All you can stream: Investigating the role of user behavior for greenhouse gas intensity of video streaming

The information and communication technology sector reportedly has a relevant impact on the environment. Within this sector, video streaming has been identified as a major driver of CO2-emissions. To make streaming more sustainable, environmentally relevant factors must be identified on both the user and the provider side. Hence, environmental assessments, like life cycle assessments (LCA), need to broaden their perspective from a mere technological to one that includes user decisions and behavior. However, quantitative data on user behavior (e.g. streaming duration, choice of end device and resolution) are often lacking or difficult to integrate in LCA. Additionally, identifying relevant determinants of user behavior, such as the design of streaming platforms or user motivations, may help to design streaming services that keep environmental impact at a passable level. In order to carry out assessments in such a way, interdisciplinary collaboration is necessary. Therefore, this exploratory study combined LCA with an online survey (N= 91, 7 consecutive days of assessment). Based on this dataset the use phase of online video streaming was modeled. Additionally, factors such as sociodemographic, motivational and contextual determinants were measured. Results show that CO2-intensity of video streaming depends on several factors. It is shown that for climate intensity there is a factor 10 between choosing a smart TV and smartphone for video streaming. Furthermore, results show that some factors can be tackled from provider side to reduce overall energy demand at the user side; one of which is setting a low resolution as default.Comment: 7th International Conference on ICT for Sustainability (ICT4S

Exploration and learning in capuchin monkeys (Sapajus spp.): the role of action-outcome contingencies

Animals have a strong propensity to explore the environment. Spontaneous exploration has a great biological significance since it allows animals to discover and learn the relation between specific behaviours and their consequences. The role of the contingency between action and outcome for learning has been mainly investigated in instrumental learning settings and much less in free exploration contexts. We tested 16 capuchin monkeys (Sapajus spp.) with a mechatronic platform that allowed complex modules to be manipulated and to produce different outcomes. Experimental subjects could manipulate the modules and discover the contingencies between their own specific actions and the outcomes produced (i.e., the opening and lighting of a box). By contrast, Control subjects could operate on the modules, but the outcomes experienced were those performed by their paired Experimental subjects (\u27\u27yoked-control\u27\u27 paradigm). In the exploration phase, in which no food reward was present, Experimental subjects spent more time on the board and manipulated the modules more than Yoked subjects. Experimental subjects outperformed Yoked subjects in the following test phase, where success required recalling the effective action so to open the box, now baited with food. These findings demonstrate that the opportunity to experience action-outcome contingencies in the absence of extrinsic rewards promotes capuchins\u27 exploration and facilitates learning processes. Thus, this intrinsically motivated learning represents a powerful mechanism allowing the acquisition of skills and cognitive competence that the individual can later exploit for adaptive purposes

Exploration and learning in capuchin monkeys (Sapajus spp.): the role of action-outcome contingencies

Abstract Animals have a strong propensity to explore the environment. Spontaneous exploration has a great biological significance since it allows animals to discover and learn the relation between specific behaviours and their consequences. The role of the contingency between action and outcome for learning has been mainly investigated in instrumental learning settings and much less in free exploration contexts. We tested 16 capuchin monkeys (Sapajus spp.) with a mechatronic platform that allowed complex modules to be manipulated and to produce different outcomes. Experimental subjects could manipulate the modules and discover the contingencies between their own specific actions and the outcomes produced (i.e., the opening and lighting of a box). By contrast, Control subjects could operate on the modules but the outcomes experienced were those performed by their paired Experimental subjects ("yoked-control" paradigm). In the Exploration Phase, in which no food reward was present, Experimental subjects spent more time on the board and manipulated the modules more than Yoked subjects. Experimental subjects outperformed Yoked subjects in the following Test phase, where success required recalling the effective action so to open the box, now baited with food. These findings demonstrate that the opportunity to experience action-outcome contingencies in the absence of extrinsic rewards promotes capuchins' exploration and facilitates learning processes. Thus, this intrinsically motivated learning represents a powerful mechanism allowing the acquisition of skills and cognitive competence that the individual can later exploit for adaptive purposes

Empirical experiments on intrinsic motivations and action acquisition: results, evaluation, and redefinition

This document presents Deliverable D3.2 of the EU-funded Integrated Project "IM-CLeVeR - Intrinsically Motivated Cumulative Learning Versatile Robots", contract n. FP7-ICT-IP-231722.The aims of the deliverable, as given in the original IM-CLEVER proposal were to identify new key empirical phenomena and processes, allowing the design of a second set of experiments. This report covers: (1) novelty detection and discovery of when/what/how of agency in experiments with humans ("joystick experiment") and Parkinson patients. (2) how object properties that stimulate intrinsically motivated interaction and facilitate the acquisition of adaptive knowledge and skills in monkeys and children ("board experiment")

Conflict management in capuchin monkeys

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Modelling opinion misperception and the emergence of silence in online social system

Codes to accomplish the numerical simulations presented in the paper "Modelling opinion misperception and the emergence of silence in online social system" (PLOS One). Language: C; Compiler: gcc (see inside the scripts for more details); Random number generator code (ran2.c) and header (ran2.h) included