Big Data, Digitization, and Social Change (Ubiquity Symposium)

The term “big data” is something of a misnomer. Every generation of computers since the 1950s has been confronted with problems where data was way too large for the memory and processing power available. This seemed like an inconvenience of the technology that would someday be resolved when the next generation of computers came along. So what is different about big data today? The revolution is happening at the convergence of two trends: the expansion of the internet into billions of computing devices, and the digitization of almost everything. The internet gives us access to vast amounts of data. Digitization creates digital representations for many things once thought to be beyond the reach of computing technology. The result is an explosion of innovation of network-based big data applications and the automation of cognitive tasks. This revolution is introducing what Brynjolfsson and McAfee call the “Second Machine Age.” This symposium will examine this revolution from a number of angles

Theoretical and Practical Advances in Computer-based Educational Measurement

This open access book presents a large number of innovations in the world of operational testing. It brings together different but related areas and provides insight in their possibilities, their advantages and drawbacks. The book not only addresses improvements in the quality of educational measurement, innovations in (inter)national large scale assessments, but also several advances in psychometrics and improvements in computerized adaptive testing, and it also offers examples on the impact of new technology in assessment. Due to its nature, the book will appeal to a broad audience within the educational measurement community. It contributes to both theoretical knowledge and also pays attention to practical implementation of innovations in testing technology

Physics of interdependent dynamical processes.

La emergencia de fenómenos colectivos a escalas macroscópicas no observados en escalas microscópicas cuestiona la validez de las teorías reduccionistas. Para explicar estos fenómenos se necesitan enfoques sistémicos que den cuenta de los patrones de interacción no triviales existentes entre los constituyentes de los sistemas sociales, biológicos o económicos, lo que ha dado lugar al nacimiento de la disciplina conocida como ciencia de los sistemas complejos. Una vía habitual para caracterizar los sistemas complejos ha sido la búsqueda de la conexión entre la estructura de interacciones y el comportamiento colectivo observado en sistemas reales mediante el estudio individual de dinámicas aisladas. No obstante, los sistemas complejos no son inmutables y se encuentran constantemente intercambiando información mediante estímulos internos y externos. Esta tesis se centra en la adaptación de modelos sobre diferentes dinámicas en el campo de los sistemas complejos para caracterizar el impacto de este flujo de información, ya sea entre escalas microscópicas y macroscópicas de un mismo sistema o mediante la existencia de interdependencias entre procesos dinámicos que se propagan de forma simultánea.La primera parte de la tesis aborda el estudio dinámicas acopladas en redes de contacto estáticas. Adaptando los modelos compartimentales introducidos en el siglo XX a la naturaleza de cada dinámica, caracterizamos cuatro problemas diferentes: la propagación de patógenos que interactúan, cuya coexistencia puede ser beneficiosa o perjudicial para su evolución, el control de brotes epidémicos con el uso del rastreo de contactos digital, la aparición de movimientos sociales desencadenados por pequeñas minorías sociales bien coordinadas y la competencia entre honestidad y la corrupción en las sociedades modernas. En todas estas dinámicas, encontramos que el flujo de información cambia las propiedades críticas del sistema así como algunas de las conclusiones extraídas sobre el papel de la estructura de contactos al estudiar cada dinámica de forma individual.La segunda parte de la tesis se centra en el impacto de la movilidad recurrente en la propagación de epidemias en entornos urbanos. Derivamos un modelo sencillo que permite incorporar fácilmente la distribución de la población en las ciudades reales y sus patrones habituales de desplazamiento sin ninguna pérdida de información. Demostramos que los efectos de las políticas de contención basadas en la reducción de la movilidad no son universales y dependen en gran medida de las características estructurales de las ciudades y los parámetros epidemiológicos del virus circulante en la población. En particular, descubrimos y caracterizamos un nuevo fenómeno, el detrimento epidémico, que refleja el efecto beneficioso de la movilidad en algunos escenarios para contener un brote epidémico. Por último, exploramos tres casos de estudio reales, mostrando que nuestro modelo permite capturar algunos de los mecanismos que han convertido a los núcleos urbanos en importantes focos de contagio en recientes epidemias y que el modelo desarrollado puede servir como base para desarrollar marcos teóricos más realistas que reproducen la evolución de distintas enfermedades como la COVID-19 o el dengue.<br /

Videogame Correlates of Real Life Traits and Characteristics.

This thesis attempts to link real life cognitive traits and demographics with in-game player created data. The first experiment focuses on the nicknames chosen by players and the information one can extract from them. Players with nicknames with negative valence (highly racist or vulgar) tend to report others more and receive more reports from other players themselves when compared to their peers. Additionally, many individuals tend to have their real birthdate appended to their nickname (“Jim1986”). This is the first study that has successfully shown this phenomenon. Additionally, by using the extracted dates I showed that negative interactions tend to diminish as one ages. In my second experiment I linked age with in-game performance, as indicated by rank for the videogame League of Legends (LoL). More specifically, performance in LoL tends to peak in one’s mid to late twenties while performance in first person shooters tends to follow a different pattern with an earlier peak; both seem to have a drop after 28. Moreover, I showed that fluid intelligence, as measured by the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, as well as rotational working memory, which is an overlapping construct, are positively correlated with in-game rank suggesting they are the driving force between the age-rank findings. Finally, I examined personality through the HEXACO framework. One of the most consistent findings in personality research is the existence of Neuroticism or Emotionality which is why it was my choice of focus. Individuals scoring highly on Emotionality, which is a trait linked to anxiety and sentimentality, tend to underperform in the competitive ladder. This was replicated with two videogames of different genres: Hearthstone and LoL. This thesis suggests that we can successfully extract meaningful information at a mass level through commercial videogames

Spaces and Identities in Border Regions: Politics - Media - Subjects

Spatial and identity research operates with differentiations and relations. These are particularly useful heuristic tools when examining border regions where social and geopolitical demarcations diverge. Applying this approach, the authors of this volume investigate spatial and identity constructions in cross-border contexts as they appear in everyday, institutional and media practices. The results are discussed with a keen eye for obliquely aligned spaces and identities and relinked to governmental issues of normalization and subjectivation. The studies base upon empirical surveys conducted in Germany, France, Belgium and Luxembourg