197,674 research outputs found
Caccia e raccolta ai tempi del digitale: un esperimento simulativo di Psicologia Evoluzionistica
Nell’ottica darwiniana della psicologia evoluzionistica (Cardaci, 2012), l’adattamento del comportamento umano all’ambiente è frutto di un insieme di meccanismi “distali” che sono stati gradualmente plasmati dalla selezione
naturale nel corso della filogenesi di Homo sapiens e vanno dunque ben oltre le immediate contingenze degli eventi “prossimali”. Tale principio vale per una vasta gamma di attività umane, corrispondente ai molteplici problemi di sopravvivenza che la nostra specie ha dovuto affrontare fin dalle origin
Caccia e Raccolta dal Pleistocene al mondo digitale: un esperimento simulativo di Psicologia Evoluzionistica
Il metodo simulativo, uno degli approcci interdisciplinari più promettenti
dell’attuale ricerca scientifica, offre alle scienze sociali (e segnatamente alla psicologia) innovativi strumenti d’indagine. Le molteplici sfaccettature del comportamento umano, che un tempo potevano essere approssimativamente trattate in termini solo intuitivi e qualitativi, oggi, grazie alla notevole potenza raggiunta dai calcolatori, possono essere ricostruite e analizzate in dettaglio
(Miglino, Cardaci e Pagliarini, 2000).
Se poi si accetta il principio darwiniano che “i nostri crani moderni
ospitano una mente risalente all’età della pietra” (Cosmides e Tooby, 1997) – cioè che gli attuali tratti cognitivi e comportamentali degli esseri umani (così come quelli biologici) non possono essere adeguatamente compresi senza metterli in relazione con le pressioni selettive che li hanno plasmati nel corso dell’evoluzione della specie – uno dei vantaggi della simulazione consiste nella possibilità di ricreare artificialmente modi di vita e contesti ambientali ormai svaniti per sempre. L’habitat nel quale i primi esseri umani, e quindi le loro menti, iniziarono a evolversi era radicalmente diverso dal nostro: i nostri progenitori vivevano in società di cacciatori-raccoglitori formate da piccole bande nomadi di poche dozzine d’individui, i quali si procacciavano il cibo giornaliero raccogliendolo
dalle piante o andando a caccia.
Tale condizione è durata per la maggior parte degli ultimi dieci milioni di
anni, circa 1.000 volte più di qualsiasi altro periodo della storia umana, se si pensa che l’agricoltura apparve circa 10.000 anni fa – per non parlare rivoluzione industriale iniziata un paio di secoli orsono, o dei pochi decenni che segnano
l’attuale epoca del computer (Cosmides e Tooby, 1997).
In tale quadro di riferimento, sarà presentato un esperimento pilota svolto
in ambiente simulativo per dimostrare il perdurare di differenti strategie istintive riferibili al Paradigma Caccia-Raccolta
Impact of rainfall pattern on cereal market and food security in Sudan: Stochastic approach and CGE model
The paper aims at analysing the impact of the likely change in rainfall on food availability and access to food in Sudan. The empirical investigation is based on an integrated approach consisting of a stochastic method and CGE model. The former, related to the Monte Carlo analysis, provides the likely changes in rainfall patterns and their probability of occurrence based on historical data. These results are at the basis of the scenarios simulated in a standard CGE model augmented with a stochastic component. Achievements underline the negative impact on the two dimensions of food security taken into consideration, mainly due to a reduction in cereal supply, a marked cereal inflation pressure and income contraction; the greater negative effect on the poorest households; and a deterioration of the economic performance of the country. In this context, the paper stresses a strong interconnection among climate change and variability, poverty and food insecurity and thus the need for an integrated policy-making approach
Chromoelectric flux tubes in QCD
Cardaci MS, Cea P, Cosmai L, Falcone R, Papa A. Chromoelectric flux tubes in QCD. Physical Review D. 2011;83(1): 014502.We analyze the distribution of the chromoelectric field generated by a static quark-antiquark pair in the SU(3) vacuum and revisit previous results for SU(2). We find that the transverse profile of the flux tube resembles the dual version of the Abrikosov vortex field distribution. We give an estimate of the London penetration length of the chromoelectric field in the confined vacuum. We also speculate on the value of the ratio between the penetration lengths for SU(2) and SU(3) gauge theories
Preferential Biases for Texts That Include Neuroscientific Jargon
The results of an experiment of preferential biases for texts that include neuroscientific jargon are presented. Such preferential bias has been reported even when the presented jargon is meaningless. In a variation of the well-known Weisberg et al. experiment, a group of undergraduate students (N1⁄4150; females 48%, males 52%, other 0%; M age 1⁄4 22.4 year, SD 1⁄4 2.6) chose between two possible explanations for a psycho- logical phenomenon: a correct explanation or a circular restatement of facts. Unrelated neuroscientific terms were added to one of the explanations. Participants were asked to choose the correct explanation. There was a statistically significant preference for the explanation without neuroscientific terms. These findings differ from Weisberg et al.’s experiment and a number of others. The implications of this discrepancy are discussed
Frequency format facilitates reasoning in simple numerical tasks
This study examined whether it is easier to reason in terms of frequencies or with percentages for simple numerical tasks, Research on probabilistic reasoning has shown that humans can draw correct inferences when problems are presented in terms of natural frequencies but not when in percentages. Whether the same effect can be observed in other numerically simple tasks which are not probabilistic was studied with 40 undergraduate students who volunteered for the experiment (13 men, 27 women; M age of 23 yr.). In a simple numerical task involving frequencies or percentages (N=20), their performance showed representation in frequencies facilitates the task
TOURISM INTEGRATED RELATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN: AN UTOPIA OR A NECESSARY STRATEGY FOR DEVELOPMENT?
ABSTRACT:
A first question we can ask is this:
The European Community will be able, despite the diversity of cultural and religious traditions of various civilizations that make up the mosaic Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, to recover the values deep and genuine so well exposed by Fernand Braudel, in order to counter the current dominance of the processes of globalization and the effect of spatial concentration in accordance with the rules of the so-called free market (land, buildings, services and infrastructure for the mobility)?
New entry into the Community to bring greater security (only apparent) in investments for companies and families (which also affect tourism and the mainly residential on seasonal o the investment on brick), which is used to launch forms of speculation in marginal areas but especially with coastal environmental resources.
These initial concentrations are in need of infrastructure networks and therefore proposes the mechanism of traffic and vehicle contract which, if you manage to have a minimal economic and social return, leading inevitably to a congestion and pollution of the area, and to a diffuse spatial to depletion of environmental resources available. At this point there is a certain abandonment and speculative greed will find more beaches, and perhaps there will only groups of residents or desertification will return in time to dominate (maybe it was not possible to produce historical values).
On environmental resources and local communities which will be the effects? This is a model of sustainable tourism development? What is happening in Egypt and Morocco?
A second question is:
These processes undoubtedly involve, in addition to private operators including national and local governments and then the various systems of organization and management of the territory, the different types of plans and programs and procedures for evaluation and participation. There is a creeping globalization that can influence the behavior of the different actors involved (unfortunately also the so-called cultural and professional circles) and in the name of profit and financial unifies the different cultural and religious traditions? The ultimate goal is improving the quality of life for all (or a few in different parts of the world) but what the environmental effects and irreversibility on free use of resources and real participatory democracy?
The European Community as it might encourage virtuous behavior inside and in the relationship? Should be the most developed countries to change their pattern of behavior and development, not statements of principle but with real effectiveness, and therefore propose the economic and financial partnership provided that the reference models are those of tourism integrated, relational and environmentally sustainable. If we see what is happening in Italy (including Sicily) we certainly can not say that we give an example.
A third question is:
If we consider tourism as a necessity of freedom, to nomadism, knowledge of people and different environments, then not locked it on the management company, in a hasty desire to offer more consumer can, in a new urban environments and building of poor quality or artificial, but help to spread freely in local communities and in nature (in security and knowledge) to become an integral and non-fictional superstructure, improving mobility and maritime railway in Euro-Mediterranean Basin, with their inter-nodes and places of rest and services, environmentally sustainable and capable of integration, retraining and catching, the architectural and urban contexts existing historic
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