Text in English with abstracts in English, Zulu and Sepedi / The objective of this qualitative case study was to determine the information needs of rural farmers in Bungoma County, Western Kenya. The study explored various literature on information needs of rural farmers and the information services available to them. The data were collected through face-to-face interviews with twenty lead farmers who are hosts of Farmers’ Field Schools. The findings show that farmers in Bungoma County are mostly interested in information that helps them to generate quick incomes from their agribusinesses. They access agricultural information mostly from verbal messages passed on by extension officers and local administration leaders. The farmers confessed that the information accessed from electronic sources like local FM radios is very useful in enhancing their agricultural enterprises and therefore agricultural development partners, policy makers and stakeholders in Western Kenya should use local FM radio often to disseminate information on agricultural development. The challenges encountered by the farmers in their quest for information relates to affordability. This study contributes to social change by recommending agricultural development partners, policy makers and stakeholders in Western Kenya implement programmes for reducing the distances that farmers travel to access agricultural information and the costs they incur in applying the knowledge gained from the various information channels. / Lolu cwaningo lokuthola kabanzi ngesimo belugxile ekuqaguleni izidingo kwezolwazi nokusetshenziswa kwalo kubalimi basemakhaya endaweni yaseBungoma County, esentshonalanga Kenya. Kulolu cwaningo kuye kwabhekisiswa izincwadi nemibhalo ehlukahlukene maqondana nezidingo zolwazi zabalimi basemakhaya kanye nalezo zinsiza zolwazi abakwaziyo ukufinyelela kuzo. Ulwazi lwedatha luye lwaqoqwa ngokuthi kwenziwe izingxoxo-mibuzo nabalimi abangamashumi amabili okuyibona abavelele futhi abaye basingathe uhlelo lwabalimi olubizwa nge-Farmers’ Field Schools. Okutholakele kukhomba ukuthi intshisekelo yabalimi baseBungoma County ikakhulukazi imayelana nokuthola ulwazi oluzobasiza ekwakheni ngokushesha imali eyingeniso kumabhizinisi abo ezolimo. Kuvamise ukuthi ulwazi lwezolimo baluthole ngemibiko edluliswa ngomlomo ivela kubalimisi (extension officers) nakubaholi bezokuphatha basendaweni. Balibeke ngembaba abalimi elokuthi luwusizo kakhulu ekwesekeni amabhizinisi abo ezolimo ulwazi oluvela emithonjeni ye-elekthronikhi efana nesiteshi somsakazo we-FM sasendaweni, ngakho-ke kungaba ngcono uma labo okubanjiswene nabo (partners) kwezokuthuthukisa ezolimo, futhi nabakhi benqubomgomo kanye nalabo ababambe iqhaza entshonalanga Kenya bengasebenzisa isiteshi somsakazo we-FM sasendaweni ukusabalalisa ulwazi lokuthuthukisa ezolimo. Ukubhekana nezindleko yilona hlangothi abahlangabezana nezinselelo kulo abalimi, ekuphokopheleni kwabo ukuthola ulwazi. Lolu cwaningo luyigalelo ekuguquleni ezenhlalo yomphakathi ngokuphakamisa ukuthi labo okubanjiswene nabo ekuthuthukiseni ezolimo, abakhi benqubomgomo kanye nalabo ababambe iqhaza entshonalanga Kenya mabaqalise ukusebenzisa izinhlelo zokunciphisa amabanga amade okudinga ahanjwe ngabalimi ukuze bafinyelele kulwazi lwezolimo kanye nezindleko abangena kuzo uma sebesebenzisa lolo lwazi abaluthole ngemizila eyehlukene yolwazi. / Nepo ya nyakišišo ye ya khwalithethifi e be e le go laetša dinyakwa tša tshedimošo le ditšhomišo tša balemi ba dinagamagae go la Bungoma County, bodikela bja Kenya. Nyakišišo e nyakišišitše dingwalwa tša go fapana mabapi le dinyakwa tša balemi ba dinagamagae le ditirelo tša tshedimošo tše ba di hwetšago. Datha e kgobokeditšwe ka dipoledišano tša go dirwa thwii le balemi ba go eta pele ba masomepedi bao e lego benggae ba Dikolo tša Tlhabollo ya Balemi. Dikutullo di laetša gore balemi go la Bungoma County ba na le kgahlego gagolo go tshedimošo yeo e ba thušago go tšweletša letseno la ka pela go tšwa go dikgwebotemo tša bona. Ba hwetša tshedimošo ya temo gagolo ka melaetša ya molomo ye e fetišwago ke balemiši le baetapele ba selegae ba tshepedišo. Balemi ba dumetše gore tshedimošo ye e hwetšwago methopong ya elektroniki bjalo ka setiši sa FM sa radio ya tikologo e na le mohola matlafatšong ya dikgwebo tša bona tša temo gomme ka go realo bašomišani ba tlhabollo ya temo, bangwaladipholisi le bakgathatema ka bodikela bja Kenya ba swanela gore ba upše ba šomiše setiši sa FM sa radio go phatlalatša tshedimošo ka ga tlhabollo ya temo. Ditlhohlo tše balemi ba kopanago natšo mošomong wa bona wa tshedimošo di amana le phihlelelego. Nyakišišo ye e kgatha tema go phetogo ya leago ka go eletša bašomišani ba tlhabollo ya temo, bangwaladipholisi le bakgathatema go la borwa bja Kenya gore ba phethagatše mananeo go fokotša bokgole bjoo balemi ba bo sepelago go hwetša tshedimošo ya temo le ditshenyegelo tše ba di dirago tšhomišong ya tsebo ye e hweditšwego go tšwa dikanaleng tša go fapana tša tshedimošo. / Information Science / M.A. (Information Science)

Depuis quelques années, les statistiques indiquent une croissance exponentielle de l’incidence de certaines infections transmissibles sexuellement chez les jeunes adultes. Certaines enquêtes témoignent en outre des comportements peu responsables en matière de santé sexuelle chez cette population, bien que l’offre d’information sur les conséquences de tels comportements soit importante et diversifiée. Par ailleurs, le comportement informationnel de cette population en matière de santé sexuelle demeure peu documenté. La présente étude porte sur le comportement informationnel de jeunes adultes québécois en matière de santé sexuelle. Plus spécifiquement, elle répond aux quatre questions de recherche suivantes : (1) Quelles sont les situations problématiques auxquelles les jeunes adultes sont confrontés en santé sexuelle?, (2) Quels sont les besoins informationnels exprimés par les jeunes adultes lors de ces situations problématiques?, (3) Quels sont les processus et les sources d’information qui soutiennent la résolution de ces besoins informationnels? et (4) Quelle est l’utilisation de l’information trouvée? Cette recherche descriptive a utilisé une approche qualitative. Le milieu retenu est l’Université de Montréal pour deux raisons : il s’agit d’un milieu cognitivement riche qui fournit un accès sur place à des ressources en santé sexuelle. Les huit jeunes adultes âgés de 18 à 25 ans qui ont pris part à cette étude ont participé à une entrevue en profondeur utilisant la technique de l’incident critique. Chacun d’entre eux a décrit une situation problématique par rapport à sa santé sexuelle et les données recueillies ont été l’objet d’une analyse de contenu basée sur la théorisation ancrée. Les résultats indiquent que les jeunes adultes québécois vivent des situations problématiques relatives à l’aspect physique de leur santé sexuelle qui peuvent être déclenchées par trois types d’éléments : un événement à risques, un symptôme physique subjectif et de l’information acquise passivement. Ces situations problématiques génèrent trois catégories de besoins informationnels : l’état de santé actuel, les conséquences possibles et les remèdes. Pour répondre à ces besoins, les participants se sont tournés en majorité vers des sources professionnelles, personnelles et verbales. La présence de facteurs contextuels, cognitifs et affectifs a particularisé leur processus de recherche d’information en modifiant les combinaisons des quatre activités effectuées, soit débuter, enchaîner, butiner et différencier. L’automotivation et la compréhension du problème représentent les deux principales utilisations de l’information. D’un point de vue théorique, les résultats indiquent que le modèle général de comportement informationnel de Choo (2006), le modèle d’environnement d’utilisation de l’information de Taylor (1986, 1991) et le modèle d’activités de recherche d’information d’Ellis (1989a, 1989b, 2005) peuvent être utilisés dans le contexte personnel de la santé sexuelle. D’un point de vue pratique, cette étude ajoute aux connaissances sur les critères de sélection des sources d’information en matière de santé sexuelle. / Over the pasts few years, statistics have indicated an exponential growth in the incidence of some sexually transmitted diseases among young adults. Certain studies suggest less-than-responsible sexual health behaviours among this population, despite readily available information, from diverse sources, on the consequences of such behaviours. Furthermore, the sexual health information behaviour of this population has not yet been well documented. This study focuses on the sexual health information behaviour of a group of young Quebec adults. More specifically, it answers the following four research questions: (1) What are the problematic situations faced by young adults in matters of sexual health?; (2) What are the information needs arising from these problematic situations?; (3) What are the information search processes and sources used to answer these information needs? and (4) Once found, how was this information used? This descriptive research used a qualitative approach. The Université de Montréal was chosen as the research environment for two reasons: it is a cognitively rich milieu that offers on-site access to sexual health resources. Eight young adults aged from 18 to 25 participated in an in-depth interview using the critical incident technique. Each participant described a problematic situation with respect to their sexual health and the resulting data were analysed using a grounded theory based method. Results indicate that young Quebec adults are faced with problematic situations with respect to physical aspects of their sexual life that can be triggered by three types of elements: a risky event, a subjective physical symptom or passively acquired information. These problematic situations generate three categories of information needs: the actual health state, potential consequences and cures. To answer these needs, a majority of participants turned to professional, personal and verbal sources. Situational, cognitive, and affective factors differentiated their information search process with different combinations of four information search activities: starting, chaining, browsing, and differentiating. Self-motivation and understanding of the problem represent the two main information uses. At a theoretical level, results indicates that the general information model (Choo 2006), the information use environment model (Taylor 1986, 1991) and the information search activities (Ellis 1989a, 1989b, 2005) can be used in the personal context of sexual health. At a practical level, this study enriches the knowledge of the criteria for selecting information sources in the context of sexual health.

Il y a de plus en plus de preuves que les animaux diffèrent de façon constante dans leur tendance à se servir de l’information sociale et de l’information personnelle, et ces différences interindividuelles sont corrélées avec des traits de personnalité tels que l’hardiesse et l’exploration. Le lien entre la personnalité et l’utilisation d’information sociale serait attribué au fait que les performances cognitives des individus affectent non seulement leur personnalité, mais aussi leur habileté à acquérir de l’information personnelle fiable. La présente étude cherchait à déterminer si les femelles diamant mandarin qui ont tendance à se fier à l’information sociale dans des contextes de choix de partenaire et d’alimentation démontrent également un niveau de contrôle de soi plus faible, une mesure que nous avons utilisée pour évaluer leur capacité à discriminer entre deux alternatives. Nous avons observé que les femelles plus impulsives ont une plus grande tendance à se servir de l’information sociale que celles qui démontrent un degré de contrôle de soi plus élevé. Ainsi, nos résultats suggèrent fortement que les différences individuelles dans les capacités cognitives auraient contribué à l'émergence et au maintien des personnalités animales. / There is increasing evidence that animals differ consistently in their tendency to weight social and personal information and these inter-individual differences have been found to correlate with personality traits, such as boldness or exploratory tendency. One reason that could explain the relationship between personality and social information use is that cognitive capacities of individuals affect both their personality and their ability to acquire reliable personal information. Our study aimed to determine if female zebra finches that relied on social information in a mating and a foraging context also demonstrated a low level of self-control, used as a measure of their ability to discriminate accurately among alternatives. Supporting our expectations, we found that the most impulsive females consistently relied on social information to a greater extent than those that demonstrated higher levels of self control. Thus, our findings strongly suggest that individual differences in cognitive abilities have contributed to the emergence and maintenance of animal personalities.

The aim of this study was to investigate the use of electronic information resources by postgraduate students at UNISA Regional Learning Centre in Ethiopia and to identify the problems they experience when using the UNISA online library. The literature review focuses on students’ information-seeking behaviour, with a particular emphasis on their usage of electronic information resources. Previous studies indicated that the context in which students’ information needs and their information-seeking behaviour arise can be determined by contextual and personal elements or factors. This study adopted a qualitative case study approach. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted to collect data from eight postgraduate students which were conveniently selected. The data were analysed by using a thematic data analysis technique. The study established that the majority of the respondents used electronic information resources. However, the availability of Internet connections and electricity determined the frequency with which e-resources were used. The students used information resources for various purposes, including for course work, doing assignments, preparing for examination, writing proposals, for literature reviews, for writing Master’s dissertations and doctoral theses, and for research. The study revealed that postgraduate students had basic computer and information literacy skills; however, they lacked more advanced skills and this negatively affected their usage of electronic information resources. The findings also reported that a lack of ICT infrastructure, such as limited Internet access, inadequate Internet connectivity and frequent electric power interruptions were the main factors that affected postgraduate students’ electronic information-seeking behaviour. Besides, the remoteness and poor facilities of the Akaki Branch Library also had a negative impact on students’ information usage. Recommendations are made in order to maximise the utilisation of electronic information resources and address students’ skills deficiencies experienced while they are using electronic information resource. / Information Science / M. A. (Information Science)

Access and use of information facilitate the improvement of agriculture in rural areas. It is therefore important to ensure that adequate and appropriate information flows to the rural areas, and that farmers are able to utilise it. This study investigated the access and use of poultry management information in three rural districts of Tanzania, namely Iringa Rural, Morogoro Rural and Mvomero. The survey method, supplemented by methodological triangulation, was used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 360 poultry farmers in the selected rural communities. Sixteen focus group discussions were conducted, in which 160 farmers participated. Twenty-two information providers were interviewed. The SPSS® software was used to analyse quantitative data, while qualitative data was analysed using content analysis. The findings indicated that poultry farmers needed information on poultry disease control, poultry protection, shelter for poultry and poultry production. There was very low identification and prioritisation of farmers’ information needs by the information providers. Farmers accessed information that had a direct impact and was deemed relevant to their farming activities. It was revealed that farmers accessed information mainly from interpersonal sources. Likewise, farmers preferred interpersonal and informal sources to formal sources of information. The extension officers were considered to be the most effective information source, followed by family, friends, and neighbours. Various factors, such as lack of awareness, unavailability of extension officers and poor infrastructure, influenced access and use of poultry management information. It was concluded that most of the information providers were not aware of the farmers’ information needs, and as a result they were not in a position to disseminate relevant information. In addition, farmers were used to an oral culture, which means that they would probably continue to depend on interpersonal sources of information, regardless of the availability of formal channels and modern sources. The study recommended several measures, including the use of multiple sources of information and delivery of information in a variety of formats, in order to accommodate various categories of farmers. The study also suggested some areas for further research. Furthermore, a model for effective dissemination of poultry management information in rural areas was proposed. / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:16:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 3013.pdf: 3676047 bytes, checksum: ce65afca81cc727ea99a27dc42e55e65 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-03-04 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / The highly competitive global market environment, the recent technological advances, the importance of information as well as the volume of this information are responsible for the rapid changes in business enterprises, especially in the small businesses. In such market environment, the technology-based small enterprises (TBSE s) have excelled in incorporating innovation, strategic management of resources, generation of qualified jobs and salaries higher than the national average. It is necessary, however, to guarantee the maintenance of such competitiveness keeping in view their specificity in being small businesses and the fact that they face obstacles in their growth and consolidation. The analysis and adequate use of information offers an alternative to improve the position of these enterprises in the market and to procure new technologies helping them in their decision-taking processes. With these facts as the background, this work took, as its main objective, to study the manner in which the TBSE s analyze and use information and to propose a method based in the processes of decision-taking and competitive intelligence. Given the importance of the technology-based small enterprises, two groups of nascent enterprises of the Pólo Tecnológico de São Carlos, incubated in the São Carlos High Technology Park Foundation (ParqTec): (i) 15 enterprises belonging to the CINET/SOFTNET incubator of which four were generated by the Grants Program for the Development of New Enterprises with an Agricultural and Livestock Technology Base (PROETA); and (ii) 10 enterprises implanted in the Design Inn incubator. Data were collected from primary and secondary sources which served as the basis for the theoretical constructions of this study. These data lead to the results on: (i) Identification of characteristics and specificities of the investigated enterprises; (ii) Identification of the access and the use of information by the incubated TBSE s; (iii) Integration of a simplified method for the analysis and use of information based on the processes of decision-taking and competitive intelligence considering their specificities and the Brazilian realities, in such a way as to potentialize their improvement in the local decision processes and intelligence enhancement leading also to their consolidation and growth. The managers of TBSE s reflected on the questions raised about the information management and showed themselves receptive to the ideas. 72% of the managers perceived themselves to be motivated to adopt the information management process and 64% considered the process as a viable support system for decision-taking. It is hoped that the dissemination of the results of this study shall contribute toward the advancement of the knowledge and attitude of these enterprises in search for a competitive edge in the market and consequently toward the regional socioeconomic development. / O ambiente globalizado e competitivo, os avanços tecnológicos, a relevância da informação, bem como a sobrecarga de informação, estão provocando rápidas mudanças nos negócios, principalmente nos negócios das pequenas empresas. Nesse ambiente as pequenas empresas de base tecnológica (PEBTs) têm se destacado pela incorporação da inovação, gestão estratégica de recursos, geração de empregos qualificados e salários superiores à média nacional. Entretanto, é preciso pensar em alternativas para manter essa situação, visto que elas também apresentam especificidades de pequenas empresas, e enfrentam obstáculos quanto ao seu crescimento e consolidação. A análise e uso adequado da informação é uma alternativa para o bom posicionamento dessas empresas no mercado e para a busca de novas tecnologias, corroborando para os seus processos de tomada de decisão. Portanto, este trabalho teve como objetivo principal, compreender a análise e o uso da informação nas PEBTs incubadas, e propor um método baseado nos processos de gestão da informação e inteligência competitiva. Considerando a importância das pequenas empresas de base tecnológica, fizeram parte da amostra deste trabalho, dois grupos de empresas nascentes do Pólo Tecnológico de São Carlos, incubadas na Fundação Parque de Alta Tecnologia de São Carlos (ParqTec): (i) quinze empresas pertencentes à incubadora CINET/SOFTNET, entre elas quatro empresas geradas a partir do Programa de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento de Novas Empresas de Base Tecnológica Agropecuária e à Transferência de Tecnologia (PROETA); e (ii) dez empresas instaladas na incubadora Design Inn. Dessa forma, foi realizada a coleta de dados de fontes primárias e secundárias, que embasaram as construções teóricas do trabalho, e os resultados a partir dessa coleta de dados foram: (i) identificação das características e especificidades das empresas investigadas; (ii) identificação do acesso e uso das informações pelas PEBTs incubadas; (iii) integração e sistematização de um método simplificado de análise e uso de informações, baseados na gestão da informação e inteligência competitiva, considerando suas especificidades e a realidade brasileira, de forma a potencializar melhorias nos seus processos de tomada de decisão e aumento da competitividade, contribuindo também para a sua consolidação e crescimento. Assim, os gestores das PEBTs refletiram questões acerca da gestão da informação e se mostraram receptivos, bem como 72% se vêem motivados a adotar o processo de gestão da informação para ganharem produtividade e 64% deles por considerarem o processo um suporte para a tomada de decisão. Espera-se contribuir, através da disseminação desses resultados, para o avanço do conhecimento e do comportamento dessas empresas na busca de vantagem competitiva, bem como para o desenvolvimento sócio econômico regional.

Abstract Animals need information about local conditions to make optimal fitness-enhancing decisions such as where to breed. Information can be acquired by personal sampling of the environment, but it can also be acquired from other individuals. The latter is termed social information use. Social information use has gained a lot of attention in modern ecology because it affects principal ecological phenomena such as animal distribution and resource use. Social information use is not restricted to obviously cognitive mammals and birds but is also found in e.g. reptiles, fish and insects. Social information use studies have thus far been concentrated on situations with one social information user and one (often the same) source species. The community-wide consequences of social information use have almost exclusively been considered in theoretical studies. In this thesis, I studied empirically social information use in the nest site selection within and between species in a cavity-nesting bird community consisting of the collared flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis), the great tit (Parus major) and the blue tit (P. caeruleus). I studied social information use on two time scales: social information gathered just before a breeding attempt, and social information gathered already during the previous breeding season for the following year’s breeding attempt. I used experiments in which different white geometric symbols represented nest site choices of earlier settled tutors and empty nest boxes, and I observed the symbol choices of later-breeding individuals. The symbol approach eradicates bias from innate and learned preferences enabling strong inference. My results demonstrate that collared flycatchers use social information from both con- and heterospecific tutors in different situations in a flexible manner. Hence, social information use seems to be context-dependent. Furthermore, I show that great tits avoid choosing nest site characteristics which were associated with either con- or heterospecifics nests the previous year and prefer symbols which depicted an empty nest box the previous year, probably to avoid nest ectoparasites. I also show that in great tits the male has greater influence on nest site selection than previously assumed even though the female builds the nest. My thesis deepens our understanding about the complexity of social information use and highlights its significance in future ecological research. / Tiivistelmä Eläimet tarvitsevat informaatiota paikallisista olosuhteista tehdäkseen edullisia päätöksiä esimerkiksi siitä, missä lisääntyä. Informaatiota voidaan hankkia tutkimalla ympäristöä itse, mutta sitä voidaan hankkia myös muilta yksilöiltä. Jälkimmäistä kutsutaan sosiaaliseksi informaatioksi. Eläinten sosiaalisen informaation käyttö on saavuttanut viime aikoina paljon huomiota ekologisessa tutkimuksessa, koska se vaikuttaa tärkeisiin ekologisiin ilmiöihin, kuten eläinten levinneisyyteen ja resurssien käyttöön. Sosiaalinen informaation käyttö ei rajoitu vain nisäkkäisiin ja lintuihin, vaan sitä on havaittu myös esimerkiksi matelijoilla, kaloilla ja hyönteisillä. Sosiaalisen informaation käyttöä on tutkittu lähes yksinomaan lajien sisällä tai käyttäen ainoastaan yhtä sosiaalisen informaation lähdelajia. Yhteisötason vaikutuksia on pohdittu miltei pelkästään teoreettisissa tutkimuksissa. Tässä väitöskirjatyössä tutkin kokeellisesti sosiaalisen informaation käyttöä pesäpaikan valinnassa lajin sisällä ja lajien välillä kolopesivien lintujen yhteisössä sepelsiepolla (Ficedula albicollis), talitiaisella (Parus major) ja sinitiaisella (P. caeruleus). Otin tutkimuksissani huomioon kaksi aikatasoa: tutkin juuri ennen pesimisyritystä kerätyn sekä jo edellisen lisääntymiskauden aikana seuraavan vuoden pesintää varten hankitun sosiaalisen informaation käyttöä. Kokeissani käytin linnunpönttöihin kiinnitettyjä erilaisia valkoisia geometrisia symboleita, jotka edustivat aiemmin pesinnän aloittaneiden lintujen eli tuutoreiden pesäpaikanvalintoja. Seurasin tämän jälkeen myöhemmin pesimään saapuvien parien symbolivalintoja. Tulosteni perusteella sepelsiepot hankkivat sosiaalista informaatiota sekä lajitovereiltaan että tiaisilta joustavasti eri tilanteissa. Lisäksi osoitan, että talitiaiset välttävät valitsemasta pesäpaikkoja, jotka olivat asuttuina edellisenä vuonna, ja suosivat sellaisia pesäpaikkoja, joissa ei pesitty edellisenä vuonna - todennäköisesti välttääkseen kirppuja ja muita pesäloisia. Osoitan myös, että talitiaiskoirailla on suurempi vaikutus pesäpaikan valintaan kuin aikaisemmin on oletettu, vaikka naaraat rakentavat pesän. Väitöskirjatyöni syventää käsitystämme sosiaalisen informaation käytön monitahoisuudesta eläinkunnassa ja korostaa sen merkitystä ekologisessa tutkimuksessa.

Plusieurs organismes ont besoin d’information à propos de la valeur des alternatives afin de prendre la meilleure décision dans plusieurs contextes importants tels que l’approvisionnement, le choix d’un habitat ou d’un partenaire de reproduction. L’utilisation d’information sociale qui provient des congénères est généralement considérée comme avantageuse, dans la mesure où elle est peu couteuse à acquérir. Cependant, elle peut s’avérer néfaste lorsque celle-ci est incorrecte, désuète ou émise par un émetteur malhonnête dans le but de duper. Ainsi, deux questions cruciales se posent lorsque qu’un organisme a accès à de l’information sociale : quand copier ? et qui copier ? Parmi plusieurs autres facteurs, les capacités cognitives des individus pourraient affecter leur probabilité de copier et d’être copié. Spécifiquement, un individu ayant de bonnes capacités d’apprentissage serait plus certain de son information personnelle et devrait de ce fait moins utiliser l’information sociale qu’un individu moins performant. Les démonstrateurs ayant de meilleures aptitudes (en termes par exemple de capacité à résoudre de nouveaux problèmes) devraient également être considérés comme plus fiables et, de ce fait, être copiés préférentiellement. Afin de tester ces deux hypothèses, nous avons effectué une expérience avec des diamants mandarins (Taenyopigia guttata), dans laquelle les sujets pouvaient copier le choix de 2 démonstrateurs qui leur procuraient tous les deux une information sociale contradictoire à leur information personnelle mais différaient dans leur capacité à résoudre un problème. Les sujets étaient par la suite testés dans une tâche d’apprentissage associatif. À l’encontre de nos hypothèses, les individus plus performants dans la tâche d’apprentissage n’ont pas utilisé l’information sociale moins souvent que ceux qui ont eu besoin d’un grand nombre d’essais pour atteindre le critère d’apprentissage. Par contre, nous avons trouvé que les sujets qui avaient une préférence plus marquée utilisaient moins l’information sociale que ceux qui avaient fait un choix plus aléatoire. De plus, les individus qui ont utilisé l’information sociale ont copié plus fréquemment le choix du démonstrateur qui avait été observée en train de réussir une tâche de résolution de problème plutôt que celui qui avait échoué. Ainsi notre étude démontre que les diamants mandarins évaluent la pertinence de l’information personnelle et social en considérant leur niveau d’incertitude et les performances cognitives des démonstrateurs dans une tâche de résolution de problème. / Animals frequently rely on others’ choice to decide with whom to mate or what to eat. Because social information use may lead to maladaptive decisions, individuals should not rely on social information unconditionally. In particular, reliance on social information should be more frequent when uncertainty about how to behave is high, and hence in individuals with poor learning abilities. When individuals who are copied provide contradictory social information, social learners should also preferentially copy the decisions of the most reliable model, and so, for instance, better-performing models in cognitive tasks. Here we conducted an experiment with zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) on which we measured (i) the preference for three colored feeders before and after they had received conflicting information from two models that respectively succeeded or failed to resolve a novel problem and (ii) the performance on an associative learning task. We found no evidence that individuals that were quicker to learn a new association relied less on social information compared to slower learners. Yet, the birds who exhibited a stronger initial preference used social information to a lesser extent compared to those who showed a less pronounced preference. Furthermore, we found that individuals copied more frequently the choice of the problem-solver over the non-solver model. Thus, our findings demonstrate that zebra finches weight personal and social information based on their level of uncertainty and the models’ performance in cognitive tasks.

La reconnaissance visuelle est un processus temporel : d’abord, l’information visuelle est reçue sur notre rétine de manière continue à travers le temps; ensuite, le traitement de l’information visuelle par notre cerveau prend un certain temps à s’effectuer; finalement, notre perception est toujours fonction autant des expériences acquises dans le passé que de l’input sensoriel présent. Les interactions entre ces aspects temporels de la reconnaissance sont rarement abordées dans la littérature. Dans cette thèse, nous évaluons l’échantillonnage de l’information visuelle à travers le temps pendant une tâche de reconnaissance, comment il se traduit dans le cerveau et comment il est modulé par des attentes spécifiques. Plusieurs études indiquent que nos attentes modulent notre perception. Comment l’attente d’un objet spécifique influence nos représentations internes demeure cependant largement inconnu. Dans le premier article de cette thèse, nous utilisons une variante de la technique Bubbles pour retrouver avec précision le décours temporel de l’utilisation d’information visuelle pendant la reconnaissance d’objets, lorsque les observateurs s’attendent à voir un objet spécifique ou non. Nous observons que les attentes affectent la représentation de différents attributs différemment et qu’elles ont un effet distinct à différents moments pendant la réception d’information visuelle. Dans le deuxième article, nous utilisons une technique similaire en conjonction avec l’électroencéphalographie (EEG) afin de révéler pour la première fois le traitement, à travers le temps, de l’information reçue à un moment spécifique pendant une fixation oculaire. Nous démontrons que l’information visuelle n’est pas traitée de la même manière selon le moment auquel elle est reçue sur la rétine, que ces différences ne sont pas explicables par l’adaptation ou l’amorçage, qu’elles sont d’origine au moins partiellement descendante et qu’elles corrèlent avec le comportement. Finalement, dans le troisième article, nous approfondissons cette investigation en utilisant la magnétoencéphalographie (MEG) et en examinant l’activité dans différentes régions cérébrales. Nous démontrons que l’échantillonnage de l’information visuelle est hautement variable selon le moment d’arrivée de l’information sur la rétine dans de larges parties des lobes occipitaux et pariétaux. De plus, nous démontrons que cet échantillonnage est rythmique, oscillant à diverses fréquences entre 7 et 30 Hz, et que ces oscillations varient en fréquences selon l’attribut échantillonné. / Visual recognition is a temporal process: first, visual information is continuously received through time on our retina; second, the processing of visual information by our brain takes time; third, our perception is function of both the present sensory input and our past experiences. Interactions between these temporal aspects have rarely been discussed in the literature. In this thesis, we assess the sampling of visual information through time during recognition tasks, how it is translated in the brain, and how it is modulated by expectations of specific objects. Several studies report that expectations modulate perception. However, how the expectation of a specific object modulates our internal representations remains largely unknown. In the first article of this thesis, we use a variant of the Bubbles technique to uncover the precise time course of visual information use during object recognition when specific objects are expected or not. We show that expectations modulate the representations of different features differently, and that they have distinct effects at distinct moments throughout the reception of visual information. In the second article, we use a similar method in conjunction with electroencephalography (EEG) to reveal for the first time the processing, through time, of information received at a specific moment during an eye fixation. We show that visual information is not processed in the same way depending on the moment at which it is received on the retina, that these differences cannot be explained by simple adaptation or repetition priming, that they are of at least partly top- down origin, and that they correlate with behavior. Finally, in a third article, we push this investigation further by using magnetoencephalography (MEG) and examining brain activity in different brain regions. We show that the sampling of visual information is highly variable depending on the moment at which information arrives on the retina in large parts of the occipital and parietal lobes. Furthermore, we show that this sampling is rhythmic, oscillating at multiple frequencies between 7 and 30 Hz, and that these oscillations vary according to the sampled feature.

This study investigated access and use of information in the health-care of home-based elderly people (EPs) in Nakuru District, Kenya. The literature review revealed a gap with respect to information behaviour in health-care of EPs in a development context. The researcher used qualitative methods; with exploratory and descriptive research design because the focus of the study was on the littleknown and socially disadvantaged community of EPs in Nakuru District. Respondents were sampled by using the snowball technique. At the end of an interview session, each respondent was encouraged to nominate someone who either shared the same or had different experiences, views, socio-economic levels and gender. The researcher collected data through face-to-face interviews with EPs, informal care providers (ICPs) and formal health-care providers (FHCPs), in order to gain insight of information behaviour in health-care of EPs, by focusing on aspects of information needs; sources; use of information and factors that influence the respective groups of respondents to access and use health-care information health-care of EPs. The findings showed that the respective groups of respondents had similar as well as diversified needs for information for health-care. The groups used both formal and informal sources of information and channels of communication to access information for health-care, with FHCPs using authoritative sources more than the EPs and ICPs. Factors such as being a professional or a lay person, cost, ease of accessibility, availability of sources and channels of communication, time and trustworthiness of a source or channel of communication determined preference for use of information. The major contribution of the study is to the theory about information behaviour: some EPs and ICPs used CAM services without informing FHCPs, thereby revealing a form of concealed information use behaviour (CIUB). / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)