticity in wild-type mice and direct antagonism of D2 receptors in the dentate of cannulized wild-type mice prevents spatial memory formation. Conversely, application of a dominant negative NCS-1 peptide reduces synaptic transmission in the dentate gyrus and impairs spatial fear learning. Far less understood than the mechanisms governing learning and memory, are the mechanisms used by the brain to generate curiosity. Strikingly, Ncs1 overexpressing mice also demonstrate increased exploratory behaviours in a variety of novel, non-fearful environments. But they do not explore novel fearful environments any more than their littermate controls. I argue that the specificity of this phenotype represents an effect on curiosity, thereby identifying NCS-1 and D2 receptors as the first known regulators of this primordial mental state. I propose that the generation of curiosity is a fundamental feature of the nervous system and is upstream of learning and cognition. As such, molecular cascades involved in curiosity likely also play roles in mental illnesses. To investigate this theory, I generated an NCS-1 point mutant mouse line. NCS-1P144S/P144S mice show endophenotypes of schizophrenia and depression, supporting the link between curiosity and mental illness. I integrate my findings with the current literature and propose a means to investigate the role of NCS-1 in humans with mental illnesses.