Smartphones

Many of the research approaches to smartphones actually regard them as more or less transparent points of access to other kinds of communication experiences. That is, rather than considering the smartphone as something in itself, the researchers look at how individuals use the smartphone for their communicative purposes, whether these be talking, surfing the web, using on-line data access for off-site data sources, downloading or uploading materials, or any kind of interaction with social media. They focus not so much on the smartphone itself but on the activities that people engage in with their smartphones

Travel based multitasking on the Mumbai Local and Metro : measurement, classification and variation

This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Thesis: M.C.P., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2019Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 79-82).Review of travel based multitasking (TBM) behavior has shown that activities performed during travel is of growing interest in the field of transportation planning and mobility behavior. There is a lack of literature looking at this subject in cities in developing countries. This thesis examines TBM activities occurring on mass transit modes in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. It takes the Western Line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway and the upcoming Line I and Ill of the Mumbai Metro as case studies to understand TBM activities in the Indian context. Firstly, this thesis calculates the influence of socioeconomic and trip-related variables on the occurrence of ICT-related and social TBM activities through a framework of Positive Utility of Travel (PUT). Secondly, it identifies the possible causes of variation of TBM among different socio-economic groups. Thirdly, it charts how policy and infrastructure decisions on the Mumbai Suburban Railway and the Mumbai Metro can be informed by ICT-related and social TBM activities performed by riders during on-board travel time. An on-board intercept survey of 196 riders conducted in August 2018 on the Western line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway was used to analyze revealed and stated preferences of TBM activities. Results of choice models were further deconstructed with insights from unstructured interviews. Age and willingness to pay per minute were the strongest predictors of TBM activities. Riders younger than 34 years of age on the Mumbai Suburban Railway and younger than 29 years of age on the Mumbai Metro were more inclined to engage in ICT-related TBM activities. Female riders displayed a higher tendency to socialize on mass transit when compared to male riders and frequently perceived general compartments on the Mumbai Suburban Railway as unsafe to perform ICT-related activities.by Karthikeyan Kuppu Sundara Raman.M.C.P.M.C.P. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Plannin

Towards a Video Consumer Leaning Spectrum: A Medium-Centric Approach

Purpose: As TV and digital video converge, there is a need to compare advertising effectiveness, advertising receptivity, and video consumption drivers in this new context. Considering the emerging viewing practices and underlying theories, this study examines the feasibility of the traditional notion of differentiating between lean-back (LB) and lean-forward (LF) media, and proposes a revised approach of addressing video consumption processes and associated advertising effectiveness implications. Methodology: An extensive, systematic literature review examines a total of 715 sources regarding current lean-back/lean-forward media research and alternative approaches as by (1) basic terminologies, (2) limitations of lean-back/lean-forward situations, (3) advertising effectiveness implications, (4) video-specific approaches. Findings/Contribution: Key differences between lean-back and lean-forward video consumption are presented. A conceptual integration of video ad receptivity/effectiveness drivers is proposed to guide future media and marketing research and practice. Video consumption today is no longer lean-back or lean-forward, but a “leaning spectrum” with two dimensions: leaning direction and leaning degree. Designing video content today requires focusing on consumption drivers and platform synergies for owning the “leaning spectrum”

Cognition and the Web

Empirical research related to the Web has typically focused on its impact to social relationships and wider society; however, the cognitive impact of the Web is also an increasing focus of scientific interest and research attention. In this paper, I attempt to provide an overview of what I see as the important issues in the debate regarding the relationship between human cognition and the Web. I argue that the Web is potentially poised to transform our cognitive and epistemic profiles, but that in order to understand the nature of this influence we need to countenance a position that factors in the available scientific evidence, the changing nature of our interaction with the Web, and the possibility that many of our everyday cognitive achievements rely on complex webs of social and technological scaffolding. I review the literature relating to the cognitive effects of current Web technology, and I attempt to anticipate the cognitive impact of next-generation technologies, such as Web-based augmented reality systems and the transition to data-centric modes of information representation. I suggest that additional work is required to more fully understand the cognitive impact of both current and future Web technologies, and I identify some of the issues for future scientific work in this area. Given that recent scientific effort around the Web has coalesced into a new scientific discipline, namely that of Web Science, I suggest that many of the issues related to cognition and the Web could form part of the emerging Web Science research agenda

TARGETS\u27 PRACTICES: HOW PEOPLE ALLOCATE THEIR ATTENTION AMONG MULTIPLE STREAMS OF INCOMING INFORMATION

The communication environment within organizations provides multiple opportunities for informational retrieval throughout the day. While previous research has explored media choice from a sender\u27s perspective, little research has explored the choices receiver or targets make in attending to messages and information streams. This paper explores the process that targets use to evaluate messages by introducing a model of target attention allocation. This model builds on theories of media choice, uses and gratifications, and social exchange to identify a rational choice model based on the assessment of the need to reduce uncertainty, the interactivity offered by the media employed, and the social norms guiding media choices. In doing so, it provides a means for measuring satisfaction with a given information stream and, therefore, the likelihood that the target will switch to another information stream

Self-Control in Cyberspace: Applying Dual Systems Theory to a Review of Digital Self-Control Tools

Many people struggle to control their use of digital devices. However, our understanding of the design mechanisms that support user self-control remains limited. In this paper, we make two contributions to HCI research in this space: first, we analyse 367 apps and browser extensions from the Google Play, Chrome Web, and Apple App stores to identify common core design features and intervention strategies afforded by current tools for digital self-control. Second, we adapt and apply an integrative dual systems model of self-regulation as a framework for organising and evaluating the design features found. Our analysis aims to help the design of better tools in two ways: (i) by identifying how, through a well-established model of self-regulation, current tools overlap and differ in how they support self-control; and (ii) by using the model to reveal underexplored cognitive mechanisms that could aid the design of new tools.Comment: 11.5 pages (excl. references), 6 figures, 1 tabl

Practical, appropriate, empirically-validated guidelines for designing educational games

There has recently been a great deal of interest in the potential of computer games to function as innovative educational tools. However, there is very little evidence of games fulfilling that potential. Indeed, the process of merging the disparate goals of education and games design appears problematic, and there are currently no practical guidelines for how to do so in a coherent manner. In this paper, we describe the successful, empirically validated teaching methods developed by behavioural psychologists and point out how they are uniquely suited to take advantage of the benefits that games offer to education. We conclude by proposing some practical steps for designing educational games, based on the techniques of Applied Behaviour Analysis. It is intended that this paper can both focus educational games designers on the features of games that are genuinely useful for education, and also introduce a successful form of teaching that this audience may not yet be familiar with