Citizen Social Lab: A digital platform for human behaviour experimentation within a citizen science framework

Cooperation is one of the behavioral traits that define human beings, however we are still trying to understand why humans cooperate. Behavioral experiments have been largely conducted to shed light into the mechanisms behind cooperation and other behavioral traits. However, most of these experiments have been conducted in laboratories with highly controlled experimental protocols but with varied limitations which limits the reproducibility and the generalization of the results obtained. In an attempt to overcome these limitations, some experimental approaches have moved human behavior experimentation from laboratories to public spaces, where behaviors occur naturally, and have opened the participation to the general public within the citizen science framework. Given the open nature of these environments, it is critical to establish the appropriate protocols to maintain the same data quality that one can obtain in the laboratories. Here, we introduce Citizen Social Lab, a software platform designed to be used in the wild using citizen science practices. The platform allows researchers to collect data in a more realistic context while maintaining the scientific rigour, and it is structured in a modular and scalable way so it can also be easily adapted for online or brick-and-mortar experimental laboratories. Following citizen science guidelines, the platform is designed to motivate a more general population into participation, but also to promote engaging and learning of the scientific research process. We also review the main results of the experiments performed using the platform up to now, and the set of games that each experiment includes. Finally, we evaluate some properties of the platform, such as the heterogeneity of the samples of the experiments and their satisfaction level, and the parameters that demonstrate the robustness of the platform and the quality of the data collected.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures and 4 table

Spatial interaction models applied to the design of retail trade areas

Intermetropolitan trade areas are geographical zones defined by consumer movements over space -retail flows- from their municipalities of residence towards a head town, to purchase special goods: clothing and footwear, furniture, food, etc. These market areas own an economic sense that do not have other more commonly used territorial divisions, such as towns, provinces or regions. Since 1992, the Lawrence R. Klein Institute -Autonoma University of Madrid-actualises the Spanish Retail Trade Atlas and determines regional trade areas and sub-areas, using spatial gravity models and survey. The authors' experience in this Project allows them to analyse the different procedures suggested for modelling the consumer store-choice process and from this, estimating the market share of a retail outlet or a town. Store choice models can be classified into two main groups. First, the descriptive-determinist approach includes a group of techniques that rely on observation or normative assumptions. It is well-known the procedure devised by Applebaum (1961) for constructing primary trade areas from customers spotted on a location map or the classical central place theory, based on the nearest-centre hypothesis. 'Reilly's law of retail gravitation' (1931) considers not only distance but also attractiveness of alternative shopping opportunities. Secondly, the explicative-stochastic approach uses information revealed by past behaviour to understand the dynamics of retail competition and how consumers choose among alternative shopping opportunities. Huff was the first to use a utility function and introduced the spatial interaction models to explain consumer behaviour. They argued that consumers rate alternatives on the basis of their evaluation of the total utility of the store and not merely on its location. Huff's model is a particular case of the discrete-choice models known as multinomial logit (McFadden, 1974). Both models satisfies the so-called 'Independece of Irrelevant Alternatives' (IIA) property, that is, the ratio of the probabilities of an individual selecting two alternatives is unaffected by the addition of a third alternative. While this may be reasonably representative of certain aspatial choice situations, it is very unlikely to occur in spatial choice because of the fixed locations of spatial alternatives. The competing destinations model, derived from purely spatial considerations, provides a way of overcoming some problems with the logit and nested logit models that arise from the transference of essentially aspatial theory to the spatial realm. This work focuses on market area delimitation models and presents the estimation process developed by the L.R. Klein Institute in determining intermetropolitan trade areas. It is also applied a competing destinations model to the trade area of Madrid, a very peculiar one because of its magnitude and the important shopping concentration around the capital. Finally, we want to highlight the main applications derived from the knowledge and actualisation of the consumer retail flows. These applications take into account not only retailing but also another economic activities relating with market attraction areas.

Raimunda Torres y Quiroga, Historias inverosímiles, recopilación, notas y estudio preliminar de Carlos Abraham, Tren en Movimiento, Temperley, 2014. ISBN 978-987-27654-1-5

Obra ressenyada: Raimunda TORRES Y QUIROGA, Historias inverosímiles. Temperley: Tren en Movimiento, 2014

Registre paleontològic a jaciments litorals del Pleistocè superior a la península d'Artà: Artà (Mallorca, Mediterrània occidental)

Es descriu l’estratigrafia i el registre paleontològic de 7 jaciments del Pleistocè superior i un de l’Holocè amb fòssils o subfòssils marins situats entre la desembocadura del torrent de na Borges i el cap Ferrutx, al litoral d’Artà (Mallorca). També es descriuen 2 dipòsits amb fauna continental. En un d’ells s’ha trobat el Gastropoda Lauria cylindracea, què és la primera vegada que és cita fòssil a Mallorca. S’han revisat les col·leccions de la Societat d’Història Natural de les Balears on estan depositats fòssils procedents dels jaciments i es compara amb els tàxons que prèviament s’havien citat de cada jaciment. Com a fòssils bioindicadors marins del darrer interglacial s’han identificat: Cardita senegalensis, Brachidontes senegalensis, Barbatia plicata, Cymatium costatum, Cantharus viverratus i Conus testudinarius.The stratigraphy and paleontological records of seven sites from the upper Pleistocene and one Holocene with marine fossils or subfossils are described. The paleontological sites are located between the mouth of na Borges stream and Ferrutx cape, on the coast of Artà (Mallorca). Two continental deposits are described. In one of them appears the Gastropoda Lauria cylindracea, which is recorded for first time in Mallorca. We have reviewed the fossils collections of the Natural History Society of the Balearic Islands, and we compare these material previous cited in each site with the new records. Of the last interglacial we have recorded the marine fossil biomarkers: Cardita senegalensis, Brachidontes senegalensis, Barbatia plicata, Cymatium costatum, Cantharus viverratus and Conus testudinarius

Primer cens hivernal de corb marí gros Phalacrocorax carbo a les zones de colgada a Balears

Es concreten les dades del primer cens hivernal de corb marí gros Phalacrocorax carbo de les Balears fet a les zones de colgada, dins del segon cens estatal coordinat per la sEO/BirdLife. La població detectada entre el 15 i el 24 de gener del 2013 fou de 540 exemplars, però s’hi han d’afegir 22 exemplars més detectats a dues localitats no visitades. Es detallen xifres sobre l’evolució de les hivernades en els darrers 25 anys, així com de l’hàbitat i suport físic on s’ubiquen les colgades.Results are presented of the first census of the cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo at winter roost sites in the Balearics, as part of the second national census coordinated by sEO/BirdLife. The population detected between 15th and 24th january 2013 comprised 540 birds, to which must be added 22 individuals at two further localities. Numerical information is given of wintering trends over the last 25 years as well as the types of habitat and support structures selected for roost sites

Freud cartesià

Es diria que Descartes va escriure les seves Meditacions metafísiques per demostrar que no dormia. En efecte, la qüestió sobre ia realitat dels pensaments dels somnis, que obre les pàgines de la reflexió cartesiana, sembla trobar la seva resposta al final de les seves meditacions. Les Meditacions metafísiques comencen, com se sap, per l'evocació de tots els dubtes humans; els nostres sentits són els responsables de tot engany, encara que no siguin sempre enganyadors. El problema consistirà en trobar el criteri o el dispositiu susceptible de destriar la veritat malgrat l'engany d'uns sentits dels quals no podem prescindir