Alle Publikationen
2018
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(2018): Multicultural Facial Expression Recognition Based on Differences of Western-Caucasian and East-Asian Facial Expressions of Emotions. In: IEICE Transactions on Information and Systems 101 (5), S. 1317-1324. DOI: 10.1587/transinf.2017MVP0025
Abstract: An increasing number of psychological studies have demonstrated that the six basic expressions of emotions are not culturally universal. However, automatic facial expression recognition (FER) systems disregard these findings and assume that facial expressions are universally expressed and recognized across different cultures. Therefore, this paper presents an analysis of Western-Caucasian and East-Asian facial expressions of emotions based on visual representations and cross-cultural FER. The visual analysis builds on the Eigenfaces method, and the cross-cultural FER combines appearance and geometric features by extracting Local Fourier Coefficients (LFC) and Facial Fourier Descriptors (FFD) respectively. Furthermore, two possible solutions for FER under multicultural environments are proposed. These are based on an early race detection, and independent models for culture-specific facial expressions found by the analysis evaluation. HSV color quantization combined with LFC and FFD compose the feature extraction for race detection, whereas culture-independent models of anger, disgust and fear are analyzed for the second solution. All tests were performed using Support Vector Machines (SVM) for classification and evaluated using five standard databases. Experimental results show that both solutions overcome the accuracy of FER systems under multicultural environments. However, the approach which individually considers the culture-specific facial expressions achieved the highest recognition rate.
Keywords: culture specificity, culture specificity of facial expressions of emotions, Emotionserkennung, facial expression recognition, Gestik/Mimik, Mensch-Technik-Relationen (MTR), multicultural FER, Realtechnik, Status / biologische Marker, Technik, universal human tendencies, universality of emotions -
(2018): Die feinen Unterschiede. Kritik der gesellschaftlichen Urteilskraft. Unter Mitarbeit von Bernd Schwibs. 26. Auflage 2018. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp (Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch Wissenschaft)Keywords: Bourdieu, Bourdieus Habitustheorie, Einkommen / Beruf, Familiengeschichte, Favoriten, feine Unterschiede, Feld, Geschmack, Gestik/Mimik, Good manners, Habitus, Klasse, Kleidung, Körperhaltung, Macht, Modelle/Theorien, Rollen, Soziale Angemessenheit, Soziologie, Sprache, Status / biologische Marker
2017
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(2017): Stereotype negation in Frame Semantics. In: Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 2 (1). DOI: 10.5334/gjgl.293Keywords: affixation, contextual coercion, frame semantics, Framesemantik, Frame-Semantik, Intellektualtechnik, Kogn. Architektur, Kontext, lexical negation, lexical rules, Lexik, Linguistik, Mensch-Technik-Relationen (MTR), Negation, Observablen/Kriterien für sozial angemessenes Verhalten und dessen Bewertung, Sprachgebrauch, Sprachverstehen, Status / biologische Marker, Technik
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(2017): Structured learning for spoken language understanding in human-robot interaction. In: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ROBOTICS RESEARCH 36 (5-7), S. 660-683
Abstract: Robots are slowly becoming a part of everyday life, being marketed for commercial applications such as telepresence, cleaning or entertainment. Thus, the ability to interact via natural language with non-expert users is becoming a key requirement. Even if user utterances can be efficiently recognized and transcribed by automatic speech recognition systems, several issues arise in translating them into suitable robotic actions and most of the existing solutions are strictly related to a specific scenario. In this paper, we present an approach to the design of natural language interfaces for human robot interaction, to translate spoken commands into computational structures that enable the robot to execute the intended request. The proposed solution is achieved by combining a general theory of language semantics, i.e. frame semantics, with state-of-the-art methods for robust spoken language understanding, based on structured learning algorithms. The adopted data driven paradigm allows the development of a fully functional natural language processing chain, that can be initialized by re-using available linguistic tools and resources. In addition, it can be also specialized by providing small sets of examples representative of a target newer domain. A systematic benchmarking resource, in terms of a rich and multi-layered spoken corpus has also been created and it has been used to evaluate the natural language processing chain. Our results show that our processing chain, trained with generic resources, provides a solid baseline for command understanding in a service robot domain. Moreover, when domain-dependent resources are provided to the system, the accuracy of the achieved interpretation always improves.
Keywords: Algorithmen, doppelter Treffer, frame semantics, Frame-Semantik, Interaktion, Korpus, Mensch-Maschine-Kommunikation, Mensch-Technik-Interaktion, Mensch-Technik-Relationen (MTR), narürliche Sprache, natural language interface, Observablen/Kriterien für sozial angemessenes Verhalten und dessen Bewertung, Realtechnik, Robotik, Serviceroboter, Soziale Angemessenheit, Soziale Robotik, speech processing, Sprache, Sprachgebrauch, Sprachverarbeitung, Sprachverstehen, Status / biologische Marker, structured learning algorithm, Technik -
(2017): Exposure to Hedione Increases Reciprocity in Humans. In: Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience 11. DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2017.00079
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28512400 Abstract: Cooperation among unrelated humans is frequently regarded as a defining feature in the evolutionary success of our species. Whereas, much research has addressed the strategic and cognitive mechanisms that underlie cooperation, investigations into chemosensory processes have received very limited research attention. To bridge that gap, we build on recent research that has identified the chemically synthesized odorant Hedione (HED) as a ligand for the putative human pheromone receptor (VN1R1) expressed in the olfactory mucosa, and hypothesize that exposure to HED may increase reciprocity. Applying behavioral economics paradigms, the present research shows that exposure to the ligand causes differentiated behavioral effects in reciprocal punishments (Study 1) as well as rewards (Study 2), two types of behaviors that are frequently regarded as essential for the development and maintenance of cooperation.
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(2017): Individual Differences in Verbal and Non-Verbal Affective Responses to Smells. Influence of Odor Label Across Cultures. In: Chemical senses 42 (1), S. 37-46. DOI: 10.1093/chemse/bjw098
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27655940 Abstract: Olfactory perception is highly variable from one person to another, as a function of individual and contextual factors. Here, we investigated the influence of 2 important factors of variation: culture and semantic information. More specifically, we tested whether cultural-specific knowledge and presence versus absence of odor names modulate odor perception, by measuring these effects in 2 populations differing in cultural background but not in language. Participants from France and Quebec, Canada, smelled 4 culture-specific and 2 non-specific odorants in 2 conditions: first without label, then with label. Their ratings of pleasantness, familiarity, edibility, and intensity were collected as well as their psychophysiological and olfactomotor responses. The results revealed significant effects of culture and semantic information, both at the verbal and non-verbal level. They also provided evidence that availability of semantic information reduced cultural differences. Semantic information had a unifying action on olfactory perception that overrode the influence of cultural background.
Keywords: Adult, Affect, Culture, culture specific, Disziplin, Female, France, Geruch / mikrobiologische Zusammensetzung von Körpersekreten, Humans, Kognitionswissenschaft/Social Sciences/Humanities, kulturspezifisch, Kulturtheorie, Male, Odorants/analysis, Olfactory Perception, Quebec, Semantics, Smell, Status / biologische Marker, Young Adult -
(2017): Real-time gesture translation in intercultural communication. In: AI & Society 32 (1), S. 25-35. DOI: 10.1007/s00146-014-0573-4
Abstract: Nonverbal behavior plays a crucial role in human communication and often leads to misunderstandings between people from different cultures, even if they speak the same language fluently. While translation systems are available for verbal communication, translators for nonverbal communication do not exist yet. We present the conceptual design and an early prototype of a real-time gesture translator using body tracking and gesture recognition in avatar-mediated intercultural interactions. It contributes to the ambitious goal of bridging between cultures by translating culture-specific gestures to enhance mutual understanding. Possible applications of the gesture translator are discussed as a facilitating tool for global business meetings and as a means of technology-enhanced conflict resolution and prevention.
Keywords: body tracking, Computerwissenschaft, Cultural interaction, culture specific, Disziplin, Gestik, Gestik/Mimik, gesture, Interaktion, Kommunikation, kulturspezifisch, Kulturtheorie, Mensch-Technik-Relationen (MTR), Nonverbal behaviour, Nonverbales Verhalten, Personenerkennung, Realtechnik, real-time gesture translation, Sozial Intelligente Agenten, Status / biologische Marker, Technik, translators for nonverbal communication -
(2017): Social odours covary with bacterial community in the anal secretions of wild meerkats. In: Scientific reports 7 (1). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-03356-x
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28607369 Abstract: The fermentation hypothesis for animal signalling posits that bacteria dwelling in an animal's scent glands metabolize the glands' primary products into odorous compounds used by the host to communicate with conspecifics. There is, however, little evidence of the predicted covariation between an animal's olfactory cues and its glandular bacterial communities. Using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, we first identified the volatile compounds present in 'pure' versus 'mixed' anal-gland secretions ('paste') of adult meerkats (Suricata suricatta) living in the wild. Low-molecular-weight chemicals that likely derive from bacterial metabolism were more prominent in mixed than pure secretions. Focusing thereafter on mixed secretions, we showed that chemical composition varied by sex and was more similar between members of the same group than between members of different groups. Subsequently, using next-generation sequencing, we identified the bacterial assemblages present in meerkat paste and documented relationships between these assemblages and the host's sex, social status and group membership. Lastly, we found significant covariation between the volatile compounds and bacterial assemblages in meerkat paste, particularly in males. Together, these results are consistent with a role for bacteria in the production of sex- and group-specific scents, and with the evolution of mutualism between meerkats and their glandular microbiota.
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(2017): Perceived differences in social status between speaker and listener affect the speaker's vocal characteristics. In: PLoS one 12 (6). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0179407
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28614413 Abstract: Non-verbal behaviours, including voice characteristics during speech, are an important way to communicate social status. Research suggests that individuals can obtain high social status through dominance (using force and intimidation) or through prestige (by being knowledgeable and skilful). However, little is known regarding differences in the vocal behaviour of men and women in response to dominant and prestigious individuals. Here, we tested within-subject differences in vocal parameters of interviewees during simulated job interviews with dominant, prestigious, and neutral employers (targets), while responding to questions which were classified as introductory, personal, and interpersonal. We found that vocal modulations were apparent between responses to the neutral and high-status targets, with participants, especially those who perceived themselves as low in dominance, increasing fundamental frequency (F0) in response to the dominant and prestigious targets relative to the neutral target. Self-perceived prestige, however, was less related to contextual vocal modulations than self-perceived dominance. Finally, we found that differences in the context of the interview questions participants were asked to respond to (introductory, personal, interpersonal), also affected their vocal parameters, being more prominent in responses to personal and interpersonal questions. Overall, our results suggest that people adjust their vocal parameters according to the perceived social status of the listener as well as their own self-perceived social status.
Keywords: Acoustic Stimulation, Adolescent, Adult, Auditory Perception/physiology, Diagnostic Self Evaluation, Female, fundamental frequency, Humans, Interviews as Topic/methods, Macht, Male, Middle Aged, Social Class, Social Perception, Socioeconomic Factors, Soziale Dominanz, Speech Acoustics, Speech/physiology, Status / biologische Marker, Stimme, Stimme / Prosodie, Voice/physiology, Young Adult -
(2017): Elaborating time in space. The structure and function of space-motion metaphors of time. In: LANGUAGE AND COGNITION 9 (2), S. 191-253
Abstract: This paper studies the principles according to which spatial and motion concepts metaphorically structure temporal concepts in some languages. There are two types of space–motion metaphor of time, distinguished by whether or not the metaphor is structured by a person’s perspective. “Christmas is approaching” and “We are approaching Christmas” are perspectival. “New Year’s follows Christmas” is not. This contrast in deixis and frame of reference is linguistically relevant whether the contrast has to do with imagination or external reality. Study of experiential motivations and analysis into primary metaphors helps reveal the particular ways spatial and motion concepts function in each type of metaphor. One focus is accounting for the contrasting temporal meanings that words for in-front and behind can have. For example, “Ahead of us” is later than Now, while “ahead of Christmas” is earlier than Christmas. We find that the temporal ‘directions’ expressed in the contrasting frames of reference are not opposites. Rather, they are motivated by different kinds of temporal experience. This project investigates the fundamental spatial relations that structure temporal concepts; for example co-location vs. separation. But since motion involves time, purely spatial structure is limited. Conceptual blending analysis reveals that the source and target frames of the perspectival metaphors share an aspectual – i.e., temporal – generic structure. Thus a dichotomy between ‘space’ and ‘time’ is of limited utility in describing space–motion metaphors of time. Instead, the analysis has to deal with the specific spatial and temporal concepts that function in each metaphor.
Keywords: Bewegungsbasiertes Verstehen, Deiktik, deixis, Embodiment, frame semantics, Kognitionswissenschaft/Social Sciences/Humanities, Linguistik, Observablen/Kriterien für sozial angemessenes Verhalten und dessen Bewertung, Sprache, Sprachgebrauch, Sprachverstehen, Status / biologische Marker, temporal concepts, Zeit in der Sprache, Zeit und raumzeitliche Bewegung, Zeitgefühl -
(2017): If you want a quick kiss, make it count. How choice of syntactic construction affects event construal. In: Journal of Memory and Language 94, S. 254-271. DOI: 10.1016/j.jml.2016.12.001Keywords: Ähnlichkeit, Dauer, Disziplin, Ereignis, Ereignisähnlichkeit, Ereignisdauer, Ereignisinterpretation, Ereignisverständnis, Events, frame semantics, Individuation, Informations- & Kommunikationstechnik, Intellektualtechnik, Interpretation, Kogn. Architektur, Kognitionswissenschaft/Social Sciences/Humanities, kognitive Architekturen, Künstliche Intelligenz, Lexical aspect, Lexik, Light verb constructions, Linguistic framing, Linguistik, Mass–count distinction, Mensch-Technik-Relationen (MTR), Observablen/Kriterien für sozial angemessenes Verhalten und dessen Bewertung, Realtechnik, Soziale Angemessenheit, Sprachgebrauch, Sprachverstehen, Status / biologische Marker, Syntax, Technik, Verständnis
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(2017): Towards a social functional account of laughter. Acoustic features convey reward, affiliation, and dominance. In: PLoS one 12 (8). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0183811
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28850589 Abstract: Recent work has identified the physical features of smiles that accomplish three tasks fundamental to human social living: rewarding behavior, establishing and managing affiliative bonds, and negotiating social status. The current work extends the social functional account to laughter. Participants (N = 762) rated the degree to which reward, affiliation, or dominance (between-subjects) was conveyed by 400 laughter samples acquired from a commercial sound effects website. Inclusion of a fourth rating dimension, spontaneity, allowed us to situate the current approach in the context of existing laughter research, which emphasizes the distinction between spontaneous and volitional laughter. We used 11 acoustic properties extracted from the laugh samples to predict participants' ratings. Actor sex moderated, and sometimes even reversed, the relation between acoustics and participants' judgments. Spontaneous laughter appears to serve the reward function in the current framework, as similar acoustic properties guided perceiver judgments of spontaneity and reward: reduced voicing and increased pitch, increased duration for female actors, and increased pitch slope, center of gravity, first formant, and noisiness for male actors. Affiliation ratings diverged from reward in their sex-dependent relationship to intensity and, for females, reduced pitch range and raised second formant. Dominance displayed the most distinct pattern of acoustic predictors, including increased pitch range, reduced second formant in females, and decreased pitch variability in males. We relate the current findings to existing findings on laughter and human and non-human vocalizations, concluding laughter can signal much more that felt or faked amusement.
Keywords: Acoustics, Adult, Aged, Art der Beziehung zum Interaktionspartner, Belohnung, center of gravity, Dauer, Female, formant, Gender, Gestik/Mimik, Humans, Klanghöhe (pitch), Kommunikations-/Interaktionsprinzipien, Lächeln, Lachen, Laughter/psychology, Male, Middle Aged, noisiness, pitch slope, Reward, Sanktionierung, Sex Factors, Social Dominance, Social Identification, Soziale Distanz, Soziale Dominanz, Spontaneität beim Lachen, Status / biologische Marker, Stimmhaftigkeit (voicing), Young Adult, Zugehörigkeit (affiliation) 2016
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(2016): Reading palm-up signs. Neurosemiotic overview of a common hand gesture. In: Semiotica (210). DOI: 10.1515/sem-2016-0053
Abstract: This article explores ways in which the human nervous system encodes and decodes palm-up gestural signs, signals, and cues. Palm-up gestures and their accompanying speech acts evolved from an ancient neurological system that gave rise to both gestural (pectoral) communication and vocal (laryngeal) language (Bass and Chagnaud 2013, Shared developmental and evolutionary origins for neural basis of vocal-acoustic and pectoral-gestural signaling. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109. 10677-10684.). Meanings of palm-up cues are multifaceted and nuanced, and express degrees of emotional helplessness, cognitive uncertainty, prosodic emphasis, and social deference. By themselves or in combination with other hand movements - such as reaching, showing, and pointing - palm-up cues are used to begin speaking turns, ask questions, request favors, and share personal opinions, feelings, and moods. The palm-up hand movement is a possibly universal signal of deference, in Erving Goffman's (1956, The nature of deference and demeanor. American Anthropologist 58(3). 473-502.) sense of the term, not unlike other deferential body-motion cues such as the anjaimudra, bow, curtsy, genuflection, kowtow, namaste, poussi-poussi, pranama, sampeah, and wai.
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(2016): “How” questions and the manner–method distinction. In: Synthese 193 (10), S. 3169-3194. DOI: 10.1007/s11229-015-0924-9
Abstract: How questions are understudied in philosophy and linguistics. They can be answered in very different ways, some of which are poorly understood. Jaworski (Synthese 166: 133-155, 2009) identifies several types: (i) 'manner', (ii) 'method, means or mechanism', (iii) 'cognitive resolution', and develops a logic designed to enable us to distinguish among them. Some key questions remain open, however, in particular, whether these distinctions derive from an ambiguity in how, from differences in the logical structure of the question or from contextual underspecification. Arguing from two classes of responses, adverbs and by gerunds, I give the answer that the logical structure of the question is indeed relevant: loosely, manners are adjuncts but methods are arguments.
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(2016): The Significance of Posture in Communication Systems †. In: Psychiatry 27 (4), S. 316-331. DOI: 10.1080/00332747.1964.11023403
Abstract: Considers symbols of gesture and posture as clues to interaction patterns of dyads or groups. Concerned mostly with body orientations in the psychotherapy relationship. A broad outline from a Gestalt point of view.
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(2016): Design and Evaluation of a Touch-Centered Calming Interaction with a Social Robot. In: IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing 7 (2), S. 108-121. DOI: 10.1109/TAFFC.2015.2457893
Abstract: With advances in sensor and actuator design, intelligent computing techniques and personal care robotics, today's robots hold promise as fully interactive, therapeutic human companions. To achieve this ambitious goal, key interaction components must be identified and then systematically designed and evaluated. Based on successes of human-animal therapy, we propose affective touch as one such component. Delivering this adjunct in a controllable robot form allows us to examine its efficacy for therapeutic applications such as anxiety management. With an approach grounded in social cognitive theories for human-animal relations, we deployed a social robot, the Haptic Creature, in an interaction designed to be calming: participants held the robot on their laps and stroked it as it was breathing. As a result, their heart and respiration rates significantly decreased relative to stroking a non-breathing robot. They also reported themselves as calmer and happier.
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(2016): Service robots. System design for tracking people through data fusion and initiating interaction with the human group by inferring social situations. In: Robotics and Autonomous Systems 83, S. 188-202. DOI: 10.1016/j.robot.2016.05.004
Abstract: In a situation where a robot initiates conversation with a group of people, questions such as "where is the people group?" and "whether the robot should approach them?" should be addressed. This paper develops a new system that enables a robot to determine whether or not it should approach the aforementioned human group and interact with them after identifying what the current social situation is. The system is mainly to fuse depth-related data to track the positions of a group of people, extract social cues of those people by using depth-related data and a decision network (DN) model, and the main challenge lies in understanding the social cues of the group and the current underlying social situation concerning the relation between the robot and the group. The social cues are based on Proxemics and F-formations, whereas the social situations are categorized as individual-to-individual, individual-to-robot, robot-to-individual, group-to-robot, robot-to-group, confidential discussion and group discussion. Our system proceeds as follows : once a group of people are detected and the social cues of that target group of people are extracted, the corresponding social situation is appropriately inferred, and in turn the robot decides whether it should initiate conversation with the group based on rules to be specified later. The conducted experimental results demonstrate the properness of the system design and the efficacy of the proposed method in recognizing the social cues among individuals of the group as well as the nature of the social situations concerning the group and the robot.
Keywords: Design, Disziplin, Favoriten, F-Formationen, HMI depending on social cues, Ingenieurswissenschaft, Mensch-Technik-Relationen (MTR), Modelle/Theorien, Observablen/Kriterien für sozial angemessenes Verhalten und dessen Bewertung, Proxemik, Realtechnik, Serviceroboter, Sozial Intelligente Agenten, Soziale Robotik, Status / biologische Marker, Technik 2015
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(2015): Baby, Where Did You Get Those Eyes?. IEEE Pulse talks with Mark Sagar about the new face of artificial intelligence. In: IEEE pulse 6 (6), S. 4-8. DOI: 10.1109/MPUL.2015.2476763
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26583883 Abstract: Mark Sagar is changing the way we look at computers by giving them faces?disconcertingly realistic human faces. Sagar first gained widespread recognition for his pioneering work in rendering faces for Hollywood movies, including Avatar and King Kong. With a Ph.D. degree in bioengineering and two Academy Awards under his belt, Sagar now directs a research lab at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, a combinatorial hub where artificial intelligence (AI), neuroscience, computer science, philosophy, and cognitive psychology intersect in creating interactive, intelligent technologies.
Keywords: Artificial intelligence, Augen, Face, Female, Humans, Male, Motion Pictures, Status / biologische Marker -
(2015): How to be in public. The case of an early television show. In: Celebrity Studies 6 (3), S. 355-369. DOI: 10.1080/19392397.2015.1062647
Abstract: The process of image management, whether of celebrities or non-celebrities, involves attention to several different registers of communication at once. The act of appearing on television has always presented difficulties for ordinary people in managing these different framings' of their spontaneous behaviour. This is vividly demonstrated by the first ever Double Your Money programme on the newly opened British commercial channel ITN in 1955. The different performance styles that people employed, along with the key role of the presenter Hughie Green, are here examined in detail. The problems of historical TV research using programmes that were temporarily meaningful' are also discussed along with other examinations of this archival programme.
Keywords: Außendarstellung, Fernsehen, Goffman, Im (wissenschaftlichen) Diskurs, Image, Konfliktverhalten, Konstruktion des Selbst, Mensch-Technik-Relationen (MTR), Observablen/Kriterien für sozial angemessenes Verhalten und dessen Bewertung, Öffentliche Darstellung, Öffentlichkeit, Reflexionen über MTR, Status / biologische Marker, Technik, TV -
(2015): That Sounds Sweet. Using Cross-Modal Correspondences to Communicate Gustatory Attributes. In: Psychology & Marketing 32 (1), S. 107-120. DOI: 10.1002/mar.20766
Abstract: Building on existing research into sound symbolism and cross-modal correspondences, this article proposes that cross-modal correspondences-systematic mappings between different sensory modalities-can be used to communicate nonmusical, low-level sensory properties such as basic tastes through music. A series of three experiments demonstrates that cross-modal correspondences enable people to systematically encode basic taste properties into parameters in musical space (Experiment 1), and that they are able to correctly decode basic taste information embedded in complex musical compositions (Experiments 2 and 3). The results also suggest some culture-specificity to these mappings, given that decoding performance, while still above chance levels, was lower in Indian participants than in those from the United States (Experiment 3). Implications and potential applications of these findings are discussed.
Keywords: ASSOCIATIONS, AUDITORY PITCH, BRAND NAMES, culture specificity, Geschmack, Kognitionswissenschaft/Social Sciences/Humanities, MAPPINGS, MENTAL-IMAGERY, MUSICAL NOTES, Musik, Musik und Geschmack, PERCEPTION, PHONETIC SYMBOLISM, Status / biologische Marker, Synästhesie, SYNESTHETIC CORRESPONDENCES, TASTE -
(2015): Rural N(SO) and German middle-class mothers' interaction with their 3- and 6-month-old infants. A longitudinal cross-cultural analysis. In: Journal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association (Division 43) 29 (4), S. 649-655. DOI: 10.1037/fam0000100
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26075741 Abstract: This study aims to analyze culture-specific development of maternal interactional behavior longitudinally. Rural Cameroonian Nso mothers (n = 72) and German middle-class mothers (n = 106) were observed in free-play interactions with their 3- and 6-month-old infants. Results reveal the expected shift from a social to a nonsocial focus only in the German middle-class mothers' play interactions but not the rural Nso mothers' play. Nso mothers continue their proximal interactional style with a focus on body contact and body stimulation, whereas German middle-class mothers prefer a distal style of interaction with increasing object-centeredness. These cultural differences are in line with broader cultural models and become more accentuated as the infants grow older.
Keywords: Adult, Cross-Cultural Comparison, culture specific, Female, Germany, Humans, Infant, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Maternal Behavior/ethnology/psychology, Mother-Child Relations, Mothers/psychology, Play and Playthings/psychology, Proxemik, Rural Population/statistics & numerical data, Status / biologische Marker -
(2015): Foreigner and Foreign in English-language Newspapers in Malaysia: A Framesemantic Approach. In: The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, S. 103-114Keywords: Ereignisinterpretation, frame semantics, Frame-Semantik, Kultur, Kulturelle Normen, Linguistik, Medien, Medienwirksamkeit, Medienwissenschaft, Observablen/Kriterien für sozial angemessenes Verhalten und dessen Bewertung, Sprache, Sprachgebrauch, Sprachverhalten, Sprachverstehen, Status / biologische Marker
2014
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(2014): The taxicab-hailing encounter. The politics of gesture in the interaction order. In: Semiotica (202), S. 609-629. DOI: 10.1515/sem-2014-0047
Abstract: The forms of emblematic gesture and other communicative moves used in hailing taxicabs are shaped by the urban built environment and by the micropolitics sparked by what Goffman called the "loose coupling" of the interaction and social orders. Cabdrivers evaluate street hails and choose whether or not to stop for prospective passengers; hailers seek to communicate their desirability as passengers within the limited mode of the street hail. The conditions and constraints that underlie the practice and reception of street hailing are considered. A survey on methods used to hail taxis was sent to a listserv of taxi drivers in San Francisco, California. The drivers evaluated street hails in terms of two axes clarity and propriety - and three levels of context: the immediate interactional context of the street; the anticipated interactional context of the cab ride; and the political context, or the political discourse framing taxicab regulation in the city.
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(2014): A Framework for User-Defined Body Gestures to Control a Humanoid Robot. In: International Journal of Social Robotics 6 (3), S. 383-396. DOI: 10.1007/s12369-014-0233-3
Abstract: This paper presents a framework that allows users to interact with and navigate a humanoid robot using body gestures. The first part of the paper describes a study to define intuitive gestures for eleven navigational commands based on analyzing 385 gestures performed by 35 participants. From the study results, we present a taxonomy of the user-defined gesture sets, agreement scores for the gesture sets, and time performances of the gesture motions. The second part of the paper presents a full body interaction system for recognizing the user-defined gestures. We evaluate the system by recruiting 22 participants to test for the accuracy of the proposed system. The results show that most of the defined gestures can be successfully recognized with a precision between 86100 % and an accuracy between 7396 %. We discuss the limitations of the system and present future work improvements.
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(2014): Call playback artificially generates a temporary cultural style of high affiliation in marmosets. In: Animal Behaviour 93, S. 163-171. DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.04.027
Abstract: Cultural variation can be conceptualized in two main ways: as culture-specific qualitative differences in behavioural form, and also as quantitative variation in performance of constellations of universal behaviours (cultural style). Despite observation of both types in wild nonhuman primates, diffusion of qualitative culture has been scrutinized extensively experimentally while within-species transmission of cultural style has remained entirely unexplored. Here we investigated whether a cultural style of high affiliation could be artificially generated in a nonhuman primate (Callithrix jacchus), by daily playback of conspecific affiliative calls simulating nearby amicable individuals. We found that vocalization playback influenced monkeys to spend more time in affiliative behaviours outside playback hours, relative to silent playback. The effect was specific to affiliation, with no impact on other categories of affect. This change did not persist into the final phase of observation after all playbacks were complete. Findings are consistent with a temporary shift in cultural style effected through vocalization playback, supporting existence of this conception of culture in wild primates and indicating auditory social contagion as a potential diffusion mechanism. The method presented here will allow researchers to test hypotheses concerning cultural transmission of cultural style, and the underlying processes, across a range of contexts and species.
Keywords: BEHAVIOR, behaviour, Biologie, Callithrix jacchus, CALLITHRIX-JACCHUS, CAPUCHIN MONKEYS, CHIMPANZEES, COMMON MARMOSETS, Culture, culture specific, enrichment, Evolution, FOOD, Geräusch/Klang, nonhuman primate, SOCIAL DIFFUSION, social influence, Status / biologische Marker, traditions, transmission