Problems when generating virtual models representing real objects: Hondarribia walls

[EN] This paper is based in the following project:

Abstention, null and blank votes in the Basque Autonomous Community

The objectives of this essay are twofold. First it reviews the reason for abstaining (or casting a null or blank vote) in elections. It also provides the data of abstention in the elections to the European Parliament. Fewer data are available on blank and null votes. These are provided for some countries. The second objective is to analyze the data of the elections in the Basque Autonomous Community since 1977. The evolution through time is commented. The main features are the low participation in the European elections on the one hand and the importance of the null vote in the 2003-2009 period.

Abstention, null and blank votes in the Basque Autonomous Community

The objectives of this essay are twofold. First it reviews the reason for abstaining (or casting a null or blank vote) in elections. It also provides the data of abstention in the elections to the European Parliament. Fewer data are available on blank and null votes. These are provided for some countries. The second objective is to analyze the data of the elections in the Basque Autonomous Community since 1977. The evolution through time is commented. The main features are the low participation in the European elections on the one hand and the importance of the null vote in the 2003-2009 period.

The body social: an enactive approach to the self

This paper takes a new look at an old question: what is the human self? It offers a proposal for theorizing the self from an enactive perspective as an autonomous system that is constituted through interpersonal relations. It addresses a prevalent issue in the philosophy of cognitive science: the body-social problem. Embodied and social approaches to cognitive identity are in mutual tension. On the one hand, embodied cognitive science risks a new form of methodological individualism, implying a dichotomy not between the outside world of objects and the brain-bound individual but rather between body-bound individuals and the outside social world. On the other hand, approaches that emphasize the constitutive relevance of social interaction processes for cognitive identity run the risk of losing the individual in the interaction dynamics and of downplaying the role of embodiment. This paper adopts a middle way and outlines an enactive approach to individuation that is neither individualistic nor disembodied but integrates both approaches. Elaborating on Jonas' notion of needful freedom it outlines an enactive proposal to understanding the self as co-generated in interactions and relations with others. I argue that the human self is a social existence that is organized in terms of a back and forth between social distinction and participation processes. On this view, the body, rather than being identical with the social self, becomes its mediator

Incidental Memory of Younger and Older Adults for Objects Encountered in a Real World Context

Effects of context on the perception of, and incidental memory for, real-world objects have predominantly been investigated in younger individuals, under conditions involving a single static viewpoint. We examined the effects of prior object context and object familiarity on both older and younger adults' incidental memory for real objects encountered while they traversed a conference room. Recognition memory for context-typical and context-atypical objects was compared with a third group of unfamiliar objects that were not readily named and that had no strongly associated context. Both older and younger adults demonstrated a typicality effect, showing significantly lower 2-alternative-forced-choice recognition of context-typical than context-atypical objects; for these objects, the recognition of older adults either significantly exceeded, or numerically surpassed, that of younger adults. Testing-awareness elevated recognition but did not interact with age or with object type. Older adults showed significantly higher recognition for context-atypical objects than for unfamiliar objects that had no prior strongly associated context. The observation of a typicality effect in both age groups is consistent with preserved semantic schemata processing in aging. The incidental recognition advantage of older over younger adults for the context-typical and context-atypical objects may reflect aging-related differences in goal-related processing, with older adults under comparatively more novel circumstances being more likely to direct their attention to the external environment, or age-related differences in top-down effortful distraction regulation, with older individuals' attention more readily captured by salient objects in the environment. Older adults' reduced recognition of unfamiliar objects compared to context-atypical objects may reflect possible age differences in contextually driven expectancy violations. The latter finding underscores the theoretical and methodological value of including a third type of objects-that are comparatively neutral with respect to their contextual associations-to help differentiate between contextual integration effects (for schema-consistent objects) and expectancy violations (for schema-inconsistent objects).

Analysis of the housing market in the autonomous community of the Basque country: the adjustment after the burst of the housing bubble

In this project study the characteristic and dynamics of the residential housing market in the Basque country. When strong expansion and colapsing emerged in 2007,studied the differents adjustment.

Ezagutzaren dinamika Ikas Komunitateetan

[EUS] Laurogeita hamarreko hamarkadan, Eusko Jaurlaritzako Berriztapen Pedagogikoaren Zuzendaritzak eta Bartzelonako Unibertsitateko CREA (Gizarte eta Heziketarako Ikerkuntza Zentroa) ikerkuntza-taldeak Ikas Komunitateen proiektua jarri zuten martxan, elkarlanean, Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoko lau zentrotan. Zentro horiek hezkuntza-proiektu berri bat abiatzeko bidea ematen dute; izan ere, porrot akademiko handia izatearren hautatu dira, ikasle-taldeen aniztasunaren egoerari heltzeko arazo ugari dituztelako edota dauden lekuetan gizarte-bazterkeriarekin loturiko arazo anitz daudelako. Aldi berean, proiektuak eraldaketa proposatzen du, bai eskolarena, baita inguruarena ere, eta, horretarako, eskolako partaide guztiak hartzen ditu kontuan. Emaitza onak ikusi ostean, eta, hezkuntza-berriztapenaren alorrean lehentasuna izanik, ekimena zabaltzen hasi zen hastapeneko zentroez bestelako ezaugarri sozioedukatiboak dituzten eskoletara ere. Esperientzia berritzaile horiek aurrera eramateko gogo handiz agertu ziren, baita ere, «praktika on»en paradigma ez zirenak, eta, emaitzei begiratzen badiegu, dirudienez, etekin onak lortzen ari dira zentroetan. Ikas Komunitateen proiektuak berekin daraman gaitasun eraldatzaileak egokitzeko berezko ahala erakusten du. Egokitzapen horretan, eskolaren —inguruarekin batera— eta proiektuaren arteko sinbiosia lortzen da, hezkuntzako arrakasta- ekintzak sustatuz.