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Over the past decades, 360-degree virtual tours have been used to provide the public access to accurate representations of cultural heritage sites and museums. The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to a rise in the popularity of virtual tours as a means of engaging with locations remotely and has raised an interesting question: How could we use such experiences to bring the public closer to locations that are otherwise unreachable in real life or not considered to be tourist destinations? In this study, we examine the effectiveness of promoting engagement with a city through the virtual presentation of unknown and possibly also inaccessible points of interest through a 360-degree panoramic virtual tour. The evaluation of the experience with 31 users through an online questionnaire confirms its potential to spark curiosity, promote engagement, foster reflection, and motivate users to explore the location and its attractions at their leisure, thus enabling them to experience it from their personal point of view. The outcomes highlight the need for further research to explore this potential and identify best practices for virtual experience design. © 2023 by the authors.
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The purpose of this study is to develop and evaluate a cross-disciplinary collaborative project where students can engage in a cross-disciplinary collaborative learning environment in which students jointly develop a semester-long project designed to bridge the design, merchandising, and retailing processes. The cooperative learning model was employed for the development and implementation of the project. After completing the project, we evaluated the student learning experiences against the Student Learning Outcomes through qualitative (i.e. reflection papers) and quantitative analysis (i.e. pre and post surveys). Findings suggest that, through the Cotton Capsule Wardrobe project, students from both programs gained insights and knowledge of professional practices within the fashion industry. Despite the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had in interrupting the later segments of the project, this research still provides valuable insight to the literature by demonstrating the application of the cooperative learning modules in cross-disciplinary environments.
ABSTRACT
Threats to survival from predators and hostile conspecifics have led all species to possess cognitive architecture for predator management. Some animals display a curiosity for predators, engaging in behaviors such as predator inspection. The costs associated with learning about predators and other threats are high in most of the animal kingdom. In humans, the ability to imaginatively simulate threatening situations has drastically reduced the cost of learning about threats. This cost reduction has resulted in an explosion of what I call morbid curiosity, or the motivation to learn about potential threats. Humans often engage in morbid curiosity for entertainment, deriving pleasure from safe exposure to hypothetical threats. Historically, scholars have referred to the popularity of frightening entertainment as the paradox of horror. In this dissertation, I provide a theoretical and empirical foundation for the psychological study of morbid curiosity. I argue that morbid curiosity derives from an evolved cognitive architecture for predator management, is powered by curiosity, and, in humans, is amplified by the capacity for imagination. After presenting a theoretical framework for morbid curiosity, I present a set of studies in which I develop and validate the Morbid Curiosity Scale, a measure of individual differences in morbid curiosity. I then present two studies looking at how individual differences in morbid curiosity predict information gathering and psychological resilience during a novel threat - the COVID-19 global pandemic. I conclude by discussing the implications of the present research, offering suggestions for future research, and proposing that a clear understanding of morbid curiosity can dissolve the paradox of horror. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
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BACKGROUND: Urgent action is required to identify socially acceptable alcohol reduction options for heavy-drinking midlife Australian women. This study represents innovation in public health research to explore how current trends in popular wellness culture toward 'sober curiosity' (i.e., an interest in what reducing alcohol consumption would or could be like) and normalising non-drinking could increase women's preparedness to reduce alcohol consumption. METHODS: Qualitative interviews were undertaken with 27 midlife Australian women (aged 45-64) living in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney in different social class groups (working, middle and affluent-class) to explore their perceptions of sober curiosity. RESULTS: Women were unequally distributed across social-classes and accordingly the social-class analysis considered proportionally the volume of data at particular codes. Regardless, social-class patterns in women's preparedness to reduce alcohol consumption were generated through data analysis. Affluent women's preparedness to reduce alcohol consumption stemmed from a desire for self-regulation and to retain control; middle-class women's preparedness to reduce alcohol was part of performing civility and respectability and working-class women's preparedness to reduce alcohol was highly challenging. Options are provided for alcohol reduction targeting the social contexts of consumption (the things that lead midlife women to feel prepared to reduce drinking) according to levels of disadvantage. CONCLUSION: Our findings reinstate the importance of recognising social class in public health disease prevention; validating that socially determined factors which shape daily living also shape health outcomes and this results in inequities for women in the lowest class positions to reduce alcohol and related risks.
Subject(s)
Alcohol Drinking , Exploratory Behavior , Humans , Female , Alcohol Drinking/prevention & control , Australia , Social Class , Qualitative ResearchABSTRACT
Curiosity reflects an individual's intrinsic motivation to seek information in order to close information gaps. In laboratory-based experiments, both curiosity and information seeking have been associated with enhanced neural dynamics in the mesolimbic dopaminergic circuit. However, it is unclear whether curiosity and dopaminergic dynamics drive information seeking in real life. We investigated (i) whether curiosity predicts different characteristics of real-life information seeking and (ii) whether functional connectivity within the mesolimbic dopaminergic circuit is associated with information seeking outside the laboratory. Up to 15 months before the COVID-19 pandemic, curiosity and anxiety questionnaires, and a 10-minute resting-state fMRI session were conducted. In a follow-up survey early during the COVID-19 pandemic, participants repeated the questionnaires and completed an additional questionnaire about their COVID-19-related information seeking. Individual differences in curiosity but not anxiety were positively associated with the frequency of information-seeking behaviour. Additionally, the frequency of information seeking was predicted by individual differences in resting-state functional connectivity between the ventral tegmental area and the nucleus accumbens. The present translational study paves the way for future studies on the role of curiosity in real-life information seeking by showing that both curiosity and mesolimbic dopaminergic functional network support real-life information-seeking behaviour.
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With the impact of COVID-19, many university students may not be able to learn English in the physical classroom in a traditional way. Students' English learning effectiveness and outcome were threatened when English learning was forced to turn online. Thus, a variety of technological media and platforms to improve their learning outcomes are in need. Mobile learning (M-learning) that involves interacting with other devices through mobile devices and wireless networks can also be a solution to improve students' online English learning effectiveness. In order to explore the learning behaviors and attitudes of university students when learning English with M-learning, this study integrated technology acceptance model and Stimulus Organism Response model including the concepts of perceived convenience, curiosity and self-efficacy in addition to the original technology acceptance model to verify university students' usage cognition and attitude toward English M-learning. This study disseminated surveys to 10 targeted universities/colleges and collected 1432 valid surveys. This study implemented Smart-PLS 4.0 to examine structural model and verify the hypotheses. Results indicated that perceived convenience have positive impact on perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and attitude toward using; there is a significant and positive relationship among perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, attitude toward using and intention to using; curiosity and self-efficacy have positive impact on intention to using. Based on the findings, this study further provides abundant theoretical insights and practical significance on language learning.
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine hesitancy proved to be a major obstacle in efforts to control and mitigate the negative consequences of COVID-19. This study centered on the degree of polarization on social media about vaccine use and contributing factors to vaccine hesitancy among social media users. Examining the discussion about COVID-19 vaccine on the Weibo platform, a relatively comprehensive system of user features was constructed based on psychological theories and models such as the curiosity-drive theory and the big five model of personality. Then machine learning methods were used to explore the paramount impacting factors that led users into polarization. Findings revealed that factors reflecting the activity and effectiveness of social media use promoted user polarization. In contrast, features reflecting users' information processing ability and personal qualities had a negative impact on polarization. This study hopes to help healthcare organizations and governments understand and curb social media polarization around vaccine development in the face of future surges of pandemics.
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The crisis created by the pandemic severely disrupted the working patterns of employees, especially in the aviation industry. It is insufficient for workers to be satisfied – they have to be engaged in their work to deal with crises and situations never encountered before. Thus, investigating the antecedents of work engagement and their interactive effects is crucial to organizational survival. The paper examines the impact of the trait of curiosity on proactive personality, which ultimately leads to work engagement. The moderated-mediation model looks at the mediating effect of proactive personality on the relationship between curiosity and work engagement. It also examines the moderating effect of organizational culture perceptions on the relationship between curiosity and proactive personality. A sample of 327 respondents was collected from 32 organizations in the aviation industry in the United Arab Emirates through purposive sampling. The hypothesized associations were analyzed via structural equation modelling. As predicted, proactive personality is a mediator, and organizational culture moderates the said relationships. Managers desirous of improving employees’ work engagement will now understand how employees’ curiosity can enhance work engagement through proactive personality. Managers can also ensure that organizational culture can further strengthen the relationship between curiosity and proactive personality. © The Author(s) 2022.
ABSTRACT
Threats to survival from predators and hostile conspecifics have led all species to possess cognitive architecture for predator management. Some animals display a curiosity for predators, engaging in behaviors such as predator inspection. The costs associated with learning about predators and other threats are high in most of the animal kingdom. In humans, the ability to imaginatively simulate threatening situations has drastically reduced the cost of learning about threats. This cost reduction has resulted in an explosion of what I call morbid curiosity, or the motivation to learn about potential threats. Humans often engage in morbid curiosity for entertainment, deriving pleasure from safe exposure to hypothetical threats. Historically, scholars have referred to the popularity of frightening entertainment as the paradox of horror. In this dissertation, I provide a theoretical and empirical foundation for the psychological study of morbid curiosity. I argue that morbid curiosity derives from an evolved cognitive architecture for predator management, is powered by curiosity, and, in humans, is amplified by the capacity for imagination. After presenting a theoretical framework for morbid curiosity, I present a set of studies in which I develop and validate the Morbid Curiosity Scale, a measure of individual differences in morbid curiosity. I then present two studies looking at how individual differences in morbid curiosity predict information gathering and psychological resilience during a novel threat - the COVID-19 global pandemic. I conclude by discussing the implications of the present research, offering suggestions for future research, and proposing that a clear understanding of morbid curiosity can dissolve the paradox of horror. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
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[...]Pennycook states that the purpose of the volume is not only to provide a comprehensive and collaborative overview of the ideological forces that shape CAL, but to advocate for changes to applied linguistics, namely, decolonization and the incorporation of ideas from the Global South. Pennycook takes the field of second language acquisition to task for viewing language as a cognitive phenomenon and removing it from its social context by ignoring factors of identity such as gender, class, and race, and in the end argues that language must be considered as embodied. [...]the seventh chapter briefly explores ways in which critical applied linguistics can be incorporated into education, research, and activism, especially via a means of critical pedagogy. [...]the ideal audience for this book is the linguist, language researcher, or instructor that has a curiosity or appetite for criticality, a keen interest in society and power, and a desire to change the status quo in the world of applied linguistics, as well as society.
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Apart from the goal of the digital world and other benefits of e-commerce, it becomes the need of time during this COVID-19 pandemic. Successful implementation and sustainable growth of e-commerce in developing countries is a challenge. The goal of the digital world without the implementation and sustainable growth of e-commerce in developing countries is incomplete. Based on UTAUT theory, we have developed an integrated model to study the developing countries' consumers' adoption intentions towards e-commerce. We collected a valid useable sample of 796 respondents from a developing country, applied the SEM-ANN two-step hybrid approach to testing the proposed hypothesis, and ranked the antecedents according to their importance. Results revealed that Trust in e-commerce, Perceived risk of using e-commerce, Ease of use in e-commerce, Curiosity about e-commerce, Facilitating Conditions, and Awareness of e-commerce benefits influence the adoption intentions of developing countries' consumers. Sensitivity analysis results revealed that Ease of use in e-commerce platforms and awareness of e-commerce benefits are the two most crucial factors behind the adoption intentions in developing countries. The study's findings help authorities adopt sustainable e-commerce, multinational companies effectively market their goods online, and academics better understand how inhabitants of developing nations perceive e-commerce.
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We are all familiar with the many measures said to be key for an effective leader. These include the possession of a high intelligence quotient (IQ) and high emotional intelligence (EI). In the 1990s another 'skill' appeared in the leadership literature, 'cultural intelligence' (and cultural quotient (CQ)) which described an individual's ability to work across cultures. More recently Thomas Friedman used the same acronym to describe the curiosity quotient (CQ) which together with IQ and EI equip leaders with the ability to navigate the increasingly complex and disrupted business environment. The work of Friedman then fed into the work of Dr Thomas Chamorro-Premyzic who hypothesized that whilst leaders may have high IQs and EI they need more-they need curiosity and increased tolerance for ambiguity, what Warwick Business School describes as 'a higher investment in knowledge and expertise acquisition which leads to a nuanced sophisticated way of thinking over time'. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
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COVID-19 has had a huge impact on workers and workplaces across the world while putting regular work practices into disarray. Apart from the obvious effects of COVID-19, the pandemic is anticipated to have a variety of social-psychological, health-related, and economic implications for individuals at work. Despite extensive research on psychological contracts and knowledge sharing, these domains of pedagogic endeavor have received relatively little attention in the context of employee creativity subjected to the boundary conditions of the organization's socialization and work-related curiosity. This study investigates, empirically, the role of psychological contracts in escalating employee creativity through knowledge sharing by considering the moderating role of an organization's socialization and work-related curiosity. The response received from 372 employees of the manufacturing sector has been investigated and analyzed through Smart PLS software. The results have revealed that knowledge sharing is mediating the relationship between psychological contract and employee creative performance, whereas the moderators significantly moderate the relationships between psychological contract and knowledge sharing and between knowledge sharing and employee creative performance accordingly. It has also been depicted that the moderating impact shown by both moderators is significantly high.
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The musical education of children holds potential for their development of cultural awareness, understanding, and empathy, much of which is dependent upon the integrity of the resources and pedagogical techniques that teachers employ. The archival recordings of ethnomusicologists present rich prospects for teaching and learning music and culture, and for piquing children's curiosity and increased respect for children across the world. Through the digital-sharing of recordings of a globally diverse gamut of children's expressive practices and an honoring of children's agency in determining pedagogical strategies for their interaction with music and its sociocultural features, this dissertation examines a pathway for children's developing relationships with children, their music, and their cultural values and circumstances. This research proceeded over a period of six months, documenting curiosities, creativities, and music-culture conceptualizations by 10- and 11-year-old children enrolled in a fifth-grade class in a U.S. based public elementary school. A tripartite "remixed ethnography" was developed, entailing the application of techniques of ethnography, virtual ethnography (and netnography), and autoethnography, in order to examine children's visits to the sonic heritages of other children nearby and culturally (and geographically) distant locations. The research proceeded in two phases, a pre-COVID in-person and classroom-centered discovery of children's musical cultures through large- and small-group projects and a COVID-necessitated virtual module of music-culture explorations and creative ventures via online platforms. The process of children's agentive role in their discovery of music and culture was closely documented, resulting in a recognition of the capacity of archival recordings of children's songs to serve as gateway into culturally unfamiliar music and to the cultural situations and surroundings of the children whose voices were featured. Over the course of the two phases of experience and study, the fifth-grade children became increasingly attentive to sonic details in the replication of the songs they were learning, as they were also careful that their creative re-arrangements of studied songs did not sonically veer too far from the children whose voices they were listening to. Moreoever, the young students demonstrated a growing consciousness and ever-deepening connection to the children and their cultural circumstances. They developed a solid state of respectful resonance with the children and their cultures through their songs, highlighting the powerful of school musical experiences to build relationships and solidarities, child-to-child and culture-to-culture. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
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This article is an invitation to consider Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Question as a text that leads the reader to consider the possibilities offered by the post-Covid 19 resumption of daily school life with children as a political act. Based on a conversation that Freire had with Antônio Faundez in 1985, this text encourages researchers and educators to consider ways of returning to school life in ways that are welcoming, responsive and loving in the wake of the experience of "almost-exile" undergone during the covid-19 pandemic. It becomes necessary to think school life again from where the children truly are, restarting in full awareness of the adventures, the pains, the losses they have undergone, encouraging them to ask the questions that the pandemic experience has produced them, and to recognize the new forms of consciousness it has inaugurated. This paper explores the implications of the ideas found in the Freire-Faundez dialogue for this moment of reconstruction. © 2022 State Univ of Rio de Janeiro - Center of Childhood and Philosophy Studies. All rights reserved.
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The current study examined the impact of experiencing either a guided play or direct instruction learning environment on causal learning, curiosity, and divergent thinking. Forty-three children (age 4- to 6-years) participated in an online experiment in which they completed a causal learning task in either guided play or direct instruction condition. Children also completed measures of curiosity and divergent thinking and a second causal learning free exploration task after which they were tested on their causal learning. It was predicted that children in the guided play condition would perform better than children in the direct instruction condition on a test of causal learning because guided play provides a balance of child agency and adult guidance that is optimal for supporting learning. Contrary to the hypothesis, children in the direct instruction condition performed better on the test of causal learning. This finding is likely due to the cognitive demands placed on children in the guided play condition. These demands were likely the result of completing the task in an online environment, and the current study has implications for learning and conducting research online. Based on prior research, it was also predicted that children in the guided play condition would outperform children in the direct instruction condition on measures of curiosity and divergent thinking, and that curiosity would also predict children's causal learning. There were no effects of condition on either curiosity or divergent thinking, but curiosity did predict children's scores on the test of causal learning. This finding suggests that curiosity is a powerful driver of children's learning and deserves further investigation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
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After a seven-month cruise phase, NASA's Mars 2020 mission reached the red planet in February to deliver its Perseverance rover with a sky crane landing, the touchdown system that brought Curiosity to Mars in 2012. The target for this mission was the Jezero Crater, with a final landing zone requirement allowing just 2.8 kilometers of position uncertainty. The orbit determination and trajectory maneuvers implemented by a navigation team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California landed the rover within 1 km of the target, well within the requirement, placing the rover in the precise location it needed to complete its mission objectives--all with most of the team working remotely due to covid-19 restrictions.
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With the worldwide implementation of quarantine regulations to suppress the spread of the COVID-19, anxiety, interpersonal distancing and autistic tendency may decrease individuals' desire to seek interpersonal information and thus might have negative effects on their interpersonal curiosity. Through behavioral paradigms and scales, two studies were conducted (Study 1: n = 570; Study 2: n = 501). We explored the predictive effect of anxiety on interpersonal curiosity in situations when mandatory isolation measures have led to dramatic changes in interpersonal distancing and autistic tendency. We found that interpersonal distancing and autistic tendency negatively predicted interpersonal curiosity, and these predictive effects suppressed the positive prediction of state anxiety to interpersonal curiosity. Our research provides insights into the relationships among anxiety, curiosity, interpersonal distancing, and autistic tendency during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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One explanation for why people engage in frightening fictional experiences is that these experiences can act as simulations of actual experiences from which individuals can gather information and model possible worlds. Conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study (n = 310) tested whether past and current engagement with thematically relevant media fictions, including horror and pandemic films, was associated with greater preparedness for and psychological resilience toward the pandemic. Since morbid curiosity has previously been associated with horror media use during the COVID-19 pandemic, we also tested whether trait morbid curiosity was associated with pandemic preparedness and psychological resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that fans of horror films exhibited greater resilience during the pandemic and that fans of "prepper" genres (alien-invasion, apocalyptic, and zombie films) exhibited both greater resilience and preparedness. We also found that trait morbid curiosity was associated with positive resilience and interest in pandemic films during the pandemic. Taken together, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that exposure to frightening fictions allow audiences to practice effective coping strategies that can be beneficial in real-world situations.