Empirical analysis of online human dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Zhi-Dan; Zhou, Tao

2012-06-01

Patterns of human activities have attracted increasing academic interests, since the quantitative understanding of human behavior is helpful to uncover the origins of many socioeconomic phenomena. This paper focuses on behaviors of Internet users. Six large-scale systems are studied in our experiments, including the movie-watching in Netflix and MovieLens, the transaction in Ebay, the bookmark-collecting in Delicious, and the posting in FreindFeed and Twitter. Empirical analysis reveals some common statistical features of online human behavior: (1) The total number of user's actions, the user's activity, and the interevent time all follow heavy-tailed distributions. (2) There exists a strongly positive correlation between user's activity and the total number of user's actions, and a significantly negative correlation between the user's activity and the width of the interevent time distribution. We further study the rescaling method and show that this method could to some extent eliminate the different statistics among users caused by the different activities, yet the effectiveness depends on the data sets.

A simple generative model of collective online behavior.

PubMed

Gleeson, James P; Cellai, Davide; Onnela, Jukka-Pekka; Porter, Mason A; Reed-Tsochas, Felix

2014-07-22

Human activities increasingly take place in online environments, providing novel opportunities for relating individual behaviors to population-level outcomes. In this paper, we introduce a simple generative model for the collective behavior of millions of social networking site users who are deciding between different software applications. Our model incorporates two distinct mechanisms: one is associated with recent decisions of users, and the other reflects the cumulative popularity of each application. Importantly, although various combinations of the two mechanisms yield long-time behavior that is consistent with data, the only models that reproduce the observed temporal dynamics are those that strongly emphasize the recent popularity of applications over their cumulative popularity. This demonstrates--even when using purely observational data without experimental design--that temporal data-driven modeling can effectively distinguish between competing microscopic mechanisms, allowing us to uncover previously unidentified aspects of collective online behavior.

A simple generative model of collective online behavior

PubMed Central

Gleeson, James P.; Cellai, Davide; Onnela, Jukka-Pekka; Porter, Mason A.; Reed-Tsochas, Felix

2014-01-01

Human activities increasingly take place in online environments, providing novel opportunities for relating individual behaviors to population-level outcomes. In this paper, we introduce a simple generative model for the collective behavior of millions of social networking site users who are deciding between different software applications. Our model incorporates two distinct mechanisms: one is associated with recent decisions of users, and the other reflects the cumulative popularity of each application. Importantly, although various combinations of the two mechanisms yield long-time behavior that is consistent with data, the only models that reproduce the observed temporal dynamics are those that strongly emphasize the recent popularity of applications over their cumulative popularity. This demonstrates—even when using purely observational data without experimental design—that temporal data-driven modeling can effectively distinguish between competing microscopic mechanisms, allowing us to uncover previously unidentified aspects of collective online behavior. PMID:25002470

Online social integration is associated with reduced mortality risk.

PubMed

Hobbs, William R; Burke, Moira; Christakis, Nicholas A; Fowler, James H

2016-11-15

Social interactions increasingly take place online. Friendships and other offline social ties have been repeatedly associated with human longevity, but online interactions might have different properties. Here, we reference 12 million social media profiles against California Department of Public Health vital records and use longitudinal statistical models to assess whether social media use is associated with longer life. The results show that receiving requests to connect as friends online is associated with reduced mortality but initiating friendships is not. Additionally, online behaviors that indicate face-to-face social activity (like posting photos) are associated with reduced mortality, but online-only behaviors (like sending messages) have a nonlinear relationship, where moderate use is associated with the lowest mortality. These results suggest that online social integration is linked to lower risk for a wide variety of critical health problems. Although this is an associational study, it may be an important step in understanding how, on a global scale, online social networks might be adapted to improve modern populations' social and physical health.

Online social integration is associated with reduced mortality risk

PubMed Central

Hobbs, William R.; Burke, Moira; Christakis, Nicholas A.; Fowler, James H.

2016-01-01

Social interactions increasingly take place online. Friendships and other offline social ties have been repeatedly associated with human longevity, but online interactions might have different properties. Here, we reference 12 million social media profiles against California Department of Public Health vital records and use longitudinal statistical models to assess whether social media use is associated with longer life. The results show that receiving requests to connect as friends online is associated with reduced mortality but initiating friendships is not. Additionally, online behaviors that indicate face-to-face social activity (like posting photos) are associated with reduced mortality, but online-only behaviors (like sending messages) have a nonlinear relationship, where moderate use is associated with the lowest mortality. These results suggest that online social integration is linked to lower risk for a wide variety of critical health problems. Although this is an associational study, it may be an important step in understanding how, on a global scale, online social networks might be adapted to improve modern populations’ social and physical health. PMID:27799553

Oxytocin and social affiliation in humans.

PubMed

Feldman, Ruth

2012-03-01

A conceptual model detailing the process of bio-behavioral synchrony between the online physiological and behavioral responses of attachment partners during social contact is presented as a theoretical and empirical framework for the study of affiliative bonds. Guided by an ethological behavior-based approach, we suggest that micro-level social behaviors in the gaze, vocal, affective, and touch modalities are dynamically integrated with online physiological processes and hormonal response to create dyad-specific affiliations. Studies across multiple attachments throughout life are presented and demonstrate that the extended oxytocin (OT) system provides the neurohormonal substrate for parental, romantic, and filial attachment in humans; that the three prototypes of affiliation are expressed in similar constellations of social behavior; and that OT is stable over time within individuals, is mutually-influencing among partners, and that mechanisms of cross-generation and inter-couple transmission relate to coordinated social behavior. Research showing links between peripheral and genetic markers of OT with concurrent parenting and memories of parental care; between administration of OT to parent and infant's physiological readiness for social engagement; and between neuropeptides and the online synchrony of maternal and paternal brain response in social-cognitive and empathy networks support the hypothesis that human attachment develops within the matrix of biological attunement and close behavioral synchrony. The findings have conceptual implications for the study of inter-subjectivity as well as translational implications for the treatment of social disorders originating in early childhood, such as autism spectrum disorders, or those associated with disruptions to early bonding, such as postpartum depression or child abuse and neglect. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Oxytocin, Vasopressin, and Social Behavior. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Practice and Personhood in Professional Interaction: Social Identities and Information Needs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mokros, Hartmut B.; And Others

1995-01-01

Explores the human aspect of information retrieval by examining the behavior and pronoun use of librarians in the course of communicating with patrons during online computer search interactions. Compares two studies on the conduct of librarians as intermediaries in naturally occurring online computer search interactions. (JMV)

A Data-Driven Approach to Reverse Engineering Customer Engagement Models: Towards Functional Constructs

PubMed Central

de Vries, Natalie Jane; Carlson, Jamie; Moscato, Pablo

2014-01-01

Online consumer behavior in general and online customer engagement with brands in particular, has become a major focus of research activity fuelled by the exponential increase of interactive functions of the internet and social media platforms and applications. Current research in this area is mostly hypothesis-driven and much debate about the concept of Customer Engagement and its related constructs remains existent in the literature. In this paper, we aim to propose a novel methodology for reverse engineering a consumer behavior model for online customer engagement, based on a computational and data-driven perspective. This methodology could be generalized and prove useful for future research in the fields of consumer behaviors using questionnaire data or studies investigating other types of human behaviors. The method we propose contains five main stages; symbolic regression analysis, graph building, community detection, evaluation of results and finally, investigation of directed cycles and common feedback loops. The ‘communities’ of questionnaire items that emerge from our community detection method form possible ‘functional constructs’ inferred from data rather than assumed from literature and theory. Our results show consistent partitioning of questionnaire items into such ‘functional constructs’ suggesting the method proposed here could be adopted as a new data-driven way of human behavior modeling. PMID:25036766

A data-driven approach to reverse engineering customer engagement models: towards functional constructs.

PubMed

de Vries, Natalie Jane; Carlson, Jamie; Moscato, Pablo

2014-01-01

Online consumer behavior in general and online customer engagement with brands in particular, has become a major focus of research activity fuelled by the exponential increase of interactive functions of the internet and social media platforms and applications. Current research in this area is mostly hypothesis-driven and much debate about the concept of Customer Engagement and its related constructs remains existent in the literature. In this paper, we aim to propose a novel methodology for reverse engineering a consumer behavior model for online customer engagement, based on a computational and data-driven perspective. This methodology could be generalized and prove useful for future research in the fields of consumer behaviors using questionnaire data or studies investigating other types of human behaviors. The method we propose contains five main stages; symbolic regression analysis, graph building, community detection, evaluation of results and finally, investigation of directed cycles and common feedback loops. The 'communities' of questionnaire items that emerge from our community detection method form possible 'functional constructs' inferred from data rather than assumed from literature and theory. Our results show consistent partitioning of questionnaire items into such 'functional constructs' suggesting the method proposed here could be adopted as a new data-driven way of human behavior modeling.

Dynamical Integration of Language and Behavior in a Recurrent Neural Network for Human-Robot Interaction.

PubMed

Yamada, Tatsuro; Murata, Shingo; Arie, Hiroaki; Ogata, Tetsuya

2016-01-01

To work cooperatively with humans by using language, robots must not only acquire a mapping between language and their behavior but also autonomously utilize the mapping in appropriate contexts of interactive tasks online. To this end, we propose a novel learning method linking language to robot behavior by means of a recurrent neural network. In this method, the network learns from correct examples of the imposed task that are given not as explicitly separated sets of language and behavior but as sequential data constructed from the actual temporal flow of the task. By doing this, the internal dynamics of the network models both language-behavior relationships and the temporal patterns of interaction. Here, "internal dynamics" refers to the time development of the system defined on the fixed-dimensional space of the internal states of the context layer. Thus, in the execution phase, by constantly representing where in the interaction context it is as its current state, the network autonomously switches between recognition and generation phases without any explicit signs and utilizes the acquired mapping in appropriate contexts. To evaluate our method, we conducted an experiment in which a robot generates appropriate behavior responding to a human's linguistic instruction. After learning, the network actually formed the attractor structure representing both language-behavior relationships and the task's temporal pattern in its internal dynamics. In the dynamics, language-behavior mapping was achieved by the branching structure. Repetition of human's instruction and robot's behavioral response was represented as the cyclic structure, and besides, waiting to a subsequent instruction was represented as the fixed-point attractor. Thanks to this structure, the robot was able to interact online with a human concerning the given task by autonomously switching phases.

Anchoring for Self-Efficacy and Success: An Anchored Asynchronous Online Discussion Case

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alrushiedat, Nimer; Olfman, Lorne

2014-01-01

In recent years, we have observed a rising interest in studying the effects of Web 2.0 technologies on student learning. We learned that human behavior can be influenced by personal and environmental factors as in Bandura's concept of "reciprocal causation." For business statistics students, we implemented online discussions to extend…

Multi-level scaling properties of instant-message communications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Guanxiong; Han, Xiaopu; Wang, Binghong

2010-08-01

To research the statistical properties of human's communication behaviors is one of the highlight areas of Human Dynamics. In this paper, we analyze the instant message data of QICQ from volunteers, and discover that there are many forms of non-Poisson characters, such as inter-event distributions of sending and receiving messages, communications between two friends, log-in activities, the distribution of online time, quantities of messages, and so on. These distributions not only denote the pattern of human communication activities, but also relate to the statistical property of human behaviors in using software. We find out that most of these exponents distribute between -1 and -2, which indicates that the Instant Message (IM) communication behavior of human is different from Non-IM communication behaviors; there are many fat-tail characters related to IM communication behavior.

Social Experience in "World of Warcraft": Technological and Ideological Mediations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crenshaw, Nicole Kathryn

2017-01-01

As society shifts towards spending more time online for business and leisure, examining human behavior in virtual environments is crucial. To better understand the role that games play in our society, I analyze social experience in World of Warcraft (WoW), one of the longest running massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMO). Since its…

Mapping collective behavior in the big-data era.

PubMed

Bentley, R Alexander; O'Brien, Michael J; Brock, William A

2014-02-01

The behavioral sciences have flourished by studying how traditional and/or rational behavior has been governed throughout most of human history by relatively well-informed individual and social learning. In the online age, however, social phenomena can occur with unprecedented scale and unpredictability, and individuals have access to social connections never before possible. Similarly, behavioral scientists now have access to "big data" sets - those from Twitter and Facebook, for example - that did not exist a few years ago. Studies of human dynamics based on these data sets are novel and exciting but, if not placed in context, can foster the misconception that mass-scale online behavior is all we need to understand, for example, how humans make decisions. To overcome that misconception, we draw on the field of discrete-choice theory to create a multiscale comparative "map" that, like a principal-components representation, captures the essence of decision making along two axes: (1) an east-west dimension that represents the degree to which an agent makes a decision independently versus one that is socially influenced, and (2) a north-south dimension that represents the degree to which there is transparency in the payoffs and risks associated with the decisions agents make. We divide the map into quadrants, each of which features a signature behavioral pattern. When taken together, the map and its signatures provide an easily understood empirical framework for evaluating how modern collective behavior may be changing in the digital age, including whether behavior is becoming more individualistic, as people seek out exactly what they want, or more social, as people become more inextricably linked, even "herdlike," in their decision making. We believe the map will lead to many new testable hypotheses concerning human behavior as well as to similar applications throughout the social sciences.

They all do it, will you? Event-related potential evidence of herding behavior in online peer-to-peer lending.

PubMed

Yu, Haihong; Dan, MengHan; Ma, Qingguo; Jin, Jia

2018-05-14

As herding is a typical characteristic of human behavior, many researchers have found the existence of herding behavior in online peer-to-peer lending through empirical surveys. However, the underlying neural basis of this phenomenon is still unclear. In the current study, we studied the neural activities of herding at decision-making stage and feedback stage using event-related potentials (ERPs). Our results showed that at decision-making stage, larger error related negativity (ERN) amplitude was induced under low-proportion conditions than that of high-proportion conditions. Meanwhile, during feedback stage, negative feedback elicited larger feedback related negativity (FRN) amplitude than that of positive feedback under low-proportion conditions, however, there was no significant FRN difference under high-proportion conditions. The current study suggests that herding behavior in online peer-to-peer lending is related to individual's risk perception and is possible to avoid negative emotions brought by failed investments. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

When do online sexual fantasies become reality? The contribution of erotic chatting via the Internet to sexual risk-taking in gay and other men who have sex with men.

PubMed

Adam, Philippe C G; Murphy, Dean A; de Wit, John B F

2011-06-01

Seeking sexual partners online is associated with sexual risk-taking among men who have sex with men (MSM), but it is not well understood how this use of the Internet is implicated in potential sexual risks. The present study explores whether fantasizing about unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) during online chatting is associated with UAI with partners met online. An online survey of 2058 MSM in France included assessments of UAI with partners met online, responses to erotic chatting about UAI, intentions to use condoms, attitudes regarding UAI, practicing UAI with casual partners, alcohol and drug use with sex and biographical characteristics. While intentions to use condoms with casual partners were high, one-third (32.1%) of respondents reported UAI with partners met online. Responding positively to online chatting about UAI was significantly associated with UAI with partners met online, controlling for intentions, attitudes, behavior and biographic characteristics. These findings suggest that, while MSM may not go online to seek UAI, some engage in online fantasizing about UAI that is associated with possible sexual risk-taking. This speaks critically to the assumption that online fantasizing has no behavioral implications, and underscores the importance of human immunodeficiency virus prevention that addresses the dynamics of online chatting.

Imaging Ultrasound Guidance and on-line Estimation of Thermal Behavior in HIFU Exposed Targets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chauhan, Sunita; Haryanto, Amir

2006-05-01

Elevated temperatures have been used for many years to combat several diseases including treatment of certain types of cancers/tumors. High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) has emerged as a potential non-invasive modality for trackless targeting of deep-seated cancers of human body. For the procedures which require thermal elevation such as hyperthermia and tissue ablation, temperature becomes a parameter of vital importance in order to monitor the treatment on-line. Also, embedding invasive temperature probes for this purpose beats the supremacy of the non-invasive ablating modality. In this paper, we describe the use of a non-invasive and inexpensive conventional imaging ultrasound modality for lesion positioning and estimation of thermal behavior of the tissue on exposure to HIFU. Representative results of our online lesion tracking algorithm for discerning lesioning behavior using image capture, processing and phase-shift measurements are presented.

Faster and Riskier? Online Context of Sex Seeking Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in China.

PubMed

Cao, Bolin; Liu, Chuncheng; Stein, Gabriella; Tang, Weiming; Best, John; Zhang, Ye; Yang, Bin; Huang, Shujie; Wei, Chongyi; Tucker, Joseph D

2017-04-01

Many men who have sex with men (MSM) seek sex partners online, creating barriers and opportunities for human immunodeficiency virus prevention. The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics of MSM and the risks associated with seeking sex through websites, gay apps, and both platforms in China. Data were collected through a cross-sectional online survey from September through October 2014 from 3 large gay Web portals. Sociodemographic information, sexual behaviors, and online sex seeking behaviors were measured. Multinomial logistic regression was performed to compare sexual risk behaviors among website users, gay app users, and men who used both platforms. Of the 1201 participants, 377 (31.4%) were website-only users, 487 (40.5%) were gay app-only users, and 337 (28.0%) were men who used both platforms. These 3 MSM subgroups have distinct sociodemographic characteristics. Overall, 57.6% of participants reported having engaged in condomless anal sex with their last male partner in the past 6 months, but there was no significant difference in condomless sex between the 3 groups. Men who used both platforms viewed more sexually transmitted disease-related messages than website-only users (adjusted odds ratio, 2.19; 95% confidence interval, 1.57-3.05). Condom usage behaviors were unaffected by the medium through which sexual partners were found. However, the high frequency of condomless sex suggests that websites and gay apps are both risk environments. This study suggests using multiple platforms for human immunodeficiency virus/sexually transmitted disease social media interventions may be useful.

Collective iteration behavior for online social networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Jian-Guo; Li, Ren-De; Guo, Qiang; Zhang, Yi-Cheng

2018-06-01

Understanding the patterns of collective behavior in online social network (OSNs) is critical to expanding the knowledge of human behavior and tie relationship. In this paper, we investigate a specific pattern called social signature in Facebook and Wiki users' online communication behaviors, capturing the distribution of frequency of interactions between different alters over time in the ego network. The empirical results show that there are robust social signatures of interactions no matter how friends change over time, which indicates that a stable commutation pattern exists in online communication. By comparing a random null model, we find the that commutation pattern is heterogeneous between ego and alters. Furthermore, in order to regenerate the pattern of the social signature, we present a preferential interaction model, which assumes that new users intend to look for the old users with strong ties while old users have tendency to interact with new friends. The experimental results show that the presented model can reproduce the heterogeneity of social signature by adjusting 2 parameters, the number of communicating targets m and the max number of interactions n, for Facebook users, m = n = 5, for Wiki users, m = 2 and n = 8. This work helps in deeply understanding the regularity of social signature.

Massively Multiplayer Online Games as Living Laboratories: Opportunities and Pitfalls

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ducheneaut, Nicolas

The digital nature of online games makes them particularly amenable to large-scale, automated data collection and analysis; so researchers have begun to use them as living laboratories to test or refine the existing theories of human behavior. On the basis of several years of intensive data collection in several massively multiplayer online games, this chapter addresses three problems concerning validity and generalizability that must be taken into account. First, each game has a set of laws that steer player behavior, thereby introducing confounding factors that have to be taken into account by the researcher. Second, games attract skewed samples of players, and players may adopt transformed personalities inside the game world, which puts into question the validity of extending findings from observations in the digital realm into the physical one. Third, the lack of a clear boundary defining the "game space," illustrated by the many websites and forums for popular games, raises the question of whether online games themselves capture the totality of the user's experience. The problematic mapping between "real-world" behaviors and those in online games presents research opportunities as well as pitfalls that need to be avoided.

Social Media as a Tool to Promote Health Awareness: Results from an Online Cervical Cancer Prevention Study.

PubMed

Lyson, Helena C; Le, Gem M; Zhang, Jingwen; Rivadeneira, Natalie; Lyles, Courtney; Radcliffe, Kate; Pasick, Rena J; Sawaya, George; Sarkar, Urmimala; Centola, Damon

2018-06-11

Online social media platforms represent a promising opportunity for public health promotion. Research is limited, however, on the effectiveness of social media at improving knowledge and awareness of health topics and motivating healthy behavior change. Therefore, we investigated whether participation in an online social media platform and receipt of brief, tailored messages is effective at increasing knowledge, awareness, and prevention behaviors related to human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer. We conducted an online study in which 782 recruited participants were consecutively assigned to nine-person groups on a social media platform. Participants were shown a unique random set of 20 tailored messages per day over five days. Participants completed a baseline and post survey to assess their knowledge, awareness, and prevention behaviors related to HPV and cervical cancer. There were no statistically significant changes in knowledge and prevention behaviors from the baseline to the post survey among study participants. There was a modest, statistically significant change in response to whether participants had ever heard of HPV, increasing from 90 to 94% (p = 0.003). Our findings suggest that most study participants had substantial knowledge, awareness, and engagement in positive behaviors related to cervical cancer prevention at the start of the study. Nevertheless, we found that HPV awareness can be increased through brief participation in an online social media platform and receipt of tailored health messages. Further investigation that explores how social media can be used to improve knowledge and adoption of healthy behaviors related to cervical cancer is warranted.

Is excessive online usage a function of medium or activity? An empirical pilot study

PubMed Central

Griffiths, Mark D.; Szabo, Attila

2014-01-01

Aims: The purpose of the study was to seek a better insight into whether the online medium or the online activity was more important in relation to excessive online use. It is not clear whether those people who spend excessive amounts of time on the Internet are engaged in general Internet or whether excessive Internet use is linked to specific activities. Methods: Perceived changes in Internet use habits as function of hypothetical accessibility of favorite sites were investigated in young adults. University students (n = 130, mean age = 20.6 years) who had (on average) spent over 20 hours a week on the Internet for at least nine years completed a survey. The most favored online activities and expected quality of life without Internet access were also investigated. Results: Findings revealed that social networking was by far the most popular online activity, and that lack of access to their preferred online activities would drop by 65% (as measured by perceived Internet usage). Approximately one in six participants (16%) claimed they would not even switch on the computer if access to their favorite online activities were unavailable. In relation to a hypothetical question about the quality of life without Internet access, the responses were normally distributed (rather than skewed). Conclusions: These results show that time spent with Internet activity is not random and/or generalized, but appears more focused. Attraction or addiction on Internet to one or more specific behavior(s) may be a better way forward in the quest for better understanding excessive human behavior in the online environment. PMID:25215216

Network Structure and Community Evolution on Twitter: Human Behavior Change in Response to the 2011 Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami

PubMed Central

Lu, Xin; Brelsford, Christa

2014-01-01

To investigate the dynamics of social networks and the formation and evolution of online communities in response to extreme events, we collected three datasets from Twitter shortly before and after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. We find that while almost all users increased their online activity after the earthquake, Japanese speakers, who are assumed to be more directly affected by the event, expanded the network of people they interact with to a much higher degree than English speakers or the global average. By investigating the evolution of communities, we find that the behavior of joining or quitting a community is far from random: users tend to stay in their current status and are less likely to join new communities from solitary or shift to other communities from their current community. While non-Japanese speakers did not change their conversation topics significantly after the earthquake, nearly all Japanese users changed their conversations to earthquake-related content. This study builds a systematic framework for investigating human behaviors under extreme events with online social network data and our findings on the dynamics of networks and communities may provide useful insight for understanding how patterns of social interaction are influenced by extreme events. PMID:25346468

Network Structure and Community Evolution on Twitter: Human Behavior Change in Response to the 2011 Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Xin; Brelsford, Christa

2014-10-01

To investigate the dynamics of social networks and the formation and evolution of online communities in response to extreme events, we collected three datasets from Twitter shortly before and after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. We find that while almost all users increased their online activity after the earthquake, Japanese speakers, who are assumed to be more directly affected by the event, expanded the network of people they interact with to a much higher degree than English speakers or the global average. By investigating the evolution of communities, we find that the behavior of joining or quitting a community is far from random: users tend to stay in their current status and are less likely to join new communities from solitary or shift to other communities from their current community. While non-Japanese speakers did not change their conversation topics significantly after the earthquake, nearly all Japanese users changed their conversations to earthquake-related content. This study builds a systematic framework for investigating human behaviors under extreme events with online social network data and our findings on the dynamics of networks and communities may provide useful insight for understanding how patterns of social interaction are influenced by extreme events.

Predicting decisions in human social interactions using real-time fMRI and pattern classification.

PubMed

Hollmann, Maurice; Rieger, Jochem W; Baecke, Sebastian; Lützkendorf, Ralf; Müller, Charles; Adolf, Daniela; Bernarding, Johannes

2011-01-01

Negotiation and trade typically require a mutual interaction while simultaneously resting in uncertainty which decision the partner ultimately will make at the end of the process. Assessing already during the negotiation in which direction one's counterpart tends would provide a tremendous advantage. Recently, neuroimaging techniques combined with multivariate pattern classification of the acquired data have made it possible to discriminate subjective states of mind on the basis of their neuronal activation signature. However, to enable an online-assessment of the participant's mind state both approaches need to be extended to a real-time technique. By combining real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and online pattern classification techniques, we show that it is possible to predict human behavior during social interaction before the interacting partner communicates a specific decision. Average accuracy reached approximately 70% when we predicted online the decisions of volunteers playing the ultimatum game, a well-known paradigm in economic game theory. Our results demonstrate the successful online analysis of complex emotional and cognitive states using real-time fMRI, which will enable a major breakthrough for social fMRI by providing information about mental states of partners already during the mutual interaction. Interestingly, an additional whole brain classification across subjects confirmed the online results: anterior insula, ventral striatum, and lateral orbitofrontal cortex, known to act in emotional self-regulation and reward processing for adjustment of behavior, appeared to be strong determinants of later overt behavior in the ultimatum game. Using whole brain classification we were also able to discriminate between brain processes related to subjective emotional and motivational states and brain processes related to the evaluation of objective financial incentives.

Online Discussion Effects on Intention to Participate in Genetic Research: A Longitudinal Experimental Study

PubMed Central

Kim, Sojung Claire; Cappella, Joseph N.; Price, Vincent

2016-01-01

Objective The National Human Genome Research Institute has emphasized community engagement and public dialogue in the U. S. on issues related to genetics. This study examines how online discussions among the U.S. public directly or indirectly influence psychosocial constructs of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), including intention to take part in genetic research. Design After completing the baseline questionnaire, participants (n = 3,754) were randomly assigned to one of the following three groups: the discussion group, the pre/post only group, and the End-Of-Project group. The discussion group (n = 1,824) was invited and participated in up to three online discussions, which were held from November 2008 to May 2009. Main Outcome Measures Behavioral intention, beliefs, attitudes, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control variables were assessed. Results The most interesting finding was that those participating in online discussions had fewer negative beliefs about volunteering for genetic research, which in turn, contributed to more positive attitudes, increased injunctive and descriptive norms, and enhanced behavioral control. These relationships, then, were associated with higher intention to participate in genetic research. Conclusion These findings suggest that continuous public discussions seem to positively affect volunteer intention for genetic research through ameliorating fears of negative consequences. PMID:26979570

Statistics of co-occurring keywords in confined text messages on Twitter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mathiesen, J.; Angheluta, L.; Jensen, M. H.

2014-09-01

Online social media such as the micro-blogging site Twitter has become a rich source of real-time data on online human behaviors. Here we analyze the occurrence and co-occurrence frequency of keywords in user posts on Twitter. From the occurrence rate of major international brand names, we provide examples of predictions of brand-user behaviors. From the co-occurrence rates, we further analyze the user-perceived relationships between international brand names and construct the corresponding relationship networks. In general the user activity on Twitter is highly intermittent and we show that the occurrence rate of brand names forms a highly correlated time signal.

Analyzing Online Behaviors, Roles, and Learning Communities via Online Discussions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeh, Yu-Chu

2010-01-01

Online learning communities are an important means of sharing and creating knowledge. Online behaviors and online roles can reveal how online learning communities function. However, no study has elucidated the relationships among online behaviors, online roles, and online learning communities. In this study, 32 preservice teachers participated in…

Tracing the Attention of Moving Citizens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Lingfei; Wang, Cheng-Jun

2016-09-01

With the widespread use of mobile computing devices in contemporary society, our trajectories in the physical space and virtual world are increasingly closely connected. Using the anonymous smartphone data of 1 × 105 users in a major city of China, we study the interplay between online and offline human behaviors by constructing the mobility network (offline) and the attention network (online). Using the network renormalization technique, we find that they belong to two different classes: the mobility network is small-world, whereas the attention network is fractal. We then divide the city into different areas based on the features of the mobility network discovered under renormalization. Interestingly, this spatial division manifests the location-based online behaviors, for example shopping, dating, and taxi-requesting. Finally, we offer a geometric network model to help us understand the relationship between small-world and fractal networks.

The Relationship Between Coat Color and Aggressive Behaviors in the Domestic Cat.

PubMed

Stelow, Elizabeth A; Bain, Melissa J; Kass, Philip H

2016-01-01

The authors explored a possible relationship between coat color and aggressive behaviors in the domestic cat. This study used an Internet-based survey to collect information on coat color, affiliative behaviors toward cats/humans, agonistic behaviors toward cats/humans, other "problem" behaviors, and cat and guardian demographic data. A total of 1,432 cat guardians completed the online survey; after exclusions based on study protocol, data analysis included 1,274 completed surveys. Guardians reported sex-linked orange female (tortoiseshells, calicos, and "torbies"), black-and-white, and gray-and-white cats to be more frequently aggressive toward humans in 3 settings: during everyday interactions, during handling, and during veterinary visits. Kruskal-Wallis 1-way analysis of variance was used to compare possible differences between the 2 sexes and among different coat colors. Analyses of aggression due to handling, as well as aggression displayed during veterinarian visits, showed little difference among coat colors in these settings.

Lognormal Infection Times of Online Information Spread

PubMed Central

Doerr, Christian; Blenn, Norbert; Van Mieghem, Piet

2013-01-01

The infection times of individuals in online information spread such as the inter-arrival time of Twitter messages or the propagation time of news stories on a social media site can be explained through a convolution of lognormally distributed observation and reaction times of the individual participants. Experimental measurements support the lognormal shape of the individual contributing processes, and have resemblance to previously reported lognormal distributions of human behavior and contagious processes. PMID:23700473

A Human-Robot Co-Manipulation Approach Based on Human Sensorimotor Information.

PubMed

Peternel, Luka; Tsagarakis, Nikos; Ajoudani, Arash

2017-07-01

This paper aims to improve the interaction and coordination between the human and the robot in cooperative execution of complex, powerful, and dynamic tasks. We propose a novel approach that integrates online information about the human motor function and manipulability properties into the hybrid controller of the assistive robot. Through this human-in-the-loop framework, the robot can adapt to the human motor behavior and provide the appropriate assistive response in different phases of the cooperative task. We experimentally evaluate the proposed approach in two human-robot co-manipulation tasks that require specific complementary behavior from the two agents. Results suggest that the proposed technique, which relies on a minimum degree of task-level pre-programming, can achieve an enhanced physical human-robot interaction performance and deliver appropriate level of assistance to the human operator.

Unfolding large-scale online collaborative human dynamics

PubMed Central

Zha, Yilong; Zhou, Tao; Zhou, Changsong

2016-01-01

Large-scale interacting human activities underlie all social and economic phenomena, but quantitative understanding of regular patterns and mechanism is very challenging and still rare. Self-organized online collaborative activities with a precise record of event timing provide unprecedented opportunity. Our empirical analysis of the history of millions of updates in Wikipedia shows a universal double–power-law distribution of time intervals between consecutive updates of an article. We then propose a generic model to unfold collaborative human activities into three modules: (i) individual behavior characterized by Poissonian initiation of an action, (ii) human interaction captured by a cascading response to previous actions with a power-law waiting time, and (iii) population growth due to the increasing number of interacting individuals. This unfolding allows us to obtain an analytical formula that is fully supported by the universal patterns in empirical data. Our modeling approaches reveal “simplicity” beyond complex interacting human activities. PMID:27911766

Human comment dynamics in on-line social systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Ye; Zhou, Changsong; Chen, Maoying; Xiao, Jinghua; Kurths, Jürgen

2010-12-01

Human comment is studied using data from ‘tianya’ which is one of the most popular on-line social systems in China. We found that the time interval between two consecutive comments on the same topic, called inter-event time, follows a power-law distribution. This result shows that there is no characteristic decay time on a topic. It allows for very long periods without comments that separate bursts of intensive comments. Furthermore, the frequency of a different ID commenting on a topic also follows a power-law distribution. It indicates that there are some “hubs” in the topic who lead the direction of the public opinion. Based on the personal comments habit, a model is introduced to explain these phenomena. The numerical simulations of the model fit well with the empirical results. Our findings are helpful for discovering regular patterns of human behavior in on-line society and the evolution of the public opinion on the virtual as well as real society.

Tracing the Attention of Moving Citizens

PubMed Central

Wu, Lingfei; Wang, Cheng-Jun

2016-01-01

With the widespread use of mobile computing devices in contemporary society, our trajectories in the physical space and virtual world are increasingly closely connected. Using the anonymous smartphone data of 1 × 105 users in a major city of China, we study the interplay between online and offline human behaviors by constructing the mobility network (offline) and the attention network (online). Using the network renormalization technique, we find that they belong to two different classes: the mobility network is small-world, whereas the attention network is fractal. We then divide the city into different areas based on the features of the mobility network discovered under renormalization. Interestingly, this spatial division manifests the location-based online behaviors, for example shopping, dating, and taxi-requesting. Finally, we offer a geometric network model to help us understand the relationship between small-world and fractal networks. PMID:27608929

Improving Prescripted Agent Behavior with Neuroevolution

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-01-01

learned behaviors might be undesirable, violating the designer’s intentions. This problem could be avoided if game designers could specify an...compatible throughout evolution, and the problem of matching different topologies (Radcliffe 1993) is essentially avoided . Second, NEAT speciates the...interaction with NPCs, such as a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game ( MMORPG ), the ability for NPCs to slowly adapt to humans would keep the game

The Double Meaning of Online Social Space: Three-Way Interactions Among Social Anxiety, Online Social Behavior, and Offline Social Behavior.

PubMed

Koo, Hoon Jung; Woo, Sungbum; Yang, Eunjoo; Kwon, Jung Hye

2015-09-01

The present study aimed to investigate how online and offline social behavior interact with each other ultimately to affect the well-being of socially anxious adolescents. Based on previous studies, it was assumed that there might be three-way interactive effects among online social behavior, offline social behavior, and social anxiety regarding the relationship with well-being. To measure social anxiety, online and offline social behavior, and mental well-being, self-report questionnaires such as the Korean-Social Avoidance and Distress Scale, Korean version of the Relational Maintenance Behavior Questionnaire, and Korean version of Mental Health Continuum Short Form were administered to 656 Korean adolescents. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that the three-way interaction of online social behavior, offline social behavior, and social anxiety was indeed significant. First, online social behavior was associated with lower well-being of adolescents with higher social anxiety under conditions of low engagement in offline social behavior. In contrast, a higher level of online social behavior predicted greater well-being for individuals with high social anxiety under conditions of more engagement in offline social behavior. Second, online social behavior was not significantly related to well-being in youths with low social anxiety under conditions of both high and low engagement in offline social behavior. Implications and limitations of this study were discussed.

Reasoning, learning, and creativity: frontal lobe function and human decision-making.

PubMed

Collins, Anne; Koechlin, Etienne

2012-01-01

The frontal lobes subserve decision-making and executive control--that is, the selection and coordination of goal-directed behaviors. Current models of frontal executive function, however, do not explain human decision-making in everyday environments featuring uncertain, changing, and especially open-ended situations. Here, we propose a computational model of human executive function that clarifies this issue. Using behavioral experiments, we show that unlike others, the proposed model predicts human decisions and their variations across individuals in naturalistic situations. The model reveals that for driving action, the human frontal function monitors up to three/four concurrent behavioral strategies and infers online their ability to predict action outcomes: whenever one appears more reliable than unreliable, this strategy is chosen to guide the selection and learning of actions that maximize rewards. Otherwise, a new behavioral strategy is tentatively formed, partly from those stored in long-term memory, then probed, and if competitive confirmed to subsequently drive action. Thus, the human executive function has a monitoring capacity limited to three or four behavioral strategies. This limitation is compensated by the binary structure of executive control that in ambiguous and unknown situations promotes the exploration and creation of new behavioral strategies. The results support a model of human frontal function that integrates reasoning, learning, and creative abilities in the service of decision-making and adaptive behavior.

Reasoning, Learning, and Creativity: Frontal Lobe Function and Human Decision-Making

PubMed Central

Collins, Anne; Koechlin, Etienne

2012-01-01

The frontal lobes subserve decision-making and executive control—that is, the selection and coordination of goal-directed behaviors. Current models of frontal executive function, however, do not explain human decision-making in everyday environments featuring uncertain, changing, and especially open-ended situations. Here, we propose a computational model of human executive function that clarifies this issue. Using behavioral experiments, we show that unlike others, the proposed model predicts human decisions and their variations across individuals in naturalistic situations. The model reveals that for driving action, the human frontal function monitors up to three/four concurrent behavioral strategies and infers online their ability to predict action outcomes: whenever one appears more reliable than unreliable, this strategy is chosen to guide the selection and learning of actions that maximize rewards. Otherwise, a new behavioral strategy is tentatively formed, partly from those stored in long-term memory, then probed, and if competitive confirmed to subsequently drive action. Thus, the human executive function has a monitoring capacity limited to three or four behavioral strategies. This limitation is compensated by the binary structure of executive control that in ambiguous and unknown situations promotes the exploration and creation of new behavioral strategies. The results support a model of human frontal function that integrates reasoning, learning, and creative abilities in the service of decision-making and adaptive behavior. PMID:22479152

Multitasking Information Seeking and Searching Processes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spink, Amanda; Ozmutlu, H. Cenk; Ozmutlu, Seda

2002-01-01

Presents findings from four studies of the prevalence of multitasking information seeking and searching by Web (via the Excite search engine), information retrieval system (mediated online database searching), and academic library users. Highlights include human information coordinating behavior (HICB); and implications for models of information…

In Pursuit of Theoretical Ground in Behavior Change Support Systems: Analysis of Peer-to-Peer Communication in a Health-Related Online Community.

PubMed

Myneni, Sahiti; Cobb, Nathan; Cohen, Trevor

2016-02-02

Research studies involving health-related online communities have focused on examining network structure to understand mechanisms underlying behavior change. Content analysis of the messages exchanged in these communities has been limited to the "social support" perspective. However, existing behavior change theories suggest that message content plays a prominent role reflecting several sociocognitive factors that affect an individual's efforts to make a lifestyle change. An understanding of these factors is imperative to identify and harness the mechanisms of behavior change in the Health 2.0 era. The objective of this work is two-fold: (1) to harness digital communication data to capture essential meaning of communication and factors affecting a desired behavior change, and (2) to understand the applicability of existing behavior change theories to characterize peer-to-peer communication in online platforms. In this paper, we describe grounded theory-based qualitative analysis of digital communication in QuitNet, an online community promoting smoking cessation. A database of 16,492 de-identified public messages from 1456 users from March 1-April 30, 2007, was used in our study. We analyzed 795 messages using grounded theory techniques to ensure thematic saturation. This analysis enabled identification of key concepts contained in the messages exchanged by QuitNet members, allowing us to understand the sociobehavioral intricacies underlying an individual's efforts to cease smoking in a group setting. We further ascertained the relevance of the identified themes to theoretical constructs in existing behavior change theories (eg, Health Belief Model) and theoretically linked techniques of behavior change taxonomy. We identified 43 different concepts, which were then grouped under 12 themes based on analysis of 795 messages. Examples of concepts include "sleepiness," "pledge," "patch," "spouse," and "slip." Examples of themes include "traditions," "social support," "obstacles," "relapse," and "cravings." Results indicate that themes consisting of member-generated strategies such as "virtual bonfires" and "pledges" were related to the highest number of theoretical constructs from the existing behavior change theories. In addition, results indicate that the member-generated communication content supports sociocognitive constructs from more than one behavior change model, unlike the majority of the existing theory-driven interventions. With the onset of mobile phones and ubiquitous Internet connectivity, online social network data reflect the intricacies of human health behavior as experienced by health consumers in real time. This study offers methodological insights for qualitative investigations that examine the various kinds of behavioral constructs prevalent in the messages exchanged among users of online communities. Theoretically, this study establishes the manifestation of existing behavior change theories in QuitNet-like online health communities. Pragmatically, it sets the stage for real-time, data-driven sociobehavioral interventions promoting healthy lifestyle modifications by allowing us to understand the emergent user needs to sustain a desired behavior change.

Correlates of Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Sexually Transmitted Infection (HIV/STI) Testing and Disclosure among HIV-Negative Collegiate Men Who Have Sex with Men

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilkerson, J. Michael; Fuchs, Erika L.; Brady, Sonya S.; Jones-Webb, Rhonda; Rosser, B. R. Simon

2014-01-01

Objective: To determine the extent to which personal, behavioral, and environmental factors are associated with human immunodeficiency virus/sexually transmitted infection (HIV/STI) testing and disclosure. Participants: Nine hundred thirty HIV-negative collegiate men who have sex with men (MSM) who completed an online survey about alcohol use and…

Publication Trends Over 55 Years of Behavioral Genetic Research.

PubMed

Ayorech, Ziada; Selzam, Saskia; Smith-Woolley, Emily; Knopik, Valerie S; Neiderhiser, Jenae M; DeFries, John C; Plomin, Robert

2016-09-01

We document the growth in published papers on behavioral genetics for 5-year intervals from 1960 through 2014. We used 1861 papers published in Behavior Genetics to train our search strategy which, when applied to Ovid PsychINFO, selected more than 45,000 publications. Five trends stand out: (1) the number of behavioral genetic publications has grown enormously; nearly 20,000 papers were published in 2010-2014. (2) The number of human quantitative genetic (QG) publications (e.g., twin and adoption studies) has steadily increased with more than 3000 papers published in 2010-2014. (3) The number of human molecular genetic (MG) publications increased substantially from about 2000 in 2000-2004 to 5000 in 2005-2009 to 9000 in 2010-2014. (4) Nonhuman publications yielded similar trends. (5) Although there has been exponential growth in MG publications, both human and nonhuman QG publications continue to grow. A searchable resource of this corpus of behavioral genetic papers is freely available online at http://www.teds.ac.uk/public_datasets.html and will be updated annually.

Assessing Causality in the Relationship between Adolescents' Risky Sexual Online Behavior and Their Perceptions of This Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baumgartner, Susanne E.; Valkenburg, Patti M.; Peter, Jochen

2010-01-01

The main aim of this study was to investigate the causal nature of the relationship between adolescents' risky sexual behavior on the internet and their perceptions of this behavior. Engagement in the following online behaviors was assessed: searching online for someone to talk about sex, searching online for someone to have sex, sending intimate…

Preference Versus Choice in Online Dating.

PubMed

Whyte, Stephen; Torgler, Benno

2017-03-01

This study explores factors that influence matches of online dating participants' stated preference for particular characteristics in a potential partner and compares these with the characteristics of the online daters actually contacted. The nature of online dating facilitates exploration of the differences between stated preference and actual choice by participants, as online daters willingly provide a range of demographics on their ideal partner. Using data from the Australian dating website RSVP, we analyze 219,013 contact decisions. We conduct a multivariate analysis using the number of matched variables between the participants' stated preference and the characteristics of the individuals contacted. We find that factors such as a person's age, their education level, and a more social personality all increase the number of factors they choose in a potential partner that match their original stated preference. Males (relative to females) appear to match fewer characteristics when contacting potential love interests. Conversely, age interaction effects demonstrate that males in their late 60's are increasingly more selective (than females) regarding who they contact. An understanding of how technology (the Internet) is impacting human mating patterns and the psychology behind the participants informs the wider social science of human behavior in large-scale decision settings.

Stop bugging me: an examination of adolescents' protection behavior against online harassment.

PubMed

Lwin, May O; Li, Benjamin; Ang, Rebecca P

2012-02-01

Online harassment is a widespread phenomenon with consequential implications, especially for adolescents, who tend to engage in high-risk behavior online. Through the use of Protection Motivation Theory (PMT), we examine the predictors motivating the intention of youths to adopt protection behavior against online harassment. A survey was conducted with 537 youths from a stratified sample in Singapore. Regression analyses showed that perceived severity of online harassment, response efficacy and self efficacy of online protective behavior were significant predictors of behavioral intention with varying weights. The sole exception was perceived susceptibility to online harassment, which did not significantly predict behavioral intention. Gender and age were also found to moderate adolescents' uptake of protective behavior. The results suggest that public service programs targeted at educating youths should aim to increase coping appraisals and emphasize the severity of online harassment. Targeted educational programs could include those aimed at specific age or gender groups. Copyright © 2011 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Debating restrictions on embryonic stem cell research.

PubMed

McClain, Colleen

2009-09-01

This study investigates the emotional and behavioral effects of interpersonal online communication, focusing on the controversy surrounding the loosening of restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research. The issue, central to national and statewide elections in 2008, generated heated debate among candidates and voters and evoked strong emotional sentiments among partisans. Using the theory of affective intelligence, this study proposes a predictive model connecting levels of enthusiasm and anxiety with behavioral and information-seeking outcomes. Cognitive appraisal theory is also employed to provide a role for political emotion in accounting for interactive media effects. To investigate the ways that online deliberation may influence discussions surrounding stem cell research, a between-subjects experimental study was conducted that systematically varied the tone of feedback received (reinforcing or challenging) and type of interaction (synchronous or asynchronous) experienced by users. Results indicate that emotional responses play a significant role in predicting behavioral intentions arising from the user-to-user interactive experience.

Show us you are real: the effect of human-versus-organizational presence on online relationship building through social networking sites.

PubMed

Park, Hyojung; Lee, Hyunmin

2013-04-01

This study examined how creating a human presence in organizational online communication affects organization-public relationships and publics' favorable behavioral intentions to engage in word-of-mouth (WOM) and dialogic communications. Four hypotheses were tested in the context of Twitter through a 2×2 (presence: human vs. organizational×organization type: nonprofit vs. for-profit) within-subjects design. The results revealed that conversational human voice was perceived to be higher for Twitter pages of organizations with a human presence than for those with an organizational presence. Providing a human presence on social media through the use of social media managers' avatars and names appeared to promote favorable organization-public relationships and positive WOM communication. However, dialogic communication intentions did not significantly differ between organizations incorporating a human presence versus an organizational presence into their Twitter pages. The proposed dynamic role of human presence versus organizational presence adds a new perspective as to how organizations can take better advantage of interpersonal aspects of social media.

Community Discovery in Dynamic, Rich-Context Social Networks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Yu-Ru

2010-01-01

My research interest has been in understanding the human communities formed through interpersonal social activities. Participation in online communities on social network sites such as Twitter has been observed to influence people's behavior in diverse ways including financial decision-making and political choices, suggesting the rich potential…

Online adaptation and over-trial learning in macaque visuomotor control.

PubMed

Braun, Daniel A; Aertsen, Ad; Paz, Rony; Vaadia, Eilon; Rotter, Stefan; Mehring, Carsten

2011-01-01

When faced with unpredictable environments, the human motor system has been shown to develop optimized adaptation strategies that allow for online adaptation during the control process. Such online adaptation is to be contrasted to slower over-trial learning that corresponds to a trial-by-trial update of the movement plan. Here we investigate the interplay of both processes, i.e., online adaptation and over-trial learning, in a visuomotor experiment performed by macaques. We show that simple non-adaptive control schemes fail to perform in this task, but that a previously suggested adaptive optimal feedback control model can explain the observed behavior. We also show that over-trial learning as seen in learning and aftereffect curves can be explained by learning in a radial basis function network. Our results suggest that both the process of over-trial learning and the process of online adaptation are crucial to understand visuomotor learning.

Online Adaptation and Over-Trial Learning in Macaque Visuomotor Control

PubMed Central

Braun, Daniel A.; Aertsen, Ad; Paz, Rony; Vaadia, Eilon; Rotter, Stefan; Mehring, Carsten

2011-01-01

When faced with unpredictable environments, the human motor system has been shown to develop optimized adaptation strategies that allow for online adaptation during the control process. Such online adaptation is to be contrasted to slower over-trial learning that corresponds to a trial-by-trial update of the movement plan. Here we investigate the interplay of both processes, i.e., online adaptation and over-trial learning, in a visuomotor experiment performed by macaques. We show that simple non-adaptive control schemes fail to perform in this task, but that a previously suggested adaptive optimal feedback control model can explain the observed behavior. We also show that over-trial learning as seen in learning and aftereffect curves can be explained by learning in a radial basis function network. Our results suggest that both the process of over-trial learning and the process of online adaptation are crucial to understand visuomotor learning. PMID:21720526

Model of rhythmic ball bouncing using a visually controlled neural oscillator.

PubMed

Avrin, Guillaume; Siegler, Isabelle A; Makarov, Maria; Rodriguez-Ayerbe, Pedro

2017-10-01

The present paper investigates the sensory-driven modulations of central pattern generator dynamics that can be expected to reproduce human behavior during rhythmic hybrid tasks. We propose a theoretical model of human sensorimotor behavior able to account for the observed data from the ball-bouncing task. The novel control architecture is composed of a Matsuoka neural oscillator coupled with the environment through visual sensory feedback. The architecture's ability to reproduce human-like performance during the ball-bouncing task in the presence of perturbations is quantified by comparison of simulated and recorded trials. The results suggest that human visual control of the task is achieved online. The adaptive behavior is made possible by a parametric and state control of the limit cycle emerging from the interaction of the rhythmic pattern generator, the musculoskeletal system, and the environment. NEW & NOTEWORTHY The study demonstrates that a behavioral model based on a neural oscillator controlled by visual information is able to accurately reproduce human modulations in a motor action with respect to sensory information during the rhythmic ball-bouncing task. The model attractor dynamics emerging from the interaction between the neuromusculoskeletal system and the environment met task requirements, environmental constraints, and human behavioral choices without relying on movement planning and explicit internal models of the environment. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

Virtual World Astrosociology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bainbridge, William Sims

2010-01-01

This essay introduces the opportunity for theory development and even empirical research on some aspects of astrosociology through today's online virtual worlds. The examples covered present life on other planets or in space itself, in a manner that can be experienced by the user and where the user's reactions may simulate to some degree future human behavior in real extraterrestrial environments: Tabula Rasa, Anarchy Online, Entropia Universe, EVE Online, StarCraft and World of Warcraft. Ethnographic exploration of these computerized environments raises many questions about the social science both of space exploration and of direct contact with extraterrestrials. The views expressed in this essay do not necessarily represent the views of the National Science Foundation or the United States.

Differences in the Gambling Behavior of Online and Non-Online Student Gamblers in a Controlled Laboratory Environment

PubMed Central

Montes, Kevin S.; Weatherly, Jeffrey N.

2016-01-01

Although research suggests that approximately 1 in 4 college students report having gambled online, few laboratory-based studies have been conducted enlisting online student gamblers. Moreover, it is unclear the extent to which differences in gambling behavior exist between online and non-online student gamblers. The current study examined if online gamblers would play more hands, commit more errors, and wager more credits than non-online student gamblers in a controlled, laboratory environment. Online (n = 19) and non-online (n = 26) student gamblers played video poker in three separate sessions and the number of hands played, errors committed, and credits wagered were recorded. Results showed that online student gamblers played more hands and committed more errors playing video poker than non-online student gamblers. The results from the current study extend previous research by suggesting that online gamblers engage in potentially more deleterious gambling behavior (e.g., playing more hands and committing more errors) than non-online gamblers. Additional research is needed to examine differences in the gambling behavior of online and non-online gamblers in a controlled, laboratory environment. PMID:27106027

In Pursuit of Theoretical Ground in Behavior Change Support Systems: Analysis of Peer-to-Peer Communication in a Health-Related Online Community

PubMed Central

Cobb, Nathan; Cohen, Trevor

2016-01-01

Background Research studies involving health-related online communities have focused on examining network structure to understand mechanisms underlying behavior change. Content analysis of the messages exchanged in these communities has been limited to the “social support” perspective. However, existing behavior change theories suggest that message content plays a prominent role reflecting several sociocognitive factors that affect an individual’s efforts to make a lifestyle change. An understanding of these factors is imperative to identify and harness the mechanisms of behavior change in the Health 2.0 era. Objective The objective of this work is two-fold: (1) to harness digital communication data to capture essential meaning of communication and factors affecting a desired behavior change, and (2) to understand the applicability of existing behavior change theories to characterize peer-to-peer communication in online platforms. Methods In this paper, we describe grounded theory–based qualitative analysis of digital communication in QuitNet, an online community promoting smoking cessation. A database of 16,492 de-identified public messages from 1456 users from March 1-April 30, 2007, was used in our study. We analyzed 795 messages using grounded theory techniques to ensure thematic saturation. This analysis enabled identification of key concepts contained in the messages exchanged by QuitNet members, allowing us to understand the sociobehavioral intricacies underlying an individual’s efforts to cease smoking in a group setting. We further ascertained the relevance of the identified themes to theoretical constructs in existing behavior change theories (eg, Health Belief Model) and theoretically linked techniques of behavior change taxonomy. Results We identified 43 different concepts, which were then grouped under 12 themes based on analysis of 795 messages. Examples of concepts include “sleepiness,” “pledge,” “patch,” “spouse,” and “slip.” Examples of themes include “traditions,” “social support,” “obstacles,” “relapse,” and “cravings.” Results indicate that themes consisting of member-generated strategies such as “virtual bonfires” and “pledges” were related to the highest number of theoretical constructs from the existing behavior change theories. In addition, results indicate that the member-generated communication content supports sociocognitive constructs from more than one behavior change model, unlike the majority of the existing theory-driven interventions. Conclusions With the onset of mobile phones and ubiquitous Internet connectivity, online social network data reflect the intricacies of human health behavior as experienced by health consumers in real time. This study offers methodological insights for qualitative investigations that examine the various kinds of behavioral constructs prevalent in the messages exchanged among users of online communities. Theoretically, this study establishes the manifestation of existing behavior change theories in QuitNet-like online health communities. Pragmatically, it sets the stage for real-time, data-driven sociobehavioral interventions promoting healthy lifestyle modifications by allowing us to understand the emergent user needs to sustain a desired behavior change. PMID:26839162

EFFECTS OF MEDICAL DISPUTES ON INTERNET COMMUNICATIONS OF NEGATIVE EMOTIONS AND NEGATIVE ONLINE WORD-OF-MOUTH.

PubMed

Lee, Yi-Chih; Wu, Wei-Li

2015-08-01

Emotions play an important role in human behavior. Negative emotions resulting from medical disputes are problems for medical personnel to solve but also have a significant impact on a hospital's reputation and people's trust in the hospital. One medical dispute case was chosen from an Internet news source to assess the correlation between people's negative emotions and negative online word-of-mouth. Convenience sampling was used in school faculties and university students who had shared their medical treatment experiences online were the research participants. A total of 221 Taiwanese participants volunteered (158 women, 63 men; ages: 26.7% under 19, 22.6% 20-29, 30.8% 30-39,19.9% over 40). Four negative emotions were measured using rating scales: uncertainty, anger, disappointment, and sadness. Four negative online word-of-mouth measures were: venting, advice search, helping receiver, and revenge. A modeled relationship was assessed by partial least square method (PLS). Then, people's positive emotions were further analyzed to assess changes after spreading negative word-of-mouth. The results showed that uncertainty had a positive effect on venting and advice search. People who felt anger or regret spread word-of-mouth in order to help the receiver. Disappointment may trigger the revenge behavior of negative word-of-mouth. Negative emotions could be relieved after engaging in the behavior of helping the receiver.

The Effectiveness of an Intervention to Promote Awareness and Reduce Online Risk Behavior in Early Adolescence.

PubMed

Schilder, Janneke D; Brusselaers, Marjolein B J; Bogaerts, Stefan

2016-02-01

The current study explored the effect of a school-based intervention on online risk awareness and behavior in order to shed light on a relatively unexplored field with high practical relevance. More than 800 Belgium primary school children (grade 4 and 6) were assessed at two measurements (n T1 = 812, 51.2 % female; n T2 = 819, 51.3 % female) before and after the intervention. Half of them received a 10 min classroom intervention indicating online risks. Children in the control group received a 10 min presentation concerning online applications without any emphasis on risks. Children in the intervention group were more likely to be aware of online risks directly after the intervention; this effect was still noticeable 4 months after. Reporting of online risk behavior in the intervention group was also higher compared to the control group who did not receive the intervention. Overall online risk awareness and online risk behavior were negatively associated and the awareness did not modulate the association between the intervention and online risk behavior. Furthermore, individual differences were assessed. Girls were more likely to be aware of online risks and asserted less online risk behavior than boys were. In line with the imperative in adolescence to become more risk taking, children in a higher grade were more likely to behave in a risky manner when online. The current study provides a valuable starting point for further research on how to decrease online risk behavior in early adolescence.

The habenula encodes negative motivational value associated with primary punishment in humans.

PubMed

Lawson, Rebecca P; Seymour, Ben; Loh, Eleanor; Lutti, Antoine; Dolan, Raymond J; Dayan, Peter; Weiskopf, Nikolaus; Roiser, Jonathan P

2014-08-12

Learning what to approach, and what to avoid, involves assigning value to environmental cues that predict positive and negative events. Studies in animals indicate that the lateral habenula encodes the previously learned negative motivational value of stimuli. However, involvement of the habenula in dynamic trial-by-trial aversive learning has not been assessed, and the functional role of this structure in humans remains poorly characterized, in part, due to its small size. Using high-resolution functional neuroimaging and computational modeling of reinforcement learning, we demonstrate positive habenula responses to the dynamically changing values of cues signaling painful electric shocks, which predict behavioral suppression of responses to those cues across individuals. By contrast, negative habenula responses to monetary reward cue values predict behavioral invigoration. Our findings show that the habenula plays a key role in an online aversive learning system and in generating associated motivated behavior in humans.

Online Faculty Behaviors That Impact Student Persistence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, Joseph S.

2017-01-01

This quantitative study was designed to provide insight into relationships between online faculty behaviors and student persistence. As online education programs continue to grow, institutions will need to understand the degree to which online faculty behavior contributes to student success. The researcher sought to explore the degree to which…

Comparative, Population-Level Analysis of Social Networks in Organizations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacobs, Abigail Z.

2017-01-01

As social behavior moves increasingly online, the study of social behavior has followed. Online traces of social systems, whether to study online behavior directly or the online traces of offline activity, have made possible previously unavailable empirical analyses of people, groups and organizations. However, practically observing any social…

Online Health Information-Seeking Behavior and Confidence in Filling Out Online Forms Among Latinos: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the California Health Interview Survey, 2011-2012.

PubMed

Gonzalez, Mariaelena; Sanders-Jackson, Ashley; Emory, Jason

2016-07-04

Health information is increasingly being disseminated online, but there is a knowledge gap between Latinos and non-Hispanic whites, particularly those whose English language proficiency is poor, in terms both of online health information-seeking behavior and computer literacy skills. This knowledge gap may also exist between US- and foreign-born Latinos. The specific aim of this study was to examine Internet use, online health information-seeking behavior, and confidence in filling out online forms among Latinos, particularly as it relates to health-risk behaviors. We then stratified our sample by nativity. We used the adult population file of the 2011-2012 California Health Interview Survey, analyzing Internet use, online health information-seeking behavior, and confidence in filling out online forms using binary logistic regression among Latinos and whites (N=27,289), Latinos (n=9506), and Latinos who use the Internet (n=6037). Foreign-born Latinos (OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.58-0.88, P=.002) have lower odds of engaging in online health information-seeking behavior, and higher odds (OR 2.90, 95% CI 2.07-4.06, P<.001) of reporting a lack of confidence in filling out online forms compared to US-born Latinos. Correlates of online health information-seeking behavior and form confidence varied by nativity. Latinos, particularly foreign-born individuals, are at an increased risk of being left behind as the move to increase online content delivery and care expands. As online health information dissemination and online health portals become more popular, the impact of these sites on Latino gaps in coverage and care should be considered.

Evaluating Amazon's Mechanical Turk as a Tool for Experimental Behavioral Research

PubMed Central

Crump, Matthew J. C.; McDonnell, John V.; Gureckis, Todd M.

2013-01-01

Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT) is an online crowdsourcing service where anonymous online workers complete web-based tasks for small sums of money. The service has attracted attention from experimental psychologists interested in gathering human subject data more efficiently. However, relative to traditional laboratory studies, many aspects of the testing environment are not under the experimenter's control. In this paper, we attempt to empirically evaluate the fidelity of the AMT system for use in cognitive behavioral experiments. These types of experiment differ from simple surveys in that they require multiple trials, sustained attention from participants, comprehension of complex instructions, and millisecond accuracy for response recording and stimulus presentation. We replicate a diverse body of tasks from experimental psychology including the Stroop, Switching, Flanker, Simon, Posner Cuing, attentional blink, subliminal priming, and category learning tasks using participants recruited using AMT. While most of replications were qualitatively successful and validated the approach of collecting data anonymously online using a web-browser, others revealed disparity between laboratory results and online results. A number of important lessons were encountered in the process of conducting these replications that should be of value to other researchers. PMID:23516406

Sex-related online behaviors and adolescents' body and sexual self-perceptions.

PubMed

Doornwaard, Suzan M; Bickham, David S; Rich, Michael; Vanwesenbeeck, Ine; van den Eijnden, Regina J J M; ter Bogt, Tom F M

2014-12-01

This study investigated: (1) the prevalence and development of 2 receptive (sexually explicit Internet material [SEIM] use and sexual information seeking) and 2 interactive (cybersex and general social networking site [SNS] use) online behaviors in adolescence; (2) whether development of these behaviors predict adolescents' body and sexual self-perceptions; and (3) whether parental strategies regarding adolescents' Internet use reduce engagement in sex-related online behaviors. Four-wave longitudinal data among 1132 seventh- to 10th-grade Dutch adolescents (mean age at wave 1: 13.95 years; 52.7% boys) were collected. Developmental trajectories of sex-related online behaviors were estimated by using latent growth curve modeling. Self-perception outcomes at wave 4 and parental strategies predicting online behaviors were investigated by adding regression paths to growth models. Boys occasionally and increasingly used SEIM. Patterns for girls' SEIM use and boys' and girls' sexual information seeking and cybersex were consistently low. SNS use, however, was a common, daily activity for both. Higher initial levels and/or faster increases in sex-related online behaviors generally predicted less physical self-esteem (girls' SNS use only), more body surveillance, and less satisfaction with sexual experience. Private Internet access and less parental rule setting regarding Internet use predicted greater engagement in sex-related online behaviors. Although most sex-related online behaviors are not widespread among youth, adolescents who engage in such behaviors are at increased risk for developing negative body and sexual self-perceptions. Particular attention should be paid to adolescents' SNS use because this behavior is most popular and may, through its interactive characteristics, elicit more critical self-evaluations. Prevention efforts should focus on parents' role in reducing risky sex-related online behaviors. Copyright © 2014 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Risky internet behaviors of middle-school students: communication with online strangers and offline contact.

PubMed

Burgess Dowdell, Elizabeth

2011-06-01

In today's world, more adolescents are using the Internet as an avenue for social communication and a source of information and to experiment with risky online behaviors. To better understand how early adolescents are using the Internet, a study was undertaken to more clearly identify online use and online risky behaviors and to describe any online relationships with strangers middle-school students may be participating in. This exploratory study adapted the Youth Internet Safety Survey of Finkelhor et al to identify the usage and characteristics of online youth, solicitation of youth, and risky behaviors. Four hundred and four students, with a mean age of 12 years, were recruited from public and parochial schools located in the Northeast. Findings from this study indicate that of a total sample of 404 middle-school students, a small grouping (n = 59; 14.6%) are beginning risky online communication behaviors with strangers. Students who communicated online with strangers were older and had higher rates of posting personal information, risky online behaviors, and stealing. The majority of this group (84%) met offline with the online stranger, and three students reported having been assaulted. Findings suggest that early adolescents are beginning risky online and offline behaviors. Understanding their experiences is important since they highlight how middle-school students are undertaking risks in a new environment that many adults and parents do not fully understand. Clinicians, educators, healthcare providers, and other professionals need to be informed of Internet behaviors in order to assess for risk, to make referrals, to intervene, and to educate.

Differences in the Gambling Behavior of Online and Non-online Student Gamblers in a Controlled Laboratory Environment.

PubMed

Montes, Kevin S; Weatherly, Jeffrey N

2017-03-01

Although research suggests that approximately 1 in 4 college students report having gambled online, few laboratory-based studies have been conducted enlisting online student gamblers. Moreover, it is unclear the extent to which differences in gambling behavior exist between online and non-online student gamblers. The current study examined if online gamblers would play more hands, commit more errors, and wager more credits than non-online student gamblers in a controlled, laboratory environment. Online (n = 19) and non-online (n = 26) student gamblers played video poker in three separate sessions and the number of hands played, errors committed, and credits wagered were recorded. Results showed that online student gamblers played more hands and committed more errors playing video poker than non-online student gamblers. The results from the current study extend previous research by suggesting that online gamblers engage in potentially more deleterious gambling behavior (e.g., playing more hands and committing more errors) than non-online gamblers. Additional research is needed to examine differences in the gambling behavior of online and non-online gamblers in a controlled, laboratory environment.

Patterns of online abortion among teenagers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wahyudi, A.; Jacky, M.; Mudzakkir, M.; Deprita, R.

2018-01-01

An on-going debate of whether or not to legalize abortion has not stopped the number of abortion cases decreases. New practices of abortion such as online abortion has been a growing trend among teenagers. This study aims to determine how teenagers use social media such as Facebook, YouTube and Wikipedia for the practice of abortion. This study adopted online research methods (ORMs), a qualitative approach 2.0 by hacking analytical perspective developed. This study establishes online teen abortion as a research subject. This study finds patterns of online abortions among teenagers covering characteristics of teenagers as perpetrators, styles of communication, and their implication toward policy, particularly Electronic Transaction Information (ETI) regulation. Implications for online abortion behavior among teenagers through social media. The potential abortion client especially girls find practical, fast, effective, and efficient solutions that keep their secret. One of prevention patterns that has been done by some people who care about humanity and anti-abortion in the online world is posting a anti-abortion text, video or picture, anti-sex-free (anti -free intercourse before marriage) in an interesting, educative, and friendly ways.

Essays on Online Reviews: Reviewers' Strategic Behaviors and Contributions over Time

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shen, Wenqi

2010-01-01

Online reviews play an important role in consumers' purchasing decisions. Researchers are increasingly interested in studying the dynamic impact of online reviews on product sales. However, the antecedent of online reviews, online reviewers' behaviors, has not been fully explored. Understanding how online reviewers make review decisions can assist…

The impact of online brand community type on consumer's community engagement behaviors: consumer-created vs. marketer-created online brand community in online social-networking web sites.

PubMed

Lee, Doohwang; Kim, Hyuk Soo; Kim, Jung Kyu

2011-01-01

The current study proposed and tested a theoretical model of consumers' online brand community engagement behaviors, with particular attention given to online brand community type (consumer vs. marketer-created). By integrating attribution and social identity theories, this study investigated the causal linkages between intrinsic motives of altruism, social identification motivations, and online brand community engagement behaviors. The results showed that consumers' online brand community engagement intentions were indirectly influenced by the different types of communities through different levels of consumers' attributions to intrinsic motives of altruism. This study also found that, in the attribution processes, consumers' intrinsic motives of altruism motivated them to identify themselves socially with the online communities they join. Finally, this study demonstrated that the intrinsic motives of altruism and social identification motivations provided strong social incentives to motivate consumers to engage in subsequent online brand community behaviors.

Spontaneous emergence of social influence in online systems

PubMed Central

Onnela, Jukka-Pekka; Reed-Tsochas, Felix

2010-01-01

Social influence drives both offline and online human behavior. It pervades cultural markets, and manifests itself in the adoption of scientific and technical innovations as well as the spread of social practices. Prior empirical work on the diffusion of innovations in spatial regions or social networks has largely focused on the spread of one particular technology among a subset of all potential adopters. Here we choose an online context that allows us to study social influence processes by tracking the popularity of a complete set of applications installed by the user population of a social networking site, thus capturing the behavior of all individuals who can influence each other in this context. By extending standard fluctuation scaling methods, we analyze the collective behavior induced by 100 million application installations, and show that two distinct regimes of behavior emerge in the system. Once applications cross a particular threshold of popularity, social influence processes induce highly correlated adoption behavior among the users, which propels some of the applications to extraordinary levels of popularity. Below this threshold, the collective effect of social influence appears to vanish almost entirely, in a manner that has not been observed in the offline world. Our results demonstrate that even when external signals are absent, social influence can spontaneously assume an on–off nature in a digital environment. It remains to be seen whether a similar outcome could be observed in the offline world if equivalent experimental conditions could be replicated. PMID:20937864

Suicidal and online: how do online behaviors inform us of this high-risk population?

PubMed

Harris, Keith M; McLean, John P; Sheffield, Jeanie

2014-01-01

To assist suicide prevention we need a better understanding of how suicidal individuals act in their environment, and the online world offers an ideal opportunity to examine daily behaviors. This anonymous survey (N = 1,016) provides first-of-its-kind empirical evidence demonstrating suicide-risk people (n = 290) are unique in their online behaviors. Suicidal users reported more time online, greater likelihood of developing online personal relationships, and greater use of online forums. In addition, suicide-risk women reported more time browsing/surfing and social networking. The authors conclude that suicide prevention efforts should respond to suicide-risk users' greater demands for online interpersonal communications.

Integrating Smart Health in the US Health Care System: Infodemiology Study of Asthma Monitoring in the Google Era

PubMed Central

Sampri, Alexia; Sypsa, Karla; Tsagarakis, Konstantinos P

2018-01-01

Background With the internet’s penetration and use constantly expanding, this vast amount of information can be employed in order to better assess issues in the US health care system. Google Trends, a popular tool in big data analytics, has been widely used in the past to examine interest in various medical and health-related topics and has shown great potential in forecastings, predictions, and nowcastings. As empirical relationships between online queries and human behavior have been shown to exist, a new opportunity to explore the behavior toward asthma—a common respiratory disease—is present. Objective This study aimed at forecasting the online behavior toward asthma and examined the correlations between queries and reported cases in order to explore the possibility of nowcasting asthma prevalence in the United States using online search traffic data. Methods Applying Holt-Winters exponential smoothing to Google Trends time series from 2004 to 2015 for the term “asthma,” forecasts for online queries at state and national levels are estimated from 2016 to 2020 and validated against available Google query data from January 2016 to June 2017. Correlations among yearly Google queries and between Google queries and reported asthma cases are examined. Results Our analysis shows that search queries exhibit seasonality within each year and the relationships between each 2 years’ queries are statistically significant (P<.05). Estimated forecasting models for a 5-year period (2016 through 2020) for Google queries are robust and validated against available data from January 2016 to June 2017. Significant correlations were found between (1) online queries and National Health Interview Survey lifetime asthma (r=–.82, P=.001) and current asthma (r=–.77, P=.004) rates from 2004 to 2015 and (2) between online queries and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System lifetime (r=–.78, P=.003) and current asthma (r=–.79, P=.002) rates from 2004 to 2014. The correlations are negative, but lag analysis to identify the period of response cannot be employed until short-interval data on asthma prevalence are made available. Conclusions Online behavior toward asthma can be accurately predicted, and significant correlations between online queries and reported cases exist. This method of forecasting Google queries can be used by health care officials to nowcast asthma prevalence by city, state, or nationally, subject to future availability of daily, weekly, or monthly data on reported cases. This method could therefore be used for improved monitoring and assessment of the needs surrounding the current population of patients with asthma. PMID:29530839

Perceived Learning in Three MOOCS Targeting Attitudinal Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, WooRi; Watson, Sunnie L.; Watson, William R.

2016-01-01

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have gained significant attention in recent years for their potential to impact education at a global scale. This paper presents the findings from a study that examined the cases of three MOOCs, including Human Trafficking, US Food System, and Animal Behavior and Welfare, that were specifically designed to…

"iSpy": Seeing What Students Really Do Online

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Junco, Reynol

2014-01-01

Numerous studies have shown that college students use computers, the internet, and social networking websites (SNS) at high rates; however, all of these studies have relied on self-report measures of technology use. Research in other areas of human behavior has shown that self-report measures are considerably inaccurate when compared to actual…

The Internet, Political Communications Research and the Search for a New Information Paradigm

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chiu, William Franklin

2013-01-01

The Internet, as a digital record of human discourse, provides an opportunity to directly analyze political communicative behavior. The rapid emergence of social online networks augurs a transformation in the quality and quantity of information people have to evaluate their political system. Digital formats instantiate new categories of actors and…

Stochastic resonance effects reveal the neural mechanisms of transcranial magnetic stimulation

PubMed Central

Schwarzkopf, Dietrich Samuel; Silvanto, Juha; Rees, Geraint

2011-01-01

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a popular method for studying causal relationships between neural activity and behavior. However its mode of action remains controversial, and so far there is no framework to explain its wide range of facilitatory and inhibitory behavioral effects. While some theoretical accounts suggests that TMS suppresses neuronal processing, other competing accounts propose that the effects of TMS result from the addition of noise to neuronal processing. Here we exploited the stochastic resonance phenomenon to distinguish these theoretical accounts and determine how TMS affects neuronal processing. Specifically, we showed that online TMS can induce stochastic resonance in the human brain. At low intensity, TMS facilitated the detection of weak motion signals but with higher TMS intensities and stronger motion signals we found only impairment in detection. These findings suggest that TMS acts by adding noise to neuronal processing, at least in an online TMS protocol. Importantly, such stochastic resonance effects may also explain why TMS parameters that under normal circumstances impair behavior, can induce behavioral facilitations when the stimulated area is in an adapted or suppressed state. PMID:21368025

Analyzing the posting behaviors in news forums with incremental inter-event time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Zhi; Peng, Qinke; Lv, Jia; Zhong, Tao

2017-08-01

Online human behaviors are widely discussed in various fields. Three key factors, named priority, interest and memory are found crucial in human behaviors. Existing research mainly focuses on the identified and active users. However, the anonymous users and the inactive ones exist widely in news forums, whose behaviors do not receive enough attention. They cannot offer abundant postings like the others. It requires us to study posting behaviors of all the users including anonymous ones, identified ones, active ones and inactive ones in news forums only at the collective level. In this paper, the memory effects of the posting behaviors in news forums are investigated at the collective level. On the basis of the incremental inter-event time, a new model is proposed to describe the posting behaviors at the collective level. The results on twelve actual news events demonstrate the good performance of our model to describe the posting behaviors at the collective level in news forums. In addition, we find the symmetric incremental inter-event time distribution and the similar posting patterns in different durations.

The Influence of Achievement Goals on Online Help Seeking of Computer Science Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hao, Qiang; Barnes, Brad; Wright, Ewan; Branch, Robert Maribe

2017-01-01

This study investigated the online help-seeking behaviors of computer science students with a focus on the effect of achievement goals. The online help-seeking behaviors investigated were online searching, asking teachers online for help, and asking peers or unknown people online for help. One hundred and sixty-five students studying computer…

Temporal dynamics of online petitions.

PubMed

Böttcher, Lucas; Woolley-Meza, Olivia; Brockmann, Dirk

2017-01-01

Online petitions are an important avenue for direct political action, yet the dynamics that determine when a petition will be successful are not well understood. Here we analyze the temporal characteristics of online-petition signing behavior in order to identify systematic differences between popular petitions, which receive a high volume of signatures, and unpopular ones. We find that, in line with other temporal characterizations of human activity, the signing process is typically non-Poissonian and non-homogeneous in time. However, this process exhibits anomalously high memory for human activity, possibly indicating that synchronized external influence or contagion play and important role. More interestingly, we find clear differences in the characteristics of the inter-event time distributions depending on the total number of signatures that petitions receive, independently of the total duration of the petitions. Specifically, popular petitions that attract a large volume of signatures exhibit more variance in the distribution of inter-event times than unpopular petitions with only a few signatures, which could be considered an indication that the former are more bursty. However, petitions with large signature volume are less bursty according to measures that consider the time ordering of inter-event times. Our results, therefore, emphasize the importance of accounting for time ordering to characterize human activity.

Risky online behaviors among adolescents: Longitudinal relations among problematic Internet use, cyberbullying perpetration, and meeting strangers online.

PubMed

Gámez-Guadix, Manuel; Borrajo, Erika; Almendros, Carmen

2016-03-01

Background and aims This study aims to analyze the cross-sectional and longitudinal relationship between three major risky online behaviors during adolescence: problematic Internet use, cyberbullying perpetration, and meeting strangers online. An additional objective was to study the role of impulsivity-irresponsibility as a possible explanatory variable of the relationships between these risky online behaviors. Methods The study sample was 888 adolescents that completed self-report measures at time 1 and time 2 with an interval of 6 months. Results The findings showed a significant cross-sectional relationship between the risky online behaviors analyzed. At the longitudinal level, problematic Internet use at time 1 predicted an increase in the perpetration of cyberbullying and meeting strangers online at time 2. Furthermore, meeting strangers online increased the likelihood of cyberbullying perpetration at time 2. Finally, when impulsivity-irresponsibility was included in the model as an explanatory variable, the relationships previously found remained significant. Discussion These results extend traditional problem behavior theory during adolescence, also supporting a relationship between different risky behaviors in cyberspace. In addition, findings highlighted the role of problematic Internet use, which increased the chances of developing cyberbullying perpetration and meeting strangers online over time. However, the results suggest a limited role of impulsivity-irresponsibility as an explicative mechanism. Conclusions The findings suggest that various online risk activities ought to be addressed together when planning assessment, prevention and intervention efforts.

Qualities of Peer Relations on Social Networking Websites: Predictions from Negative Mother-Teen Interactions

PubMed Central

Szwedo, David E.; Mikami, Amori Yee; Allen, Joseph P.

2010-01-01

This study examined associations between characteristics of teenagers’ relationships with their mothers and their later socializing behavior and peer relationship quality online. At age 13, teenagers and their mothers participated in an interaction in which mothers’ and adolescents’ behavior undermining autonomy and relatedness was observed, and indicators of teens’ depressive symptoms and social anxiety were assessed. At age 20, youth self-reported on their online behaviors, youths’ social networking webpages were observationally coded to assess peer relationship quality online, and symptoms of depression and social anxiety were reassessed. Results suggested that problematic mother-teen relationships were predictive of youths’ later preference for online communication and greater likelihood of forming a friendship with someone met online, yet poorer quality in online relationships. Findings are discussed within a developmental framework suggesting the importance of considering youths’ family interactions during early adolescence as predictors of future online socializing behavior and online interactions with peers. PMID:21860584

Qualities of Peer Relations on Social Networking Websites: Predictions from Negative Mother-Teen Interactions.

PubMed

Szwedo, David E; Mikami, Amori Yee; Allen, Joseph P

2011-09-01

This study examined associations between characteristics of teenagers' relationships with their mothers and their later socializing behavior and peer relationship quality online. At age 13, teenagers and their mothers participated in an interaction in which mothers' and adolescents' behavior undermining autonomy and relatedness was observed, and indicators of teens' depressive symptoms and social anxiety were assessed. At age 20, youth self-reported on their online behaviors, youths' social networking webpages were observationally coded to assess peer relationship quality online, and symptoms of depression and social anxiety were reassessed. Results suggested that problematic mother-teen relationships were predictive of youths' later preference for online communication and greater likelihood of forming a friendship with someone met online, yet poorer quality in online relationships. Findings are discussed within a developmental framework suggesting the importance of considering youths' family interactions during early adolescence as predictors of future online socializing behavior and online interactions with peers.

Online Health Communities and Chronic Disease Self-Management.

PubMed

Willis, Erin; Royne, Marla B

2017-03-01

This research uses content analysis (N = 1,960) to examine the computer-mediated communication within online health communities for evidence of chronic disease self-management behaviors, including the perceived benefits and perceived barriers to participating in such behaviors. Online health communities act as informal self-management programs led by peers with the same chronic disease through the exchange of health information. Online health communities provide opportunities for health behavior change messages to educate and persuade regarding chronic disease self-management behaviors.

Emoticon-Based Ambivalent Expression: A Hidden Indicator for Unusual Behaviors in Weibo.

PubMed

Hu, Yue; Zhao, Jichang; Wu, Junjie

2016-01-01

Recent decades have witnessed online social media being a big-data window for testifying conventional social theories quantitatively and exploring much detailed human behavioral patterns. In this paper, by tracing the emoticon use in Weibo, a group of hidden "ambivalent users" are disclosed for frequently posting ambivalent tweets containing both positive and negative emotions. Further investigation reveals that this ambivalent expression could be a novel indicator of many unusual social behaviors. For instance, ambivalent users with the female as the majority like to make a sound in midnights and at weekends. They mention their close friends frequently in ambivalent tweets, which attract more replies and serve as a more private communication way. Ambivalent users also respond differently to public affairs from others and demonstrate more interests in entertainment and sports events. Moreover, the sentiment shift in ambivalent tweets is more evident than usual and exhibits a clear "negative to positive" pattern. The above observations, though being promiscuous seemingly, actually point to the self-regulation of negative mood in Weibo, which could find its basis from the traditional emotion management theories in sociology but makes an important extension to the online environment in this study. Finally, as an interesting corollary, ambivalent users are found connected with compulsive buyers and turn out to be perfect targets for online marketing.

Online social networking technologies, HIV knowledge, and sexual risk and testing behaviors among homeless youth.

PubMed

Young, Sean D; Rice, Eric

2011-02-01

This study evaluates associations between online social networking and sexual health behaviors among homeless youth in Los Angeles. We analyzed survey data from 201 homeless youth accessing services at a Los Angeles agency. Multivariate (regression and logistic) models assessed whether use of (and topics discussed on) online social networking technologies affect HIV knowledge, sexual risk behaviors, and testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). One set of results suggests that using online social networks for partner seeking (compared to not using the networks for seeking partners) is associated with increased sexual risk behaviors. Supporting data suggest that (1) using online social networks to talk about safe sex is associated with an increased likelihood of having met a recent sex partner online, and (2) having online sex partners and talking to friends on online social networks about drugs and partying is associated with increased exchange sex. However, results also suggest that online social network usage is associated with increased knowledge and HIV/STI prevention among homeless youth: (1) using online social networks to talk about love and safe sex is associated with increased knowledge about HIV, (2) using the networks to talk about love is associated with decreased exchange sex, and (3) merely being a member of an online social network is associated with increased likelihood of having previously tested for STIs. Taken together, this study suggests that online social networking and the topics discussed on these networks can potentially increase and decrease sexual risk behaviors depending on how the networks are used. Developing sexual health services and interventions on online social networks could reduce sexual risk behaviors.

Modeling Online Health Information-Seeking Behavior in China: The Roles of Source Characteristics, Reward Assessment, and Internet Self-Efficacy.

PubMed

Cao, Weidan; Zhang, Xinyao; Xu, Kaibin; Wang, Yuanxin

2016-09-01

The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003 marked the explosion of health information seeking online in China and the increasing emergence of Chinese health websites. There are both benefits and potential hazards of people's online health information seeking. This article intended to test part of Wilson's second model of information behavior, including source characteristics and activating mechanisms, and to identify the relationships among perceived access, perceived expertise credibility, reward assessment, Internet self-efficacy, and online health information-seeking behavior. Data were drawn from face-to-face surveys and an online survey of health information seekers (N = 393) in China. The results showed that source characteristics predicted activating mechanisms, which in turn predicted online health information-seeking behavior. Activating mechanisms, that is, reward assessment and Internet self-efficacy, mediated the relationship between source characteristics (i.e., access and credibility) and online health information-seeking behavior. Strategies for improving information access, expertise credibility, and Internet self-efficacy are discussed in order to maximize the benefits of online health information seeking and to minimize the potential harm.

The Policy Maker's Anguish: Regulating Personal Data Behavior Between Paradoxes and Dilemmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Compañó, Ramón; Lusoli, Wainer

Regulators in Europe and elsewhere are paying great attention to identity, privacy and trust in online and converging environments. Appropriate regulation of identity in a ubiquitous information environment is seen as one of the major drivers of the future Internet economy. Regulation of personal identity data has come to the fore including mapping conducted on digital personhood by the OECD; work on human rights and profiling by the Council of Europe andmajor studies by the European Commission with regard to self-regulation in the privacy market, electronic identity technical interoperability and enhanced safety for young people. These domains overlap onto an increasingly complex model of regulation of individuals' identity management, online and offline. This chapter argues that policy makers struggle to deal with issues concerning electronic identity, due to the apparently irrational and unpredictable behavior of users when engaging in online interactions involving identity management. Building on empirical survey evidence from four EU countries, we examine the first aspect in detail - citizens' management of identity in a digital environment. We build on data from a large scale (n = 5,265) online survey of attitudes to electronic identity among young Europeans (France, Germany, Spain, UK) conducted in August 2008. The survey asked questions about perceptions and acceptance of risks, general motivations, attitudes and behaviors concerning electronic identity. Four behavioral paradoxes are identified in the analysis: a privacy paradox (to date well known), but also a control paradox, a responsibility paradox and an awareness paradox. The chapter then examines the paradoxes in relation of three main policy dilemmas framing the debate on digital identity. The paper concludes by arguing for an expanded identity debate spanning policy circles and the engineering community.

Peer Influences: The Impact of Online and Offline Friendship Networks on Adolescent Smoking and Alcohol Use

PubMed Central

Huang, Grace C.; Unger, Jennifer B.; Soto, Daniel; Fujimoto, Kayo; Pentz, Mary Ann; Jordan-Marsh, Maryalice; Valente, Thomas W.

2013-01-01

Purpose Online social networking sites (SNSs) have become a popular mode of communication between adolescents. However, little is known about the effects of social online activity on health behaviors. The authors examine the use of SNSs between friends and the degree to which SNS activities relate to face-to-face peer influences and adolescent risk behaviors. Methods Longitudinal egocentric friendship network data along with adolescent social media use and risk behaviors were collected from 1,563 tenth grade students across five Southern California high schools. Measures of online and offline peer influences were computed and assessed using fixed effects models. Results The frequency of adolescent SNS use and the number of their closest friends on the same SNS were not significantly associated with risk behaviors. However, exposure to friends’ online pictures of partying or drinking was significantly associated with both smoking (β=.07, p<.001) and alcohol use (β=.08, p<.05). While adolescents with drinking friends had higher risk levels for drinking, adolescents without drinking friends were more likely to be affected by increasing exposure to risky online pictures (β=−.10, p<.10). Myspace and Facebook had demographically distinct user characteristics and had differential effects on risk behaviors. Conclusions Exposure to risky online content had a direct impact on adolescents’ risk behaviors and significantly interacted with risk behaviors of their friends. These results provide evidence that friends’ online behaviors should be considered a viable source of peer influence and that increased efforts should focus on educating adolescents on the negative effects of risky online displays. PMID:24012065

Are online gamblers more at risk than offline gamblers?

PubMed

Kairouz, Sylvia; Paradis, Catherine; Nadeau, Louise

2012-03-01

To characterize and compare sociodemographic profiles, game-play patterns, and level of addictive behaviors among adults who gamble online and those who do not, and to examine if, at the population level, online gambling is associated with more risky behaviors than offline gambling. Respondents were 8,456 offline gamblers and 111 online gamblers who participated in a population-based survey conducted in the province of Québec, in 2009. The study sample is representative of adult general population. There is an unequal distribution of online gambling in the population. A disproportionate number of men, young people, and students say they participate in online gambling. Poker players are overrepresented among online gamblers and gambling behaviors tend to be more excessive on the Internet. Compared with offline gamblers, online gamblers report more co-occurring risky behaviors, namely alcohol and cannabis use. Those who gamble online appear to be more at risk for gambling-related problems, but the present findings alone cannot be used as evidence for that conclusion. Future research designs could combine longitudinal data collection and multilevel analyses to provide more insight into the causal mechanisms associated with online gambling.

Parkinson Patients' Initial Trust in Avatars: Theory and Evidence.

PubMed

Javor, Andrija; Ransmayr, Gerhard; Struhal, Walter; Riedl, René

2016-01-01

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease that affects the motor system and cognitive and behavioral functions. Due to these impairments, PD patients also have problems in using the computer. However, using computers and the Internet could help these patients to overcome social isolation and enhance information search. Specifically, avatars (defined as virtual representations of humans) are increasingly used in online environments to enhance human-computer interaction by simulating face-to-face interaction. Our laboratory experiment investigated how PD patients behave in a trust game played with human and avatar counterparts, and we compared this behavior to the behavior of age, income, education and gender matched healthy controls. The results of our study show that PD patients trust avatar faces significantly more than human faces. Moreover, there was no significant difference between initial trust of PD patients and healthy controls in avatar faces, while PD patients trusted human faces significantly less than healthy controls. Our data suggests that PD patients' interaction with avatars may constitute an effective way of communication in situations in which trust is required (e.g., a physician recommends intake of medication). We discuss the implications of these results for several areas of human-computer interaction and neurological research.

Parkinson Patients’ Initial Trust in Avatars: Theory and Evidence

PubMed Central

Javor, Andrija; Ransmayr, Gerhard; Struhal, Walter; Riedl, René

2016-01-01

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease that affects the motor system and cognitive and behavioral functions. Due to these impairments, PD patients also have problems in using the computer. However, using computers and the Internet could help these patients to overcome social isolation and enhance information search. Specifically, avatars (defined as virtual representations of humans) are increasingly used in online environments to enhance human-computer interaction by simulating face-to-face interaction. Our laboratory experiment investigated how PD patients behave in a trust game played with human and avatar counterparts, and we compared this behavior to the behavior of age, income, education and gender matched healthy controls. The results of our study show that PD patients trust avatar faces significantly more than human faces. Moreover, there was no significant difference between initial trust of PD patients and healthy controls in avatar faces, while PD patients trusted human faces significantly less than healthy controls. Our data suggests that PD patients’ interaction with avatars may constitute an effective way of communication in situations in which trust is required (e.g., a physician recommends intake of medication). We discuss the implications of these results for several areas of human-computer interaction and neurological research. PMID:27820864

Measuring and analyzing the causes of problematic Internet use.

PubMed

Chiang, I-Ping; Su, Yung-Hsiang

2012-11-01

Since Internet surfing became a daily activity, people have changed their behavior. This research analyzes the causes of problematic Internet use through an online survey, where 1,094 samples were collected. Based on the results of structural equation modeling analysis, the following conclusions are reached: First, novelty, security, and efficiency increase users' online trust. Second, information and efficiency enhance users' sharing and anonymity online. Third, greater trust in Internet environments leads to an increase in a user's cognitive bias toward online behavioral responsibility and Internet addiction. Fourth, a user's attitude toward online sharing further increases the cognitive bias toward online copyright. Fifth, a user's attitude toward anonymity increases cognitive bias toward online copyright, online behavioral responsibility, and deepens Internet addiction.

Polychronicity: Review of the Literature and a New Configuration for the Study of This Hidden Dimension of Online Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Capdeferro, Neus; Romero, Margarida; Barberà, Elena

2014-01-01

Polychronicity is the natural tendency or preference for structuring time that has an influence on people's behaviors. Highly polychronic individuals are involved in everything, doing many things at once because they value human relationships and interactions over arbitrary schedules and appointments. In contrast, highly monochronic…

Risky online behaviors among adolescents: Longitudinal relations among problematic Internet use, cyberbullying perpetration, and meeting strangers online

PubMed Central

Gámez-Guadix, Manuel; Borrajo, Erika; Almendros, Carmen

2016-01-01

Background and aims This study aims to analyze the cross-sectional and longitudinal relationship between three major risky online behaviors during adolescence: problematic Internet use, cyberbullying perpetration, and meeting strangers online. An additional objective was to study the role of impulsivity–irresponsibility as a possible explanatory variable of the relationships between these risky online behaviors. Methods The study sample was 888 adolescents that completed self-report measures at time 1 and time 2 with an interval of 6 months. Results The findings showed a significant cross-sectional relationship between the risky online behaviors analyzed. At the longitudinal level, problematic Internet use at time 1 predicted an increase in the perpetration of cyberbullying and meeting strangers online at time 2. Furthermore, meeting strangers online increased the likelihood of cyberbullying perpetration at time 2. Finally, when impulsivity–irresponsibility was included in the model as an explanatory variable, the relationships previously found remained significant. Discussion These results extend traditional problem behavior theory during adolescence, also supporting a relationship between different risky behaviors in cyberspace. In addition, findings highlighted the role of problematic Internet use, which increased the chances of developing cyberbullying perpetration and meeting strangers online over time. However, the results suggest a limited role of impulsivity–irresponsibility as an explicative mechanism. Conclusions The findings suggest that various online risk activities ought to be addressed together when planning assessment, prevention and intervention efforts. PMID:28092196

Reactive Behavior Patterns Go Online.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dziuban, Charles D.; Moskal, Patsy D.; Dziuban, Emily K.

2000-01-01

Surveys of all online students at the University of Central Florida during summer 1997 and spring 1998 provided 381 useable survey instruments assessing learner reactive behavior patterns with the Long-Dziuban Reactive Behavior Protocol. Results indicated that students in online courses tended not to be the independent learners. (PGS)

Online University Instructors' Experiences Relative to Ethical Behavior of Students in Online Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Jessica

2017-01-01

The phenomenon of unethical behavior in online courses can be problematic and is manifested in academic dishonesty. The specific problem of interest for this study was the experiences of online instructors relative to the problem of academic dishonesty in online courses needed to be better understood. The purpose of this qualitative…

A Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Teaching Presence within Online Professional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Melinda G.; Hahs-Vaughn, Debbie L.; Zygouris-Coe, Vicky

2014-01-01

The Community of Inquiry model provides a framework for recognizing and evaluating interpersonal behaviors in online educational settings. One of its three components, teaching presence, describes behaviors that are under the auspices of the online instructor. By examining behaviors through the theoretical lens provided by teaching presence, and…

The Dynamics of Online User Behavior and IS Policy Implications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Keehyung

2016-01-01

This dissertation, which comprises three independent essays, explores the dynamics of online user behavior and provides IS policy implications across three different applications. The first essay employs an econometric empirical analysis to examine the role of IT interventions on online users' gambling behavior, based on field data collected over…

Peer influences: the impact of online and offline friendship networks on adolescent smoking and alcohol use.

PubMed

Huang, Grace C; Unger, Jennifer B; Soto, Daniel; Fujimoto, Kayo; Pentz, Mary Ann; Jordan-Marsh, Maryalice; Valente, Thomas W

2014-05-01

Online social networking sites (SNSs) have become a popular mode of communication among adolescents. However, little is known about the effects of social online activity on health behaviors. The authors examined the use of SNSs among friends and the degree to which SNS activities relate to face-to-face peer influences and adolescent risk behaviors. Longitudinal egocentric friendship network data along with adolescent social media use and risk behaviors were collected from 1,563 10th-grade students across five Southern California high schools. Measures of online and offline peer influences were computed and assessed using fixed-effects models. The frequency of adolescent SNS use and the number of their closest friends on the same SNSs were not significantly associated with risk behaviors. However, exposure to friends' online pictures of partying or drinking was significantly associated with both smoking (β = .11, p < .001) and alcohol use (β = .06, p < .05). Whereas adolescents with drinking friends had higher risk levels for drinking, adolescents without drinking friends were more likely to be affected by higher exposure to risky online pictures (β = -.10, p < .05). Myspace and Facebook had demographically distinct user characteristics and differential effects on risk behaviors. Exposure to risky online content had a direct impact on adolescents' risk behaviors and significantly interacted with risk behaviors of their friends. These results provide evidence that friends' online behaviors should be considered a viable source of peer influence and that increased efforts should focus on educating adolescents on the negative effects of risky online displays. Copyright © 2014 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Re-visiting internet addiction among Taiwanese students: a cross-sectional comparison of students' expectations, online gaming, and online social interaction.

PubMed

Lee, Yuan-Hsuan; Ko, Chih-Hung; Chou, Chien

2015-04-01

Using expectancy theory, this study aimed at identifying the attitudinal/behavioral factors that explain the relationship between Internet expectancies and Internet addiction among Taiwanese adolescents. A total of 25,573 students (49.8% boys and 50.2% girls) across junior and senior high schools participated in the study. The students reported on their background characteristics, general expectations from the Internet, attitudes toward online social interaction and online gaming, preferences in online social interaction, and dys-controlled online gaming behavior. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the indirect effects of Internet expectancies on Internet addiction through these attitudinal/behavioral factors. The results showed that Internet expectancies positively predicted students' attitudes toward online games and online social interaction, which in turn predicted their respective preferences or dys-controlled behavior and Internet addiction. The indirect effect of Internet expectancies was higher on Internet addiction via attitudes toward online gaming and dys-controlled online gaming than via attitudes toward and preferences of online social interaction. The indirect effects exhibited a larger impact on boys than on girls. The authors recommend that the expectancies of online gaming and social interaction be addressed in efforts to prevent and attenuate the severity of adolescent Internet addiction.

College students with Internet addiction decrease fewer Behavior Inhibition Scale and Behavior Approach Scale when getting online.

PubMed

Ko, Chih-Hung; Wang, Peng-Wei; Liu, Tai-Ling; Yen, Cheng-Fang; Chen, Cheng-Sheng; Yen, Ju-Yu

2015-09-01

The aim of the study is to compare the reinforcement sensitivity between online and offline interaction. The effect of gender, Internet addiction, depression, and online gaming on the difference of reinforcement sensitivity between online and offline were also evaluated. The subjects were 2,258 college students (1,066 men and 1,192 women). They completed the Behavior Inhibition Scale and Behavior Approach Scale (BIS/BAS) according to their experience online or offline. Internet addiction, depression, and Internet activity type were evaluated simultaneously. The results showed that reinforcement sensitivity was lower when interacting online than when interacting offline. College students with Internet addiction decrease fewer score on BIS and BAS after getting online than did others. The higher reward and aversion sensitivity are associated with the risk of Internet addiction. The fun seeking online might contribute to the maintenance of Internet addiction. This suggests that reinforcement sensitivity would change after getting online and would contribute to the risk and maintenance of Internet addiction. © 2014 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Integrating Smart Health in the US Health Care System: Infodemiology Study of Asthma Monitoring in the Google Era.

PubMed

Mavragani, Amaryllis; Sampri, Alexia; Sypsa, Karla; Tsagarakis, Konstantinos P

2018-03-12

With the internet's penetration and use constantly expanding, this vast amount of information can be employed in order to better assess issues in the US health care system. Google Trends, a popular tool in big data analytics, has been widely used in the past to examine interest in various medical and health-related topics and has shown great potential in forecastings, predictions, and nowcastings. As empirical relationships between online queries and human behavior have been shown to exist, a new opportunity to explore the behavior toward asthma-a common respiratory disease-is present. This study aimed at forecasting the online behavior toward asthma and examined the correlations between queries and reported cases in order to explore the possibility of nowcasting asthma prevalence in the United States using online search traffic data. Applying Holt-Winters exponential smoothing to Google Trends time series from 2004 to 2015 for the term "asthma," forecasts for online queries at state and national levels are estimated from 2016 to 2020 and validated against available Google query data from January 2016 to June 2017. Correlations among yearly Google queries and between Google queries and reported asthma cases are examined. Our analysis shows that search queries exhibit seasonality within each year and the relationships between each 2 years' queries are statistically significant (P<.05). Estimated forecasting models for a 5-year period (2016 through 2020) for Google queries are robust and validated against available data from January 2016 to June 2017. Significant correlations were found between (1) online queries and National Health Interview Survey lifetime asthma (r=-.82, P=.001) and current asthma (r=-.77, P=.004) rates from 2004 to 2015 and (2) between online queries and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System lifetime (r=-.78, P=.003) and current asthma (r=-.79, P=.002) rates from 2004 to 2014. The correlations are negative, but lag analysis to identify the period of response cannot be employed until short-interval data on asthma prevalence are made available. Online behavior toward asthma can be accurately predicted, and significant correlations between online queries and reported cases exist. This method of forecasting Google queries can be used by health care officials to nowcast asthma prevalence by city, state, or nationally, subject to future availability of daily, weekly, or monthly data on reported cases. This method could therefore be used for improved monitoring and assessment of the needs surrounding the current population of patients with asthma. ©Amaryllis Mavragani, Alexia Sampri, Karla Sypsa, Konstantinos P Tsagarakis. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (http://publichealth.jmir.org), 12.03.2018.

Virtual Environments, Online Racial Discrimination, and Adjustment among a Diverse, School-Based Sample of Adolescents

PubMed Central

Tynes, Brendesha M.; Rose, Chad A.; Hiss, Sophia; Umaña-Taylor, Adriana J.; Mitchell, Kimberly; Williams, David

2015-01-01

Given the recent rise in online hate activity and the increased amount of time adolescents spend with media, more research is needed on their experiences with racial discrimination in virtual environments. This cross-sectional study examines the association between amount of time spent online, traditional and online racial discrimination and adolescent adjustment, including depressive symptoms, anxiety and externalizing behaviors. The study also explores the role that social identities, including race and gender, play in these associations. Online surveys were administered to 627 sixth through twelfth graders in K-8, middle and high schools. Multiple regression results revealed that discrimination online was associated with all three outcome variables. Additionally, a significant interaction between online discrimination by time online was found for externalizing behaviors indicating that increased time online and higher levels of online discrimination are associated with more problem behavior. This study highlights the need for clinicians, educational professionals and researchers to attend to race-related experiences online as well as in traditional environments. PMID:27134698

A Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Teaching Presence within the Florida Online Reading Professional Development Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stevison, Melinda Gay

2009-01-01

The Community of Inquiry model provides a framework for recognizing and evaluating interpersonal behaviors in online educational settings. One of its three components, teaching presence (TP), describes those behaviors that are under the auspices of the online instructor. By examining these interactions and behaviors through the theoretical lens…

Nonverbal Immediacy Behaviors and Online Student Engagement: Bringing Past Instructional Research into the Present Virtual Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dixson, Marcia D.; Greenwell, Mackenzie R.; Rogers-Stacy, Christie; Weister, Tyson; Lauer, Sara

2017-01-01

Nonverbal immediacy behaviors are underresearched in the online teaching environment. Using social presence theory as a guiding framework, this study explores several online nonverbal immediacy behaviors: emoticons/figurative language, color, cohesion, visual imagery, and audio in course design; response latency, length, time of day, and message…

Full-Time and Adjunct Faculty Priorities for Online Instructional Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maxson, Chad

2017-01-01

This study explored priorities for online instructional behavior in post-traditional programs at Private Christian University (PCU). No prior study had been identified that compared the online instructional priorities among fulltime faculty (n = 73) and online adjunct faculty (n = 69). This study would benefit those who oversee online…

Modeling users' activity on Twitter networks: validation of Dunbar's number

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goncalves, Bruno; Perra, Nicola; Vespignani, Alessandro

2012-02-01

Microblogging and mobile devices appear to augment human social capabilities, which raises the question whether they remove cognitive or biological constraints on human communication. In this paper we analyze a dataset of Twitter conversations collected across six months involving 1.7 million individuals and test the theoretical cognitive limit on the number of stable social relationships known as Dunbar's number. We find that the data are in agreement with Dunbar's result; users can entertain a maximum of 100-200 stable relationships. Thus, the ``economy of attention'' is limited in the online world by cognitive and biological constraints as predicted by Dunbar's theory. We propose a simple model for users' behavior that includes finite priority queuing and time resources that reproduces the observed social behavior.

Replicable effects of primes on human behavior.

PubMed

Payne, B Keith; Brown-Iannuzzi, Jazmin L; Loersch, Chris

2016-10-01

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported online in Journal of Experimental Psychology: General on Oct 31 2016 (see record 2016-52334-001). ] The effect of primes (i.e., incidental cues) on human behavior has become controversial. Early studies reported counterintuitive findings, suggesting that primes can shape a wide range of human behaviors. Recently, several studies failed to replicate some earlier priming results, raising doubts about the reliability of those effects. We present a within-subjects procedure for priming behavior, in which participants decide whether to bet or pass on each trial of a gambling game. We report 6 replications (N = 988) showing that primes consistently affected gambling decisions when the decision was uncertain. Decisions were influenced by primes presented visibly, with a warning to ignore the primes (Experiments 1 through 3) and with subliminally presented masked primes (Experiment 4). Using a process dissociation procedure, we found evidence that primes influenced responses through both automatic and controlled processes (Experiments 5 and 6). Results provide evidence that primes can reliably affect behavior, under at least some conditions, without intention. The findings suggest that the psychological question of whether behavior priming effects are real should be separated from methodological issues affecting how easily particular experimental designs will replicate. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved

A Content Analysis of Testosterone Websites: Sex, Muscle, and Male Age-Related Thematic Differences

PubMed Central

Ivanov, Nicholas; Vuong, Jimmy; Gray, Peter B.

2017-01-01

Male testosterone supplementation is a large and growing industry. How is testosterone marketed to male consumers online? The present exploratory study entailed a content coding analysis of the home pages of 49 websites focused on testosterone supplementation for men in the United States. Four hypotheses concerning anticipated age-related differences in content coding were also tested: more frequent longevity content toward older men, and more frequent social dominance/physical formidability, muscle, and sex content toward younger men. Codes were created based on inductive observations and drawing upon the medical, life history, and human behavioral endocrinology literatures. Approximately half (n = 24) of websites were oriented toward younger men (estimated audience of men 40 years of age or younger) and half (n = 25) toward older men (estimated audience over 40 years of age). Results indicated that the most frequent content codes concerned online sales (e.g., product and purchasing information). Apart from sales information, the most frequent codes concerned, in order, muscle, sex/sexual functioning, low T, energy, fat, strength, aging, and well-being, with all four hypotheses also supported. These findings are interpreted in the light of medical, evolutionary life history, and human behavioral endocrinology approaches. PMID:29025355

A Content Analysis of Testosterone Websites: Sex, Muscle, and Male Age-Related Thematic Differences.

PubMed

Ivanov, Nicholas; Vuong, Jimmy; Gray, Peter B

2018-03-01

Male testosterone supplementation is a large and growing industry. How is testosterone marketed to male consumers online? The present exploratory study entailed a content coding analysis of the home pages of 49 websites focused on testosterone supplementation for men in the United States. Four hypotheses concerning anticipated age-related differences in content coding were also tested: more frequent longevity content toward older men, and more frequent social dominance/physical formidability, muscle, and sex content toward younger men. Codes were created based on inductive observations and drawing upon the medical, life history, and human behavioral endocrinology literatures. Approximately half ( n = 24) of websites were oriented toward younger men (estimated audience of men 40 years of age or younger) and half ( n = 25) toward older men (estimated audience over 40 years of age). Results indicated that the most frequent content codes concerned online sales (e.g., product and purchasing information). Apart from sales information, the most frequent codes concerned, in order, muscle, sex/sexual functioning, low T, energy, fat, strength, aging, and well-being, with all four hypotheses also supported. These findings are interpreted in the light of medical, evolutionary life history, and human behavioral endocrinology approaches.

Temporal dynamics of online petitions

PubMed Central

Woolley-Meza, Olivia; Brockmann, Dirk

2017-01-01

Online petitions are an important avenue for direct political action, yet the dynamics that determine when a petition will be successful are not well understood. Here we analyze the temporal characteristics of online-petition signing behavior in order to identify systematic differences between popular petitions, which receive a high volume of signatures, and unpopular ones. We find that, in line with other temporal characterizations of human activity, the signing process is typically non-Poissonian and non-homogeneous in time. However, this process exhibits anomalously high memory for human activity, possibly indicating that synchronized external influence or contagion play and important role. More interestingly, we find clear differences in the characteristics of the inter-event time distributions depending on the total number of signatures that petitions receive, independently of the total duration of the petitions. Specifically, popular petitions that attract a large volume of signatures exhibit more variance in the distribution of inter-event times than unpopular petitions with only a few signatures, which could be considered an indication that the former are more bursty. However, petitions with large signature volume are less bursty according to measures that consider the time ordering of inter-event times. Our results, therefore, emphasize the importance of accounting for time ordering to characterize human activity. PMID:28542492

Suicidality, psychopathology, and the internet: Online time vs. online behaviors.

PubMed

Harris, Keith M; Starcevic, Vladan; Ma, Jing; Zhang, Wei; Aboujaoude, Elias

2017-09-01

This study investigated whether several psychopathology variables, including suicidality, could predict the time people spend using the internet (hours online). Next, we examined a specific at-risk population (suicidal individuals) by their online behaviors, comparing suicidal individuals who went online for suicide-related purposes with suicidal individuals who did not go online for suicide-related purposes. An anonymous online sample of 713 (aged 18-71) reported hours online, psychiatric histories, and completed several standardized scales. After accounting for age and education, hierarchical regression modeling showed that the assessed psychopathology variables, including suicidality, did not explain significant variance in hours online. Hours online were better predicted by younger age, greater willingness to develop online relationships, higher perceived social support, higher curiosity, and lower extraversion. Suicidal participants, who did or did not go online for suicide-related purposes, did not differ on hours online. Multiple regression modeling showed that those who went online for suicide-related purposes were likely to be younger, more suicidal, and more willing to seek help from online mental health professionals. These findings revealed that hours online are not a valid indicator of psychopathology. However, studying online behaviors of specific at-risk groups could be informative and useful, including for suicide prevention efforts. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Applying Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior to a Study of Online Course Adoption in Public Relations Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knabe, Ann Peru

2012-01-01

This study used Icek Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior to research public relations faculty intentions of teaching online. All of the main predictor variables (Subjective Norms, Attitude toward the Act and Perceived Behavioral Control) were statistically significant at varying degrees in predicting intent to teach public relations online. Of the…

Differences by Course Discipline on Student Behavior, Persistence, and Achievement in Online Courses of Undergraduate General Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Finnegan, Catherine; Morris, Libby V.; Lee, Kangjoo

2009-01-01

This research empirically examined student behavior in online courses and its relationship to persistence and achievement across fields. Eight variables descriptive of student behaviors online were measured for 1) frequency and 2) duration of participation. Twenty-two courses were grouped into three broad fields: English and Communication; Social…

Online Self-Regulatory Learning Behaviors as a Mediator in the Relationship between Online Course Perceptions with Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barnard, Lucy; Paton, Valerie; Lan, William

2008-01-01

Positive perceptions of online course communication and collaboration have been associated with better academic outcomes, while self-regulatory learning behaviors have also been linked to academic achievement and other positive learning outcomes. In the current study, we examined whether self-regulatory learning behaviors may be considered as…

Internet Gambling Behavior in a Sample of Online Gamblers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McBride, Jessica; Derevensky, Jeffrey

2009-01-01

The present study examined Internet gambling behavior in a sample of online gamblers. Participants (N = 563; 382 male; ages 18-over 65) were recruited from a banner placed in an online newsletter. Questionnaires were completed online and assessed demographic information, game-play patterns (e.g., frequency, duration, wagering), preferred type of…

A Latent Class Analysis of Online Sexual Experiences and Offline Sexual Behaviors Among Female Adolescents.

PubMed

Maas, Megan K; Bray, Bethany C; Noll, Jennie G

2017-11-20

This study used latent class analysis to identify patterns (i.e., classes) across a broad range of online sexual experiences among female adolescents (n = 312) and to explore offline sexual behavior and substance use correlates of as well as maltreatment differences in class membership. The following four classes were identified: Online Abstinent, Online Inclusive, Attractors, and Seekers. Maltreated female adolescents were more likely to be members of the Online Inclusive class and less likely to be members of the Online Abstinent class than nonmaltreated female adolescents. Offline sexual behaviors and substance use differentially predicted class membership. These results suggest online sexual experiences vary greatly and should not be aggregated together as a global risk factor for all female adolescents. © 2017 Society for Research on Adolescence.

A multimethod approach to examining usability of Web privacy polices and user agents for specifying privacy preferences.

PubMed

Proctor, Robert W; Vu, Kim-Phuong L

2007-05-01

Because all research methods have strengths and weaknesses, a multimethod approach often provides the best way to understand human behavior in applied settings. We describe how a multimethod approach was employed in a series of studies designed to examine usability issues associated with two aspects of online privacy: comprehension of privacy policies and configuration of privacy preferences for an online user agent. Archival research, user surveys, data mining, quantitative observations, and controlled experiments each yielded unique findings that, together, contributed to increased understanding of online-privacy issues for users. These findings were used to evaluate the accessibility of Web privacy policies to computer-literate users, determine whether people can configure user agents to achieve specific privacy goals, and discover ways in which the usability of those agents can be improved.

The use of online methodologies in studying paraphilias - A review.

PubMed

Griffiths, Mark D

2012-12-01

Aims The paper outlines the advantages, disadvantages, and other implications of using the Internet to collect data from those people displaying sexually paraphilic behavior. Method Using empirical and clinical studies published in the paraphilia literature, the main issues concerning online paraphilic data collection are reviewed and discussed. Results The specific online data collection methods examined included the collection of paraphilic data via (i) online questionnaires, (ii) online forums, (iii) online interviews, and (iv) online participant observation. Conclusions It is concluded that there are many useful and practical advantages of using online research methodologies to examine sexually paraphilic behavior.

Conducting Online Behavioral Research Using Crowdsourcing Services in Japan

PubMed Central

Majima, Yoshimasa; Nishiyama, Kaoru; Nishihara, Aki; Hata, Ryosuke

2017-01-01

Recent research on human behavior has often collected empirical data from the online labor market, through a process known as crowdsourcing. As well as the United States and the major European countries, there are several crowdsourcing services in Japan. For research purpose, Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) is the widely used platform among those services. Previous validation studies have shown many commonalities between MTurk workers and participants from traditional samples based on not only personality but also performance on reasoning tasks. The present study aims to extend these findings to non-MTurk (i.e., Japanese) crowdsourcing samples in which workers have different ethnic backgrounds from those of MTurk. We conducted three surveys (N = 426, 453, 167, respectively) designed to compare Japanese crowdsourcing workers and university students in terms of their demographics, personality traits, reasoning skills, and attention to instructions. The results generally align with previous studies and suggest that non-MTurk participants are also eligible for behavioral research. Furthermore, small screen devices are found to impair participants' attention to instructions. Several recommendations concerning this sample are presented. PMID:28382006

A new hybrid model for exploring the adoption of online nursing courses.

PubMed

Tung, Feng-Cheng; Chang, Su-Chao

2008-04-01

With the advancement in educational technology and internet access in recent years, nursing academia is searching for ways to widen nurses' educational opportunities. The online nursing courses are drawing more attention as well. The online nursing courses are very important e-learning tools for nursing students. The research combines the innovation diffusion theory and technology acceptance model, and adds two research variables, perceived financial cost and computer self-efficacy to propose a new hybrid technology acceptance model to study nursing students' behavioral intentions to use the online nursing courses. Based on 267 questionnaires collected from six universities in Taiwan, the research finds that studies strongly support this new hybrid technology acceptance model in predicting nursing students' behavioral intentions to use the online nursing courses. This research finds that compatibility, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived financial cost and computer self-efficacy are critical factors for nursing students' behavioral intentions to use the online nursing courses. By explaining nursing students' behavioral intentions from a user's perspective, the findings of this research help to develop more user friendly online nursing courses and also provide insight into the best way to promote new e-learning tools for nursing students. This research finds that compatibility is the most important research variable that affects the behavioral intention to use the online nursing courses.

Emoticon-Based Ambivalent Expression: A Hidden Indicator for Unusual Behaviors in Weibo

PubMed Central

Hu, Yue; Zhao, Jichang; Wu, Junjie

2016-01-01

Recent decades have witnessed online social media being a big-data window for testifying conventional social theories quantitatively and exploring much detailed human behavioral patterns. In this paper, by tracing the emoticon use in Weibo, a group of hidden “ambivalent users” are disclosed for frequently posting ambivalent tweets containing both positive and negative emotions. Further investigation reveals that this ambivalent expression could be a novel indicator of many unusual social behaviors. For instance, ambivalent users with the female as the majority like to make a sound in midnights and at weekends. They mention their close friends frequently in ambivalent tweets, which attract more replies and serve as a more private communication way. Ambivalent users also respond differently to public affairs from others and demonstrate more interests in entertainment and sports events. Moreover, the sentiment shift in ambivalent tweets is more evident than usual and exhibits a clear “negative to positive” pattern. The above observations, though being promiscuous seemingly, actually point to the self-regulation of negative mood in Weibo, which could find its basis from the traditional emotion management theories in sociology but makes an important extension to the online environment in this study. Finally, as an interesting corollary, ambivalent users are found connected with compulsive buyers and turn out to be perfect targets for online marketing. PMID:26800119

Online Health Information Seeking in Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery.

PubMed

Özkan, Sezai; Mellema, Jos J; Nazzal, Adam; Lee, Sang-Gil; Ring, David

2016-12-01

Information gathering is a key component of shared decision making and has a measurable effect on treatment decisions. Access to health information might improve quality of care in hand surgery. Our purpose was to identify socio-demographic, condition-related, and psychosocial factors associated with online information-seeking behavior in patients with hand and upper-extremity conditions. From June 2015 to February 2016, we enrolled 134 patients with an upper-extremity condition who presented to an outpatient hand surgery office at an urban level I trauma center in this cross-sectional study. Participants provided socio-demographic information and completed online questionnaires assessing their online information-seeking behavior, pain intensity, symptoms of depression, and pain interference, and an upper extremity-specific, patient-reported outcome measure. A total of 57 patients (43%) sought information regarding their condition online before their visit. Compared with patients with no online information-seeking behavior, patients who sought information online were more educated. Psychosocial and condition-related factors were not associated with online information seeking. In multivariable analysis, education in years and involvement of the dominant upper limb were independently associated with online information-seeking behavior. Education in years and involvement of the dominant upper limb were independently associated with online information-seeking behavior but psychosocial and condition-related factors were not. As health information seeking is becoming an integral part of the modern day clinical experience, efforts to make online information more appealing and useful to people of all education levels are merited. Copyright © 2016 American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

How behavioral science can advance digital health.

PubMed

Pagoto, Sherry; Bennett, Gary G

2013-09-01

The field of behavioral science has produced myriad data on health behavior change strategies and leveraged such data into effective human-delivered interventions to improve health. Unfortunately, the impact of traditional health behavior change interventions has been heavily constrained by patient and provider burden, limited ability to measure and intervene upon behavior in real time, variable adherence, low rates of implementation, and poor third-party coverage. Digital health technologies, including mobile phones, sensors, and online social networks, by being available in real time, are being explored as tools to increase our understanding of health behavior and to enhance the impact of behavioral interventions. The recent explosion of industry attention to the development of novel health technologies is exciting but has far outpaced research. This Special Section of Translational Behavioral Medicine, Smartphones, Sensors, and Social Networks: A New Age of Health Behavior Change features a collection of studies that leverage health technologies to measure, change, and/or understand health behavior. We propose five key areas in which behavioral science can improve the impact of digital health technologies on public health. First, research is needed to identify which health technologies actually impact behavior and health outcomes. Second, we need to understand how online social networks can be leveraged to impact health behavior on a large scale. Third, a team science approach is needed in the developmental process of health technologies. Fourth, behavioral scientists should identify how a balance can be struck between the fast pace of innovation and the much slower pace of research. Fifth, behavioral scientists have an integral role in informing the development of health technologies and facilitating the movement of health technologies into the healthcare system.

Behavioral Targeting—Consumer Tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Srimani, P. K.; Srinivas, A.

2011-12-01

Behavioral targeting is an online marketing method that collects data on the browsing activities of consumers, in order to `target' more relevant online advertising. Behavioral targeting enables marketers to reach in-market consumers and increases the value of publisher inventory. At the heart of behavioral targeting is a learning-based investigation of consumer behaviors. It helps marketers understand consumers' purchase patterns over time, mapping out a customer's activities based not only on a single purchase but also on an annual or even lifetime basis. As marketers increasingly appreciate the importance of customer lifetime value, behavioral targeting can be a foundation for creating a continuous analytical study of consumer trends and patterns. But as behavioural-targeting systems become more sophisticated and invasive, it is vital that the companies behind them are open with users about what is going on, and give them control over their personal information. The aim of this paper is to explore the various tools and techniques of behavioral targeting and its benefits to online marketing. A multiple—case study approach was used for exploring the effectiveness and acceptance of online marketing in the area of the online marketing.

Opinions of students from a Brazilian medical school regarding online professionalism.

PubMed

Rocha, Paulo Novis; de Castro, Naara Alethéa Azael

2014-05-01

Unprofessional online behavior by medical students or physicians may damage individual careers, and the reputation of institutions and the medical profession. What is considered unprofessional online behavior, however, is not clearly defined and may vary in different cultures. To determine the frequency with which students from a Brazilian Medical School come across ten given examples of unprofessional online behavior by medical students or physicians, and gather the opinions of participants regarding the appropriateness of these behaviors. A cross-sectional survey of 350 students from the Medical School of Bahia, Brazil. Only those who had a profile in social media were included in the final analyses. 336/350 (96.0%) medical students kept a profile in social media. Only 13.5% reported having discussions about online professionalism during ethics classes. They reported witnessing the investigated examples of unprofessional online behavior with varying frequencies, ranging from 13.7% for "violation of patient's privacy" to 85.4% for "photos depicting consumption of alcoholic beverages". Most participants felt neutral about posting "pictures in bathing suits", whereas the vast majority rated "violation of patient's privacy" as totally inappropriate. When presented with a case vignette illustrating violation of patients' privacy (publication of pictures of hospitalized children or neonates in social media), however, most participants felt neutral about it. Participants considered all investigated examples of unprofessional online behavior more inappropriate if carried out by doctors rather than by students. Medical students are witnessing a high frequency of unprofessional online behavior by their peers and physicians. Most investigated behaviors were considered inappropriate, especially if carried out by physicians. Participants were not able to recognize the publication of pictures of hospitalized children or neonates in social media as cases of violation of patients' privacy. Further studies are needed to determine if an academic curriculum that fosters online professionalism will change this scenario.

Direct Care Worker Training to Respond to the Behavior of Individuals With Dementia

PubMed Central

Gaugler, Joseph E.; Hobday, John V.; Robbins, Joyce C.; Barclay, Michelle P.

2016-01-01

Only a handful of online training programs are available for direct care workers (DCWs) to acquire the strategic skills needed to improve dementia care in instances of challenging or inappropriate behavior. Utilizing pre- and post-test data from a convenience sample of 40 DCWs, the present study sought to determine (a) whether DCWs’ knowledge of responding to dementia-related behavior increased following participation in the CARES® Dementia-Related Behavior™ Online Training Program (or CARES® Behavior) and (b) if CARES® Behavior was acceptable and useful. The average number of correct scores on a dementia care knowledge measure was significantly higher among DCWs after viewing the online modules when compared with pre-test scores (p < .01). Descriptive empirical and open-ended data also suggested that the interactive, “real-world” content of CARES® Behavior was feasibly delivered online, acceptable, and may influence how DCWs deliver clinical care to individuals with dementia-related behavior. PMID:26894209

Exploring College Students' Online Help-Seeking Behavior in a Flipped Classroom with a Web-Based Help-Seeking Tool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Er, Erkan; Kopcha, Theodore J.; Orey, Michael

2015-01-01

Today's generation often seeks help from each other in online environments; however, only a few investigated the role of Internet technologies and the nature of online help-seeking behavior in collaborative learning environments. This paper presents an educational design research project that examines college students' online help-seeking…

SCOOP: A Measurement and Database of Student Online Search Behavior and Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhou, Mingming

2015-01-01

The ability to access and process massive amounts of online information is required in many learning situations. In order to develop a better understanding of student online search process especially in academic contexts, an online tool (SCOOP) is developed for tracking mouse behavior on the web to build a more extensive account of student web…

Exploring Dispositions toward Online Reading: Analyzing the Survey of Online Reading Attitudes and Behaviors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Putman, S. Michael

2014-01-01

The Internet is having a profound impact on the literacy practices of today's students. Acknowledging the complex processes associated with reading online, the Survey of Online Reading Attitudes and Behaviors (SORAB) was created to further our understandings in this area. A factor analysis revealed the instrument included five factors that…

Other ways of seeing: From behavior to neural mechanisms in the online “visual” control of action with sensory substitution

PubMed Central

Proulx, Michael J.; Gwinnutt, James; Dell’Erba, Sara; Levy-Tzedek, Shelly; de Sousa, Alexandra A.; Brown, David J.

2015-01-01

Vision is the dominant sense for perception-for-action in humans and other higher primates. Advances in sight restoration now utilize the other intact senses to provide information that is normally sensed visually through sensory substitution to replace missing visual information. Sensory substitution devices translate visual information from a sensor, such as a camera or ultrasound device, into a format that the auditory or tactile systems can detect and process, so the visually impaired can see through hearing or touch. Online control of action is essential for many daily tasks such as pointing, grasping and navigating, and adapting to a sensory substitution device successfully requires extensive learning. Here we review the research on sensory substitution for vision restoration in the context of providing the means of online control for action in the blind or blindfolded. It appears that the use of sensory substitution devices utilizes the neural visual system; this suggests the hypothesis that sensory substitution draws on the same underlying mechanisms as unimpaired visual control of action. Here we review the current state of the art for sensory substitution approaches to object recognition, localization, and navigation, and the potential these approaches have for revealing a metamodal behavioral and neural basis for the online control of action. PMID:26599473

The role of responsible gambling strategy and gambling passion in the online gamblers' decision-making process: revising the theory of planned behavior.

PubMed

Lee, Jaeseok; Chen, Chih-Chien; Song, Hak-Jun; Lee, Choong-Ki

2014-06-01

This study revised the theory of planned behavior (TPB) by incorporating the new concepts of gambling passion and responsible gambling strategy (RGS) to predict gamblers' intention to gamble in online sports betting. The data were collected at the end of March in 2012 through an online gambling website. The findings indicated that the inclusion of two types of gambling passion and two types of RGS explains online gambling intention well. Specifically, out of the original antecedent predictors of TPB, attitude toward online gambling was positively related to harmonious passion. Subjective norm had a positive relationship with both harmonious and obsessive passion. The results also showed that perceived behavioral control does not have a significant effect on the two gambling passions but has a direct and significant influence on behavioral intention. Additionally, the compulsory RGS had a negative effect on obsessive passion, whereas supplementary RGS had concurrent positive impacts on harmonious and obsessive passion. Lastly, the two gambling passions were notable predictors of behavioral intention toward online sports betting.

Promoting Interactions Between Humans and Robots Using Robotic Emotional Behavior.

PubMed

Ficocelli, Maurizio; Terao, Junichi; Nejat, Goldie

2016-12-01

The objective of a socially assistive robot is to create a close and effective interaction with a human user for the purpose of giving assistance. In particular, the social interaction, guidance, and support that a socially assistive robot can provide a person can be very beneficial to patient-centered care. However, there are a number of research issues that need to be addressed in order to design such robots. This paper focuses on developing effective emotion-based assistive behavior for a socially assistive robot intended for natural human-robot interaction (HRI) scenarios with explicit social and assistive task functionalities. In particular, in this paper, a unique emotional behavior module is presented and implemented in a learning-based control architecture for assistive HRI. The module is utilized to determine the appropriate emotions of the robot to display, as motivated by the well-being of the person, during assistive task-driven interactions in order to elicit suitable actions from users to accomplish a given person-centered assistive task. A novel online updating technique is used in order to allow the emotional model to adapt to new people and scenarios. Experiments presented show the effectiveness of utilizing robotic emotional assistive behavior during HRI scenarios.

A Content Analysis of Strategies and Tactics Observed among MLIS Students in an Online Searching Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ondrusek, Anita L.; Ren, Xiaoai; Yang, Changwoo

2017-01-01

Online searching is a skill that all professional programs educating librarians consider an essential part of their curricula. However, investigations of online searching behavior have centered almost exclusively on end users, and there have been no recent formal studies that explore the online searching behaviors of MLIS students. In this study,…

Modeling Users' Activity on Twitter Networks: Validation of Dunbar's Number

PubMed Central

Gonçalves, Bruno; Perra, Nicola; Vespignani, Alessandro

2011-01-01

Microblogging and mobile devices appear to augment human social capabilities, which raises the question whether they remove cognitive or biological constraints on human communication. In this paper we analyze a dataset of Twitter conversations collected across six months involving 1.7 million individuals and test the theoretical cognitive limit on the number of stable social relationships known as Dunbar's number. We find that the data are in agreement with Dunbar's result; users can entertain a maximum of 100–200 stable relationships. Thus, the ‘economy of attention’ is limited in the online world by cognitive and biological constraints as predicted by Dunbar's theory. We propose a simple model for users' behavior that includes finite priority queuing and time resources that reproduces the observed social behavior. PMID:21826200

Best practices for creating social presence and caring behaviors online.

PubMed

Plante, Kathleen; Asselin, Marilyn E

2014-01-01

To identify best practices and evidence-based strategies for creating an online learning environment that encompasses caring behaviors and promotes social presence. Faculty who teach online classes are challenged to create a sense of social presence and caring behaviors in a virtual world in which students feel connected and part of the learning environment. To extrapolate evidence to support best practices, a review of literature was conducted focused on social presence and caring online. Faculty messages that are respectful, positive, encouraging, timely, and frequent foster social presence and caring behaviors while also allowing for caring interactions, mutual respect, and finding meaning in relationships. A variety of measures to emulate caring online intertwine with social presence to promote a sense of caring and belonging. More research is needed to support the evidence for these strategies.

A high performance sensorimotor beta rhythm-based brain computer interface associated with human natural motor behavior

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, Ou; Lin, Peter; Vorbach, Sherry; Floeter, Mary Kay; Hattori, Noriaki; Hallett, Mark

2008-03-01

To explore the reliability of a high performance brain-computer interface (BCI) using non-invasive EEG signals associated with human natural motor behavior does not require extensive training. We propose a new BCI method, where users perform either sustaining or stopping a motor task with time locking to a predefined time window. Nine healthy volunteers, one stroke survivor with right-sided hemiparesis and one patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) participated in this study. Subjects did not receive BCI training before participating in this study. We investigated tasks of both physical movement and motor imagery. The surface Laplacian derivation was used for enhancing EEG spatial resolution. A model-free threshold setting method was used for the classification of motor intentions. The performance of the proposed BCI was validated by an online sequential binary-cursor-control game for two-dimensional cursor movement. Event-related desynchronization and synchronization were observed when subjects sustained or stopped either motor execution or motor imagery. Feature analysis showed that EEG beta band activity over sensorimotor area provided the largest discrimination. With simple model-free classification of beta band EEG activity from a single electrode (with surface Laplacian derivation), the online classifications of the EEG activity with motor execution/motor imagery were: >90%/~80% for six healthy volunteers, >80%/~80% for the stroke patient and ~90%/~80% for the ALS patient. The EEG activities of the other three healthy volunteers were not classifiable. The sensorimotor beta rhythm of EEG associated with human natural motor behavior can be used for a reliable and high performance BCI for both healthy subjects and patients with neurological disorders. Significance: The proposed new non-invasive BCI method highlights a practical BCI for clinical applications, where the user does not require extensive training.

Behavioral Responses to Epidemics in an Online Experiment: Using Virtual Diseases to Study Human Behavior

PubMed Central

Chen, Frederick; Griffith, Amanda; Cottrell, Allin; Wong, Yue-Ling

2013-01-01

We report the results of a study we conducted using a simple multiplayer online game that simulates the spread of an infectious disease through a population composed of the players. We use our virtual epidemics game to examine how people respond to epidemics. The analysis shows that people's behavior is responsive to the cost of self-protection, the reported prevalence of disease, and their experiences earlier in the epidemic. Specifically, decreasing the cost of self-protection increases the rate of safe behavior. Higher reported prevalence also raises the likelihood that individuals would engage in self-protection, where the magnitude of this effect depends on how much time has elapsed in the epidemic. Individuals' experiences in terms of how often an infection was acquired when they did not engage in self-protection are another factor that determines whether they will invest in preventive measures later on. All else being equal, individuals who were infected at a higher rate are more likely to engage in self-protective behavior compared to those with a lower rate of infection. Lastly, fixing everything else, people's willingness to engage in safe behavior waxes or wanes over time, depending on the severity of an epidemic: when prevalence is high, people are more likely to adopt self-protective measures as time goes by; when prevalence is low, a ‘self-protection fatigue’ effect sets in whereby individuals are less willing to engage in safe behavior over time. PMID:23326360

TargetVue: Visual Analysis of Anomalous User Behaviors in Online Communication Systems.

PubMed

Cao, Nan; Shi, Conglei; Lin, Sabrina; Lu, Jie; Lin, Yu-Ru; Lin, Ching-Yung

2016-01-01

Users with anomalous behaviors in online communication systems (e.g. email and social medial platforms) are potential threats to society. Automated anomaly detection based on advanced machine learning techniques has been developed to combat this issue; challenges remain, though, due to the difficulty of obtaining proper ground truth for model training and evaluation. Therefore, substantial human judgment on the automated analysis results is often required to better adjust the performance of anomaly detection. Unfortunately, techniques that allow users to understand the analysis results more efficiently, to make a confident judgment about anomalies, and to explore data in their context, are still lacking. In this paper, we propose a novel visual analysis system, TargetVue, which detects anomalous users via an unsupervised learning model and visualizes the behaviors of suspicious users in behavior-rich context through novel visualization designs and multiple coordinated contextual views. Particularly, TargetVue incorporates three new ego-centric glyphs to visually summarize a user's behaviors which effectively present the user's communication activities, features, and social interactions. An efficient layout method is proposed to place these glyphs on a triangle grid, which captures similarities among users and facilitates comparisons of behaviors of different users. We demonstrate the power of TargetVue through its application in a social bot detection challenge using Twitter data, a case study based on email records, and an interview with expert users. Our evaluation shows that TargetVue is beneficial to the detection of users with anomalous communication behaviors.

psiTurk: An open-source framework for conducting replicable behavioral experiments online.

PubMed

Gureckis, Todd M; Martin, Jay; McDonnell, John; Rich, Alexander S; Markant, Doug; Coenen, Anna; Halpern, David; Hamrick, Jessica B; Chan, Patricia

2016-09-01

Online data collection has begun to revolutionize the behavioral sciences. However, conducting carefully controlled behavioral experiments online introduces a number of new of technical and scientific challenges. The project described in this paper, psiTurk, is an open-source platform which helps researchers develop experiment designs which can be conducted over the Internet. The tool primarily interfaces with Amazon's Mechanical Turk, a popular crowd-sourcing labor market. This paper describes the basic architecture of the system and introduces new users to the overall goals. psiTurk aims to reduce the technical hurdles for researchers developing online experiments while improving the transparency and collaborative nature of the behavioral sciences.

Contingencies of self-worth and social-networking-site behavior.

PubMed

Stefanone, Michael A; Lackaff, Derek; Rosen, Devan

2011-01-01

Social-networking sites like Facebook enable people to share a range of personal information with expansive groups of "friends." With the growing popularity of media sharing online, many questions remain regarding antecedent conditions for this behavior. Contingencies of self-worth afford a more nuanced approach to variable traits that affect self-esteem, and may help explain online behavior. A total of 311 participants completed an online survey measuring such contingencies and typical behaviors on Facebook. First, exploratory factor analyses revealed an underlying structure to the seven dimensions of self-worth. Public-based contingencies explained online photo sharing (β = 0.158, p < 0.01), while private-based contingencies demonstrated a negative relationship with time online (β = -0.186, p < 0.001). Finally, the appearance contingency for self-worth had the strongest relationship with the intensity of online photo sharing (β = 0.242), although no relationship was evident for time spent managing profiles.

Face to (face)book: the two faces of social behavior?

PubMed

Ivcevic, Zorana; Ambady, Nalini

2013-06-01

Social networking sites such as Facebook represent a unique and dynamic social environment. This study addresses three theoretical issues in personality psychology in the context of online social networking sites: (a) the temporal consistency of Facebook activity, (b) people's awareness of their online behavior, and (c) comparison of social behavior on Facebook with self- and informant-reported behavior in real life. Facebook Wall pages of 99 college students (mean age = 19.72) were downloaded six times during 3 weeks and coded for quantity and quality of activity. Everyday social interactions were assessed by self- and friend report. Facebook activity showed significant consistency across time, and people demonstrated awareness of their online behavior. There was significant similarity between everyday traits and interactions and Facebook behavior (e.g., more posts by friends are related to Agreeableness). Some differences between online and everyday interactions warrant further research (e.g., individuals with more positive offline relationships are less likely to engage in back-and-forth conversations on Facebook). The results indicate substantial similarity between online and offline social behavior and identify avenues for future research on the possible use of Facebook to compensate for difficulty in everyday interactions. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Nonverbal components of Theory of Mind in typical and atypical development.

PubMed

Kampis, Dora; Fogd, Dóra; Kovács, Ágnes Melinda

2017-08-01

To successfully navigate the human social world one needs to realize that behavior is guided by mental states such as goals and beliefs. Humans are highly proficient in using mental states to explain and predict their conspecific's behavior, which enables adjusting one's own behavior in online social interactions. Whereas according to recent studies even young infants seem to integrate others' beliefs into their own behavior, it is unclear what processes contribute to such competencies and how they may develop. Here we analyze a set of possible nonverbal components of theory of mind that may be involved in taking into account others' mental states, and discuss findings from typical and atypical development. To track an agent's belief one needs to (i) pay attention to agents that might be potential belief holders, and identify their focus of attention and their potential belief contents; (ii) keep track of their different experiences and their consequent beliefs, and (iii) to make behavioral predictions based on such beliefs. If an individual fails to predict an agent's behavior depending on the agent's beliefs, this may be due to a problem at any stage in the above processes. An analysis of the possible nonverbal processes contributing to belief tracking and their functioning in typical and atypical development aims to provide new insights into the possible mechanisms that make human social interactions uniquely rich. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Online learning and control of attraction basins for the development of sensorimotor control strategies.

PubMed

de Rengervé, Antoine; Andry, Pierre; Gaussier, Philippe

2015-04-01

Imitation and learning from humans require an adequate sensorimotor controller to learn and encode behaviors. We present the Dynamic Muscle Perception-Action(DM-PerAc) model to control a multiple degrees-of-freedom (DOF) robot arm. In the original PerAc model, path-following or place-reaching behaviors correspond to the sensorimotor attractors resulting from the dynamics of learned sensorimotor associations. The DM-PerAc model, inspired by human muscles, permits one to combine impedance-like control with the capability of learning sensorimotor attraction basins. We detail a solution to learn incrementally online the DM-PerAc visuomotor controller. Postural attractors are learned by adapting the muscle activations in the model depending on movement errors. Visuomotor categories merging visual and proprioceptive signals are associated with these muscle activations. Thus, the visual and proprioceptive signals activate the motor action generating an attractor which satisfies both visual and proprioceptive constraints. This visuomotor controller can serve as a basis for imitative behaviors. In addition, the muscle activation patterns can define directions of movement instead of postural attractors. Such patterns can be used in state-action couples to generate trajectories like in the PerAc model. We discuss a possible extension of the DM-PerAc controller by adapting the Fukuyori's controller based on the Langevin's equation. This controller can serve not only to reach attractors which were not explicitly learned, but also to learn the state/action couples to define trajectories.

Exploring the Link among Entry Characteristics, Participation Behaviors and Course Outcomes of Online Learners: An Examination of Learner Profile Using Cluster Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yukselturk, Erman; Top, Ercan

2013-01-01

Online learner profiles have diversified such that now, they include all types of participants from a variety of backgrounds. This study analyzed online learner profiles in regard to their entry characteristics, participation behaviors and achievement of course outcomes. The sample consisted of 186 participants from an online course that required…

"Marvin, the Paranoid Android": The Case of an Alpha-PVP User in the Expanding Galaxy of NPS.

PubMed

Pierluigi, Simonato; Laura, Bulsis; Attilio, Negri; Gurjeet K, Bansal; Gloria, Pessa; Davide, Mioni; Borgherini, Giuseppe; Giovanni, Martinotti; Fabrizio, Schifano; Perini, Giulia; Ornella, Corazza

2018-05-16

Alpha-PVP can be defined as a novel psychoactive substance (NPS)-more specifically, a novel synthetic cathinone with unpredictable stimulant effects in humans. "Marvin" arrived at a Dual Diagnosis Unit at Parco dei Tigli, Italy. He underwent a 30-day rehabilitation program to overcome his problematic Alpha-PVP use as a psychonaut. We conducted an online search to understand the properties of Alpha-PVP and its presence in scientific literature, reviewing official reports and the online drug market (e.g., fora, webpages). In the Dual Diagnosis Unit, Marvin completed the 30-day rehabilitation program that included assessments and group and individual cognitive behavioral therapy. Alpha-PVP is a synthetic cathinone with stimulant properties, available in the online market but with unpredictable effects in humans. The present case reports an important risk of psychosis in a psychonaut patient who arrived and declared its intense use before admission to our Unit. This article describes the psychopathological effects of the novel compound Alpha-PVP in a psychonaut patient. Patients attending clinics that have used Alpha-PVP pose a new challenge for traditional services of mental health and addiction.

Sleep-Related Safety Behaviors and Dysfunctional Beliefs Mediate the Efficacy of Online CBT for Insomnia: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Lancee, Jaap; Eisma, Maarten C; van Straten, Annemieke; Kamphuis, Jan H

2015-01-01

Several trials have demonstrated the efficacy of online cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for insomnia. However, few studies have examined putative mechanisms of change based on the cognitive model of insomnia. Identification of modifiable mechanisms by which the treatment works may guide efforts to further improve the efficacy of insomnia treatment. The current study therefore has two aims: (1) to replicate the finding that online CBT is effective for insomnia and (2) to test putative mechanism of change (i.e., safety behaviors and dysfunctional beliefs). Accordingly, we conducted a randomized controlled trial in which individuals with insomnia were randomized to either online CBT for insomnia (n = 36) or a waiting-list control group (n = 27). Baseline and posttest assessments included questionnaires assessing insomnia severity, safety behaviors, dysfunctional beliefs, anxiety and depression, and a sleep diary. Three- and six-month assessments were administered to the CBT group only. Results show moderate to large statistically significant effects of the online treatment compared to the waiting list on insomnia severity, sleep measures, sleep safety behaviors, and dysfunctional beliefs. Furthermore, dysfunctional beliefs and safety behaviors mediated the effects of treatment on insomnia severity and sleep efficiency. Together, these findings corroborate the efficacy of online CBT for insomnia, and suggest that these effects were produced by changing maladaptive beliefs, as well as safety behaviors. Treatment protocols for insomnia may specifically be enhanced by more focused attention on the comprehensive fading of sleep safety behaviors, for instance through behavioral experiments.

Auction fever: exploring informational social influences on bidder choices.

PubMed

Chen, Yi-Fen

2011-01-01

Previous investigations of herd behavior have identified the importance of informational social influences in consumer decision making. This research presents three studies examining herd behavior in online auctions. The three studies addressed the influence on bidder online choices of herd cues frequently found in online auctions, including bid number, feedback ratings, and number of questions and answers. This research also investigated the effect of different levels of herd cues on bidder online choices under high and low brand awareness in online auctions. The experimental results demonstrated that bidders use online herd cues when making decisions in online auctions. Additionally, different levels of herd cues influence bidder online choices in both high and low brand awareness product situations.

Cell Phone Internet Access, Online Sexual Solicitation, Partner Seeking, and Sexual Risk Behavior among Adolescents

PubMed Central

Rice, Eric; Winetrobe, Hailey; Holloway, Ian W.; Montoya, Jorge; Plant, Aaron; Kordic, Timothy

2014-01-01

Online partner seeking is associated with sexual risk behavior among young adults (specifically men who have sex with men), but this association has yet to be explored among a probability sample of adolescents. Moreover, cell phone internet access and sexual risk taking online and offline have not been explored. A probability sample (N = 1,831) of Los Angeles Unified School District high school students was collected in 2011. Logistic regression models assessed relationships between specific sexual risk behaviors (online sexual solicitation, seeking partners online, sex with internet-met partners, condom use) and frequency of internet use, internet access points, and demographics. Students with cell phone internet access were more likely to report being solicited online for sex, being sexually active, and having sex with an internet-met partner. Bisexual-identifying students reported higher rates of being approached online for sex, being sexually active, and not using condoms at last sex. Gay, lesbian, and questioning (GLQ) students were more likely to report online partner seeking and unprotected sex at last sex with an internet-met partner. Additionally, having sex with an internet-met partner was associated with being male, online sexual solicitation, and online partner seeking. Internet- and school-based sexual health programs should incorporate safety messages regarding online sexual solicitation, seeking sex partners online, and engaging in safer sex practices with all partners. Programs must target adolescents of all sexual identities, as adolescents may not yet be “out,” and bisexual and GLQ adolescents are more likely to engage in risky sex behaviors. PMID:25344027

Cell phone internet access, online sexual solicitation, partner seeking, and sexual risk behavior among adolescents.

PubMed

Rice, Eric; Winetrobe, Hailey; Holloway, Ian W; Montoya, Jorge; Plant, Aaron; Kordic, Timothy

2015-04-01

Online partner seeking is associated with sexual risk behavior among young adults (specifically men who have sex with men), but this association has yet to be explored among a probability sample of adolescents. Moreover, cell phone internet access and sexual risk taking online and offline have not been explored. A probability sample (N = 1,831) of Los Angeles Unified School District high school students was collected in 2011. Logistic regression models assessed relationships between specific sexual risk behaviors (online sexual solicitation, seeking partners online, sex with internet-met partners, condom use) and frequency of internet use, internet access points, and demographics. Students with cell phone internet access were more likely to report being solicited online for sex, being sexually active, and having sex with an internet-met partner. Bisexual-identifying students reported higher rates of being approached online for sex, being sexually active, and not using condoms at last sex. Gay, lesbian, and questioning (GLQ) students were more likely to report online partner seeking and unprotected sex at last sex with an internet-met partner. Additionally, having sex with an internet-met partner was associated with being male, online sexual solicitation, and online partner seeking. Internet- and school-based sexual health programs should incorporate safety messages regarding online sexual solicitation, seeking sex partners online, and engaging in safer sex practices with all partners. Programs must target adolescents of all sexual identities, as adolescents may not yet be "out," and bisexual and GLQ adolescents are more likely to engage in risky sex behaviors.

System, Scholar or Students? Which Most Influences Online MBA Course Effectiveness?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arbaugh, J. B.

2014-01-01

Considering the increasingly challenging resource environments in many business schools, this study examined whether course technologies, learner behaviors or instructor behaviors best predict online course outcomes so that administrators and support personnel can prioritize their efforts and investments. Based on reviewing prior online and…

Exploring Online Auction Behaviors and Motivations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jeon, Sua; Crutsinger, Christy; Kim, Haejung

2008-01-01

The availability and convenience of the Internet, combined with the variety of products available at any given time, have contributed to the success of online auctions.This exploratory study examined online auction behaviors among college students in an attempt to identify underlying dimensions of auction motivations. Questionnaires completed by…

The Impact of Teaching Presence on Online Engagement Behaviors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Huaihao; Lin, Lijia; Zhan, Yi; Ren, Youqun

2016-01-01

Guided by the Interactive-Constructive-Active-Passive framework, the purpose of the study was to investigate whether teaching presence would impact online learners' passive, active, constructive, and interactive engagement behaviors. A total of 218 middle-school English teachers participated in an online professional development course.…

Death on the digital landscape: a preliminary investigation into the grief process and motivations behind participation in the online memoriam.

PubMed

Egnoto, Michael J; Sirianni, Joseph M; Ortega, Christopher R; Stefanone, Michael

2014-01-01

Increasingly, individuals are bonding and maintaining relationships online. These digital representations of ourselves allow us to connect with others in ways previously not possible. One behavior that is growing in online presentations of self is grieving after the death of an individual in our social network. This work investigates the outcomes of online grieving from a transcorporeal communication model perspective, and draws conclusions on the outcomes of online grief behaviors.

2002 Defense Modeling and Simulation Office (DMSO) Laboratory for Human Behavior Model Interchange Standards

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-07-01

standard release with the publicly available "mod" interface allows us to avoid purchasing a game engine license (approximate cost $350,000) from Epic...depletion is accurately simulated for ammunition * Both contain target detection, target identification, target selection, and collision avoidance and...into other game genres such as Real-Time Strategy (RTS) games and Massively Multiplayer Online Role- Playing Games ( MMORPG ). Unfortunately these game

New Technologies, New Problems, New Laws.

PubMed

Recupero, Patricia R

2016-09-01

Forensic psychiatrists in the 21st century can expect to encounter technology-related social problems for which existing legal remedies are limited. In addition to the inadequate protection of adolescents using social media as outlined by Costello et al., current laws are often poorly suited to remedy problems such as cyberharassment, sexting among minors, and the publication of threatening or harmful communications online. Throughout history, technological developments have often preceded the introduction of new laws or the careful revision of existing laws. This pattern is evident in many of the newer social problems that involve technology, including cyberbullying, online impersonation, and revenge porn. As specialists working at the intersection of human behavior and the law, forensic psychiatrists are uniquely situated to help legal professionals and others understand the impact of internet-related problematic behaviors on victims and, perhaps, to assist in the development of new legal remedies that are better tailored to our increasingly digital society. © 2016 American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.

Red, purple and pink: the colors of diffusion on pinterest.

PubMed

Bakhshi, Saeideh; Gilbert, Eric

2015-01-01

Many lab studies have shown that colors can evoke powerful emotions and impact human behavior. Might these phenomena drive how we act online? A key research challenge for image-sharing communities is uncovering the mechanisms by which content spreads through the community. In this paper, we investigate whether there is link between color and diffusion. Drawing on a corpus of one million images crawled from Pinterest, we find that color significantly impacts the diffusion of images and adoption of content on image sharing communities such as Pinterest, even after partially controlling for network structure and activity. Specifically, Red, Purple and pink seem to promote diffusion, while Green, Blue, Black and Yellow suppress it. To our knowledge, our study is the first to investigate how colors relate to online user behavior. In addition to contributing to the research conversation surrounding diffusion, these findings suggest future work using sophisticated computer vision techniques. We conclude with a discussion on the theoretical, practical and design implications suggested by this work-e.g. design of engaging image filters.

A Model of Price Search Behavior in Electronic Marketplace.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jiang, Pingjun

2002-01-01

Discussion of online consumer behavior focuses on the development of a conceptual model and a set of propositions to explain the main factors influencing online price search. Integrates the psychological search literature into the context of online searching by incorporating ability and cost to search for information into perceived search…

Effects of Group Awareness and Self-Regulation Level on Online Learning Behaviors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Jian-Wei; Szu, Yu-Chin; Lai, Ching-Neng

2016-01-01

Group awareness can affect student online learning while self-regulation also can substantially influence student online learning. Although some studies identify that these two variables may partially determine learning behavior, few empirical studies or thorough analyses elucidate the simultaneous impact of these two variables (group awareness…

EFL Students' "Yahoo!" Online Bilingual Dictionary Use Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tseng, Fan-ping

2009-01-01

This study examined 38 EFL senior high school students' "Yahoo!" online dictionary look-up behavior. In a language laboratory, the participants read an article on a reading sheet, underlined any words they did not know, looked up their unknown words in "Yahoo!" online bilingual dictionary, and wrote down the definitions of…

Helping others in online games: prosocial behavior in cyberspace.

PubMed

Wang, Chih-Chien; Wang, Chia-Hsin

2008-06-01

This study examined the reasons players help others in the virtual space of online games. Results of an online empirical survey indicated that both altruism and reciprocity influence prosocial behavior simultaneously. Additionally, the study found that male players are more likely than female players to seek friendship of opposite sex.

AdChoices? Compliance with Online Behavioral Advertising Notice and Choice Requirements. Revised Version

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-10-07

further information and a means of opting out. Revised October 7, 2011. Keywords: Online behavioral advertising ; privacy; consumer choice; notice... consumers ’ activities online to target advertising .”1 The FTC has been examining ways to reduce the privacy concerns associated with OBA for over a decade...behavioral advertising practices that would foster transparency, knowledge and choice for consumers . As the FTC determines what to do next, it is

Smoking cessation and the Internet: a qualitative method examining online consumer behavior.

PubMed

Frisby, Genevieve; Bessell, Tracey L; Borland, Ron; Anderson, Jeremy N

2002-01-01

Smoking is a major preventable cause of disease and disability around the world. Smoking cessation support-including information, discussion groups, cognitive behavioral treatment, and self-help materials-can be delivered via the Internet. There is limited information about the reasons and methods consumers access smoking cessation information on the Internet. This study aims to determine the feasibility of a method to examine the online behavior of consumers seeking smoking cessation resources. In particular, we sought to identify the reasons and methods consumers use to access and assess the quality of these resources. Thirteen participants were recruited via the state-based Quit smoking cessation campaign, operated by the Victorian Cancer Council, in December 2001. Online behavior was evaluated using semi-structured interviews and Internet simulations where participants sought smoking cessation information and addressed set-case scenarios. Online interaction was tracked through pervasive logging with specialist software. Thirteen semi-structured interviews and 4 Internet simulations were conducted in January 2002. Participants sought online smoking cessation resources for reasons of convenience, timeliness, and anonymity-and because their current information needs were unmet. They employed simple search strategies and could not always find information in an efficient manner. Participants employed several different strategies to assess the quality of online health resources. Consumer online behavior can be studied using a combination of survey, observation, and online surveillance. However, further qualitative and observational research is required to harness the full potential of the Internet to deliver public health resources.

An Analysis of Online Students' Behaviors on Course Sites and the Effect on Learning Performance: A Case Study of Four LIS Online Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Xiangmin

2016-01-01

This research investigated the relationship between online students' behaviors in a learning management system and their learning performance, as measured by their final grades. Four online information technology classes in a major U.S. library and information science program were studied. The course sites' log data, as well as the students' final…

Development and Validation of an Online Program for Promoting Self-Management among Korean Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B.

PubMed

Yang, Jinhyang

2013-01-01

The hepatitis B virus is second only to tobacco as a known human carcinogen. However, chronic hepatitis B usually does not produce symptoms and people feel healthy even in the early stages of live cancer. Therefore, chronically infected people should perceive it as a serious health problem and move on to appropriate health behaviour. The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate an online program for promoting self-management among Korean patients with chronic hepatitis B. The online program was developed using a prototyping approach and system developing life cycle method, evaluated by users for their satisfaction with the website and experts for the quality of the site. To evaluate the application of the online program, knowledge and self-management compliance of the subjects were measured and compared before and after the application of the online program. There were statistically significant increases in knowledge and self-management compliance in the user group. An online program with high accessibility and applicability including information, motivation, and behavior skill factors can promote self-management of the patient with chronic hepatitis B. Findings from this study allow Korean patients with chronic hepatitis B to engage in proactive and effective health management in the community or clinical practice.

Undergrad and Overweight: An Online Behavioral Weight Management Program for College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harvey-Berino, Jean; Pope, Lizzy; Gold, Beth Casey; Leonard, Heather; Belliveau, Cynthia

2012-01-01

Objective: Explore the feasibility of an online behavioral weight management program for college students. Methods: The program focused on behavioral strategies to modify eating and exercise behaviors of students interested in losing weight and/or developing a healthy lifestyle. Specific tools included weekly chat meetings with a facilitator,…

The associations between aggressive behaviors and internet addiction and online activities in adolescents.

PubMed

Ko, Chih-Hung; Yen, Ju-Yu; Liu, Shu-Chun; Huang, Chi-Fen; Yen, Cheng-Fang

2009-06-01

To evaluate (a) the association between Internet addiction and aggressive behaviors, as well as the moderating effects of gender, school, and depression on this association; and (b) to evaluate the association between Internet activities and aggressive behaviors. A total of 9405 adolescents were recruited into this study and completed the questionnaires. Their aggressive behaviors, with or without Internet addiction, Internet activities, demographic data, with or without depression, self-esteem, family function, and the watching of violent TV were assessed. The results demonstrated that after controlling for the effects of shared associated factors and watching violent TV programs, adolescents with Internet addiction were more likely to have aggressive behaviors during the previous year. The association was more significant among adolescents in junior high schools than in senior high/vocational schools. Online chatting, adult sex Web viewing, online gaming, online gambling, and Bulletin Board System were all associated with aggressive behaviors. The results suggest that preventive programs for aggressive behaviors should pay attention to Internet addiction among adolescents. Also, intervention to prevent the effects of Internet addiction on aggressive behaviors should be conducted as early as possible.

How health plans promote health IT to improve behavioral health care.

PubMed

Quinn, Amity E; Reif, Sharon; Evans, Brooke; Creedon, Timothy B; Stewart, Maureen T; Garnick, Deborah W; Horgan, Constance M

2016-12-01

Given the large numbers of providers and enrollees with which they interact, health plans can encourage the use of health information technology (IT) to advance behavioral health care. The manner and extent to which commercial health plans promote health IT to improve behavioral health care is unknown. This study aims to address that gap. Cross-sectional study. Data are from a nationally representative survey of commercial health plans regarding administrative and clinical dimensions of behavioral health services in 2010. Data are weighted to be representative of commercial managed care products in the United States (n = 8427; 88% response rate). Approaches within the domains of provider support, access to care, and assessment and treatment were investigated as examples of how health plans can promote health IT to improve behavioral health care delivery. Health plans were using health IT approaches in each domain. About a quarter of products offered financial support for electronic health records, but technical assistance was rare. Primary care providers could bill for e-mail contact with patients for behavioral health in about a quarter of products. Few products offered member-provider e-mail, and none offered online appointment scheduling. However, online referral systems and online provider directories were common, and nearly all offered an online self-assessment tool; most offered online counseling and online personalized responses to questions or problems. In 2010, commercial health plans encouraged the use of health IT strategies for behavioral health care. Health plans have an important role to play for increasing health IT as a tool for behavioral health care.

Online Bahavior Aquisition of an Agent based on Coaching as Learning Assistance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirokawa, Masakazu; Suzuki, Kenji

This paper describes a novel methodology, namely ``Coaching'', which allows humans to give a subjective evaluation to an agent in an iterative manner. This is an interactive learning method to improve the reinforcement learning by modifying a reward function dynamically according to given evaluations by a trainer and the learning situation of the agent. We demonstrate that the agent can learn different reward functions by given instructions such as ``good or bad'' by human's observation, and can also obtain a set of behavior based on the learnt reward functions through several experiments.

Predictors of unwanted exposure to online pornography and online sexual solicitation of youth.

PubMed

Chang, Fong-Ching; Chiu, Chiung-Hui; Miao, Nae-Fang; Chen, Ping-Hung; Lee, Ching-Mei; Chiang, Jeng-Tung

2016-06-01

This study examined factors associated with the unwanted exposure to online pornography and unwanted online sexual solicitation victimization and perpetration of youth in Taiwan. A total of 2315 students from 26 high schools were assessed in the 10th grade, with follow-up performed in the 11th grade. Self-administered questionnaires were collected. Multivariate analysis results indicated that higher levels of online game use, pornography media exposure, Internet risk behaviors, depression, and cyberbullying experiences predicted online sexual solicitation victimization, while higher levels of Internet chat room use, pornography media exposure, Internet risk behaviors, cyberbullying experiences, and offline sexual harassment predicted online sexual solicitation perpetration. © The Author(s) 2014.

A Study of the Relationship between Online Faculty Caring Behaviors and Nursing Student Intent to Persist

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Debra Y.

2013-01-01

This quantitative, cross-sectional correlational study sought to explore whether the perceived caring behaviors of online nursing faculty were related to students' intent to persist in the educational program. A quantitative, cross-sectional correlational survey methodology was employed to assess student perception of online faculty caring…

Online Health Information Seeking Behaviors of Hispanics in New York City

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Young Ji

2013-01-01

Hispanics are the fastest-growing minority group in the United States, but they are the most underserved population in terms of access to online health information. The specific aims of this descriptive, correlational study were to examine factors associated with online health information seeking behaviors of Hispanics and to examine the…

A pilot study of RN-BSN completion students' preferred instructor online classroom caring behaviors.

PubMed

Mann, Judith C

2014-01-01

Definitions of caring include the global concept of showing concern and empathy of others. This may be especially true in the online classroom in the absence of face to face interactions. This quantitative study focused on RN-BSN completion students' preferred online instructor caring behaviors. Online RN-BSN students (N = 100) were invited to participate in the study. The research question was: What are historically black colleges universities nursing students' preferred instructor caring behaviors in the online classroom? All of the respondents (N = 48) agreed that an instructor can create a caring online learning environment, while the vast majority agreed that the presence of a caring environment influenced their success in the course. As ranked by the respondents the three most important items in creating a caring online learning environment were instructors': 1) attention to detail in organization and clarity, 2) prompt and detailed feedback to assignments, and 3) prompt response to students' questions.

Solidarity.com: is there a link between offline behavior and online donations?

PubMed

Eller, Anja

2008-10-01

Solidarity websites, such as The Hunger Site, where people can donate food at no financial cost and minimal effort, have become immensely popular and effective since 1999. These new forms of philanthropy are characterized by wide participation and direct assistance and feedback. The present longitudinal, quasi-experimental study aimed to examine whether online solidarity can be predicted by offline contact with, attitudes about, and altruistic behavior tendencies towards a population in need, asylum seekers. Fifty-seven university students completed two surveys, separated by 1 year. Prior to T1, only 9% of respondents had visited solidarity websites, while at T2 47% reported clicking. Multiple regression analysis showed that T2 visits to solidarity websites were (negatively) predicted by T1 quantity of contact, and marginally, by T1 general evaluation of asylum seekers. These long-term, offline-to-online effects are intriguing, although there were no effects of offline contact quality and altruistic behavior tendencies. Future research should further investigate the causal direction between offline and online behavior and the factors that might influence the link between offline and online attitudes and behavior.

Effectiveness of online simulation training: Measuring faculty knowledge, perceptions, and intention to adopt.

PubMed

Kim, Sujeong; Park, Chang; O'Rourke, Jennifer

2017-04-01

Best practice standards of simulation recommend standardized simulation training for nursing faculty. Online training may offer an effective and more widely available alternative to in-person training. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior, this study evaluated the effectiveness of an online simulation training program, examining faculty's foundational knowledge of simulation as well as perceptions and intention to adopt. One-group pretest-posttest design. A large school of nursing with a main campus and five regional campuses in the Midwestern United States. Convenience sample of 52 faculty participants. Knowledge of foundational simulation principles was measured by pre/post-training module quizzes. Perceptions and the intention to adopt simulation were measured using the Faculty Attitudes and Intent to Use Related to the Human Patient Simulator questionnaire. There was a significant improvement in faculty knowledge after training and observable improvements in attitudes. Attitudes significantly influenced the intention to adopt simulation (B=2.54, p<0.001). Online simulation training provides an effective alternative for training large numbers of nursing faculty who seek to implement best practice of standards within their institutions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Persistence of the Pamphlet: On the Continued Relevance of the Health Information Pamphlet in the Digital Age.

PubMed

Sium, Aman; Giuliani, Meredith; Papadakos, Janet

2017-09-01

Since the early 2000s, web and digital health information and education has progressed in both volume and innovation (Dutta-Bergman 2006; Mano, Computers in Human Behavior 39 404 412, 2014). A growing number of leading Canadian health institutions (e.g., hospitals, community health centers, and health ministries) are migrating much of their vital public health information and education, once restricted to pamphlets and other physically distributed materials, to online platforms. Examples of these platforms are websites and web pages, eLearning modules, eBooks, streamed classrooms, audiobooks, and online health videos. The steady migration of health information to online platforms is raising important questions for fields of patient education, such as cancer education. These questions include, but are not limited to (a) are pamphlets still a useful modality for patient information and education when so much is available on the Internet? (b) If so, what should be the relationship between print-based and online health information and education, and when should one modality take precedence over the other? This article responds to these questions within the Canadian health care context.

Predicting Facebook users' online privacy protection: risk, trust, norm focus theory, and the theory of planned behavior.

PubMed

Saeri, Alexander K; Ogilvie, Claudette; La Macchia, Stephen T; Smith, Joanne R; Louis, Winnifred R

2014-01-01

The present research adopts an extended theory of the planned behavior model that included descriptive norms, risk, and trust to investigate online privacy protection in Facebook users. Facebook users (N = 119) completed a questionnaire assessing their attitude, subjective injunctive norm, subjective descriptive norm, perceived behavioral control, implicit perceived risk, trust of other Facebook users, and intentions toward protecting their privacy online. Behavior was measured indirectly 2 weeks after the study. The data show partial support for the theory of planned behavior and strong support for the independence of subjective injunctive and descriptive norms. Risk also uniquely predicted intentions over and above the theory of planned behavior, but there were no unique effects of trust on intentions, nor of risk or trust on behavior. Implications are discussed.

Association of Maltreatment With High-Risk Internet Behaviors and Offline Encounters

PubMed Central

Shenk, Chad E.; Barnes, Jaclyn E.; Haralson, Katherine J.

2013-01-01

OBJECTIVE: High-risk Internet behaviors, including viewing sexually explicit content, provocative social networking profiles, and entertaining online sexual solicitations, were examined in a sample of maltreated and nonmaltreated adolescent girls aged 14 to 17 years. The impact of Internet behaviors on subsequent offline meetings was observed over 12 to 16 months. This study tested 2 main hypotheses: (1) maltreatment would be a unique contributor to high-risk Internet behaviors and (2) high-quality parenting would dampen adolescents’ propensity to engage in high-risk Internet behaviors and to participate in offline meetings. METHODS: Online and offline behaviors and parenting quality were gleaned from 251 adolescent girls, 130 of whom experienced substantiated maltreatment and 121 of whom were demographically matched comparison girls. Parents reported on adolescent behaviors and on the level of Internet monitoring in the home. Social networking profiles were objectively coded for provocative self-presentations. Offline meetings with persons first met online were assessed 12 to 16 months later. RESULTS: Thirty percent of adolescents reported having offline meetings. Maltreatment, adolescent behavioral problems, and low cognitive ability were uniquely associated with high-risk Internet behaviors. Exposure to sexual content, creating high-risk social networking profiles, and receiving online sexual solicitations were independent predictors of subsequent offline meetings. High-quality parenting and parental monitoring moderated the associations between adolescent risk factors and Internet behaviors, whereas use of parental control software did not. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment modalities for maltreated adolescents should be enhanced to include Internet safety literacy. Adolescents and parents should be aware of how online self-presentations and other Internet behaviors can increase vulnerability for Internet-initiated victimization. PMID:23319522

Association of maltreatment with high-risk internet behaviors and offline encounters.

PubMed

Noll, Jennie G; Shenk, Chad E; Barnes, Jaclyn E; Haralson, Katherine J

2013-02-01

High-risk Internet behaviors, including viewing sexually explicit content, provocative social networking profiles, and entertaining online sexual solicitations, were examined in a sample of maltreated and nonmaltreated adolescent girls aged 14 to 17 years. The impact of Internet behaviors on subsequent offline meetings was observed over 12 to 16 months. This study tested 2 main hypotheses: (1) maltreatment would be a unique contributor to high-risk Internet behaviors and (2) high-quality parenting would dampen adolescents' propensity to engage in high-risk Internet behaviors and to participate in offline meetings. Online and offline behaviors and parenting quality were gleaned from 251 adolescent girls, 130 of whom experienced substantiated maltreatment and 121 of whom were demographically matched comparison girls. Parents reported on adolescent behaviors and on the level of Internet monitoring in the home. Social networking profiles were objectively coded for provocative self-presentations. Offline meetings with persons first met online were assessed 12 to 16 months later. Thirty percent of adolescents reported having offline meetings. Maltreatment, adolescent behavioral problems, and low cognitive ability were uniquely associated with high-risk Internet behaviors. Exposure to sexual content, creating high-risk social networking profiles, and receiving online sexual solicitations were independent predictors of subsequent offline meetings. High-quality parenting and parental monitoring moderated the associations between adolescent risk factors and Internet behaviors, whereas use of parental control software did not. Treatment modalities for maltreated adolescents should be enhanced to include Internet safety literacy. Adolescents and parents should be aware of how online self-presentations and other Internet behaviors can increase vulnerability for Internet-initiated victimization.

"Replicable effects of primes on human behavior": Correction to Payne et al. (2016).

PubMed

2016-12-01

Reports an error in "Replicable effects of primes on human behavior" by B. Keith Payne, Jazmin L. Brown-Iannuzzi and Chris Loersch ( Journal of Experimental Psychology: General , 2016[Oct], Vol 145[10], 1269-1279). In the article, the graph in Figure 5 did not contain the asterisk mentioned in the figure caption, which was intended to indicate a statistically significant difference between bet and pass prime. The online version of this article has been corrected. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2016-46925-002.) The effect of primes (i.e., incidental cues) on human behavior has become controversial. Early studies reported counterintuitive findings, suggesting that primes can shape a wide range of human behaviors. Recently, several studies failed to replicate some earlier priming results, raising doubts about the reliability of those effects. We present a within-subjects procedure for priming behavior, in which participants decide whether to bet or pass on each trial of a gambling game. We report 6 replications (N = 988) showing that primes consistently affected gambling decisions when the decision was uncertain. Decisions were influenced by primes presented visibly, with a warning to ignore the primes (Experiments 1 through 3) and with subliminally presented masked primes (Experiment 4). Using a process dissociation procedure, we found evidence that primes influenced responses through both automatic and controlled processes (Experiments 5 and 6). Results provide evidence that primes can reliably affect behavior, under at least some conditions, without intention. The findings suggest that the psychological question of whether behavior priming effects are real should be separated from methodological issues affecting how easily particular experimental designs will replicate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Smoking Cessation and the Internet: A Qualitative Method Examining Online Consumer Behavior

PubMed Central

Frisby, Genevieve; Borland, Ron; Anderson, Jeremy N

2002-01-01

Background Smoking is a major preventable cause of disease and disability around the world. Smoking cessation support — including information, discussion groups, cognitive behavioral treatment, and self-help materials — can be delivered via the Internet. There is limited information about the reasons and methods consumers access smoking cessation information on the Internet. Objectives This study aims to determine the feasibility of a method to examine the online behavior of consumers seeking smoking cessation resources. In particular, we sought to identify the reasons and methods consumers use to access and assess the quality of these resources. Methods Thirteen participants were recruited via the state-based Quit® smoking cessation campaign, operated by the Victorian Cancer Council, in December 2001. Online behavior was evaluated using semi-structured interviews and Internet simulations where participants sought smoking cessation information and addressed set-case scenarios. Online interaction was tracked through pervasive logging with specialist software. Results Thirteen semi-structured interviews and 4 Internet simulations were conducted in January 2002. Participants sought online smoking cessation resources for reasons of convenience, timeliness, and anonymity — and because their current information needs were unmet. They employed simple search strategies and could not always find information in an efficient manner. Participants employed several different strategies to assess the quality of online health resources. Conclusions Consumer online behavior can be studied using a combination of survey, observation, and online surveillance. However, further qualitative and observational research is required to harness the full potential of the Internet to deliver public health resources. PMID:12554555

The online poker sub-culture: dialogues, interactions and networks.

PubMed

O'Leary, Killian; Carroll, Conor

2013-12-01

This paper examines the distinct world of online poker. It outlines the online poker eco-system, and the players which inhabit it, their distinctive attitudes and behaviors towards the game and gambling. These unique patterns of behavior have been created and sustained by the interaction of players within online poker forums. Therefore online poker forums were identified as primary mechanism within which a poker sub-culture may exist. The study conducted an extensive netnography of online poker forums. The study found that within the online poker eco-system there are forums which are elevated to sacred status amongst this online poker sub-culture. The members of these forums enact sub-cultural characteristics such as ethos of collaboration/cooperation, and a competitive hierarchy of status. In particular this paper identifies the importance of identity generation, and communities within the online poker eco-system.

Anyone Can Become a Troll: Causes of Trolling Behavior in Online Discussions.

PubMed

Cheng, Justin; Bernstein, Michael; Danescu-Niculescu-Mizil, Cristian; Leskovec, Jure

2017-01-01

In online communities, antisocial behavior such as trolling disrupts constructive discussion. While prior work suggests that trolling behavior is confined to a vocal and antisocial minority, we demonstrate that ordinary people can engage in such behavior as well. We propose two primary trigger mechanisms: the individual's mood, and the surrounding context of a discussion (e.g., exposure to prior trolling behavior). Through an experiment simulating an online discussion, we find that both negative mood and seeing troll posts by others significantly increases the probability of a user trolling, and together double this probability. To support and extend these results, we study how these same mechanisms play out in the wild via a data-driven, longitudinal analysis of a large online news discussion community. This analysis reveals temporal mood effects, and explores long range patterns of repeated exposure to trolling. A predictive model of trolling behavior shows that mood and discussion context together can explain trolling behavior better than an individual's history of trolling. These results combine to suggest that ordinary people can, under the right circumstances, behave like trolls.

Anyone Can Become a Troll: Causes of Trolling Behavior in Online Discussions

PubMed Central

Cheng, Justin; Bernstein, Michael; Danescu-Niculescu-Mizil, Cristian; Leskovec, Jure

2018-01-01

In online communities, antisocial behavior such as trolling disrupts constructive discussion. While prior work suggests that trolling behavior is confined to a vocal and antisocial minority, we demonstrate that ordinary people can engage in such behavior as well. We propose two primary trigger mechanisms: the individual’s mood, and the surrounding context of a discussion (e.g., exposure to prior trolling behavior). Through an experiment simulating an online discussion, we find that both negative mood and seeing troll posts by others significantly increases the probability of a user trolling, and together double this probability. To support and extend these results, we study how these same mechanisms play out in the wild via a data-driven, longitudinal analysis of a large online news discussion community. This analysis reveals temporal mood effects, and explores long range patterns of repeated exposure to trolling. A predictive model of trolling behavior shows that mood and discussion context together can explain trolling behavior better than an individual’s history of trolling. These results combine to suggest that ordinary people can, under the right circumstances, behave like trolls. PMID:29399664

Emergence of good conduct, scaling and zipf laws in human behavioral sequences in an online world.

PubMed

Thurner, Stefan; Szell, Michael; Sinatra, Roberta

2012-01-01

We study behavioral action sequences of players in a massive multiplayer online game. In their virtual life players use eight basic actions which allow them to interact with each other. These actions are communication, trade, establishing or breaking friendships and enmities, attack, and punishment. We measure the probabilities for these actions conditional on previous taken and received actions and find a dramatic increase of negative behavior immediately after receiving negative actions. Similarly, positive behavior is intensified by receiving positive actions. We observe a tendency towards antipersistence in communication sequences. Classifying actions as positive (good) and negative (bad) allows us to define binary 'world lines' of lives of individuals. Positive and negative actions are persistent and occur in clusters, indicated by large scaling exponents α ~ 0.87 of the mean square displacement of the world lines. For all eight action types we find strong signs for high levels of repetitiveness, especially for negative actions. We partition behavioral sequences into segments of length n (behavioral 'words' and 'motifs') and study their statistical properties. We find two approximate power laws in the word ranking distribution, one with an exponent of κ ~ -1 for the ranks up to 100, and another with a lower exponent for higher ranks. The Shannon n-tuple redundancy yields large values and increases in terms of word length, further underscoring the non-trivial statistical properties of behavioral sequences. On the collective, societal level the timeseries of particular actions per day can be understood by a simple mean-reverting log-normal model.

Development of a Tailored HIV Prevention Intervention for Single Young Men Who Have Sex With Men Who Meet Partners Online: Protocol for the myDEx Project.

PubMed

Bauermeister, Jose Arturo; Tingler, Ryan C; Demers, Michele; Harper, Gary W

2017-07-19

New cases of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among young men who have sex with men (YMSM), aged 18 to 24, underscore the importance of developmentally-informed HIV programs for YMSM. We developed an online intervention focused on risk reduction strategies across different sexual partner types. Intervention activities focus on assisting YMSM reflect on their partner-seeking behaviors, develop sexual decision-making rules to reduce their HIV risks, and consider the adoption of HIV prevention behaviors. This pilot, randomized controlled trial (RCT) aims to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a tailored, Web-based HIV prevention intervention for single YMSM. We designed a prospective RCT of online-recruited cis-gender men (N=180) who reported recent unprotected anal intercourse, self-report as HIV negative or are unaware of their HIV status, and meet sexual partners through online dating apps. Individuals in the control arm receive an attention-control condition that includes HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) information currently available on sex education websites. Individuals in the intervention arm receive a 6-session Web-based program tailored on their demographic information, partner-seeking behaviors and relationship desires, and prior sexual attitudes and behaviors. This tailored content will match HIV prevention messages and safer sex skills with YMSM's outcome expectancies when meeting new partners and thereby help them consider how to integrate safer sex practices into different partner types. Study assessments are taken at baseline, 30-, 60-, and 90-day follow-ups. Intervention acceptability and preliminary efficacy will be explored in sexual risk behaviors and HIV/STI testing. The RCT launched in November 2016 and is ongoing. To date, 180 eligible individuals have been enrolled, consented, and randomized. Of the 120 individuals in the intervention arm, 51.7% (62/120) identify as non-Hispanic white and half of the control arm identifies as non-Hispanic white. There were no differences observed by arm for race and/or ethnicity, age, or sexual orientation. Although there are in-person evidence-based interventions with proven efficacy for YMSM, few HIV/STI prevention interventions delivered online exist. Online interventions may ease access to comprehensive HIV/STI education among YMSM and allow personalized content to be delivered. The online intervention that we developed, myDEx, aims to alleviate the gaps within HIV prevention for YMSM by utilizing tailored, Web-based content with the goal of developing skills for same-sex dating and relationship building, while reducing their risks for HIV/STI. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02842060; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02842060 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6rcJdxF9v). ©Jose Arturo Bauermeister, Ryan C Tingler, Michele Demers, Gary W Harper. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 19.07.2017.

Meanings and Functions of Money in Different Cultural Milieus.

PubMed

Cohen, Dov; Shin, Faith; Liu, Xi

2018-06-27

We explore the psychological meanings of money that parallel its economic functions. We explore money's ability to ascribe value, give autonomy, and provide security for the future, and we show how each of these functions may play out differently in different cultural milieus. In particular, we explore the meanings and uses of money across ethnic groups and at different positions on the socioeconomic ladder, highlighting changes over the last 50 years.We examine the dynamics of redistribution between the individual, the family, and the state in different cultures, and we analyze the gendering of money in the world of high finance and in contexts of economic need. The field of behavioral economics has illustrated how human psychology complicates the process of moving from normative to descriptive models of human behavior; such complexity increases as we incorporate the great diversity within human psychology. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Psychology Volume 70 is January 4, 2019. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Enhancing On-Line Teaching with Verbal Immediacy through Self-Determination Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Furlich, Stephen A.

2013-01-01

This paper explores the use of instructor verbal immediacy behaviors for on-line classes. Specifically, it demonstrates how instructor verbal immediacy behaviors found in face-to-face classes can also be displayed for on-line classes. It is argued that self-determination theory describes identification of the student as an important role in the…

Students' Perceptions of an Online Graduate Program in Special Education for Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leader-Janssen, Elizabeth M.; Nordness, Philip D.; Swain, Kristine D.; Hagaman, Jessica L.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate graduate students' perceptions of a completely online master's degree program in special education for emotional and behavioral disorders. The Community of Inquiry survey was used to examine graduate students' perceptions of the online program in the areas of teaching, cognitive, and social presences. The…

Analysis of Time-on-Task, Behavior Experiences, and Performance in Two Online Courses with Different Authentic Learning Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Park, Sanghoon

2017-01-01

This paper reports the findings of a comparative analysis of online learner behavioral interactions, time-on-task, attendance, and performance at different points throughout a semester (beginning, during, and end) based on two online courses: one course offering authentic discussion-based learning activities and the other course offering authentic…

A Survey of Factors Contributing to Learners' "Listening" Behaviors in Asynchronous Online Discussions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wise, Alyssa Friend; Marbouti, Farshid; Hsiao, Ying-Ting; Hausknecht, Simone

2012-01-01

Sixty-seven undergraduates taking either a Blended Business Course (BBC) or an Online Education Course (OEC) were surveyed about factors influencing their "listening" behaviors in asynchronous online course discussions. These are the ways they attend to the posts made by others: which posts they open, how they engage with open posts, and…

Social cognitive determinants of nutrition and physical activity among web-health users enrolling in an online intervention: the influence of social support, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and self-regulation.

PubMed

Anderson-Bill, Eileen Smith; Winett, Richard A; Wojcik, Janet R

2011-03-17

The Internet is a trusted source of health information for growing majorities of Web users. The promise of online health interventions will be realized with the development of purely online theory-based programs for Web users that are evaluated for program effectiveness and the application of behavior change theory within the online environment. Little is known, however, about the demographic, behavioral, or psychosocial characteristics of Web-health users who represent potential participants in online health promotion research. Nor do we understand how Web users' psychosocial characteristics relate to their health behavior-information essential to the development of effective, theory-based online behavior change interventions. This study examines the demographic, behavioral, and psychosocial characteristics of Web-health users recruited for an online social cognitive theory (SCT)-based nutrition, physical activity, and weight gain prevention intervention, the Web-based Guide to Health (WB-GTH). Directed to the WB-GTH site by advertisements through online social and professional networks and through print and online media, participants were screened, consented, and assessed with demographic, physical activity, psychosocial, and food frequency questionnaires online (taking a total of about 1.25 hours); they also kept a 7-day log of daily steps and minutes walked. From 4700 visits to the site, 963 Web users consented to enroll in the study: 83% (803) were female, participants' mean age was 44.4 years (SD 11.03 years), 91% (873) were white, and 61% (589) were college graduates; participants' median annual household income was approximately US $85,000. Participants' daily step counts were in the low-active range (mean 6485.78, SD 2352.54) and overall dietary levels were poor (total fat g/day, mean 77.79, SD 41.96; percent kcal from fat, mean 36.51, SD 5.92; fiber g/day, mean 17.74, SD 7.35; and fruit and vegetable servings/day, mean 4.03, SD 2.33). The Web-health users had good self-efficacy and outcome expectations for health behavior change; however, they perceived little social support for making these changes and engaged in few self-regulatory behaviors. Consistent with SCT, theoretical models provided good fit to Web-users' data (root mean square error of the approximation [RMSEA] < .05). Perceived social support and use of self-regulatory behaviors were strong predictors of physical activity and nutrition behavior. Web users' self-efficacy was also a good predictor of healthier levels of physical activity and dietary fat but not of fiber, fruits, and vegetables. Social support and self-efficacy indirectly predicted behavior through self-regulation, and social support had indirect effects through self-efficacy. Results suggest Web-health users visiting and ultimately participating in online health interventions may likely be middle-aged, well-educated, upper middle class women whose detrimental health behaviors put them at risk of obesity, heart disease, some cancers, and diabetes. The success of Internet physical activity and nutrition interventions may depend on the extent to which they lead users to develop self-efficacy for behavior change, but perhaps as important, the extent to which these interventions help them garner social-support for making changes. Success of these interventions may also depend on the extent to which they provide a platform for setting goals, planning, tracking, and providing feedback on targeted behaviors.

The Relationship of HR Professionals' Online Experiences with Perceptions of Organizational Hiring and Promotion of Online Graduates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaupins, Gundars Egons; Wanek, James Edward; Coco, Malcolm Paulin

2014-01-01

Based on a survey of 264 human resources professionals from 10 Society for Human Resource Management chapters in Texas, the authors investigated how human resources professionals accept online degrees compared to degrees based on face-to-face coursework for hiring and promotion purposes. If respondents were satisfied with their own online course…

The Impacts of System and Human Factors on Online Learning Systems Use and Learner Satisfaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alshare, Khaled A.; Freeze, Ronald D.; Lane, Peggy L.; Wen, H. Joseph

2011-01-01

Success in an online learning environment is tied to both human and system factors. This study illuminates the unique contributions of human factors (comfort with online learning, self-management of learning, and perceived Web self-efficacy) to online learning system success, which is measured in terms of usage and satisfaction. The research model…

Sex-Related Online Behaviors, Perceived Peer Norms and Adolescents’ Experience with Sexual Behavior: Testing an Integrative Model

PubMed Central

Doornwaard, Suzan M.; ter Bogt, Tom F. M.; Reitz, Ellen; van den Eijnden, Regina J. J. M.

2015-01-01

Research on the role of sex-related Internet use in adolescents’ sexual development has often isolated the Internet and online behaviors from other, offline influencing factors in adolescents’ lives, such as processes in the peer domain. The aim of this study was to test an integrative model explaining how receptive (i.e., use of sexually explicit Internet material [SEIM]) and interactive (i.e., use of social networking sites [SNS]) sex-related online behaviors interrelate with perceived peer norms in predicting adolescents’ experience with sexual behavior. Structural equation modeling on longitudinal data from 1,132 Dutch adolescents (Mage T1 = 13.95; range 11-17; 52.7% boys) demonstrated concurrent, direct, and indirect effects between sex-related online behaviors, perceived peer norms, and experience with sexual behavior. SEIM use (among boys) and SNS use (among boys and girls) predicted increases in adolescents’ perceptions of peer approval of sexual behavior and/or in their estimates of the numbers of sexually active peers. These perceptions, in turn, predicted increases in adolescents’ level of experience with sexual behavior at the end of the study. Boys’ SNS use also directly predicted increased levels of experience with sexual behavior. These findings highlight the need for multisystemic research and intervention development to promote adolescents’ sexual health. PMID:26086606

Sex-Related Online Behaviors, Perceived Peer Norms and Adolescents' Experience with Sexual Behavior: Testing an Integrative Model.

PubMed

Doornwaard, Suzan M; ter Bogt, Tom F M; Reitz, Ellen; van den Eijnden, Regina J J M

2015-01-01

Research on the role of sex-related Internet use in adolescents' sexual development has often isolated the Internet and online behaviors from other, offline influencing factors in adolescents' lives, such as processes in the peer domain. The aim of this study was to test an integrative model explaining how receptive (i.e., use of sexually explicit Internet material [SEIM]) and interactive (i.e., use of social networking sites [SNS]) sex-related online behaviors interrelate with perceived peer norms in predicting adolescents' experience with sexual behavior. Structural equation modeling on longitudinal data from 1,132 Dutch adolescents (M(age) T1 = 13.95; range 11-17; 52.7% boys) demonstrated concurrent, direct, and indirect effects between sex-related online behaviors, perceived peer norms, and experience with sexual behavior. SEIM use (among boys) and SNS use (among boys and girls) predicted increases in adolescents' perceptions of peer approval of sexual behavior and/or in their estimates of the numbers of sexually active peers. These perceptions, in turn, predicted increases in adolescents' level of experience with sexual behavior at the end of the study. Boys' SNS use also directly predicted increased levels of experience with sexual behavior. These findings highlight the need for multisystemic research and intervention development to promote adolescents' sexual health.

Virtually Naked: Virtual Environment Reveals Sex-Dependent Nature of Skin Disclosure

PubMed Central

Lomanowska, Anna M.; Guitton, Matthieu J.

2012-01-01

The human tendency to reveal or cover naked skin reflects a competition between the individual propensity for social interactions related to sexual appeal and interpersonal touch versus climatic, environmental, physical, and cultural constraints. However, due to the ubiquitous nature of these constraints, isolating on a large scale the spontaneous human tendency to reveal naked skin has remained impossible. Using the online 3-dimensional virtual world of Second Life, we examined spontaneous human skin-covering behavior unhindered by real-world climatic, environmental, and physical variables. Analysis of hundreds of avatars revealed that virtual females disclose substantially more naked skin than virtual males. This phenomenon was not related to avatar hypersexualization as evaluated by measurement of sexually dimorphic body proportions. Furthermore, analysis of skin-covering behavior of a population of culturally homogeneous avatars indicated that the propensity of female avatars to reveal naked skin persisted despite explicit cultural norms promoting less revealing attire. These findings have implications for further understanding how sex-specific aspects of skin disclosure influence human social interactions in both virtual and real settings. PMID:23300580

Virtually naked: virtual environment reveals sex-dependent nature of skin disclosure.

PubMed

Lomanowska, Anna M; Guitton, Matthieu J

2012-01-01

The human tendency to reveal or cover naked skin reflects a competition between the individual propensity for social interactions related to sexual appeal and interpersonal touch versus climatic, environmental, physical, and cultural constraints. However, due to the ubiquitous nature of these constraints, isolating on a large scale the spontaneous human tendency to reveal naked skin has remained impossible. Using the online 3-dimensional virtual world of Second Life, we examined spontaneous human skin-covering behavior unhindered by real-world climatic, environmental, and physical variables. Analysis of hundreds of avatars revealed that virtual females disclose substantially more naked skin than virtual males. This phenomenon was not related to avatar hypersexualization as evaluated by measurement of sexually dimorphic body proportions. Furthermore, analysis of skin-covering behavior of a population of culturally homogeneous avatars indicated that the propensity of female avatars to reveal naked skin persisted despite explicit cultural norms promoting less revealing attire. These findings have implications for further understanding how sex-specific aspects of skin disclosure influence human social interactions in both virtual and real settings.

Online Study: Postgraduate Student Perceptions of Core Skills Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grounds, Patricia E.; Moore, Caroline

2017-01-01

In this qualitative study, we analyze postgraduate students' perceptions of strategic behaviors they developed during their online studies and their ability to extend this behavior to their own praxis. Findings suggest that strategic behavior centers around the development of four core skills: engaging in self-directed thinking; fostering…

Online interventions for social marketing health behavior change campaigns: a meta-analysis of psychological architectures and adherence factors.

PubMed

Cugelman, Brian; Thelwall, Mike; Dawes, Phil

2011-02-14

Researchers and practitioners have developed numerous online interventions that encourage people to reduce their drinking, increase their exercise, and better manage their weight. Motivations to develop eHealth interventions may be driven by the Internet's reach, interactivity, cost-effectiveness, and studies that show online interventions work. However, when designing online interventions suitable for public campaigns, there are few evidence-based guidelines, taxonomies are difficult to apply, many studies lack impact data, and prior meta-analyses are not applicable to large-scale public campaigns targeting voluntary behavioral change. This meta-analysis assessed online intervention design features in order to inform the development of online campaigns, such as those employed by social marketers, that seek to encourage voluntary health behavior change. A further objective was to increase understanding of the relationships between intervention adherence, study adherence, and behavioral outcomes. Drawing on systematic review methods, a combination of 84 query terms were used in 5 bibliographic databases with additional gray literature searches. This resulted in 1271 abstracts and papers; 31 met the inclusion criteria. In total, 29 papers describing 30 interventions were included in the primary meta-analysis, with the 2 additional studies qualifying for the adherence analysis. Using a random effects model, the first analysis estimated the overall effect size, including groupings by control conditions and time factors. The second analysis assessed the impacts of psychological design features that were coded with taxonomies from evidence-based behavioral medicine, persuasive technology, and other behavioral influence fields. These separate systems were integrated into a coding framework model called the communication-based influence components model. Finally, the third analysis assessed the relationships between intervention adherence and behavioral outcomes. The overall impact of online interventions across all studies was small but statistically significant (standardized mean difference effect size d=0.19, 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.11-0.28, P<.001, number of interventions k=30). The largest impact with a moderate level of efficacy was exerted from online interventions when compared with waitlists and placebos (d=0.28, 95% CI=0.17-0.39, P<.001, k=18), followed by comparison with lower-tech online interventions (d=0.16, 95% CI=0.00-0.32, P=.04, k=8); no significant difference was found when compared with sophisticated print interventions (d=-0.11, 95% CI=-0.34 to 0.12, P=.35, k=4), though online interventions offer a small effect with the advantage of lower costs and larger reach. Time proved to be a critical factor, with shorter interventions generally achieving larger impacts and greater adherence. For psychological design, most interventions drew from the transtheoretical approach and were goal orientated, deploying numerous influence components aimed at showing users the consequences of their behavior, assisting them in reaching goals, and providing normative pressure. Inconclusive results suggest a relationship between the number of influence components and intervention efficacy. Despite one contradictory correlation, the evidence suggests that study adherence, intervention adherence, and behavioral outcomes are correlated. These findings demonstrate that online interventions have the capacity to influence voluntary behaviors, such as those routinely targeted by social marketing campaigns. Given the high reach and low cost of online technologies, the stage may be set for increased public health campaigns that blend interpersonal online systems with mass-media outreach. Such a combination of approaches could help individuals achieve personal goals that, at an individual level, help citizens improve the quality of their lives and at a state level, contribute to healthier societies.

Are Health Behavior Change Interventions That Use Online Social Networks Effective? A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Lewis, Lucy K; Ferrar, Katia; Marshall, Simon; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse; Vandelanotte, Corneel

2014-01-01

Background The dramatic growth of Web 2.0 technologies and online social networks offers immense potential for the delivery of health behavior change campaigns. However, it is currently unclear how online social networks may best be harnessed to achieve health behavior change. Objective The intent of the study was to systematically review the current level of evidence regarding the effectiveness of online social network health behavior interventions. Methods Eight databases (Scopus, CINAHL, Medline, ProQuest, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Cochrane, Web of Science and Communication & Mass Media Complete) were searched from 2000 to present using a comprehensive search strategy. Study eligibility criteria were based on the PICOS format, where “population” included child or adult populations, including healthy and disease populations; “intervention” involved behavior change interventions targeting key modifiable health behaviors (tobacco and alcohol consumption, dietary intake, physical activity, and sedentary behavior) delivered either wholly or in part using online social networks; “comparator” was either a control group or within subject in the case of pre-post study designs; “outcomes” included health behavior change and closely related variables (such as theorized mediators of health behavior change, eg, self-efficacy); and “study design” included experimental studies reported in full-length peer-reviewed sources. Reports of intervention effectiveness were summarized and effect sizes (Cohen’s d and 95% confidence intervals) were calculated wherever possible. Attrition (percentage of people who completed the study), engagement (actual usage), and fidelity (actual usage/intended usage) with the social networking component of the interventions were scrutinized. Results A total of 2040 studies were identified from the database searches following removal of duplicates, of which 10 met inclusion criteria. The studies involved a total of 113,988 participants (ranging from n=10 to n=107,907). Interventions included commercial online health social network websites (n=2), research health social network websites (n=3), and multi-component interventions delivered in part via pre-existing popular online social network websites (Facebook n=4 and Twitter n=1). Nine of the 10 included studies reported significant improvements in some aspect of health behavior change or outcomes related to behavior change. Effect sizes for behavior change ranged widely from −0.05 (95% CI 0.45-0.35) to 0.84 (95% CI 0.49-1.19), but in general were small in magnitude and statistically non-significant. Participant attrition ranged from 0-84%. Engagement and fidelity were relatively low, with most studies achieving 5-15% fidelity (with one exception, which achieved 105% fidelity). Conclusions To date there is very modest evidence that interventions incorporating online social networks may be effective; however, this field of research is in its infancy. Further research is needed to determine how to maximize retention and engagement, whether behavior change can be sustained in the longer term, and to determine how to exploit online social networks to achieve mass dissemination. Specific recommendations for future research are provided. PMID:24550083

Are health behavior change interventions that use online social networks effective? A systematic review.

PubMed

Maher, Carol A; Lewis, Lucy K; Ferrar, Katia; Marshall, Simon; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse; Vandelanotte, Corneel

2014-02-14

The dramatic growth of Web 2.0 technologies and online social networks offers immense potential for the delivery of health behavior change campaigns. However, it is currently unclear how online social networks may best be harnessed to achieve health behavior change. The intent of the study was to systematically review the current level of evidence regarding the effectiveness of online social network health behavior interventions. Eight databases (Scopus, CINAHL, Medline, ProQuest, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Cochrane, Web of Science and Communication & Mass Media Complete) were searched from 2000 to present using a comprehensive search strategy. Study eligibility criteria were based on the PICOS format, where "population" included child or adult populations, including healthy and disease populations; "intervention" involved behavior change interventions targeting key modifiable health behaviors (tobacco and alcohol consumption, dietary intake, physical activity, and sedentary behavior) delivered either wholly or in part using online social networks; "comparator" was either a control group or within subject in the case of pre-post study designs; "outcomes" included health behavior change and closely related variables (such as theorized mediators of health behavior change, eg, self-efficacy); and "study design" included experimental studies reported in full-length peer-reviewed sources. Reports of intervention effectiveness were summarized and effect sizes (Cohen's d and 95% confidence intervals) were calculated wherever possible. Attrition (percentage of people who completed the study), engagement (actual usage), and fidelity (actual usage/intended usage) with the social networking component of the interventions were scrutinized. A total of 2040 studies were identified from the database searches following removal of duplicates, of which 10 met inclusion criteria. The studies involved a total of 113,988 participants (ranging from n=10 to n=107,907). Interventions included commercial online health social network websites (n=2), research health social network websites (n=3), and multi-component interventions delivered in part via pre-existing popular online social network websites (Facebook n=4 and Twitter n=1). Nine of the 10 included studies reported significant improvements in some aspect of health behavior change or outcomes related to behavior change. Effect sizes for behavior change ranged widely from -0.05 (95% CI 0.45-0.35) to 0.84 (95% CI 0.49-1.19), but in general were small in magnitude and statistically non-significant. Participant attrition ranged from 0-84%. Engagement and fidelity were relatively low, with most studies achieving 5-15% fidelity (with one exception, which achieved 105% fidelity). To date there is very modest evidence that interventions incorporating online social networks may be effective; however, this field of research is in its infancy. Further research is needed to determine how to maximize retention and engagement, whether behavior change can be sustained in the longer term, and to determine how to exploit online social networks to achieve mass dissemination. Specific recommendations for future research are provided.

Online Activity Levels Are Related to Caffeine Dependency.

PubMed

Phillips, James G; Landhuis, C Erik; Shepherd, Daniel; Ogeil, Rowan P

2016-05-01

Online activity could serve in the future as behavioral markers of emotional states for computer systems (i.e., affective computing). Hence, this study considered relationships between self-reported stimulant use and online study patterns. Sixty-two undergraduate psychology students estimated their daily caffeine use, and this was related to study patterns as tracked by their use of a Learning Management System (Blackboard). Caffeine dependency was associated with less time spent online, lower rates of file access, and fewer online activities completed. Reduced breadth or depth of processing during work/study could be used as a behavioral marker of stimulant use.

Perceived safety and teen risk taking in online chat sites.

PubMed

McCarty, Cheryl; Prawitz, Aimee D; Derscheid, Linda E; Montgomery, Bette

2011-03-01

Framed by theories of adolescent development, this study explored relationships among adolescents' perceptions of chat-site safety, time spent chatting, and risky online behaviors. Tenth graders (N = 139) in rural Midwestern U.S. schools completed surveys. Factor analysis produced three factors each for perception of safety and risk-taking behaviors. Regression analyses revealed that perception of safety factors were useful in predicting online risk-taking behaviors. Teens with more social discomfort and those who thought it was safe to reveal personal information and trust chat-site "friends" were more likely to take risks. As time spent in chat sites increased, so did risk-taking behaviors. Implications for educators and parents are discussed, such as initiation of conversations about safe Internet use, parental participation in chat sites as teens' invited "friends," and school programs to teach safe online practices.

Online Advertising in Social Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bagherjeiran, Abraham; Bhatt, Rushi P.; Parekh, Rajesh; Chaoji, Vineet

Online social networks offer opportunities to analyze user behavior and social connectivity and leverage resulting insights for effective online advertising. This chapter focuses on the role of social network information in online display advertising.

Technology and Community Behavior in Online Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blanchard, Anita L.; Markus, M. Lynne

The literature on virtual or online communities contains two largely disjoint bodies of scholarship. One, which we call the “communities” literature, is concerned primarily with the social and psychological processes observable within groups of people that interact regularly in online environments. The other, concerned primarily with the effects of technological environments on individual and group behavior, we call the “environments” literature.

Examining Culture's Impact on the Learning Behaviors of International Students from Confucius Culture Studying in Western Online Learning Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kang, Haijun; Chang, Bo

2016-01-01

There is a lack of shared understanding of how culture impacts learning in online environment. Utilizing document analysis, the authors in this research study culture's impact on the learning behaviors of student sojourners from Confucius culture studying in Western online learning context. The shared understandings of Confucius culture and…

Self-control in Online Discussions: Disinhibited Online Behavior as a Failure to Recognize Social Cues

PubMed Central

Voggeser, Birgit J.; Singh, Ranjit K.; Göritz, Anja S.

2018-01-01

In an online experiment we examined the role of self-control in recognizing social cues in the context of disinhibited online behavior (e.g., flaming and trolling). We temporarily lowered participants' self-control capacity with an ego depletion paradigm (i.e., color Stroop task). Next, we measured participants' sensitivity to social cues with an emotional Stroop task containing neutral, negative, and taboo words. Sensitivity to social cues is represented by the increase in reaction time to negative and especially taboo words compared to neutral words. As expected, undepleted participants were slower to process the color of negative and taboo words. By contrast, depleted participants (i.e., those with lowered self-control capacity) did not react differently to taboo or negative words than they did to neutral words. The experiment illustrates that self-control failure may manifest itself in a failure to recognize social cues. The finding underlines the importance of self-control in understanding disinhibited online behavior: Many instances of disinhibited online behavior may occur not because people are unable to control themselves, but because they do not realize that a situation calls for self-control in the first place. PMID:29375457

Self-control in Online Discussions: Disinhibited Online Behavior as a Failure to Recognize Social Cues.

PubMed

Voggeser, Birgit J; Singh, Ranjit K; Göritz, Anja S

2017-01-01

In an online experiment we examined the role of self-control in recognizing social cues in the context of disinhibited online behavior (e.g., flaming and trolling). We temporarily lowered participants' self-control capacity with an ego depletion paradigm (i.e., color Stroop task). Next, we measured participants' sensitivity to social cues with an emotional Stroop task containing neutral, negative, and taboo words. Sensitivity to social cues is represented by the increase in reaction time to negative and especially taboo words compared to neutral words. As expected, undepleted participants were slower to process the color of negative and taboo words. By contrast, depleted participants (i.e., those with lowered self-control capacity) did not react differently to taboo or negative words than they did to neutral words. The experiment illustrates that self-control failure may manifest itself in a failure to recognize social cues. The finding underlines the importance of self-control in understanding disinhibited online behavior: Many instances of disinhibited online behavior may occur not because people are unable to control themselves, but because they do not realize that a situation calls for self-control in the first place.

Online-offline activities and game-playing behaviors of avatars in a massive multiplayer online role-playing game

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Zhi-Qiang; Zhou, Wei-Xing; Tan, Qun-Zhao

2009-11-01

Massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) are very popular in China, which provides a potential platform for scientific research. We study the online-offline activities of avatars in an MMORPG to understand their game-playing behavior. The statistical analysis unveils that the active avatars can be classified into three types. The avatars of the first type are owned by game cheaters who go online and offline in preset time intervals with the online duration distributions dominated by pulses. The second type of avatars is characterized by a Weibull distribution in the online durations, which is confirmed by statistical tests. The distributions of online durations of the remaining individual avatars differ from the above two types and cannot be described by a simple form. These findings have potential applications in the game industry.

Social Cognitive Determinants of Nutrition and Physical Activity Among Web-Health Users Enrolling in an Online Intervention: The Influence of Social Support, Self-Efficacy, Outcome Expectations, and Self-Regulation

PubMed Central

Winett, Richard A; Wojcik, Janet R

2011-01-01

Background The Internet is a trusted source of health information for growing majorities of Web users. The promise of online health interventions will be realized with the development of purely online theory-based programs for Web users that are evaluated for program effectiveness and the application of behavior change theory within the online environment. Little is known, however, about the demographic, behavioral, or psychosocial characteristics of Web-health users who represent potential participants in online health promotion research. Nor do we understand how Web users’ psychosocial characteristics relate to their health behavior—information essential to the development of effective, theory-based online behavior change interventions. Objective This study examines the demographic, behavioral, and psychosocial characteristics of Web-health users recruited for an online social cognitive theory (SCT)-based nutrition, physical activity, and weight gain prevention intervention, the Web-based Guide to Health (WB-GTH). Methods Directed to the WB-GTH site by advertisements through online social and professional networks and through print and online media, participants were screened, consented, and assessed with demographic, physical activity, psychosocial, and food frequency questionnaires online (taking a total of about 1.25 hours); they also kept a 7-day log of daily steps and minutes walked. Results From 4700 visits to the site, 963 Web users consented to enroll in the study: 83% (803) were female, participants’ mean age was 44.4 years (SD 11.03 years), 91% (873) were white, and 61% (589) were college graduates; participants’ median annual household income was approximately US $85,000. Participants’ daily step counts were in the low-active range (mean 6485.78, SD 2352.54) and overall dietary levels were poor (total fat g/day, mean 77.79, SD 41.96; percent kcal from fat, mean 36.51, SD 5.92; fiber g/day, mean 17.74, SD 7.35; and fruit and vegetable servings/day, mean 4.03, SD 2.33). The Web-health users had good self-efficacy and outcome expectations for health behavior change; however, they perceived little social support for making these changes and engaged in few self-regulatory behaviors. Consistent with SCT, theoretical models provided good fit to Web-users’ data (root mean square error of the approximation [RMSEA] < .05). Perceived social support and use of self-regulatory behaviors were strong predictors of physical activity and nutrition behavior. Web users’ self-efficacy was also a good predictor of healthier levels of physical activity and dietary fat but not of fiber, fruits, and vegetables. Social support and self-efficacy indirectly predicted behavior through self-regulation, and social support had indirect effects through self-efficacy. Conclusions Results suggest Web-health users visiting and ultimately participating in online health interventions may likely be middle-aged, well-educated, upper middle class women whose detrimental health behaviors put them at risk of obesity, heart disease, some cancers, and diabetes. The success of Internet physical activity and nutrition interventions may depend on the extent to which they lead users to develop self-efficacy for behavior change, but perhaps as important, the extent to which these interventions help them garner social-support for making changes. Success of these interventions may also depend on the extent to which they provide a platform for setting goals, planning, tracking, and providing feedback on targeted behaviors. PMID:21441100

Sex Differences in Virtual Network Characteristics and Sexual Risk Behavior among Emerging Adults

PubMed Central

Cook, Stephanie H.; Bauermeister, José A.; Zimmerman, Marc A.

2016-01-01

Emerging adults (EAs)ages 18 to 24 account for a large proportion of all sexually transmitted infections (STIs), HIV infections, and unintended pregnancies in the United States. Given the increased influence of online media on decision-making, we examined how EA online networks were associated with sexual risk behaviors. We used egocentric network data collected from EAs aged 18 to 24 years old across the United States (N=1,687) to examine how online norms (e.g., acceptance of HIV infections, other STIs, and pregnancy) and network characteristics (i.e., network size and density; ties' closeness, race, age, and sex similarities) were associated with participants' unprotected vaginal intercourse (UVI) in the last 30 days. Findings suggested that in male EAs, there was a strong association between sexual norms, structural characteristics, and sexual risk behavior compared to females. Researchers and practitioners may wish to address online peer norms and EAs' online network composition when developing online sexual risk prevention tools. PMID:28083447

Examining Implicit and Explicit Evaluations of Sexual Aggression and Sexually Aggressive Behavior in Men Recruited Online.

PubMed

Hermann, Chantal A; Nunes, Kevin L; Maimone, Sacha

2016-12-05

The purpose of the current study was to explore the relationship between implicit and explicit evaluations of sexual aggression and indicators of sexually aggressive behavior in samples of students and community men recruited online. Participants were male undergraduate students recruited online from a Canadian University (N = 150) and men recruited from the community via an online panel (N = 378). Participants completed measures of implicit and explicit evaluations of sexual aggression, cognitive distortions regarding rape, self-reported past sexually aggressive behavior, and self-reported proclivity to commit sexually aggressive behavior. We found that more positive explicit evaluations and more cognitive distortions were moderately to strongly associated with sexual aggression; however, this was not the case for implicit evaluations of rape. Our results suggest that explicit evaluations of sexual aggression and cognitive distortions may be relevant for understanding sexual aggression against adults, and that more research is needed exploring whether or not implicit evaluations are associated with sexually aggressive behavior. © The Author(s) 2016.

Social media use and high-risk sexual behavior among Black men who have sex with men: A three-city study

PubMed Central

Broaddus, Michelle R.; DiFranceisco, Wayne J.; Kelly, Jeffrey A.; St. Lawrence, Janet S.; Amirkhanian, Yuri A.; Dickson-Gomez, Julia D.

2015-01-01

Black men who have sex with men (MSM) bear a disproportionate burden of HIV incidence in the United States. Little research has focused on the associations between social media use and sexual behavior among Black MSM. 205 Black MSM completed measures assessing social media use and sexual behaviors. Men spent an average of 34 hours per week on social media sites. 53% arranged sexual hookups online in the previous three months, and did so a mean of 10 times. Overall, users of social media and men who arranged sexual hookups online engaged in more risky behaviors than non-users and men who did not arrange sexual hookups online. However, partner-level data indicated that men engaged in fewer risky behaviors with partners met online compared to partners met in other ways such as at bars or through friends. Social media-based interventions designed to decrease HIV transmission among racial minority MSM are needed. PMID:25566762

Have It Their Way: Creating Personalized Online Challenges to Motivate Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Neill, Barbara; Ensle, Karen

2012-01-01

This article describes the development and evaluation of an online health and personal finance behavior change challenge that can be adapted for other Extension subject matter areas. The Small Steps to Health and Wealth™ Challenge is a behaviorally focused activity in which registered users self-report health and financial behaviors and receive…

Problematic internet use and problematic online gaming are not the same: findings from a large nationally representative adolescent sample.

PubMed

Király, Orsolya; Griffiths, Mark D; Urbán, Róbert; Farkas, Judit; Kökönyei, Gyöngyi; Elekes, Zsuzsanna; Tamás, Domokos; Demetrovics, Zsolt

2014-12-01

There is an ongoing debate in the literature whether problematic Internet use (PIU) and problematic online gaming (POG) are two distinct conceptual and nosological entities or whether they are the same. The present study contributes to this question by examining the interrelationship and the overlap between PIU and POG in terms of sex, school achievement, time spent using the Internet and/or online gaming, psychological well-being, and preferred online activities. Questionnaires assessing these variables were administered to a nationally representative sample of adolescent gamers (N=2,073; Mage=16.4 years, SD=0.87; 68.4% male). Data showed that Internet use was a common activity among adolescents, while online gaming was engaged in by a considerably smaller group. Similarly, more adolescents met the criteria for PIU than for POG, and a small group of adolescents showed symptoms of both problem behaviors. The most notable difference between the two problem behaviors was in terms of sex. POG was much more strongly associated with being male. Self-esteem had low effect sizes on both behaviors, while depressive symptoms were associated with both PIU and POG, affecting PIU slightly more. In terms of preferred online activities, PIU was positively associated with online gaming, online chatting, and social networking, while POG was only associated with online gaming. Based on our findings, POG appears to be a conceptually different behavior from PIU, and therefore the data support the notion that Internet Addiction Disorder and Internet Gaming Disorder are separate nosological entities.

Problematic Internet Use and Problematic Online Gaming Are Not the Same: Findings from a Large Nationally Representative Adolescent Sample

PubMed Central

Griffiths, Mark D.; Urbán, Róbert; Farkas, Judit; Kökönyei, Gyöngyi; Elekes, Zsuzsanna; Tamás, Domokos; Demetrovics, Zsolt

2014-01-01

Abstract There is an ongoing debate in the literature whether problematic Internet use (PIU) and problematic online gaming (POG) are two distinct conceptual and nosological entities or whether they are the same. The present study contributes to this question by examining the interrelationship and the overlap between PIU and POG in terms of sex, school achievement, time spent using the Internet and/or online gaming, psychological well-being, and preferred online activities. Questionnaires assessing these variables were administered to a nationally representative sample of adolescent gamers (N=2,073; Mage=16.4 years, SD=0.87; 68.4% male). Data showed that Internet use was a common activity among adolescents, while online gaming was engaged in by a considerably smaller group. Similarly, more adolescents met the criteria for PIU than for POG, and a small group of adolescents showed symptoms of both problem behaviors. The most notable difference between the two problem behaviors was in terms of sex. POG was much more strongly associated with being male. Self-esteem had low effect sizes on both behaviors, while depressive symptoms were associated with both PIU and POG, affecting PIU slightly more. In terms of preferred online activities, PIU was positively associated with online gaming, online chatting, and social networking, while POG was only associated with online gaming. Based on our findings, POG appears to be a conceptually different behavior from PIU, and therefore the data support the notion that Internet Addiction Disorder and Internet Gaming Disorder are separate nosological entities. PMID:25415659

Human-Assisted Machine Information Exploitation: a crowdsourced investigation of information-based problem solving

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kase, Sue E.; Vanni, Michelle; Caylor, Justine; Hoye, Jeff

2017-05-01

The Human-Assisted Machine Information Exploitation (HAMIE) investigation utilizes large-scale online data collection for developing models of information-based problem solving (IBPS) behavior in a simulated time-critical operational environment. These types of environments are characteristic of intelligence workflow processes conducted during human-geo-political unrest situations when the ability to make the best decision at the right time ensures strategic overmatch. The project takes a systems approach to Human Information Interaction (HII) by harnessing the expertise of crowds to model the interaction of the information consumer and the information required to solve a problem at different levels of system restrictiveness and decisional guidance. The design variables derived from Decision Support Systems (DSS) research represent the experimental conditions in this online single-player against-the-clock game where the player, acting in the role of an intelligence analyst, is tasked with a Commander's Critical Information Requirement (CCIR) in an information overload scenario. The player performs a sequence of three information processing tasks (annotation, relation identification, and link diagram formation) with the assistance of `HAMIE the robot' who offers varying levels of information understanding dependent on question complexity. We provide preliminary results from a pilot study conducted with Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT) participants on the Volunteer Science scientific research platform.

Building phonetic categories: an argument for the role of sleep

PubMed Central

Earle, F. Sayako; Myers, Emily B.

2014-01-01

The current review provides specific predictions for the role of sleep-mediated memory consolidation in the formation of new speech sound representations. Specifically, this discussion will highlight selected literature on the different ideas concerning category representation in speech, followed by a broad overview of memory consolidation and how it relates to human behavior, as relevant to speech/perceptual learning. In combining behavioral and physiological accounts from animal models with insights from the human consolidation literature on auditory skill/word learning, we are in the early stages of understanding how the transfer of experiential information between brain structures during sleep manifests in changes to online perception. Arriving at the conclusion that this process is crucial in perceptual learning and the formation of novel categories, further speculation yields the adjacent claim that the habitual disruption in this process leads to impoverished quality in the representation of speech sounds. PMID:25477828

A theory-based online health behavior intervention for new university students: study protocol

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Too few young people engage in behaviors that reduce the risk of morbidity and premature mortality, such as eating healthily, being physically active, drinking sensibly and not smoking. The present research developed an online intervention to target these health behaviors during the significant life transition from school to university when health beliefs and behaviors may be more open to change. This paper describes the intervention and the proposed approach to its evaluation. Methods/design Potential participants (all undergraduates about to enter the University of Sheffield) will be emailed an online questionnaire two weeks before starting university. On completion of the questionnaire, respondents will be randomly assigned to receive either an online health behavior intervention (U@Uni) or a control condition. The intervention employs three behavior change techniques (self-affirmation, theory-based messages, and implementation intentions) to target four heath behaviors (alcohol consumption, physical activity, fruit and vegetable intake, and smoking). Subsequently, all participants will be emailed follow-up questionnaires approximately one and six months after starting university. The questionnaires will assess the four targeted behaviors and associated cognitions (e.g., intentions, self-efficacy) as well as socio-demographic variables, health status, Body Mass Index (BMI), health service use and recreational drug use. A sub-sample of participants will provide a sample of hair to assess changes in biochemical markers of health behavior. A health economic evaluation of the cost effectiveness of the intervention will also be conducted. Discussion The findings will provide evidence on the effectiveness of online interventions as well as the potential for intervening during significant life transitions, such as the move from school to university. If successful, the intervention could be employed at other universities to promote healthy behaviors among new undergraduates. Trial registration Current Controlled Trials, ISRCTN67684181. PMID:23384237

Open source data reveals connection between online and on-street protest activity.

PubMed

Qi, Hong; Manrique, Pedro; Johnson, Daniela; Restrepo, Elvira; Johnson, Neil F

There is enormous interest in inferring features of human behavior in the real world from potential digital footprints created online - particularly at the collective level, where the sheer volume of online activity may indicate some changing mood within the population regarding a particular topic. Civil unrest is a prime example, involving the spontaneous appearance of large crowds of otherwise unrelated people on the street on a certain day. While indicators of brewing protests might be gleaned from individual online communications or account content (e.g. Twitter, Facebook) societal concerns regarding privacy can make such probing a politically delicate issue. Here we show that instead, a simple low-level indicator of civil unrest can be obtained from online data at the aggregate level through Google Trends or similar tools. Our study covers countries across Latin America during 2011-2014 in which diverse civil unrest events took place. In each case, we find that the combination of the volume and momentum of searches from Google Trends surrounding pairs of simple keywords, tailored for the specific cultural setting, provide good indicators of periods of civil unrest. This proof-of-concept study motivates the search for more geographically specific indicators based on geo-located searches at the urban level.

A Study of the Antecedents and Consequences of Members' Helping Behaviors in Online Community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chu, Kuo-Ming

Despite the growing popularity of online communities, there are a major gap between practitioners and academicians as to how to share information and knowledge among members of these groups. However, none of the previous studies have integrated these variables into a more comprehensive framework. Thus more validations are required the aim of this paper is to develop a theoretical model that enables us to examine the antecedents and consequences effects of members’ helping behavior in online communities. The moderating effects of the sense of community on the relationships between members’ helping behaviors on information sharing and knowledge contribution are also evaluated. A complete model is developed for empirical testing. Using Yahoo’s members as the samples of this study, the empirical results suggested that online communities members’ helping behavior represents a large pool of product know-how. They seem to be a promising source of innovation capabilities for new product development.

Online Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Software Training through the Behavioral Modeling Approach: A Longitudinal Field Experiment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Charlie C.; Shaw, Ruey-shiang

2006-01-01

The continued and increasing use of online training raises the question of whether the most effective training methods applied in live instruction will carry over to different online environments in the long run. Behavior Modeling (BM) approach--teaching through demonstration--has been proven as the most effective approach in a face-to-face (F2F)…

Predatory Online Behavior: Modus Operandi of Convicted Sex Offenders in Identifying Potential Victims and Contacting Minors over the Internet

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malesky, L. Alvin, Jr.

2007-01-01

Sex offenders have used the Internet to identify and contact minors for sexual exploitation (Armagh, 1998; Hernandez, 2000; Lamb, 1998; Lanning, 1998). Yet little is known about how these individuals select their online victims. In order to gain a better understanding of this behavior, the online activity of 31 men who perpetrated or attempted to…

Mental disorder recovery correlated with centralities and interactions on an online social network

PubMed Central

Sayama, Hiroki

2015-01-01

Recent research has established both a theoretical basis and strong empirical evidence that effective social behavior plays a beneficial role in the maintenance of physical and psychological well-being of people. To test whether social behavior and well-being are also associated in online communities, we studied the correlations between the recovery of patients with mental disorders and their behaviors in online social media. As the source of the data related to the social behavior and progress of mental recovery, we used PatientsLikeMe (PLM), the world’s first open-participation research platform for the development of patient-centered health outcome measures. We first constructed an online social network structure based on patient-to-patient ties among 200 patients obtained from PLM. We then characterized patients’ online social activities by measuring the numbers of “posts and views” and “helpful marks” each patient obtained. The patients’ recovery data were obtained from their self-reported status information that was also available on PLM. We found that some node properties (in-degree, eigenvector centrality and PageRank) and the two online social activity measures were significantly correlated with patients’ recovery. Furthermore, we re-collected the patients’ recovery data two months after the first data collection. We found significant correlations between the patients’ social behaviors and the second recovery data, which were collected two months apart. Our results indicated that social interactions in online communities such as PLM were significantly associated with the current and future recoveries of patients with mental disorders. PMID:26312174

Self-control predicts attentional bias assessed by online shopping-related Stroop in high online shopping addiction tendency college students.

PubMed

Jiang, Zhaocai; Zhao, Xiuxin; Li, Cancan

2017-05-01

The aim of this study was to examine the relationships of personality types (i.e., self-control, BAS/BIS) and online shopping addiction (OSA) behavior and to investigate whether high-OSA tendency individuals display attentional biases toward online shopping-related (OS-related) stimuli as well as the links between attentional bias and personality types. The study included 98 college students divided into three groups (i.e., high-, medium- and low-OSA) according to their OSA behavior. The personality types (i.e., self-control, BAS/BIS) and OSA behavior were investigated by questionnaires. The attentional bias was evaluated by the OS-related Stroop and dot-probe task (DPT) paradigms. OSA was positively predicted by time spent on online shopping per day and average consumption for online shopping monthly, and negatively by self-control. High-OSA individuals displayed significant attentional biases toward OS-related stimuli in the Stroop, but not DPT paradigm. Moreover, the attentional bias toward OSA-related stimuli in high-OSA individuals was negatively correlated with self-control. These findings demonstrated the critical role of self-control in OSA behavior and attentional bias to OS-related stimuli in high-OSA individuals, indicating that more importance should be attached to self-control for the clinical intervention of online shopping addiction in future studies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Are online poker problem gamblers sensation seekers?

PubMed

Bonnaire, Céline; Barrault, Servane

2018-06-01

The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between sensation seeking and online poker gambling in a community sample of adult online poker players, when controlling for age, gender, anxiety and depression. In total, 288 online poker gamblers were recruited. Sociodemographic data, gambling behavior (CPGI), sensation seeking (SSS), depression and anxiety (HADS) were evaluated. Problem online poker gamblers have higher sensation seeking scores (total, thrill and adventure, disinhibition and boredom susceptibility subscores) and depression scores than non-problem online poker gamblers. Being male, with total sensation seeking, disinhibition and depression scores are factors associated with online poker problem gambling. These findings are interesting in terms of harm reduction. For example, because disinhibition could lead to increased time and money spent, protective behavioral strategies like setting time and monetary limits should be encouraged in poker online gamblers. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Behavioral health support and online peer communities: international experiences

PubMed Central

Harding, Claire

2016-01-01

Online peer support communities play an important part in many people’s experience of healthcare. They can be particularly significant in behavioral health/mental health due to the difficulties that people may experience in accessing face to face care for these conditions. There is considerable diversity of practice in service management, target group, and moderation practices of online peer support communities. People using the communities also appear to have diverse aims and experiences. This heterogeneity contributes to a relative lack of data about the value and effectiveness of online peer support in behavioral health, although there is significant research into some aspects of these communities. The digital behavioral health service Big White Wall was launched in the UK in 2007, and in the US in 2015, and is focused on delivering moderated peer support. There are considerable differences in health systems between the two countries, and this has been reflected in different experiences of implementation. The value of online peer support could be maximized if systemic challenges to implementation and adoption were addressed more effectively. PMID:28293613

The Relationship Between Online Social Network Use, Sexual Risk Behaviors, and HIV Sero-Status Among a Sample of Predominately African American and Latino Men Who have Sex with Men (MSM) Social Media Users.

PubMed

Chiu, ChingChe J; Young, Sean D

2015-06-01

Social networking technologies have emerged as potential platforms to reach HIV(+) MSM in HIV interventions. This study sought to compare use of online social networking sites (SNSs) and sexual risk behaviors between HIV(+) and HIV(-) individuals among a sample of predominately African American and Latino SNS-using MSM. A total of 112 MSM Facebook users were recruited online and offline and completed an online survey. We performed regression models to assess the association between HIV status, SNS use, and sexual risk behaviors. After adjusting for age, race, and employment status, being HIV positive was significantly associated with a greater number of sexual partners (ARR = 2.84, p = 0.0017) and lower comfort levels of discussing HIV/STI status on SNSs (AOR: 0.23, p = 0.011). Findings suggest that HIV status is associated with sexual risk behaviors and SNS use among SNS-using MSM. We discuss the implications for online HIV prevention.

Count Your Calories and Share Them: Health Benefits of Sharing mHealth Information on Social Networking Sites.

PubMed

Oeldorf-Hirsch, Anne; High, Andrew C; Christensen, John L

2018-04-23

This study investigates the relationship between sharing tracked mobile health (mHealth) information online, supportive communication, feedback, and health behavior. Based on the Integrated Theory of mHealth, our model asserts that sharing tracked health information on social networking sites benefits users' perceptions of their health because of the supportive communication they gain from members of their online social networks and that the amount of feedback people receive moderates these associations. Users of mHealth apps (N = 511) completed an online survey, and results revealed that both sharing tracked health information and receiving feedback from an online social network were positively associated with supportive communication. Network support both corresponded with improved health behavior and mediated the association between sharing health information and users' health behavior. As users received greater amounts of feedback from their online social networks, however, the association between sharing tracked health information and health behavior decreased. Theoretical implications for sharing tracked health information and practical implications for using mHealth apps are discussed.

The Prevalence of Online Health Information Seeking Among Patients in Scotland: A Cross-Sectional Exploratory Study

PubMed Central

French, Tara L; Cumming, Grant P

2015-01-01

Background Online health information seeking is an activity that needs to be explored in Scotland. While there are a growing number of studies that adopt a qualitative approach to this issue and attempt to understand the behaviors associated with online health information seeking, previous studies focusing on quantifying the prevalence and pattern of online health seeking in the United Kingdom have been based on Internet users in general. Objective This exploratory study sought to describe the prevalence of online health information seeking in a rural area of Scotland based on primary data from a patient population. Methods A survey design was employed utilizing self-completed questionnaires, based on the Pew Internet and American Life Project; questionnaires were distributed among adult patients in 10 primary care centers in a rural community in Scotland. Results A convenience sample of 571 (0.10% of the total population in Grampian, N=581,198) patients completed the questionnaire. A total of 68.4% (379/554) of patients had previously used the Internet to acquire health information. A total of 25.4% (136/536) of patients consulted the Internet for health information regarding their current appointment on the day surveyed; 34.6% (47/136) of these patients were influenced to attend their appointment as a result of that online health information. A total of 43.2% (207/479) of patients stated the health information helped improve their health and 67.1% (290/432) indicated that they had learned something new. A total of 34.0% (146/430) of patients talked to a health professional about the information they had found and 90.0% (376/418) reported that the information was useful. In total, 70.4% (145/206) of patients were concerned about obtaining health information online from reliable sources. A total of 67.1% (139/207) of patients were concerned that a health site may sell their personal information, yet only 6.7% (36/535) checked the privacy policy of the site visited. However, 27.9% (55/197) of patients were not concerned about their employer finding out what health sites they visited, whereas 37.5% (78/208) were concerned that others would find out. Conclusions The results suggest that online health information-seeking behavior influences offline health-related behavior among the population surveyed. Patient attitudes to online health information seeking were focused on issues relating to trust, reliability, privacy, and confidentiality. This study provides support for the growing phenomenon of an empowered, computer-literate, health information consumer, and the impact of this phenomenon must be considered in the context of the patient-health professional dynamic. The unpredictable nature of human thought and action in relation to this field of study requires an ongoing program of ethnographic research, both physical and virtual, within a Health Web Science framework. This study has provided a baseline of the prevalence of online health information seeking in the Grampian region of Scotland. PMID:26177562

Factores que Influencian la Adquisición de Infecciones de Transmisión Sexual y VIH en Mujeres Jóvenes Chilenas que Participaron en la Intervención Online I-STIPI (Factors That Influence the Acquisition of Sexually Transmitted Infections and HIV in Chilean Young Women Who Participated in the Online Intervention I-STIPI).

PubMed

Villegas, Natalia; Cianelli, Rosina; Santisteban, Daniel; Lara, Loreto; Vargas, Jessica

2016-03-01

The aim of this descriptive cross-sectional study was to investigate the following factors associated with sexually transmitted infections and human immunodeficiency virus prevention: (a) knowledge, (b) attitudes, (c) self-efficacy, (d) vulnerability, (e) risky behaviors, (f) preventive behaviors, and (g) internet use among 40 Chilean women between 18 and 24 years who participated in the pilot of an Internet based STI/HIV prevention intervention (I-STIPI). A structured questionnaire available in a secure website was used for data collection and it included questions related to STI and HIV prevention. The results of the study indicated that young women are at risk of acquiring STIs and HIV and have special needs for prevention. Familiarity and frequency of use of internet in this population can be used for STIs and HIV prevention. © 2016. All rights reserved.

Red, Purple and Pink: The Colors of Diffusion on Pinterest

PubMed Central

Bakhshi, Saeideh; Gilbert, Eric

2015-01-01

Many lab studies have shown that colors can evoke powerful emotions and impact human behavior. Might these phenomena drive how we act online? A key research challenge for image-sharing communities is uncovering the mechanisms by which content spreads through the community. In this paper, we investigate whether there is link between color and diffusion. Drawing on a corpus of one million images crawled from Pinterest, we find that color significantly impacts the diffusion of images and adoption of content on image sharing communities such as Pinterest, even after partially controlling for network structure and activity. Specifically, Red, Purple and pink seem to promote diffusion, while Green, Blue, Black and Yellow suppress it. To our knowledge, our study is the first to investigate how colors relate to online user behavior. In addition to contributing to the research conversation surrounding diffusion, these findings suggest future work using sophisticated computer vision techniques. We conclude with a discussion on the theoretical, practical and design implications suggested by this work—e.g. design of engaging image filters. PMID:25658423

Exploring the Behavioral Patterns of Learners in an Educational Massively Multiple Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hou, Huei-Tse

2012-01-01

Massively multiple online role-playing games (MMORPGs) are very popular among students. Educational MMORPGs, however, are very rare, as are studies on gamers' behavioral patterns during such games. The current study is an empirical observation and analysis of the behavioral patterns of 100 gamers participating in an educational MMORPG called…

Private Turns: A Student's Off-Screen Behaviors during Synchronous Online Japanese Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Suzuki, Satomi

2013-01-01

Although distance language education has been widely adopted in university learning, very few researchers to date have looked at off-screen behaviors of second/foreign language learners in their physical environments while they engage in synchronous (real-time) online courses. This study examined one focal student's off-screen behaviors while…

Moms and Media: Exploring the Effects of Online Communication on Infant Feeding Practices.

PubMed

McKeever, Robert; McKeever, Brooke W

2017-09-01

Using a survey of mothers with young children (N = 455), this study applies Fishbein and Ajzen's reasoned action approach (RAA) to examine the relationship between online communication and infant feeding practices. Contrary to expectations, attitudes, perceived normative pressure, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) did not fully mediate the relationship between time spent online and behavioral intentions. Our findings indicate a significant, direct, negative association between time spent online and breastfeeding intentions In this article, theoretical and practical implications for health communication are discussed.

Distinct fronto-striatal couplings reveal the double-faced nature of response-outcome relations in instruction-based learning.

PubMed

Ruge, Hannes; Wolfensteller, Uta

2015-06-01

Higher species commonly learn novel behaviors by evaluating retrospectively whether actions have yielded desirable outcomes. By relying on explicit behavioral instructions, only humans can use an acquisition shortcut that prospectively specifies how to yield intended outcomes under the appropriate stimulus conditions. A recent and largely unexplored hypothesis suggests that striatal areas interact with lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) when novel behaviors are learned via explicit instruction, and that regional subspecialization exists for the integration of differential response-outcome contingencies into the current task model. Behaviorally, outcome integration during instruction-based learning has been linked to functionally distinct performance indices. This includes (1) compatibility effects, measured in a postlearning test procedure probing the encoding strength of outcome-response (O-R) associations, and (2) increasing response slowing across learning, putatively indicating active usage of O-R associations for the online control of goal-directed action. In the present fMRI study, we examined correlations between these behavioral indices and the dynamics of fronto-striatal couplings in order to mutually constrain and refine the interpretation of neural and behavioral measures in terms of separable subprocesses during outcome integration. We found that O-R encoding strength correlated with LPFC-putamen coupling, suggesting that the putamen is relevant for the formation of both S-R habits and habit-like O-R associations. By contrast, response slowing as a putative index of active usage of O-R associations correlated with LPFC-caudate coupling. This finding highlights the relevance of the caudate for the online control of goal-directed action also under instruction-based learning conditions, and in turn clarifies the functional relevance of the behavioral slowing effect.

Towards Validation of an Adaptive Flight Control Simulation Using Statistical Emulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

He, Yuning; Lee, Herbert K. H.; Davies, Misty D.

2012-01-01

Traditional validation of flight control systems is based primarily upon empirical testing. Empirical testing is sufficient for simple systems in which a.) the behavior is approximately linear and b.) humans are in-the-loop and responsible for off-nominal flight regimes. A different possible concept of operation is to use adaptive flight control systems with online learning neural networks (OLNNs) in combination with a human pilot for off-nominal flight behavior (such as when a plane has been damaged). Validating these systems is difficult because the controller is changing during the flight in a nonlinear way, and because the pilot and the control system have the potential to co-adapt in adverse ways traditional empirical methods are unlikely to provide any guarantees in this case. Additionally, the time it takes to find unsafe regions within the flight envelope using empirical testing means that the time between adaptive controller design iterations is large. This paper describes a new concept for validating adaptive control systems using methods based on Bayesian statistics. This validation framework allows the analyst to build nonlinear models with modal behavior, and to have an uncertainty estimate for the difference between the behaviors of the model and system under test.

Examining Gender Differences toward the Adoption of Online Learning and Predicting the Readiness of Faculty Members in a Middle-Eastern Recently Established Public University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abahussain, Mohammed Mansour

2017-01-01

This quantitative study examined the gender-based difference toward the adoption of online learning based on constructs of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). It is also aimed to predict the Behavioral Intention of the adoption of online learning based on the predicting variables of the TPB, Attitude, Subjective Norm, and Perceived Behavioral…

Face-to-Face Contact at the Midpoint of an Online Collaboration: Its Impact on the Patterns of Participation, Interaction, Affect, and Behavior over Time

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Michinov, Nicolas; Michinov, Estelle

2008-01-01

This paper describes some of the consequences of introducing a face-to-face contact during an online collaborative learning session. Previous research on the development of online groups has suggested a critical transition period at the midpoint of a collaborative task in which group members redefine their behavior. The purpose of the present…

Men's harassment behavior in online video games: Personality traits and game factors.

PubMed

Tang, Wai Yen; Fox, Jesse

2016-11-01

Online video games afford co-play and social interaction, often anonymous, among players from around the world. As predicted by the social identity model of deindividuation effects, undesirable behavior is not uncommon in online gaming environments, and online harassment has become a pervasive issue in the gaming community. In this study, we sought to determine what personality traits and game-related variables predicted two types of online aggression in video games: general harassment (e.g., skill-based taunting, insulting others' intelligence) and sexual harassment (e.g., sexist comments, rape threats). Men who play online video games (N = 425) participated in an anonymous online survey. Social dominance orientation and hostile sexism predicted higher levels of both sexual harassment and general harassment in online games. Game involvement and hours of weekly gameplay were additional predictors of general harassment. We discuss implications of online social aggression and online sexual harassment for online gaming. We also apply our findings to the broader understanding of online harassment, cyberaggression, cyberbullying, and other forms of online hostility in computer-mediated communication contexts. Aggr. Behav. 42:513-521, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Conducting interactive experiments online.

PubMed

Arechar, Antonio A; Gächter, Simon; Molleman, Lucas

2018-01-01

Online labor markets provide new opportunities for behavioral research, but conducting economic experiments online raises important methodological challenges. This particularly holds for interactive designs. In this paper, we provide a methodological discussion of the similarities and differences between interactive experiments conducted in the laboratory and online. To this end, we conduct a repeated public goods experiment with and without punishment using samples from the laboratory and the online platform Amazon Mechanical Turk. We chose to replicate this experiment because it is long and logistically complex. It therefore provides a good case study for discussing the methodological and practical challenges of online interactive experimentation. We find that basic behavioral patterns of cooperation and punishment in the laboratory are replicable online. The most important challenge of online interactive experiments is participant dropout. We discuss measures for reducing dropout and show that, for our case study, dropouts are exogenous to the experiment. We conclude that data quality for interactive experiments via the Internet is adequate and reliable, making online interactive experimentation a potentially valuable complement to laboratory studies.

Online discussion effects on intention to participate in genetic research: A longitudinal experimental study.

PubMed

Kim, Sojung Claire; Cappella, Joseph N; Price, Vincent

2016-09-01

The National Human Genome Research Institute has emphasised community engagement and public dialogue in the U.S. on issues related to genetics. This study examines how online discussions among the U.S. public directly or indirectly influence psychosocial constructs of the Theory of Planned Behavior, including intention to take part in genetic research. After completing the baseline questionnaire, participants (n = 3754) were randomly assigned to one of the following three groups: the discussion group, the pre-/post-only group and the End-of-Project group. The discussion group (n = 1824) was invited and participated in up to three online discussions, which were held from November 2008 to May 2009. Behavioural intention, beliefs, attitudes, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control variables were assessed. The most interesting finding was that those participating in online discussions had fewer negative beliefs about volunteering for genetic research, which in turn contributed to more positive attitudes, increased injunctive and descriptive norms and enhanced behavioural control. These relationships, then, were associated with higher intention to participate in genetic research. These findings suggest that continuous public discussions seem to positively affect volunteer intention for genetic research through ameliorating fears of negative consequences.

A Peer-Led, Social Media-Delivered, Safer Sex Intervention for Chinese College Students: Randomized Controlled Trial

PubMed Central

Sun, Wai Han; Wong, Carlos King Ho

2017-01-01

Background The peer-led, social media-delivered intervention is an emerging method in sexual health promotion. However, no research has yet investigated its effectiveness as compared with other online channels or in an Asian population. Objective The objective of this study is to compare a peer-led, social media-delivered, safer sex intervention with a sexual health website. Both conditions target Chinese college students in Hong Kong. Methods A randomized controlled trial was conducted with a peer-led, safer sex Facebook group as the intervention and an existing online sexual health website as the control. The intervention materials were developed with peer input and followed the information-motivation-behavioral skills model; the intervention was moderated by peer educators. The participants filled out the online questionnaires before and after the 6-week intervention period. Outcome evaluations included safer sex attitudes, behavioral skills, and behaviors, while process evaluation focused on online experience, online-visiting frequency, and online engagement. The effect of online-visiting frequency and online engagement on outcome variables was investigated. Results Of 196 eligible participants—100 in the control group and 96 in the intervention group—who joined the study, 2 (1.0%) control participants joined the Facebook group and 24 of the remaining 194 participants (12.4%) were lost to follow-up. For the process evaluation, participants in the intervention group reported more satisfying online experiences (P<.001) and a higher level of online-visiting frequency (P<.001). They also had more positive comments when compared with the control group. For outcome evaluation, within-group analysis showed significant improvement in condom use attitude (P=.02) and behavioral skills (P<.001) in the intervention group, but not in the control group. No significant between-group difference was found. After adjusting for demographic data, increased online-visiting frequency was associated with better contraceptive use behavioral intention (P=.05), better behavioral skills (P=.02), and more frequent condom use (P=.04). Conclusions A peer-led, social media-delivered, safer sex intervention was found to be feasible and effective in improving attitudes toward condom use and behavioral skills, but was not significantly more effective than a website. Future research may focus on the long-term effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of this popular method, as well as the potential cultural differences of using social media between different countries. Trial Registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR): ChiCTR-IOR-16009495; http://www.chictr.org.cn/showprojen.aspx?proj=16234 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6s0Fc2L9T) PMID:28793980

A Peer-Led, Social Media-Delivered, Safer Sex Intervention for Chinese College Students: Randomized Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Sun, Wai Han; Wong, Carlos King Ho; Wong, William Chi Wai

2017-08-09

The peer-led, social media-delivered intervention is an emerging method in sexual health promotion. However, no research has yet investigated its effectiveness as compared with other online channels or in an Asian population. The objective of this study is to compare a peer-led, social media-delivered, safer sex intervention with a sexual health website. Both conditions target Chinese college students in Hong Kong. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with a peer-led, safer sex Facebook group as the intervention and an existing online sexual health website as the control. The intervention materials were developed with peer input and followed the information-motivation-behavioral skills model; the intervention was moderated by peer educators. The participants filled out the online questionnaires before and after the 6-week intervention period. Outcome evaluations included safer sex attitudes, behavioral skills, and behaviors, while process evaluation focused on online experience, online-visiting frequency, and online engagement. The effect of online-visiting frequency and online engagement on outcome variables was investigated. Of 196 eligible participants-100 in the control group and 96 in the intervention group-who joined the study, 2 (1.0%) control participants joined the Facebook group and 24 of the remaining 194 participants (12.4%) were lost to follow-up. For the process evaluation, participants in the intervention group reported more satisfying online experiences (P<.001) and a higher level of online-visiting frequency (P<.001). They also had more positive comments when compared with the control group. For outcome evaluation, within-group analysis showed significant improvement in condom use attitude (P=.02) and behavioral skills (P<.001) in the intervention group, but not in the control group. No significant between-group difference was found. After adjusting for demographic data, increased online-visiting frequency was associated with better contraceptive use behavioral intention (P=.05), better behavioral skills (P=.02), and more frequent condom use (P=.04). A peer-led, social media-delivered, safer sex intervention was found to be feasible and effective in improving attitudes toward condom use and behavioral skills, but was not significantly more effective than a website. Future research may focus on the long-term effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of this popular method, as well as the potential cultural differences of using social media between different countries. Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR): ChiCTR-IOR-16009495; http://www.chictr.org.cn/showprojen.aspx?proj=16234 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6s0Fc2L9T). ©Wai Han Sun, Carlos King Ho Wong, William Chi Wai Wong. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 09.08.2017.

Structural characteristics of the online social networks of maltreated youth and offline sexual risk behavior.

PubMed

Negriff, Sonya; Valente, Thomas W

2018-02-07

Maltreated youth are at risk for exposure to online sexual content and high-risk sexual behavior, yet characteristics of their online social networks have not been examined as a potential source of vulnerability. The aims of the current study were: 1) to test indicators of size (number of friends) and fragmentation (number of connections between friends) of maltreated young adults' online networks as predictors of intentional and unintentional exposure to sexual content and offline high-risk sexual behavior and 2) to test maltreatment as a moderator of these associations. Participants were selected from a longitudinal study on the effects of child maltreatment (n = 152; Mean age 21.84 years). Data downloaded from Facebook were used to calculate network variables of size (number of friends), density (connections between friends), average degree (average number of connections for each friend), and percent isolates (those not connected to others in the network). Self-reports of intentional and unintentional exposure to online sexual content and offline high-risk sexual behavior were the outcome variables. Multiple-group path modeling showed that only for the maltreated group having a higher percent of isolates in the network predicted intentional exposure to online sexual content and offline high-risk sexual behavior. An implication of this finding is that the composition of the Facebook network may be used as a risk indicator for individuals with child-welfare documented maltreatment experiences. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

A grounded theory of faculty's use of humanization to create online course climate.

PubMed

Cox-Davenport, Rebecca A

2014-03-01

The purpose of this research was to study the way faculty establish course social presence in an online course. The community of inquiry model by Garrison, Anderson, and Archer distinguished the area of social presence as an important component of online learning, and this study sought to understand how faculty perceive and create social presence in their online classroom. By employing a grounded theory approach, a substantive theory was developed to explain the way in which faculty create and maintain an online course climate. The sample consisted of 10 nursing faculty teaching various master's in nursing courses. Through a rigorous qualitative process using nursing faculty interviews and online course analysis, humanization was found to be the core category in setting online course climate. Faculty's efforts to humanize the climate lead each member of the community to view the other members as real, thereby enabling the establishment of online social presence.

Association of Online Health Information–Seeking Behavior and Self-Care Activities Among Type 2 Diabetic Patients in Saudi Arabia

PubMed Central

AlHumud, Ahmed; Al-Duhyyim, Abdulaziz; Alrashed, Mohammed; Bin Shabr, Faisal; Alteraif, Alwalid; Almuziri, Abdullah; Househ, Mowafa; Qureshi, Riaz

2015-01-01

Background Health information obtained from the Internet has an impact on patient health care outcomes. There is a growing concern over the quality of online health information sources used by diabetic patients because little is known about their health information–seeking behavior and the impact this behavior has on their diabetes-related self-care, in particular in the Middle East setting. Objective The aim of this study was to determine the online health-related information–seeking behavior among adult type 2 diabetic patients in the Middle East and the impact of their online health-related information–seeking behavior on their self-care activities. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 344 patients with type 2 diabetes attending inpatient and outpatient primary health care clinics at 2 teaching hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The main outcome measures included the ability of patients to access the Internet, their ability to use the Internet to search for health-related information, and their responses to Internet searches in relation to their self-care activities. Further analysis of differences based on age, gender, sociodemographic, and diabetes-related self-care activities among online health-related information seekers and nononline health-related information seekers was conducted. Results Among the 344 patients, 74.1% (255/344) were male with a mean age of 53.5 (SD 13.8) years. Only 39.0% (134/344) were Internet users; 71.6% (96/134) of them used the Internet for seeking health-related information. Most participants reported that their primary source of health-related information was their physician (216/344, 62.8%) followed by television (155/344, 45.1%), family (113/344, 32.8%), newspapers (100/344, 29.1%), and the Internet (96/344, 27.9%). Primary topics participants searched for were therapeutic diet for diabetes (55/96, 57%) and symptoms of diabetes (52/96, 54%) followed by diabetes treatment (50/96, 52%). Long history of diabetes, familial history of the disease, unemployment, and not seeking diabetes education were the most common barriers for online health-related information–seeking behavior. Younger age, female, marital status, higher education, higher income, and longer duration of Internet usage were associated with more online health-related information–seeking behaviors. Most (89/96, 93%) online health-related information seekers reported positive change in their behaviors after seeking online health information. Overall odds ratio (OR 1.56, 95% CI 0.63-3.28) for all self-care responses demonstrated that there was no statistically significant difference between those seeking health-related information online and non–health-related information seekers. However, health-related information seekers were better in testing their blood glucose regularly, taking proper action for hyperglycemia, and adopting nonpharmacological management. Conclusions Physicians and television are still the primary sources of health-related information for adult diabetic patients in Saudi Arabia whether they seek health-related information online or not. This study demonstrates that participants seeking online health-related information are more conscious about their diabetes self-care compared to non–health-related information seekers in some aspects more than the others. PMID:26268425

Assessing the Risk Factors of Cyber and Mobile Phone Bullying Victimization in a Nationally Representative Sample of Singapore Youth.

PubMed

Holt, Thomas J; Fitzgerald, Sarah; Bossler, Adam M; Chee, Grace; Ng, Esther

2016-04-01

This study utilized routine activity theory to examine the relationships between online behaviors, target suitability, and cyber and mobile phone-based bullying victimization in a nationally representative sample of youth from nine schools across Singapore. Key measures in all three categories-access to technology, online routine behaviors, and target suitability-were significant predictors of both forms of bullying victimization. In particular, females and victims of physical bullying were more likely to experience both forms of victimization. Access to technology and online routine behaviors predicted cyber and mobile phone-based bullying victimization differently. These findings demonstrate that routine activity theory is a viable framework to understand online bullying in non-Western nations, consistent with the existing literature on Western nations. © The Author(s) 2014.

Multimodal game bot detection using user behavioral characteristics.

PubMed

Kang, Ah Reum; Jeong, Seong Hoon; Mohaisen, Aziz; Kim, Huy Kang

2016-01-01

As the online service industry has continued to grow, illegal activities in the online world have drastically increased and become more diverse. Most illegal activities occur continuously because cyber assets, such as game items and cyber money in online games, can be monetized into real currency. The aim of this study is to detect game bots in a massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG). We observed the behavioral characteristics of game bots and found that they execute repetitive tasks associated with gold farming and real money trading. We propose a game bot detection method based on user behavioral characteristics. The method of this paper was applied to real data provided by a major MMORPG company. Detection accuracy rate increased to 96.06 % on the banned account list.

The scientific research potential of virtual worlds.

PubMed

Bainbridge, William Sims

2007-07-27

Online virtual worlds, electronic environments where people can work and interact in a somewhat realistic manner, have great potential as sites for research in the social, behavioral, and economic sciences, as well as in human-centered computer science. This article uses Second Life and World of Warcraft as two very different examples of current virtual worlds that foreshadow future developments, introducing a number of research methodologies that scientists are now exploring, including formal experimentation, observational ethnography, and quantitative analysis of economic markets or social networks.

Analyzing the Social Knowledge Construction Behavioral Patterns of an Online Synchronous Collaborative Discussion Instructional Activity Using an Instant Messaging Tool: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hou, Huei-Tse; Wu, Sheng-Yi

2011-01-01

Online discussions have been widely utilized as an educational activity, and much research has been conducted on the process and behaviors involved in asynchronous discussions. However, research on behavioral patterns in learners' synchronous discussions, including the process of social knowledge construction and project coordination is limited.…

Decreases in tanning behaviors following a short online survey: Potential for prevention?

PubMed

Rodgers, Rachel F; Franko, Debra L; Gottlieb, Mark; Daynard, Richard

2015-01-01

To date, tanning prevention programs have led to limited success. The aim of the present study was to investigate potential unexpected prevention effects of completing an online survey focused on tanning attitudes, behaviors, and knowledge among female college tanners. A sample of 92 female undergraduate students from the USA, mean age = 20.09, SD = 1.41 years, who engaged in indoor tanning completed an online survey assessing awareness of tanning-related health risks, appearance-based motivations to tan and not to tan, media literacy related to tanning marketing, and tanning behaviors in 2013. Four months later, participants were invited to complete a follow-up survey assessing tanning intentions and behaviors since completing the initial survey. Fifty-one participants (55%) completed the follow-up questions, of whom 43 (84.3%) reported having decreased or ceased engaging in indoor tanning. In addition participants provided comments indicating that completing the survey had lead to decreases in their tanning behaviors. Our study presents novel and compelling support for using brief online surveys for decreasing health-risk behaviors such as sunbed use. Such measures are extremely cost-effective and easy to disseminate and implement. Replication and extension of these findings are warranted.

Why we need more than just randomized controlled trials to establish the effectiveness of online social networks for health behavior change.

PubMed

Vandelanotte, Corneel; Maher, Carol A

2015-01-01

Despite their popularity and potential to promote health in large populations, the effectiveness of online social networks (e.g., Facebook) to improve health behaviors has been somewhat disappointing. Most of the research examining the effectiveness of such interventions has used randomized controlled trials (RCTs). It is asserted that the modest outcomes may be due to characteristics specific to both online social networks and RCTs. The highly controlled nature of RCTs stifles the dynamic nature of online social networks. Alternative and ecologically valid research designs that evaluate online social networks in real-life conditions are needed to advance the science in this area.

QRTEngine: An easy solution for running online reaction time experiments using Qualtrics.

PubMed

Barnhoorn, Jonathan S; Haasnoot, Erwin; Bocanegra, Bruno R; van Steenbergen, Henk

2015-12-01

Performing online behavioral research is gaining increased popularity among researchers in psychological and cognitive science. However, the currently available methods for conducting online reaction time experiments are often complicated and typically require advanced technical skills. In this article, we introduce the Qualtrics Reaction Time Engine (QRTEngine), an open-source JavaScript engine that can be embedded in the online survey development environment Qualtrics. The QRTEngine can be used to easily develop browser-based online reaction time experiments with accurate timing within current browser capabilities, and it requires only minimal programming skills. After introducing the QRTEngine, we briefly discuss how to create and distribute a Stroop task. Next, we describe a study in which we investigated the timing accuracy of the engine under different processor loads using external chronometry. Finally, we show that the QRTEngine can be used to reproduce classic behavioral effects in three reaction time paradigms: a Stroop task, an attentional blink task, and a masked-priming task. These findings demonstrate that QRTEngine can be used as a tool for conducting online behavioral research even when this requires accurate stimulus presentation times.

Online Actions with Offline Impact: How Online Social Networks Influence Online and Offline User Behavior.

PubMed

Althoff, Tim; Jindal, Pranav; Leskovec, Jure

2017-02-01

Many of today's most widely used computing applications utilize social networking features and allow users to connect, follow each other, share content, and comment on others' posts. However, despite the widespread adoption of these features, there is little understanding of the consequences that social networking has on user retention, engagement, and online as well as offline behavior. Here, we study how social networks influence user behavior in a physical activity tracking application. We analyze 791 million online and offline actions of 6 million users over the course of 5 years, and show that social networking leads to a significant increase in users' online as well as offline activities. Specifically, we establish a causal effect of how social networks influence user behavior. We show that the creation of new social connections increases user online in-application activity by 30%, user retention by 17%, and user offline real-world physical activity by 7% (about 400 steps per day). By exploiting a natural experiment we distinguish the effect of social influence of new social connections from the simultaneous increase in user's motivation to use the app and take more steps. We show that social influence accounts for 55% of the observed changes in user behavior, while the remaining 45% can be explained by the user's increased motivation to use the app. Further, we show that subsequent, individual edge formations in the social network lead to significant increases in daily steps. These effects diminish with each additional edge and vary based on edge attributes and user demographics. Finally, we utilize these insights to develop a model that accurately predicts which users will be most influenced by the creation of new social network connections.

Online Actions with Offline Impact: How Online Social Networks Influence Online and Offline User Behavior

PubMed Central

Althoff, Tim; Jindal, Pranav; Leskovec, Jure

2017-01-01

Many of today’s most widely used computing applications utilize social networking features and allow users to connect, follow each other, share content, and comment on others’ posts. However, despite the widespread adoption of these features, there is little understanding of the consequences that social networking has on user retention, engagement, and online as well as offline behavior. Here, we study how social networks influence user behavior in a physical activity tracking application. We analyze 791 million online and offline actions of 6 million users over the course of 5 years, and show that social networking leads to a significant increase in users’ online as well as offline activities. Specifically, we establish a causal effect of how social networks influence user behavior. We show that the creation of new social connections increases user online in-application activity by 30%, user retention by 17%, and user offline real-world physical activity by 7% (about 400 steps per day). By exploiting a natural experiment we distinguish the effect of social influence of new social connections from the simultaneous increase in user’s motivation to use the app and take more steps. We show that social influence accounts for 55% of the observed changes in user behavior, while the remaining 45% can be explained by the user’s increased motivation to use the app. Further, we show that subsequent, individual edge formations in the social network lead to significant increases in daily steps. These effects diminish with each additional edge and vary based on edge attributes and user demographics. Finally, we utilize these insights to develop a model that accurately predicts which users will be most influenced by the creation of new social network connections. PMID:28345078

Multidimensional human dynamics in mobile phone communications.

PubMed

Quadri, Christian; Zignani, Matteo; Capra, Lorenzo; Gaito, Sabrina; Rossi, Gian Paolo

2014-01-01

In today's technology-assisted society, social interactions may be expressed through a variety of techno-communication channels, including online social networks, email and mobile phones (calls, text messages). Consequently, a clear grasp of human behavior through the diverse communication media is considered a key factor in understanding the formation of the today's information society. So far, all previous research on user communication behavior has focused on a sole communication activity. In this paper we move forward another step on this research path by performing a multidimensional study of human sociality as an expression of the use of mobile phones. The paper focuses on user temporal communication behavior in the interplay between the two complementary communication media, text messages and phone calls, that represent the bi-dimensional scenario of analysis. Our study provides a theoretical framework for analyzing multidimensional bursts as the most general burst category, that includes one-dimensional bursts as the simplest case, and offers empirical evidence of their nature by following the combined phone call/text message communication patterns of approximately one million people over three-month period. This quantitative approach enables the design of a generative model rooted in the three most significant features of the multidimensional burst - the number of dimensions, prevalence and interleaving degree - able to reproduce the main media usage attitude. The other findings of the paper include a novel multidimensional burst detection algorithm and an insight analysis of the human media selection process.

Communication Behaviors and Trust in Collaborative Online Teams

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bulu, Saniye Tugba; Yildirim, Zahide

2008-01-01

This study investigates preservice teachers' trust levels and collaborative communication behaviors namely leadership, feedback, social interaction, enthusiasm, task and technical uncertainties, and task-oriented interactions in online learning environment. A case study design involving qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis was…

Effects of an Online Rational Emotive Curriculum on Primary School Students' Tendencies for Online and Real-World Aggression

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Eric Zhi-Feng; Ho, H. C.; Song, Y. J.

2011-01-01

This study investigated the relationship between online and real-world aggressive behavior among primary school students as well as the effects of an online rational emotive curriculum on reducing the tendency of students to display aggression online and in the real-world. We developed an online information literacy course integrated with rational…

Online Interventions for Social Marketing Health Behavior Change Campaigns: A Meta-Analysis of Psychological Architectures and Adherence Factors

PubMed Central

Thelwall, Mike; Dawes, Phil

2011-01-01

Background Researchers and practitioners have developed numerous online interventions that encourage people to reduce their drinking, increase their exercise, and better manage their weight. Motivations to develop eHealth interventions may be driven by the Internet’s reach, interactivity, cost-effectiveness, and studies that show online interventions work. However, when designing online interventions suitable for public campaigns, there are few evidence-based guidelines, taxonomies are difficult to apply, many studies lack impact data, and prior meta-analyses are not applicable to large-scale public campaigns targeting voluntary behavioral change. Objectives This meta-analysis assessed online intervention design features in order to inform the development of online campaigns, such as those employed by social marketers, that seek to encourage voluntary health behavior change. A further objective was to increase understanding of the relationships between intervention adherence, study adherence, and behavioral outcomes. Methods Drawing on systematic review methods, a combination of 84 query terms were used in 5 bibliographic databases with additional gray literature searches. This resulted in 1271 abstracts and papers; 31 met the inclusion criteria. In total, 29 papers describing 30 interventions were included in the primary meta-analysis, with the 2 additional studies qualifying for the adherence analysis. Using a random effects model, the first analysis estimated the overall effect size, including groupings by control conditions and time factors. The second analysis assessed the impacts of psychological design features that were coded with taxonomies from evidence-based behavioral medicine, persuasive technology, and other behavioral influence fields. These separate systems were integrated into a coding framework model called the communication-based influence components model. Finally, the third analysis assessed the relationships between intervention adherence and behavioral outcomes. Results The overall impact of online interventions across all studies was small but statistically significant (standardized mean difference effect size d = 0.19, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.11 - 0.28, P < .001, number of interventions k = 30). The largest impact with a moderate level of efficacy was exerted from online interventions when compared with waitlists and placebos (d = 0.28, 95% CI = 0.17 - 0.39, P < .001, k = 18), followed by comparison with lower-tech online interventions (d = 0.16, 95% CI = 0.00 - 0.32, P = .04, k = 8); no significant difference was found when compared with sophisticated print interventions (d = –0.11, 95% CI = –0.34 to 0.12, P = .35, k = 4), though online interventions offer a small effect with the advantage of lower costs and larger reach. Time proved to be a critical factor, with shorter interventions generally achieving larger impacts and greater adherence. For psychological design, most interventions drew from the transtheoretical approach and were goal orientated, deploying numerous influence components aimed at showing users the consequences of their behavior, assisting them in reaching goals, and providing normative pressure. Inconclusive results suggest a relationship between the number of influence components and intervention efficacy. Despite one contradictory correlation, the evidence suggests that study adherence, intervention adherence, and behavioral outcomes are correlated. Conclusions These findings demonstrate that online interventions have the capacity to influence voluntary behaviors, such as those routinely targeted by social marketing campaigns. Given the high reach and low cost of online technologies, the stage may be set for increased public health campaigns that blend interpersonal online systems with mass-media outreach. Such a combination of approaches could help individuals achieve personal goals that, at an individual level, help citizens improve the quality of their lives and at a state level, contribute to healthier societies. PMID:21320854

Cross Relationships between Cognitive Styles and Learner Variables in Online Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oh, Eunjoo; Lim, Doohun

2005-01-01

This study examines how students' cognitive styles are correlated with their attitudes toward online education and learning behaviors in online learning environments. The Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) and the attitude survey toward online instruction were administered to 104 students enrolled in various online courses at the University of…

Online purchases in an Infocomm sophisticated society.

PubMed

Goby, Valerie Priscilla

2006-08-01

This paper presents a preliminary investigation of attitude and intention in relation to online shopping in Singapore. Singaporeans display high levels of Infocomm proficiency, the result of many intense government initiatives to transform the country into an Intelligent Community. Does this Internet embracing environment enhance attitude and intention to online shopping? This study considers the links between personal consequences, subjective norms, behavioral control, and personal innovativeness with attitude and intention among Singaporeans. It uses a model based on the Theory of Planned Behavior and makes some initial comparisons of its findings with those of existing studies. The effects of behavioral control and intention on actual purchase behavior are not investigated. Findings permit the tentative proposition that level of Infocomm knowledge impacts on attitude and intention.

Social Anxiety in Online and Real-Life Interaction and Their Associated Factors

PubMed Central

Yen, Ju-Yu; Yen, Cheng-Fang; Chen, Cheng-Sheng; Wang, Peng-Wei; Chang, Yi-Hsin

2012-01-01

Abstract Social anxiety was compared between online and real-life interaction in a sample of 2,348 college students. Severity of social anxiety in both real-life and online interaction was tested for associations with depression, Internet addiction, Internet activity type (gaming versus chatting), and scores on Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS)/Behavioral Activation System (BAS) scales. The results showed that social anxiety was lower when interacting online than when interacting offline. Depression, Internet addiction, and high BIS and BAS scores were associated with high social anxiety. The social anxiety decreased more in online interaction among subjects with high social anxiety, depression, BIS, and BAS. This result suggests that the Internet has good potential as an alternative medium for delivering interventions for social anxiety. Further, the effect of BIS on social anxiety is decreased in online interaction. More attention should be paid for BIS when the treatment for social anxiety is delivered online. PMID:22175853

Social anxiety in online and real-life interaction and their associated factors.

PubMed

Yen, Ju-Yu; Yen, Cheng-Fang; Chen, Cheng-Sheng; Wang, Peng-Wei; Chang, Yi-Hsin; Ko, Chih-Hung

2012-01-01

Social anxiety was compared between online and real-life interaction in a sample of 2,348 college students. Severity of social anxiety in both real-life and online interaction was tested for associations with depression, Internet addiction, Internet activity type (gaming versus chatting), and scores on Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS)/Behavioral Activation System (BAS) scales. The results showed that social anxiety was lower when interacting online than when interacting offline. Depression, Internet addiction, and high BIS and BAS scores were associated with high social anxiety. The social anxiety decreased more in online interaction among subjects with high social anxiety, depression, BIS, and BAS. This result suggests that the Internet has good potential as an alternative medium for delivering interventions for social anxiety. Further, the effect of BIS on social anxiety is decreased in online interaction. More attention should be paid for BIS when the treatment for social anxiety is delivered online.

Online counseling: a narrative and critical review of the literature.

PubMed

Richards, Derek; Viganó, Noemi

2013-09-01

This article aimed to critically review the literature on online counseling. Database and hand-searches were made using search terms and eligibility criteria, yielding a total of 123 studies. The review begins with what characterizes online counseling. Outcome and process research in online counseling is reviewed. Features and cyberbehaviors of online counseling such as anonymity and disinhibition, convenience, time-delay, the loss of social signaling, and writing behavior in cyberspace are discussed. Ethical behavior, professional training, client suitability, and clients' and therapists' attitudes and experiences of online counseling are reviewed. A growing body of knowledge to date is positive in showing that online counseling can have a similar impact and is capable of replicating the facilitative conditions as face-to-face encounters. A need remains for stronger empirical evidence to establish efficacy and effectiveness and to understand better the unique mediating and facilitative variables. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Religion Does Matter for Climate Change Attitudes and Behavior

PubMed Central

Morrison, Mark

2015-01-01

Little research has focused on the relationship between religion and climate change attitudes and behavior. Further, while there have been some studies examining the relationship between environmental attitudes and religion, most are focused on Christian denominations and secularism, and few have examined other religions such as Buddhism. Using an online survey of 1,927 Australians we examined links between membership of four religious groupings (Buddhists, Christian literalists and non-literalists, and Secularists) and climate change attitudes and behaviors. Differences were found across religious groups in terms of their belief in: (a) human induced climate change, (b) the level of consensus among scientists, (c) their own efficacy, and (d) the need for policy responses. We show, using ordinal regression, that religion explains these differences even after taking into account socio-demographic factors, knowledge and environmental attitude, including belief in man’s dominion over nature. Differences in attitude and behavior between these religious groups suggest the importance of engaging denominations to encourage change in attitudes and behavior among their members. PMID:26247206

Religion Does Matter for Climate Change Attitudes and Behavior.

PubMed

Morrison, Mark; Duncan, Roderick; Parton, Kevin

2015-01-01

Little research has focused on the relationship between religion and climate change attitudes and behavior. Further, while there have been some studies examining the relationship between environmental attitudes and religion, most are focused on Christian denominations and secularism, and few have examined other religions such as Buddhism. Using an online survey of 1,927 Australians we examined links between membership of four religious groupings (Buddhists, Christian literalists and non-literalists, and Secularists) and climate change attitudes and behaviors. Differences were found across religious groups in terms of their belief in: (a) human induced climate change, (b) the level of consensus among scientists, (c) their own efficacy, and (d) the need for policy responses. We show, using ordinal regression, that religion explains these differences even after taking into account socio-demographic factors, knowledge and environmental attitude, including belief in man's dominion over nature. Differences in attitude and behavior between these religious groups suggest the importance of engaging denominations to encourage change in attitudes and behavior among their members.

Using the Theory of Planned Behavior to predict HPV vaccination intentions of college men.

PubMed

Catalano, Hannah Priest; Knowlden, Adam P; Birch, David A; Leeper, James D; Paschal, Angelia M; Usdan, Stuart L

2017-04-01

The purpose of this study was to test Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) constructs in predicting human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination behavioral intentions of vaccine-eligible college men. Participants were unvaccinated college men aged 18-26 years attending a large public university in the southeastern United States during Spring 2015. A nonexperimental, cross-sectional study design was employed. Instrumentation comprised a qualitative elicitation study, expert panel review, pilot test, test-retest, and internal consistency, construct validity, and predictive validity assessments using data collected from an online self-report questionnaire. The sample consisted of 256 college men, and the final structural model exhibited acceptable fit of the data. Attitude toward the behavior (β = .169) and subjective norm (β = 0.667) were significant predictors of behavioral intention, accounting for 58% of its variance. Practitioners may utilize this instrument for the development and evaluation of TPB-based interventions to increase HPV vaccination intentions of undergraduate college men.

Trauma symptoms, internalized stigma, social support, and sexual risk behavior among HIV-positive gay and bisexual MSM who have sought sex partners online.

PubMed

Burnham, Kaylee E; Cruess, Dean G; Kalichman, Moira O; Grebler, Tamar; Cherry, Chauncey; Kalichman, Seth C

2016-01-01

Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) remain the highest risk group for HIV infection. One reason is the increased use of the Internet to meet potential sex partners, which is associated with greater sexual risk behavior. To date, few studies have investigated psychosocial predictors of sexual risk behavior among gay and bisexual men seeking sex partners online. The purpose of the current study was to test a conceptual model of the relationships between trauma symptoms indexed on the event of HIV diagnosis, internalized HIV stigma, and social support on sexual risk behavior among gay and bisexual MSM who seek sex partners online. A sample of 142 gay and bisexual MSM recruited on- and offline completed a comprehensive online assessment battery assessing the factors noted above. A number of associations emerged; most notably internalized HIV stigma mediated the relationship between trauma-related symptoms indexed on the event of HIV diagnosis and sexual risk behavior with HIV-negative and unknown serostatus sex partners. This suggests that gay and bisexual MSM who are in greater distress over their HIV diagnosis and who are more sensitive to HIV stigma engage in more HIV transmission risk behavior. As sexual risk environments expand with the increasing use of the Internet to connect with others for sex, it is important to understand the predictors of sexual risk behavior so that tailored interventions can promote sexual health for gay and bisexual MSM seeking sex online.

Cluster randomized controlled trial of a consumer behavior intervention to improve healthy food purchases from online canteens.

PubMed

Delaney, Tessa; Wyse, Rebecca; Yoong, Sze Lin; Sutherland, Rachel; Wiggers, John; Ball, Kylie; Campbell, Karen; Rissel, Chris; Lecathelinais, Christophe; Wolfenden, Luke

2017-11-01

Background: School canteens represent an opportune setting in which to deliver public health nutrition strategies because of their wide reach and frequent use by children. Online school-canteen ordering systems, where students order and pay for their lunch online, provide an avenue to improve healthy canteen purchases through the application of consumer-behavior strategies that have an impact on purchasing decisions. Objective: We assessed the efficacy of a consumer-behavior intervention implemented in an online school-canteen ordering system in reducing the energy, saturated fat, sugar, and sodium contents of primary student lunch orders. Design: A cluster-randomized controlled trial was conducted that involved 2714 students (aged 5-12 y) from 10 primary schools in New South Wales, Australia, who were currently using an online canteen ordering system. Schools were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive either the intervention (enhanced system) or the control (standard online ordering only). The intervention included consumer-behavior strategies that were integrated into the online ordering system (targeting menu labeling, healthy food availability, placement, and prompting). Results: Mean energy (difference: -567.25 kJ; 95% CI: -697.95, -436.55 kJ; P < 0.001), saturated fat (difference: -2.37 g; 95% CI: -3.08, -1.67 g; P < 0.001), and sodium (difference: -227.56 mg; 95% CI: -334.93, -120.19 mg; P < 0.001) contents per student lunch order were significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group at follow-up. No significant differences were observed for sugar (difference: 1.16 g; 95% CI: -0.50, 2.83 g; P = 0.17). Conclusions: The study provides strong evidence supporting the effectiveness of a consumer-behavior intervention using an existing online canteen infrastructure to improve purchasing behavior from primary school canteens. Such an intervention may represent an appealing policy option as part of a broader government strategy to improve child public health nutrition. This trial was registered at www.anzctr.org.au as ACTRN12616000499482. © 2017 American Society for Nutrition.

Opponent Classification in Poker

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmad, Muhammad Aurangzeb; Elidrisi, Mohamed

Modeling games has a long history in the Artificial Intelligence community. Most of the games that have been considered solved in AI are perfect information games. Imperfect information games like Poker and Bridge represent a domain where there is a great deal of uncertainty involved and additional challenges with respect to modeling the behavior of the opponent etc. Techniques developed for playing imperfect games also have many real world applications like repeated online auctions, human computer interaction, opponent modeling for military applications etc. In this paper we explore different techniques for playing poker, the core of these techniques is opponent modeling via classifying the behavior of opponent according to classes provided by domain experts. We utilize windows of full observation in the game to classify the opponent. In Poker, the behavior of an opponent is classified into four standard poker-playing styles based on a subjective function.

Predictors of Program Use and Child and Parent Outcomes of A Brief Online Parenting Intervention.

PubMed

Baker, Sabine; Sanders, Matthew R

2017-10-01

Web-based parenting interventions have the potential to increase the currently low reach of parenting programs, but few evidence-based online programs are available, and little is known about who benefits from this delivery format. This study investigated if improvements in child behavior and parenting, following participation in a brief online parenting program (Triple P Online Brief), can be predicted by family and program-related factors. Participants were 100 parents of 2-9-year-old children displaying disruptive behavior problems. Regression analyses showed that higher baseline levels of child behavior problems, older parental age and more intense conflict over parenting pre-intervention predicted greater improvement in child behavior at 9-month follow-up. Improvement in parenting was predicted by higher pre-intervention levels of ineffective parenting. Family demographics, parental adjustment and program related factors did not predict treatment outcomes. Younger child age and lower disagreement over parenting pre-intervention predicted completion of the recommended minimum dose of the program.

Opportunity costs of reward delays and the discounting of hypothetical money and cigarettes.

PubMed

Johnson, Patrick S; Herrmann, Evan S; Johnson, Matthew W

2015-01-01

Humans are reported to discount delayed rewards at lower rates than nonhumans. However, nonhumans are studied in tasks that restrict reinforcement during delays, whereas humans are typically studied in tasks that do not restrict reinforcement during delays. In nonhuman tasks, the opportunity cost of restricted reinforcement during delays may increase delay discounting rates. The present within-subjects study used online crowdsourcing (Amazon Mechanical Turk, or MTurk) to assess the discounting of hypothetical delayed money (and cigarettes in smokers) under four hypothetical framing conditions differing in the availability of reinforcement during delays. At one extreme, participants were free to leave their computer without returning, and engage in any behavior during reward delays (modeling typical human tasks). At the opposite extreme, participants were required to stay at their computer and engage in little other behavior during reward delays (modeling typical nonhuman tasks). Discounting rates increased as an orderly function of opportunity cost. Results also indicated predominantly hyperbolic discounting, the "magnitude effect," steeper discounting of cigarettes than money, and positive correlations between discounting rates of these commodities. This is the first study to test the effects of opportunity costs on discounting, and suggests that procedural differences may partially account for observed species differences in discounting. © Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

Comparison of human anxiety based on different cultural backgrounds.

PubMed

Kalwar, Santosh Kumar

2010-08-01

This work conceptualizes human behavior on the Internet. The study was conducted with 10 university participants representing two different cultural backgrounds, Asian and Western. The participants were asked to visit any Web page on the Internet for 15 minutes, for 30 minutes, and for 1 hour. The results showed that participants displayed no signs of anxiousness during the 15-minute task and very little anxiousness during the 30-minute task. Western participants showed overall more anxiousness than Asian participants. However, all participants showed anxiousness during the 1-hour task. Data on comparative human anxiety were collected on the basis of a literature review of social fun, online belonging, and community on the Internet. Only the limited set of data of the participant is discussed in this article.

The Association of Parenting Style and Child Age with Parental Limit Setting and Adolescent MySpace Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosen, Larry D.; Cheever, Nancy A.; Carrier, L. Mark

2008-01-01

Parent and teen MySpace user pairs completed online surveys administered in June (N = 266) and September 2006 (N = 341) to assess relationships between parenting styles and limit setting and monitoring of online behaviors, the prevalence of Internet dangers and pre-teen and teen MySpace behaviors. Cross-comparison measures of MySpace usage,…

Online and In-Person Nutrition Education Improves Breakfast Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors: A Randomized Trial of Participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.

PubMed

Au, Lauren E; Whaley, Shannon; Rosen, Nila J; Meza, Martha; Ritchie, Lorrene D

2016-03-01

Although in-person education is expected to remain central to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) service delivery, effective online nutrition education has the potential for increased exposure to quality education and a positive influence on nutrition behaviors in WIC participants. Education focused on promoting healthy breakfast behaviors is an important topic for WIC participants because breakfast eating compared with breakfast skipping has been associated with a higher-quality diet and decreased risk for obesity. To examine the influences of online and in-person group nutrition education on changes in knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to breakfast eating. Randomized-controlled trial comparing the effectiveness of online and in-person nutrition education between March and September 2014. Five hundred ninety WIC participants from two Los Angeles, CA, WIC clinics were randomly assigned to receive in-person group education (n=359) or online education (n=231). Education focused on ways to reduce breakfast skipping and promoted healthy options at breakfast for parents and their 1- to 5-year-old children participating in WIC. Questionnaires assessing breakfast-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors were administered before and after education, and at a 2- to 4-month follow-up. Changes within and between in-person and online groups were compared using t tests and χ(2) tests. Analysis of covariance and generalized estimating equations were used to assess differences in change between groups. Changes in knowledge between pretest and follow-up at 2 to 4 months were similar between groups. Both groups reported reductions in barriers to eating breakfast due to time constraints, not having enough foods at home, and difficulty with preparation. Increases in the frequency of eating breakfast were greater for both the parent (P=0.0007) and child (P=0.01) in the online group compared with the in-person group during the same time points. Overall, this study demonstrates that both in-person and online nutrition education were effective in increasing breakfast-related knowledge in WIC participants, reducing breakfast skipping, and improving other breakfast-related behaviors, showing the potential usefulness for online education modalities for future WIC services. Copyright © 2016 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Inducing Behavioral Change in Seekers of Pro-Anorexia Content Using Internet Advertisements: Randomized Controlled Trial

PubMed Central

Brunstein-Klomek, Anat; Mandel, Or; Hadas, Arie; Fennig, Silvana

2018-01-01

Background The influence of pro-anorexia (pro-ana) websites is debated, with studies indicating both negative and positive effects, as well as significant variation in the effects of different websites for those suffering from eating disorders (EDs) and the general population. Online advertising, known to induce behavioral change both online and in the physical world, has not been used so far to modify the search behavior of people seeking pro-ana content. Objective The objective of this randomized controlled trial (RCT) was to examine if online advertisements (ads) can change online search behaviors of users who are looking for online pro-ana content. Methods Using the Bing Ads system, we conducted an RCT to randomly expose the searchers for pro-ana content to 10 different ads referring people to one of the three websites: the National Eating Disorders Association, the National Institutes of Mental Health, and MyProAna. MyProAna is a pro-ana website that was found in a previous study to be associated with less pathological online behaviors than other pro-ana websites. We followed participants exposed and unexposed to the ads to explore their past and future online searches. The ads were shown 25,554 times and clicked on 217 times. Results Exposure to the ads was associated with a decrease in searches for pro-ana and self-harm content. Reductions were greatest among those referred to MyProAna (reduction of 34.0% [73/215] and 37.2% [80/215] for pro-ana and self-harm, respectively) compared with users who were referred elsewhere (reduction of 15.47% [410/2650] and 3.21% [85/2650], respectively), and with users who were not shown the ads, who increased their behaviors (increase of 57.12% [6462/11,314] and 4.07% [461/11,314], respectively). In addition, those referred to MyProAna increased their search for treatment, as did control users, who did so to a lesser extent. However, users referred elsewhere decreased their searches for this content. Conclusions We found that referring users interested in ED-related content to specific pro-ana communities might lessen their maladaptive online search behavior. This suggests that those who are preoccupied with EDs can be redirected to less pathological online searches through appropriate pathways. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03439553; https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT03439553 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6xNYnxYlw) PMID:29472176

Inducing Behavioral Change in Seekers of Pro-Anorexia Content Using Internet Advertisements: Randomized Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Yom-Tov, Elad; Brunstein-Klomek, Anat; Mandel, Or; Hadas, Arie; Fennig, Silvana

2018-02-22

The influence of pro-anorexia (pro-ana) websites is debated, with studies indicating both negative and positive effects, as well as significant variation in the effects of different websites for those suffering from eating disorders (EDs) and the general population. Online advertising, known to induce behavioral change both online and in the physical world, has not been used so far to modify the search behavior of people seeking pro-ana content. The objective of this randomized controlled trial (RCT) was to examine if online advertisements (ads) can change online search behaviors of users who are looking for online pro-ana content. Using the Bing Ads system, we conducted an RCT to randomly expose the searchers for pro-ana content to 10 different ads referring people to one of the three websites: the National Eating Disorders Association, the National Institutes of Mental Health, and MyProAna. MyProAna is a pro-ana website that was found in a previous study to be associated with less pathological online behaviors than other pro-ana websites. We followed participants exposed and unexposed to the ads to explore their past and future online searches. The ads were shown 25,554 times and clicked on 217 times. Exposure to the ads was associated with a decrease in searches for pro-ana and self-harm content. Reductions were greatest among those referred to MyProAna (reduction of 34.0% [73/215] and 37.2% [80/215] for pro-ana and self-harm, respectively) compared with users who were referred elsewhere (reduction of 15.47% [410/2650] and 3.21% [85/2650], respectively), and with users who were not shown the ads, who increased their behaviors (increase of 57.12% [6462/11,314] and 4.07% [461/11,314], respectively). In addition, those referred to MyProAna increased their search for treatment, as did control users, who did so to a lesser extent. However, users referred elsewhere decreased their searches for this content. We found that referring users interested in ED-related content to specific pro-ana communities might lessen their maladaptive online search behavior. This suggests that those who are preoccupied with EDs can be redirected to less pathological online searches through appropriate pathways. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03439553; https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT03439553 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6xNYnxYlw). ©Elad Yom-Tov, Anat Brunstein-Klomek, Or Mandel, Arie Hadas, Silvana Fennig. Originally published in JMIR Mental Health (http://mental.jmir.org), 22.02.2018.

A Neural Dynamic Architecture for Reaching and Grasping Integrates Perception and Movement Generation and Enables On-Line Updating.

PubMed

Knips, Guido; Zibner, Stephan K U; Reimann, Hendrik; Schöner, Gregor

2017-01-01

Reaching for objects and grasping them is a fundamental skill for any autonomous robot that interacts with its environment. Although this skill seems trivial to adults, who effortlessly pick up even objects they have never seen before, it is hard for other animals, for human infants, and for most autonomous robots. Any time during movement preparation and execution, human reaching movement are updated if the visual scene changes (with a delay of about 100 ms). The capability for online updating highlights how tightly perception, movement planning, and movement generation are integrated in humans. Here, we report on an effort to reproduce this tight integration in a neural dynamic process model of reaching and grasping that covers the complete path from visual perception to movement generation within a unified modeling framework, Dynamic Field Theory. All requisite processes are realized as time-continuous dynamical systems that model the evolution in time of neural population activation. Population level neural processes bring about the attentional selection of objects, the estimation of object shape and pose, and the mapping of pose parameters to suitable movement parameters. Once a target object has been selected, its pose parameters couple into the neural dynamics of movement generation so that changes of pose are propagated through the architecture to update the performed movement online. Implementing the neural architecture on an anthropomorphic robot arm equipped with a Kinect sensor, we evaluate the model by grasping wooden objects. Their size, shape, and pose are estimated from a neural model of scene perception that is based on feature fields. The sequential organization of a reach and grasp act emerges from a sequence of dynamic instabilities within a neural dynamics of behavioral organization, that effectively switches the neural controllers from one phase of the action to the next. Trajectory formation itself is driven by a dynamical systems version of the potential field approach. We highlight the emergent capacity for online updating by showing that a shift or rotation of the object during the reaching phase leads to the online adaptation of the movement plan and successful completion of the grasp.

A Neural Dynamic Architecture for Reaching and Grasping Integrates Perception and Movement Generation and Enables On-Line Updating

PubMed Central

Knips, Guido; Zibner, Stephan K. U.; Reimann, Hendrik; Schöner, Gregor

2017-01-01

Reaching for objects and grasping them is a fundamental skill for any autonomous robot that interacts with its environment. Although this skill seems trivial to adults, who effortlessly pick up even objects they have never seen before, it is hard for other animals, for human infants, and for most autonomous robots. Any time during movement preparation and execution, human reaching movement are updated if the visual scene changes (with a delay of about 100 ms). The capability for online updating highlights how tightly perception, movement planning, and movement generation are integrated in humans. Here, we report on an effort to reproduce this tight integration in a neural dynamic process model of reaching and grasping that covers the complete path from visual perception to movement generation within a unified modeling framework, Dynamic Field Theory. All requisite processes are realized as time-continuous dynamical systems that model the evolution in time of neural population activation. Population level neural processes bring about the attentional selection of objects, the estimation of object shape and pose, and the mapping of pose parameters to suitable movement parameters. Once a target object has been selected, its pose parameters couple into the neural dynamics of movement generation so that changes of pose are propagated through the architecture to update the performed movement online. Implementing the neural architecture on an anthropomorphic robot arm equipped with a Kinect sensor, we evaluate the model by grasping wooden objects. Their size, shape, and pose are estimated from a neural model of scene perception that is based on feature fields. The sequential organization of a reach and grasp act emerges from a sequence of dynamic instabilities within a neural dynamics of behavioral organization, that effectively switches the neural controllers from one phase of the action to the next. Trajectory formation itself is driven by a dynamical systems version of the potential field approach. We highlight the emergent capacity for online updating by showing that a shift or rotation of the object during the reaching phase leads to the online adaptation of the movement plan and successful completion of the grasp. PMID:28303100

Effectiveness of shared leadership in Wikipedia.

PubMed

Zhu, Haiyi; Kraut, Robert E; Kittur, Aniket

2013-12-01

The objective of the paper is to understand leadership in an online community, specifically, Wikipedia. Wikipedia successfully aggregates millions of volunteers' efforts to create the largest encyclopedia in human history. Without formal employment contracts and monetary incentives, one significant question for Wikipedia is how it organizes individual members with differing goals, experience, and commitment to achieve a collective outcome. Rather than focusing on the role of the small set of people occupying a core leadership position, we propose a shared leadership model to explain the leadership in Wikipedia. Members mutually influence one another by exercising leadership behaviors, including rewarding, regulating, directing, and socializing one another. We conducted a two-phase study to investigate how distinct types of leadership behaviors (transactional, aversive, directive, and person-focused), the legitimacy of the people who deliver the leadership, and the experience of the people who receive the leadership influence the effectiveness of shared leadership in Wikipedia. Our results highlight the importance of shared leadership in Wikipedia and identify trade-offs in the effectiveness of different types of leadership behaviors. Aversive and directive leadership increased contribution to the focal task, whereas transactional and person-focused leadership increased general motivation. We also found important differences in how newcomers and experienced members responded to leadership behaviors from peers. These findings extend shared leadership theories, contribute new insight into the important underlying mechanisms in Wikipedia, and have implications for practitioners who wish to design more effective and successful online communities.

Assessment in Online Learning--It's a Matter of Time

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kerton, Charles; Cervato, Cinzia

2014-01-01

Taking online courses is becoming a more common part of the college experience, but very little is known about student behaviors and strategies related to online assessment. This article reviews how students in an online Earth and Space Science course interact with various online assessments. Our two main findings are that our students do not use…

Skill complementarity enhances heterophily in collaboration networks

PubMed Central

Xie, Wen-Jie; Li, Ming-Xia; Jiang, Zhi-Qiang; Tan, Qun-Zhao; Podobnik, Boris; Zhou, Wei-Xing; Stanley, H. Eugene

2016-01-01

Much empirical evidence shows that individuals usually exhibit significant homophily in social networks. We demonstrate, however, skill complementarity enhances heterophily in the formation of collaboration networks, where people prefer to forge social ties with people who have professions different from their own. We construct a model to quantify the heterophily by assuming that individuals choose collaborators to maximize utility. Using a huge database of online societies, we find evidence of heterophily in collaboration networks. The results of model calibration confirm the presence of heterophily. Both empirical analysis and model calibration show that the heterophilous feature is persistent along the evolution of online societies. Furthermore, the degree of skill complementarity is positively correlated with their production output. Our work sheds new light on the scientific research utility of virtual worlds for studying human behaviors in complex socioeconomic systems. PMID:26743687

Determinants of Engagement in Face-to-Face and Online Patient Support Groups

PubMed Central

Van Uden-Kraan, Cornelia F; Taal, Erik; Smit, Willem M; Bernelot Moens, Hein J; Van de Laar, Mart AFJ

2011-01-01

Background Although peer-to-peer contact might empower patients in various ways, studies show that only a few patients actually engage in support groups. Objective The objective of our study was to explore factors that facilitate or impede engagement in face-to-face and online peer support, using the Theory of Planned Behavior. Methods A questionnaire was completed by 679 patients being treated for arthritis, breast cancer, or fibromyalgia at two Dutch regional hospitals. Results Our results showed that only a minority of the patients engaged in organized forms of peer support. In total 10% (65/679) of the respondents had engaged in face-to-face meetings for patients in the past year. Only 4% (30/679) of the respondents had contact with peers via the Internet in the past year. Patients were more positive about face-to-face peer support than about online peer support (P < .001). In accordance with the Theory of Planned Behavior, having a more positive attitude (P < .01) and feeling more supported by people in the social environment (P < .001) increased the intention to participate in both kinds of peer support. In addition, perceived behavioral control (P = .01) influenced the intention to participate in online peer support. Nevertheless, the intention to engage in face-to-face and online peer support was only modestly predicted by the Theory of Planned Behavior variables (R 2 = .33 for face-to-face contact and R 2 = .26 for online contact). Conclusion Although Health 2.0 Internet technology has significantly increased opportunities for having contact with fellow patients, only a minority seem to be interested in organized forms of peer contact (either online or face-to-face). Patients seem somewhat more positive about face-to-face contact than about online contact. PMID:22155649

Randomized Clinical Trial of Online Parent Training for Behavior Problems After Early Brain Injury.

PubMed

Wade, Shari L; Cassedy, Amy E; Shultz, Emily L; Zang, Huaiyu; Zhang, Nanhua; Kirkwood, Michael W; Stancin, Terry; Yeates, Keith O; Taylor, H Gerry

2017-11-01

To evaluate the effectiveness of Internet-based Interacting Together Everyday: Recovery After Childhood TBI (I-InTERACT) versus abbreviated parent training (Express) or access to online resources (internet resources comparison [IRC]) in improving parenting skills and decreasing behavior problems after early traumatic brain injury (TBI). In this randomized, controlled, clinical trial, 113 children 3 to 9 years old previously hospitalized for moderate to severe TBI were randomly assigned to receive Express (n = 36), I-InTERACT (n = 39), or IRC (n = 38). Express included 7 online parent skills sessions, and I-InTERACT delivered 10 to 14 sessions addressing parenting skills, TBI education, stress, and anger management. The 2 interventions coupled online modules with therapist coaching through a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant Skype link. The IRC group received access to online TBI and parent skills resources. Co-primary outcomes were blinded ratings of parenting skills and parent report of behavior problems and problem intensity on the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI). Outcomes were assessed before treatment and 3 and 6 months after treatment, with the latter constituting the primary endpoint. The Express and I-InTERACT groups displayed higher levels of positive parenting at follow-up. Only the I-InTERACT group had lower levels of negative parenting at 6 months. The Express group had lower ECBI intensity scores than the IRC group. Baseline symptom levels moderated improvements; children in the Express and I-InTERACT groups with higher baseline symptoms demonstrated greater improvements than those in the IRC group. Changes in parenting skills mediated improvements in behavior in those with higher baseline symptoms. Brief online parent skills training can effectively decrease behavior problems after early TBI in children with existing behavioral symptoms. Clinical trial registration information-Internet-based Interacting Together Everyday, Recovery After Childhood TBI (I-InTERACT)-RRTC; http://clinicaltrials.gov/; NCT01214694. Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Online health communication about human genetics: perceptions and preferences of internet users.

PubMed

Bernhardt, Jay M; McClain, Jacqueline; Parrott, Roxanne L

2004-12-01

Unprecedented advancements in human genetics research necessitate keeping the public abreast of new information, applications, and implications and the Internet represents an important method of communicating with the public. Our research used cross-sectional self-report survey data collected from a diverse convenience sample of 780 Internet users in two states. Multivariate regression analysis explored the relationships between experiences, perceptions, and preferences for online health and genetics communication. Online health information seeking was associated with previous genetic information seeking, comfort with online genetic communication, perceived risk for genetic abnormality, being female, and having more education. Comfort with online genetics communication was associated with a preference for online genetic information, previous online health and off-line genetics information seeking, having a healthy lifestyle, believing in the positive impact of human genetics research, and being female. Perceiving online health information to be accurate was associated with preferring the Internet for genetics communication, being older, less educated, and perceiving Internet use as anonymous. Preferring online genetics communication to other communication channels was associated with perceiving online health information as accurate, being comfortable receiving online genetics information, having lower intrinsic religiosity, and being male. The implications of findings for Web-based health message design are discussed.

Expression of NMDA receptor subunits in human blood lymphocytes: A peripheral biomarker in online computer game addiction.

PubMed

Sadat-Shirazi, Mitra-Sadat; Vousooghi, Nasim; Alizadeh, Bentolhoda; Makki, Seyed Mohammad; Zarei, Seyed Zeinolabedin; Nazari, Shahrzad; Zarrindast, Mohammad Reza

2018-05-23

Background and aims Repeated performance of some behaviors such as playing computer games could result in addiction. The NMDA receptor is critically involved in the development of behavioral and drug addictions. It has been claimed that the expression level of neurotransmitter receptors in the brain may be reflected in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs). Methods Here, using a real-time PCR method, we have investigated the mRNA expression of GluN2A, GluN2D, GluN3A, and GluN3B subunits of the NMDA receptor in PBLs of male online computer game addicts (n = 25) in comparison with normal subjects (n = 26). Results Expression levels of GluN2A, GluN2D, and GluN3B subunits were not statistically different between game addicts and the control group. However, the mRNA expression of the GluN3A subunit was downregulated in PBLs of game addicts. Discussion and conclusions Transcriptional levels of GluN2A and GluN2D subunits in online computer game addicts are similar to our previously reported data of opioid addiction and are not different from the control group. However, unlike our earlier finding of drug addiction, the mRNA expression levels of GluN3A and GluN3B subunits in PBLs of game addicts are reduced and unchanged, respectively, compared with control subjects. It seems that the downregulated state of the GluN3A subunit of NMDA receptor in online computer game addicts is a finding that deserves more studies in the future to see whether it can serve as a peripheral biomarker in addiction studies, where the researcher wants to rule out the confusing effects of abused drugs.

Dynamic phenomena and human activity in an artificial society

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grabowski, A.; Kruszewska, N.; Kosiński, R. A.

2008-12-01

We study dynamic phenomena in a large social network of nearly 3×104 individuals who interact in the large virtual world of a massive multiplayer online role playing game. On the basis of a database received from the online game server, we examine the structure of the friendship network and human dynamics. To investigate the relation between networks of acquaintances in virtual and real worlds, we carried out a survey among the players. We show that, even though the virtual network did not develop as a growing graph of an underlying network of social acquaintances in the real world, it influences it. Furthermore we find very interesting scaling laws concerning human dynamics. Our research shows how long people are interested in a single task and how much time they devote to it. Surprisingly, exponent values in both cases are close to -1 . We calculate the activity of individuals, i.e., the relative time daily devoted to interactions with others in the artificial society. Our research shows that the distribution of activity is not uniform and is highly correlated with the degree of the node, and that such human activity has a significant influence on dynamic phenomena, e.g., epidemic spreading and rumor propagation, in complex networks. We find that spreading is accelerated (an epidemic) or decelerated (a rumor) as a result of superspreaders’ various behavior.

Facebook Use and Disordered Eating in College-Aged Women.

PubMed

Walker, Morgan; Thornton, Laura; De Choudhury, Munmun; Teevan, Jaime; Bulik, Cynthia M; Levinson, Cheri A; Zerwas, Stephanie

2015-08-01

Disordered eating behavior-dieting, laxative use, fasting, binge eating-is common in college-aged women (11%-20%). A documented increase in the number of young women experiencing eating psychopathology has been blamed on the rise of engagement with social media sites such as Facebook. We predicted that college-aged women's Facebook intensity (e.g., the amount of time spent on Facebook, number of Facebook friends, and integration of Facebook into daily life), online physical appearance comparison (i.e., comparing one's appearance to others' on social media), and online "fat talk" (i.e., talking negatively about one's body) would be positively associated with their disordered eating behavior. In an online survey, 128 college-aged women (81.3% Caucasian, 6.7% Asian, 9.0% African-American, and 3.0% Other) completed items, which measured their disordered eating, Facebook intensity, online physical appearance comparison, online fat talk, body mass index, depression, anxiety, perfectionism, impulsivity, and self-efficacy. In regression analyses, Facebook intensity, online physical appearance comparison, and online fat talk were significantly and uniquely associated with disordered eating and explained a large percentage of the variance in disordered eating (60%) in conjunction with covariates. However, greater Facebook intensity was associated with decreased disordered eating behavior, whereas both online physical appearance comparison and online fat talk were associated with greater disordered eating. College-aged women who endorsed greater Facebook intensity were less likely to struggle with disordered eating when online physical appearance comparison was accounted for statistically. Facebook intensity may carry both risks and benefits for disordered eating. Copyright © 2015 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Peer-to-peer communication, cancer prevention, and the internet

PubMed Central

Ancker, Jessica S.; Carpenter, Kristen M.; Greene, Paul; Hoffmann, Randi; Kukafka, Rita; Marlow, Laura A.V.; Prigerson, Holly G.; Quillin, John M.

2013-01-01

Online communication among patients and consumers through support groups, discussion boards, and knowledge resources is becoming more common. In this paper, we discuss key methods through which such web-based peer-to-peer communication may affect health promotion and disease prevention behavior (exchanges of information, emotional and instrumental support, and establishment of group norms and models). We also discuss several theoretical models for studying online peer communication, including social theory, health communication models, and health behavior models. Although online peer communication about health and disease is very common, research evaluating effects on health behaviors, mediators, and outcomes is still relatively sparse. We suggest that future research in this field should include formative evaluation and studies of effects on mediators of behavior change, behaviors, and outcomes. It will also be important to examine spontaneously emerging peer communication efforts to see how they can be integrated with theory-based efforts initiated by researchers. PMID:19449267

Human sensorimotor communication: a theory of signaling in online social interactions.

PubMed

Pezzulo, Giovanni; Donnarumma, Francesco; Dindo, Haris

2013-01-01

Although the importance of communication is recognized in several disciplines, it is rarely studied in the context of online social interactions and joint actions. During online joint actions, language and gesture are often insufficient and humans typically use non-verbal, sensorimotor forms of communication to send coordination signals. For example, when playing volleyball, an athlete can exaggerate her movements to signal her intentions to her teammates (say, a pass to the right) or to feint an adversary. Similarly, a person who is transporting a table together with a co-actor can push the table in a certain direction to signal where and when he intends to place it. Other examples of "signaling" are over-articulating in noisy environments and over-emphasizing vowels in child-directed speech. In all these examples, humans intentionally modify their action kinematics to make their goals easier to disambiguate. At the moment no formal theory exists of these forms of sensorimotor communication and signaling. We present one such theory that describes signaling as a combination of a pragmatic and a communicative action, and explains how it simplifies coordination in online social interactions. We cast signaling within a "joint action optimization" framework in which co-actors optimize the success of their interaction and joint goals rather than only their part of the joint action. The decision of whether and how much to signal requires solving a trade-off between the costs of modifying one's behavior and the benefits in terms of interaction success. Signaling is thus an intentional strategy that supports social interactions; it acts in concert with automatic mechanisms of resonance, prediction, and imitation, especially when the context makes actions and intentions ambiguous and difficult to read. Our theory suggests that communication dynamics should be studied within theories of coordination and interaction rather than only in terms of the maximization of information transmission.

Human motion tracking by temporal-spatial local gaussian process experts.

PubMed

Zhao, Xu; Fu, Yun; Liu, Yuncai

2011-04-01

Human pose estimation via motion tracking systems can be considered as a regression problem within a discriminative framework. It is always a challenging task to model the mapping from observation space to state space because of the high-dimensional characteristic in the multimodal conditional distribution. In order to build the mapping, existing techniques usually involve a large set of training samples in the learning process which are limited in their capability to deal with multimodality. We propose, in this work, a novel online sparse Gaussian Process (GP) regression model to recover 3-D human motion in monocular videos. Particularly, we investigate the fact that for a given test input, its output is mainly determined by the training samples potentially residing in its local neighborhood and defined in the unified input-output space. This leads to a local mixture GP experts system composed of different local GP experts, each of which dominates a mapping behavior with the specific covariance function adapting to a local region. To handle the multimodality, we combine both temporal and spatial information therefore to obtain two categories of local experts. The temporal and spatial experts are integrated into a seamless hybrid system, which is automatically self-initialized and robust for visual tracking of nonlinear human motion. Learning and inference are extremely efficient as all the local experts are defined online within very small neighborhoods. Extensive experiments on two real-world databases, HumanEva and PEAR, demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed model, which significantly improve the performance of existing models.

76 FR 15313 - Chitika, Inc.; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-21

... network advertiser that engages in online behavioral advertising, the practice of tracking consumers... activity. Chitika offers an online behavioral advertising service in which it acts as an intermediary... order to serve advertising targeted to the individual consumer's interests. When a consumer visits a Web...

Information Seeking and Avoidance Behavior in School Library Distance Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Du, Yunfei

2010-01-01

Library science students in school librarianship were surveyed to determine their information seeking and avoidance behaviors in Web-based online environments. Two coping styles were identified among students. Barriers to student online collaboration, such as individual preferences, concerns on efficiency, and lack of mutual trust, were observed.…

Environmental Learning in Online Social Networks: Adopting Environmentally Responsible Behaviors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robelia, Beth A.; Greenhow, Christine; Burton, Lisa

2011-01-01

Online social networks are increasingly important information and communication tools for young people and for the environmental movement. Networks may provide the motivation for young adults to increase environmental behaviors by increasing their knowledge of environmental issues and of the specific actions they can take to reduce greenhouse gas…

Team Building in an Online Organizational Behavior Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grzeda, Maurice; Haq, Rana; LeBrasseur, Rolland

2008-01-01

The authors describe the development and delivery of a team-building exercise in an online organizational behavior undergraduate course. Qualitative data of student perceptions, collected at the end of the course, revealed both positive and negative reactions to various aspects of the team-building exercise. Based on these reactions, the authors…

Improving Research Participant Ethics: The Utility of an Online Educational Module

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barber, Larissa K.; Bailey, Sarah F.; Bagsby, Patricia G.

2015-01-01

The undergraduate psychology curriculum often does not address guidelines for acceptable participant behavior. This two-part study tested the efficacy of a recently developed online learning module on ethical perceptions, knowledge, and behavior. In the preliminary quasi-experiment, students who viewed the module did not have higher…

Gender Differences in Online High School Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lowes, Susan; Lin, Peiyi; Kinghorn, Brian R. C.

2016-01-01

Prior research has suggested that there may be differences in the ways that male and female students approach their online courses. Using data for 802 high school students enrolled in 14 online courses, this study explored gender differences in the interrelationships among online behaviors and course performance. The findings show that females…

A randomized controlled trial evaluating a low-intensity interactive online parenting intervention, Triple P Online Brief, with parents of children with early onset conduct problems.

PubMed

Baker, Sabine; Sanders, Matthew R; Turner, Karen M T; Morawska, Alina

2017-04-01

This randomized controlled trial examined the efficacy of Triple P Online Brief, a low-intensity online positive parenting program for parents of children with early onset disruptive behavior problems. Two hundred parents with 2-9-year-old children displaying early onset disruptive behavior difficulties were randomly assigned to either the intervention condition (n = 100) or a Waitlist Control group (n = 100). At 8-week post-assessment, parents in the intervention group displayed significantly less use of ineffective parenting strategies and significantly more confidence in dealing with a range of behavior concerns. These effects were maintained at 9-month follow-up assessment. A delayed effect was found for child behavior problems, with parents in the intervention group reporting significantly fewer and less frequent child behavior problems at follow-up, but not at post-assessment. All effect sizes were in the small to medium range. There were no significant improvements in observed negative parent and child behavior. No change was seen for parents' adjustment, anger, or conflict over parenting. Consumer satisfaction ratings for the program were high. A brief, low-intensity parenting program delivered via the Internet can bring about significant improvements in parenting and child behavior. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

On-line social decision making and antisocial behavior: some essential but neglected issues.

PubMed

Fontaine, Reid Griffith

2008-01-01

The last quarter century has witnessed considerable progress in the scientific study of social information processing (SIP) and aggressive behavior in children. SIP research has shown that social decision making in youth is particularly predictive of antisocial behavior, especially as children enter and progress through adolescence. In furtherance of this research, more sophisticated, elaborate models of on-line social decision making have been developed, by which various domains of evaluative judgment are hypothesized to account for both responsive decision making and behavior, as well as self-initiated, instrumental functioning. However, discussions of these models have neglected a number of key issues. In particular, the roles of nonconscious cognitive factors, learning and development, impulsivity and behavioral disinhibition, emotion, and other internal and external factors (e.g., pharmacological influences and audience effects) have been largely absent from scholarly writings. In response, this article introduces discussion of these factors and reviews their possible roles in on-line social decision making and antisocial behavior in youth.

Ostracism Online: A social media ostracism paradigm.

PubMed

Wolf, Wouter; Levordashka, Ana; Ruff, Johanna R; Kraaijeveld, Steven; Lueckmann, Jan-Matthis; Williams, Kipling D

2015-06-01

We describe Ostracism Online, a novel, social media-based ostracism paradigm designed to (1) keep social interaction experimentally controlled, (2) provide researchers with the flexibility to manipulate the properties of the social situation to fit their research purposes, (3) be suitable for online data collection, (4) be convenient for studying subsequent within-group behavior, and (5) be ecologically valid. After collecting data online, we compared the Ostracism Online paradigm with the Cyberball paradigm (Williams & Jarvis Behavior Research Methods, 38, 174-180, 2006) on need-threat and mood questionnaire scores (van Beest & Williams Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 91, 918-928, 2006). We also examined whether ostracized targets of either paradigm would be more likely to conform to their group members than if they had been included. Using a Bayesian analysis of variance to examine the individual effects of the different paradigms and to compare these effects across paradigms, we found analogous effects on need-threat and mood. Perhaps because we examined conformity to the ostracizers (rather than neutral sources), neither paradigm showed effects of ostracism on conformity. We conclude that Ostracism Online is a cost-effective, easy to use, and ecologically valid research tool for studying the psychological and behavioral effects of ostracism.

Mixed Methods Student Evaluation of an Online Systemic Human Anatomy Course with Laboratory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Attardi, Stefanie M.; Choi, Suwhan; Barnett, John; Rogers, Kem A.

2016-01-01

A fully online section of an existing face-to-face (F2F) systemic human anatomy course with a prosection laboratory was offered for the first time in 2012-2013. Lectures for F2F students (N = 365) were broadcast in both live and archived format to online students (N = 40) using virtual classroom software. Laboratories were delivered online by a…

A comparison of online versus workbook delivery of a self-help positive parenting program.

PubMed

Sanders, Matthew R; Dittman, Cassandra K; Farruggia, Susan P; Keown, Louise J

2014-06-01

A noninferiority randomized trial design compared the efficacy of two self-help variants of the Triple P-Positive Parenting Program: an online version and a self-help workbook. We randomly assigned families of 193 children displaying early onset disruptive behavior difficulties to the online (N = 97) or workbook (N = 96) interventions. Parents completed questionnaire measures of child behavior, parenting, child maltreatment risk, personal adjustment and relationship quality at pre- and post-intervention and again at 6-month follow up. The short-term intervention effects of the Triple P Online program were not inferior to the workbook on the primary outcomes of disruptive child behavior and dysfunctional parenting as reported by both mothers and fathers. Both interventions were associated with significant and clinically meaningful declines from pre- to post-intervention in levels of disruptive child behavior, dysfunctional parenting styles, risk of child maltreatment, and inter-parental conflict on both mother and father report measures. Intervention effects were largely maintained at 6-month follow up, thus supporting the use of self-help parenting programs within a comprehensive population-based system of parenting support to reduce child maltreatment and behavioral problems in children.

Theoretical approaches of online social network interventions and implications for behavioral change: a systematic review.

PubMed

Arguel, Amaël; Perez-Concha, Oscar; Li, Simon Y W; Lau, Annie Y S

2018-02-01

The aim of this review was to identify general theoretical frameworks used in online social network interventions for behavioral change. To address this research question, a PRISMA-compliant systematic review was conducted. A systematic review (PROSPERO registration number CRD42014007555) was conducted using 3 electronic databases (PsycINFO, Pubmed, and Embase). Four reviewers screened 1788 abstracts. 15 studies were selected according to the eligibility criteria. Randomized controlled trials and controlled studies were assessed using Cochrane Collaboration's "risk-of-bias" tool, and narrative synthesis. Five eligible articles used the social cognitive theory as a framework to develop interventions targeting behavioral change. Other theoretical frameworks were related to the dynamics of social networks, intention models, and community engagement theories. Only one of the studies selected in the review mentioned a well-known theory from the field of health psychology. Conclusions were that guidelines are lacking in the design of online social network interventions for behavioral change. Existing theories and models from health psychology that are traditionally used for in situ behavioral change should be considered when designing online social network interventions in a health care setting. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Online Consumer: An Examination of Gender, Age, Income and Education as Determinants of Online Repurchasing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Portillo, Carol D.

2017-01-01

Online purchasing has increased dramatically over the past 10 years and the pace is expected to continue to accelerate. This new channel of purchasing poses a challenge to online retailers as they strive to increase online repurchasing behavior. This non-experimental study addresses the problem of how to support a rapidly growing online…

Comparing Biology Grades Based on Instructional Delivery and Instructor at a Community College: Face-to-Face Course Versus Online Course

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosenzweig, Amanda H.

Through distance learning, the community college system has been able to serve more students by providing educational opportunities to students who would otherwise be unable to attend college. The community college of focus in the study increased its online enrollments and online course offerings due to the growth of overall enrollment. The need and purpose of the study is to address if there is a difference in students' grades between face-to-face and online biology related courses and if there are differences in grades between face-to-face and online biology courses taught by different instructors and the same instructor. The study also addresses if online course delivery is a viable method to educate students in biology-related fields. The study spanned 14 semesters between spring 2006 and summer 2011. Data were collected for 6,619 students. For each student, demographic information, cumulative grade point average, ACT, and data on course performance were gathered. Student data were gathered from General Biology I, Microbiology of Human Pathogens, Human Anatomy and Physiology I, and Human Anatomy and Physiology II courses. Univariate analysis of variance, linear regression, and descriptive analysis were used to analyze the data and determine which variables significantly impacted grade achievement for face-to-face and online students in biology classes. The findings from the study showed that course type, face-to-face or online, was significant for Microbiology of Human Pathogens and Human Anatomy and Physiology I, both upper level courses. Teachers were significant for General Biology I, a lower level course, Human Anatomy and Physiology I, and Human Anatomy and Physiology II. However, in every class, there were teachers who had significant differences within their courses between their face-to-face and online courses. This study will allow information to be concluded about the relationship between the students' final grades and class type, face-to-face or online, and instructor. Administrators, faculty and students can use this information to understand what needs to be done to successfully teach and enroll in biology courses, face-to-face or online. biology courses, online courses, face-to-face courses, class type, teacher influence, grades, CGPA, community college

TACtic- A Multi Behavioral Agent for Trading Agent Competition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khosravi, Hassan; Shiri, Mohammad E.; Khosravi, Hamid; Iranmanesh, Ehsan; Davoodi, Alireza

Software agents are increasingly being used to represent humans in online auctions. Such agents have the advantages of being able to systematically monitor a wide variety of auctions and then make rapid decisions about what bids to place in what auctions. They can do this continuously and repetitively without losing concentration. To provide a means of evaluating and comparing (benchmarking) research methods in this area the trading agent competition (TAC) was established. This paper describes the design, of TACtic. Our agent uses multi behavioral techniques at the heart of its decision making to make bidding decisions in the face of uncertainty, to make predictions about the likely outcomes of auctions, and to alter the agent's bidding strategy in response to the prevailing market conditions.

Dr Google and the consumer: a qualitative study exploring the navigational needs and online health information-seeking behaviors of consumers with chronic health conditions.

PubMed

Lee, Kenneth; Hoti, Kreshnik; Hughes, Jeffery David; Emmerton, Lynne

2014-12-02

The abundance of health information available online provides consumers with greater access to information pertinent to the management of health conditions. This is particularly important given an increasing drive for consumer-focused health care models globally, especially in the management of chronic health conditions, and in recognition of challenges faced by lay consumers with finding, understanding, and acting on health information sourced online. There is a paucity of literature exploring the navigational needs of consumers with regards to accessing online health information. Further, existing interventions appear to be didactic in nature, and it is unclear whether such interventions appeal to consumers' needs. Our goal was to explore the navigational needs of consumers with chronic health conditions in finding online health information within the broader context of consumers' online health information-seeking behaviors. Potential barriers to online navigation were also identified. Semistructured interviews were conducted with adult consumers who reported using the Internet for health information and had at least one chronic health condition. Participants were recruited from nine metropolitan community pharmacies within Western Australia, as well as through various media channels. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and then imported into QSR NVivo 10. Two established approaches to thematic analysis were adopted. First, a data-driven approach was used to minimize potential bias in analysis and improve construct and criterion validity. A theory-driven approach was subsequently used to confirm themes identified by the former approach and to ensure identified themes were relevant to the objectives. Two levels of analysis were conducted for both data-driven and theory-driven approaches: manifest-level analysis, whereby face-value themes were identified, and latent-level analysis, whereby underlying concepts were identified. We conducted 17 interviews, with data saturation achieved by the 14th interview. While we identified a broad range of online health information-seeking behaviors, most related to information discussed during consumer-health professional consultations such as looking for information about medication side effects. The barriers we identified included intrinsic barriers, such as limited eHealth literacy, and extrinsic barriers, such as the inconsistency of information between different online sources. The navigational needs of our participants were extrinsic in nature and included health professionals directing consumers to appropriate online resources and better filtering of online health information. Our participants' online health information-seeking behaviors, reported barriers, and navigational needs were underpinned by the themes of trust, patient activation, and relevance. This study suggests that existing interventions aimed to assist consumers with navigating online health information may not be what consumers want or perceive they need. eHealth literacy and patient activation appear to be prevalent concepts in the context of consumers' online health information-seeking behaviors. Furthermore, the role for health professionals in guiding consumers to quality online health information is highlighted.

Pathological Buying Online as a Specific Form of Internet Addiction: A Model-Based Experimental Investigation

PubMed Central

Trotzke, Patrick; Starcke, Katrin; Müller, Astrid; Brand, Matthias

2015-01-01

The study aimed to investigate different factors of vulnerability for pathological buying in the online context and to determine whether online pathological buying has parallels to a specific Internet addiction. According to a model of specific Internet addiction by Brand and colleagues, potential vulnerability factors may consist of a predisposing excitability from shopping and as mediating variable, specific Internet use expectancies. Additionally, in line with models on addiction behavior, cue-induced craving should also constitute an important factor for online pathological buying. The theoretical model was tested in this study by investigating 240 female participants with a cue-reactivity paradigm, which was composed of online shopping pictures, to assess excitability from shopping. Craving (before and after the cue-reactivity paradigm) and online shopping expectancies were measured. The tendency for pathological buying and online pathological buying were screened with the Compulsive Buying Scale (CBS) and the Short Internet Addiction Test modified for shopping (s-IATshopping). The results demonstrated that the relationship between individual’s excitability from shopping and online pathological buying tendency was partially mediated by specific Internet use expectancies for online shopping (model’s R² = .742, p < .001). Furthermore, craving and online pathological buying tendencies were correlated (r = .556, p < .001), and an increase in craving after the cue presentation was observed solely in individuals scoring high for online pathological buying (t(28) = 2.98, p < .01, d = 0.44). Both screening instruments were correlated (r = .517, p < .001), and diagnostic concordances as well as divergences were indicated by applying the proposed cut-off criteria. In line with the model for specific Internet addiction, the study identified potential vulnerability factors for online pathological buying and suggests potential parallels. The presence of craving in individuals with a propensity for online pathological buying emphasizes that this behavior merits potential consideration within the non-substance/behavioral addictions. PMID:26465593

Pathological Buying Online as a Specific Form of Internet Addiction: A Model-Based Experimental Investigation.

PubMed

Trotzke, Patrick; Starcke, Katrin; Müller, Astrid; Brand, Matthias

2015-01-01

The study aimed to investigate different factors of vulnerability for pathological buying in the online context and to determine whether online pathological buying has parallels to a specific Internet addiction. According to a model of specific Internet addiction by Brand and colleagues, potential vulnerability factors may consist of a predisposing excitability from shopping and as mediating variable, specific Internet use expectancies. Additionally, in line with models on addiction behavior, cue-induced craving should also constitute an important factor for online pathological buying. The theoretical model was tested in this study by investigating 240 female participants with a cue-reactivity paradigm, which was composed of online shopping pictures, to assess excitability from shopping. Craving (before and after the cue-reactivity paradigm) and online shopping expectancies were measured. The tendency for pathological buying and online pathological buying were screened with the Compulsive Buying Scale (CBS) and the Short Internet Addiction Test modified for shopping (s-IATshopping). The results demonstrated that the relationship between individual's excitability from shopping and online pathological buying tendency was partially mediated by specific Internet use expectancies for online shopping (model's R² = .742, p < .001). Furthermore, craving and online pathological buying tendencies were correlated (r = .556, p < .001), and an increase in craving after the cue presentation was observed solely in individuals scoring high for online pathological buying (t(28) = 2.98, p < .01, d = 0.44). Both screening instruments were correlated (r = .517, p < .001), and diagnostic concordances as well as divergences were indicated by applying the proposed cut-off criteria. In line with the model for specific Internet addiction, the study identified potential vulnerability factors for online pathological buying and suggests potential parallels. The presence of craving in individuals with a propensity for online pathological buying emphasizes that this behavior merits potential consideration within the non-substance/behavioral addictions.

Evolution properties of online user preference diversity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Qiang; Ji, Lei; Liu, Jian-Guo; Han, Jingti

2017-02-01

Detecting the evolution properties of online user preference diversity is of significance for deeply understanding online collective behaviors. In this paper, we empirically explore the evolution patterns of online user rating preference, where the preference diversity is measured by the variation coefficient of the user rating sequence. The statistical results for four real systems show that, for movies and reviews, the user rating preference would become diverse and then get centralized finally. By introducing the empirical variation coefficient, we present a Markov model, which could regenerate the evolution properties of two online systems regarding to the stable variation coefficients. In addition, we investigate the evolution of the correlation between the user ratings and the object qualities, and find that the correlation would keep increasing as the user degree increases. This work could be helpful for understanding the anchoring bias and memory effects of the online user collective behaviors.

Information-seeking behavior and the use of online resources: a snapshot of current health sciences faculty.

PubMed

De Groote, Sandra L; Shultz, Mary; Blecic, Deborah D

2014-07-01

The research assesses the information-seeking behaviors of health sciences faculty, including their use of online databases, journals, and social media. A survey was designed and distributed via email to 754 health sciences faculty at a large urban research university with 6 health sciences colleges. Twenty-six percent (198) of faculty responded. MEDLINE was the primary database utilized, with 78.5% respondents indicating they use the database at least once a week. Compared to MEDLINE, Google was utilized more often on a daily basis. Other databases showed much lower usage. Low use of online databases other than MEDLINE, link-out tools to online journals, and online social media and collaboration tools demonstrates a need for meaningful promotion of online resources and informatics literacy instruction for faculty. Library resources are plentiful and perhaps somewhat overwhelming. Librarians need to help faculty discover and utilize the resources and tools that libraries have to offer.

Effects of Website Interactivity on Online Retail Shopping Behavior

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Islam, Hafizul

Motivations to engage in retail online shopping can include both utilitarian and hedonic shopping dimensions. To cater to these consumers, online retailers can create a cognitively and esthetically rich shopping environment, through sophisticated levels of interactive web utilities and features, offering not only utilitarian benefits and attributes but also providing hedonic benefits of enjoyment. Since the effect of interactive websites has proven to stimulate online consumer’s perceptions, this study presumes that websites with multimedia rich interactive utilities and features can influence online consumers’ shopping motivations and entice them to modify or even transform their original shopping predispositions by providing them with attractive and enhanced interactive features and controls, thus generating a positive attitude towards products and services offered by the retailer. This study seeks to explore the effects of Web interactivity on online consumer behavior through an attitudinal model of technology acceptance.

Linking online sexual activities to health outcomes among teens.

PubMed

O'Sullivan, Lucia F

2014-01-01

New digital technologies are highly responsive to many of the developmental needs of adolescents, including their need for intimate connection and social identity. This chapter explores adolescents' use of web-based sexual information, texting and "sexting," online dating sites, role-playing games, and sexually explicit media, and presents new data comparing the interpersonal and intrapersonal health outcomes among youth who engage in online sexual activities to those who do not. Despite the media-stoked concerns surrounding adolescents' participation in online sexual activities, the ubiquity of online activities and close overlap between online and offline activities indicate that this type of behavior should not be pathologized or used as a metric of problem behavior. The chapter concludes with implications for parents, educators, researchers, counselors, and health care providers, a call to challenge our deep discomfort around adolescent sexuality and to harness these technologies in ways that help promote growth and positive development. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Early home literacy and adolescents’ online reading behavior in comparative perspective

PubMed Central

Notten, Natascha; Becker, Birgit

2017-01-01

Online reading behavior can be regarded as a ‘new’ form of cultural capital in today’s digital world. However, it is unclear whether ‘traditional’ mechanisms of cultural and social reproduction are also found in this domain, and whether they manifest uniformly across countries at different stages of development. This article analyzes whether the early home literacy environment has an impact on informational online reading behavior among adolescents and whether this association varies between countries with different levels of digitalization and educational expansion. Data from the 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) were used for the empirical analyses. The results of regression models with country-fixed effects indicate a positive association between literacy activities in early childhood and informational online reading at age 15. This association was quite stable across countries. These findings are discussed in light of cultural and social reproduction theory and digital divide research. PMID:29276306

Identification of influential spreaders in online social networks using interaction weighted K-core decomposition method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-garadi, Mohammed Ali; Varathan, Kasturi Dewi; Ravana, Sri Devi

2017-02-01

Online social networks (OSNs) have become a vital part of everyday living. OSNs provide researchers and scientists with unique prospects to comprehend individuals on a scale and to analyze human behavioral patterns. Influential spreaders identification is an important subject in understanding the dynamics of information diffusion in OSNs. Targeting these influential spreaders is significant in planning the techniques for accelerating the propagation of information that is useful for various applications, such as viral marketing applications or blocking the diffusion of annoying information (spreading of viruses, rumors, online negative behaviors, and cyberbullying). Existing K-core decomposition methods consider links equally when calculating the influential spreaders for unweighted networks. Alternatively, the proposed link weights are based only on the degree of nodes. Thus, if a node is linked to high-degree nodes, then this node will receive high weight and is treated as an important node. Conversely, the degree of nodes in OSN context does not always provide accurate influence of users. In the present study, we improve the K-core method for OSNs by proposing a novel link-weighting method based on the interaction among users. The proposed method is based on the observation that the interaction of users is a significant factor in quantifying the spreading capability of user in OSNs. The tracking of diffusion links in the real spreading dynamics of information verifies the effectiveness of our proposed method for identifying influential spreaders in OSNs as compared with degree centrality, PageRank, and original K-core.

Human observers have optimal introspective access to perceptual processes even for visually masked stimuli

PubMed Central

Peters, Megan A K; Lau, Hakwan

2015-01-01

Many believe that humans can ‘perceive unconsciously’ – that for weak stimuli, briefly presented and masked, above-chance discrimination is possible without awareness. Interestingly, an online survey reveals that most experts in the field recognize the lack of convincing evidence for this phenomenon, and yet they persist in this belief. Using a recently developed bias-free experimental procedure for measuring subjective introspection (confidence), we found no evidence for unconscious perception; participants’ behavior matched that of a Bayesian ideal observer, even though the stimuli were visually masked. This surprising finding suggests that the thresholds for subjective awareness and objective discrimination are effectively the same: if objective task performance is above chance, there is likely conscious experience. These findings shed new light on decades-old methodological issues regarding what it takes to consider a neurobiological or behavioral effect to be 'unconscious,' and provide a platform for rigorously investigating unconscious perception in future studies. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.09651.001 PMID:26433023

Adapting Behavioral Interventions for Social Media Delivery

PubMed Central

Waring, Molly E; May, Christine N; Ding, Eric Y; Kunz, Werner H; Hayes, Rashelle; Oleski, Jessica L

2016-01-01

Patients are increasingly using online social networks (ie, social media) to connect with other patients and health care professionals—a trend called peer-to-peer health care. Because online social networks provide a means for health care professionals to communicate with patients, and for patients to communicate with each other, an opportunity exists to use social media as a modality to deliver behavioral interventions. Social media-delivered behavioral interventions have the potential to reduce the expense of behavioral interventions by eliminating visits, as well as increase our access to patients by becoming embedded in their social media feeds. Trials of online social network-delivered behavioral interventions have shown promise, but much is unknown about intervention development and methodology. In this paper, we discuss the process by which investigators can translate behavioral interventions for social media delivery. We present a model that describes the steps and decision points in this process, including the necessary training and reporting requirements. We also discuss issues pertinent to social media-delivered interventions, including cost, scalability, and privacy. Finally, we identify areas of research that are needed to optimize this emerging behavioral intervention modality. PMID:26825969

Adapting Behavioral Interventions for Social Media Delivery.

PubMed

Pagoto, Sherry; Waring, Molly E; May, Christine N; Ding, Eric Y; Kunz, Werner H; Hayes, Rashelle; Oleski, Jessica L

2016-01-29

Patients are increasingly using online social networks (ie, social media) to connect with other patients and health care professionals--a trend called peer-to-peer health care. Because online social networks provide a means for health care professionals to communicate with patients, and for patients to communicate with each other, an opportunity exists to use social media as a modality to deliver behavioral interventions. Social media-delivered behavioral interventions have the potential to reduce the expense of behavioral interventions by eliminating visits, as well as increase our access to patients by becoming embedded in their social media feeds. Trials of online social network-delivered behavioral interventions have shown promise, but much is unknown about intervention development and methodology. In this paper, we discuss the process by which investigators can translate behavioral interventions for social media delivery. We present a model that describes the steps and decision points in this process, including the necessary training and reporting requirements. We also discuss issues pertinent to social media-delivered interventions, including cost, scalability, and privacy. Finally, we identify areas of research that are needed to optimize this emerging behavioral intervention modality.

Modeling the heterogeneity of human dynamics based on the measurements of influential users in Sina Microblog

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Chenxu; Guan, Xiaohong; Qin, Tao; Yang, Tao

2015-06-01

Online social network has become an indispensable communication tool in the information age. The development of microblog also provides us a great opportunity to study human dynamics that play a crucial role in the design of efficient communication systems. In this paper we study the characteristics of the tweeting behavior based on the data collected from Sina Microblog. The user activity level is measured to characterize how often a user posts a tweet. We find that the user activity level follows a bimodal distribution. That is, the microblog users tend to be either active or inactive. The inter-tweeting time distribution is then measured at both the aggregate and individual levels. We find that the inter-tweeting time follows a piecewise power law distribution of two tails. Furthermore, the exponents of the two tails have different correlations with the user activity level. These findings demonstrate that the dynamics of the tweeting behavior are heterogeneous in different time scales. We then develop a dynamic model co-driven by the memory and the interest mechanism to characterize the heterogeneity. The numerical simulations validate the model and verify that the short time interval tweeting behavior is driven by the memory mechanism while the long time interval behavior by the interest mechanism.

Evidence that attitude accessibility augments the relationship between speeding attitudes and speeding behavior: a test of the MODE model in the context of driving.

PubMed

Elliott, Mark A; Lee, Emme; Robertson, Jamie S; Innes, Rhona

2015-01-01

According to the MODE model of attitude-to-behavior processes, attitude accessibility augments attitude-behavior correspondence, reflecting an automatic influence of attitudes on behavior. We therefore tested whether attitude accessibility moderates the attitude-behavior relationship in a context that is governed by characteristically automatic behavior, namely driving. In study 1 (correlational design), participants (N=130) completed online questionnaire measures of the valences and accessibilities of their attitudes towards speeding. Two weeks later, online questionnaire measures of subsequent speeding behavior were obtained. Attitude valence was a significantly better predictor of behavior at high (mean+1SD) versus low (mean-1SD) levels of attitude accessibility. In study 2 (experimental design), attitude accessibility was manipulated with a repeated attitude expression task. Immediately after the manipulation, participants (N=122) completed online questionnaire measures of attitude valence and accessibility, and two weeks later, subsequent speeding behavior. Increased attitude accessibility in the experimental (versus control) condition generated an increase in attitude-behavior correspondence. The findings are consistent with the MODE model's proposition that attitudes can exert an automatic influence on behavior. Interventions to reduce speeding could usefully increase the accessibility of anti-speeding attitudes and reduce the accessibility of pro-speeding attitudes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Internet gaming disorder and online gambling disorder: Clinical and personality correlates.

PubMed

Mallorquí-Bagué, Nuria; Fernández-Aranda, Fernando; Lozano-Madrid, María; Granero, Roser; Mestre-Bach, Gemma; Baño, Marta; Pino-Gutiérrez, Amparo Del; Gómez-Peña, Mónica; Aymamí, Neus; Menchón, José M; Jiménez-Murcia, Susana

2017-12-01

Background and aims The recent growth of Internet use has led to an increase of potentially problematic behaviors that can be engaged online, such as online gambling or Internet gaming. The aim of this study is to better conceptualize Internet gaming disorder (IGD) by comparing it with gambling disorder (GD) patients who only gamble online (online GD). Methods A total of 288 adult patients (261 online GD and 27 IGD) completed self-reported questionnaires for exploring psychopathological symptoms, food addiction (FA), and personality traits. Results Both clinical groups presented higher psychopathological scores and less functional personality traits when compared with a normative Spanish population. However, when comparing IGD to online GD, some singularities emerged. First, patients with IGD were younger, more likely single and unemployed, and they also presented lower age of disorder onset. In addition, they displayed lower somatization and depressive scores together with lower prevalence of tobacco use but higher FA scores and higher mean body mass index. Finally, they presented lower novelty seeking and persistence traits. Discussion GD is fully recognized as a behavioral addiction, but IGD has been included in the Appendix of DSM-5 as a behavioral addiction that needs further study. Our findings suggest that IGD and online GD patients share some emotional distress and personality traits, but patients with IGD also display some differential characteristics, namely younger age, lower novelty seeking scores and higher BMI, and FA scores. Conclusions IGD presents some characteristics that are not extensive to online GD. These specificities have potential clinical implications and they need to be further studied.

Examining the Correlates of Online Health Information-Seeking Behavior Among Men Compared With Women.

PubMed

Nikoloudakis, Irene A; Vandelanotte, Corneel; Rebar, Amanda L; Schoeppe, Stephanie; Alley, Stephanie; Duncan, Mitch J; Short, Camille E

2016-05-18

This study aimed to identify and compare the demographic, health behavior, health status, and social media use correlates of online health-seeking behaviors among men and women. Cross-sectional self-report data were collected from 1,289 Australian adults participating in the Queensland Social Survey. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify the correlates of online health information seeking for men and women. Differences in the strength of the relation of these correlates were tested using equality of regression coefficient tests. For both genders, the two strongest correlates were social media use (men: odds ratio [OR] = 2.57, 95% confidence interval [CI: 1.78, 3.71]; women: OR = 2.93, 95% CI [1.92, 4.45]) and having a university education (men: OR = 3.63, 95% CI [2.37, 5.56]; women: OR = 2.74, 95% CI [1.66, 4.51]). Not being a smoker and being of younger age were also associated with online health information seeking for both men and women. Reporting poor health and the presence of two chronic diseases were positively associated with online health seeking for women only. Correlates of help seeking online among men and women were generally similar, with exception of health status. Results suggest that similar groups of men and women are likely to access health information online for primary prevention purposes, and additionally that women experiencing poor health are more likely to seek health information online than women who are relatively well. These findings are useful for analyzing the potential reach of online health initiatives targeting both men and women. © The Author(s) 2016.

College Students' Choice Modeling of Taking On-Line International Business Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeh, Robert S.

2006-01-01

To understand students' choice behavior of taking on-line international business courses, a survey study is conducted to collect information regarding students' actual choices of taking on-line courses and potential factors that may have impacts on students' choices of online learning. Potential factors such as enrollment status, demographic…

Cognitive Attainment in Online Learning Environments: Matching Cognitive and Technological Presence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gregori, Elena; Torras, Eulalia; Guasch, Teresa

2012-01-01

To know whether students' achievements are the result of online interaction and not just a consequence of individual differences themselves, it seems essential to link the cognitive results to the students' online behavior (technological presence). In technological presence, interaction is based on the degree in which the online student senses the…

The roles of constraint-based and dedication-based influences on user's continued online shopping behavior.

PubMed

Chang, Su-Chao; Chou, Chi-Min

2012-11-01

The objective of this study was to determine empirically the role of constraint-based and dedication-based influences as drivers of the intention to continue using online shopping websites. Constraint-based influences consist of two variables: trust and perceived switching costs. Dedication-based influences consist of three variables: satisfaction, perceived usefulness, and trust. The current results indicate that both constraint-based and dedication-based influences are important drivers of the intention to continue using online shopping websites. The data also shows that trust has the strongest total effect on online shoppers' intention to continue using online shopping websites. In addition, the results indicate that the antecedents of constraint-based influences, technical bonds (e.g., perceived operational competence and perceived website interactivity) and social bonds (e.g., perceived relationship investment, community building, and intimacy) have indirect positive effects on the intention to continue using online shopping websites. Based on these findings, this research suggests that online shopping websites should build constraint-based and dedication-based influences to enhance user's continued online shopping behaviors simultaneously.

Understanding Teacher Users of a Digital Library Service: A Clustering Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xu, Beijie

2011-01-01

This research examined teachers' online behaviors while using a digital library service--the Instructional Architect (IA)--through three consecutive studies. In the first two studies, a statistical model called latent class analysis (LCA) was applied to cluster different groups of IA teachers according to their diverse online behaviors. The third…

Online Research Behaviors of Engineering Graduate Students in Taiwan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cheng, Ying-Hsueh; Tsai, Chin-Chung

2017-01-01

Previous studies have examined the online research behaviors of graduate students in terms of how they seek and retrieve research-related information on the Web across diverse disciplines. However, few have focused on graduate students' searching activities, and particularly for their research tasks. Drawing on Kuiper, Volman, and Terwel's (2008)…

Examining Interactive and Metacognitive Processes in Student Learning: Findings from a Hybrid Instructional Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meyers, Shelly; Feeney, Linda D.

2016-01-01

This study examines the interaction behaviors and metacognitive behaviors of graduate students in the online portion of a flipped classroom. For their time outside the face to face classroom, students were given the choice of two online methods for their interactions--synchronous verbal discussions and asynchronous written discussions. Students…

The Influence of Motivational Regulation Strategies on Online Students' Behavioral, Emotional, and Cognitive Engagement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Park, Sanghoon; Yun, Heoncheol

2018-01-01

Providing effective motivational support is a critical determinant of a successful online distance learning experience for students in higher education. In this study, we examined how students' academic level and use of 8 motivational regulation strategies influence 3 types of student engagement: behavioral engagement, emotional engagement, and…

Participatory Learning through Behavioral and Cognitive Engagements in an Online Collective Information Searching Activity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Chia-Ching; Tsai, Chin-Chung

2012-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the relationships between college students' behavioral and cognitive engagements while performing an online collective information searching (CIS) activity. The activity aimed to assist the students in utilizing a social bookmarking application to exploit the Internet in a collective manner. A group of 101 college…

Comparing Learner Community Behavior in Multiple Presentations of a Massive Open Online Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gallagher, Silvia Elena; Savage, Timothy

2015-01-01

Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) can create large scale communities of learners who collaborate, interact and discuss learning materials and activities. MOOCs are often delivered multiple times with similar content to different cohorts of learners. However, research into the differences of learner communication, behavior and expectation between…

Comparing Learner Community Behavior in Multiple Presentations of a Massive Open Online Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gallagher, Silvia Elena; Savage, Timothy

2016-01-01

Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) can create large scale communities of learners who collaborate, interact and discuss learning materials and activities. MOOCs are often delivered multiple times with similar content to different cohorts of learners. However, research into the differences of learner communication, behavior and expectation between…

Perceptions of Mediated Presence in an Asynchronous Online Course: Interplay of Communication Behaviors and Medium

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Russo, Tracy Callaway; Campbell, Scott W.

2004-01-01

This investigation of student perceptions of mediated presence in an online college class yielded two key findings. First, perceptions of the instructor's mediated presence were significantly higher than perceptions of the other students' presence. Second, students identified a set of communication behaviors that influenced their perceptions of…

Video Lecture Watching Behaviors of Learners in Online Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ozan, Ozlem; Ozarslan, Yasin

2016-01-01

This paper examines learners' behaviors while watching online video lectures to understand learner preferences. 2927 students' 18,144 video events across 13 courses on Sakai CLE LMS, which were integrated with Kaltura Video Platform and Google Analytics, were analyzed. For the analysis of the quantitative data, one-way ANOVA, Chi-square test of…

What Influences Chinese Adolescents’ Choice Intention between Playing Online Games and Learning? Application of Theory of Planned Behavior with Subjective Norm Manipulated as Peer Support and Parental Monitoring

PubMed Central

Wang, Jia; Liu, Ru-De; Ding, Yi; Liu, Ying; Xu, Le; Zhen, Rui

2017-01-01

This study investigated how and why Chinese adolescents choose between playing online games and doing homework, using the model of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) in which the subjective norm was manipulated as two sub-elements (peer support and parental monitoring). A total of 530 students from an elementary school and a middle school in China were asked to complete the measures assessing two predictors of TPB: attitude and perceived behavioral control (PBC). Next, they completed a survey about their choice intention between playing an online game and doing homework in three different situations, wherein a conflict between playing online games and doing homework was introduced and subjective norm was manipulated as peers supporting and parents objecting to playing online games. The results showed that adolescents’ attitude and PBC, as well as the perception of obtaining or not obtaining support from their peers and caregivers (manipulated subjective norm), significantly influenced their choice intention in online gaming situations. These findings contribute to the understanding of the factors affecting adolescents’ online gaming, which has been a concern of both caregivers and educators. With regard to the theoretical implications, this study extended previous work by providing evidence that TPB can be applied to analyze choice intention. Moreover, this study illuminated the effects of the separating factors of subjective norm on choice intention between playing online games and studying. PMID:28458649

What Influences Chinese Adolescents' Choice Intention between Playing Online Games and Learning? Application of Theory of Planned Behavior with Subjective Norm Manipulated as Peer Support and Parental Monitoring.

PubMed

Wang, Jia; Liu, Ru-De; Ding, Yi; Liu, Ying; Xu, Le; Zhen, Rui

2017-01-01

This study investigated how and why Chinese adolescents choose between playing online games and doing homework, using the model of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) in which the subjective norm was manipulated as two sub-elements (peer support and parental monitoring). A total of 530 students from an elementary school and a middle school in China were asked to complete the measures assessing two predictors of TPB: attitude and perceived behavioral control (PBC). Next, they completed a survey about their choice intention between playing an online game and doing homework in three different situations, wherein a conflict between playing online games and doing homework was introduced and subjective norm was manipulated as peers supporting and parents objecting to playing online games. The results showed that adolescents' attitude and PBC, as well as the perception of obtaining or not obtaining support from their peers and caregivers (manipulated subjective norm), significantly influenced their choice intention in online gaming situations. These findings contribute to the understanding of the factors affecting adolescents' online gaming, which has been a concern of both caregivers and educators. With regard to the theoretical implications, this study extended previous work by providing evidence that TPB can be applied to analyze choice intention. Moreover, this study illuminated the effects of the separating factors of subjective norm on choice intention between playing online games and studying.

Structural diversity effect on hashtag adoption in Twitter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Aihua; Zheng, Mingxing; Pang, Bowen

2018-03-01

With online social network developing rapidly these years, user' behavior in online social network has attracted a lot of attentions to it. In this paper, we study Twitter user's behavior of hashtag adoption from the perspective of social contagion and focus on "structure diversity" effect on individual's behavior in Twitter. We achieve data through Twitter's API by crawling and build a users' network to carry on empirical research. The Girvan-Newman (G-N) algorithm is used to analyze the structural diversity of user's ego network, and Logistic regression model is adopted to examine the hypothesis. The findings of our empirical study indicate that user' behavior in online social network is indeed influenced by his friends and his decision is significantly affected by the number of groups that these friends belong to, which we call structural diversity.

Online monitoring of corrosion behavior in molten metal using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeng, Qiang; Pan, Congyuan; Li, Chaoyang; Fei, Teng; Ding, Xiaokang; Du, Xuewei; Wang, Qiuping

2018-04-01

The corrosion behavior of structure materials in direct contact with molten metals is widespread in metallurgical industry. The corrosion of casting equipment by molten metals is detrimental to the production process, and the corroded materials can also contaminate the metals being produced. Conventional methods for studying the corrosion behavior by molten metal are offline. This work explored the application of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for online monitoring of the corrosion behavior of molten metal. The compositional changes of molten aluminum in crucibles made of 304 stainless steel were obtained online at 1000 °C. Several offline techniques were combined to determine the corrosion mechanism, which was highly consistent with previous studies. Results proved that LIBS was an efficient method to study the corrosion mechanism of solid materials in molten metal.

Influence of Social Media on Alcohol Use in Adolescents and Young Adults

PubMed Central

Moreno, Megan A.; Whitehill, Jennifer M.

2014-01-01

Participation in online social media Web sites (e.g., Facebook and Twitter) has skyrocketed in recent years and created a new environment in which adolescents and young adults may be exposed to and influenced by alcohol-related content. Thus, young people are exposed to and display pro-alcohol messages and images through online portrayals of drinking on personal pages as well as unregulated alcohol marketing on social media sites that may reach underage people. Such online displays of alcohol behavior have been correlated with offline alcohol behavior and risky drinking. Health behavior theories have been used to describe the influence of social media sites, including Social Learning Theory, the Media Practice Model, and a more recent conceptual approach called the Facebook Influence Model. Researchers are beginning to assess the potential of social media sites in identifying high-risk drinkers through online display patterns as well as delivering prevention messages and interventions. Future studies need to further expand existing observational work to better understand the role of social media in shaping alcohol-related behaviors and fully exploit the potential of these media for alcohol-related interventions. PMID:26259003

Influence of Social Media on Alcohol Use in Adolescents and Young Adults.

PubMed

Moreno, Megan A; Whitehill, Jennifer M

2014-01-01

Participation in online social media Web sites (e.g., Facebook and Twitter) has skyrocketed in recent years and created a new environment in which adolescents and young adults may be exposed to and influenced by alcohol-related content. Thus, young people are exposed to and display pro-alcohol messages and images through online portrayals of drinking on personal pages as well as unregulated alcohol marketing on social media sites that may reach underage people. Such online displays of alcohol behavior have been correlated with offline alcohol behavior and risky drinking. Health behavior theories have been used to describe the influence of social media sites, including Social Learning Theory, the Media Practice Model, and a more recent conceptual approach called the Facebook Influence Model. Researchers are beginning to assess the potential of social media sites in identifying high-risk drinkers through online display patterns as well as delivering prevention messages and interventions. Future studies need to further expand existing observational work to better understand the role of social media in shaping alcohol-related behaviors and fully exploit the potential of these media for alcohol-related interventions.

The Relationship between Online Social Networking and Sexual Risk Behaviors among Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM)

PubMed Central

Young, Sean D.; Szekeres, Greg; Coates, Thomas

2013-01-01

Online social networking usage is growing rapidly, especially among at-risk populations, such as men who have sex with men (MSM). However, little research has studied the relationship between online social networking usage and sexual risk behaviors among at-risk populations. One hundred and eighteen Facebook-registered MSM (60.1% Latino, 28% African American; 11.9% other) were recruited from online (social networking websites and banner advertisements) and offline (local clinics, restaurants and organizations) venues frequented by minority MSM. Inclusion criteria required participants to be men who were 18 years of age or older, had had sex with a man in the past 12 months, were living in Los Angeles, and had a Facebook account. Participants completed an online survey on their social media usage and sexual risk behaviors. Results from a multivariable regression suggest that number of sexual partners met from online social networking technologies is associated with increased: 1) likelihood of having exchanged sex for food, drugs, or a place to stay within the past 3 months; 2) number of new partners within the past 3 months; 3) number of male sex partners within the past 3 months; and 4) frequency of engaging in oral sex within the past 3 months, controlling for age, race, education, and total number of sexual partners. Understanding the relationship between social media sex-seeking and sexual risk behaviors among at-risk populations will help inform population-focused HIV prevention and treatment interventions. PMID:23658716

The relationship between online social networking and sexual risk behaviors among men who have sex with men (MSM).

PubMed

Young, Sean D; Szekeres, Greg; Coates, Thomas

2013-01-01

Online social networking usage is growing rapidly, especially among at-risk populations, such as men who have sex with men (MSM). However, little research has studied the relationship between online social networking usage and sexual risk behaviors among at-risk populations. One hundred and eighteen Facebook-registered MSM (60.1% Latino, 28% African American; 11.9% other) were recruited from online (social networking websites and banner advertisements) and offline (local clinics, restaurants and organizations) venues frequented by minority MSM. Inclusion criteria required participants to be men who were 18 years of age or older, had had sex with a man in the past 12 months, were living in Los Angeles, and had a Facebook account. Participants completed an online survey on their social media usage and sexual risk behaviors. Results from a multivariable regression suggest that number of sexual partners met from online social networking technologies is associated with increased: 1) likelihood of having exchanged sex for food, drugs, or a place to stay within the past 3 months; 2) number of new partners within the past 3 months; 3) number of male sex partners within the past 3 months; and 4) frequency of engaging in oral sex within the past 3 months, controlling for age, race, education, and total number of sexual partners. Understanding the relationship between social media sex-seeking and sexual risk behaviors among at-risk populations will help inform population-focused HIV prevention and treatment interventions.

Empirical analysis on the human dynamics of blogging behavior on GitHub

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Deng-Cheng; Wei, Zong-Wen; Han, Xiao-Pu; Wang, Bing-Hong

2017-01-01

GitHub is a social collaborative coding platform on which software developers not only collaborate on codes but also share knowledge through blogs using GitHub Pages. In this article, we analyze the blogging behavior of software developers on GitHub Pages. The results show that both the commit number and the inter-event time of two consecutive blogging actions follow heavy-tailed distribution. We further observe a significant variety of activity among individual developers, and a strongly positive correlation between the activity and the power-law exponent of the inter-event time distribution. We also find a difference between the user behaviors of GitHub Pages and other online systems which is driven by the diversity of users and length of contents. In addition, our result shows an obvious difference between the majority of developers and elite developers in their burstiness property.

Evaluation of Online and In-Person Nutrition Education Related to Salt Knowledge and Behaviors among Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children Participants.

PubMed

Au, Lauren E; Whaley, Shannon E; Gurzo, Klara; Meza, Martha; Rosen, Nila J; Ritchie, Lorrene D

2017-09-01

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) differs from other federal nutrition programs in that nutrition education is a required component. WIC programs traditionally provide in-person education, but recently some WIC sites have started offering online education. Education focused on reducing salt intake is an important topic for WIC participants because a high-sodium diet has been associated with high blood pressure, and low-income populations are at increased risk. Our aim was to examine the impacts of traditional in-person and online nutrition education on changes in knowledge, self-efficacy, and behaviors related to reducing salt intake in low-income women enrolled in WIC. Although a comparison of groups was not the primary focus, a randomized trial examining the impact of online and in-person nutrition education on participant knowledge, self-efficacy, and behaviors related to salt intake was conducted. Five hundred fourteen WIC participants from three Los Angeles, CA, WIC clinics received either in-person (n=257) or online (n=257) education. Questionnaires assessing salt-related knowledge, self-efficacy, and behaviors were administered at baseline and 2 to 4 months and 9 months later from November 2014 through October 2015. Positive changes in knowledge and self-efficacy were retained 2 to 4 months and 9 months later for both groups (P<0.05). Both groups reported significant changes in behaviors related to using less salt in cooking (P<0.0001) and eating fewer foods with salt added at the table or during cooking (P<0.001) at 2 to 4 months and 9 months. Both online and in-person education resulted in improvements during a 9-month period in knowledge, self-efficacy, and reported behaviors associated with reducing salt intake in a low-income population. Offering an online education option for WIC participants could broaden the reach of nutrition education and lead to long-term positive dietary changes. Copyright © 2017 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Appropriate uses and considerations for online surveying in human dimensions research

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sexton, Natalie R.; Miller, Holly M.; Dietsch, Alia M.

2011-01-01

Online surveying has gained attention in recent years for its applicability to human dimensions research as an efficient and inexpensive data-collection method; however, online surveying is not a panacea. In this article, we provide some guidelines for alleviating or avoiding the criticisms and pitfalls suggested of online survey methods and explore two case studies demonstrating different approaches to online surveying. The first was a mixed-mode study of visitors to 52 participating National Wildlife Refuges. The response rate was 72%, with over half of respondents completing the survey online, resulting in cost-savings and efficiencies that would not have otherwise been realized. The second highlighted an online-only approach targeting specialized users of satellite imagery. Through branching and skipping, the online mode allowed flexibilities in administration impractical in a mail survey. The response rate of 53% was higher than typical for online surveys. Both case studies provide examples of appropriate uses of online surveying.

Conducting spoken word recognition research online: Validation and a new timing method.

PubMed

Slote, Joseph; Strand, Julia F

2016-06-01

Models of spoken word recognition typically make predictions that are then tested in the laboratory against the word recognition scores of human subjects (e.g., Luce & Pisoni Ear and Hearing, 19, 1-36, 1998). Unfortunately, laboratory collection of large sets of word recognition data can be costly and time-consuming. Due to the numerous advantages of online research in speed, cost, and participant diversity, some labs have begun to explore the use of online platforms such as Amazon's Mechanical Turk (AMT) to source participation and collect data (Buhrmester, Kwang, & Gosling Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6, 3-5, 2011). Many classic findings in cognitive psychology have been successfully replicated online, including the Stroop effect, task-switching costs, and Simon and flanker interference (Crump, McDonnell, & Gureckis PLoS ONE, 8, e57410, 2013). However, tasks requiring auditory stimulus delivery have not typically made use of AMT. In the present study, we evaluated the use of AMT for collecting spoken word identification and auditory lexical decision data. Although online users were faster and less accurate than participants in the lab, the results revealed strong correlations between the online and laboratory measures for both word identification accuracy and lexical decision speed. In addition, the scores obtained in the lab and online were equivalently correlated with factors that have been well established to predict word recognition, including word frequency and phonological neighborhood density. We also present and analyze a method for precise auditory reaction timing that is novel to behavioral research. Taken together, these findings suggest that AMT can be a viable alternative to the traditional laboratory setting as a source of participation for some spoken word recognition research.

Statistical physics of vaccination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zhen; Bauch, Chris T.; Bhattacharyya, Samit; d'Onofrio, Alberto; Manfredi, Piero; Perc, Matjaž; Perra, Nicola; Salathé, Marcel; Zhao, Dawei

2016-12-01

Historically, infectious diseases caused considerable damage to human societies, and they continue to do so today. To help reduce their impact, mathematical models of disease transmission have been studied to help understand disease dynamics and inform prevention strategies. Vaccination-one of the most important preventive measures of modern times-is of great interest both theoretically and empirically. And in contrast to traditional approaches, recent research increasingly explores the pivotal implications of individual behavior and heterogeneous contact patterns in populations. Our report reviews the developmental arc of theoretical epidemiology with emphasis on vaccination, as it led from classical models assuming homogeneously mixing (mean-field) populations and ignoring human behavior, to recent models that account for behavioral feedback and/or population spatial/social structure. Many of the methods used originated in statistical physics, such as lattice and network models, and their associated analytical frameworks. Similarly, the feedback loop between vaccinating behavior and disease propagation forms a coupled nonlinear system with analogs in physics. We also review the new paradigm of digital epidemiology, wherein sources of digital data such as online social media are mined for high-resolution information on epidemiologically relevant individual behavior. Armed with the tools and concepts of statistical physics, and further assisted by new sources of digital data, models that capture nonlinear interactions between behavior and disease dynamics offer a novel way of modeling real-world phenomena, and can help improve health outcomes. We conclude the review by discussing open problems in the field and promising directions for future research.

Balancing Privacy and Professionalism: A Survey of General Surgery Program Directors on Social Media and Surgical Education.

PubMed

Langenfeld, Sean J; Vargo, Daniel J; Schenarts, Paul J

Unprofessional behavior is common among surgical residents and faculty surgeons on Facebook. Usage of social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter is growing at exponential rates, so it is imperative that surgery program directors (PDs) focus on professionalism within social media, and develop guidelines for their trainees and surgical colleagues. Our study focuses on the surgery PDs current approach to online professionalism within surgical education. An online survey of general surgery PDs was conducted in October 2015 through the Association for Program Directors in Surgery listserv. Baseline PD demographics, usage and approach to popular social media outlets, existing institutional policies, and formal curricula were assessed. A total of 110 PDs responded to the survey (110/259, 42.5% response rate). Social media usage was high among PDs (Facebook 68% and Twitter 40%). PDs frequently viewed the social media profiles of students, residents, and faculty. Overall, 11% of PDs reported lowering the rank or completely removing a residency applicant from the rank order list because of online behavior, and 10% reported formal disciplinary action against a surgical resident because of online behavior. Overall, 68% of respondents agreed that online professionalism is important, and that residents should receive instruction on the safe use of social media. However, most programs did not have formal didactics or known institutional policies in place. Use of social media is high among PDs, and they often view the online behavior of residency applicants, surgical residents, and faculty surgeons. Within surgical education, there needs to be an increased focus on institutional policies and standardized curricula to help educate physicians on social media and online professionalism. Copyright © 2016 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Online Social Networking and Mental Health

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Abstract During the past decade, online social networking has caused profound changes in the way people communicate and interact. It is unclear, however, whether some of these changes may affect certain normal aspects of human behavior and cause psychiatric disorders. Several studies have indicated that the prolonged use of social networking sites (SNS), such as Facebook, may be related to signs and symptoms of depression. In addition, some authors have indicated that certain SNS activities might be associated with low self-esteem, especially in children and adolescents. Other studies have presented opposite results in terms of positive impact of social networking on self-esteem. The relationship between SNS use and mental problems to this day remains controversial, and research on this issue is faced with numerous challenges. This concise review focuses on the recent findings regarding the suggested connection between SNS and mental health issues such as depressive symptoms, changes in self-esteem, and Internet addiction. PMID:25192305

Online social networking and mental health.

PubMed

Pantic, Igor

2014-10-01

During the past decade, online social networking has caused profound changes in the way people communicate and interact. It is unclear, however, whether some of these changes may affect certain normal aspects of human behavior and cause psychiatric disorders. Several studies have indicated that the prolonged use of social networking sites (SNS), such as Facebook, may be related to signs and symptoms of depression. In addition, some authors have indicated that certain SNS activities might be associated with low self-esteem, especially in children and adolescents. Other studies have presented opposite results in terms of positive impact of social networking on self-esteem. The relationship between SNS use and mental problems to this day remains controversial, and research on this issue is faced with numerous challenges. This concise review focuses on the recent findings regarding the suggested connection between SNS and mental health issues such as depressive symptoms, changes in self-esteem, and Internet addiction.

Does Group Size Matter for Behavior in Online Trust Dilemmas?

PubMed

Artinger, Sabrina; Vulkan, Nir

2016-01-01

How does group size influence behavior in online trust dilemmas? We investigate cooperation in groups of 4 to 100 players. While overall levels of cooperation are stable across group sizes, we find significant gender differences: women increase cooperation with group size and cooperate significantly more than men in large groups. These results are robust when controlling for risk aversion, age, and other individual differences. They highlight the importance of studying behavior and gender differences in large groups.

HIV behavioral research online.

PubMed

Chiasson, Mary Ann; Parsons, Jeffrey T; Tesoriero, James M; Carballo-Dieguez, Alex; Hirshfield, Sabina; Remien, Robert H

2006-01-01

Internet access has caused a global revolution in the way people of all ages and genders interact. Many have turned to the Internet to seek love, companionship, and sex, prompting researchers to move behavioral studies online. The sexual behavior of men who have sex with men (MSM) has been more closely studied than that of any other group online given the abundance of gay-oriented websites and concerns about increasing transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Not only does the Internet provide a new medium for the conduct of behavioral research and for participant recruitment into an array of research studies, it has the as yet unrealized potential to reach huge numbers of MSM with innovative harm reduction and prevention messages tailored to individualized needs, interests, and risk behavior. Internet-based research on sexual behavior has many advantages in rapidity of recruitment of diverse samples which include individuals unreachable through conventional methods (i.e., non-gay identified and geographically and socially isolated MSM, etc.). Internet-based research also presents some new methodologic challenges in study design, participant recruitment, survey implementation, and interpretation of results. In addition, there are ethical issues unique to online research including difficulties in verifying informed consent, obstacles to surveying minors, and the ability to assure anonymity. This paper presents a review of Internet-based research on sexual behavior in MSM, a general discussion of the methodologic and ethical challenges of Internet-based research, and recommendations for future interdisciplinary research.

HIV Behavioral Research Online

PubMed Central

Parsons, Jeffrey T.; Tesoriero, James M.; Carballo-Dieguez, Alex; Hirshfield, Sabina; Remien, Robert H.

2006-01-01

Internet access has caused a global revolution in the way people of all ages and genders interact. Many have turned to the Internet to seek love, companionship, and sex, prompting researchers to move behavioral studies online. The sexual behavior of men who have sex with men (MSM) has been more closely studied than that of any other group online given the abundance of gay-oriented websites and concerns about increasing transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Not only does the Internet provide a new medium for the conduct of behavioral research and for participant recruitment into an array of research studies, it has the as yet unrealized potential to reach huge numbers of MSM with innovative harm reduction and prevention messages tailored to individualized needs, interests, and risk behavior. Internet-based research on sexual behavior has many advantages in rapidity of recruitment of diverse samples which include individuals unreachable through conventional methods (i.e., non-gay identified and geographically and socially isolated MSM, etc.). Internet-based research also presents some new methodologic challenges in study design, participant recruitment, survey implementation, and interpretation of results. In addition, there are ethical issues unique to online research including difficulties in verifying informed consent, obstacles to surveying minors, and the ability to assure anonymity. This paper presents a review of Internet-based research on sexual behavior in MSM, a general discussion of the methodologic and ethical challenges of Internet-based research, and recommendations for future interdisciplinary research. PMID:16736356

Multiple Intelligences in Online, Hybrid, and Traditional Business Statistics Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lopez, Salvador; Patron, Hilde

2012-01-01

According to Howard Gardner, Professor of Cognition and Education at Harvard University, intelligence of humans cannot be measured with a single factor such as the IQ level. Instead, he and others have suggested that humans have different types of intelligence. This paper examines whether students registered in online or mostly online courses have…

Beginning the Dialogue on the e-Transformation: Behavior Analysis' First Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).

PubMed

Rehfeldt, Ruth Anne; Jung, Heidi L; Aguirre, Angelica; Nichols, Jane L; Root, William B

2016-03-01

The e-Transformation in higher education, in which Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are playing a pivotal role, has had an impact on the modality in which behavior analysis is taught. In this paper, we survey the history and implications of online education including MOOCs and describe the implementation and results for the discipline's first MOOC, delivered at Southern Illinois University in spring 2015. Implications for the globalization and free access of higher education are discussed, as well as the parallel between MOOCs and Skinner's teaching machines.

Effect of Self-Worth and Parenting Style on the Planned Behavior in an Online Moral Game

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hong, Jon-Chao; Hwang, Ming-Yueh; Wang, Chun-Kai; Hsu, Tsui-Fang; Chen, Yu-Ju; Chan, Chiung-Hua

2011-01-01

This idea of integrating moral education to digital gaming platform had been discussed since digital and online approaches were used in teaching. Online interactive instruction was one of moral teaching forms to assist moral instruction. However, most moral-related interactive online games lacked functions for players to explore themselves while…

Commercial WWW Site Appeal: How Does It Affect Online Food and Drink Consumers' Purchasing Behavior?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, Gregory K.; Manning, Barbara J.

1998-01-01

Reports on an online survey of consumer attitudes toward online storefronts marketing barbecue sauce, cheese, olive oil, potato chips, and other specialty food products. The relationship between consumer attitudes toward Web sites and the likelihood of purchase, as well as demographic factors related to online food and drink buying, are described.…

The Reciprocal Determinism of Online Scaffolding in Sustaining a Community of Inquiry in Physics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bautista, Romiro G.

2013-01-01

This study investigated the learning impact of online scaffolding in sustaining a community of inquiry in Physics instruction. The students' a-priori e-learning activities in online discussion were used in leveraging the learning behaviors of the students. Online learning segments were included in the process of developing classroom tasks…

Relationship between Pedagogic and Course Factors and Student Outcomes in Community College Online Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mager, Marlowe Geoffrey

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to identify instructor behaviors that lead to positive student outcomes in online courses. The study investigated the relationship between 12 predictive variables and three measures of student success (assignment grade, course grade, and student retention) in online courses. Archived online courses at a rural…

Online communication about genetics and body weight: implications for health behavior and internet-based education.

PubMed

Persky, Susan; Sanderson, Saskia C; Koehly, Laura M

2013-01-01

Social media, specifically online weight loss message board communities, may become an important conduit for information about genetics and body weight. This information has the capacity to influence individuals as it is naturally encountered online, or it could be strategically disseminated for public health purposes. However, little is known about how the public engages with information that they encounter related to genetic underpinnings of body weight, or how their interpretation of this information shapes health beliefs. The present study examined discussions about genetics and weight in message board communities devoted to discussion of weight loss. Fifty-four online discussions, comprising 505 individual posts from 3 weight-loss themed message boards, were coded using a closed-ended procedure. Individuals who discussed genetics and weight in online message board communities initiated these discussions mainly for personal reasons and primarily cited mass media-sourced information. Genetic causes of weight tended to be endorsed alongside behavioral causes. There was no association between cause endorsements and expressed frustration. These findings help elucidate the effects of naturally encountered information about genetics of weight. They may also have implications for the creation of online evidence-based tools to aid communication about genetic advances in ways that encourage positive dietary and physical activity behavior.

Civility vs. Incivility in Online Social Interactions: An Evolutionary Approach

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Evidence is growing that forms of incivility–e.g. aggressive and disrespectful behaviors, harassment, hate speech and outrageous claims–are spreading in the population of social networking sites’ (SNS) users. Online social networks such as Facebook allow users to regularly interact with known and unknown others, who can behave either politely or rudely. This leads individuals not only to learn and adopt successful strategies for using the site, but also to condition their own behavior on that of others. Using a mean field approach, we define anevolutionary game framework to analyse the dynamics of civil and uncivil ways of interaction in online social networks and their consequences for collective welfare. Agents can choose to interact with others–politely or rudely–in SNS, or to opt out from online social networks to protect themselves from incivility. We find that, when the initial share of the population of polite users reaches a critical level, civility becomes generalized if its payoff increases more than that of incivility with the spreading of politeness in online interactions. Otherwise, the spreading of self-protective behaviors to cope with online incivility can lead the economyto non-socially optimal stationary states. JEL Codes: C61, C73, D85, O33, Z13. PsycINFO Codes: 2240, 2750. PMID:27802271

Civility vs. Incivility in Online Social Interactions: An Evolutionary Approach.

PubMed

Antoci, Angelo; Delfino, Alexia; Paglieri, Fabio; Panebianco, Fabrizio; Sabatini, Fabio

2016-01-01

Evidence is growing that forms of incivility-e.g. aggressive and disrespectful behaviors, harassment, hate speech and outrageous claims-are spreading in the population of social networking sites' (SNS) users. Online social networks such as Facebook allow users to regularly interact with known and unknown others, who can behave either politely or rudely. This leads individuals not only to learn and adopt successful strategies for using the site, but also to condition their own behavior on that of others. Using a mean field approach, we define anevolutionary game framework to analyse the dynamics of civil and uncivil ways of interaction in online social networks and their consequences for collective welfare. Agents can choose to interact with others-politely or rudely-in SNS, or to opt out from online social networks to protect themselves from incivility. We find that, when the initial share of the population of polite users reaches a critical level, civility becomes generalized if its payoff increases more than that of incivility with the spreading of politeness in online interactions. Otherwise, the spreading of self-protective behaviors to cope with online incivility can lead the economyto non-socially optimal stationary states. JEL Codes: C61, C73, D85, O33, Z13. PsycINFO Codes: 2240, 2750.

Prevalence and Correlates of Cyberbullying Perpetration. Findings from a German Representative Student Survey

PubMed Central

Bergmann, Marie Christine; Baier, Dirk

2018-01-01

Based on a survey of 9512 ninth-grade students conducted in Lower Saxony in 2013, this paper examines the prevalence of cyberbullying perpetration and the correlates of this behavior. Binary logistic multilevel regression was used in order to analyze correlates of sexual and psychological cyberbully perpetration. In the preceding semester, 2.4% of the adolescents were perpetrators of psychological cyberbullying and 0.4% bullied someone online sexually. Low levels of empathy, frequent consumption of violent media, and being victims of aggressive online behaviors are correlated with the risk that a child will become a bully. Female adolescents are less likely than boys to engage in sexual cyberbullying perpetration, but they are more likely to engage in psychological cyberbullying perpetration. Only a small share of adolescents engage in sexual and psychological cyberbullying perpetration. Both behaviors differ in their correlates, however being a victim of aggressive online behaviors increase the risk for perpetration of both behaviors, respectively. PMID:29415426

Paths to Bullying in Online Gaming: The Effects of Gender, Preference for Playing Violent Games, Hostility, and Aggressive Behavior on Bullying

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Shu Ching

2012-01-01

This study examined a sample of adolescent online game players and explored the relationships between their gender, preference for video games (VG), hostility, aggressive behavior, experiences of cyberbullying, and victimization. The path relationships among the variables were further validated with structure equation modeling. Among the…

The Teacher as Leader: Effect of Teaching Behaviors on Class Community and Agreement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rubin, Beth; Fernandes, Ronald

2013-01-01

This article examines the effects of teaching behaviors in online university classes, focusing on the agreement among class members. Literature on group leaders' effects on group agreement about workplace climate is reviewed. Hypotheses are generated about the effects that teachers of online courses, as class leaders, have on both the level and…

The Searching Behavior of Remote Users: A Study of One Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kalin, Sally W.

1991-01-01

Describes a study that was conducted to determine whether the searching behavior of remote users of LIAS (Library Information Access System), Pennsylvania State University's online public access catalog (OPAC), differed from those using the OPAC within the library. Differences in search strategies and in user satisfaction are discussed. (eight…

Risky Disclosures on "Facebook": The Effect of Having a Bad Experience on Online Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Christofides, Emily; Muise, Amy; Desmarais, Serge

2012-01-01

Social network websites are widely used by adolescents, but disclosing in this environment has inherent risks, as does connecting with others online. In a sample of 256 adolescent "Facebook" users, the authors explore the relationship between having a negative experience, privacy knowledge, and behavior. Their reports of bad experiences on…

Academic Beliefs and Behaviors in On-Campus and Online General Education Biology Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Noll, Christopher B.

2015-01-01

This study examined the effect of course delivery mode on academic help-seeking beliefs and behaviors, academic self-efficacy, and the levels of individual interest in biology of students in an entry-level General Education biology course. This intersection of online education, science courses, and academic success factors merits attention because…

On Motivating Operations at the Point of Online Purchase Setting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fagerstrom, Asle; Arntzen, Erik

2013-01-01

Consumer behavior analysis can be applied over a wide range of economic topics in which the main focus is the contingencies that influence the behavior of the economic agent. This paper provides an overview on the work that has been done on the impact from motivating operations at the point of online purchase situation. Motivating operations, a…

Sage, Guide, Both, or Even More? An Examination of Instructor Activity in Online MBA Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arbaugh, J. B.

2010-01-01

This study examined faculty characteristics and behaviors in 46 MBA courses conducted over a two-year period. We found that both formal instructor activities, referred to in the online learning literature as teaching presence, and informal instructor activities, known as immediacy behaviors, were positive predictors of student perceived learning…

Comparing the Social Knowledge Construction Behavioral Patterns of Problem-Based Online Asynchronous Discussion in E/M-Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lan, Yu-Feng; Tsai, Pei-Wei; Yang, Shih-Hsien; Hung, Chun-Ling

2012-01-01

In recent years, researchers have conducted various studies on applying wireless networking technology and mobile devices in education settings. However, research on behavioral patterns in learners' online asynchronous discussions with mobile devices is limited. The purposes of this study are to develop a mobile learning system, mobile interactive…

Applying Learning Analytics to Explore the Effects of Motivation on Online Students' Reading Behavioral Patterns

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sun, Jerry Chih-Yuan; Lin, Che-Tsun; Chou, Chien

2018-01-01

This study aims to apply a sequential analysis to explore the effect of learning motivation on online reading behavioral patterns. The study's participants consisted of 160 graduate students who were classified into three group types: low reading duration with low motivation, low reading duration with high motivation, and high reading duration…

Scientific Inquiry: A Model for Online Searching.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harter, Stephen P.

1984-01-01

Explores scientific inquiry as philosophical and behavioral model for online search specialist and information retrieval process. Nature of scientific research is described and online analogs to research concepts of variable, hypothesis formulation and testing, operational definition, validity, reliability, assumption, and cyclical nature of…

Reconciling long-term cultural diversity and short-term collective social behavior.

PubMed

Valori, Luca; Picciolo, Francesco; Allansdottir, Agnes; Garlaschelli, Diego

2012-01-24

An outstanding open problem is whether collective social phenomena occurring over short timescales can systematically reduce cultural heterogeneity in the long run, and whether offline and online human interactions contribute differently to the process. Theoretical models suggest that short-term collective behavior and long-term cultural diversity are mutually excluding, since they require very different levels of social influence. The latter jointly depends on two factors: the topology of the underlying social network and the overlap between individuals in multidimensional cultural space. However, while the empirical properties of social networks are intensively studied, little is known about the large-scale organization of real societies in cultural space, so that random input specifications are necessarily used in models. Here we use a large dataset to perform a high-dimensional analysis of the scientific beliefs of thousands of Europeans. We find that interopinion correlations determine a nontrivial ultrametric hierarchy of individuals in cultural space. When empirical data are used as inputs in models, ultrametricity has strong and counterintuitive effects. On short timescales, it facilitates a symmetry-breaking phase transition triggering coordinated social behavior. On long timescales, it suppresses cultural convergence by restricting it within disjoint groups. Moreover, ultrametricity implies that these results are surprisingly robust to modifications of the dynamical rules considered. Thus the empirical distribution of individuals in cultural space appears to systematically optimize the coexistence of short-term collective behavior and long-term cultural diversity, which can be realized simultaneously for the same moderate level of mutual influence in a diverse range of online and offline settings.

Content-specific network analysis of peer-to-peer communication in an online community for smoking cessation.

PubMed

Myneni, Sahiti; Cobb, Nathan K; Cohen, Trevor

2016-01-01

Analysis of user interactions in online communities could improve our understanding of health-related behaviors and inform the design of technological solutions that support behavior change. However, to achieve this we would need methods that provide granular perspective, yet are scalable. In this paper, we present a methodology for high-throughput semantic and network analysis of large social media datasets, combining semi-automated text categorization with social network analytics. We apply this method to derive content-specific network visualizations of 16,492 user interactions in an online community for smoking cessation. Performance of the categorization system was reasonable (average F-measure of 0.74, with system-rater reliability approaching rater-rater reliability). The resulting semantically specific network analysis of user interactions reveals content- and behavior-specific network topologies. Implications for socio-behavioral health and wellness platforms are also discussed.

Analyzing online sentiment to predict telephone poll results.

PubMed

Fu, King-wa; Chan, Chee-hon

2013-09-01

The telephone survey is a common social science research method for capturing public opinion, for example, an individual's values or attitudes, or the government's approval rating. However, reducing domestic landline usage, increasing nonresponse rate, and suffering from response bias of the interviewee's self-reported data pose methodological challenges to such an approach. Because of the labor cost of administration, a phone survey is often conducted on a biweekly or monthly basis, and therefore a daily reflection of public opinion is usually not available. Recently, online sentiment analysis of user-generated content has been deployed to predict public opinion and human behavior. However, its overall effectiveness remains uncertain. This study seeks to examine the temporal association between online sentiment reflected in social media content and phone survey poll results in Hong Kong. Specifically, it aims to find the extent to which online sentiment can predict phone survey results. Using autoregressive integrated moving average time-series analysis, this study suggested that online sentiment scores can lead phone survey results by about 8-15 days, and their correlation coefficients were about 0.16. The finding is significant to the study of social media in social science research, because it supports the conclusion that daily sentiment observed in social media content can serve as a leading predictor for phone survey results, keeping as much as 2 weeks ahead of the monthly announcement of opinion polls. We also discuss the practical and theoretical implications of this study.

Brain activity patterns induced by interrupting the cognitive processes with online advertising.

PubMed

Rejer, Izabela; Jankowski, Jarosław

2017-11-01

As a result of the increasing role of online advertising and strong competition among advertisers, intrusive techniques are commonly used to attract web users' attention. Moreover, since marketing content is usually delivered to the target audience when they are performing typical online tasks, like searching for information or reading online content, its delivery interrupts the web user's current cognitive process. The question posed by many researchers in the field of online advertising is: how should we measure the influence of interruption of cognitive processes on human behavior and emotional state? Much research has been conducted in this field; however, most of this research has focused on monitoring activity in the simulated environment, or processing declarative responses given by users in prepared questionnaires. In this paper, a more direct real-time approach is taken, and the effect of the interruption on a web user is analyzed directly by studying the activity of his brain. This paper presents the results of an experiment that was conducted to find the brain activity patterns associated with interruptions of the cognitive process by showing internet advertisements during a text-reading task. Three specific aspects were addressed in the experiment: individual patterns, the consistency of these patterns across trials, and the intra-subject correlation of the individual patterns. Two main effects were observed for most subjects: a drop in activity in the frontal and prefrontal cortical areas across all frequency bands, and significant changes in the frontal/prefrontal asymmetry index.

Hadoop-Based Distributed System for Online Prediction of Air Pollution Based on Support Vector Machine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghaemi, Z.; Farnaghi, M.; Alimohammadi, A.

2015-12-01

The critical impact of air pollution on human health and environment in one hand and the complexity of pollutant concentration behavior in the other hand lead the scientists to look for advance techniques for monitoring and predicting the urban air quality. Additionally, recent developments in data measurement techniques have led to collection of various types of data about air quality. Such data is extremely voluminous and to be useful it must be processed at high velocity. Due to the complexity of big data analysis especially for dynamic applications, online forecasting of pollutant concentration trends within a reasonable processing time is still an open problem. The purpose of this paper is to present an online forecasting approach based on Support Vector Machine (SVM) to predict the air quality one day in advance. In order to overcome the computational requirements for large-scale data analysis, distributed computing based on the Hadoop platform has been employed to leverage the processing power of multiple processing units. The MapReduce programming model is adopted for massive parallel processing in this study. Based on the online algorithm and Hadoop framework, an online forecasting system is designed to predict the air pollution of Tehran for the next 24 hours. The results have been assessed on the basis of Processing Time and Efficiency. Quite accurate predictions of air pollutant indicator levels within an acceptable processing time prove that the presented approach is very suitable to tackle large scale air pollution prediction problems.

An integrated analysis of genes and functional pathways for aggression in human and rodent models.

PubMed

Zhang-James, Yanli; Fernàndez-Castillo, Noèlia; Hess, Jonathan L; Malki, Karim; Glatt, Stephen J; Cormand, Bru; Faraone, Stephen V

2018-06-01

Human genome-wide association studies (GWAS), transcriptome analyses of animal models, and candidate gene studies have advanced our understanding of the genetic architecture of aggressive behaviors. However, each of these methods presents unique limitations. To generate a more confident and comprehensive view of the complex genetics underlying aggression, we undertook an integrated, cross-species approach. We focused on human and rodent models to derive eight gene lists from three main categories of genetic evidence: two sets of genes identified in GWAS studies, four sets implicated by transcriptome-wide studies of rodent models, and two sets of genes with causal evidence from online Mendelian inheritance in man (OMIM) and knockout (KO) mice reports. These gene sets were evaluated for overlap and pathway enrichment to extract their similarities and differences. We identified enriched common pathways such as the G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling pathway, axon guidance, reelin signaling in neurons, and ERK/MAPK signaling. Also, individual genes were ranked based on their cumulative weights to quantify their importance as risk factors for aggressive behavior, which resulted in 40 top-ranked and highly interconnected genes. The results of our cross-species and integrated approach provide insights into the genetic etiology of aggression.

Human Life History Strategies.

PubMed

Chua, Kristine J; Lukaszewski, Aaron W; Grant, DeMond M; Sng, Oliver

2017-01-01

Human life history (LH) strategies are theoretically regulated by developmental exposure to environmental cues that ancestrally predicted LH-relevant world states (e.g., risk of morbidity-mortality). Recent modeling work has raised the question of whether the association of childhood family factors with adult LH variation arises via (i) direct sampling of external environmental cues during development and/or (ii) calibration of LH strategies to internal somatic condition (i.e., health), which itself reflects exposure to variably favorable environments. The present research tested between these possibilities through three online surveys involving a total of over 26,000 participants. Participants completed questionnaires assessing components of self-reported environmental harshness (i.e., socioeconomic status, family neglect, and neighborhood crime), health status, and various LH-related psychological and behavioral phenotypes (e.g., mating strategies, paranoia, and anxiety), modeled as a unidimensional latent variable. Structural equation models suggested that exposure to harsh ecologies had direct effects on latent LH strategy as well as indirect effects on latent LH strategy mediated via health status. These findings suggest that human LH strategies may be calibrated to both external and internal cues and that such calibrational effects manifest in a wide range of psychological and behavioral phenotypes.

Adaptive sleep-wake discrimination for wearable devices.

PubMed

Karlen, Walter; Floreano, Dario

2011-04-01

Sleep/wake classification systems that rely on physiological signals suffer from intersubject differences that make accurate classification with a single, subject-independent model difficult. To overcome the limitations of intersubject variability, we suggest a novel online adaptation technique that updates the sleep/wake classifier in real time. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the performance of a newly developed adaptive classification algorithm that was embedded on a wearable sleep/wake classification system called SleePic. The algorithm processed ECG and respiratory effort signals for the classification task and applied behavioral measurements (obtained from accelerometer and press-button data) for the automatic adaptation task. When trained as a subject-independent classifier algorithm, the SleePic device was only able to correctly classify 74.94 ± 6.76% of the human-rated sleep/wake data. By using the suggested automatic adaptation method, the mean classification accuracy could be significantly improved to 92.98 ± 3.19%. A subject-independent classifier based on activity data only showed a comparable accuracy of 90.44 ± 3.57%. We demonstrated that subject-independent models used for online sleep-wake classification can successfully be adapted to previously unseen subjects without the intervention of human experts or off-line calibration.

Online gaming addiction? Motives predict addictive play behavior in massively multiplayer online role-playing games.

PubMed

Kuss, Daria J; Louws, Jorik; Wiers, Reinout W

2012-09-01

Recently, there have been growing concerns about excessive online gaming. Playing Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) appears to be particularly problematic, because these games require a high degree of commitment and time investment from the players to the detriment of occupational, social, and other recreational activities and relations. A number of gaming motives have been linked to excessive online gaming in adolescents and young adults. We assessed 175 current MMORPG players and 90 nonplayers using a Web-based questionnaire regarding their gaming behavior, problems as consequences of gaming, and game motivations and tested their statistical associations. Results indicated that (a) MMORPG players are significantly more likely to experience gaming-related problems relative to nonplayers, and that (b) the gaming motivations escapism and mechanics significantly predicted excessive gaming and appeared as stronger predictors than time investment in game. The findings support the necessity of using measures that distinguish between different types of online games. In addition, this study proves useful regarding the current discussion on establishing (online) gaming addiction as a diagnosis in future categorizations of psychopathology.

Enhancing P3P Framework through Policies and Trust

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-01-01

existing online review/rating systems are geared towards customer satisfaction in online shopping domain, we believe that in the future privacy will...ablers of online shopping to tracking of user browsing behavior. Though cookies are browser dependent, they are independent of internet service provider

Online Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Bulimic Type Disorders, Delivered in the Community by a Nonclinician: Qualitative Study

PubMed Central

McClay, Carrie-Anne; Waters, Louise; McHale, Ciaran; Schmidt, Ulrike

2013-01-01

Background Cognitive behavioral therapy is recommended in the National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines for the treatment of bulimia nervosa. In order to make this treatment option more accessible to patients, interactive online CBT programs have been developed that can be used in the user’s own home, in privacy, and at their convenience. Studies investigating online CBT for bulimic type eating disorders have provided promising results and indicate that, with regular support from a clinician or trained support worker, online CBT can be effective in reducing bulimic symptoms. Two main factors distinguish this study from previous research in this area. First, the current study recruited a wide range of adults with bulimic type symptoms from the community. Second, the participants in the current study had used cCBT with support from a nonclinical support worker rather than a specialist eating disorder clinician. Objective To investigate participants’ experiences of using an online self-help cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) package (Overcoming Bulimia Online) for bulimia nervosa (BN) and eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS). Methods Eight participants with a mean age of 33.9 years took part in semi-structured interviews. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a 6-step thematic analysis process. Results Saturation was achieved, and 7 themes were identified in the dataset. These were: (1) conceptualizing eating disorders, (2) help-seeking behavior, (3) aspects of the intervention, (4) motivation to use the online package, (5) privacy and secrecy with regard to their eating problems, (6) recovery and the future, and (7) participant engagement describing individuals’ thoughts on taking part in the online research study. Conclusions Participants suggested that online CBT self-help represented a generally desirable and acceptable treatment option for those with bulimic type eating problems, despite some difficulties with motivation and implementation of some elements of the package. Trial Registration International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number of the original RCT that this study is based on: ISRCTN41034162; http://www.controlled-trials.com/ISRCTN41034162 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6Ey9sBWTV) PMID:23502689

Online cognitive behavioral therapy for bulimic type disorders, delivered in the community by a nonclinician: qualitative study.

PubMed

McClay, Carrie-Anne; Waters, Louise; McHale, Ciaran; Schmidt, Ulrike; Williams, Christopher

2013-03-15

Cognitive behavioral therapy is recommended in the National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines for the treatment of bulimia nervosa. In order to make this treatment option more accessible to patients, interactive online CBT programs have been developed that can be used in the user's own home, in privacy, and at their convenience. Studies investigating online CBT for bulimic type eating disorders have provided promising results and indicate that, with regular support from a clinician or trained support worker, online CBT can be effective in reducing bulimic symptoms. Two main factors distinguish this study from previous research in this area. First, the current study recruited a wide range of adults with bulimic type symptoms from the community. Second, the participants in the current study had used cCBT with support from a nonclinical support worker rather than a specialist eating disorder clinician. To investigate participants' experiences of using an online self-help cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) package (Overcoming Bulimia Online) for bulimia nervosa (BN) and eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS). Eight participants with a mean age of 33.9 years took part in semi-structured interviews. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a 6-step thematic analysis process. Saturation was achieved, and 7 themes were identified in the dataset. These were: (1) conceptualizing eating disorders, (2) help-seeking behavior, (3) aspects of the intervention, (4) motivation to use the online package, (5) privacy and secrecy with regard to their eating problems, (6) recovery and the future, and (7) participant engagement describing individuals' thoughts on taking part in the online research study. Participants suggested that online CBT self-help represented a generally desirable and acceptable treatment option for those with bulimic type eating problems, despite some difficulties with motivation and implementation of some elements of the package. International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number of the original RCT that this study is based on: ISRCTN41034162; http://www.controlled-trials.com/ISRCTN41034162 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6Ey9sBWTV).

The Difference in the Online Medical Information Searching Behaviors of Hospital Patients and Their Relatives versus the General Public

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Hung-Yuan; Liang, Jyh-Chong; Tsai, Chin-Chung

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study is two-fold: to explore the differences in online medical information searching behaviors, including evaluative standards and search strategies, of the general public (general group) and those of hospital patients and their relatives (hospital group); and to compare the predictive relationship between the evaluative…

A Mixed Methods Approach to the Assessor's Targeting Behavior during Online Peer Assessment: Effects of Anonymity and Underlying Reasons

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yu, Fu-Yun; Sung, Shannon

2016-01-01

This study examined the effects of identity revelation and concealment on the number of times students' work was assessed in an online peer assessment context. It also examined the underlying reasons guiding the assessor's targeting behavior. Two fifth-grade classes participated. The one-group pretest-posttest experimental research design coupled…

The YouthMood Project: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial of an Online Cognitive Behavioral Program with Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Calear, Alison L.; Christensen, Helen; Mackinnon, Andrew; Griffiths, Kathleen M.; O'Kearney, Richard

2009-01-01

The aim in the current study was to investigate the effectiveness of an online, self-directed cognitive-behavioral therapy program (MoodGYM) in preventing and reducing the symptoms of anxiety and depression in an adolescent school-based population. A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted with 30 schools (N = 1,477) from across…

Adolescent Bystander Behavior in the School and Online Environments and the Implications for Interventions Targeting Cyberbullying

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patterson, Lisa J.; Allan, Alfred; Cross, Donna

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to add to the emerging knowledge about the role of bystanders in cyberbullying. To differentiate online versus offline bystander behaviors, 292 Australian children (mean age = 15.2; female = 54.4%) reviewed hypothetical scenarios experimentally manipulated by bystander sex, relationship to target and perpetrator, and…

Online Academic Integrity: An Examination of MBA Students' Behavioral Intent of Engaging in Plagiarism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bennett, Rashad A.

2017-01-01

With the proliferation of online graduate enrollment by 35.7% from 2003 to 2014, the literature indicates the number of reported academic integrity cases is on the rise. A quantitative correlational study was used to determine which determinants, if any, had a relationship to the behavioral intent to engage in plagiarism among MBA students…

Characterizing Communication Networks in a Web-Based Classroom: Cognitive Styles and Linguistic Behavior of Self-Organizing Groups in Online Discussions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vercellone-Smith, Pamela; Jablokow, Kathryn; Friedel, Curtis

2012-01-01

In this study, we explore the cognitive style profiles and linguistic patterns of self-organizing groups within a web-based graduate education course to determine how cognitive preferences and individual behaviors influence the patterns of information exchange and the formation of communication hierarchies in an online classroom. Network analysis…

Extending the Reach of Early Intervention Training for Practitioners: A Preliminary Investigation of an Online Curriculum for Teaching Behavioral Intervention Knowledge in Autism to Families and Service Providers

PubMed Central

Hamad, Charles D.; Serna, Richard W.; Morrison, Leslie; Fleming, Richard

2013-01-01

Early behavioral intervention, based on the methods of applied behavior analysis, has the strongest and most consistent scientific support as a means of teaching skills to young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and reducing their restricted and maladaptive behavior. Though individual ABA-based treatment plans are usually developed, designed and supervised by a senior-level clinician, they are most often implemented by a practitioner, such as a parent, direct service provider, aide, or an early childhood professional from a related discipline. Unfortunately, few practitioner-orientated training programs are available to geographically disparate persons. Online distance-learning education offers a potential solution to this problem. Fifty-one individuals participated in an initial study of a short, three-module online course. The results showed a highly statistically significant difference between the mean pre-test and post-test score. The outcomes suggest the feasibility and user satisfaction of teaching BI knowledge acquisition online, and thus bolster confidence that future, larger-scale curricula aimed at teaching BI in a distance-learning format is warranted. PMID:23504540

How Much Is Too Much to Pay for Internet Access? A Behavioral Economic Analysis of Internet Use.

PubMed

Broadbent, Julie; Dakki, Michelle A

2015-08-01

The popularity of online recreational activities, such as social networking, has dramatically increased the amount of time spent on the Internet. Excessive or inappropriate use of the Internet can result in serious adverse consequences. The current study used a behavioral economic task to determine if the amount of time spent online by problematic and nonproblematic users can be modified by price. The Internet Purchase Task was used to determine how much time undergraduate students (N=233) would spend online at 13 different prices. Despite high demand for Internet access when access was free, time spent online by both problematic and nonproblematic users decreased dramatically, even at low prices. These results suggest that the amount of time spent online may be modified by having a tangible cost associated with use, whereas having free access to the Internet may encourage excessive, problematic use.

Do Emotions Expressed Online Correlate with Actual Changes in Decision-Making?: The Case of Stock Day Traders.

PubMed

Liu, Bin; Govindan, Ramesh; Uzzi, Brian

2016-01-01

Emotions are increasingly inferred linguistically from online data with a goal of predicting off-line behavior. Yet, it is unknown whether emotions inferred linguistically from online communications correlate with actual changes in off-line activity. We analyzed all 886,000 trading decisions and 1,234,822 instant messages of 30 professional day traders over a continuous 2 year period. Linguistically inferring the traders' emotional states from instant messages, we find that emotions expressed in online communications reflect the same distributions of emotions found in controlled experiments done on traders. Further, we find that expressed online emotions predict the profitability of actual trading behavior. Relative to their baselines, traders who expressed little emotion or traders that expressed high levels of emotion made relatively unprofitable trades. Conversely, traders expressing moderate levels of emotional activation made relatively profitable trades.

Case Study of Online Banking in India: User Behaviors and Design Guidelines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iyengar, Jhumkee; Belvalkar, Manisha

This paper documents online banking trends, behaviors and expectations of Indian consumers and banks. It is based on excerpts of a large industry case study of users from 4 leading banks. While banks view online banking essentially as a technology solution, it is a relatively new area for Indian consumers and not yet self-supporting. Being a savings based culture still, Indian consumers are cautious about their financial assets. They are also relatively recent entrants to internet based services. Design of these systems must therefore be based on an understanding of these users' outlook and priorities through task centric, security assured and service oriented solutions minus the technological challenges. Design lessons suggest viewing online banking not just as a convenience alone anymore but beyond it, to provide service, simplicity and security. This will create satisfied online banking customers and therefore profitability for the bank.

Does Online Technology Make Us More or Less Sociable? A Preliminary Review and Call for Research.

PubMed

Waytz, Adam; Gray, Kurt

2018-05-01

How does online technology affect sociability? Emerging evidence-much of it inconclusive-suggests a nuanced relationship between use of online technology (the Internet, social media, and virtual reality) and sociability (emotion recognition, empathy, perspective taking, and emotional intelligence). Although online technology can facilitate purely positive behavior (e.g., charitable giving) or purely negative behavior (e.g., cyberbullying), it appears to affect sociability in three ways, depending on whether it allows a deeper understanding of people's thoughts and feelings: (a) It benefits sociability when it complements already-deep offline engagement with others, (b) it impairs sociability when it supplants deeper offline engagement for superficial online engagement, and (c) it enhances sociability when deep offline engagement is otherwise difficult to attain. We suggest potential implications and moderators of technology's effects on sociability and call for additional causal research.

Patients' self-efficacy within online health communities: facilitating chronic disease self-management behaviors through peer education.

PubMed

Willis, Erin

2016-01-01

In order to combat the growing burden of chronic disease, evidence-based self-management programs have been designed to teach patients about the disease and its affect on their lives. Self-efficacy is a key component in chronic disease self-management. This research used online ethnography and discourse analysis (N = 8,231) to examine self-efficacy within the computer-mediated communication (CMC) of four online health communities used by people with arthritis. Specifically, online opinion leaders were identified for examination. Across the four communities, there was a cyclical process that involved "disease veterans" sharing their experiences and gaining credibility within the community, new(er) members suffering from disease symptoms and sharing their experiences online, and finally, asking others for help with arthritis self-management behaviors. Three themes follow: (1) sharing disease experience, (2) suffering from disease symptoms, and (3) asking for help. Practical implications for health promotion and education are discussed.

Do Emotions Expressed Online Correlate with Actual Changes in Decision-Making?: The Case of Stock Day Traders

PubMed Central

Liu, Bin; Govindan, Ramesh; Uzzi, Brian

2016-01-01

Emotions are increasingly inferred linguistically from online data with a goal of predicting off-line behavior. Yet, it is unknown whether emotions inferred linguistically from online communications correlate with actual changes in off-line activity. We analyzed all 886,000 trading decisions and 1,234,822 instant messages of 30 professional day traders over a continuous 2 year period. Linguistically inferring the traders’ emotional states from instant messages, we find that emotions expressed in online communications reflect the same distributions of emotions found in controlled experiments done on traders. Further, we find that expressed online emotions predict the profitability of actual trading behavior. Relative to their baselines, traders who expressed little emotion or traders that expressed high levels of emotion made relatively unprofitable trades. Conversely, traders expressing moderate levels of emotional activation made relatively profitable trades. PMID:26765539

Relationship between Grades Earned and Time in Online Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carver, Lin B.; Mukherjee, Keya; Lucio, Robert

2017-01-01

Online education is rapidly becoming a significant method of course delivery in higher education. Consequently, instructors analyze student performance in an attempt to better scaffold student learning. Learning analytics can provide insight into online students' course behaviors. Archival data from 167 graduate level education students enrolled…

Studying and Facilitating Dialogue in Select Online Management Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ivancevich, John M.; Gilbert, Jacqueline A.; Konopaske, Robert

2009-01-01

Dialogue is arguably one of the most significant elements of learning in higher education. The premise of this article is that online instructors can creatively facilitate dialogue for effectively teaching online management courses. This article presents a dialogue-focused framework for addressing significant behavioral, structural, and…

Pre-Service EFL Teachers' Online Participation, Interaction, and Social Presence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Satar, H. Muge; Akcan, Sumru

2018-01-01

Participation in online communities is an increasing need for future language teachers and their professional development. Through such participation, they can experience and develop an awareness of the behaviors required to facilitate their future learners' participation in online learning. This article investigates participation, interaction…

Behavioral consequences of conflict-oriented health news coverage: the 2009 mammography guideline controversy and online information seeking.

PubMed

Weeks, Brian E; Friedenberg, Laura M; Southwell, Brian G; Slater, Jonathan S

2012-01-01

Building on channel complementarity theory and media-system dependency theory, this study explores the impact of conflict-oriented news coverage of health issues on information seeking online. Using Google search data as a measure of behavior, we demonstrate that controversial news coverage of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force's November 2009 recommendations for changes in breast cancer screening guidelines strongly predicted the volume of same-day online searches for information about mammograms. We also found that this relationship did not exist 1 year prior to the coverage, during which mammography news coverage did not focus on the guideline controversy, suggesting that the controversy frame may have driven search behavior. We discuss the implications of these results for health communication scholars and practitioners.

Digital and divergent: sexual behaviors on the Internet.

PubMed

Klein, Carolina A

2014-01-01

A variety of sexual behaviors occur online, including those that are highly unusual or even plainly illicit. There is a growing body of literature pertaining to sexual abuse of minors that occurs or may be promoted online, but there is a paucity of information regarding other Internet-based sexual interactions, such as manufacturing, dissemination, and online viewing of other atypical sexual material. In this article, I explore and analyze these different practices, which include, but are not limited to, videos of rape, sadomasochism with bodily disfigurement, zoophilia, and necrophilia, with the intention of diminishing the gap in information about this industry. The impact that these behaviors may have on clinical or forensic psychiatric evaluations is discussed, along with pertinent legal regulations and ethics-related considerations. © 2014 American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.

How Can Social Media Get Us in Trouble?

PubMed

Langenfeld, Sean J; Batra, Rishi

2017-09-01

When utilized properly, social media offers several personal and professional benefits for the practicing surgeon, including peer networking, education, e-mentorship, marketing, recruitment, and patient outreach. However, unprofessional online behavior is common among surgeons, and this improper use of social media can be quite dangerous. This article reviews the dangers of social media and illustrates this with examples of unprofessional behavior and the associated consequences. It also provides recommendations for maintaining a professional and productive online persona. Surgeons must understand the various social media platforms and their target audience while upholding online professionalism at all times.

Computational Labs Using VPython Complement Conventional Labs in Online and Regular Physics Classes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bachlechner, Martina E.

2009-03-01

Fairmont State University has developed online physics classes for the high-school teaching certificate based on the text book Matter and Interaction by Chabay and Sherwood. This lead to using computational VPython labs also in the traditional class room setting to complement conventional labs. The computational modeling process has proven to provide an excellent basis for the subsequent conventional lab and allows for a concrete experience of the difference between behavior according to a model and realistic behavior. Observations in the regular class room setting feed back into the development of the online classes.

Development of the Human Interaction Dimension of the Self-Regulated Learning Questionnaire in Asynchronous Online Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cho, Moon-Heum; Jonassen, David

2009-01-01

Two studies focusing on the development and validation of the Online Self-Regulated Learning Inventory (OSRLI) were conducted. The OSRLI is a self-report instrument assessing the human interaction dimension of online self-regulated learning. It consists of an affect/motivation scale and an interaction strategies scale. In Study 1, exploratory…

Do Online Privacy Concerns Predict Selfie Behavior among Adolescents, Young Adults and Adults?

PubMed Central

Dhir, Amandeep; Torsheim, Torbjørn; Pallesen, Ståle; Andreassen, Cecilie S.

2017-01-01

Selfies, or self-portraits, are often taken and shared on social media for online self-presentation reasons, which are considered essential for the psychosocial development and well-being of people in today’s culture. Despite the growing popularity and widespread sharing of selfies in the online space, little is known about how privacy concerns moderate selfie behavior. In addition to this, it is also not known whether privacy concerns across age and gender groups influence selfie behavior. To address this timely issue, a survey assessing common selfie behaviors, that is, frequency of taking (individual and group selfies), editing (cropping and filtering), and posting selfies online, and social media privacy concerns (over personal data being accessed and misused by third parties) was conducted. The web-survey was administered to 3,763 Norwegian social media users, ranging from 13 to 50 years, with a preponderance of women (n = 2,509, 66.7%). The present study investigated the impact of privacy concerns on selfie behaviors across gender and age groups (adolescent, young adult, and adult) by use of the structural equation modeling approach. The results suggest that young adults have greater privacy concerns compared to adolescents and adults. Females have greater privacy concerns than males. Greater privacy concerns among female social media users were linked to lower engagement in selfie behavior, but privacy concerns did not influence selfie behavior in the case of male adolescents and young adults. Overall, privacy concerns were more consistently and inversely related to selfie behavior (taking and posting) among females than males. The study results have theoretical as well as practical implications for both researchers and policy makers. PMID:28588530

Do Online Privacy Concerns Predict Selfie Behavior among Adolescents, Young Adults and Adults?

PubMed

Dhir, Amandeep; Torsheim, Torbjørn; Pallesen, Ståle; Andreassen, Cecilie S

2017-01-01

Selfies, or self-portraits, are often taken and shared on social media for online self-presentation reasons, which are considered essential for the psychosocial development and well-being of people in today's culture. Despite the growing popularity and widespread sharing of selfies in the online space, little is known about how privacy concerns moderate selfie behavior. In addition to this, it is also not known whether privacy concerns across age and gender groups influence selfie behavior. To address this timely issue, a survey assessing common selfie behaviors, that is, frequency of taking (individual and group selfies), editing (cropping and filtering), and posting selfies online, and social media privacy concerns (over personal data being accessed and misused by third parties) was conducted. The web-survey was administered to 3,763 Norwegian social media users, ranging from 13 to 50 years, with a preponderance of women ( n = 2,509, 66.7%). The present study investigated the impact of privacy concerns on selfie behaviors across gender and age groups (adolescent, young adult, and adult) by use of the structural equation modeling approach. The results suggest that young adults have greater privacy concerns compared to adolescents and adults. Females have greater privacy concerns than males. Greater privacy concerns among female social media users were linked to lower engagement in selfie behavior, but privacy concerns did not influence selfie behavior in the case of male adolescents and young adults. Overall, privacy concerns were more consistently and inversely related to selfie behavior (taking and posting) among females than males. The study results have theoretical as well as practical implications for both researchers and policy makers.

Human punishment is not primarily motivated by inequality.

PubMed

Marczyk, Jesse

2017-01-01

Previous theorizing about punishment has suggested that humans desire to punish inequality per se. However, the research supporting such an interpretation contains important methodological confounds. The main objective of the current experiment was to remove those confounds in order to test whether generating inequality per se is punished. Participants were recruited from an online market to take part in a wealth-alteration game with an ostensible second player. The participants were given an option to deduct from the other player's payment as punishment for their behavior during the game. The results suggest that human punishment does not appear to be motivated by inequality per se, as inequality that was generated without inflicting costs on others was not reliably punished. Instead, punishment seems to respond primarily to the infliction of costs, with inequality only becoming relevant as a secondary input for punishment decisions. The theoretical significance of this finding is discussed in the context of its possible adaptive value.

Online Friendship, Romance, and Sex: Properties and Associations of the Online Relationship Initiation Scale.

PubMed

Harris, Keith M; Aboujaoude, Elias

2016-08-01

Online relationships are increasingly central to many people's lives. As a result, there is a growing need to scientifically examine their psychosocial implications. This study developed and tested the Online Relationship Initiation Scale (ORIS) through classical and item response theory analyses to address this need. An anonymous online survey included 713 adults, aged 18-71 years. The ORIS was tested on psychometric properties and examined for associations with gender and several standardized psychosocial measures. Results demonstrated unidimensionality of nine items, strong factor loadings, and high internal consistency (α = 0.90, ωt = 0.94). All items captured significant information on the latent trait and none showed differential item functioning by sex, age group, or ethnicity. General linear modeling confirmed hypotheses that men were more likely than women to initiate online relationships. Online relationship initiation was not strongly associated with perceived social support, but was positively related to financial distress, and willingness to engage in infidelity or unprotected sex. The ORIS was negatively associated with age and satisfaction with life and showed modest interactions with ethnicity and hours online. This study provided empirical evidence for an interpersonal relationship initiation construct. The ORIS was shown to be a psychometrically sound instrument for evaluating online interpersonal behaviors and their associations with psychosocial and demographic factors. Such psychometrically sound instruments can be useful in exploring online interpersonal behaviors and their significance.

The Intention to Share: Professionals' Knowledge Sharing Behaviors in Online Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alajmi, Bibi M.

2011-01-01

Since the 1990s, the rise of some online communities as well as the decline of others has caught the attention of academia as well as of practice. One assumption for the decline of some online communities is the lack of the rich knowledge content that is believed to be the source of competitiveness and sustainability of any online community.…

Social Capital on Facebook: The Impact of Personality and Online Communication Behaviors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weiqin, Eliza Leong; Campbell, Marilyn; Kimpton, Melanie; Wozencroft, Kelly; Orel, Alexandra

2016-01-01

Online relationship formation through social networking sites helps to meet the developmental need for intimacy in emerging adults. Through the use of the "rich get richer" and the "social compensation" hypotheses, it is evident that personality characteristics such as extraversion and introversion impact online relationship…

Encounters with the OPAC: On-Line Searching in Public Libraries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Slone, Deborah J.

2000-01-01

Reports on a qualitative study that explored strategies and behaviors of public library users during interaction with an online public access catalog, and users' confidence in finding needed information online. Discusses results of questionnaires, interviews, and observations that examined unknown-item searches, area searches, and known-item…

Adult Student Expectations and Experiences in an Online Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bourdeaux, Renee; Schoenack, Lindsie

2016-01-01

This study investigated adult student experiences with instructors in online classes. Using expectancy violations theory as a lens, we conducted 22 interviews to understand reasons students enroll in online classes, expectations for instructors, and behaviors instructors employed that may or may not meet expectations. We conducted a thematic…

Examining Online Learning Patterns with Data Mining Techniques in Peer-Moderated and Teacher-Moderated Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hung, Jui-Long; Crooks, Steven M.

2009-01-01

The student learning process is important in online learning environments. If instructors can "observe" online learning behaviors, they can provide adaptive feedback, adjust instructional strategies, and assist students in establishing patterns of successful learning activities. This study used data mining techniques to examine and…

Computer Availability and Principals' Perceptions of Online Surveys

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eaton, Danice K.; Brener, Nancy D.; Kann, Laura; Roberts, Alice M.; Kyle, Tonja M.; Flint, Katherine H.; Ross, Alexander L. R.

2011-01-01

Background: School-based risk behavior surveys traditionally have been administered via paper-and-pencil. This study assessed the feasibility of conducting in-class online surveys in US high schools. Methods: A paper-and-pencil questionnaire assessing computer availability and perceptions of online surveys was mailed to a nationally representative…

Topics in Complexity: Dynamical Patterns in the Cyberworld

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qi, Hong

Quantitative understanding of mechanism in complex systems is a common "difficult" problem across many fields such as physical, biological, social and economic sciences. Investigation on underlying dynamics of complex systems and building individual-based models have recently been fueled by big data resulted from advancing information technology. This thesis investigates complex systems in social science, focusing on civil unrests on streets and relevant activities online. Investigation consists of collecting data of unrests from open digital source, featuring dynamical patterns underlying, making predictions and constructing models. A simple law governing the progress of two-sided confrontations is proposed with data of activities at micro-level. Unraveling the connections between activity of organizing online and outburst of unrests on streets gives rise to a further meso-level pattern of human behavior, through which adversarial groups evolve online and hyper-escalate ahead of real-world uprisings. Based on the patterns found, noticeable improvement of prediction of civil unrests is achieved. Meanwhile, novel model created from combination of mobility dynamics in the cyberworld and a traditional contagion model can better capture the characteristics of modern civil unrests and other contagion-like phenomena than the original one.

#Stupidcancer: Exploring a Typology of Social Support and the Role of Emotional Expression in a Social Media Community.

PubMed

Myrick, Jessica Gall; Holton, Avery E; Himelboim, Itai; Love, Brad

2016-01-01

Social network sites (SNSs) like Twitter continue to attract users, many of whom turn to these spaces for social support for serious illnesses like cancer. Building on literature that explored the functionality of online spaces for health-related social support, we propose a typology that situates this type of support in an SNS-based open cancer community based on the type (informational or emotional) and the direction (expression or reception) of support. A content analysis applied the typology to a 2-year span of Twitter messages using the popular hashtag "#stupidcancer." Given that emotions form the basis for much of human communication and behavior, including aspects of social support, this content analysis also examined the relationship between emotional expression and online social support in tweets about cancer. Furthermore, this study looked at the various ways in which Twitter allows for message sharing across a user's entire network (not just among the cancer community). This work thus begins to lay the conceptual and empirical groundwork for future research testing the effects of various types of social support in open, interactive online cancer communities.

Cyberfaking: I can, so I will? Intentions to fake in online psychological testing.

PubMed

Grieve, Rachel; Elliott, Jade

2013-05-01

The aim of this study was to investigate whether intentions to fake online (cyberfaking) or in pencil-and-paper psychological testing differ. Participants (N=154) completed online questionnaires measuring attitudes toward faking, perceived behavioral control over faking, subjective norms regarding faking, and intentions to fake in future psychological assessment, with online and pencil-and-paper test administration scenarios compared. Participants showed similar intentions toward cyberfaking and faking in pencil-and-paper testing. However, participants held more positive attitudes toward cyberfaking than faking offline, greater perceived behavioral control over cyberfaking than offline faking, and more favorable subjective norms toward cyberfaking compared to offline faking. Analysis via multiple regression revealed that more positive attitudes toward cyberfaking, greater perceived behavioral control over cyberfaking, and more favorable subjective norms regarding cyberfaking were significantly related to the intention to cyberfake. In addition, more positive attitudes toward faking offline and greater perceived behavioral control over faking offline were significantly related to the intention to fake in offline tests. Overall, results indicated a similar pattern of relationship in the prediction of intentions to engage in faking regardless of the test administration modality scenario. Subjective norm, however, was not a significant predictor for faking offline. Future research could aim to include a behavioral faking outcome measure, as well as examine intentions to cyberfake in specific scenarios (for example, faking good or faking bad).

Identification of Variables and Factors Impacting Consumer Behavior in On-line Shopping in India: An Empirical Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chhikara, Sudesh

On-line shopping is a recent phenomenon in the field of E-Business and is definitely going to be the future of shopping in the world. Most of the companies are running their on-line portals to sell their products/services. Though online shopping is very common outside India, its growth in Indian Market, which is a large and strategic consumer market, is still not in line with the global market. The potential growth of on-line shopping has triggered the idea of conducting a study on on-line shopping in India. The present research paper has used exploratory study to depict and highlight the various categories of factors and variables impacting the behavior of consumers towards on-line shopping in India. The data was collected through in-depth interviews on a sample of 41 respondents from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore. The results of the study show that on-line shopping in India is basically impacted by five categories of factors like demographics factor, Psychographics factor, Online shopping feature and policies, Technological factor, Security factor. The results of the study are used to present a comprehensive model of on-line shopping which could be further used by the researchers and practitioners for conducting future studies in the similar area. A brief operational definition of all the factors and variables impacting on-line shopping in India is also described. And finally practical implications of the study are also elucidated.

Get Cyber Savvy: A Family Guide. The DMA's Guide to Parenting Skills for the Digital Age: Online Basics, Behavior and Privacy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Direct Marketing Association, Washington, DC.

The ability to meet people, visit places around the globe, and make purchases online has added a new dimension to teaching children about the opportunities and accompanying risks that exist in everyday life. The Direct Marketing Association has created this guide to information use, behavior, and privacy on the Internet to help parents supervise…

Faculty and Student Perceptions of Academic Cheating and the Influence of Achievement Motivation with Online and Face-to-Face Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Royer, Sheree Christine

2013-01-01

There are many components contributing to academically dishonest behaviors and with improvements in technology, methods for cheating have expanded to web-based classrooms. This study focuses on academically dishonest behaviors in online and face-to-face (F2F) course formats in an attempt to better understand the impact of cheating in these two…

Offline and Online Sexual Risk Behavior among Youth in the Netherlands: Findings from "Sex under the Age of 25".

PubMed

De Graaf, Hanneke; Verbeek, Mirthe; Van den Borne, Marieke; Meijer, Suzanne

2018-01-01

Sexually developing adolescents and emerging adults face sexual health risks as well as potentially negative outcomes of online sexual behaviors. The goal of this study was to describe three categories of sexual risk behavior: (1) behavior related to STI/HIV, (2) behavior related to unplanned pregnancy, and (3) online sexual risk behavior. In addition, we investigated whether these behaviors are actually related to negative (health) outcomes. For this purpose, we used data from a Dutch probability survey: "Sex under the age of 25." Adolescents and emerging adults aged 12 through 24 (8,053 boys and 12,447 girls) completed a digital questionnaire, including measures of the risk of STI/HIV and pregnancy, online sexual behavior and non-consensual sex. Chi-square tests and logistic regressions were used to test for gender and age differences and compute associations between risk behavior and negative outcomes. The results showed that the risk of unplanned pregnancy is low in the Netherlands. It seems that adolescents and emerging adults are less aware of the risk of STI/HIV than of the risk of pregnancy. About 11% of the participants had had more than one partner in the last 6 months and had not used condoms consistently with their last partner, and these participants had a 3.56 times higher likelihood of ever being diagnosed with an STI. Although many young people stop using condoms with their partner after a while, most of them did not get tested for STIs. More emerging adults (aged 18-24) engage in sexting (sending personal nude pictures and sex videos to others), but the chance that these images are shared with other people than the intended recipient is higher among adolescents (aged 12-17). The results of this study can guide professionals working in sex education and sexual health services to focus their efforts on the risk behaviors in the Netherlands that deserve most attention.

Offline and Online Sexual Risk Behavior among Youth in the Netherlands: Findings from “Sex under the Age of 25”

PubMed Central

De Graaf, Hanneke; Verbeek, Mirthe; Van den Borne, Marieke; Meijer, Suzanne

2018-01-01

Sexually developing adolescents and emerging adults face sexual health risks as well as potentially negative outcomes of online sexual behaviors. The goal of this study was to describe three categories of sexual risk behavior: (1) behavior related to STI/HIV, (2) behavior related to unplanned pregnancy, and (3) online sexual risk behavior. In addition, we investigated whether these behaviors are actually related to negative (health) outcomes. For this purpose, we used data from a Dutch probability survey: “Sex under the age of 25.” Adolescents and emerging adults aged 12 through 24 (8,053 boys and 12,447 girls) completed a digital questionnaire, including measures of the risk of STI/HIV and pregnancy, online sexual behavior and non-consensual sex. Chi-square tests and logistic regressions were used to test for gender and age differences and compute associations between risk behavior and negative outcomes. The results showed that the risk of unplanned pregnancy is low in the Netherlands. It seems that adolescents and emerging adults are less aware of the risk of STI/HIV than of the risk of pregnancy. About 11% of the participants had had more than one partner in the last 6 months and had not used condoms consistently with their last partner, and these participants had a 3.56 times higher likelihood of ever being diagnosed with an STI. Although many young people stop using condoms with their partner after a while, most of them did not get tested for STIs. More emerging adults (aged 18–24) engage in sexting (sending personal nude pictures and sex videos to others), but the chance that these images are shared with other people than the intended recipient is higher among adolescents (aged 12–17). The results of this study can guide professionals working in sex education and sexual health services to focus their efforts on the risk behaviors in the Netherlands that deserve most attention. PMID:29594093

Research on Web Search Behavior: How Online Query Data Inform Social Psychology.

PubMed

Lai, Kaisheng; Lee, Yan Xin; Chen, Hao; Yu, Rongjun

2017-10-01

The widespread use of web searches in daily life has allowed researchers to study people's online social and psychological behavior. Using web search data has advantages in terms of data objectivity, ecological validity, temporal resolution, and unique application value. This review integrates existing studies on web search data that have explored topics including sexual behavior, suicidal behavior, mental health, social prejudice, social inequality, public responses to policies, and other psychosocial issues. These studies are categorized as descriptive, correlational, inferential, predictive, and policy evaluation research. The integration of theory-based hypothesis testing in future web search research will result in even stronger contributions to social psychology.

New World View

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bainbridge, William Sims

This chapter reports the wide range of ideas in a pair of major scientific conference meetings held inside the most popular virtual world, World of Warcraft (WoW), May 9 and May 10, 2008, plus the challenges of organizing these online events. More than a hundred scholars and scientists contributed to each session, the first covering research on World of Warcraft, and the second examining how virtual worlds fit into the larger world of human experience. A third session, held on May 11, was the starting point for the concluding chapter of this volume. This chapter describes how WoW and other virtual worlds can be used as laboratories for studying human behavior, using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, and the affordances of virtual worlds can be used to support scientific communication (Bainbridge 2007, in press).

Technological advancements and Internet sexuality: does private access to the Internet influence online sexual behavior?

PubMed

Daneback, Kristian; Månsson, Sven-Axel; Ross, Michael W

2012-08-01

The aim of this study was to investigate whether demographic characteristics and sexual behavior online and offline were associated with private, respectively, nonprivate access to the Internet in a Web sample of people who use the Internet for sexual purposes. A total of 1,913 respondents completed an online questionnaire about Internet sexuality, and 1,614 reported using the Internet for sexual purposes. The majority of these respondents reported having access to an Internet-connected computer no one else had access to (62 percent women and 70 percent men). The results showed that it is possible to differentiate between those who have access to an Internet-connected computer no one else has access to and those who have shared access to an Internet-connected computer. Not only did they differ in demographic characteristics, but also in the sexual activities they engaged in on the Internet. Different patterns were found for women and men. For example, men who had private access to Internet-connected computers were more likely than those who had shared access to seek information about sexual issues. Thus, having access to Internet computers no one else has access to may promote sexual knowledge and health for men. The results of this study along with the technological development implies that in future research, attention should be paid to where and how people access the Internet in relation to online behavior in general and online sexual behavior in particular.

Technological Advancements and Internet Sexuality: Does Private Access to the Internet Influence Online Sexual Behavior?

PubMed Central

Månsson, Sven-Axel; Ross, Michael W.

2012-01-01

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate whether demographic characteristics and sexual behavior online and offline were associated with private, respectively, nonprivate access to the Internet in a Web sample of people who use the Internet for sexual purposes. A total of 1,913 respondents completed an online questionnaire about Internet sexuality, and 1,614 reported using the Internet for sexual purposes. The majority of these respondents reported having access to an Internet-connected computer no one else had access to (62 percent women and 70 percent men). The results showed that it is possible to differentiate between those who have access to an Internet-connected computer no one else has access to and those who have shared access to an Internet-connected computer. Not only did they differ in demographic characteristics, but also in the sexual activities they engaged in on the Internet. Different patterns were found for women and men. For example, men who had private access to Internet-connected computers were more likely than those who had shared access to seek information about sexual issues. Thus, having access to Internet computers no one else has access to may promote sexual knowledge and health for men. The results of this study along with the technological development implies that in future research, attention should be paid to where and how people access the Internet in relation to online behavior in general and online sexual behavior in particular. PMID:22823598

A Randomized Trial of an Avatar-Hosted Multiple Behavior Change Intervention for Young Adult Smokers

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Young adulthood is a critical transition period for the development of health behaviors. We present here the results of a randomized controlled trial of an online avatar-hosted personal health makeover program designed for young adult smokers. Methods We conducted a three-group randomized trial comparing delivery of general lifestyle content (Tx1), personally tailored health information (Tx2), and personally tailored health information plus online video–based peer coaching (Tx3) as part of a 6-week online health program. Participants were asked to set weekly goals around eating breakfast, exercise, alcohol use, and cigarette smoking. Eligibility criteria included age (18–30 years) and smoking status (any cigarette use in the previous 30 days). The primary outcome was self-reported 30-day abstinence measured 12 weeks postenrollment. Results Participant (n = 1698) characteristics were balanced across the groups (72% women, mean age 24, 26% nonwhite, 32% high school education or less, and 50% daily smokers). Considering intention to treat, 30-day smoking abstinence rates were statistically significantly higher in the intervention groups (Tx1 = 11%, Tx2 = 23%, Tx3 = 31%, P < .001). Participants in the intervention groups were also more likely to reduce their number of days spent on binge drinking and increase their number of days eating breakfast and exercising. Overall, intervention group participants were much more likely to make positive changes in at least three or four of the target behaviors (Tx1 = 19%, Tx2 = 39%, Tx3 = 41%, P < .001). Conclusions This online avatar-hosted personal health makeover “show” increased smoking abstinence and induced positive changes in multiple related health behaviors. Addition of the online video–based peer coaching further improved behavioral outcomes. PMID:24395994

A randomized trial of an avatar-hosted multiple behavior change intervention for young adult smokers.

PubMed

An, Lawrence C; Demers, Michele R S; Kirch, Matthias A; Considine-Dunn, Shannon; Nair, Vijay; Dasgupta, Kohinoor; Narisetty, Naveen; Resnicow, Ken; Ahluwalia, Jasjit

2013-12-01

Young adulthood is a critical transition period for the development of health behaviors. We present here the results of a randomized controlled trial of an online avatar-hosted personal health makeover program designed for young adult smokers. We conducted a three-group randomized trial comparing delivery of general lifestyle content (Tx1), personally tailored health information (Tx2), and personally tailored health information plus online video-based peer coaching (Tx3) as part of a 6-week online health program. Participants were asked to set weekly goals around eating breakfast, exercise, alcohol use, and cigarette smoking. Eligibility criteria included age (18-30 years) and smoking status (any cigarette use in the previous 30 days). The primary outcome was self-reported 30-day abstinence measured 12 weeks postenrollment. Participant (n = 1698) characteristics were balanced across the groups (72% women, mean age 24, 26% nonwhite, 32% high school education or less, and 50% daily smokers). Considering intention to treat, 30-day smoking abstinence rates were statistically significantly higher in the intervention groups (Tx1 = 11%, Tx2 = 23%, Tx3 = 31%, P < .001). Participants in the intervention groups were also more likely to reduce their number of days spent on binge drinking and increase their number of days eating breakfast and exercising. Overall, intervention group participants were much more likely to make positive changes in at least three or four of the target behaviors (Tx1 = 19%, Tx2 = 39%, Tx3 = 41%, P < .001). This online avatar-hosted personal health makeover "show" increased smoking abstinence and induced positive changes in multiple related health behaviors. Addition of the online video-based peer coaching further improved behavioral outcomes.

Characteristics of online compulsive buying in Parisian students.

PubMed

Duroy, David; Gorse, Pauline; Lejoyeux, Michel

2014-12-01

Online compulsive buying is a little-studied behavioral disorder. To better understand its clinical aspects by focusing on (i) prevalence rate, (ii) correlation with other addictions, (iii) influence of means of access, (iv) motivations to shop to the internet and (v) financial and time-consuming consequences. Cross-sectional study. 200 students in two different centers of Paris Diderot University - Paris VII. Brief self-questionnaires, to screen online compulsive buying, internet addiction, alcohol and tobacco use disorders, to rate frequency of online purchase by private-sale websites, by advertising banners, by mobile phone or to avoid stores, to rate motivations like "more discreet", "lonelier", "larger variety of products", "more immediate positive feelings", and "cheaper" and to assess the largest amount of online purchasing and the average proportion of monthly earnings, and time spent, both day and night. Prevalence of online compulsive buying was 16.0%, while prevalence of internet addiction was 26.0%. We found no significant relationship with cyberdependence, alcohol or tobacco use disorders. Online compulsive buyers accessed more often shopping online by private-sale websites (56.2% vs 30.5%, p<0.0001) or by mobile phone (22.5% vs 7.9%, p=0.005) and preferred online shopping because of exhaustive offer (p<0.0001) and immediate positive feelings (p<0.0001). Online compulsive buyers spent significantly more money and more time in online shopping. Online compulsive buying seems to be a distinctive behavioral disorder with specific factors of loss of control and motivations, and overall financial and time-consuming impacts. More research is needed to better characterize it. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Human group formation in online guilds and offline gangs driven by a common team dynamic.

PubMed

Johnson, Neil F; Xu, Chen; Zhao, Zhenyuan; Ducheneaut, Nicolas; Yee, Nicholas; Tita, George; Hui, Pak Ming

2009-06-01

Quantifying human group dynamics represents a unique challenge. Unlike animals and other biological systems, humans form groups in both real (offline) and virtual (online) spaces-from potentially dangerous street gangs populated mostly by disaffected male youths to the massive global guilds in online role-playing games for which membership currently exceeds tens of millions of people from all possible backgrounds, age groups, and genders. We have compiled and analyzed data for these two seemingly unrelated offline and online human activities and have uncovered an unexpected quantitative link between them. Although their overall dynamics differ visibly, we find that a common team-based model can accurately reproduce the quantitative features of each simply by adjusting the average tolerance level and attribute range for each population. By contrast, we find no evidence to support a version of the model based on like-seeking-like (i.e., kinship or "homophily").

Human group formation in online guilds and offline gangs driven by a common team dynamic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Neil F.; Xu, Chen; Zhao, Zhenyuan; Ducheneaut, Nicolas; Yee, Nicholas; Tita, George; Hui, Pak Ming

2009-06-01

Quantifying human group dynamics represents a unique challenge. Unlike animals and other biological systems, humans form groups in both real (offline) and virtual (online) spaces—from potentially dangerous street gangs populated mostly by disaffected male youths to the massive global guilds in online role-playing games for which membership currently exceeds tens of millions of people from all possible backgrounds, age groups, and genders. We have compiled and analyzed data for these two seemingly unrelated offline and online human activities and have uncovered an unexpected quantitative link between them. Although their overall dynamics differ visibly, we find that a common team-based model can accurately reproduce the quantitative features of each simply by adjusting the average tolerance level and attribute range for each population. By contrast, we find no evidence to support a version of the model based on like-seeking-like (i.e., kinship or “homophily”).

Partial reinforcement of avoidance and resistance to extinction in humans.

PubMed

Xia, Weike; Dymond, Simon; Lloyd, Keith; Vervliet, Bram

2017-09-01

In anxiety, maladaptive avoidance behavior provides for near-perfect controllability of potential threat. There has been little laboratory-based treatment research conducted on controllability as a contributing factor in the transition from adaptive to maladaptive avoidance. Here, we investigated for the first time whether partial reinforcement rate, or the reliability of avoidance at controlling or preventing contact with an aversive event, influences subsequent extinction of avoidance in humans. Five groups of participants were exposed to different partial reinforcement rates where avoidance cancelled upcoming shock on 100%, 75%, 50%, 25% or 0% of trials. During extinction, all shocks were withheld. Avoidance behavior, online shock expectancy ratings and skin conductance responses (SCRs) were measured throughout. We found that avoidance was a function of relative controllability: higher reinforcement rate groups engaged in significantly more extinction-resistant avoidance than lower reinforcement groups, and shock expectancy was inversely related with reinforcement rate during avoidance acquisition. Partial reinforcement effects were not evident in SCRs. Overall, the current study highlights the clinical relevance of laboratory-based treatment research on partial reinforcement or controllability effects on extinction of avoidance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using crowdsourced online experiments to study context-dependency of behavior.

PubMed

Keuschnigg, Marc; Bader, Felix; Bracher, Johannes

2016-09-01

We use Mechanical Turk's diverse participant pool to conduct online bargaining games in India and the US. First, we assess internal validity of crowdsourced experimentation through variation of stakes ($0, $1, $4, and $10) in the Ultimatum and Dictator Game. For cross-country equivalence we adjust the stakes following differences in purchasing power. Our marginal totals correspond closely to laboratory findings. Monetary incentives induce more selfish behavior but, in line with most laboratory findings, the particular size of a positive stake appears irrelevant. Second, by transporting a homogeneous decision situation into various living conditions crowdsourced experimentation permits identification of context effects on elicited behavior. We explore context-dependency using session-level variation in participants' geographical location, regional affluence, and local social capital. Across "virtual pools" behavior varies in the range of stake effects. We argue that quasi-experimental variation of the characteristics people bring to the experimental situation is the key potential of crowdsourced online designs. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Longitudinal Associations between Anhedonia and Internet-Related Addictive Behaviors in Emerging Adults

PubMed Central

Guillot, Casey R.; Bello, Mariel S.; Tsai, Jennifer Y.; Huh, Jimi; Leventhal, Adam M.; Sussman, Steve

2016-01-01

Internet addiction (including online gaming) has been associated with depression. However, most prior research relating internet addiction symptomatology to depressive symptoms has been cross-sectional, conducted with children and adolescents, and only examined depressive symptoms as a broad construct. The purpose of the current study was to examine potential longitudinal associations between anhedonia (i.e., difficulty experiencing pleasure, a key facet of depression) and internet-related addictive behaviors in 503 at-risk emerging adults (former attendees of alternative high schools). Participants completed surveys at baseline and approximately one year later (9–18 months later). Results indicated that trait anhedonia prospectively predicted greater levels of compulsive internet use and addiction to online activities as well as a greater likelihood of addiction to online/offline video games. These findings suggest that anhedonia may contribute to the development of internet-related addictive behaviors in the emerging adult population. Thus, interventions that target anhedonia in emerging adulthood (e.g., bupropion treatment or behavioral activation therapy) may help prevent or treat internet addiction. PMID:27182108

Examining the online reading behavior and performance of fifth-graders: evidence from eye-movement data

PubMed Central

Sung, Yao-Ting; Wu, Ming-Da; Chen, Chun-Kuang; Chang, Kuo-En

2015-01-01

Online reading is developing at an increasingly rapid rate, but the debate concerning whether learning is more effective when using hypertexts than when using traditional linear texts is still persistent. In addition, several researchers stated that online reading comprehension always starts with a question, but little empirical evidence has been gathered to investigate this claim. This study used eye-tracking technology and retrospective think aloud technique to examine online reading behaviors of fifth-graders (N = 50). The participants were asked to read four texts on the website. The present study employed a three-way mixed design: 2 (reading ability: high vs. low) × 2 (reading goals: with vs. without) × 2 (text types: hypertext vs. linear text). The dependent variables were eye-movement indices and the frequencies of using online reading strategy. The results show that fifth-graders, irrespective of their reading ability, found it difficult to navigate the non-linear structure of hypertexts when searching for and integrating information. When they read with goals, they adjusted their reading speed and the focus of their attention. Their offline reading ability also influenced their online reading performance. These results suggest that online reading skills and strategies have to be taught in order to enhance the online reading abilities of elementary-school students. PMID:26074837

Examining the online reading behavior and performance of fifth-graders: evidence from eye-movement data.

PubMed

Sung, Yao-Ting; Wu, Ming-Da; Chen, Chun-Kuang; Chang, Kuo-En

2015-01-01

Online reading is developing at an increasingly rapid rate, but the debate concerning whether learning is more effective when using hypertexts than when using traditional linear texts is still persistent. In addition, several researchers stated that online reading comprehension always starts with a question, but little empirical evidence has been gathered to investigate this claim. This study used eye-tracking technology and retrospective think aloud technique to examine online reading behaviors of fifth-graders (N = 50). The participants were asked to read four texts on the website. The present study employed a three-way mixed design: 2 (reading ability: high vs. low) × 2 (reading goals: with vs. without) × 2 (text types: hypertext vs. linear text). The dependent variables were eye-movement indices and the frequencies of using online reading strategy. The results show that fifth-graders, irrespective of their reading ability, found it difficult to navigate the non-linear structure of hypertexts when searching for and integrating information. When they read with goals, they adjusted their reading speed and the focus of their attention. Their offline reading ability also influenced their online reading performance. These results suggest that online reading skills and strategies have to be taught in order to enhance the online reading abilities of elementary-school students.

Online Help Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-09-07

online materials (and the concomitant increase in the cost for hardcopy materials) will make online delivery the marketing choice. In sum, medium of...involved in programming, marketing , human factors research, training, and business management. Job Titles of Online Help Designers Job Title...of Company Senior Research Librarian Advisory Information Developer Research Staff Assistant Marketing Manager Manager of Online Documentation Table

Risky Internet Behaviors: A Case Study of Online and Offline Stalking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dowdell, Elizabeth Burgess; Bradley, Patricia K.

2010-01-01

Today's youth are more technologically savvy than any other generation possessing the ability to go online anytime. This increase in use of and access to technology has also provided adolescents with increasing opportunities to experience online relationships, which can place them in a vulnerable position and risk for harassment, bullying,…

Sequential Online Wellness Programming Is an Effective Strategy to Promote Behavior Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

MacNab, Lindsay R.; Francis, Sarah L.

2015-01-01

The growing number of United States youth and adults categorized as overweight or obese illustrates a need for research-based family wellness interventions. Sequential, online, Extension-delivered family wellness interventions offer a time- and cost-effective approach for both participants and Extension educators. The 6-week, online Healthy…

Factors Predicting the Choice of an Online versus a Traditional Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robinson, Ryan P.; Doverspike, Dennis

2006-01-01

Universities sometimes offer students the choice of an online course as an alternative to the traditional classroom. We employed the theory of planned behavior (Azjen, 1991) to examine an individual's intention to enroll in an online experimental psychology class versus a traditional class. General attitudes and subjective norms significantly…

Assessing Faculty Perceptions and Techniques to Combat Academic Dishonesty in Online Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paullet, Karen; Chawdhry, Adnan A.; Douglas, David M.; Pinchot, Jamie

2016-01-01

Online Education is growing as it provides an added convenience to students, especially ones who have life circumstances that prevent them from attending traditional classes. With this growing trend, faculty and universities are facing increased risks with validating student identities in online courses and combatting unethical student behavior.…

Broadening the Notion of Participation in Online Discussions: Examining Patterns in Learners' Online Listening Behaviors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wise, Alyssa Friend; Speer, Jennifer; Marbouti, Farshid; Hsiao, Ying-Ting

2013-01-01

While a great deal of research has studied the messages students contribute to electronic discussion forums, productive participation in online learning conversations requires more than just making posts. One important pre-condition for productive interactivity and knowledge construction is engagement with the posts contributed by others. In this…

Role Assignment and Sense of Community in an Online Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jiang, Wenting

2016-01-01

More and more educational institutions have been moving towards delivering courses and programs at a distance. Although asynchronous online courses overcome the constraints of time, students feel isolated due to the lack of real-time communications. One possible solution to overcome this isolation been suggested that learner's online behavior and…

A Context Awareness System for Online Learning: Design Based Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laffey, James; Amelung, Chris; Goggins, Sean

2009-01-01

A design based research strategy examining the impressions and behavior of members of courses taught entirely online is used for refining a context-aware activity notification system (CANS). The findings show that CANS must address substantial variety in courses and members while also fitting with multitasking between online and real world…

The Relationship between Instructor Servant Leadership Behaviors and Satisfaction with Instructors in an Online Setting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sahawneh, Faris George; Benuto, Lorraine T.

2018-01-01

Servant leadership has the potential to improve student satisfaction within online learning. However, the relationship between servant leadership and student satisfaction in an online environment had not yet been understood at the level of the individual instructor. The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study was to evaluate the…

Learning or Lurking?: Tracking the "Invisible" Online Student.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beaudoin, Michael F.

2002-01-01

This case study of inactive, or invisible, students enrolled in an online graduate course identifies how much time is spent in course-related activity, what the reasons are for students' invisibility, and if their preferred learning styles influence online behavior. Preliminary analysis of grades indicate that grades are better for high-visibility…

Exploring the Complex Relations between Achievement Emotions and Self-Regulated Learning Behaviors in Online Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Artino, Anthony R., Jr.; Jones, Kenneth D., II

2012-01-01

Online learning continues to grow, but there is limited empirical research on the personal factors that influence success in online contexts. This investigation addresses this research gap by exploring the relations between several discrete achievement-related emotions (boredom, frustration, and enjoyment) and self-regulated learning behaviors…

Dying online: live broadcasts of Chinese emerging adult suicides and crisis response behaviors.

PubMed

Ma, Jing; Zhang, Wei; Harris, Keith; Chen, Qiang; Xu, Xiaolin

2016-08-11

Social media and online environments are becoming increasingly popular and integral to modern lives. The online presentation of suicidal behaviors is an example of the importance of communication technologies, and the need for professionals to respond to a changing world. These types of behaviors, however, have rarely been scientifically analyzed. This study aimed to examine the behaviors of both suicide broadcasters and their audience, with attention on prevention/crisis opportunities. Multiple case studies were employed to explore live-broadcast suicide by Chinese emerging adults (aged 18-25 years). Six cases were selected (four males, two females; aged 19-24, M = 21.60, SD = 2.25), retrieved from 190 public documents (case range = 5 to 32; M = 11.50, SD = 10.37). A qualitative study based on grounded theory was adopted. Information on case background, stages, participants and their behaviors were collected. (1) Five stages of blogcast suicide incidents were revealed, including: Signaling, Initial reactions, Live blogcast of suicide attempts, Crisis responses, and Final outcomes. (2) Common behavioral trends (e.g., comforting, verbal abuse) were identified from the blogcast participants (e.g., active audience, peers, parents and police). (3) Suicide blogcasters exhibited tendencies to communicated signs of pain and cries for help. This multi-case study found live presentations of suicidal behaviors offered unique opportunities to respond to suicidal crises, and also to learn more about the relationships between suicidal people and potential help sources. Findings showed many audience members wanted to be helpful but lacked appropriate skills or knowledge. Others engaged in suicide cyberbullying. The social media is an environment in the making. This study revealed that increasing knowledge and skills for crisis response and suicide prevention is needed. Such efforts could lead to empowered netizens and a more hospitable online world.

Is Media Multitasking Good for Cybersecurity? Exploring the Relationship Between Media Multitasking and Everyday Cognitive Failures on Self-Reported Risky Cybersecurity Behaviors.

PubMed

Hadlington, Lee; Murphy, Karen

2018-03-01

The current study focused on how engaging in media multitasking (MMT) and the experience of everyday cognitive failures impact on the individual's engagement in risky cybersecurity behaviors (RCsB). In total, 144 participants (32 males, 112 females) completed an online survey. The age range for participants was 18 to 43 years (M = 20.63, SD = 4.04). Participants completed three scales which included an inventory of weekly MMT, a measure of everyday cognitive failures, and RCsB. There was a significant difference between heavy media multitaskers (HMM), average media multitaskers (AMM), and light media multitaskers (LMM) in terms of RCsB, with HMM demonstrating more frequent risky behaviors than LMM or AMM. The HMM group also reported more cognitive failures in everyday life than the LMM group. A regression analysis showed that everyday cognitive failures and MMT acted as significant predictors for RCsB. These results expand our current understanding of the relationship between human factors and cybersecurity behaviors, which are useful to inform the design of training and intervention packages to mitigate RCsB.

Statistical Models for Predicting Threat Detection From Human Behavior.

PubMed

Kelley, Timothy; Amon, Mary J; Bertenthal, Bennett I

2018-01-01

Users must regularly distinguish between secure and insecure cyber platforms in order to preserve their privacy and safety. Mouse tracking is an accessible, high-resolution measure that can be leveraged to understand the dynamics of perception, categorization, and decision-making in threat detection. Researchers have begun to utilize measures like mouse tracking in cyber security research, including in the study of risky online behavior. However, it remains an empirical question to what extent real-time information about user behavior is predictive of user outcomes and demonstrates added value compared to traditional self-report questionnaires. Participants navigated through six simulated websites, which resembled either secure "non-spoof" or insecure "spoof" versions of popular websites. Websites also varied in terms of authentication level (i.e., extended validation, standard validation, or partial encryption). Spoof websites had modified Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and authentication level. Participants chose to "login" to or "back" out of each website based on perceived website security. Mouse tracking information was recorded throughout the task, along with task performance. After completing the website identification task, participants completed a questionnaire assessing their security knowledge and degree of familiarity with the websites simulated during the experiment. Despite being primed to the possibility of website phishing attacks, participants generally showed a bias for logging in to websites versus backing out of potentially dangerous sites. Along these lines, participant ability to identify spoof websites was around the level of chance. Hierarchical Bayesian logistic models were used to compare the accuracy of two-factor (i.e., website security and encryption level), survey-based (i.e., security knowledge and website familiarity), and real-time measures (i.e., mouse tracking) in predicting risky online behavior during phishing attacks. Participant accuracy in identifying spoof and non-spoof websites was best captured using a model that included real-time indicators of decision-making behavior, as compared to two-factor and survey-based models. Findings validate three widely applicable measures of user behavior derived from mouse tracking recordings, which can be utilized in cyber security and user intervention research. Survey data alone are not as strong at predicting risky Internet behavior as models that incorporate real-time measures of user behavior, such as mouse tracking.

The Prevalence of Internet and Social Media Based Medication Information Seeking Behavior in Saudi Arabia.

PubMed

Bahkali, Salwa; Alfurih, Suha; Aldremly, Maha; Alzayyat, Ma'an; Alsurimi, Khaled; Househ, Mowafa

2016-01-01

The internet has become an important resource to help people search for online medication information. This study aims to report the prevalence and profile of Saudi online medication seeking behavior. Conducted via a web-based survey with Twitter participants between January-February, 2015, the primary outcome measures were the self-reported rates of using the internet to search for medication related information. A valid sample of 4847 participants was collected over the period of the study. Out of the total participants, 68.3% (n=3311) were found to seek online medication related information frequently. Most of the social media users were female 83.5% (n=2766). The majority of respondents 63.6% (n= 3081) used Google, followed by Twitter 28.7% (n= 1392), Snapchat 21%, (n=1019), WhatsApp 13.8% (n= 670), Instagram 11.4%, (n= 553), and Facebook 5.5 % (n= 267), with few searching YouTube 1.3% (n=65) to access online medication information. Findings indicate that the Saudi population actively uses the internet and social media to obtain medication information. Further studies are needed to explore the influence of the internet and social media on user perception, attitude, and behavior with the use of online medication information.

Telecommunications Network Measurements of Online Gambling Behavior in Switzerland: A Feasibility Study.

PubMed

Bitar, Raoul; Nordt, Carlos; Grosshans, Martin; Herdener, Marcus; Seifritz, Erich; Mutschler, Jochen

2017-01-01

Methodological shortcomings of gambling studies relying on self-report or on data sets derived from gambling operators tend to result in biased conclusions. The aim of this study was to analyze online gambling behavior using a novel network database approach. From October 13 to October 26, 2014, telecommunications network data from a major telecommunications provider in Switzerland were analyzed. Netflows between mobile devices and a poker operator were quantified to measure the gambling duration and session number. Time spent gambling during night and working hours was compared between devices with longest (red group), intermediate (orange group), and shortest gambling time (green group). Online gambling behavior differed depending on overall gambling time, F (2, 3,143). Night and working hours gambling was the highest in the red group (53%), compared to the orange (50.1%) and the green groups (41.5%). Post hoc analyses indicated significant differences between the orange and green groups (p < 0.05). No differences were observed between the red and orange groups (p = 0.850), and the red and green groups (p = 0.053). On mobile devices, distinct gambling patterns were observed depending on the overall gambling time. This methodology could also be used to investigate online gaming, social media use, and online pornography. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

What's in a Name? Impact of marketing different course titles on enrollment for online classes.

PubMed

Kemper, Kathi J; Woods, Charles; McBride, Allison

2008-12-01

Little is known about the impact of different marketing strategies on enrollment of online courses for health professionals. The authors compared one aspect of marketing, course titles, for online classes about herbs and dietary supplements (HDS). The authors marketed two titles-one knowledge-oriented, the other behavior-oriented-for each of seven online HDS classes. The two titles were (1) "Introduction to topic" (Knowledge) and (2) "Talking with patients about topic" (Behavior). The seven classes were two general (introduction and safety) and five specialty (women, children, the elderly, depression, and gastrointestinal) topics. The Area Health Education Center in northwest North Carolina marketed the classes. Altogether, 195 clinicians enrolled in an average of 7.6 classes per enrollee (1,487 total). For every class, enrollment was higher for knowledge-oriented than behavior-oriented titled classes (average of 124 versus 89 enrollees per class, P < .01). Enrollment, combining the two general classes, was also significantly higher for general than specialty classes (266 versus 191 enrollees per class, P < .01). Differences in titles and levels of generality significantly impacted enrollment rates in these online classes on an unfamiliar topic. Additional marketing research is needed to inform efforts to enroll clinicians into courses on more familiar topics.

Interest in online interprofessional elective mind-body skills (MBS) training.

PubMed

Gupta, Suman J; Kemper, Kathi J; Lynn, Joanne

2018-02-01

There is growing interest in mind-body skills (MBS) education and online interprofessional elective MBS training for health professionals. We conducted this study to understand a) the demand among different health professionals for an online MBS course; b) engagement with different MBS topics; and c) planned behavior changes. We examined registrations from May 1 through August 31, 2014 for a new online MBS elective, analyzing the percentage of registrants who engaged with one or more of 12 modules by September 30, 2014. We also reviewed written comments about planned behavior change. The 693 registrants included physicians, nurses, social workers, dietitians, psychologists, and others. The two most popular topics were "Introduction: to Stress, Resilience, and Relaxation Response" and "Autogenic Training". Half of registrants (57%) engaged with at least one module and 9% completed all 12 modules within the study period. Nearly all (90%) of those who completed evaluations planned to use the technique they learned for themselves, introduce it to patients, or both. Online elective MBS training attracts diverse health professionals and leads to plans for personal and professional behavior change. Additional research is necessary to understand the impact of different amounts and kinds of MBS training on professionals' resilience, burnout, and quality of care. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Microbiologists’ Public Engagement Views and Behaviors †

PubMed Central

Besley, John; Kahlor, Lee Ann; Koh, Hyeseung; Copple, Jacob; Yuan, Shupei

2018-01-01

In this study, we present results from an extensive survey of US-based microbiologists (adults) to explore these scientists’ perceptions and behaviors related to communicating their research. Specifically, we explored the frequency with which microbiologists engage in public communication, how they evaluate their public communication experiences, and the factors associated with their willingness to engage in face-to-face and online public communication in the future. Data from a multi-wave online survey suggest that microbiologists (N = 903) are somewhat frequent communicators who derive great value from their outreach efforts. The results further suggest that social and psychological drivers of future intentions to engage with the public are consistent with the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Specifically, microbiologists with more positive attitudes toward engagement were more willing to partake in direct and online communication activities. Similarly, microbiologists who believe they possess communication skills are more willing than their less efficacious colleagues to do either type of outreach. Our results also indicate that more-senior and more-active researchers are more willing to participate in direct and online engagement. Implications for communication training are discussed. PMID:29904524

Association between seeking oral health information online and knowledge in adults with spinal cord injury: A pilot study

PubMed Central

Yuen, Hon K.; Azuero, Andres; London, Steven

2011-01-01

Objective To characterize adults with spinal cord injury (SCI) who seek oral health information online, and investigate whether seeking oral health information online is associated with oral health knowledge and behaviors. Methods An online oral health survey was posted on the South Carolina Spinal Cord Injury Association website. Respondents were 192 adult residents of the US ages 19–83 years who identified themselves as having SCI occurring at least 1 year before the survey date. Results About 12% (n = 23) of the respondents searched oral health information online in the past 12 months. Significant associations between the proportion of respondents who searched for oral health information online and socio-demographic and the proportion of respondents who engaged in various oral health behaviors were not detected. However, multivariable logistic regression indicated that respondents who searched oral health information online in the past 12 months have 3.4 times the odds of possessing adequate oral health knowledge compared to respondents who did not search oral health information online (adjusted odds ratio = 3.41, 95% confidence interval = 1.35, 8.62, P = 0.01). Conclusions Given the significant association between seeking oral health information online and adequate oral health knowledge, this study suggests that online oral health information may be a potential avenue for dental health professionals to supplement oral health education in adults with SCI. PMID:21903017

Harnessing the power of conversations with virtual humans to change health behaviors.

PubMed

Albright, Glenn; Adam, Cyrille; Serri, Deborah; Bleeker, Seth; Goldman, Ron

2016-01-01

Skillful, collaborative conversations are powerful tools to improve physical and mental health. Whether you are a parent talking with your child about the dangers of substance abuse, an educator concerned about a student's signs of psychological distress, a veteran worried about a buddy who is contemplating suicide, or a healthcare professional wanting to better engage patients to increase treatment compliance, having the skill, confidence and motivation to engage in conversations can truly transform the health and well-being of those you interact with. Kognito develops role-play simulations that prepare individuals to effectively lead real-life conversations that measurably improve social, emotional, and physical health. The behavior change model that drives the simulations draws upon components of game mechanics, virtual human simulation technology and integrates evidence-based instructional design components as well as principles of social-cognitive theory and neuroscience such as motivational interviewing, emotional regulation, empathy and mindfulness. In the simulations, users or enter a risk-free practice environment and engage in a conversation with intelligent, fully animated, and emotionally responsive virtual characters that model human behavior. It is in practicing these conversations, and receiving feedback from a virtual coach, that users learn to better lead conversations in real life. Numerous longitudinal studies have shown that users who complete Kognito simulations demonstrate statistically significant and sustained increases in attitudinal variables that predict behavior change including preparedness, likelihood, and self-efficacy to better manage conversations. Pending the target population, each online or mobile simulation resulted in desired behavior changes ranging from increased referrals of students, patients or veterans in psychological distress to mental health support services, or increasing physician patient-centered communication or patient self-confidence and active involved in the decision-making processes. These simulations have demonstrated a capability to address major health and public health concerns where effective conversations are necessary to bring about changes in attitudes and behaviors.

Harnessing the power of conversations with virtual humans to change health behaviors

PubMed Central

Adam, Cyrille; Serri, Deborah; Bleeker, Seth; Goldman, Ron

2016-01-01

Skillful, collaborative conversations are powerful tools to improve physical and mental health. Whether you are a parent talking with your child about the dangers of substance abuse, an educator concerned about a student’s signs of psychological distress, a veteran worried about a buddy who is contemplating suicide, or a healthcare professional wanting to better engage patients to increase treatment compliance, having the skill, confidence and motivation to engage in conversations can truly transform the health and well-being of those you interact with. Kognito develops role-play simulations that prepare individuals to effectively lead real-life conversations that measurably improve social, emotional, and physical health. The behavior change model that drives the simulations draws upon components of game mechanics, virtual human simulation technology and integrates evidence-based instructional design components as well as principles of social-cognitive theory and neuroscience such as motivational interviewing, emotional regulation, empathy and mindfulness. In the simulations, users or enter a risk-free practice environment and engage in a conversation with intelligent, fully animated, and emotionally responsive virtual characters that model human behavior. It is in practicing these conversations, and receiving feedback from a virtual coach, that users learn to better lead conversations in real life. Numerous longitudinal studies have shown that users who complete Kognito simulations demonstrate statistically significant and sustained increases in attitudinal variables that predict behavior change including preparedness, likelihood, and self-efficacy to better manage conversations. Pending the target population, each online or mobile simulation resulted in desired behavior changes ranging from increased referrals of students, patients or veterans in psychological distress to mental health support services, or increasing physician patient-centered communication or patient self-confidence and active involved in the decision-making processes. These simulations have demonstrated a capability to address major health and public health concerns where effective conversations are necessary to bring about changes in attitudes and behaviors. PMID:28293614

Actual versus perceived peer sexual risk behavior in online youth social networks.

PubMed

Black, Sandra R; Schmiege, Sarah; Bull, Sheana

2013-09-01

Perception of peer behaviors is an important predictor of actual risk behaviors among youth. However, we lack understanding of peer influence through social media and of actual and perceived peer behavior concordance. The purpose of this research is to document the relationship between individual perception of and actual peer sexual risk behavior using online social networks. The data are a result of a secondary analysis of baseline self-reported and peer-reported sexual risk behavior from a cluster randomized trial including 1,029 persons from 162 virtual networks. Individuals (seeds) recruited up to three friends who then recruited additional friends, extending three waves from the seed. ANOVA models compared network means of actual participant behavior across categories of perceived behavior. Concordance varied between reported and perceived behavior, with higher concordance between perceived and reported condom use, multiple partners, concurrent partners, sexual pressure, and drug and alcohol use during sex. Individuals significantly over-reported risk and under-reported protective peer behaviors related to sex.

Seeking Health Information and Support Online: Does It Differ as a Function of Engagement in Risky Health Behaviors? Evidence From the Health Information National Trends Survey

PubMed Central

Brown, Jamie; Gardner, Benjamin; Smith, Samuel George

2014-01-01

Background The Internet is an important tool to deliver health behavior interventions, yet little is known about Internet access and use of health-related information, or support, by the intended intervention recipients. Objective Our aim was to evaluate whether health-related Internet use differed as a function of common health-risk behaviors (excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, low fruit/vegetable intake, inactive/sedentary lifestyle, unprotected sun exposure, or obesity). Methods Sociodemographic, health behavior characteristics, and information on Internet access and use were assessed in the nationally representative US Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) 4. Data from 3911 participants collated in 2011/12 were included. Results Of the 78.2% (95% CI 76.1-80.1) of participants who had ever accessed the Internet, approximately three-quarters (78.2%, 95% CI 75.4-80.7) had obtained health-related information online last year. About half had used the Internet as the first source of health-related information (47.8%, 95% CI 44.8-50.7) or to access behavioral support (56.9%, 95% CI 53.7-60.0) in the last year. Adjusting for sociodemographic determinants of going online (being younger, white, female, with at least college education) revealed few differences in Internet access and use between health-risk behaviors. Participants with inadequate sun protection were less likely to access the Internet (OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.04-0.88) and those with low fruit/vegetable intake were less likely to have gone online to obtain health-related information last year (OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.45-0.80). Smokers in particular were likely to use the Internet to obtain behavioral support (OR 1.90, 95% CI 1.35-2.68). Conclusions Internet access and use to obtain health-related information and support is widespread and mostly independent of engagement in various health-risk behaviors. However, those with low fruit/vegetable intake or inadequate sun-protective behaviors may be more difficult to reach with Internet-based interventions. In addition, when developing online health promotions, relevant sociodemographic determinants of Internet use need to be targeted to maximize their impact. PMID:25380308

Research Experience and Agreement with Selected Ethics Principles from Canada's "Tri-Council Policy Statement--Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fahy, Pat; Spencer, Bob

2004-01-01

An online survey was conducted of students, instructors, and researchers in distance education regarding principles for the ethical treatment of human research subjects. The study used an online questionnaire based on principles drawn from Canada's "Tri-Council Policy Statement, Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans" (TCPS,…

Medial prefrontal cortex and the adaptive regulation of reinforcement learning parameters.

PubMed

Khamassi, Mehdi; Enel, Pierre; Dominey, Peter Ford; Procyk, Emmanuel

2013-01-01

Converging evidence suggest that the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) is involved in feedback categorization, performance monitoring, and task monitoring, and may contribute to the online regulation of reinforcement learning (RL) parameters that would affect decision-making processes in the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC). Previous neurophysiological experiments have shown MPFC activities encoding error likelihood, uncertainty, reward volatility, as well as neural responses categorizing different types of feedback, for instance, distinguishing between choice errors and execution errors. Rushworth and colleagues have proposed that the involvement of MPFC in tracking the volatility of the task could contribute to the regulation of one of RL parameters called the learning rate. We extend this hypothesis by proposing that MPFC could contribute to the regulation of other RL parameters such as the exploration rate and default action values in case of task shifts. Here, we analyze the sensitivity to RL parameters of behavioral performance in two monkey decision-making tasks, one with a deterministic reward schedule and the other with a stochastic one. We show that there exist optimal parameter values specific to each of these tasks, that need to be found for optimal performance and that are usually hand-tuned in computational models. In contrast, automatic online regulation of these parameters using some heuristics can help producing a good, although non-optimal, behavioral performance in each task. We finally describe our computational model of MPFC-LPFC interaction used for online regulation of the exploration rate and its application to a human-robot interaction scenario. There, unexpected uncertainties are produced by the human introducing cued task changes or by cheating. The model enables the robot to autonomously learn to reset exploration in response to such uncertain cues and events. The combined results provide concrete evidence specifying how prefrontal cortical subregions may cooperate to regulate RL parameters. It also shows how such neurophysiologically inspired mechanisms can control advanced robots in the real world. Finally, the model's learning mechanisms that were challenged in the last robotic scenario provide testable predictions on the way monkeys may learn the structure of the task during the pretraining phase of the previous laboratory experiments. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Using cognitive dissonance to induce adolescents' escaping from the claw of online gaming: the roles of personal responsibility and justification of cost.

PubMed

Chiou, Wen-Bin; Wan, Chin-Sheng

2007-10-01

The negative impact of the Internet on adolescents has received much attention. How to reduce their pathological use of online gaming is also a critical issue. Based on cognitive dissonance theory, two experiments were conducted to examine whether personal responsibility and justification of cost may play crucial factors in impacting adolescent players' attitude change and their willingness to engage in attitude-discrepant behavior. The results of Experiment 1 revealed that adolescent players who felt a strong sense of responsibility appeared to exhibit greater attitude change. In Experiment 2, the findings indicated that players tended to employ justification of cost in order to reduce or eliminate the dissonance between their attitude toward online gaming and invested cost. Adolescent players who perceived a higher cost in online gaming were less willing to engage in attitude-discrepant behavior. Reducing adolescents ' overuse of online gaming can be appreciated through the perspective of cognitive dissonance.

A Randomized Educational Intervention Trial to Determine the Effect of Online Education on the Quality of Resident-Delivered Care.

PubMed

Dolan, Brigid M; Yialamas, Maria A; McMahon, Graham T

2015-09-01

There is limited research on whether online formative self-assessment and learning can change the behavior of medical professionals. We sought to determine if an adaptive longitudinal online curriculum in bone health would improve resident physicians' knowledge, and change their behavior regarding prevention of fragility fractures in women. We used a randomized control trial design in which 50 internal medicine resident physicians at a large academic practice were randomized to either receive a standard curriculum in bone health care alone, or to receive it augmented with an adaptive, longitudinal, online formative self-assessment curriculum delivered via multiple-choice questions. Outcomes were assessed 10 months after the start of the intervention. Knowledge outcomes were measured by a multiple-choice question examination. Clinical outcomes were measured by chart review, including bone density screening rate, calculation of the fracture risk assessment tool (FRAX) score, and rate of appropriate bisphosphonate prescription. Compared to the control group, residents participating in the intervention had higher scores on the knowledge test at the end of the study. Bone density screening rates and appropriate use of bisphosphonates were significantly higher in the intervention group compared with the control group. FRAX score reporting did not differ between the groups. Residents participating in a novel adaptive online curriculum outperformed peers in knowledge of fragility fracture prevention and care practices to prevent fracture. Online adaptive education can change behavior to improve patient care.

A Randomized Educational Intervention Trial to Determine the Effect of Online Education on the Quality of Resident-Delivered Care

PubMed Central

Dolan, Brigid M.; Yialamas, Maria A.; McMahon, Graham T.

2015-01-01

Background There is limited research on whether online formative self-assessment and learning can change the behavior of medical professionals. Objective We sought to determine if an adaptive longitudinal online curriculum in bone health would improve resident physicians' knowledge, and change their behavior regarding prevention of fragility fractures in women. Methods We used a randomized control trial design in which 50 internal medicine resident physicians at a large academic practice were randomized to either receive a standard curriculum in bone health care alone, or to receive it augmented with an adaptive, longitudinal, online formative self-assessment curriculum delivered via multiple-choice questions. Outcomes were assessed 10 months after the start of the intervention. Knowledge outcomes were measured by a multiple-choice question examination. Clinical outcomes were measured by chart review, including bone density screening rate, calculation of the fracture risk assessment tool (FRAX) score, and rate of appropriate bisphosphonate prescription. Results Compared to the control group, residents participating in the intervention had higher scores on the knowledge test at the end of the study. Bone density screening rates and appropriate use of bisphosphonates were significantly higher in the intervention group compared with the control group. FRAX score reporting did not differ between the groups. Conclusions Residents participating in a novel adaptive online curriculum outperformed peers in knowledge of fragility fracture prevention and care practices to prevent fracture. Online adaptive education can change behavior to improve patient care. PMID:26457142

Electronic strategies for information and research: cyberNephrology/cyberMedicine in the emerging world.

PubMed

Solez, Kim; Hales, Michele; Katz, Sheila Moriber

2005-09-01

Communication and medicine have evolved together. Internet resources now provide an unprecedented opportunity to provide health assistance to the developing world. The International Society of Nephrology Informatics Commission and National Kidney Foundation cyberNephrology initiative (http://www.cybernephrology.org) have created e-mail discussion groups (e.g., NEPHROL, NEPHKIDS, and so forth) and online texts and web resources (e.g., the Schrier Atlas: http://www.kidneyatlas.org) that are, in many respects, ahead of other areas of medicine. On the other hand, nephrology is quite behind in its embrace of some specific communications initiatives that could benefit emerging nations: the Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative program, which provides free full-text access to medical journals and books in poorer countries; the Global Health Network Supercourse, which provides specially designed online lectures for the developing world; and Internet2/Abilene and similar research networks around the world, which provide reliable, guaranteed bandwidth for high-quality Internet videoconferencing as an alternative to face-to-face lectures and meetings. The intent of many educational ventures in nephrology, particularly in the clinical practice guideline realm (National Kidney Foundation Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative, Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes, and so forth), is not just to disseminate information but to change human behavior: physician practice and referral patterns, patient compliance, and so forth. Concepts from the worlds of marketing and entertainment, where the science of changing human behavior is highly evolved, can be used to create high-impact, educational offerings to promote health. They can also be highly beneficial to share Internet educational innovations and future vision across boundaries of medical specialties, which is part of the intent of the cyberMedicine joint venture (http://www.cyber-medicine.org).

What Predicts Patients’ Willingness to Undergo Online Treatment and Pay for Online Treatment? Results from a Web-Based Survey to Investigate the Changing Patient-Physician Relationship

PubMed Central

Bidmon, Sonja; Terlutter, Ralf

2016-01-01

Background Substantial research has focused on patients’ health information–seeking behavior on the Internet, but little is known about the variables that may predict patients’ willingness to undergo online treatment and willingness to pay additionally for online treatment. Objective This study analyzed sociodemographic variables, psychosocial variables, and variables of Internet usage to predict willingness to undergo online treatment and willingness to pay additionally for online treatment offered by the general practitioner (GP). Methods An online survey of 1006 randomly selected German patients was conducted. The sample was drawn from an e-panel maintained by GfK HealthCare. Missing values were imputed; 958 usable questionnaires were analyzed. Variables with multi-item measurement were factor analyzed. Willingness to undergo online treatment and willingness to pay additionally for online treatment offered by the GP were predicted using 2 multiple regression models. Results Exploratory factor analyses revealed that the disposition of patients’ personality to engage in information-searching behavior on the Internet was unidimensional. Exploratory factor analysis with the variables measuring the motives for Internet usage led to 2 separate factors: perceived usefulness (PU) of the Internet for health-related information searching and social motives for information searching on the Internet. Sociodemographic variables did not serve as significant predictors for willingness to undergo online treatment offered by the GP, whereas PU (B=.092, P=.08), willingness to communicate with the GP more often in the future (B=.495, P<.001), health-related information–seeking personality (B=.369, P<.001), actual use of online communication with the GP (B=.198, P<.001), and social motive (B=.178, P=.002) were significant predictors. Age, gender, satisfaction with the GP, social motive, and trust in the GP had no significant impact on the willingness to pay additionally for online treatment, but it was predicted by health-related information–seeking personality (B=.127, P=.07), PU (B=–.098, P=.09), willingness to undergo online treatment (B=.391, P<.001), actual use of online communication with the GP (B=.192, P=.001), highest education level (B=.178, P<.001), monthly household net income (B=.115, P=.01), and willingness to communicate with the GP online more often in the future (B=.076, P=.03). Conclusions Age, gender, and trust in the GP were not significant predictors for either willingness to undergo online treatment or to pay additionally for online treatment. Willingness to undergo online treatment was partly determined by the actual use of online communication with the GP, willingness to communicate online with the GP, health information–seeking personality, and social motivation for such behavior. Willingness to pay extra for online treatment was influenced by the monthly household net income category and education level. The results of this study are useful for online health care providers and physicians who are considering offering online treatments as a viable number of patients would appreciate the possibility of undergoing an online treatment offered by their GP. PMID:26846162

What Predicts Patients' Willingness to Undergo Online Treatment and Pay for Online Treatment? Results from a Web-Based Survey to Investigate the Changing Patient-Physician Relationship.

PubMed

Roettl, Johanna; Bidmon, Sonja; Terlutter, Ralf

2016-02-04

Substantial research has focused on patients' health information-seeking behavior on the Internet, but little is known about the variables that may predict patients' willingness to undergo online treatment and willingness to pay additionally for online treatment. This study analyzed sociodemographic variables, psychosocial variables, and variables of Internet usage to predict willingness to undergo online treatment and willingness to pay additionally for online treatment offered by the general practitioner (GP). An online survey of 1006 randomly selected German patients was conducted. The sample was drawn from an e-panel maintained by GfK HealthCare. Missing values were imputed; 958 usable questionnaires were analyzed. Variables with multi-item measurement were factor analyzed. Willingness to undergo online treatment and willingness to pay additionally for online treatment offered by the GP were predicted using 2 multiple regression models. Exploratory factor analyses revealed that the disposition of patients' personality to engage in information-searching behavior on the Internet was unidimensional. Exploratory factor analysis with the variables measuring the motives for Internet usage led to 2 separate factors: perceived usefulness (PU) of the Internet for health-related information searching and social motives for information searching on the Internet. Sociodemographic variables did not serve as significant predictors for willingness to undergo online treatment offered by the GP, whereas PU (B=.092, P=.08), willingness to communicate with the GP more often in the future (B=.495, P<.001), health-related information-seeking personality (B=.369, P<.001), actual use of online communication with the GP (B=.198, P<.001), and social motive (B=.178, P=.002) were significant predictors. Age, gender, satisfaction with the GP, social motive, and trust in the GP had no significant impact on the willingness to pay additionally for online treatment, but it was predicted by health-related information-seeking personality (B=.127, P=.07), PU (B=-.098, P=.09), willingness to undergo online treatment (B=.391, P<.001), actual use of online communication with the GP (B=.192, P=.001), highest education level (B=.178, P<.001), monthly household net income (B=.115, P=.01), and willingness to communicate with the GP online more often in the future (B=.076, P=.03). Age, gender, and trust in the GP were not significant predictors for either willingness to undergo online treatment or to pay additionally for online treatment. Willingness to undergo online treatment was partly determined by the actual use of online communication with the GP, willingness to communicate online with the GP, health information-seeking personality, and social motivation for such behavior. Willingness to pay extra for online treatment was influenced by the monthly household net income category and education level. The results of this study are useful for online health care providers and physicians who are considering offering online treatments as a viable number of patients would appreciate the possibility of undergoing an online treatment offered by their GP.

Risk Factors for Gambling Problems on Online Electronic Gaming Machines, Race Betting and Sports Betting

PubMed Central

Hing, Nerilee; Russell, Alex M.; Browne, Matthew

2017-01-01

Growth of Internet gambling has fuelled concerns about its contribution to gambling problems. However, most online gamblers also gamble on land-based forms, which may be the source of problems for some. Studies therefore need to identify the problematic mode of gambling (online or offline) to identify those with an online gambling problem. Identifying most problematic form of online gambling (e.g., EGMs, race betting, sports betting) would also enable a more accurate examination of gambling problems attributable to a specific online gambling form. This study pursued this approach, aiming to: (1) determine demographic, behavioral and psychological risk factors for gambling problems on online EGMs, online sports betting and online race betting; (2) compare the characteristics of problematic online gamblers on each of these online forms. An online survey of 4,594 Australian gamblers measured gambling behavior, most problematic mode and form of gambling, gambling attitudes, psychological distress, substance use, help-seeking, demographics and problem gambling status. Problem/moderate risk gamblers nominating an online mode of gambling as their most problematic, and identifying EGMs (n = 98), race betting (n = 291) or sports betting (n = 181) as their most problematic gambling form, were compared to non-problem/low risk gamblers who had gambled online on these forms in the previous 12 months (n = 64, 1145 and 1213 respectively), using bivariate analyses and then logistic regressions. Problem/moderate risk gamblers on each of these online forms were then compared. Risk factors for online EGM gambling were: more frequent play on online EGMs, substance use when gambling, and higher psychological distress. Risk factors for online sports betting were being male, younger, lower income, born outside of Australia, speaking a language other than English, more frequent sports betting, higher psychological distress, and more negative attitudes toward gambling. Risk factors for online race betting comprised being male, younger, speaking a language other than English, more frequent race betting, engaging in more gambling forms, self-reporting as semi-professional/professional gambler, illicit drug use whilst gambling, and more negative attitude toward gambling. These findings can inform improved interventions tailored to the specific characteristics of high risk gamblers on each of these online activities. PMID:28555121

Risk Factors for Gambling Problems on Online Electronic Gaming Machines, Race Betting and Sports Betting.

PubMed

Hing, Nerilee; Russell, Alex M; Browne, Matthew

2017-01-01

Growth of Internet gambling has fuelled concerns about its contribution to gambling problems. However, most online gamblers also gamble on land-based forms, which may be the source of problems for some. Studies therefore need to identify the problematic mode of gambling (online or offline) to identify those with an online gambling problem. Identifying most problematic form of online gambling (e.g., EGMs, race betting, sports betting) would also enable a more accurate examination of gambling problems attributable to a specific online gambling form. This study pursued this approach, aiming to: (1) determine demographic, behavioral and psychological risk factors for gambling problems on online EGMs, online sports betting and online race betting; (2) compare the characteristics of problematic online gamblers on each of these online forms. An online survey of 4,594 Australian gamblers measured gambling behavior, most problematic mode and form of gambling, gambling attitudes, psychological distress, substance use, help-seeking, demographics and problem gambling status. Problem/moderate risk gamblers nominating an online mode of gambling as their most problematic, and identifying EGMs ( n = 98), race betting ( n = 291) or sports betting ( n = 181) as their most problematic gambling form, were compared to non-problem/low risk gamblers who had gambled online on these forms in the previous 12 months ( n = 64, 1145 and 1213 respectively), using bivariate analyses and then logistic regressions. Problem/moderate risk gamblers on each of these online forms were then compared. Risk factors for online EGM gambling were: more frequent play on online EGMs, substance use when gambling, and higher psychological distress. Risk factors for online sports betting were being male, younger, lower income, born outside of Australia, speaking a language other than English, more frequent sports betting, higher psychological distress, and more negative attitudes toward gambling. Risk factors for online race betting comprised being male, younger, speaking a language other than English, more frequent race betting, engaging in more gambling forms, self-reporting as semi-professional/professional gambler, illicit drug use whilst gambling, and more negative attitude toward gambling. These findings can inform improved interventions tailored to the specific characteristics of high risk gamblers on each of these online activities.

Linkages between internet and other media violence with seriously violent behavior by youth.

PubMed

Ybarra, Michele L; Diener-West, Marie; Markow, Dana; Leaf, Philip J; Hamburger, Merle; Boxer, Paul

2008-11-01

The goal was to examine the association between violence in the media and the expression of seriously violent behavior among older children and teenagers in a national sample. The Growing up with Media survey was a national, online survey of 1588 youths that was conducted in August and September 2006. Participants were 10- to 15-year-old youths who had used the Internet at least once in the past 6 months. The main outcome measure was self-reported seriously violent behavior, including (1) shooting or stabbing someone, (2) aggravated assault, (3) robbery, and (4) sexual assault. Five percent of youths reported engaging in seriously violent behavior in the past 12 months. Thirty-eight percent reported exposure to violence online. Exposures to violence in the media, both online and off-line, were associated with significantly elevated odds for concurrently reporting seriously violent behavior. Compared with otherwise similar youths, those who indicated that many, most, or all of the Web sites they visited depicted real people engaged in violent behavior were significantly more likely to report seriously violent behavior. After adjustment for underlying differences in youth characteristics, respondents' alcohol use, propensity to respond to stimuli with anger, delinquent peers, parental monitoring, and exposures to violence in the community also were associated with significantly increased odds of concurrently reporting seriously violent behavior. Exposure to violence in the media is associated with concurrent reports of seriously violent behavior across media (eg, games and music). Newer forms of violent media seem to be especially concerning.

Mobile Web-Based Monitoring and Coaching: Feasibility in Chronic Migraine

PubMed Central

Mak, Sander B; Houtveen, Jan H; Kleiboer, Annet M; van Doornen, Lorenz JP

2007-01-01

Background The Internet can facilitate diary monitoring (experience sampling, ecological momentary assessment) and behavioral coaching. Online digital assistance (ODA) is a generic tool for mobile Web-based use, intended as an adjuvant to face-to-face or Internet-based cognitive behavioral treatment. A current ODA application was designed to support home-based training of behavioral attack prevention in chronic migraine, focusing on the identification of attack precursors and the support of preventive health behaviour. Objective The aim was to establish feasibility of the ODA approach in terms of technical problems and participant compliance, and ODA acceptability on the basis of ratings of user-friendliness, potential burden, and perceived support of the training for behavioral attack prevention in migraine. Methods ODA combines mobile electronic diary monitoring with direct human online coaching of health behavior according to the information from the diary. The diary contains three parts covering the following: (1) migraine headache and medication use, (2) attack precursors, and (3) self-relaxation and other preventive behavior; in addition, menstruation (assessed in the evening diary) and disturbed sleep (assessed in the morning diary) is monitored. The pilot study consisted of two runs conducted with a total of five women with chronic migraine without aura. ODA was tested for 8.5 days (range 4-12 days) per participant. The first test run with three participants tested 4-5 diary prompts per day. The second run with another three participants (including one subject who participated in both runs) tested a reduced prompting scheme (2-3 prompts per day) and minor adaptations to the diary. Online coaching was executed twice daily on workdays. Results ODA feasibility was established on the basis of acceptable data loss (1.2% due to the personal digital assistant; 5.6% due to failing Internet transmission) and good participant compliance (86.8% in the second run). Run 1 revealed some annoyance with the number of prompts per day. Overall ODA acceptability was evident by the positive participant responses concerning user-friendliness, absence of burden, and perceived support of migraine attack prevention. The software was adapted to further increase the flexibility of the application. Conclusions ODA is feasible and well accepted. Tolerability is a sensitive issue, and the balance between benefit and burden must be considered with care. ODA offers a generic tool to combine mobile coaching with diary monitoring,independently of time and space. ODA effects on improvement of migraine remain to be established. PMID:18166526

Offline and Online Civic Engagement among Adolescents and Young Adults from Three Ethnic Groups

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jugert, Philipp; Eckstein, Katharina; Noack, Peter; Kuhn, Alexandra; Benbow, Alison

2013-01-01

Levels of civic engagement are assumed to vary according to numerous social and psychological characteristics, but not much is known about online civic engagement. This study aimed to investigate differences and similarities in young people's offline and online civic engagement and to clarify, based on Ajzen's theory of planned behavior (TPB),…

Retaining K-12 Online Teachers: A Predictive Model for K-12 Online Teacher Turnover

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Larkin, Ingle M.; Lokey-Vega, Anissa; Brantley-Dias, Laurie

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study was to measure and explore factors influencing K-12 online teachers' turnover intentions, with job satisfaction and organizational commitment serving as moderating variables. Using Fishbein and Ajzen's Theory of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior (1975), this study was conducted in public, private, charter, for-profit,…

Cyber-Bullying in the Online Classroom: Instructor Perceptions of Aggressive Student Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eskey, Michael T.; Taylor, Cathy L.; Eskey, Michael T., Jr.

2014-01-01

The advent of online learning has created the medium for cyber-bullying in the virtual classroom and also by e-mail. Bullying is usually expected in the workplace and between students in the classroom. Most recently, however, faculty members have become surprising targets of online bullying. For many, there are no established policies nor is…

Exploring Teaching Programming Online through Web Conferencing System: The Lens of Activity Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Çakiroglu, Ünal; Kokoç, Mehmet; Kol, Elvan; Turan, Ebru

2016-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand activities and behaviors of learners and instructor in an online programming course. Adobe Connect web conferencing system was used as a delivery platform. A total of fifty-six sophomore students attending a computer education and instructional technology program (online) participated in this…

Online Workers' Intentions toward Building Interactive Communications: Probing Their Partnerships via the Theory of Planned Behavior (TpB)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kurubacak, Gulsun

2006-01-01

The main purpose of this qualitative research is to find out online workers' intentions toward Interactive Communication Networks (ICNs) that they redesign and revolutionize their new roles in these new interactive milieus carefully. In this study, the online workers' intentions are indications of their readiness and immediate antecedent of…