This dissertation investigates the visual and verbal representations of animals in a selection of commercial picture books for a young readership of preschool children. The picture books selected are part of the Little Golden Book series. The first twelve books in this series were published in the United States in 1942 and are still in print today, while new books are continually being published. Because these popular picture books have had a broad readership from their inception and the books in the series have a uniform aesthetics, a comparative analysis provides insight into mainstream human-animal relationships.  Children’s literature is never innocent, and fraught with power imbalances. Animals become political beings, not only in the sense that they convey a didactic message, but in the sense that each animal representation carries a host of ideas and assumptions about human-animal relations with it. Using a theoretical framework that is grounded in Human Animal Studies (HAS), and more specifically literary animal studies, this dissertation analyzes the representation of human-animal interactions and relationships in different contexts.  Before the advent of HAS, anthropocentric, humanist interpretations of animal presence in children’s literature used to be prevalent. Commercial picture books in particular could benefit from readings that investigate animal presence without immediately resorting to humanist interpretations. One way of doing that is to start by questioning how interspecies difference and hierarchy is constructed in these books, verbally, visually and in the interaction between words and images. Based on this, we can speculate about the consequences this may have for the reader’s conceptualization of human-animal relationships. In children’s literature speciesism and ageism often intersect, for example when young children are compared with (young) animals or when animals are presented as stand-ins for young children. This dissertation explores the mechanisms behind the representation of species difference in commercial picture books.  The aim of this study is to analyze how commercial picture books like the Little Golden Books harbor a potential to shape young readers’ ideas about humanity and animality, species difference and hierarchy and the possibilities of interspecies interactions. The socializing function that is an important component of all children’s books makes that these picture books can shape readers’ attitudes from an early age. When reading children’s books featuring animals, the particular way these animals are represented guides the reader towards an ideology – and in the West, this ideology is predominantly anthropocentric. In Western cultures, children and animals are commonly thought of as natural allies, and as such they are often depicted as opposed to adult culture.  This dissertation identifies the ways in which certain conservative tendencies are activated by these commercial picture books, but also emphasizes that they can be a subversive space where anthropocentrism can be challenged. The case studies developed in this dissertation demonstrate how even so-called ’unsophisticated’ picture books contain interesting strains of animal related ideology worthy of in-depth analysis. The visual and verbal dimensions of these picture books show that these stories are embedded in a cultural context that helps give meaning to the animals. A recurring concern is the function of anthropomorphism and the role it plays in how we value the animals in these books. I am particularly interested in how picture books depict various degrees of anthropomorphism, because it has the potential to challenge species boundaries and disrupt the human-animal dichotomy.

Lina Axelsson Berg (2017). Bambi – en komparativ analys av Felix Saltens bok och Walt Disneys film. (Bambi – a comparative analysis of Felix Salten’s book and Walt Disney’s film). Independent project, Swedish, Specialization in Grades 4-6, Advanced Course, 15 credits. School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences. The aim of this study is to examine the changes that have occurred when Saltens novel Bambi was adapted to Disney’s Bambi. The specific elements that are examined are the scenes, some of the characters and the environment. This has been done through a comparative analysis. The results shows that the changes that has been done when Disney adapted Bambi is fairly small but the (for some) underlying meaning of Saltens Bambi, that it can be read as an allegory, is gone. There has been a change of characters, for Disney has chosen to ignore a couple of the significant characters in Salten and choose to add a couple of new characters which is a reason to why the underlying meaning of the story has changed. The study also examines if and how the story of Bambi (mostly Saltens) can be used in school subjects, primary when working with human values and how human treat animals. The result shows that the story can be used for that purpose but that the pedagogy who chooses to use is have to see to their own students and how they would react to a story like Saltens.

This study suggests that it is possible to classify websites as either extrovert or introvert and logical or emotional in style, impact and appearance. Both the extraversion/ introversion and logical/emotional dichotomies are major descriptors in the character typology devised by C.G. Jung and extended by others. Apart from the dichotomies mentioned above, Jung’s typology also makes use of various emotional characteristics of human beings as descriptors of temperament or character. The study suggests that it is useful to identify websites in terms of the descriptors that Jung and others propose, and that different websites will display various “temperamental” differences that are as important for website design as is a clear understanding of the temperaments of its target users. By taking account of the most common temperamental differences in websites, it should be possible to maximise the efficiency and appearance of different kinds of websites such as those created for government agencies, banks, online shopping, social networking and search engines. / Dissertation (MIT)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Informatics / unrestricted

A growing body of evidence suggests that some Science teachers use drama-based strategies in order to promote understanding of abstract scientific concepts. These strategies employ action and imagination to simulate systems and processes that are too fast, too slow, too big, too small, too expensive or too dangerous to observe in the classroom. A small group of quantitative and qualitative studies over the past thirty years has suggested that these physical simulations enable learning in secondary students, by promoting discourse and by conveying concept features through a range of sensations. The field is as yet under-theorised, consisting of single case designs and unreplicated methodologies. This multiple case study focused upon an intervention design based on a pedagogical model developed in my Masters research. This study aimed to explore the characteristics of students' interaction and the nature of their resultant conceptions over four months. Each case focussed upon one of eight Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 classes across a variety of UK schools. In each, a curriculum-based particle theory topic was taught in a double-period lesson. Data included video, participant observations, and interviews with three students from each class collected at pre, post and delayed intervals. Findings suggested that the pedagogy engendered engagement and self-regulation in group model-making tasks, and supported thought experiment-type visualisations of dynamic processes. Conceptual development was found to continue up to four months after the lessons. A model of learning was developed in which social interaction and multimodal discourse promoted the association of conceptual features with affective, visual and embodied images, which supported recall, discussion and further conceptual development in the longer term.

L’écriture de la nature de Thoreau plonge ses racines dans la Nouvelle-Angleterre du XIXe. Nourri de ses valeurs, l’auteur montre comment la vie doit être économisée et non dépensée en vain dans des activités frivoles. Pour se faire, il choisit la voie de la simplicité et de la solitude dans la nature ce qui lui permet de remettre en cause ce que la société considère d’ordinaire comme des vertus. Vivre seul dans la nature sauvage est un moyen anthropocentrique pour accéder au bonheur car la nature apporte à l’homme tout ce dont il a besoin. Ainsi, Thoreau est un naturaliste qui vit dans la nature et la parcourt. Son naturalisme s’éloigne de plus en plus des théories emersoniennes sur l’immanence. Le véritable scientifique sait regarder les animaux en engageant sa subjectivité et peut aller jusqu’à voir dans certains animaux l’incarnation de vertus.Pour nuancer cet anthropocentrisme, Thoreau appelle au zoocentrisme. Celui-ci peut même amener à une cohabitation pacifique entre les espèces. Toutefois, l’écriture et la pratique de Thoreau sont nourries de paradoxes en ce qui concerne la chasse, la pêche et le végétarisme. Pour vivre en harmonie avec la nature, Thoreau se rapproche du modèle indien qui a ses limites. Parmi quelques suggestions, Thoreau est le premier à proposer la création de parcs nationaux. / Thoreau’s nature writing is rooted in 19th century New-England. Fed on New-England’s values, the author shows life should be spared and not spent in vain in mundane activities. In order for him to do so, he chooses the way of a life of simplicity and solitude in nature, which enables him to question what society traditionally sees as virtues.Living alone in the wild is an anthropocentric means to reach happiness because nature provides man with all that he needs. Hence, Thoreau is a naturalist who lives in nature and walks in ii. His naturalism becomes more and more estranged from Emerson’s theory on immanence. The real scientist can watch animals using his subjectivity and can go so far as to see in certain animals the incarnation of some virtues.To nuance this anthropomorphist approach, Thoreau advocates zoocentrism. This point of view can even lead to a peaceful cohabitation between species. However, Thoreau’s writing and actions are fed with paradoxes as far as hunting, fishing and being a vegetarian is concerned. To live in harmony with nature, Thoreau gests closer to the Indian model which has limits. Thoreau makes many suggestions, among which the creation of national parks.

This thesis is based and developed on the ambiguous and open conception, iconic species, which reveals the relationship between human society and non-human species that goes be- yond its biological status. From the case of the giant panda, I attempt to deconstruct the shap- ing process of an iconic species from multiple perspectives, which includes how a specific cultural context, or a specific historical period contributes to the shaping process and how the government and the public diverge or even clash around the shaping process. Then, I introduce my fieldwork where I through observing both giant pandas and red pandas in the exhibition centres called panda bases to analyse the encountering an iconic species in reality and their different influences on public awareness of the wildlife conservation. I also attempt to explore the various representative forms of an iconic species such as the Tibetan antelope ranging from the mascot to the film and follow the changes of its symbolic meanings in different forms. In conclusion, the thesis is aimed to reflect the hybrid features of the iconic species and pro- vide in-depth interpretation of the endless interactions between the human beings and other species.

<p>With autonomous systems bringing greater demand for user data, in some applications, this also brings an opportunity to solicit data from users. To exploit this, a user interface will need to be designed to coax the user into achieving system goals, like data solicitation. One approach is to design a system to leverage an already present tendency for people to socially interact with technology. In this thesis, I argue that such an approach would involve incorporating interaction concepts that facilitate engagement into the design of recommender system interfaces that will improve the likelihood of obtaining data from users. To support this claim, I synthesize past work on human-computer interaction and recommender systems to derive a framework to guide scientific investigations into interface design concepts that will address the data solicitation problem.<br></p>

Det har visat sig att det finns en viss oro för vad den ökade robotiseringen kommer att innebära, samtidigt som robotiseringens utsträckning skiljer sig mellan branscher. Denna ANT-studie behandlar införandet av en robot i en omsorgsförvaltning. Av detta följer att verksamheten genomgår någon form av förändring, varefter vi ämnat skapa en förståelse för de okända konsekvenser som följer. Studien har även sin utgångspunkt i HRI och antropomorfisering, som givit perspektiv på olika former av aktörskap och deras interaktioner. Studien är till sin natur kvalitativ och har präglats av en abduktiv arbetsprocess, samtidigt som ANT-perspektivet även har haft implikationer på det ontologiska och epistemologiska ställningstagandet. Det empiriska materialet presenteras i form av ett narrativ uppdelat i tre episoder som är berättat av roboten Matilda. Det har visat sig att Matilda har varit en central materialitet för de associeringar som sammanför aktörerna i nätverket, men att hennes införande även medfört nätverkseffekter. Vi kan med säkerhet påstå att effekterna är dynamiska och att de först blir framträdande med tiden. Detta ger ett cirkulärt samband, där idéer förändras och avlöser varandra. / It has been shown that there is some concern about what the increased robotization will mean, while the extent of robotization differs between industries. This ANT study deals with the introduction of a robot into a Public Care Department. This is followed by the notion that the organization will undergo some kind of change, after which we intend to create an understanding of the unknown consequences that follow. The study also has its outset in HRI and anthropomorphism, which have given perspectives on different forms of actors and their interactions. The study is by nature qualitative and has been characterized by an abductive work process, while the ANT perspective has also had implications for the ontological and epistemological positions. The empirical material is presented in the form of a narrative, divided into three episodes told by Matilda the robot. It appears that Matilda has been a central materiality for the associations that connect the actors in the network, but that her introduction also has brought network effects. We can say with certainty that the effects are dynamic and that they only become prominent over time. This provides a circular relationship, where ideas change and replace each other.

Collaborative robots are becoming more commonplace within factories to work alongside their human counterparts. With this newfound perspective towards robots being seen as collaborative partners comes the question of how interacting with these machines will change. This thesis therefore focuses on investigating the connection between facial expression communication in industrial robots and users' perceptions. Experiments were conducted to investigate the relationship between users' perceptions towards both existing facial expressions of the Baxter robot (an industrial robot by Rethink Robotics) and redesigned versions of these facial expressions. Findings reveal that the redesigned facial expressions provide a better match to users’ expectations. In addition, insights into improving the expressive communication between humans and robots are discussed, including the need for additional solutions which can complement the facial expressions displayed by providing more detailed information as needed. The last section of this thesis presents future research directions towards building a more intuitive and user-friendly human-robot cooperation space for future industrial robots.

Syftet med denna studie är att bidra med kunskap om hur skogsmiljöer skildras i barnlitteratur som är publicerad mellan år 1900–2021 och om det eventuellt har skett några förändringar. En konventionell innehållsanalys har använts som metod för att kunna besvara syftet. Totalt har 18 barnböcker analyserats, jämnt fördelade i tre årsperioder: 1900–1949, 1950–1999 och 2000–2021.  Resultatet visar framför allt flera områden där det framträder skillnader mellan årsperioderna.  En av skillnaderna är att skogsmiljön har gått från att vara helt central till att bli mer avlägsen från människan. En annan tydlig förändring är hur arter har gått från att beskrivas på ett normativt sätt, till att beskrivas på ett mer kunskapsinriktat sätt. Antropomorfismen har präglat en stor del av barnlitteraturen, men har sakta börjat försvinna i de nyaste böckerna. Resultaten visar också att ett antropocentriskt förhållningssätt, där människan sätts i centrum, dominerar i dessa barnböcker.  Studien bidrar med kunskap om vad läsaren möter i barnböcker och antyder att det kan vara viktigt att reflektera över innehållet i den barnlitteratur som används i förskolans utbildning. / The aim of this study is to contribute with knowledge about how forest environments are depicted in children’s literature that is published between the years of 1900-2021 and if there is anything that has changed. A conventional content analysis has been used to answer the aim of the study. In total, 18 children’s books have been analyzed, equally distributed between the timeframes: 1900-1949, 1950-1999 and 2000-2021. The result indicates that above all, there are several areas that hold differences between the timeframes. The forest environment was once very central in the books and now appears more distant from humans. Another clear difference is how different species used to be described with words embedded with value that is now described more factually. Anthropomorphism has been very evident in children’s literature but is slowly starting to disappear in newer books. The result also shows that an anthropocentric perspective, where the human is central, dominates in these children’s books. The study provides knowledge on what the reader will meet in children’s literature and suggests that it can be of importance to reflect over the content within the children’s literature that is being used in a childcare setting and preschool education