Reading Development During Elementary School Years. Evidence from Eye Movements

The present dissertation examined reading development during elementary school years by means of eye movement tracking. Three different but related issues in this field were assessed. First of all, the development of parafoveal processing skills in reading was investigated. Second, it was assessed whether and to what extent sublexical units such as syllables and morphemes are used in processing Finnish words and whether the use of these sublexical units changes as a function of reading proficiency. Finally, the developmental trend in the speed of visual information extraction during reading was examined. With regard to parafoveal processing skills, it was shown that 2nd graders extract letter identity information approx. 5 characters to the right of fixation, 4th graders approx. 7 characters to the right of fixation, and 6th graders and adults approx. 9 characters to the right of fixation. Furthermore, it was shown that all age groups extract more parafoveal information within compound words than across adjectivenoun pairs of similar length. In compounds, parafoveal word information can be extracted in parallel with foveal word information, if the compound in question is of high frequency. With regard to the use of sublexical units in Finnish word processing, it was shown that less proficient 2nd graders use both syllables and morphemes in the course of lexical access. More proficient 2nd graders as well as older readers seem to process words more holistically. Finally, it was shown that 60 ms is enough for 4th graders and adults to extract visual information from both 4-letter and 8-letter words, whereas 2nd graders clearly needed more than 60 ms to extract all information from 8- letter words for processing to proceed smoothly. The present dissertation demonstrates that Finnish 2nd graders develop their reading skills rapidly and are already at an adult level in some aspects of reading. This is not to say that there are no differences between less proficient (e.g., 2nd graders) and more proficient readers (e.g., adults) but in some respects it seems that the visual system used in extracting information from the text is matured by the 2nd grade. Furthermore, the present dissertation demonstrates that the allocation of attention in reading depends much on textual properties such as word frequency and whether words are spatially unified (as in compounds) or not. This flexibility of the attentional system naturally needs to be captured in word processing models. Finally, individual differences within age groups are quite substantial but it seems that by the end of the 2nd grade practically all Finnish children have reached a reasonable level of reading proficiency.Siirretty Doriast

Intercontinental supply chain design for low-volume innovative products

Siirretty Doriast

Tour guides’ perceptions of intercultural safety communication in Finnish Lapland

There has been an increasing focus on customer safety in tourism in recent years. Tour operators have emphasised the necessity of better communication between guides and tourists, especially in intercultural encounters. This article discusses tour guides’ perceptions and experiences of safety communication with their international customers in programme services in Finnish Lapland. The theoretical background relates to the concept of intercultural safety communication that encompasses giving and interpreting safety instructions in an intercultural encounter where the guide and the customers come from different cultural backgrounds. The research data was collected through an online questionnaire and was supplemented by ten semi-structured thematic interviews. The qualitative research method was selected to meet the objectives set for the project. The main research question was how tour guides experience intercultural communication in the safety context. According to the guides, cultural (or other) differences can be recognised when communicating safety instructions. Factors such as the age, gender and attitudes of the communication parties seem to have the biggest impact on how instructions are followed. The guides also seem to be aware of cultural differences in this context. The results show that more training, both culture-specific but also culture-sensitive, is needed in order to achieve broader understanding of effective intercultural safety communication.There has been an increasing focus on customer safety in tourism in recent years. Tour operators have emphasised the necessity of better communication between guides and tourists, especially in intercultural encounters. This article discusses tour guides’ perceptions and experiences of safety communication with their international customers in programme services in Finnish Lapland. The theoretical background relates to the concept of intercultural safety communication that encompasses giving and interpreting safety instructions in an intercultural encounter where the guide and the customers come from different cultural backgrounds. The research data was collected through an online questionnaire and was supplemented by ten semi-structured thematic interviews. The qualitative research method was selected to meet the objectives set for the project. The main research question was how tour guides experience intercultural communication in the safety context. According to the guides, cultural (or other) differences can be recognised when communicating safety instructions. Factors such as the age, gender and attitudes of the communication parties seem to have the biggest impact on how instructions are followed. The guides also seem to be aware of cultural differences in this context. The results show that more training, both culture-specific but also culture-sensitive, is needed in order to achieve broader understanding of effective intercultural safety communication

Bridging the gap between technical and human elements in digital service innovation

Creating and establishing a successful innovation is challenging and many attempts fail. Despite of the complex nature of the phenomenon, previous literature often tends to limit its focus on either to the technical elements or human elements related to an innovation. Current research-in-progress paper aims to avoid this ‘either-or’ thinking and rather examine the roles, impact and mutual interaction of both, technical and human elements, in order to further understand the successful emergence of a digital service innovation, i.e. a novel value co-creation practice enabled by a digital infrastructure. To achieve this we draw from three separate fields: service ecosystem perspective, information technology (IT) perspective and actor-network theory. The paper presents a plan for future empirical study and provides initial description of a case study about establishing a digital shopping solution in a small brick and mortar convenience store in Northern Finland