Contextual factors multiplex to control multisensory processes.

This study analyzed high-density event-related potentials (ERPs) within an electrical neuroimaging framework to provide insights regarding the interaction between multisensory processes and stimulus probabilities. Specifically, we identified the spatiotemporal brain mechanisms by which the proportion of temporally congruent and task-irrelevant auditory information influences stimulus processing during a visual duration discrimination task. The spatial position (top/bottom) of the visual stimulus was indicative of how frequently the visual and auditory stimuli would be congruent in their duration (i.e., context of congruence). Stronger influences of irrelevant sound were observed when contexts associated with a high proportion of auditory-visual congruence repeated and also when contexts associated with a low proportion of congruence switched. Context of congruence and context transition resulted in weaker brain responses at 228 to 257 ms poststimulus to conditions giving rise to larger behavioral cross-modal interactions. Importantly, a control oddball task revealed that both congruent and incongruent audiovisual stimuli triggered equivalent non-linear multisensory interactions when congruence was not a relevant dimension. Collectively, these results are well explained by statistical learning, which links a particular context (here: a spatial location) with a certain level of top-down attentional control that further modulates cross-modal interactions based on whether a particular context repeated or changed. The current findings shed new light on the importance of context-based control over multisensory processing, whose influences multiplex across finer and broader time scales.

Functional neuroanatomy of contextual acquisition of concrete and abstract words

The meaning of a novel word can be acquired by extracting it from linguistic context. Here we simulated word learning of new words associated to concrete and abstract concepts in a variant of the human simulation paradigm that provided linguistic context information in order to characterize the brain systems involved. Native speakers of Spanish read pairs of sentences in order to derive the meaning of a new word that appeared in the terminal position of the sentences. fMRI revealed that learning the meaning associated to concrete and abstract new words was qualitatively different and recruited similar brain regions as the processing of real concrete and abstract words. In particular, learning of new concrete words selectively boosted the activation of the ventral anterior fusiform gyrus, a region driven by imageability, which has previously been implicated in the processing of concrete words.

Is contextual-potentiated eating dependent on caloric density of food?

One experiment tested whether a specific context could elicit eating in rats as a result of Pavlovian conditioning and whether this effect depended on the caloric density of food. Thirty two deprived rats experienced two contexts. They had access to food in context A, but no food was available in context B. During conditioning, half of the animals received high density caloric food (HD groups) whereas the other half, low density caloric food (LD groups). Then, half of the rats in each type of food group was tested in context A and the other half in context B. The results demonstrated an effect of context conditioning only in HD groups. These findings suggest the relevance of both contextual conditioning and caloric density of food in eating behaviour. Implications for the aetiology of binge eating will be discussed.

Role of the hippocampus in contextual memory after classical aversive conditioning in pigeons (C. livia)

We investigated the effects of hippocampal lesions with ibotenic acid (IBO) on the memory of the sound-context-shock association during reexposure to the conditioning context. Twenty-nine adult pigeons were assigned to a non-lesioned control group (CG, N = 7), a sham-lesioned group (SG, N = 7), a hippocampus-lesioned experimental group (EG, N = 7), and to an unpaired nonlesioned group (tone-alone exposure) (NG, N = 8). All pigeons were submitted to a 20-min session in the conditioning chamber with three associations of sound (1000 Hz, 85 dB, 1 s) and shock (10 mA, 1 s). Experimental and sham lesions were performed 24 h later (EG and SG) when EG birds received three bilateral injections (anteroposterior (A), 4.5, 5.25 and 7.0) of IBO (1 µl and 1 µg/µl) and SG received one bilateral injection (A, 5.25) of PBS. The animals were reexposed to the training context 5 days after the lesion. Behavior was videotaped for 20 min and analyzed at 30-s intervals. A significantly higher percent rating of immobility was observed for CG (median, 95.1; range, 79.2 to 100.0) and SG (median, 90.0; range, 69.6 to 95.0) compared to EG (median, 11.62; range, 3.83 to 50.1) and NG (median, 7.33; range, 6.2 to 28.1) (P<0.001) in the training context. These results suggest impairment of contextual fear in birds who received lesions one day after conditioning and a role for the hippocampus in the modulation of emotional aversive memories in pigeons.

Looking for the GAP effect in manual responses and the role of contextual influences in reaction time experiments

When the offset of a visual stimulus (GAP condition) precedes the onset of a target, saccadic reaction times are reduced in relation to the condition with no offset (overlap condition) - the GAP effect. However, the existence of the GAP effect for manual responses is still controversial. In two experiments using both simple (Experiment 1, N = 18) and choice key-press procedures (Experiment 2, N = 12), we looked for the GAP effect in manual responses and investigated possible contextual influences on it. Participants were asked to respond to the imperative stimulus that would occur under different experimental contexts, created by varying the array of warning-stimulus intervals (0, 300 and 1000 ms) and conditions (GAP and overlap): i) intervals and conditions were randomized throughout the experiment; ii) conditions were run in different blocks and intervals were randomized; iii) intervals were run in different blocks and conditions were randomized. Our data showed that no GAP effect was obtained for any manipulation. The predictability of stimulus occurrence produced the strongest influence on response latencies. In Experiment 1, simple manual responses were shorter when the intervals were blocked (247 ms, P < 0.001) in relation to the other two contexts (274 and 279 ms). Despite the use of choice key-press procedures, Experiment 2 produced a similar pattern of results. A discussion addressing the critical conditions to obtain the GAP effect for distinct motor responses is presented. In short, our data stress the relevance of the temporal allocation of attention for behavioral performance.

Towards a contextual understanding of B2B salespeople's selling competencies – An exploratory study among purchasing decision-makers of internationally-oriented technology firms

ABSTRACT Towards a contextual understanding of B2B salespeople’s selling competencies − an exploratory study among purchasing decision-makers of internationally-oriented technology firms The characteristics of modern selling can be classified as follows: customer retention and loyalty targets, database and knowledge management, customer relationship management, marketing activities, problem solving and system selling, and satisfying needs and creating value. For salespeople to be successful in this environment, they need a wide range of competencies. Salespeople’s selling skills are well documented in seller side literature through quantitative methods, but the knowledge, skills and competencies from the buyer’s perspective are under-researched. The existing research on selling competencies should be broadened and updated through a qualitative research perspective due to the dynamic nature and the contextual dependence of selling competencies. The purpose of the study is to increase understanding of the professional salesperson’s selling competencies from the industrial purchasing decision- makers’ viewpoint within the relationship selling context. In this study, competencies are defined as sales-related knowledge and skills. The scope of the study includes goods, materials and services managed by a company’s purchasing function and used by an organization on a daily basis. The abductive approach and ‘systematic combining’ have been applied as a research strategy. In this research, data were generated through semi- structured, person-to-person interviews and open-ended questions. The study was conducted among purchasing decision-makers in the technology industry in Finland. The branches consisted of the electronics and electro-technical industries and the mechanical engineering and metals industries. A total of 30 companies and one purchasing decision-maker from each company were purposively chosen for the sampling. The sample covers different company sizes based on their revenues, their differing structures – varying from public to family companies –that represent domestic and international ownerships. Before analyzing the data, they were organized by the purchasing orientations of the buyers: the buying, procurement or supply management orientation. Thematic analysis was chosen as the analysis method. After analyzing the data, the results were contrasted with the theory. There was a continuous interaction between the empirical data and the theory. Based on the findings, a total of 19 major knowledge and skills were identified from the buyers’ perspective. The specific knowledge and skills from the viewpoint of customers’ prevalent purchasing orientations were divided into two categories, generic and contextual. The generic knowledge and skills apply to all purchasing orientations, and the contextual knowledge and skills depend on customers’ prevalent purchasing orientations. Generic knowledge and skills relate to price setting, negotiation, communication and interaction skills, while contextual ones relate to knowledge brokering, ability to present solutions and relationship skills. Buying-oriented buyers value salespeople who are ‘action oriented experts, however at a bit of an arm’s length’, procurement buyers value salespeople who are ‘experts deeply dedicated to the customer and fostering the relationship’ and supply management buyers value salespeople who are ‘corporate-oriented experts’. In addition, the buyer’s perceptions on knowledge and selling skills differ from the seller’s ones. The buyer side emphasizes managing the subject matter, consisting of the expertise, understanding the customers’ business and needs, creating a customized solution and creating value, reliability and an ability to build long-term relationships, while the seller side emphasizes communica- tion, interaction and salesmanship skills. The study integrates the selling skills of the current three-component model− technical knowledge, salesmanship skills, interpersonal skills− and relationship skills and purchasing orientations, into a selling competency model. The findings deepen and update the content of these knowledges and skills in the B2B setting and create new insights into them from the buyer’s perspective, and thus the study increases contextual understanding of selling competencies. It generates new knowledge of the salesperson’s competencies for the relationship selling and personal selling and sales management literature. It also adds knowledge of the buying orientations to the buying behavior literature. The findings challenge sales management to perceive salespeople’s selling skills both from a contingency and competence perspective. The study has several managerial implications: it increases understanding of what the critical selling knowledge and skills from the buyer’s point of view are, understanding of how salespeople effectively implement the relationship marketing concept, sales management’s knowledge of how to manage the sales process more effectively and efficiently, and the knowledge of how sales management should develop a salesperson’s selling competencies when managing and developing the sales force. Keywords: selling competencies, knowledge, selling skills, relationship skills, purchasing orientations, B2B selling, abductive approach, technology firms

Co-operative acquisitions – the contextual factors and challenges for co-operatives when acquiring an investorowned firm

Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) have been seen as an important strategy in helping organizations to grow, gain access to new markets and resources, increase efficiency, and enable competitiveness in order to fulfil the purpose of the organization. These aspects have made M&As of central interest to academic literature. In co-operative studies mergers especially have been widely studied. The common focus of these studies is that M&As have taken place between organizations of the same form. It is noteworthy that there is a scarcity of literature concerning acquisitions between different organizational types. Moreover, M&As have not been evaluated concerning the organization’s ownership and purpose, which may be significant integration factors. The overall objective of this study is to describe and understand why co-operative organizations use acquisition as a strategic alternative. In more detail – and in order to develop understanding of the background ideals affecting the acquisition decision and the differences of organization ideals in the integration process – this study is based on a qualitative case study approach. By combining interview data gathered from the OPPohjola Group and associating the observations from various streams of research on acquisitions and management with the purpose of co-operation, and examining these issues further, the thesis contributes to the elaboration of theory in the field of the strategic management of co-operatives. The dissertation consists of two parts. The first part introduces the research topic, methods and publications, as well as discussing the overall outcomes. The second part consists of four publications that address the research questions from different viewpoints. The analyses of this dissertation indicate that, from the strategic point of view, the acquisition of an investor-owned firm by a co-operative organization may create competitive advantage for the co-operative. On the other hand, there are differences in and following from the purpose of acquirer and the acquiree that may, in such case, pose several challenges to the integration process.

Nietzsche como destino da filosofia e da humanidade? interpretação contextual do § 1 do capítulo "por que sou um destino", de ecce homo

The following translation is a reduced and revised version of the paper Schicksal Nietzsche? Zu Nietzsches Selbsteinschätzung als Schicksal der Philosophie und der Menschheit (Ecce Homo, Warum ich ein Schicksal bin §1)" - originally published in Nietzsche-Studien 37 (2008) - which was specially prepared to be presented in lecture organized by the Grupo de Pesquisa Spinoza & Nietzsche (Spinoza & Nietzsche research group - SpiN), in the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro's Federal University), on September 14, 2009. In the text, the autor employs his own philological-hermeneutical methodology, which is called contextual interpretation, in the purpose to clarify the concepts of the first aphorism from "Why I am a destiny", from Ecce Homo, in its own context, in the context of Ecce Homo and in the context of the entire work from Nietzsche.

Nietzsche como destino da filosofia e da humanidade? interpretação contextual do § 1 do capítulo "por que sou um destino", de ecce homo

A tradução que se segue é uma versão resumida e revisada do artigo "Schicksal Nietzsche? Zu Nietzsches Selbsteinschätzung als Schicksal der Philosophie und der Menschheit (Ecce Homo, Warum ich ein Schicksal bin §1)" - publicado originalmente em Nietzsche-Studien 37 (2008) - que foi especialmente preparada para ser apresentada em palestra organizada pelo Grupo de Pesquisa Spinoza & Nietzsche (SpiN), na Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, em 14/09/2009. No texto, o autor faz uso de sua própria metodologia filológico-hermenêutica, denominada interpretação contextual, com vistas a esclarecer os conceitos do primeiro aforismo de "por que sou um destino", de Ecce Homo no seu contexto próprio, no contexto de Ecce Homo e no contexto da obra de Nietzsche como um todo.

Power, Contextual Intelligence and Leadership: Research Approaches for Understanding Participatory Community Climate Change Adaptation

Analysis of power in natural resources management is important as multiple stakeholders interact within complex, social-ecological systems. As a sub-set of these interactions, community climate change adaptation is increasingly using participatory processes to address issues of local concern. While some attention has been paid to power relations in this respect, e.g. evaluating international climate regimes or assessing vulnerability as part of integrated impact assessments, little attention has been paid to how a structured assessment of power could facilitate real adaptation and increase the potential for successful participatory processes. This paper surveys how the concept of power is currently being applied in natural resources management and links these ideas to agency and leadership for climate change adaptation. By exploring behavioural research on destructive leadership, a model is developed for informing participatory climate change adaptation. The working paper then concludes with a discussion of developing research questions in two specific areas - examining barriers to adaptation and mapping the evolution of specific participatory processes for climate change adaptation.

Propuesta didáctica reestructuración del plan de estudios de la especialidad de Laboratorista Químico, ofrecida por D.G.E.T.I. en el C.E.T.i.s. No.163, en congruencia con el perfil de egreso requerido [por] Luis Alfredo Garza Guzmán

Tesis (Maestría en Enseñanza de las Ciencias con Especialidad en Química) U.A.N.L.