Public understanding of science and common sense: Social representations of the human microbiome among the expert and non-expert public

The aim of this investigation is to examine the structure and the content of different social groups’ representations of the human microbiome. We employed a non-probabilistic sample comprising two groups of participants. The first group (n = 244) included university students. The second group included lay people (n = 355). We chose a mixed-method approach. The data obtained were processed using IRaMuTeQ software. The results allow us to identify the anchoring and objectification processes activated by the two different groups of interviewees. The results could be useful to those in charge of implementing campaigns aimed at promoting health literac

Sentence mood constitution and indefinite noun phrases

Sentence mood in German is a complex category that is determined by various components of the grammatical system. In particular, verbal mood, the position of the finite verb and the wh-characteristics of the so called 'Vorfeld'-phrase are responsible for the constitution of sentence mood in German. This article proposes a theory of sentence mood constitution in German and investigates the interaction between the pronominal binding of indefinite noun phrases which are semantically analyzed as choice functions. It is shown that the semantic objects determined by sentence mood define different kinds of domains which have to be uniquely accessible as the range of the choice function. The various properties of the pronominal binding of indefinites can be derived by the interplay of the proposed theoretical notions

Linguistic Interventions and Transformative Communicative Disruption

What words we use, and what meanings they have, is important. We shouldn't use slurs; we should use 'rape' to include spousal rape (for centuries we didn’t); we should have a word which picks out the sexual harassment suffered by people in the workplace and elsewhere (for centuries we didn’t). Sometimes we need to change the word-meaning pairs in circulation, either by getting rid of the pair completely (slurs), changing the meaning (as we did with 'rape'), or adding brand new word-meaning pairs (as with 'sexual harassment'). A problem, though, is how to do this. One might worry that any attempt to change language in this way will lead to widespread miscommunication and confusion. I argue that this is indeed so, but that's a feature, not a bug of attempting to change word-meaning pairs. The miscommunications and confusion such changes cause can lead us, via a process I call transformative communicative disruption, to reflect on our language and its use, and this can be further, rather than hinder, our goal of improving language

Studying the emergence of a new social representation: Changes in thinking about nanotechnologies in early 21st-century Italy

We investigated the emergence of a new social representation (SR) of a techno\u2010scientific innovation\u2014nanotechnologies\u2014among the Italian public. We reviewed how nanotechnologies entered parliamentary debates and the media agenda in the early third millennium. We conducted cross\u2010sectional surveys in 2006 (N = 246) and 2011 (N = 486) to examine the emerging SR of nanotechnologies. We sought to observe processes of anchoring and objectification \u2018in action\u2019, by analyzing roles of (i) social groups, and (ii) neighboring SRs of science and of technology, over time. Several changes from 2006 to 2011 were identified: From a \u2018descriptive\u2019 to an \u2018evaluative\u2019 approach; from a \u2018neutral\u2019 to a \u2018controversial\u2019 issue; from a \u2018concrete\u2019 to an \u2018abstract\u2019 object; and from a \u2018technological\u2019 to a \u2018scientific\u2019 phenomenon. We conclude that nanotechnologies finally became \u2018relevant enough\u2019 by 2011 to be considered a proper object of SR, and an emerging SR can be observed

A generic formalism for the semantic modeling and representation of architectural elements

This article presents a methodological approach to the semantic description of architectural elements based both on theoretical reflections and research experiences. To develop this approach, a first process of extraction and formalization of architectural knowledge on the basis of the analysis of architectural treaties is proposed. Then, the identified features are used to produce a template shape library dedicated to buildings surveying. Finally, the problem of the overall model structuring and organization using semantic information is addressed for user handling purposes

Propagation of social representations

Based on a minimal formalism of social representations as a set of associated cognems, a simple model of propagation of representations is presented. Assuming that subjects share the constitutive cognems, the model proposes that mere focused attention on the set of cognems in the field of common conscience may replicate the pattern of representation from context into subjects, or, from subject to subject, through actualization by language, where cognems are represented by verbal signs. Limits of the model are discussed, and evolutionist perspectives are presented with the support of field data