Exploring conscious imitation of style with ready-made software

This article describes some approaches to imitation analysis and the use of ready-made software for this task. Devising computer-assisted techniques for exploring the conscious literary imitation of style is an application of particular relevance to contemporary Hispanic narrative and one that can be handled with a microcomputer and readily accessible software. The article describes some approaches to imitation analysis and the use of ready-made software to assess the effectiveness of stylistic imitation of eighteenth-century historical chronicle in La renuncia del héroe Baltasar (The Renunciation of the Hero Baltasar), by the Puerto Rican novelist Rodríguez Juliá. Even when employing familiar procedures of text analysis with computer, comparing a fictional text with a multiple and diverse corpus of authentic historical documents requires somewhat unique assumptions and hypotheses, since neither authorship, influence, or authenticity are in question.Estelle Irizarry is Professor of Spanish at Georgetown University, Washington, D. C., and author of 18 books and annotated editions dealing with modern Hispanic literature, art, and hoaxes.     

Literary criticism and literary computing: The difficulties of a synthesis

Currently most literary critics reject the use of science and technology to gain information about texts, while most computer text-analysts have become absorbed in science and technology and forgotten they were seeking information about literature. Whether these two trends will continue into the 1990's remains to be seen; that they explain a good deal about the world we work in now can, I think, be demonstrated. This essay looks at the questions of what literary computing could offer to literary critics, why computer users get lost in scientific jargon, what happens when text becomes input and, most importantly, what happens when text becomes output; it closes with a discussion of why the synthesis will be so difficult.Rosanne G. Potter is associate professor in the English Department at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011.     

The mathematical analysis of style: A correlation-based approach

Mathematical models of style have focused on features which are easily quantifiable and, for computer-aided analysis, easily identifiable by machines. Most such studies are based on frequency of occurrence of word counts, vocabulary items, or grammatical forms.In this paper, we examine not the number of occurrences of a characteristic, but the pattern in which the characteristic occurs. For example, we hypothesize that the lengths of successive sentences are mathematically correlated and that the length of a sentence can be described, quantitatively, in terms of the lengths of previous sentences.Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models are traditionally used to describe correlated time series data. Under the assumption that the number of words in one sentence is correlated with the number of words per sentence in prior sentences, we develop ARIMA models for series in different works by the same author and comparable works by different authors (James Joyce: portions of Ulysses, and Dubliners; and Ernest Hemingway: portions of In Our Time). Problems of sampling from a literary text are discussed and results presented.Although the performance of the models in predicting sentence length is only marginally better than using mean sentence length, the potential value of this technique in characterizing stylistic features, especially changes in style from the beginning of a piece to the end, is demonstrated.Rosa Oppenheim is an associate professor of Quantitative Methods at the Graduate School of Management, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey.     

Adolescents’ risky online behaviours: The influence of gender,religion, and parenting style

This study explored the influence of gender, religion, and parenting style on risky online behaviours in a sample of 825 Secondary 2 students in Hong Kong. Three risky online behaviours, namely, unauthorised acts (UNAC), internet stickiness (INST), and plagiarism (PLAG) were examined. It was found that males tended to be involved in more risky online behaviours than did females. Christians were no different from non-Christians in terms of risky online behaviours. Parenting style did not seem to be effective in reducing risky online behaviours. There was some evidence that gender moderated the relationship between risky online behaviours and parenting style. Taken together, gender, religion, and parenting style predicted risky online behaviours significantly. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

The impacts of banner location,banner content and navigation style on banner recognition

This study is an attempt to examine factors that might impact banner recognition. These factors include banner location, banner content and navigation style. Via an experimental design conducted on a sample of 90 students, we manipulate these factors over several levels. Our key finding is that banner recognition is affected by the interaction of banner content and navigation style. In particular, as far as aimless browsing participants were concerned, they recognized the banner ad with a URL address significantly better than the one with some service information as well as the URL address. However, for goal-directed search participants, there was no significant difference among the three banner content types. The results also indicated that goal-directed search participants had higher recognition scores than aimless browsing subjects only when the banner ad with some service information and URL address was used. Managerial implications of these results are discussed and future research avenues are proposed.     

Democracy in computer-mediated communication: Gender,communicative style,and amount of participation in professional listservs

This study examined the claim of democracy in computer-mediated communication with regard to amount of participation and communicative style of genders and the effect of topic of discussion on these aspects. To this aim, 300 randomly- chosen messages from two listservs (language testing and taxonomy) were coded for the number of female and male participants, frequency and length of messages, frequency of new topics, frequency of responses to each topic type and to the same and cross gender topics, stylistic features of females’ and males’ language, and frequency of flaming. For each aspect of analysis, χ² statistical test was applied to examine the significance of the differences between genders in and across the lists. The results indicated that given the amount of participation, the democracy claim was breached as male dominance and presence was more ubiquitous. However, the results supported the provision of a democratic platform as far as manner of participation is concerned since both genders presented common communicative needs and priorities and there was no support for differentiation of genders’ communicative styles. The findings promise implications for EFL/ESL education.     

Understanding trust in ms-commerce: The roles of reported experience,linguistic style,profile photo,emotional, and cognitive trust

This paper examines what influences trust in mobile social commerce environment. Drawing on trust-based acceptance model (i.e. cognitive and emotional trust) and online review features (i.e. profile photo, linguistic style, and reported experience), we examine how these factors affect trust in mobile social commerce. Hypotheses were tested using survey data. The results of our model showed that there are significant influences of profile photo, reported experience, cognitive, and emotional trust towards trust in ms-commerce. This work contributes to existing literature by examining the roles of previous trust in mobile payments and online reviews on trust in mobile social commerce.     

Exploring similarities and differences between online and offline friendships: The role of attachment style

The present study merges the fields of attachment and friendships and compares these in online and offline environments. Although currently we know a great deal about the importance of friendships and attachments for healthy development, there is no research to guide our understanding of how attachment style and friendship characteristics are evidenced in online contexts. Participants completed surveys to assess attachment style, friendships (online and offline), as well as interactions with friends and friendship quality. The extent to which individuals sought out online friends did not differ as a function of attachment style. Friendship quality differed as function of attachment style, while differences among attachment styles for other friendship characteristics resulted only when context (online versus offline) was simultaneously considered.     

Learning style based individualized adaptive e-learning environments: Content analysis of the articles published from 2005 to 2014

The studies on creating learning environments based on differences in learning styles have gained importance in recent years. Learning styles are one of the most important parameters in determining individual differences. Accordingly, traditional web-based learning environments have been replaced by individualized adaptive e-learning environments on the basis of learning styles which are more innovative. This study deals with the content analysis of the recent studies on Adaptive Educational Hypermedia (AEH) based on learning styles. 69 articles published from 2005 to 2014 were obtained through a comprehensive and detailed review. Afterwards, these studies were subjected to document analysis. The studies were categorized under the titles of purpose, nature, method, characteristics of examinees, level, data collection tool, learner modelling, learning styles, subject, and findings. Some of the studies offered a framework or proposed a model for AEH while others focused on the influence of AEH on academic achievement and learning outputs as well as learning satisfaction. This study examines the existing tendencies and gaps in the literature and discusses the potential research topics.     

Effects of measurement errors on psychometric measurements in ergonomics studies: Implications for correlations,ANOVA, linear regression,factor analysis,and linear discriminant analysis

This paper aims to demonstrate the effects of measurement errors on psychometric measurements in ergonomics studies. A variety of sources can cause random measurement errors in ergonomics studies and these errors can distort virtually every statistic computed and lead investigators to erroneous conclusions. The effects of measurement errors on five most widely used statistical analysis tools have been discussed and illustrated: correlation; ANOVA; linear regression; factor analysis; linear discriminant analysis. It has been shown that measurement errors can greatly attenuate correlations between variables, reduce statistical power of ANOVA, distort (overestimate, underestimate or even change the sign of) regression coefficients, underrate the explanation contributions of the most important factors in factor analysis and depreciate the significance of discriminant function and discrimination abilities of individual variables in discrimination analysis. The discussions will be restricted to subjective scales and survey methods and their reliability estimates. Other methods applied in ergonomics research, such as physical and electrophysiological measurements and chemical and biomedical analysis methods, also have issues of measurement errors, but they are beyond the scope of this paper. As there has been increasing interest in the development and testing of theories in ergonomics research, it has become very important for ergonomics researchers to understand the effects of measurement errors on their experiment results, which the authors believe is very critical to research progress in theory development and cumulative knowledge in the ergonomics field.     

The role of attachment style in building social capital from a social networking site: The interplay of anxiety and avoidance

Drawing on attachment theory, the present study examines the attachment styles of individuals relative to two ways of building social capital – bonding social capital and bridging social capital. In trying to relate attachment theory to the use of SNS, the present study argues that bonding social capital is reflected in the use of SNS for forming attachment bonds from trust-based strong ties, while bridging social capital is reflected in the use of SNS for causal affiliations among more socially distant people. The conceptual model was validated through an online survey completed by 368 Facebook users. Two hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated several results. First, avoidance attachment was significant and negatively predictive of both bonding social and bridging social capital. Second, both bonding social capital and bridging social capital reported by respondents appeared to be greatest under conditions of low anxiety attachment coupled with low avoidance attachment. Third, levels of Facebook usage were significant and independently predictive of bridging social capital.     

Presence and task performance: an approach in the light of cognitive style

The paper highlights the relationship between each of four bi-polar dimensions of personality cognitive style, such as extraversion–introversion, sensing–intuition, thinking–feeling and judging–perceiving, and the level of sense of presence experienced. Findings indicate that individuals who are more sensitive, more feeling or more introverted experience a higher level of presence. While not reaching statistical significance, differing cognitive styles appear to impact on task performance. The apparent negative relationship discovered between sense of presence and task performance should be considered in the light of task characteristics. We discuss the implications of these findings and how they contribute to an understanding of the complex relationship that exists between presence and task performance and how this subsequently ought to influence the design of virtual environments.     

The effects of visual metaphor and cognitive style for mental modeling in a hypermedia-based environment

With the exponential growth of Internet technology, the notion of users’ cognition when navigating such a vast information space has gained prominence. Studies suggest that metaphors can serve as effective tools to scaffold users’ mental modeling processes. However, how users conceive of the metaphorical aid (as opposed to simply how they perceive it) remains questionable. Cognitive style, or the user’s preferred way of information processing, has thus been posited as a possible factor affecting the success of the metaphorical approach in a hypermedia environment.

This study explores the effects of visual metaphors and cognitive styles on users’ learning performances in terms of structural knowledge and feelings of disorientation. The results indicate that a visual metaphor could improve the quality of mental formation, yet simultaneously increase users’ mental load during navigation. In addition, cognitive style is a crucial factor that can significantly affect users’ learning performance.     

Stressful life events and adolescent Internet addiction: The mediating role of psychological needs satisfaction and the moderating role of coping style

Although stressful life events have been shown to play an important role in adolescent Internet addiction, little is known about mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this relation. Based on the integration of self-determination theory and stress-coping theory, the present study investigated (a) the mediating role of psychological needs satisfaction in the relationship between stressful life events and Internet addiction, and (b) the moderating role of coping style in the indirect and direct relationships between stressful life events and Internet addiction. This model was tested with 998 Chinese adolescents (mean age = 15.15 years, SD = 1.57). Participants filled out questionnaires regarding stressful life events, psychological needs satisfaction, coping style, and Internet addiction. After demographic variables were controlled, stressful life events were significantly positively associated with Internet addiction. Mediation analysis revealed that psychological needs satisfaction partially mediated the association between stressful life events and Internet addiction. Moderated mediation analysis further indicated that the mediated path was weaker for adolescents with higher levels of positive coping style. These findings underscore the importance of identifying the mechanisms that moderate the mediated paths between stressful life events and adolescent Internet addiction.     

Appropriate media choice for e-learning effectiveness: Role of learning domain and learning style

As the number of online education and training programs increase, researchers and practitioners are interested in investigating ways to design and develop effective e-learning programs. One of the major design decisions that affects learning effectiveness is the choice of media to present the contents of such programs. The prevailing tendency seems to be to use “richer” medium, in the progression from text to graphics to audio to video, for designing and developing e-learning programs. It is not clear, however, if a “richer” medium provides proportionately higher learning effectiveness. To investigate this gap in our understanding, we developed an integrated research model and tested it empirically. Our results showed that the relationship between media choice in an e-learning program and the effectiveness of that program is moderated by the learning domain of the program and the learning styles of learners.     

多元统计性能监视和故障诊断技术研究进展

综述了多元统计分析方法在线性、非线性、多尺度领域中的理论研究进展.分析和总结了连续生产过程和批量间歇生产过程性能监视和故障诊断的应用情况.最后探讨了这一领域中值得进一步研究的问题和可能的发展方向.􀁱     

Modelling methods for web application verification and testing: state of the art

Models are considered an essential step in capturing different system behaviours and simplifying the analysis required to check or improve the quality of software. Verification and testing of web software requires effective modelling techniques that address the specific challenges of web applications. In this study we survey 24 different modelling methods used in web site verification and testing. Based on a short catalogue of desirable properties of web applications that require analysis, two different views of the methods are presented: a general categorization by modelling level, and a detailed comparison based on property coverage. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Homeomorphic Manifold Analysis (HMA): Generalized separation of style and content on manifolds

The problem of separation of style and content is an essential element of visual perception, and is a fundamental mystery of perception. This problem appears extensively in different computer vision applications. The problem we address in this paper is the separation of style and content when the content lies on a low-dimensional nonlinear manifold representing a dynamic object. We show that such a setting appears in many human motion analysis problems. We introduce a framework for learning parameterization of style and content in such settings. Given a set of topologically equivalent manifolds, the Homeomorphic Manifold Analysis (HMA) framework models the variation in their geometries in the space of functions that maps between a topologically-equivalent common representation and each of them. The framework is based on decomposing the style parameters in the space of nonlinear functions that map between a unified embedded representation of the content manifold and style-dependent visual observations. We show the application of the framework in synthesis, recognition, and tracking of certain human motions that follow this setting, such as gait and facial expressions.     

A review of Dynamic Data Envelopment Analysis: state of the art and applications

This article reports the evolution of the literature on Dynamic Data Envelopment Analysis (DDEA) models from 1996 to 2016. Systematic searches in the databases Scopus and Web of Science were performed to outline the state of the art. The results enabled the establishment of DDEA studies as the scope of this article, analyzing the transition elements to represent temporal interdependence. The categorization of these studies enabled the mapping of the evolution of the DDEA literature and identification of the relationships between models. The three most widely adopted studies to conduct DDEA research were classified as structuring models. Mapping elucidated the literature behavior through three phases and showed an increase in publications with applications in recent years. The analysis of applications indicated that most studies address evaluations in the agriculture and farming, banking and energy sectors and consider the facilities as transition elements between analysis periods.