We describe an approach to one of the key challenges of applying HCI findings and methods to China; viz., how can we generalize across cultures and learn from others when each situation is unique? We propose that Pattern Languages are one way to capture what is invariant while leaving the flexibility to deal with the specifics of geography, culture, language, goals, and technologies.

The Socio-Cognitive Systems (SCS) Section at Defence Research and Development Canada—Toronto (DRDC Toronto) has undertaken a Technology Investment Fund (TIF) Project entitled “A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Armed Non-state Actors (ANSAs): Strategic Roles and Operational Dynamics.” The aim of this Project is to advance our understanding of (a) the strategic roles of ANSAs in the contex...

This paper reviews the literature about social and cognitive functions of spatial features used when collaborating in both physical and virtual settings. Those concepts come from various fields like social, cognitive as well as environmental psychology or CSCW (Computer Supported Collaborative Work). We briefly summarize the social and cognitive affordances of spatial features like distance, pr...

INtrODUctION Humans have learned to cooperate in many ways and in many environments, on different tasks, and for achieving different and several goals. Collaboration and cooperation in their more general sense (and, in particular, negotiation, exchange, help, delegation, adoption, and so on) are important characteristics-or better, the most foundational aspects-of human societies (Tuomela, 1995...

Employees’ failure to comply with IS security procedures is a key concern for organizations today. A number of socio-cognitive theories have been used to explain this. However, prior studies have not examined the influence of past and automatic behavior on employee decisions to comply. This is an important omission because past behavior has been assumed to strongly affect decision-making. To ad...

The mental model theory claims that the ability to falsify is at the core of human rationality. We assume that cognitive conflicts and socio-cognitive conflicts induce falsification, and thus improve syllogistic reasoning performance. Our first study assesses adults’ ability to reason in two different conditions in a single experimental session. In both conditions the participants are presented...

Agents that behave maliciously or incompetently are a potential hazard in open distributed e-commerce applications. However human societies have evolved signals and mechanisms based on social interaction to defend against such behaviour. In this paper we present a computational socio-cognitive framework which formalises social theories of trust, reputation, recommendation and learning from dire...

Rebel agents are intelligent agents that can oppose goals or plans assigned to them, or the general attitudes and/or behavior of other agents. They can serve purposes such as ethics, safety, and task execution correctness; enhance social co-creativity, and provide or support diverse points of view. We previously proposed a framework for AI rebellion and explored various scenarios that have posi...

Technoethical inquiry deals with a variety of social, legal, cultural, economic, political, and ethical implications of new technological applications which can threaten important aspects of contemporary life and society. GhostNet is a large-scale cyber espionage network which has infiltrated important political, economic, and media institutions including embassies, foreign ministries and other...

The methodological topics proposed by Process Analysis, Social Behavior, Socio-technical perspective are often applied in my practitioner activities. Two experiences are presented. The first experience is running in government-owned company. The aim of the project is to develop a management system in conformity with the requirements of an international standard. The novelty is the implementatio...