New Data on the Problem of Social Perception (A Person's Perception and Conception of Another Person)

Throughout the world at the present time more and more scientists are working on the problem of social perception. Though they are interested in different aspects of this problem, all are helping to elucidate the more or less complex features that characterize the process of how a human being forms images of other people and how he develops conceptions of their personalities. It was no slip of the pen when we included as a part of "social perception" the evolution of one's conception of another human being as a personality, for today the term "social perception" has been extended by most psychologists working on this problem to include the whole range of phenomena involved in one person's knowledge of another on the level of feeling as well as on the rational plane.     

Health and cancer prevention: knowledge and beliefs of children and young people.

OBJECTIVE--To collect information from children and young people about their knowledge of and attitudes towards cancer and their understanding of health and health related behaviours to inform future health promotion work. DESIGN--Questionnaire survey of 15-16 year olds, and interviews with play materials with 9-10 year old children. SETTING--Six inner city, suburban, and rural schools. SUBJECTS--226 children aged 15-16 years and 100 aged 9-10 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Knowledge about different types of cancer; beliefs about health; sources of information; quality of research data obtainable from young children about cancer and health. RESULTS--Both samples knew most about lung cancer, but there was also some knowledge of breast and skin cancer and leukaemia. Smoking, together with pollution and other environmental factors, were seen as the dominant causes of cancer. Environmental factors were mentioned more often by the inner city samples. Television and the media were the most important sources of information. Young people were more worried about unemployment than about ill health. More than half the young people did not describe their health as good, and most said they did not have a healthy lifestyle. Children were able to provide detailed information about their knowledge and understanding by using drawings as well as interviews. CONCLUSIONS--Children and young people possess considerable knowledge about cancer, especially about lung cancer and smoking, and show considerable awareness of predominant health education messages. Despite this knowledge, many lead less than healthy lifestyles. Health is not seen as the most important goal in life by many young people; the circumstances in which many children and young people live are not experienced as health promoting.     

Taeniid history, natural selection and antigenic diversity: evolutionary theory meets helminthology

Large sets of nucleotide sequence data of parasitic helminths have been accumulated in the past two decades. Our ability to improve the health of people and animals using this knowledge has not increased proportionally, however. Evolutionary biology provides the background to understand how parasites adapt to their hosts, and computational molecular biology offers the tools to infer the mechanisms involved. The study of antigenic diversity, a way for parasites to overcome host defenses against parasites, has been neglected in helminths, yet such a study could contribute to the development of more efficient drugs, diagnostic tests and vaccines. This review focuses on the study of adaptive evolution as the cause of antigenic diversity in tapeworms and its potential applications.     

A Novel Approach to Tradition: Torres Strait Islanders and Ion Idriess

This paper considers the significance of the novel Drums of Mer (1941) in contemporary Torres Strait Islanders' lives. Its use as narrative by many Islanders today constitutes one means by which men especially have come to know themselves, white others, and their past. In particular, I explore the ways in which this story appeals to and is appealed to by Yam Island people. Contrary to literary deconstructions of Idriess's representations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, my paper argues that in seriously attending to Torres Strait readings of Drums of Mer we can see that for contemporary Islander readers, it is not themselves who are other but rather the white protagonists. I employ Said's (1994) notion of ‘cultural overlap’ and de Certeau's (1988) understandings of reading and writing as ‘everyday practices’ to frame my analysis of the differing impacts of the historical novel, Drums of Mer, and the Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits. It is through story telling that Yam Island selves are placed in the past and the present, and in Idriess's memorable story a similar effect is achieved. In his novel approach, the past becomes his-story, a romanticised refraction of the Reports. Unlike the Reports, this novel is a sensual rendering of a Torres Strait past, and at this level it operates as a mnemonic device for Yam Island people, triggering memories and the imagination through the senses. This Torres Strait Islander detour by way of a past via a story, can be understood as a means by which Yam Island people continue to actively produce powerful images of themselves, for both themselves and for others.     

Introduction: Reclaiming Paradigms Lost

This introduction is a critical response to claims made about the demise and revival of the sub‐discipline of kinship studies. Contemporary calls to a reclaimed and revitalised area rest, ironically, on a misplaced concentration on the preoccupations of dominant cultures, one of the grounds used to discard kinship in the past. It is argued that many of the issues debated up to the 1970s in the domain of kinship involve more general problems such as arguments about structure and process, gender and biology and the way in which indigenous categories are to be apprehended and accommodated in a genuinely comparative discipline. The case is also made that kinship's demise is largely an Anglocentric phenomenon and that the continuing importance of many of the issues debated in the past, such as the relationship between people and land and its local ideological representations and global consequences, make knowledge of kinship's more exotic manifestations vital to contemporary graduates. The final section introduces the papers in the volume, each of which addresses, in a contemporary and critical way, an area that was important to previous kinship debates and remains of interest in the present.     

Shifting Baselines on a Tropical Forest Frontier: Extirpations Drive Declines in Local Ecological Knowledge

The value of local ecological knowledge (LEK) to conservation is increasingly recognised, but LEK is being rapidly lost as indigenous livelihoods change. Biodiversity loss is also a driver of the loss of LEK, but quantitative study is lacking. In our study landscape in SW China, a large proportion of species have been extirpated. Hence, we were interested to understand whether species extirpation might have led to an erosion of LEK and the implications this might have for conservation. So we investigated peoples'' ability to name a selection of birds and mammals in their local language from pictures. Age was correlated to frequency of forest visits as a teenager and is likely to be closely correlated to other known drivers of the loss of LEK, such as declining forest dependence. We found men were better at identifying birds overall and that older people were better able to identify birds to the species as compared to group levels (approximately equivalent to genus). The effect of age was also stronger among women. However, after controlling for these factors, species abundance was by far the most important parameter in determining peoples'' ability to name birds. People were unable to name any locally extirpated birds at the species level. However, contrary to expectations, people were better able to identify extirpated mammals at the species level than extant ones. However, extirpated mammals tend to be more charismatic species and several respondents indicated they were only familiar with them through TV documentaries. Younger people today cannot experience the sights and sounds of forest animals that their parents grew up with and, consequently, knowledge of these species is passing from cultural memory. We suggest that engaging older members of the community and linking the preservation of LEK to biodiversity conservation may help generate support for conservation.     

Knowledge and experience of young people regarding drug misuse, 1969-94.

OBJECTIVE--To monitor young people''s knowledge and experience of illicit drugs between 1969 and 1994 at intervals of five years. DESIGN--The same anonymously completed questionnaire was used throughout. SETTING--Three Wolverhampton secondary schools representing three different socioeconomic groups. SUBJECTS--392 pupils aged 14 to 15 completed the questionnaire in 1994. Previous sample sizes were 471 in 1969, 523 in 1974, 648 in 1979, 540 in 1984, and 380 in 1989. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Self reported levels of knowledge and experience of illicit drugs. RESULTS--Over 25 years the proportion of pupils who knew someone taking drugs more than quadrupled from 15% (71/471) to 65% (254/392), and the proportion who had been offered drugs increased ninefold from 5% (24) to 45% (175). Both of these proportions more than doubled over the past five years. In 1994 the proportions of pupils mentioning "ecstasy" (methylenedioxymethamphetamine), amphetamines, and crack cocaine increased significantly (P < 0.01) and the proportion mentioning opiates decreased significantly (P < 0.01). "Poppers" (amyl nitrite) were mentioned for the first time. "To feel big, to show off, look grown up" has continued to be the main perceived reason for taking drugs. Television has continued to be the main source of information. CONCLUSIONS--In the past five years in particular young people''s exposure to illicit drugs has increased dramatically. Despite more education about drugs, pupil''s knowledge remains limited. Social pressures remain the first perceived reason for taking drugs. The media have a responsibility not to glamorise drugs.     

Paläogenetik der Pest

Paleogenetics of the plague Plague has been part of our history since ancient times. Introduced again and again to Europe over centuries, the 'pestilences' killed millions of people before disappearing from the continent in 19^th Century. In the Middle Ages, bacteria were unknown and often the transmission routes of plague remained unrecognized. Plague was considered as a punishment by God disseminated by Miasma. With modern methods, microbiologists and palaeogenetists have now successfully shown that all the three historical recognized plague pandemics indeed were caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. In addition, important information has been obtained about the evolution of the bacterium and its origin. New data from ongoing studies on victims of the past epidemics help to shed new light on the past and perhaps even on the present of plague.     

Is Primatology an Equal-Opportunity Discipline?

The proportion of women occupying academic positions in biological sciences has increased in the past few decades, but women are still under-represented in senior academic ranks compared to their male colleagues. Primatology has been often singled out as a model of “equal-opportunity” discipline because of the common perception that women are more represented in Primatology than in similar fields. But is this indeed true? Here we show that, although in the past 15 years the proportion of female primatologists increased from the 38% of the early 1990s to the 57% of 2008, Primatology is far from being an “equal-opportunity” discipline, and suffers the phenomenon of “glass ceiling” as all the other scientific disciplines examined so far. In fact, even if Primatology does attract more female students than males, at the full professor level male members significantly outnumber females. Moreover, regardless of position, IPS male members publish significantly more than their female colleagues. Furthermore, when analyzing gender difference in scientific productivity in relation to the name order in the publications, it emerged that the scientific achievements of female primatologists (in terms of number and type of publications) do not always match their professional achievements (in terms of academic position). However, the gender difference in the IPS members'' number of publications does not correspond to a similar difference in their scientific impact (as measured by their H index), which may indicate that female primatologists'' fewer articles are of higher impact than those of their male colleagues.     

Why study the use of animal products in traditional medicines?

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that as many as 80% of the world's more than six billion people rely primarily on animal and plant-based medicines. The healing of human ailments by using therapeutics based on medicines obtained from animals or ultimately derived from them is known as zootherapy. The phenomenon of zootherapy is marked both by a broad geographical distribution and very deep historical origins. Despite their importance, studies on the therapeutic use of animals and animal parts have been neglected, when compared to plants. This paper discusses some related aspects of the use of animals or parts thereof as medicines, and their implications for ecology, culture (the traditional knowledge), economy, and public health.     

The sociocultural sustainability of livestock farming: an inquiry into social perceptions of dairy farming

Over the past 50 years, the scale and intensity of livestock farming have increased significantly. At the same time, Western societies have become more urbanised and fewer people have close relatives involved in farming. As a result, most citizens have little knowledge or direct experience of what farming entails. In addition, more people are expressing concerns over issues such as farm animal welfare. This has led to increasing public demand for more sustainable ways of livestock farming. To date, little research has been carried out on the social pillar of sustainable livestock farming. The aim of this study is to provide insights into the sociocultural sustainability of livestock farming systems. This study reviews the key findings of earlier published interdisciplinary research about the social perceptions of dairy farming in the Netherlands and Norway (Boogaard et al., 2006, 2008, 2010a and 2010b) and synthesises the implications for sociocultural sustainability of livestock farming. This study argues that the (sociocultural) sustainable development of livestock farming is not an objective concept, but that it is socially and culturally constructed by people in specific contexts. It explains the social pillar of the economics/ecological/social model sustainability in terms of the fields of tensions that exist between modernity, traditions and naturality - 'the MTN knot' - each of which has positive and negative faces. All three angles of vision can be seen in people's attitudes to dairy farming, but the weight given to each differs between individuals and cultures. Hence, sociocultural sustainability is context dependent and needs to be evaluated according to its local meaning. Moreover, sociocultural sustainability is about people's perceptions of livestock farming. Lay people might perceive livestock farming differently and ascribe different meanings to it than experts do, but their 'reality' is just as real. Finally, this study calls for an ongoing collaboration between social and animal scientists in order to develop livestock farming systems that are more socioculturally sustainable.     

From ethnic to civic nationalism: English Canada and Quebec

This article examines the plight of the Garo tribal people in Bangladesh as they struggle to retain the integrity of their homeland in the Madhupur Forest. Drawing from a number of sources ‐ jurisprudential, ethnographic, and sociological ‐ the author describes the history of this people, and the slow erosion of their customs and cultural homogeneity that has taken place over the past hundred years, as they have battled to survive in the centre of an area of the Indian subcontinent that has been prey to a bewildering series of political, demographic and climatic upheavals. Focusing on the specific issue of the Bangladesh government's desire to develop rubber plantations in the midst of this territory, the author analyses the legal and moral debates that this current dispute has unleashed, and suggests that the international community should engage in the debate as a matter of urgency, harnessing the events to a wider concern for the twin issues of environmental protection, and the preservation of the rights of indigenous people.     

The illogicality of stock-brokers: psychological experiments on the effects of prior knowledge and belief biases on logical reasoning in stock trading

Background

Explanations for the current worldwide financial crisis are primarily provided by economists and politicians. However, in the present work we focus on the psychological-cognitive factors that most likely affect the thinking of people on the economic stage and thus might also have had an effect on the progression of the crises. One of these factors might be the effect of prior beliefs on reasoning and decision-making. So far, this question has been explored only to a limited extent.

Methods

We report two experiments on logical reasoning competences of nineteen stock-brokers with long-lasting vocational experiences at the stock market. The premises of reasoning problems concerned stock trading and the experiments varied whether or not their conclusions—a proposition which is reached after considering the premises—agreed with the brokers'' prior beliefs. Half of the problems had a conclusion that was highly plausible for stock-brokers while the other half had a highly implausible conclusion.

Results

The data show a strong belief bias. Stock-brokers were strongly biased by their prior knowledge. Lowest performance was found for inferences in which the problems caused a conflict between logical validity and the experts'' belief. In these cases, the stock-brokers tended to make logically invalid inferences rather than give up their existing beliefs.

Conclusions

Our findings support the thesis that cognitive factors have an effect on the decision-making on the financial market. In the present study, stock-brokers were guided more by past experience and existing beliefs than by logical thinking and rational decision-making. They had difficulties to disengage themselves from vastly anchored thinking patterns. However, we believe, that it is wrong to accuse the brokers for their “malfunctions”, because such hard-wired cognitive principles are difficult to suppress even if the person is aware of them.     

Dolphin Shows and Interaction Programs: Benefits for Conservation Education?

Dolphin shows and dolphin interaction programs are two types of education programs within zoological institutions used to educate visitors about dolphins and the marine environment. The current study examined the short‐ and long‐term effects of these programs on visitors' conservation‐related knowledge, attitude, and behavior. Participants of both dolphin shows and interaction programs demonstrated a significant short‐term increase in knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral intentions. Three months following the experience, participants of both dolphin shows and interaction programs retained the knowledge learned during their experience and reported engaging in more conservation‐related behaviors. Additionally, the number of dolphin shows attended in the past was a significant predictor of recent conservation‐related behavior suggesting that repetition of these types of experiences may be important in inspiring people to conservation action. These results suggest that both dolphin shows and dolphin interaction programs can be an important part of a conservation education program for visitors of zoological facilities. Zoo Biol. 32:45‐53, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Issues in performing arts teacher preparation program evaluation policy

Solid, well-grounded teachers can be instrumental in solving the problems facing our schools and students because it is successful teachers who are the most valuable, in-school contributors to our students' success. The importance of teacher preparation programs (TPPs) in developing quality teachers has been reinforced by researchers who have demonstrated that preparation linked directly to practice benefits teachers in their first year of teaching. In contrast, federal legislation and government officials' statements suggest that TPPs are responsible for many of the problems facing public education, which has resulted in additional regulations and systems designed to evaluate TPPs' success in preparing effective teachers, including graduates' knowledge of appropriate content. In order to analyze the status of TPP evaluation as it relates to arts education, past models for TPP assessment are reviewed, newer models are discussed, and the possible effects on teacher evaluation processes are outlined. Early research and scholarly writing into the noted and projected effect of these models are discussed as well as suggestions and implications for future models and research into TPP effectiveness.     

Gathering “tea” – from necessity to connectedness with nature. Local knowledge about wild plant gathering in the Biosphere Reserve Grosses Walsertal (Austria)

Background

Wild plant gathering is an essential element in livelihood strategies all over the world. However due to changing circumstances in Europe, the reason for gathering has altered from one of necessity in the past to a pleasurable activity today. Wild plant gathering has therefore also received renewed attention as a form of intangible cultural heritage expressing local preferences, habits and man??s relationship with nature. In the Biosphere Reserve Grosses Walsertal (Austria), local people??s knowledge of the gathering of wild plants and their perception of their own gathering activities are being documented. The focus of this paper is on the uses of herbal teas and the informal guidelines for gathering plants that have been issued by the Bergtee (mountain tea) association.

Methods

Thirty-six free-list interviews were conducted with subsequent semi-structured interviews and three focus group meetings held with members of the Bergtee association. Participatory observation (gathering and processing plants, mixing and marketing tea) also allowed for greater understanding of what had been reported.

Results

In total, 140 different gathered plant species were listed by respondents. Herbal tea is the most frequently mentioned use. The Bergtee association, founded by a young man and two middle-aged women in the valley, is a good example of the link between biological and cultural diversity, with the aim of sharing the biosphere reserve??s natural treasures as well as local plant-related knowledge in the form of herbal tea products. The association??s informal guidelines for gathering reflect people??s attitude to nature: monetary income does not play a major role in gathering plants; instead people??s appreciation of the value of the nature around them is to the fore.

Conclusions

Gathering wild plants can be seen as an expression of people??s regional identity. The conscious appreciation of nature and related local knowledge is crucial for the sustainable conservation and use of the Biosphere Reserve??s resources.     

Knowledge in perception and illusion.

Following Hermann von Helmholtz, who described visual perceptions as unconscious inferences from sensory data and knowledge derived from the past, perceptions are regarded as similar to predictive hypotheses of science, but are psychologically projected into external space and accepted as our most immediate reality. There are increasing discrepancies between perceptions and conceptions with science''s advances, which makes it hard to define ''illusion''. Visual illusions can provide evidence of object knowledge and working rules for vision, but only when the phenomena are explained and classified. A tentative classification is presented, in terms of appearances and kinds of causes. The large contribution of knowledge from the past for vision raises the issue: how do we recognize the present, without confusion from the past. This danger is generally avoided as the present is signalled by real-time sensory inputs-perhaps flagged by qualia of consciousness.     

Cross sectional study of reporting of epileptic seizures to general practitioners

ObjectiveComparison of reporting of recent epileptic seizures by patients to a doctor and anonymously.DesignCross sectional study of patients with epilepsy by comparison of paired questionnaires.SettingRural and urban general practices in Norfolk. Participants122 patients aged over 16 years and able to self complete a questionnaire who were recruited by 31 general practitioners when attending for review of their epilepsy.Results18 patients failed to report a seizure in the past year to their general practitioner (uncontrolled epilepsy). 40% (24/60) of people with epilepsy who anonymously reported a seizure in the past year held a driving licence, but only six revealed this to their general practitioner. The unemployment rate was 34%, substantially higher than the 9% in the general population. Measures of anxiety, depression, and stigmatisation were higher in patients with uncontrolled epilepsy.ConclusionsA significant proportion of patients with epilepsy underreport their seizures. Recognition of underreporting is important if patients are to benefit from adequate and appropriate treatment. General practitioners'' ability to treat epilepsy is hampered by their role in regulating the rights of epileptic patients to hold a driving licence or access certain occupations.

Key messages

• People with epilepsy may be reluctant to report seizures to their general practitioners as epilepsy affects their eligibility for a driving licence and access to various employment and leisure activities
• In this study about a sixth of patients anonymously reported seizures in the past year which they had not revealed to their general practitioner
• 40% of patients who anonymously reported a seizure in the past year held a driving licence, but only a quarter of these admitted this to their general practitioner
• People who had had seizures in the past year were significantly more depressed and felt more stigmatised than those who had not had a seizure
• Underreporting of seizures has important consequences for treatment, and doctors need to put more effort into explaining this to patients

     

Merging science and arts to communicate nature conservation

As a response to overall negative attitudes on nature conservation, Latvian scientists and artists launched a new initiative to communicate biodiversity. Unlike previous efforts, this initiative also included arts (poetry, music, dance and photo/video) as part of the information campaign. This project, named Nature Concert Hall, has been very successful between 2006 and 2012 in terms of receiving national and international recognition; this paper aimed to evaluate its efficiency in increasing the public’s knowledge and awareness of nature conservation issues and pro-environmental behaviour. We used an electronic web-form survey to investigate the views of the Nature Concert Hall’s audience. The collaboration between artists and scientists clearly led to larger audiences: 53% of enquiry respondents would not have attended if there was only the ‘scientific component’ and another 34% were uncertain about their choice. Overall, 80.8% of respondents noted an increase in knowledge on biodiversity issues after attending Nature Concert Hall and 43.4% of respondents reported an increase in their pro-environmental activities. Significant predictors of increased knowledge were gender, profession and the main living location (men, people with creative professions such as artists and scientists, as well as people residing in the countryside, were less likely to learn something new). Significant predictors of increased pro-environmental behaviour were age, the number of events participants attended and the increase of knowledge (older people and those who attended more Nature Concert Hall events were more likely to improve their pro-environmental behaviour, as well as those people who also reported increase of knowledge).