Your life in snapshots: Mobile weblogs

Nicola Döring and Alex Gundolf's article on the development of 'moblogs' or mobile weblogs allows us to approach recent mobile phone industry developments from an academic standpoint. Pointing to the convergence of mobile and Internet technology, 'moblogs' provide a means for users to archive their lives via photos that can be taken via a mobile phone and viewed via the Internet. Nokia have named their product to provide this service 'lifeblog', and it is this uncensored publication of everyday life that Döring and Gundolf investigate, from subjects as mundane as a user capturing his waking state everyday, to as personally and globally historic as the moblog by a US soldier in Iraq. What we are seeing in the 'moblog' is how organically some product development is in the mobile world--the early moblogging software came not from operators, handset or software manufacturers but from the social software community that thrives on the Internet. It is precisely this level of organic, spontaneous product development that occurs as a by-product of networked communities that many companies seek and often fail to emulate.     

Back from the beach but hanging on the telephone? English adolescents' attitudes and experiences of mobile phones and the internet.

Recently, a number of commentators have suggested that growth in use of the Internet may be slowing, and its impact may have been exaggerated. However, a disproportionate number of the nonusers tend to be those over the age of 50, and the young are most likely to go online eventually. Therefore, the most appropriate people to survey with regard to Internet use are adolescents and young adults who are likely to be the Internet users or nonusers of the future. This survey was conducted to find out more about the activities and opinions of secondary-school aged children who do, and do not, use the Internet. Mobile phone use was also examined in this survey as this has also shown a meteoric rise in adults and more particularly in young people. Generally, the survey revealed that children aged between 11 and 16 years old are quite comfortable with the Internet, use it a moderate amount and for a variety of purposes. However, boys were more likely to use the Internet than girls and sometimes for slightly different purposes. Reasons for not using the Internet generally revolved around a lack of access to equipment. Furthermore, a higher percentage of adolescents have mobile phones than adults and girls are more likely to own a mobile phone than boys. Mobile phones were also used for a variety of purposes, most notably making and receiving calls and text-messaging. The most common reasons for children not owning a mobile phone was because they had no need for one. Finally, a significant positive relationship between the use of emails and text messaging suggests that the mobile phone may supplement some of the previous functions of the Internet.     

Similes on the Internet have explanations

We searched the Internet for expressions linking topics, such as crime, and vehicles, such as disease, as similes (crime is like a disease) and as metaphors (crime is a disease). We counted the number of times the expressions were accompanied by explanations (crime is like a disease because it spreads by direct personal influence). Similes were more likely than metaphors to be accompanied by explanations. Similes may be preferred if a writer wants to express an out-of-the-ordinary relation between the topic and the vehicle.     

Enabling Interactive Exploration of Cultural Heritage: An Experience of Designing Systems for Mobile Devices

Interaction design of mobile systems is a complex activity because it requires considering new usability and user experience aspects in order to exploit the peculiar characteristics of mobile devices, such as their pervasive and ubiquitous nature. This paper discusses issues about designing, developing and evaluating mobile systems. Italy has a rich cultural heritage, and the focus in this study is on the design of systems that enable interactive exploration of historical sites, not only for enhancing the user experience but also for learning purposes. The experience of the researchers at the Interaction, Visualisation and Usability lab, University of Bari, Italy, in designing a mobile learning system, called Explore!, which supports young students learning ancient history during a visit to archaeological parks, is reported. The evaluation of Explore! through systematic field studies shows that the adopted approach is able to transform the visit to archaeological parks into a more complete and culturally rich experience.     

Metaphors: How are they different for the poet,the child and the everyday adult?

This paper considers differences and similarities in the way children, poets and everyday adults make and understand metaphors. Samuel Levin (1976, in Pragmatics of language and literature, Amsterdam: North Holland Publishers; and 1979, in Metaphor and thought, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) has argued that metaphors involve changing concepts of the world rather than shifts in word meanings. His theory rests on the idea that metaphors are to be understood literally and that the poem is a kind of speech act containing an implicit invitation for the reader to enter the poet's world. Werner's (1948, The comparative psychology of mental development, New York: International Universities Press) theory of physiognomic perception is discussed in order to show how childrens' as well as poet's metaphors are meant to be taken literally. While the meaning structure underlying adult and child metaphors is similar the intentionality and boundaries of use may differ for young children. Goffman's (1974, Frame analysis, New York: Harper and Row) theory of frames in discourse is presented in order to explore contexts other than poems in which a metaphor user might issue an invitation for a listener to enter his or her world.     

Between Guru and Deceiver? Responding to Unchosen Metaphors in the Religious Studies Classroom

Two troublesome portraits of religious studies professors often exist in the minds of some students at any given time: the Guru, or wise spiritual teacher, and the Deceiver. These metaphors capture student perceptions of us that may be ill‐informed and beyond our control. We will examine and compare how our own chosen metaphors for teaching – theological typologist and neutral enthusiast – respond creatively to the unchosen metaphors of guru or deceiver. We cannot avoid being cast as gurus/deceivers, but we can discern how our own metaphors for teaching engage “unchosen” student metaphors for us. This exercise can enhance our self‐awareness about our own normative agendas in the classroom, and help to sharpen colleagues' conversations about our sometimes differing assumptions regarding the discipline and teaching of religious studies.     

Personality and Metaphor Use: How Extraverted and Introverted Young Adults Experience Becoming Friends

Competing theories have viewed relationship formation as a gradual process or as an instant development, with little attention to differences in individual perceptions of the same relationship. In the present study, conceptual metaphors concerning relationship formation were identified and coded from interviews with each friend in 59 same‐sex, white, college‐age, US dyads (57% female). Friends were extreme and either very similar or different from one other with regard to extraversion–introversion. An actor–partner analysis found that friends paired with an extravert used more Force–Impact metaphors that conveyed an explosive ‘friends‐at‐first‐sight’ experience, whereas friends paired with an introvert used more Journey–Organism metaphors that reflected a gradual transition into friendship. Regardless of their partner's personality, extraverts and female friends used more Joint–Proximity metaphors that emphasised the development of intimacy. Results are interpreted using the Social Relations Model and the PERSOC approach to show how personality can serve both as an environment (partner) and as a cognitive schema (actor) to distinctly shape impressions of how a friendship develops. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Continuity of Metaphor: Evidence From Temporal Gestures

Reasoning about bedrock abstract concepts such as time, number, and valence relies on spatial metaphor and often on multiple spatial metaphors for a single concept. Previous research has documented, for instance, both future‐in‐front and future‐to‐right metaphors for time in English speakers. It is often assumed that these metaphors, which appear to have distinct experiential bases, remain distinct in online temporal reasoning. In two studies we demonstrate that, contra this assumption, people systematically combine these metaphors. Evidence for this combination was found in both directly elicited (Study 1) and spontaneous co‐speech (Study 2) gestures about time. These results provide first support for the hypothesis that the metaphorical representation of time, and perhaps other abstract domains as well, involves the continuous co‐activation of multiple metaphors rather than the selection of only one.     

Images of career: Nine key metaphors

This article examines theorists', practitioners', and workers' extensive use of metaphors in the conceptualization of careers. Metaphor constrains career thinking to powerful stereotypes, yet also extends views through the consideration of alternative metaphors and the creation of new ones. Morgan's (1986) method of multiple metaphor is used to develop an eclectic view of career studies. Nine key metaphors for career are considered—the career as inheritance, construction, cycle, matching, journey, encounters and relationships, roles, resource, and story. These metaphors act as frameworks for much career theory, and each presents specific career issues. Together they have the potential to advance thinking about careers beyond the framing of familiar metaphors, and provide a broader and more inclusive understanding of career phenomena.     

Increasing intolerance of uncertainty over time: the potential influence of increasing connectivity

Anxiety levels have increased for several decades, despite objective indicators of historically unprecedented safety. A perceived inability to tolerate uncertainty or distress motivates individuals experiencing anxiety to engage in safety behaviors. Mobile phones provide unrestricted access to safety cues intended to reduce uncertainty and therein anxiety; however, recurrent engagement in reassurance seeking behaviors paradoxically increases anxiety. The current research was designed to assess whether self-reported intolerance of uncertainty (IU) levels may have been increasing and, if so, whether the increases correlate positively with mobile phone penetration and Internet usage. A cross-temporal meta-analysis was conducted using data from 52 North American studies exploring IU as well as social indicator data from several public sources. A statistically significant increase in IU levels occurred from 1999 to 2014, correlated with increases in mobile phone penetration and Internet usage. As hypothesized, IU levels appeared to be increasing over time and the increases correlate positively with mobile phone penetration and Internet usage. The results support the possibility that mobile phones increase reassurance seeking, acting as safety cues, and reducing spontaneous, everyday exposures to uncertainty, which may ultimately potentiate psychopathology by increasing IU and anxiety. Subsequent experimental research to assess for causality appears warranted. Limitations and directions for future research are presented.     

Healing Without Waging War: Beyond Military Metaphors in Medicine and HIV Cure Research

Military metaphors are pervasive in biomedicine, including HIV research. Rooted in the mind set that regards pathogens as enemies to be defeated, terms such as “shock and kill” have become widely accepted idioms within HIV cure research. Such language and symbolism must be critically examined as they may be especially problematic when used to express scientific ideas within emerging health-related fields. In this article, philosophical analysis and an interdisciplinary literature review utilizing key texts from sociology, anthropology, history, and Chinese and African studies were conducted to investigate the current proliferation of military metaphors. We found the use of these metaphors to be ironic, unfortunate, and unnecessary. To overcome military metaphors we propose to (1) give them less aggressive meanings, and/or (2) replace them with more peaceful metaphors. Building on previous authors' work, we argue for the increased use of “journey” (and related) metaphors as meaningful, cross-culturally appropriate alternatives to military metaphors.     

A review of processing and analysing visual metaphors in psychology

IntroductionA visual metaphor is an image depicting an incongruity in the spatial distribution of visual elements, which is not consistent with reality. In this paper, we present an overview of theoretical and empirical studies on visual metaphor processing.ObjectiveFirstly, attention is given to the spatial distribution of visual elements, which defines the type of visual metaphors as well as the meaning operations required to understand the communicative message. The paper then reviews several empirical studies that collect behavioural measures for assessing visual metaphor processing using questionnaires and exploring the role played by cognitive abilities. In line with the contemporary literature, we then present three semiotic dimensions for visual metaphor processing, namely the expression, conceptualisation, and communication. We then present a pilot study that focusses on these three dimensions. Few research studies have collected behavioural data for visual metaphors processing. This may be due to the lack of theoretical framework in the corresponding field of research. These three semiotic dimensions highlight the value of pursuing research on visual metaphors in the scope of psychology. The presented pilot study could be a starting point for the investigation of visual metaphors in the framework of psychology.ConclusionWe propose future avenues of research that consider the visual structure of metaphors and meaning operations while assessing the influence of cognitive abilities in visual metaphor processing.     

Becoming a lifer? Unlocking career through metaphor

Despite growing interest in the adoption of metaphor analysis as a method of studying organizational and working life, there have been few, if any, empirical studies of career metaphors. Although career scholars have imposed their own metaphors to help illuminate their conceptions of career, the metaphors employed by those having careers and the conceptual insight this might generate has been all but ignored. This paper seeks to address this gap. Drawing on the career accounts of graduate level employees within a large blue‐chip corporation, the metaphors they employ are analysed. The dominant metaphors contained within the careers literature – spatial, journey, horticultural, and competition metaphors – are drawn on heavily by participants. So too are other groups of metaphors not acknowledged within the literature. These are revealed as imprisonment, military, school‐like surveillance, Wild West and nautical metaphors. An analysis of these metaphors generates fresh insights into the concept of career and leads to the ‘unlocking’ of important, but to date neglected features of career. On the basis of this metaphor analysis, the paper argues that career may be better understood in terms of a politicized process in which discipline and control are key dimensions.     

心理治疗中隐喻的使用、疗效检验及作用机制

隐喻是用一种具体、熟悉的概念去表达和理解一种抽象、不熟悉的概念的语言形式和认知方式,因其在心理治疗中可以有效传递治疗信息而被治疗师们广泛使用。早期的隐喻理论阐述了隐喻具有高创造性和增强长时记忆的认知加工优势,虽然不同心理治疗流派在治疗过程中对使用来访者还是治疗师产生的隐喻各有侧重,但它们都认为隐喻可以通过高创造性的内容、形成更优的长时记忆以及带来高度的认知卷入来帮助咨访双方有效加工、传递和保存治疗信息。精神分析流派强调治疗性隐喻在无意识水平上的意义交换产生的顿悟过程,认知行为疗法既强调隐喻可以促进认知图式的重构,也强调其组块性和形象性产生的记忆功能,接纳与承诺疗法认为隐喻传递信息时具有非评判、非分析、直觉经验的方式有利于促进个体发生改变,后现代疗法中强调让来访者重新叙述自己的人生故事或者发展出一种形象性或象征性表达,让来访者产生更具有功能的观点和看法。因此治疗性隐喻具备了跨越不同心理治疗理论取向的广泛认同基础。在实证研究上,大多数研究聚焦于探索在某种治疗方法中加入隐喻是否会有更佳的治疗效果,其中使用CBT作为框架的研究最为集中,有些研究发现隐喻干预在缓解心理症状方面优于常规干预,也有研究发现隐喻干预和非隐喻干预都可以有效缓解被试的心理痛苦,因此虽然没有获得十分一致的结论,但这些研究总体上证明了在心理治疗中使用隐喻是有效的。随着研究的深入,对治疗性隐喻起效的心理神经机制进行探索的实证研究也有效观测到了隐喻理论中提出的认知加工优势,包括隐喻的高创造性可以诱发顿悟（并伴随杏仁核、海马、梭状回等特异性神经网络的显著激活）、带来更佳的治疗效果,隐喻内容更容易被记住、有助于治疗持续发挥作用,以及隐喻可以增加来访者的认知卷入程度进而带来更大程度的认知改变。综上,无论从理论构建还是实证证据上,治疗性隐喻都是一种具有独特认知加工优势的认知工具和治疗信息传递途径。未来研究可以从更加科学的设置对照组、增加隐喻特异性的效果衡量指标以及探索其他可能的心理机制三个方面来进一步观察在治疗性隐喻的独特优势。最后,对在心理治疗实践中更好的使用隐喻以及研发嵌入隐喻的低成本高效益的社会心理健康服务方案提供了建议。     

Why a Big Mac Is a Good Mac: Associations between Affect and Size

Evaluation is a core topic of interest in both social psychology and linguistic theory, but there are relatively few social-cognitive studies examining the “online” consequences of affective metaphor. The experiments presented here sought to investigate such online consequences in relation to an understudied class of metaphors linking evaluation to size (i.e., “bigger is better”). Consistent with such metaphors, we found that positive (vs. negative) words were evaluated more quickly (Experiment 1) and accurately (Experiment 2) when presented in a larger (vs. smaller) font size. Parallel and opposite effects were found for negative words. A third experiment demonstrated that words presented in a larger font size were evaluated more favorably, thus extending size effects to evaluative judgments. Together, the studies converge on the importance of size metaphors for understanding evaluation from a social-cognitive perspective.     

Drawing the net: internet identification, internet use, and the image of internet users.

Theory and research suggest that Internet identification may account for some of the gender divide in Internet use. Internet identification is a type of domain identification, and is inherently bound with images of those who use the Internet, a domain traditionally conceived as masculine. Combining the "draw an Internet user" test with an Internet identification scale, this study tests two hypotheses: participants drawing gender-concordant images will (i) identify with and (ii) use the Internet more than those drawing gender-discordant images. Participants were 371 students (121 males, 250 females) from three universities in the United Kingdom and Australia. The need to challenge masculinized images of the Internet is discussed.     

Understanding and appreciating metaphors

We consider three theories that have dominated discussions of metaphor. One view is that metaphors make comparisons, the basis for the comparison being the features (or categories) that the terms of the metaphor share. The second view is that metaphors involve an anomaly. The third view is that metaphors are ‘interactive’, producing a new way of seeing the terms. We propose a new theory—the domains-interaction view—that draws on elements of all three earlier views, but borrows especially from the interaction view. We consider the implications of our theory for three questions: What are metaphors? How are they understood? What makes a good metaphor? We argue that metaphors correlate two systems of concepts from different domains. The best metaphors involve two diverse domains (more distance between domains making for better metaphors) and close correspondence between the terms within those domains. We call the degree of correspondence within-domain similarity. Metaphors are interpreted in several stages: the terms of the metaphor are encoded; the domains involved are inferred; the structures to be seen as parallel are found; the correspondences between these structures are ‘mapped’ or constructed; the terms of the metaphor are compared. If the terms are not seen to match or occupy analogous roles in their different domains, then the metaphor may be reinterpreted. The evidence on all this is tentative but supports our view. We review two studies (Tourangeau and Sternberg, 1981) that support the hypothesis that distance within domain relates negatively to aptness, whereas distance between domains relates positively. Several studies on comprehension tend to disconfirm the comparison theory's notion that the tenor and vehicle necessarily share features. Tenor and vehicle also appear to have asymmetrical roles in the interpretive process.     

手机依赖与青少年心理健康的关系:学业倦怠的中介作用和应对方式的调节作用

为探讨青少年手机依赖、学业倦怠、应对方式与心理健康的关系及作用机制,采用手机依赖指数量表、初中生学习倦怠问卷、简易应对方式问卷和SCL-90心理症状自评量表,对黑龙江、天津、山东、河南、江西8所高校的在校大学生以及河南省2所初中、2所高中的中学生共1191名青少年进行测查。结构方程模型的分析结果表明:(1)手机依赖对青少年心理健康有显著的负向预测作用;(2)学业倦怠在手机依赖和心理健康之间发挥部分中介作用;(3)消极应对方式调节了手机依赖通过学业倦怠影响青少年心理健康中介作用的后半段路径,相对于低消极应对的青少年,中介作用在高消极应对的青少年中更显著。该研究结果对维护和促进手机移动互联网时代青少年心理健康具有积极启示意义。