Social Learning Process (social + learning_process)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


II. Study 1: Child Responses to Interparental Conflict: Comparing the Relative Roles Of Emotional Security and Social Learning Processes

MONOGRAPHS OF THE SOCIETY FOR RESEARCH IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 3 2002
Patrick T. Davies
[source]


Church Attendance and Marital Commitment Beliefs of Undergraduate Women

JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2007
Siu-kuen Azor Hui
Marital commitment between spouses has been found to be an important predictor of successful marriages. Beliefs about marital commitment among never-married young adults are of interest because of their probable influence on subsequent marital behaviors. The current study examined social-cognitive processes; specifically, religiousness, locus-of-control beliefs, and gender role attitudes, in the prediction of marital commitment beliefs among 294 undergraduate never-married women. We found that higher religiousness and lower chance locus of control were significantly correlated with stronger marital commitment beliefs. Multiple regression analyses revealed that religiousness was the best predictor of marital commitment beliefs in this sample. Social learning processes are implicated in the development of marital commitment beliefs. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed. [source]


Climate proofing Scottish river basin planning, , a future challenge

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND GOVERNANCE, Issue 6 2009
Kirsty Blackstock
Abstract Due to its cyclical planning process, River Basin Management Planning (RBMP) offers a route for adaptive management of a complex human,environment system. Considering how stakeholders speak about climate change provides a lens to examine social learning within RBMP. The paper explores how climate change emerged as a topic during our research and the trajectory of the social learning process. Participants were aware of the challenges that climate change might pose for achieving Good Ecological Status (GES), but as the deadline for the plans drew nearer the focus shifted from long-term issues to the current state of the environment and delivery of objectives. The degree of ,climate proofing' in RBMP depends on choices in future planning phases. We reflect on the potential for this to occur, putting our findings into the context of literature on social learning and adaptive management processes. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source]


Democracy, Islam and Dialogue: The Case of Turkey

GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION, Issue 4 2005
Bora Kanra
The November 2002 general elections in Turkey produced an Islamic-leaning government, supported by one of the biggest majorities, bringing the relationship between Islam and democracy under scrutiny. This paper examines the nature of this relationship and the current political situation in Turkey. It argues that Turkey's long-running aspiration for democratization has now a reasonable chance of success. This argument is supported by the findings of a Q study, conducted in Turkey during the 2002 election campaign, indicating strong support for dialogue, particularly within the Turkish Muslim community. Yet, it will also argue that turning this possibility into a success depends on the implementation of the right deliberative framework. Habermas's discourse theory of democracy provides the essentials for this. However, particularly in the context of a divided society, like Turkey, it has to be complemented with a better emphasis on deliberation as a social learning process, as in Dryzek's theory of discursive democracy. [source]


Regulated competition and citizen participation: lessons from Israel

HEALTH EXPECTATIONS, Issue 2 2000
David Chinitz PhD
Objective To investigate the relationship between health system structure and citizen participation, in particular whether increased reliance on competition encourages or depresses citizen involvement. Setting The case of Israel's ongoing health reform, based on regulated competition among sick funds, is examined. Design Interviews with government officials and representatives of consumer groups; analysis of policy documents, judicial rulings, public surveys and journalistic accounts. Results The Israeli reform is based in large measure on a regulated competition model, in which citizens have free choice among highly regulated competing sick funds. At the same time, the reform process has been accompanied by legal, institutional and political frameworks, as well as significant interest group activity, all aimed at increasing public input into processes of health policy making and implementation. The Israeli case, it is argued, lends support to the proposition that citizen participation (voice) and individual choice (exit) are complementary, rather than alternative, modes of ensuring citizen influence over health services. The question is whether the development of multiple avenues for citizen involvement represents disarray or a healthy social learning process regarding the running of the health system. Conclusion This paper expresses cautious optimism that citizen participation is a projection of a healthy social learning process, and suggests directions for public policy to encourage this outcome. [source]


Integrating local and scientific knowledge for adaptation to land degradation: Kalahari rangeland management options

LAND DEGRADATION AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 3 2007
M. S. Reed
Abstract Despite numerous assessments of the sensitivity and resilience of drylands to degradation, there has been little research into the way affected communities innovate and adapt in response to land degradation. This paper shows how local and scientific knowledge can be combined to identify rangeland management strategies to reduce or adapt to land degradation. To achieve this, we have developed and applied a four-stage social learning approach based on stakeholder participation in three degradation ,hotspots' in communal rangelands of the Kalahari, Botswana. This approach aims to collate, evaluate and apply both scientific and local knowledge on rangeland degradation and management options. First, current practice and possible management options were identified from the literature. Second, a series of semi-structured interviews with rangeland users identified local knowledge of strategies to reduce and adapt to land degradation. Third, these options were discussed and evaluated with rangeland stakeholders in focus groups held across each study region. Finally, the outputs from these focus groups were used to produce rangeland assessment guides for each region that provided management options agreed to be locally relevant by both researchers and local stakeholders. The study found that the majority of strategies reported in the literature were not suitable for use by pastoralists in the Kalahari. However, many of the strategies suggested by stakeholders could only be applied effectively under common property regimes, giving impetus to the growing literature encouraging institutional reform to strengthen common property management regimes. The research stimulated a social learning process that combined knowledge from local stakeholders (both pastoralists and extension workers) with the scientific knowledge of researchers to provide a range of management options that could help land managers reduce or adapt to land degradation. By combining participatory research with insights from scientific literature in this way, more relevant results were provided than either approach could have achieved alone. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Beyond Just Research: Experiences from Southern Africa in Developing Social Learning Partnerships for Resource Conservation Initiatives

BIOTROPICA, Issue 5 2009
Charlie M. Shackleton
ABSTRACT There is a well-acknowledged communication or knowledge gap between scientists and decision-makers. Many scientists who take on the challenge of narrowing this gap operate on the understanding that their role is to communicate their findings in a one-way flow of information: from science to decision-makers. However, to be effective scientists must engage in an ongoing social learning process with decision-makers, and regard themselves as facilitators, and also as one among many stakeholders who have valid and important ecological knowledge. The developing world poses some particular challenges in this regard, specifically in terms of the large number of local level subsistence resources users who are important de facto decision-makers. We examine four natural resource management case studies from South Africa that differ in spatial scale and complexity, ranging from a single village to a whole biome. We distil seven lessons to help guide development of social learning processes and organizations in similar situations relating to natural resource planning and management. The lessons pertain to: maintaining ,key individuals' within social learning processes; the role of researchers; the formulation of research questions that social learning processes require adaptive long-term funding and capacity support; that local resource users are key decision-makers in developing countries; some perspectives on knowledge; and the need to measure research success. [source]


Why there is better evidence for culture in fish than chimpanzees

JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY, Issue 2003
K. N. Laland
Fish have comparatively small brains and are not renowned for their intelligence. Yet a series of laboratory experiments on the guppy reveals that they can be surprisingly good at learning from each other, and that social learning processes can mediate behavioural traditions analogous to the tool using traditions of different populations of chimpanzees. Transmission chain experiments have established that arbitrary and even maladaptive information can be socially transmitted among shoals of fish. Studies of behavioural innovation in guppies are strikingly consistent with findings of equivalent studies in primates. There are strong sex differences in innovatory tendencies and social learning abilities in guppies, which also parallel observations of primates. These studies suggest that the adage ,necessity is the mother of invention' may be a characteristic feature of animal innovation. When considered in combination with the findings of transfer experiments carried out on natural populations of fish, it becomes apparent that fish are an excellent model system for studies of animal social learning and culture. [source]


Social learning and life skills training for hatchery reared fish

JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY, Issue 3 2001
C. Brown
With the stress placed on our natural resources, many fisheries increasingly rely on restocking from hatchery-reared sources in an attempt to maintain commercially viable populations. However, the mortality rates of hatchery-reared fishes during the period directly following release are very high. The successful development of restocking programs is consequently dependent upon production and release strategies that lead to improved migratory, antipredator and feeding behaviour in hatchery fish. While relevant individual experience prior to release might improve performance, social learning potentially provides a process whereby fish can acquire locally adaptive behaviour rapidly and efficiently. It is now well over a decade since Suboski & Templeton (1989) raised the possibility of using social learning processes to improve the post-release survival of hatchery-reared fishes. This period has witnessed considerable progress in the understanding of how social learning operates in fish populations. We review new methods and recent findings that suggest how social learning protocols could realistically be applied on a large scale to enhance the viability of hatchery fish prior to their release into the wild. We also suggest a practical pre-release training protocol that may be applied at the hatchery level. [source]


Beyond Just Research: Experiences from Southern Africa in Developing Social Learning Partnerships for Resource Conservation Initiatives

BIOTROPICA, Issue 5 2009
Charlie M. Shackleton
ABSTRACT There is a well-acknowledged communication or knowledge gap between scientists and decision-makers. Many scientists who take on the challenge of narrowing this gap operate on the understanding that their role is to communicate their findings in a one-way flow of information: from science to decision-makers. However, to be effective scientists must engage in an ongoing social learning process with decision-makers, and regard themselves as facilitators, and also as one among many stakeholders who have valid and important ecological knowledge. The developing world poses some particular challenges in this regard, specifically in terms of the large number of local level subsistence resources users who are important de facto decision-makers. We examine four natural resource management case studies from South Africa that differ in spatial scale and complexity, ranging from a single village to a whole biome. We distil seven lessons to help guide development of social learning processes and organizations in similar situations relating to natural resource planning and management. The lessons pertain to: maintaining ,key individuals' within social learning processes; the role of researchers; the formulation of research questions that social learning processes require adaptive long-term funding and capacity support; that local resource users are key decision-makers in developing countries; some perspectives on knowledge; and the need to measure research success. [source]