Mimetic rivalry in shared virtual environments: A study of conflict and imitation in World of Warcraft

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonMounting evidence from neuroscience, clinical psychology and human development points to significance of imitation in human behaviour, interpersonal relationships and collectively pursued activities. These group activities include participation in online multiplayer computer games, massively multiplayer online games or other kinds of socially situated gaming. However, despite the growing salience of either subject, a wide-scale research of imitation in collective play is yet to be carried out. This study addresses this gap in knowledge by looking at imitative phenomena in massively multiplayer online gaming from the conceptual perspective of René Girard’s mimetic hypothesis. The hypothesis proceeds from the following assumptions: goal commitment is activated by reflexive imitation and regulated by goal proximity; extrinsic goal value is reciprocally accrued within the goal pursuing group; competing motivations towards collectively pursued goals result in intra-group aggression. Mimetic impulse is, therefore, formally equivalent to conflictual imitation. This thesis seeks to register how conflictual imitation may be encouraged by the game and reproduced by the players. The study applies a combination of formal and phenomenological approach to World of Warcraft player experience, specifically, that obtained at the highest difficulty of collective play. Subjective analytical outcomes are corroborated by evidence from fieldwork which took place over the period of two years and enabled the researcher to engage with the subject from the perspective of high competence and literacy. To offset the possible confirmation bias and support the analytical findings and field observations with quantitative data, the study introduces a comparative survey of World of Warcraft players. The 334 respondents include 164 Russian-speaking gamers: a representative sample for what is widely regarded as a hyper-competitive gamer community

CONCERTO EN RE MINEUR POUR HAUTBOIS, VIOLON ET CORDES, BWV 1060 / Jean-Sébastien BACH ; Yehudi MENUHIN, violon et Leon GOOSSENS, hautbois, avec The Bath Festival Chamber Orchestra dir. Yehudi MENUHIN. CONCERTO EN SI MINEUR OP. 3 N °10 POUR QUATRE VIOLONS ET CORDES / Antonio VIVALDI ; Yehudi MENUHIN, Robert MASTERS, Eli GOREN et Sydney HUMPHREYS, violons, avec The Bath Festival Chamber Orchestra dir. Yehudi MENUHIN. CONCERTO N °1 EN SI BEMOL MAJEUR POUR HAUTBOIS ET CORDES. CONCERTO N °2 EN SI BEMOL MAJEUR POUR HAUTBOIS ET CORDES. CONCERTO N °3 EN SOL MINEUR POUR HAUTBOIS ET CORDES / Georg-Friedrich HAENDEL ; Leon GOOSSENS, hautbois, et The Bath Festival Chamber Orchestra dir. Yehudi MENUHIN

Titre uniforme : [Concertos. Violons (4), violoncelle, orchestre à cordes, basse continue. RV 580. Si mineur]Titre uniforme : [Concertos. Hautbois, orchestre à cordes, basse continue. HWV 302a. Si bémol majeur]Titre uniforme : [Concertos. Hautbois, orchestre à cordes, basse continue. HWV 301. Si bémol majeur]Titre uniforme : [Concertos. Hautbois, cordes, basse continue. HWV 287. Sol mineur]Titre uniforme : [Concertos. Hautbois, violon, orchestre à cordes, basse continue. BWV 1060 R. Ré mineur]BnF-Partenariats, Collection sonore - BelieveContient une table des matière

CONCERTO DE BACH ; CONCERTO DE VIVALDI ; CONCERTO DE HAENDEL

Titre uniforme : [Concertos. Violons (4), violoncelle, orchestre à cordes, basse continue. RV 580. Si mineur]Titre uniforme : [Concertos. Hautbois, orchestre à cordes, basse continue. HWV 302a. Si bémol majeur]Titre uniforme : [Concertos. Hautbois, orchestre à cordes, basse continue. HWV 301. Si bémol majeur]Titre uniforme : [Concertos. Hautbois, cordes, basse continue. HWV 287. Sol mineur]Titre uniforme : [Concertos. Hautbois, violon, orchestre à cordes, basse continue. BWV 1060 R. Ré mineur]BnF-Partenariats, Collection sonore - BelieveContient une table des matière

A megastudy of text-based nudges encouraging patients to get vaccinated at an upcoming doctor's appointment

Many Americans fail to get life-saving vaccines each year, and the availability of a vaccine for COVID-19 makes the challenge of encouraging vaccination more urgent than ever. We present a large field experiment (N = 47,306) testing 19 nudges delivered to patients via text message and designed to boost adoption of the influenza vaccine. Our findings suggest that text messages sent prior to a primary care visit can boost vaccination rates by an average of 5%. Overall, interventions performed better when they were 1) framed as reminders to get flu shots that were already reserved for the patient and 2) congruent with the sort of communications patients expected to receive from their healthcare provider (i.e., not surprising, casual, or interactive). The best-performing intervention in our study reminded patients twice to get their flu shot at their upcoming doctor's appointment and indicated it was reserved for them. This successful script could be used as a template for campaigns to encourage the adoption of life-saving vaccines, including against COVID-19.Open access articleThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]