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This paper describes a novel method for building affectively intelligent human-interactive agents. The method is based on a key sociological insight that has been developed and extensively verified over the last twenty years, but has yet to make an impact in artificial intelligence. The insight is that resource bounded humans will, by default, act to maintain affective consistency. Humans have culturally shared fundamental affective sentiments about identities, behaviours, and objects, and they act so that the transient affective sentiments created during interactions confirm the fundamental sentiments. Humans seek and create situations that confirm or are consistent with, and avoid and suppress situations that disconfirm or are inconsistent with, their culturally shared affective sentiments. This “ affect control principle ” has been shown to be a powerful predictor of human behaviour. In this paper, we present a probabilistic and decision-theoretic generalisation of this principle, and we demonstrate how it can be leveraged to build affectively intelligent artificial agents. The new model, called BayesAct , can maintain multiple hypotheses about sentiments simultaneously as a probability distribution, and can make use of an explicit utility function to make value-directed action choices. This allows the model to generate affectively intelligent interactions with people by learning about their identity, predicting their behaviours using the affect control principle, and taking actions that are simultaneously goal-directed and affect-sensitive. We demonstrate this generalisation with a set of simulations. We then show how our model can be used as an emotional “plug-in” for artificially intelligent systems that interact with humans in two different settings: an exam practice assistant (tutor) and an assistive device for persons with a cognitive disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The control of rail signalling is known to be highly dependent on local knowledge and local factors. It is also known to be highly cognitive in its nature involving a constant balancing of system performance within the constraints of safety. In the current paper, data generated through field work with signallers were used to understand the role of local knowledge, set against the background of an existing Local Knowledge Framework (Pickup et al., 2013) that was proposed to help determine the contents and mechanisms behind local knowledge in rail signalling. The field work included interviews with signallers and operations managers along with observations of signaller work. The results showed that the local knowledge framework needs to be expanded to include aspects related to the general public at user worked crossings and level crossings. In addition, the analysis highlights some of the issues with the transmission of local knowledge. The paper then discusses some of the gaps in the current framework, highlighting the importance not only of local knowledge for specific functions of signalling, but how these interact to support trade-offs to balance performance with safety. The implications for the design of signaller work are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainable product-service system (SPSS) concept highlights that achieving sustainability requires changes in both ‘production’ and ‘consumption’. Nevertheless, attention has focused mainly on ‘production’. This paper enriches the SPSS approach with insights from the sociology of consumption and practice theory to provide a deeper understanding of the use of products and services in daily life contexts. The paper advances three key insights related to: a) the internal dynamics of user practices, b) the strength of linkages of practice elements (loose and tight coupling), c) external linkages to other practices. These insights are mobilised to provide a deeper understanding of the uptake and diffusion of innovations such as SPSS. The insights are illustrated with two cases in which interventions designed to stimulate diffusion have had differential success: energy efficient light bulbs and low temperature laundry. Implications for understanding the diffusion of SPSS are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I discuss the way in which early sociology addressed the metabolic relationships between society and nature. Father founders of social science such as Comte, Spencer, Marx, Schaeffle, Lilienfeld, Giddings, Ward, Kidd, Geddes and some others shared a physiological vision of metabolism and all were concerned on the problem of social regulation of metabolism. On closer examination, early social sciences had realized that social and natural worlds are deeply interconnected even though they were trapped in the dilemma between mechanism and finalism. A metabolic perspective allows us to understand where the organic interchange between nature and society has problems endangering social reproduction. Yet, metabolism is not only a matter of physical sciences but also of social ones for it is ruled and driven by social agents. Given the set of practices, knowledge, and sociotechnical regimes that enable the metabolism, it is notable the almost entirely absence of a sociology of metabolic exchanges, of the manner in which social systems (towns, firms, households) consume “environment”, i.e. matter, energy, and bio-capacity. The paper suggests that social scientists should investigate in the field of societal metabolic processes in an interdisciplinary perspective for exploring metabolic activators such as organized labor, consumption, and practice regimes as was suggested by early sociologists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Social scientists have paid increasing attention to health technology assessment (HTA). This paper provides an overview of existing social scientific literature on HTA, with a focus on sociology and political science and their subfields.Methods: Narrative review of key pieces in English.Results: Three broad themes recur in the emerging social science literature on HTA: the drivers of the establishment and concrete institutional designs of HTA bodies; the effects of institutionalized HTA on pricing and reimbursement systems and the broader society; and the social and political influences on HTA decisions.Conclusion: Social scientists bring a focus on institutions and social actors involved in HTA, using primarily small-N research designs and qualitative methods. They provide valuable critical perspectives on HTA, at times challenging its otherwise unquestioned assumptions. However, they often leave aside questions important to the HTA practitioner community, including the role of culture and values. Closer collaboration could be beneficial to tackle new relevant questions pertaining to HTA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract While always an interdisciplinary endeavour, rapid growth in the fields of Ethnomethodology (hereafter EM) and Conversation Analysis (hereafter CA) has led to the broader application of EM/CA methodologies and the engagement of researchers from beyond the more traditional fields of sociology and linguistics. EM/CA methodologies are being used to both understand the orderliness of social interaction and also to address specific institutional issues, in this instance in higher education settings. This paper explores the challenges inherent in using these approaches to researching institutional relationships, particularly when a primary aim of the research is to inform practitioners of practices used within institutional settings. We argue the need to draw on a variety of analytical tools to understand in situ practices alongside other lenses to translate these understandings of institutional practice to practitioners. Drawing on data from a study of audio-recorded conversations between supervisory and preservice teachers during the school-based professional experience component of initial teacher education, our analysis illustrates how the tools of conversation analysis and membership categorization analysis reveal the intricacies of how supervising and preservice teachers negotiate issues of asymmetry and position themselves through references to specific institutional documents. We then use the work of Dorothy Smith to support the translatability of descriptive findings to support interventions in the field. We use this example to demonstrate the affordances of using various analytic tools in complementary ways to overcome methodological challenges and provide new insights into institutional relationships and inform future practice. Highlights • Proposes the combined use of analytical tools to translate EM/CA findings to inform both method and practice. • Explores the ongoing development of CA methods, focusing on moves to applied Conversation Analysis. • Discusses the changing nature of academic research and positioning of CA researchers within disciplinary fields. • Illustrates the affordances of combining analytical tools from CA, MCA, and the work of Dorothy Smith in uncovering patterns and theorising approaches to interactions between preservice teachers and supervising teachers in school-based professional experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Academic discourse is characterised by being 'enormously diverse' (Hyland, 2004) because of its different disciplines and genres. Authors of academic texts are influenced by their disciplines, and by the 'discourse formats' (Fløttum et al., 2006) of what they are writing. However, genres exist across disciplines. For instance, research articles and PhD theses are found in different disciplines, namely medicine and sociology. Added to that, Systemic Functional Linguistics proposes that lexicogrammatical choices are activated by the context, which is, in this case, multiple. This paper seeks to study how the different parameters of context might influence the choices of PPs. A corpus of PhD theses and research articles from medicine and sociology is collected, and a sample is extracted and annotated via CorpusTool. The result revealed that certain choices reveal that while research articles are more similar across the disciplines, PhD theses are less restricted and disciplinary and personal differences are prominent. Highlights • Linguistic choices of Prepositional Phrases can be related to the different parameters of context in academic writing. • Certain lexico-grammatical choices are global: they reveal features of the field of academic writing, in general. • Other choices distinguish the different types of context: the genres and disciplines studied. • The boundary between genre and discipline is not fixed; it depends on the genre itself, as certain genres (Research Articles) have more restrictions than others (PhD Theses). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Degrowth—the reduction of energy and material throughput via shrinking total economic production and consumption in a socially sustainable way—would entail fewer working hours. However, work time reduction is not a sufficient condition for lower throughput because people may engage in environmentally harmful activities during expanded leisure. The purpose of this paper is to revisit the pessimistic and critical traditions to explicate unconventional utopian images of inactivity as a valuable feature of a better society. Pessimism makes a case for renouncing dissatisfaction-causing desires, an ethic that takes on a collective and futuristic form in Eduard von Hartmann and Emil Cioran. In the critical tradition, an indirect foundation of degrowth thinking, the central goal of the abolition of alienated labor is elevated to utopian heights in Theodor W. Adorno's brief portrayal of peace as humanity reconciled with nature in rest. These forecasts and hopes help envision what aspects of leisure may look like in post-growth society. For example, work time reduction policies should be paired with consumption-curbing policies, especially advertising limits. I warn against recuperation via "minimalist" commodities. Readers interested in degrowth and sustainability will benefit from contributions to discussions surrounding work time reduction, sustainable consumption, and post-growth imaginaries. Highlights • Work time reduction is not a sufficient condition for degrowth. • Increased inactivity is an underexplored form of low-impact leisure. • Pessimism and critical theory help visualize an idler society. • The argument is formulated as resignation from desire in the pessimistic tradition. • Critical theory envisions reconciliation, perpetual peace in a post-work society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social networks provide a powerful reflection of the structure and dynamics of the modern society. One of the promising areas for using the results of social networks content analysis is to reveal the hidden patterns of the social processes development and factors that determine the changing moods in different social groups. In this paper, we propose an approach to measure social tension in certain regions of Russia based on the analysis of users’ posts in the social network Vkontakte (VK). We developed a program that obtains posts reflecting negative attitudes of VK users on popular social issues such as level of unemployment, corruption crimes, and inflation. We used this program to collect statistics about the number of such posts in certain periods and to analyze common information about users who post them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing realization of knowledge as critical driver of economic growth and development is, no doubt, driving nations into harnessing the benefits of a knowledge economy. Yet, there is the paucity of empirical studies to help unpack the link between knowledge, health and wealth in the context of an emerging economy, for example, Nigeria. This paper examines the sociology of individual knowledge and creativity as a key production value and panacea for economic growth and global repositioning. Importantly, it examines whether the Nigerian economy is knowledge patent ready, and what kind of social arrangement would enhance or impede knowledge generation and its diffusion. Using the interpretive paradigm, through the inductive analysis of some knowledge-based economies, the study draws on the Burrell and Morgan's typology of sociological paradigms to develop a KBE (Knowledge-Based Economy) framework. The findings from the study reveal that there is a disequilibrium in the supply and demand for skilled and proficient manpower in Nigerian, especially in the trades sector. There is a need to strengthen the Nigerian patent law to give protection and incentive for idea generation, diffusion, and commercialization. Similarly, there is a need for secondary institutions and infrastructure that would provide a breeding ground for practical skill development for start-ups and university-industry collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of mobile devices and their use for Internet access, for georeferentiation and services consumption had a huge increase. Today, these devices ability to establish cooperation networks and to interact intelligently and cooperatively with the surrounding environment has growing importance. In this paper, we propose a system, based on a model which uses the social paradigms in mobile ubiquitous interactions, capable to effectively connect and integrate these devices in order to improve the accessibility in the cities. The model is inspired in concepts from the theory of organizations and sociology, as the notions of “social role”, “ownership” and “responsibility”, to be incorporated in each device. We present an example for applying the model in the context of accessibility in smart cities for the pedestrian traffic light automatic management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]