Human-directed gazing behaviour in puppies and adult dogs, Canis lupus familiaris

Recent evidence indicates that dogs' sociocognitive abilities and behaviour in a test situation are shaped by both genetic factors and life experiences. We used the 'unsolvable task' paradigm to investigate the effect of breed and age/experience on the use of human-directed gazing behaviour. Following a genetic classification based on recent genome analyses, dogs were allocated to three breed groups, namely Primitive, Hunting/Herding and Molossoid. Furthermore, we tested dogs at 2 months, 4.5. months and as adults. The test consisted of three solvable trials in which dogs could obtain food by manipulating a plastic container followed by an unsolvable trial in which obtaining the food became impossible. The dogs' behaviour towards the apparatus and the people present was analysed. At 2 months no breed group differences emerged and although human-directed gazing behaviour was observed in approximately half of the pups, it occurred for brief periods, suggesting that the aptitude to use human-directed gazing as a request for obtaining help probably develops at a later date when dogs have had more experience with human communication. Breed group differences, however, did emerge strongly in adult dogs and, although less pronounced, also in 4.5-month-old subjects, with dogs in the Hunting/Herding group showing significantly more human-directed gazing behaviour than dogs in the other two breed groups. These results suggest that, although the domestication process may have shaped the dog's human-directed communicative abilities, the later selection for specific types of work might also have had a significant impact on their emergence. © 2011 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

As estratégias discursivas da comunicação dirigida em pontos de venda do HSBC

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Os eventos como estratégia de comunicação nas lutas da cidadania

This study proposes some thinking under a different perspective about the Event Organization Activity. As a directed communication instrument, Events are planned actions, aiming at gathering people with common objectives, for a specific goal, usually under the view of organizations. In this study, some questioning on the relevance of Events at the social movement context is proposed, as they organize themselves through these actions in order to claim and pressure the Government for citizenship rights.

Communicative Signs Meaning Naturally

Paul Grice distinguishes between natural meaning and non-natural meaning, where the first notion is especially connected to something’s being a natural sign and the second to communication. It is argued that some of the arguments against the distinction being exhaustive are based on a misinterpretation of Grice, but also that the distinction cannot be exhaustive if one takes into account both the criterion of factivity and the connection to communication. If one makes a distinction between natural and non-natural communication, then there are different types of natural communication to be distinguished: goal-directed communication, intentional communication and open intentional communication. Given the empirical evidence, the behavior of chimpanzees and of human infants may be described as goal-directed communication, but there are also important differences between the communicative behavior of the two.

A COMUNICAÇÃO DE MERCADO A SERVIÇO DA IGREJA Em busca da fidelização

Esta pesquisa evidencia o uso de instrumentos de comunicação interna e dirigida e de ações de relações públicas e marketing de relacionamento dentro das igrejas evangélicas históricas. Também enfatiza a importância da comunicação interna e das estratégias de comunicação mercadológicas utilizadas dentro das igrejas inclusive com o uso do marketing boca a boca. Para a realização desta pesquisa foi feito um recorte das quatro maiores igrejas evangélicas históricas, em número de membros, situadas na cidade de Curitiba: Batista, Luterana, Presbiteriana e Metodista. O estudo foi realizado por meio de pesquisas de observação participante, análise de materiais diversos, entrevista com os líderes e uma pesquisa de campo, quantitativa, envolvendo os membros e freqüentadores das igrejas. Com o auxilio de um questionário estruturado foram analisados: 1) o comportamento dos membros e freqüentadores diante dos instrumentos de comunicação interna e dirigida que estão sendo utilizados e percebidos; e 2) os relacionamentos dentro da igreja, tanto entre membros quanto entre estes e seus líderes. A pesquisa concluiu que estes instrumentos de comunicação interna possuem relação com a retenção, perda e crescimento numérico de membros nas igrejas pesquisadas, frente a uma nova configuração religiosa onde a fidelização está cada vez mais difícil de ser alcançada.(AU)

A COMUNICAÇÃO DE MERCADO A SERVIÇO DA IGREJA Em busca da fidelização

Esta pesquisa evidencia o uso de instrumentos de comunicação interna e dirigida e de ações de relações públicas e marketing de relacionamento dentro das igrejas evangélicas históricas. Também enfatiza a importância da comunicação interna e das estratégias de comunicação mercadológicas utilizadas dentro das igrejas inclusive com o uso do marketing boca a boca. Para a realização desta pesquisa foi feito um recorte das quatro maiores igrejas evangélicas históricas, em número de membros, situadas na cidade de Curitiba: Batista, Luterana, Presbiteriana e Metodista. O estudo foi realizado por meio de pesquisas de observação participante, análise de materiais diversos, entrevista com os líderes e uma pesquisa de campo, quantitativa, envolvendo os membros e freqüentadores das igrejas. Com o auxilio de um questionário estruturado foram analisados: 1) o comportamento dos membros e freqüentadores diante dos instrumentos de comunicação interna e dirigida que estão sendo utilizados e percebidos; e 2) os relacionamentos dentro da igreja, tanto entre membros quanto entre estes e seus líderes. A pesquisa concluiu que estes instrumentos de comunicação interna possuem relação com a retenção, perda e crescimento numérico de membros nas igrejas pesquisadas, frente a uma nova configuração religiosa onde a fidelização está cada vez mais difícil de ser alcançada.(AU)

A COMUNICAÇÃO DE MERCADO A SERVIÇO DA IGREJA Em busca da fidelização

Esta pesquisa evidencia o uso de instrumentos de comunicação interna e dirigida e de ações de relações públicas e marketing de relacionamento dentro das igrejas evangélicas históricas. Também enfatiza a importância da comunicação interna e das estratégias de comunicação mercadológicas utilizadas dentro das igrejas inclusive com o uso do marketing boca a boca. Para a realização desta pesquisa foi feito um recorte das quatro maiores igrejas evangélicas históricas, em número de membros, situadas na cidade de Curitiba: Batista, Luterana, Presbiteriana e Metodista. O estudo foi realizado por meio de pesquisas de observação participante, análise de materiais diversos, entrevista com os líderes e uma pesquisa de campo, quantitativa, envolvendo os membros e freqüentadores das igrejas. Com o auxilio de um questionário estruturado foram analisados: 1) o comportamento dos membros e freqüentadores diante dos instrumentos de comunicação interna e dirigida que estão sendo utilizados e percebidos; e 2) os relacionamentos dentro da igreja, tanto entre membros quanto entre estes e seus líderes. A pesquisa concluiu que estes instrumentos de comunicação interna possuem relação com a retenção, perda e crescimento numérico de membros nas igrejas pesquisadas, frente a uma nova configuração religiosa onde a fidelização está cada vez mais difícil de ser alcançada.(AU)

Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC): New Discipline with an Old Learning Approach: A Syllabi Analysis

Marketing communications as a discipline has changed significantly in both theory and practice over the past decade. But has our teaching of IMC kept pace with the discipline changes? The purpose of this paper is to explore how far the evolving concepts of IMC are reaching university learners. By doing this, the paper offers an approach to assessing how well marketing curricula are fulfilling their purpose. The course outlines (syllabi) for all IMC courses in 30 universities in Australia and five universities in New Zealand were analyzed. The findings suggest that most of what is taught in the units is not IMC. It is not directed by the key constructs of IMC, nor by the research informing the discipline. Rather, it appears to have evolved little from traditional promotion management units and is close in content and structure to many introductory advertising courses. This paper suggests several possible explanations for this, including: (1) a tacit rejection of IMC as a valid concept; (2) a lack of information about what IMC is and what it is not; and (3) a scarcity of teaching and learning materials that are clearly focused on key constructs and research issues of IMC.

Reducing high levels of communication apprehension among primary school students

This study focused on a group of primary school teachers as they implemented a variety of intervention actions within their class programs aimed towards supporting the reduction of high levels of communication apprehension (CA) among students.Six teachers and nine students, located across three primary schools, four year levels,and six classes, participated in this study. For reasons of confidentiality the schools,principals, parents, teachers, teacher assistants, and students who were involved in this study were given fictitious names. The following research question was explored in this study: What intervention actions can primary school teachers implement within their class programs that support the reduction of high CA levels among students? Throughout this study the term CA referred to "an individual's level of fear or anxiety associated with either real or anticipated (oral) communication with another person or persons" (McCroskey, 1984, p. 13). The sources of CA were explained with reference to McCroskey's state-trait continuum. The distinctions between high and appropriate levels of CA were determined conceptually and empirically. The education system within which this study was conducted promoted the philosophy of inclusion and the practices of inclusive schooling. Teachers employed in this system were encouraged to create class programs inclusive of and successful for all students. Consequently the conceptual framework within which this study was conducted was based around the notion of inclusion. Action research and case study research were the methodologies used in the study. Case studies described teachers' action research as they responded to the challenge of executing intervention actions within their class programs directed towards supporting the reduction of high CA levels among students. Consequently the teachers and not the researcher were the central characters in each of the case studies. Three principal data collection instruments were used in this study: Personal Report of Communication Fear (PRCF) scale, semistructured interviews, and dialogue journals. The PRCF scale was the screening tool used to identify a pool of students eligible for the study. Data relevant to the students involved in the study were gathered during semistructured interviews and throughout the dialogue journaling process. Dialogue journaling provided the opportunity for regular contact between teachers and the researcher, a sequence to teacher and student intervention behaviours, and a permanent record of teacher and student growth and development. The majority of teachers involved in this study endeavoured to develop class programs inclusive of all students.These teachers acknowledged the importance of modifying aspects of their class programs in response to the diverse and often multiple needs of individual students with high levels of CA. Numerous conclusions were drawn regarding practical ways that the teachers in this study supported the reduction of high CA levels among students. What this study has shown is that teachers can incorporate intervention actions within their class programs aimed towards supporting students lower their high levels of CA. Whilst no teacher developed an identical approach to intervention, similarities and differences were evident among teachers regarding their selection, interpretation, and implementation of intervention actions. Actions that teachers enacted within their class programs emerged from numerous fields of research including CA, inclusion, social skills, behaviour teaching, co-operative learning, and quality schools. Each teacher's knowledge of and familiarity with these research fields influenced their preference for and commitment to particular intervention actions. Additional factors including each teacher's paradigm of inclusion and exclusion contributed towards their choice of intervention actions. Possible implications of these conclusions were noted with reference to teachers,school administrators, support personnel, system personnel, teacher educators, parents, and researchers.

Constructing abstract maps from spatial descriptions for goal-directed exploration

This paper describes ongoing work on a system using spatial descriptions to construct abstract maps that can be used for goal-directed exploration in an unfamiliar office environment. Abstract maps contain membership, connectivity, and spatial layout information extracted from symbolic spatial information. In goal-directed exploration, the robot would then link this information with observed symbolic information and its grounded world representation. We demonstrate the ability of the system to extract and represent membership, connectivity, and spatial layout information from spatial descriptions of an office environment. In the planned study, the robot will navigate to the goal location using the abstract map to inform the best direction to explore in.

Analysis of an LMS linear equalizer for fading channels in decision directed mode

We consider a time varying wireless fading channel, equalized by an LMS linear equalizer in decision directed mode (DD-LMS-LE). We study how well this equalizer tracks the optimal Wiener equalizer. Initially we study a fixed channel.For a fixed channel, we obtain the existence of DD attractors near the Wiener filter at high SNRs using an ODE (Ordinary Differential Equation) approximating the DD-LMS-LE. We also show, via examples, that the DD attractors may not be close to the Wiener filters at low SNRs. Next we study a time varying fading channel modeled by an Auto-regressive (AR) process of order 2. The DD-LMS equalizer and the AR process are jointly approximated by the solution of a system of ODEs. We show via examples that the LMS equalizer ODE show tracks the ODE corresponding to the instantaneous Wiener filter when the SNR is high. This may not happen at low SNRs.

Stabilization of planar collective motion with limited communication

This paper proposes a design methodology to stabilize relative equilibria in a model of identical, steered particles moving in the plane at unit speed. Relative equilibria either correspond to parallel motion of all particles with fixed relative spacing or to circular motion of all particles around the same circle. Particles exchange relative information according to a communication graph that can be undirected or directed and time-invariant or time-varying. The emphasis of this paper is to show how previous results assuming all-to-all communication can be extended to a general communication framework. © 2008 IEEE.

ROSSI: Emergence of communication in Robots through Sensorimotor and Social Interaction

ROSSI: Emergence of communication in Robots through Sensorimotor and Social Interaction, T. Ziemke, A. Borghi, F. Anelli, C. Gianelli, F. Binkovski, G. Buccino, V. Gallese, M. Huelse, M. Lee, R. Nicoletti, D. Parisi, L. Riggio, A. Tessari, E. Sahin, International Conference on Cognitive Systems (CogSys 2008), University of Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany, 2008 Sponsorship: EU-FP7