Construction and Communication of National Image of China in the Cross-Cultural Context

To construct and communicate the national image of China in a cross-cultural context, emphasis should be laid on the establishment of overall strategies, researches on cross-cultural difference, cross-cultural communication through multiple channels, construction of unique discourse system, improvement of overall quality of the populace, the creating of comprehensive communication brands and the like based on recognition of current international and national reality. In addition, for better construction and communication of national image of China in the cross-cultural context, great efforts should be made to avoid virtualizing image, formalized communication, traditionalized cognitive framework, ideology-oriented overseas propaganda, puppet-like wording, and impatience in image creating

Ein hermeneutischer Konstruktionsentwurf sozialer Systeme

The paper handles central topics of social system theory, such as contingency,emergence, communication, reality construction based on cognitive epistemology, and differential logic. The conducted discussion is embedded in the construction of a hermeneutic approach to social system theory. Communication is a decisive part of economic systems, but often it is not object of scientific research on economic topics. Even informal business communication is seldom part of economic terms and models. To understand the meaning of social systems from a firms’ and methodological perspective we must develop a phase scheme driven by communication, because of their decisive structural role for social systems. Hermeneutic means hereby, from an observer’s point of view, a kind of didactical, philosophical opening of business life experiences – it is much more than pure text interpretation. Hence, the observer of social systems has to redefine his own language based preconditions of understanding social systems communication

Cognition and the development of fear

It is significant that most sources of childhood and later fears identified by various investigators can be broadly categorized in terms of a general tendency to fear the very strange, especially when it is closely associated with the familiar, and that a key factor influencing whether or not an object or situation will arouse fear is the amount of control which is felt in its relation. The prospect of pain, for instance, which according to G. Stanley Hall' "puts to life the question of its very survival or extinction, complete or partial", was reported by C.W. Valentine to have produced surprisingly little fear in the children he tested as long as if was roused in circumstances under the child's own control, in an expected form, and in a familiar situation. It is, of course, the type of control supplied by our knowledge and expectations about our surroundings (Sartre's "hodological map" or the mental construction of reality created in the course of an individual's numerous experiences with his milieu which is at the base of Piaget's assimilation- accommodation model of the cognitive system) which is challenged or removed when we are faced with the very strange or the uncanny. For the human infant, as with many animals, strangeness elicits alarm: sudden noise, loss of support, jerky movements, quick changes of luminescence, and objects that rapidly expand or advance will cause an infant to show signs of distress. But what constitutes "strangeness" and the methods of coping with it will also change with the child's developing awareness and understanding of its environment.peer-reviewe

Elaboration of the New Paradigm of Interdisciplinary Investigations

In the article, the problem of construction a meta-theory for approaching the complex phenomena of Reality is discussed. The integrated information system is formulated. Such postulate is a suggested basis for creation of a unified methodology of cognition (investigation) which makes it possible to elaborate a new paradigm of interdisciplinary investigations as a separate scientific discipline which has its own methods and special objects. The article will be of interest to philosophers and methodologists of scienc

Literature and the construction of reality

In this article I consider the idea that Glasersfeld’s “radical constructivism” offers an ideal framework for putting in place such a reality of the best fit for us. Along with this, I examine also the fundamental biological and epistemological limitations that we are faced with when trying to fathom objective reality and, secondly, the inescapable gap between language – which we use as a primary cognitive tool in our attempt to comprehend the world. The paper then show that literature – especially fiction – best meets the criteria for addressing these gaps and constructing such a model of reality in line with what radical constructivism proposes

To design is to design oneself

This article begins with the analogy between work in philosophy and work in architecture proposed by Wittgenstein, based on the idea that in both cases we are faced with work on ourselves and on the construction of our own identity and general understanding. This initial idea is developed by explaining how all project-based concern requires first and foremost the raising of one's internal resources to a level of competence and knowledge that puts the subject in a position to tangibly handle the problems the project entails. On the grounds of further conviction that the project should always be nurtured both on concern for change/inclination towards seeing and thinking differently, therefore "sense of possibility", and on capacity for rooting, namely sense of reality, reference is made to the "Triadic System of Rooting and Projection (TSRP)". This is a perceptive and cognitive nucleus guaranteed by three different processing systems: ecological intelligence (the motor-perceptive system and devices linked with the representation of space); social intelligence (the mind's system of reading applied to the construction of a space shared with other organisms); finally, temporal intelligence (the capacity to travel in time on which the construction of the experiential continuity of individuals is based). Though they process very different types of information, these three cognitive systems converge on the capacity to detach the organism from the current situation and project it into alternative situations in time, space and the social environment. Following a specific analysis of the first two systems, we dwell on the different components of temporal intelligence, proposing a new interpretation of the articulate concept of time we inherited from Greek culture, with the purpose of understanding which idea of time is the most suitable for us to understand the speed of innovation nowadays and thus to support project-oriented culture in line with the requirements of our times. The article ends with a detailed analysis of the three stages that characterise visual perception, as proposed by the results neuroscience has achieved, with the aim of deepening the contribution that deduction, induction and abduction, as unique "instruments for thinking", must provide for project-oriented work

Modelling the Developing Mind: From Structure to Change

This paper presents a theory of cognitive change. The theory assumes that the fundamental causes of cognitive change reside in the architecture of mind. Thus, the architecture of mind as specified by the theory is described first. It is assumed that the mind is a three-level universe involving (1) a processing system that constrains processing potentials, (2) a set of specialized capacity systems that guide understanding of different reality and knowledge domains, and (3) a hypecognitive system that monitors and controls the functioning of all other systems. The paper then specifies the types of change that may occur in cognitive development (changes within the levels of mind, changes in the relations between structures across levels, changes in the efficiency of a structure) and a series of general (e.g., metarepresentation) and more specific mechanisms (e.g., bridging, interweaving, and fusion) that bring the changes about. It is argued that different types of change require different mechanisms. Finally, a general model of the nature of cognitive development is offered. The relations between the theory proposed in the paper and other theories and research in cognitive development and cognitive neuroscience is discussed throughout the paper

LOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PARTITIONING OF MIND: DEPICTING THE SAME MAP?

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that empirically delimited structures of mind are also differentiable by means of systematic logical analysis. In the sake of this aim, the paper first summarizes Demetriou's theory of cognitive organization and growth. This theory assumes that the mind is a multistructural entity that develops across three fronts: the processing system that constrains processing potentials, a set of specialized structural systems (SSSs) that guide processing within different reality and knowledge domains, and a hypecognitive system that monitors and controls the functioning of all other systems. In the second part the paper focuses on the SSSs, which are the target of our logical analysis, and it summarizes a series of empirical studies demonstrating their autonomous operation. The third part develops the logical proof showing that each SSS involves a kernel element that cannot be reduced to standard logic or to any other SSS. The implications of this analysis for the general theory of knowledge and cognitive development are discussed in the concluding part of the paper

Visualisation techniques, human perception and the built environment

Historically, architecture has a wealth of visualisation techniques that have evolved throughout the period of structural design, with Virtual Reality (VR) being a relatively recent addition to the toolbox. To date the effectiveness of VR has been demonstrated from conceptualisation through to final stages and maintenance, however, its full potential has yet to be realised (Bouchlaghem et al, 2005). According to Dewey (1934), perceptual integration was predicted to be transformational; as the observer would be able to ‘engage’ with the virtual environment. However, environmental representations are predominately focused on the area of vision, regardless of evidence stating that the experience is multi sensory. In addition, there is a marked lack of research exploring the complex interaction of environmental design and the user, such as the role of attention or conceptual interpretation. This paper identifies the potential of VR models to aid communication for the Built Environment with specific reference to human perception issues