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BIOfid is a specialized information service currently being developed to mobilize biodiversity data dormant in printed historical and modern literature and to offer a platform for open access journals on the science of biodiversity. Our team of librarians, computer scientists and biologists produce high-quality text digitizations, develop new text-mining tools and generate detailed ontologies enabling semantic text analysis and semantic search by means of user-specific queries. In a pilot project we focus on German publications on the distribution and ecology of vascular plants, birds, moths and butterflies extending back to the Linnaeus period about 250 years ago. The three organism groups have been selected according to current demands of the relevant research community in Germany. The text corpus defined for this purpose comprises over 400 volumes with more than 100,000 pages to be digitized and will be complemented by journals from other digitization projects, copyright-free and project-related literature. With TextImager (Natural Language Processing & Text Visualization) and TextAnnotator (Discourse Semantic Annotation) we have already extended and launched tools that focus on the text-analytical section of our project. Furthermore, taxonomic and anatomical ontologies elaborated by us for the taxa prioritized by the project’s target group - German institutions and scientists active in biodiversity research - are constantly improved and expanded to maximize scientific data output. Our poster describes the general workflow of our project ranging from literature acquisition via software development, to data availability on the BIOfid web portal (http://biofid.de/), and the implementation into existing platforms which serve to promote global accessibility of biodiversity data.
The appeal of contemporary radical interpretations for young Muslim women and men poses a new challenge to Islamic theology and education. While attention has been given to the radicalization of young men, Muslim women remain marginalized within academic research. This article discusses gender-sensitive issues concerning radicalization. Based on the results of a pretest-study that inquires the success of ISIS regarding the recruiting of young women, aspects of universalism are approached, as constructions of gender, religion and education are discussed. Here, reconstructions of Islam between ideological, systematic and functional references of religion are taken into account.
Whereas many writers across all times and cultures have written about the potential aesthetic effects of music experiences which could be labeled as absorption, only limited empirical research has been done on the state aspects of this fascinating aspect of human involvement. What is more, there are still few tested models which explain how people can be absorbed by a piece of music as well as continue to be third-person observers monitoring and even reflecting on that same musical experience.
Adopting a dual process approach – in which human thinking, emotion, and routes to appraisal are defined in terms of an interplay between two distinct systems of psychological processing – this thesis aimed to examine a) the cognitive mechanisms underlying the paradox of losing oneself in the music on the one hand, and meta-awareness on the other, b) its corresponding psychophenomenological profile(s) when listening intentionally to self-chosen music, and c) the different potential of state and trait aspects of absorption and meta-awareness in predicting three indicators of the aesthetic response to music: enjoyment, lasting impression, and behavioral intention.
To this end, a quantitative empirical research method (state and trait questionnaires) was employed in a series of online surveys, using self-selected music as well as pre-determined music by the researcher as stimulus, together approaching a naturalistic listening setting.Aesthetic absorption was confirmed to be structured– in terms of dual process terminology – by intuitive type I and reflective type II processing. Two forms of music absorption were empirically
identified and labeled as zoning in and tuning in. These experience profiles distinguished themselves significantly in terms of the degree in which a music listener maintained his or her meta-awareness, assessed via volitional control, rationality, self-awareness, and memory of the previous event. The overall pattern of consciousness parameters of both types of absorbed listening are suggestive of a unique interchanging between brain networks for intuitive processing and areas related to self-reference, -awareness and -control. The distinction between zoning in and tuning in was further found to be strongly related to the quality of affective state.
These emotions modulate the experiential intensity of absorption, suggesting this experience to be an affect-biased type of attention. Based on the feelings-as-information theory, postulating that positive emotions are differently processed than negatively-tinted types of emotions, it was
concluded that music-induced rumination ‘competes’ with higher-order functions relevant to meta-awareness. From this perspective, the two found absorption types match conceptually with the positively-tinged self-reflection and negatively-tinged self-rumination as two different types of self-focused introspection. It was also shown that being absorbed by music is a continuous phenomenon; a matter of ‘more-or-less’ involvement rather than a ‘unique state of mind’. Consequently, determining ‘music absorbers’ is a matter of imprecise estimation rather than being marked by a clear observable onset. Finally, as expected, an absorbed state of mind - operationalized here as a multidimensional bifactor model – completely mediated the effect of trait absorption, and was a good predictor for enjoyment, lasting impression, and behavioral intention.
Whereas absorption and enjoyment were found to have a mutual positive effect on each other, absorption and meta-awareness were found to be unrelated to each other. Also, meta-awareness contributed little to aesthetic appreciation. The results confirm the need for a dynamic approach to the relationship between state absorption and enjoyment; the one-directional approach common in many research reports does not seem to fully capture the relationship between them. Taken together, this dissertation shows the potential of including the interplay between the trait and state constructs of absorption and meta-awareness in order to better understand the mechanisms underlying aesthetic experiences with music. The present work demonstrated that these two constructs should not be conflated. Moreover, this thesis underlined the power of absorption not only to evoke short-lived pleasurable experiences, but also to stimulate longlasting impressions. Knowing more about absorbed listening and its potential effects, learning to consciously recognize it as it happens, and perhaps regulate and maintain its positive consequences (i.e., savoring), could further improve the way we engage ourselves with music or other aesthetic objects. Only then could we engage in behavior that we’re sure would make us happy rather than seeking out experiences which we hope would make us happy.
Whereas many writers across all times and cultures have written about the potential aesthetic effects of music experiences which could be labeled as absorption, only limited empirical research has been done on the state aspects of this fascinating aspect of human involvement. What is more, there are still few tested models which explain how people can be absorbed by a piece of music as well as continue to be third-person observers monitoring and even reflecting on that same musical experience (cf. Bryant & Veroff, 2007; Dewey, 2005; Wolf, 2013).
Adopting a dual process approach (Dietrich, 2004; Evans & Stanovich, 2013; Lewis, Tamborini & Weber, 2014; Mukhopadhyay, 2014; Schwarz, 2011; Smith & Neumann, 2005) – in which human thinking, emotion, and routes to appraisal are defined in terms of an interplay between two distinct systems of psychological processing – this thesis aimed to examine a) the cognitive mechanisms underlying the essential yet poorly understood paradox of losing oneself in the music on the one hand, and the act of meta-awareness (i.e., rational and controlled sense of self) on the other, b) its corresponding psycho-phenomenological profile(s) when listening intentionally to self-chosen music, and c) the different potential of state and trait aspects of absorption and meta-awareness in predicting three indicators of the aesthetic response to music: enjoyment (a purely pleasurable response), lasting impression (a meaningful response related to mixed emotion), and behavioral intention (future-planned seeking/ avoidance response). Moreover, a dynamically-conceived conceptualization of absorption was proposed in terms of a temporary phase taking place amidst a variety of other cognitive responses to music, including concentration, mind wandering, and mindfulness. Finally, a questionnaire commonly-used for assessing alterations in consciousness (Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory; Pekala, 1991) was evaluated in the context of music listening, before using it in the development of a self-report questionnaire aimed at measuring absorptive states in or by music. To this end, a quantitative empirical research method (state and trait questionnaires) was employed in a series of online surveys, using self-selected music as well as pre-determined music by the researcher as stimulus, together approaching a naturalistic listening setting.
Situated within an overarching neurocognitive model for music engagement and consistent with several aesthetic theories converging (Benson, 1993; Dewey, 2005; Wolf, 2013), aesthetic absorption was conceptualized as, and later confirmed to be, structured by experiential and meta-consciousness or – in terms of dual process terminology – intuitive type I and reflective type II processing. Two forms of music absorption were empirically identified and labeled as zoning in and tuning in (cf. Schooler, 2007). These experience profiles distinguished themselves significantly in terms of the degree in which a music listener maintained his or her meta-awareness, assessed via volitional control, rationality, self-awareness, and memory of the previous event. The overall pattern of consciousness parameters of both types of absorbed listening are suggestive of a unique interchanging between brain networks for intuitive processing and areas related to self-reference, -awareness and -control. The distinction between zoning in and tuning in was further found to be strongly related to the quality of affective state (i.e., positive vs. mixed emotions). These emotions modulate the experiential intensity of absorption, suggesting this experience to be an affect-biased type of attention. Based on the feelings-as-information theory (Schwarz, 2011), postulating that positive emotions (e.g., happiness) are differently processed than negatively-tinted types of emotions (e.g., nostalgia), it was concluded that music-induced rumination (a negatively-valenced experience related to the self and represented by the feeling of sadness) ‘competes’ with higher-order functions relevant to meta-awareness. From this perspective, the two found absorption types match conceptually with the positively-tinged self-reflection and negatively-tinged self-rumination as two different types of self-focused introspection (Takano & Tanno, 2009; Trapnell & Campbell, 1999). Further examining the construct’s latent structure, it was shown that being absorbed by music is a continuous phenomenon; a matter of ‘more-or-less’ involvement rather than a ‘unique state of mind’. This finding cautions against subtyping absorption experiences as being qualitatively distinct, and assuming it to be guided by ‘special’ mechanisms. Consequently, determining ‘music absorbers’ is a matter of imprecise estimation rather than being marked by a clear observable onset. Finally, as expected, an absorbed state of mind – operationalized here as a multidimensional bifactor model – completely mediated the effect of trait absorption, and was a good predictor for enjoyment, lasting impression, and behavioral intention. Whereas absorption and enjoyment were found to have a mutual positive effect on each other, absorption and meta-awareness were found to be unrelated to each other. Also, meta-awareness contributed little to aesthetic appreciation. The results confirm the need for a dynamic approach to the relationship between state absorption and enjoyment; the one-directional approach common in many research reports does not seem to fully capture the relationship between them. Future research should examine whether the same applies for absorption and meta-awareness, preferably making use of more advanced measures for the latter.
Taken together, this dissertation shows the potential of including the interplay between the trait and state constructs of absorption and meta-awareness in order to better understand the mechanisms underlying aesthetic experiences with music. The present work demonstrated that these two constructs should not be conflated, but, in terms of dual processing, that they represent different levels of consciousness. Moreover, this thesis underlined the power of absorption not only to evoke short-lived pleasurable experiences, but also to stimulate long-lasting impressions. Knowing more about absorbed listening and its potential effects, learning to consciously recognize it as it happens, and perhaps regulate and maintain its positive consequences (i.e., savoring), could further improve the way we engage ourselves with music or other aesthetic objects. Only then could we engage in behavior that we’re sure would make us happy rather than seeking out experiences which we hope would make us happy.
Finally, dual process approach and measures provided by research on altered-states-of-consciousness (ASC) experiences offer new and fruitful perspectives to conceptualize aesthetic absorption and examine its mechanisms. Several major research questions lie ahead in understanding the phenomenological experience and aesthetic role of absorption, including the future comparison between subjective experiences of ASCs across varying music and non-music induction methods (e.g., hypnosis), listening conditions (e.g., live concert experience), and musical ‘cultures’ (human societies, musical styles, classes).
This paper gives an account of the unmaking of Soviet workers at the Vernissage in Armenia. I argue that the unmaking of Soviet workers, first, is the irrelevance of Soviet workers as workers once they lost their jobs after the collapse of the Soviet Union and came to the Vernissage to trade. During the Soviet period, private trade was forbidden, and the Soviet government persecuted people who dared to engage in it. Consequently, many people grew up thinking of trade as a criminal activity that was non-productive and parasitic, as opposed to productive work that facilitated the modernization of the USSR. After the dissolution of the USSR, when trade was liberalized and many former Soviet workers were pushed into trade as they lost their jobs, it still retained its quality of not being “real” work, to borrow Roberman’s (2013) wording. Even 25 years after the dissolution of the USSR, former Soviet workers at the Vernissage still want to be identified with their former Soviet occupations and not with trade. However, now engaged in trade, former Soviet workers came up with a “new” way of establishing identity and hierarchy—through production. I describe this “new” way as “the identification game”; employing it, I demonstrate how former Soviet workers at the Vernissage identify and represent themselves as masters, whose work is productive and intellectual. In doing so, they single out resellers, people who resell the work of other masters, by implying that their work is parasitic and selfish. However, this “identification game” is reified only by the older generation of traders, former Soviet workers. The younger generation of traders at the Vernissage, which does not have any experience of being Soviet workers, is disengaged from it, thus undermining the Soviet view of trade as not “real” work and making it irrelevant in the postsocialist era. Thus, I contend that the unmaking of Soviet workers consists in, first, their irrelevance as workers in a postsocialist period, and second, the irrelevance of their ideas about trade as not “real” work. Furthermore, to support my depiction of a master who engages in “the identification game” and a younger-generation trader who is disengaged from it, I give two ethnographic portraits of traders at the Vernissage. I assert that the disengagement of a younger generation of traders at the Vernissage signals a change in the perception of trade as “real” work and runs parallel to the unmaking of Soviet workers.