Mind and Matter

Do brains create material reality in thinking processes or is it the other way around, with things shaping the mind? Where is the location of meaning-making? How do neural networks become established by means of multimodal pattern replications, and how are they involved in conceptualization? How are resonance textures within cellular entities extended in the body and the mind by means of mirroring processes? In which ways do they correlate to consciousness and self-consciousness? Is it possible to explain out-of-awareness unconscious processes? What holds together the relationship between experiential reality, bodily processes like memory, reason, or imagination, and sign-systems and simulation structures like metaphor and metonymy visible in human language? This volume attempts to answer some of these questions

The Experience of Physical and Social Presence in a Virtual Learning Environment as Impacted by the Affordance of Movement Enabled by Motion Tracking

This research synthesizes existing research findings that social presence (sense of connection with others) and physical presence (sense of being there) increase learning outcomes in Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) with findings that traditional motion tracking of participants wearing head mounted displays in virtual reality increases both physical and social presence. This information suggests that motion tracking in mixed reality VLEs has a positive impact on social presence and on physical presence. For this study, the affordance of free movement among virtual objects is enabled by Microsoft Kinect tracking of the user\u27s position that is translated to movement of the virtual camera to simulate user movement and proximity to elements of the virtual environment. This study used a mixed method, multimodal approach including qualitative, subjective, objective, and physiological data to measure social and physical presence. The testbed for this research was TLE TeachLivE™, a mixed reality classroom populated with virtual students. The subjective measures are 1) modified Witmer and Singer Questionnaire and 2) Social Presence Instrument (Bailenson, 2002b). The objective measure is a literature based Social Presence Behavioral Coding sheet used to record frequency of occurrences of factors of social presence. Finally, the physiological measure is heart rate as recorded by the MIO Alpha. The primary contribution of this study was that the hypotheses that the affordance of movement in a mixed reality classroom has a positive impact on user perception and experience of a) physical presence and b) social presence in a VLE were supported. This hypothesis was supported in all three measures. The secondary contribution of this research is the literature based Social Presence Behavioral Coding. The final contribution of this research is a research framework that integrates subjective, objective, and physiological measures of social presence in one study. This approach can be applied to various user experience research studies of various VLEs. Finally, in addition to general alignment of the physiological, objective, and subjective measures, there were anecdotal instances of factors of social presence occurring simultaneously with increased heart rate

Discourse in Action

From emails relating to adoption over the Internet to discussions in the airline cockpit, the spoken or written texts we produce can have significant social consequences. The area of Mediated Discourse Analysis considers texts in their social and cultural contexts to explore the actions individuals take with texts - and the consequences of those actions. Discourse in Action: brings together leading scholars from around the world in the area of Mediated Discourse Analysis reveals ways in which its theory and methodology can be used in research into contemporary social situations explores real situations and draws on real data in each chapter shows how analysis of texts in their social contexts broadens our understanding of the real world. Taken together, the chapters provide a comprehensive overview to the field and present a range of current studies that address some of the most important questions facing students and researchers in linguistics, education, communication studies and other fields