Innovation is defined as the introduction of new things or methods. In the history of human society, progress and cultural evolution occurred as a consequence of innovation processes. Typically changes proposed by a restricted number of peoples became widely adopted innovations as soon as a broad consensus formed around their adoption. In this thesis, we explore the role of innovators as potentially influential individuals in our society. Studying their behaviour is crucial to understand what are the factors that drove their decision in the process of becoming influential. In particular, here we uncover the importance of cultural attractors as cities where strong akin communities are present. Our approach involves the use of Wikipedia as a source for historical mobility data to model the migration patterns of globally relevant innovators. While here we study mobility on a broad range of different disciplines where different innovators gave their contributions, we also focus on a smaller and more modern system. Historical innovators are easily identified and discerned from uninfluential ones thanks to the wisdom of the time. However, due to the scarce availability of individual historical data, we point our attention to more recent versions of innovators: code developer. The flourishment of the digital era made code developers at the very centre of our global economy. We study this coupled system as a representative example of the interaction between innovators and the economy. Indeed, a significant, non-trivial interaction is found among the two worlds. More in general, in this thesis we highlight the relevance of innovators in shaping human collective responses. Our results reveal that innovators play a major role both individually and collectively at different scales. We provide measures of these effects (i) by looking at how innovator communities construct the attractiveness of a city and (ii) by studying how individual contributions in the innovation domain can dramatically affect financial behaviour also at short time scales. Our result expands the evidence of the need for a new research dimension, where human behaviour is studied as a complex system moving over an intricate network of intertwined interactions.

The effectiveness of an emergency response during an incident is often affected by the lack of information provided to the people within the situation about the current conditions. Deaths in large-scale fires are often likely to have been caused by delays in the occupants receiving relevant information on the fire and egress routes. This is why pre-movement behaviour, which is defined as the behaviour which occurs before an alarm is sounded and includes the activities which occur between the alarm sounding and the occupants beginning to move towards an exit, is believed to be generally more important to survival than the actual movement speed. It is the unpredictability and complexity of human behaviour that is the most influential factor on the success / failure of an evacuation plan. Unfortunately, evacuation plans rely on the use of purposely designed egress routes which often are not the common everyday exits. These specifically designed egress routes, which an engineer may assume will be used during an evacuation, are often ignored by occupants due to the lack of information and noticeable distinguishing features. Having occupants moving in directions away from these intended routes may result in the increasing possibility of occupants finding themselves in a dangerous situation, ultimately leading to potential loss of life. The value of a sensor-linked fire model has been demonstrated and the potential for interpretation of human behaviour shown. However, there are many challenges in representing and interpreting data on human behaviour. Within most emergency evacuation situations, occupants will often walk past emergency exits without using them and exit through the main entrance or main exit, as displayed during an evacuation experiment held in IKEA in 1996. Problems occur because occupants will rely on the familiar exits over the closest emergency exit, which could be potentially overcome by the use of an information driven evacuation system. The main function of the Information Driven Evacuation System or I.D.E.S. is to provide occupants with information on the most appropriate egress paths within a building based on the development of the fire and the movement of other occupants. The system is a combination of real-time sensor data, a prediction modelling tool and the information driven way-finding tools. However, as all three processes are independent systems, a central server will be required in order to ensure that all the different processes are speaking the same language and that the information from one system can be understood by another. of the components within the system interact with each other. The basis of the system will combine the use of sensors within a building and specific way-finding tools to give the I.D.E.S. the ability to change the information provided by the way-finding tools by having the sensors within the building interfacing with a computer server. This server will incorporate a modelling program that will have ability to assess the data gathered by the sensors, and use the servers “intelligence” (i.e. predicting capabilities) to alter the information provided by the way-finding tools. The server will also have the ability to use the sensor data to predict the development of the fire and the movement / behaviours of the occupants. The way-finding tools used within the I.D.E.S. would have the primary goal of relaying the information to the occupants within the building through the use of both audio (e.g. directional speakers) and visual (e.g. flashing lights) capabilities. Basic audio and visual tools are already used as common features of an evacuation plan [9] and include exit signage and alarm bell/sirens. The computer model used as part of the “intelligence” of the server will need to have predicative capabilities that incorporate information provided in real time. It is believed that the combination of these tools will be able to provide the occupants with the information required to evacuate the building in a safe and efficient way without causing confusion, thus reducing the possibility of stress and anxiety. However, the solution will only work if the combination of the tools, sensors and systems are able to be integrated into a central control panel that can be understood and used effectively by fire service and/or security staff. The following is the Chapter breakdown of the thesis: Chapter 1 discusses the nature of the problem that is to be addressed by the I.D.E.S. as well as the proposed solution and the overall concept of the system. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the system to be developed as part of this thesis, via a graphical overview as well discussing the current status of the system and an higher level summary. Chapters 3, 4 and 5 discusses the background research and information gathered on the current code requirements for an evacuation design, the current theories and completed research focusing on the human behaviour of occupants during an evacuation, and the development of computer modelling programs and their historical implementation. Chapter 6 focuses and describes the development of predictive modelling, the limitations that dictates the modelling process, the requirements of the I.D.E.S. modelling programme and a review of the possible programmes for their ability to be used as part of the system. Chapter 7 covers each of the three evacuation experimental series that were conducted as part of this thesis. The purpose of each of the relevant experiment is covered, the results gathered, the analysis of the research, and how the results influenced the development of the simulation methodology. Chapter 8 focuses on the development of the modelling programme, based on the experimental data gathered, and presents a feasibility study that will demonstrate how the system would work during a simulated real life evacuation based on the information gathered from the experiments using the updated CRISP program and the hypothetical installation of the system within an existing building, located in Auckland, New Zealand. The possible further evolution of the system is discussed in Chapter 10.

This thesis argues that caffeine use offered a survival advantage to our ancestors and that moderate use continues to offer modern humans benefits. Caffeine ingestion, through the blocking of adenosine receptors, elicits broad elements of the mammalian threat response, specifically from the ‘flight or fight’ and ‘tend and befriend’ repertoires of behaviour: in effect, caffeine hijacks elements of the stress response. If the effects of caffeine had been discovered recently, rather than being available to Homo sapiens since Neolithic hunter gatherer times, it is likely that caffeine would be considered a ‘smart’ drug. More caffeine is being ingested today than ever previously recorded. Caffeine use is found across all age groups, all socio-economic strata, most ethnic groups, and is being used increasingly by the medical and pharmaceutical industries and by the armed forces. Yet despite this wide usage and a substantial body of research literature, there is at present no clear pattern or plausible model for the way caffeine achieves its effects. There is much contradiction in the literature and ambiguity as to why caffeine use should improve performance on some tasks, impair it on others and have no effect on other tasks, for some but not all of the time. The present work argues, through an examination of the specificity of caffeine’s operation, that these effects are not arbitrary but elicited by the nature of the tasks, in particular that caffeine ingestion affects those processes and behaviours which improve the probability of survival under perceived threat or stress. This is argued through the perspective of evolutionary psychology and relies theoretically on Polyvagal Theory. The argument generates testable hypotheses and empirical support for the thesis is garnered from nine experiments on card-sorting, verbal and numerical processing, local and global categorization, field dependence-independence, the Stroop task, tests of visuo-spatial ability, and from a correlational study of caffeine use and personality traits. It is concluded that moderate caffeine use in healthy adults promotes behaviours likely to be adaptive under perceived threat or stress. Limitations of both theory and empirical work and are discussed, together with potential practical applications and suggestions for further work.

The new classical school's dominance of mainstream economic thought in recent years has brought with it the associated adoption of rational economic agents ( in the Muthian sense) by mainstream economists. This thesis challenges this underlying assumption of human behaviour in the context of the non-durable consumption expenditure decision making process. In doing so, our attention will be placed upon the weak or more general form of the hypothesis, which has come to be known as optimisation. We employ a behavioural methodology in an attempt to ascertain if individuals adhere to the optimising or satisficing model of human behaviour. In doing so time will be spent examining the bounded rationality hypothesis. We also employ a behavioural methodology in producing a non-durable consumption function that is econometrically comparable with an optimising model of non-durable consumption expenditure (namely the permanent income rational expectations hypothesis). The micro results produced in this thesis suggest that the respondents surveyed from non-durable consumption expenditure decisions that are sub-optimal in nature. The formation of these sub-tropical expenditure decisions appear to be a consequence of the cognitive constraints faced by our respondents, which in turn provides empirical support for the bounded rationality hypothesis. On a macro level, our behavioural consumption function generates results that are comparable with those produced by the optimising model employed in this thesis. Our results also question the rational expectations permanent income hypothesis (as it is usually applied), despite making adjustments to the model which remove the underlying assumption of known, constant real interest use / Master of Commerce (Hons)

This thesis covers a variety of analytical approaches that validate the use of the EvacuatioNZ model on high-rise building analysis. Through performing a number of sensitivity analyses, several model deficiencies as well as functional limitations were improved upon and part of the model developments are continued based on the previous research done by two Master's students at the University of Canterbury. In this thesis, data from three evacuations were considered for different validating aspects. These evacuations were, a hypothetical 21-storey hotel building located in the United States of America, which was previously simulated using Simulex and EXIT89; a trial evacuation that was carried out in a 13-storey office building located in Canada; and a fire drill conducted at a 21-storey office building located in Australia. Overall, the results indicated that the EvacuatioNZ is able to produce reasonable predictions of the total evacuation time regardless of the number of floors involved. The component testing also showed satisfactory outcomes regarding the involvement of disabled occupants, complexity of node configurations, and different pre-movement time distributions. However, the current model still has a number of limitations that need to be verified and tested. These include the preferred route function and the connection problem for long stairs. Further research should also be carried out on the use of the Evacuation model on other types of building structures so as to increase the confidence level of utilizing the EvacuatioNZ model for general applications.

Diss. Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv., 2007.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Luleå : Luleå tekniska univ., 2004. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Yes / The issue of whether visually-mediated, simple reaction time (VRT) is faster in elite athletes is contentious. Here, we examined if and how VRT is afected by gaze stability in groups of international cricketers (16 females, 28 males), professional rugby-league players (21 males), and non-sporting controls (20 females, 30 males). VRT was recorded via a button-press response to the sudden appearance of a stimulus (circular target—diameter 0.8°), that was presented centrally, or 7.5° to the left or right of fxation. The incidence and timing of saccades and blinks occurring from 450 ms before stimulus onset to 225 ms after onset were measured to quantify gaze stability. Our results show that (1) cricketers have faster VRT than controls; (2) blinks and, in particular, saccades are associated with slower VRT regardless of the level of sporting ability; (3) elite female cricketers had steadier gaze (fewer saccades and blinks) compared to female controls; (4) when we accounted for the presence of blinks and saccades, our group comparisons of VRT were virtually unchanged. The stability of gaze is not a factor that explains the difference between elite and control groups in VRT. Thus we conclude that better gaze stability cannot explain faster VRT in elite sports players. / Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council (BBSRC, grant references: BB/J018163/1, BB/J016365/1 and BB/J018872/1)

A significant year-on-year rise in the creation and sales of personal and domestic robotic systems and the development of online embodied communicative agents (ECAs) has in parallel seen an increase in end-users from the public domain interacting with these systems. A number of these robotic/ECA systems are defined as social, whereby they are physically designed to resemble the bodily structure of a human and behaviorally designed to exist within human social surroundings. Their behavioural design is especially important with respect to communication as it is commonly stated that for any social robotic/ECA system to be truly useful within its role, it will need to be able to effectively communicate with its human users. Currently however, the act of a human user instructing a social robotic/ECA system to perform a task highlights many areas of contention in human communication understanding. Commonly, social robotic/ECA systems are embedded with either non-human-like communication interfaces or deficient imitative human communication interfaces, neither of which reach the levels of communicative interaction expected by human users, leading to communication difficulties which in turn create negative association with the social robotic/ECA system in its users. These communication issues lead to a strong requirement for the development of more effective imitative human communication behaviours within these systems. This thesis presents findings from our research into human non-verbal facial behaviour in communication. The objective of the work was to improve communication grounding between social robotic/ECA systems and their human users through the conceptual design of a computational system of human non-verbal facial behaviour (which in human-human communicative behaviour is shown to carry in the range of 55% of the intended semantic meaning of a transferred message) and the development of a highly accurate computational model of human blink behaviour and a computational model of physiological saccadic eye movement in human-human communication, enriching the human-like properties of the facial non-verbal communicative feedback expressed by the social robotic/ECA system. An enhanced level of interaction would likely be achieved, leading to increased empathic response from the user and an improved chance of a satisfactory communicative conclusion to a user’s task requirement instructions. The initial focus of the work was in the capture, transcription and analysis of common human non-verbal facial behavioural traits within human-human communication, linked to the expression of mental communicative states of understanding, uncertainty, misunderstanding and thought. Facial Non-Verbal behaviour data was collected and transcribed from twelve participants (six female) through a dialogue-based communicative interaction. A further focus was the analysis of blink co-occurrence with other traits of human-human communicative non-verbal facial behaviour and the capture of saccadic eye movement at common proxemic distances. From these data analysis tasks, the computational models of human blink behaviour and saccadic eye movement behaviour whilst listening / speaking within human-human communication were designed and then implemented within the LightHead social robotic system. Human-based studies on the perception of naïve users of the imitative probabilistic computational blink model performance on the LightHead robotic system are presented and the results discussed. The thesis concludes on the impact of the work along with suggestions for further studies towards the improvement of the important task of achieving seamless interactive communication between social robotic/ECA systems and their human users.

The study of organisations’ information security cultures has attracted scholars as well as healthcare services industry to research the topic and find appropriate tools and approaches to develop a positive culture. The vast majority of studies in Saudi national health services are on the use of technology to protect and secure health services information. On the other hand, there is a lack of research on the role and impact of an organisation’s cultural dimensions on information security. This research investigated and analysed the role and impact of cultural dimensions on information security in Saudi Arabia health service. Hypotheses were tested and two surveys were carried out in order to collect data and information from three major hospitals in Saudi Arabia (SA). The first survey identified the main cultural-dimension problems in SA health services and developed an initial information security culture framework model. The second survey evaluated and tested the developed framework model to test its usefulness, reliability and applicability. The model is based on human behaviour theory, where the individual’s attitude is the key element of the individual’s intention to behave as well as of his or her actual behaviour. The research identified a set of cultural and sub-cultural dimensions in SA health information security and services.