Dr. Aaron Meskin (University of Leeds, UK) & Dr. Shen-yi Liao (Kansas State University, USA) will hold a talk on “A Web-Based Investigation of Aesthetic Adjectives”.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012, 12.00 – 13.30
Sala de Videoconferencia (E211), ESIDE, Deusto University

Abstract: The nature of ordinary and expert aesthetic discourse is of central concern to philosophical aesthetics. In a series of studies, we investigate one crucial component of aesthetic discourse: the use of aesthetic adjectives, such as ‘beautiful’. The vast majority of aesthetic terms (e.g., ‘beautiful’, ‘ugly’, ‘pretty’, ‘dainty’) are gradable adjectives. That is, they admit of comparative constructions and degree modifiers such as ‘very’ and ‘extremely’. Linguist Chris Kennedy has argued that there are two distinct categories of gradable adjectives: relative gradable adjectives such as ‘tall’, ‘long’ and ‘fat’ which are context sensitive and absolute gradable adjectives such as ‘straight’, ‘bent’ and ‘full’ which “are demonstrably gradable but do not have context dependent interpretations”. Semantic data (i.e., patterns of entailment) suggest that many positive aesthetic adjectives such as ‘beautiful’ are relative gradable adjectives and, hence, context-sensitive. Our experimental results complicate this picture. Building on a paradigm developed by linguist Kristen Syrett, we tested the linguistic properties of aesthetic adjectives. We began by replicating Syrett’s experimental methods in an online setting. We then found that ‘beautiful’ functions neither like paradigmatic relative gradable adjectives nor paradigmatic absolute gradable adjectives. What explains this phenomenon? We explore various hypotheses by examining the behaviour of a range of aesthetic terms (e.g., ‘ugly’ as well as ‘beautiful’) and by using a wide range of stimuli from different domains, such as faces, artifacts, and natural objects.

“How exciting that iScience has been created! In the future, a huge amount of social science research will be done via the Internet, so researchers need guidance on best practices and resources to help them do their work. iScience is staffed by an outstanding group of scholars who will no doubt make a big positive difference around the globe.”
Jon Krosnick, PhD, the Frederic O. Glover Professor in Humanities and Social Sciences and professor of communication, political science, and psychology at Stanford University

In a new collaboration between iScience and partners from several countries we will research intercultural competencies. Part of this project is trait d’union (Journal Scolaire Multimédia International). The project is coordinated by the German School in Bilbao, Universidad de Deusto is an official partner.

New issue of the International Journal of Internet Science at http://ijis.net (Vol. 7, Issue 1)!
It includes, apart from an editorial, four research articles and a supplement. The editorial contains a discussion of research with “Big Data”, developments with the journal, a summary of the issue, and a citation analysis that arrives at a 2011 minimum journal impact estimate of 2.625 (ISI) and 3.625 (Google Scholar).

We are confident the new issue will meet a lot of interest and have substantial impact on the field. Watch the citation rate grow at Google Scholar.
You can help: Please spread the word, link the site, write to the press, mention in presentations and interviews, share and “like” the journal in social networks, blog and tweet about it!

The current issue:

Chris Snijders, Uwe Matzat, Ulf-Dietrich Reips: ‘Big Data’: Big Gaps of Knowledge in the Field of Internet Science (Editorial)

Nic Newman, William H. Dutton, Grant Blank: Social Media in the Changing Ecology of News: The Fourth and Fifth Estates in Britain

Linda Kaye, Jo Bryce:
Putting the “Fun Factor” into Gaming: The Influence of Social Contexts on Experiences of Playing Videogames

Christopher R. Wolfe, Christopher R. Fisher, Valerie F. Reyna, Xiangen Hu: Improving Internal Consistency in Conditional Probability Estimation with an Intelligent Tutoring System and Web-Based Tutorials

Alison Attrill:
Sharing Only Parts of Me: Selective Categorical Self-Disclosure Across Internet Arenas

Webdatanet: A Network on Web-based Data Collection, Methodological Challenges, Solutions and Implementation (Supplement)

Please find the issue at
http://www.ijis.net/ijis7_1/ijis7_1_index.html

Kind regards,

Ulf-Dietrich Reips / Uwe Matzat
Editors, International Journal of Internet Science http://ijis.net

Scope

The International Journal of Internet Science is an interdisciplinary, peer reviewed journal for the publication of research articles about empirical findings, methodology, and theory in the field of Internet Science. It provides an outlet for articles on the Internet as a medium of research and its implications for individuals, social groups, organizations, and society. Typical articles report empirical results gathered to test and advance theories in the social and behavioral sciences.

Submission of manuscripts

Manuscripts that are to be published in the International Journal of Internet Science (IJIS) need to be original research contributions. They have to be formatted according to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA Style Guide, 6th edition, 2nd print). Please visit http://ijis.net and click on “Submit Article” for the online submission of manuscripts.

Editors

Ulf-Dietrich Reips (University of Deusto and IKERBASKQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, Spain),
Uwe Matzat (Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands)

Editorial Board

Michael Birnbaum (California State University at Fullerton, USA), Tom Buchanan (Westminster University, UK), Don Dillman (Washington State University, USA), Anja Göritz (University of Freiburg, Germany), Adam Joinson (University of Bristol, UK), John Krantz (Hanover College, USA), Han Woo Park (Yeungnam University, South Korea), Chris Snijders (Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands), Barry Wellman (University of Toronto, Canada).