scholarly journals Social Influence in Prosocial Behavior: Evidence from a Large-Scale Experiment

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenz Goette ◽  
Egon Tripodi
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Social Influence ◽  
Prosocial Behavior ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Crowding Out ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Reference ◽  
Scale Experiment ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms

Abstract We propose a novel experiment that prevents social learning, thus allowing us to disentangle the underlying mechanisms of social influence. Subjects observe their peer’s incentives, but not their behavior. We find evidence of conformity: when individuals believe that incentives make others contribute more, they also increase their contributions. Conformity is driven by individuals who feel socially close to their peer. However, when incentives are not expected to raise their peer’s contributions, participants reduce their own contributions. Our data is consistent with an erosion of norm-adherence when prosocial behavior of the social reference is driven by extrinsic motives, and cannot be explained by incentive inequality or altruistic crowding out. These findings show scope for social influence in settings with limited observability and offer insights into the mediators of conformity.

scholarly journals Investigation of tungsten-coated divertor tiles at the JET tokamak with the ITER‐Like Wall

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 276
Author(s):  
P. Tsavalas ◽  
A. Lagoyannis ◽  
K. Mergia ◽  
G. Provatas ◽  
K. Triantou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Analytical Techniques ◽  
Sample Surface ◽  
Nuclear Reaction Analysis ◽  
Fusion Plasma ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Plasma Facing Components ◽  
Scale Experiment ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms

Materials migration in fusion plasma devices and fuel retention in plasma-facing components are issues of great importance for the safe operation of fusion devices. The underlying mechanisms require a good understanding in order to make predictions regarding the lifetime of wall components and to assess the amount of fuel retained in the machine mainly in co-deposited layers. To reduce fuel inventory and to investigate plasma-wall interactions a large-scale experiment at the JET (Joint European Torus) tokamak is realized: operation with the ITER-Like Wall (JET-ILW) which comprises beryllium and tungsten. The current work reports on the post-mortem analysis of W/CFC tiles retrieved after the first deuterium-deuterium campaign at JET-ILW. Specimens from different areas of the divertor have been analyzed by means of several techniques including nuclear reaction analysis and Rutherford backscattering employing a deuterium beam. In addition, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis are used to assess the sample surface morphology and analyze the stoichiometry of the surface of the samples in order to compare with the results from the ion beam analytical techniques.

scholarly journals Population Size and Cumulative Cultural Evolution: Fewer Heads Can Be Better than Many

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Fay ◽  
Naomi De Kleine ◽  
Bradley Walker ◽  
Christine Anna Caldwell
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Population Size ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Individual Learning ◽  
Flight Distance ◽  
Learning Condition ◽  
Scale Experiment ◽  
Cumulative Cultural Evolution ◽  
The Individual

The extent to which larger populations enhance cumulative cultural evolution (CCE) is contentious. We report a large-scale experiment (N=543) that investigates the CCE of technology (paper planes and their flight distances) using a transmission chain design. Population size was manipulated such that participants could learn from the paper planes constructed by 1, 2 or 4 models from the prior generation. These social learning conditions were compared to an asocial Individual Learning condition in which individual participants made repeated attempts at constructing a paper plane, without having access to any planes produced by other participants. Larger populations generated greater variation in plane performance and gave participants access to better-adapted planes, but this did not enhance CCE. In fact, there was an inverse relationship between population size and CCE: plane flight distance did not improve over the experimental generations in the 2-Model and 4-Model conditions, but did improve over generations in the 1-Model social learning condition. The incremental improvement in plane flight distance in the 1-Model social learning condition was comparable to that in the Individual Learning condition, highlighting the importance of trial-and-error learning to artefact innovation and adaptation. In the context of this experiment, we conclude that larger populations do not enhance artefact performance via CCE, and that it may be only under certain specific conditions that larger population sizes enhance CCE.

scholarly journals Beyond Indicators and Success Stories: An Emerging Method to Assess Social Learning in Large-Scale Transdisciplinary Research Programs

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying-Syuan Huang ◽  
Blane Harvey
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Program Implementation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Research Programs ◽  
Success Stories ◽  
The Social ◽  
Learning And Change

Facilitated learning approaches are increasingly being used as a means to enhance climate and sustainability collaborations working across disciplines, regions, and scales. With investments into promoting and supporting inter- and transdisciplinary learning in major programs on complex global challenges like climate change on the rise, scholars and practitioners are calling for a more grounded and empirical understanding of learning processes and their outcomes. Yet, methodologies for studying the interplay between learning and change in these initiatives remain scarce, owing to both the “hard to measure” nature of learning and the complexity of large-scale program implementation and evaluation. This paper proposes a new method for studying social learning in the context of large research programs. It aims to analyze the social learning of researchers and practitioners engaged in these programs and assess the contributions of this learning to the resilience of the natural and social systems that these programs seek to influence. We detail the theoretical basis for this new approach and set out six steps for developing multi-layered contribution pathways and contribution stories with stakeholders to document both the process and outcomes of social learning. The proposed method, we argue, can strengthen our analytical capacity to uncover the structural drivers and barriers to social learning that are often masked by the complexity of large-scale programs. An illustrative example, drawn from a large-scale climate adaptation research program, provides evidence on how this method might advance our methodological strategies for studying learning in these programs. We conclude by highlighting two key methodological contributions brought about through this approach, and by reflecting on opportunities for further methodological development. Enriching our understanding of learning and change processes, we argue, is an important avenue for understanding how we can pursue transformations for sustainability.

scholarly journals Increasing population size can inhibit cumulative cultural evolution

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (14) ◽  
pp. 6726-6731 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Fay ◽  
Naomi De Kleine ◽  
Bradley Walker ◽  
Christine A. Caldwell
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Population Size ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Individual Learning ◽  
Flight Distance ◽  
Learning Condition ◽  
Scale Experiment ◽  
Cumulative Cultural Evolution ◽  
The Individual

The extent to which larger populations enhance cumulative cultural evolution (CCE) is contentious. We report a large-scale experiment (n= 543) that investigates the CCE of technology (paper planes and their flight distances) using a transmission-chain design. Population size was manipulated such that participants could learn from the paper planes constructed by one, two, or four models from the prior generation. These social-learning conditions were compared with an asocial individual-learning condition in which individual participants made repeated attempts at constructing a paper plane, without having access to any planes produced by other participants. Larger populations generated greater variation in plane performance and gave participants access to better-adapted planes, but this did not enhance CCE. In fact, there was an inverse relationship between population size and CCE: plane flight distance did not improve over the experimental generations in the 2-Model and 4-Model conditions, but did improve over generations in the 1-Model social-learning condition. The incremental improvement in plane flight distance in the 1-Model social-learning condition was comparable to that in the Individual Learning condition, highlighting the importance of trial-and-error learning to artifact innovation and adaptation. An exploratory analysis indicated that the greater variation participants had access to in the larger populations may have overwhelmed their working memory and weakened their ability to selectively copy the best-adapted plane(s). We conclude that larger populations do not enhance artifact performance via CCE, and that it may be only under certain specific conditions that larger population sizes enhance CCE.

scholarly journals Applying the Cultural Ratchet to a Social Artefact: The Cumulative Cultural Evolution of a Language Game

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Fay ◽  
T. Mark Ellison ◽  
Kristian Tylén ◽  
Riccardo Fusaroli ◽  
Bradley Walker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Language Game ◽  
Communication Process ◽  
Observation Condition ◽  
Social Coordination ◽  
The Social ◽  
Scale Experiment ◽  
Human Participants ◽  
Cumulative Cultural Evolution

Material artefacts evolve by cumulative cultural evolution (CCE), the accumulation of adaptive modifications over time. We present a large-scale experiment investigating the CCE of a social artefact in transmission chains, each containing 8 adult human participants (N=408). The social artefact is what Wittgenstein calls a ‘language game’, the subset of language used to perform a particular activity; in the present study the language game is to communicate a route on a map. Two social learning conditions were compared: Observational Learning and Social Coordinative Learning. Participants tried to accurately communicate a route on a map to the next person in their transmission chain. Over the experimental generations the routes were reproduced with progressively higher accuracy in both conditions, demonstrating the CCE of the language game. The rate of CCE was comparable across conditions, but route reproduction accuracy was consistently higher in the Social Coordination condition compared to the Observation condition. In both conditions performance improved due to the accumulation of adaptive patterns of verbal route descriptions, and the progressive elimination of non-adaptive patterns. Whereas change in the content of the language game was similar across conditions, change to the communication process differed between the Observation and Social Coordination conditions. In conclusion, like material artefacts, social artefacts, in our case the language game, evolve by cumulative cultural evolution.

scholarly journals Voting contagion: Modeling and analysis of a century of U.S. presidential elections

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Braha ◽  
Marcus A. M. de Aguiar
Keyword(s):  
Social Influence ◽  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Social Contagion ◽  
Modeling And Analysis ◽  
Systems Perspective ◽  
Contagion Effects ◽  
The Social ◽  
Parsimonious Model ◽  
Insight Into

Social influence plays an important role in human behavior and decisions. Sources of influence can be divided as external, which are independent of social context, or as originating from peers, such as family and friends. An important question is how to disentangle the social contagion by peers from external influences. While a variety of experimental and observational studies provided insight into this problem, identifying the extent of contagion based on large-scale observational data with an unknown network structure remains largely unexplored. By bridging the gap between the large-scale complex systems perspective of collective human dynamics and the detailed approach of social sciences, we present a parsimonious model of social influence, and apply it to a central topic in political science--elections and voting behavior. We provide an analytical expression of the county vote-share distribution, which is in excellent agreement with almost a century of observed U.S. presidential election data. Analyzing the social influence topography over this period reveals an abrupt phase transition from low to high levels of social contagion, and robust differences among regions. These results suggest that social contagion effects are becoming more instrumental in shaping large-scale collective political behavior, with implications on democratic electoral processes and policies.

scholarly journals Game-Based Social Learning for Socially Sustainable Water Management

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 4646
Author(s):  
Joop de Kraker ◽  
Astrid Offermans ◽  
Merel M. van der Wal
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Social Learning ◽  
Serious Games ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Social Sustainability ◽  
Stakeholder Perspectives ◽  
The Social ◽  
Support Mechanisms ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
Opening Up

An important aspect of the social sustainability of a proposed solution is acceptance by societal stakeholders. Acceptance is determined by the extent to which the solution matches with stakeholder perspectives on the problem and preferred ways to deal with it. Social learning can contribute to the social sustainability of water management strategies by achieving a convergence in perspectives among societal stakeholders. Serious games have proven to be effective in generating this type of social learning outcomes, but the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. This article aims to clarify how a multi-player serious game on river management (Sustainable Delta) supports social learning among participants with initially diverging perspectives. Based on a conceptual framework for game-based social learning, hypotheses and expectations were formulated and tested with quantitative and qualitative analyses of game sessions. Convergence of perspectives was observed in 10 out of 12 gaming sessions, but could not, or could only to a limited extent, be explained by the presumed learning support mechanisms in the game’s design. This underlines the importance of opening up the black box of serious games to determine how and why they work. If this is neglected, there is a clear risk that the design of games will be based on wrong, untested assumptions and will be less effective in supporting social learning and social sustainability.

Social Influence and the Social Self

1989 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 450-451
Author(s):  
William P. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Social Influence ◽  
Social Self ◽  
The Social

Multiple-source Record Linkage in a Rural Industrial Community, 1680–1820

1994 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 133-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve King
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Multiple Source ◽  
Demographic Analysis ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Industrial Community ◽  
The Social ◽  
Broad Outline

Re-creating the social, economic and demographic life-cycles of ordinary people is one way in which historians might engage with the complex continuities and changes which underlay the development of early modern communities. Little, however, has been written on the ways in which historians might deploy computers, rather than card indexes, to the task of identifying such life cycles from the jumble of the sources generated by local and national administration. This article suggests that multiple-source linkage is central to historical and demographic analysis, and reviews, in broad outline, some of the procedures adopted in a study which aims at large scale life cycle reconstruction.

Bologna, My Love: Il Cinema Ritrovato

2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 72-79
Author(s):  
Carla Marcantonio
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Fairy Tale ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Francis Ford Coppola ◽  
The Social ◽  
Ongoing Project

FQ books editor Carla Marcantonio guides readers through the 33rd edition of Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival held each year in Bologna at the end of June. Highlights of this year's festival included a restoration of one of Vittorio De Sica's hard-to-find and hence lesser-known films, the social justice fairy tale, Miracolo a Milano (Miracle in Milan, 1951). The film was presented by De Sica's daughter, Emi De Sica, and was an example of the ongoing project to restore De Sica's archive, which was given to the Cineteca de Bologna in 2016. Marcantonio also notes her unexpected responses to certain reviewings; Apocalypse Now: Final Cut (2019), presented by Francis Ford Coppola on the large-scale screen of Piazza Maggiore and accompanied by remastered Dolby Atmos sound, struck her as a tour-de-force while a restoration of David Lynch's Blue Velvet (1986) had lost some of its strange allure.

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