Creating agents that are capable of emulating similar sociocultural dynamics to those found in human interaction remains as one of the hardest challenges of artificial intelligence. This problem becomes particularly important when considering embodied agents that are meant to interact with humans in a believable and empathic manner. In this article, we introduce a conceptual model for socio-cul...

In this paper, we describe a novel approach to computational modeling and understanding of social and cultural phenomena in multi-party dialogues. We developed a two-tier approach in which we first detect and classify certain social language uses, including topic control, disagreement, and involvement, that serve as first order models from which presence the higher level social constructs such ...

Dance has been an integral part and ventricular parcel of my life since childhood. I began this endeavor at the tender age of three with Sri Kunhiraman and Srimathi Katherine Kunhiraman of Kalanjali Dances of India. They were a great source of encouragement as they were the only teachers who consented to accept me into their tutelage at a young age. They have indeed inspired me to great depths....

Transgenic Maize in Mexico.

A view of communication technologies as creating artificial agents and affecting the information processing capabilities of agents is forwarded. The constructural theory is adapted to account for agents varying in their information processing capabilities, and hence to account for technology. Given this theoretical modification, the constructural model is used to examine the impact of different...

The boom of WWW-based social network service (SNS) warrants more studies and better understandings in many aspects, especially when such hedonic application has evolved differently in different countries. The development of SNS in the US, China and South Korea have been particularly interesting. Whereas U.S. SNS websites enjoy the first mover advantage, their followers in different cultural set...

Reverse Engineering Complex Cultural Concepts: Identifying Building Blocks of “Religion” Ann Taves ABSTRACT: Researchers have not yet done an adequate job of reverse engineering the complex cultural concepts of religion and spirituality in a way that allows scientists to operationalize component parts and historians of religion to consider how the component parts have been synthesized into larg...

E-government is not only an innovative idea but, more and more in a growing number of countries, a practical activity of high priority. It reflects the emergence and development of information societies (IS). Socio-cultural context is a framework of e-government strategies and practices. The context will determine the effects of such efforts. It is important to consider and understand the socio...

Socio-cultural factors are one of the important variables involved in development of anorexia nervosa. The prevalence of the illness has shown a definite increase in last few decades. Certain other important sociocultural variables like familial interaction patterns, parental attitude towards weight control, desirability for slimness and thinness also have a deciding role. Stress of any kind ca...

It is the aim of this article to analyze the political system in effect at the end of the XIX century in a border territory, such as Trentino Alto Adige, a region straddling to worlds: the Italian and the German speaking one. In this analysis I will retrace the origins of regional autonomy by recalling the historical and political events that let to a deep imprint of the concept of self-governa...