Browsing by Subject "perception"

Research shows that Finnish people could increase the consumption of some domestic fish species. Increased consumption has been calculated to have economic, social, and environmental benefits. The current situation of fish consumption is unsustainable. Academic literature on consumption and food systems emphasizes the importance of a holistic view to sustainability. Environmental sustainability has been emphasized and other dimensions of sustainability have been neglected, regarding policies and regulations of the fish industry. In this study, it is argued that observing the consumer perceptions of sustainability dimensions could help to develop a more sustainable fish industry and consumption patterns. The theoretical framework was formed based on literature review. A three-dimensional view to sustainability was used including social, economic, and environmental dimensions. The relevant factors to measure the importance of the dimensions were formed with previous studies on fish consumption. The research aims to reveal perceptions to sustainability dimensions importance from a consumer interface. The research questions are: Which dimensions of sustainability have importance to consumers regarding fish consumption? Are any of the dimensions and factors involved more important than the others? Are there differences between groups on the perception of the dimensions? The research was carried out as a quantitative online survey and shared on social media platforms. Data (N=107) was analysed with quantitative methods (descriptive statistics, crosstabulation and Kruskal-Wallis’s test). Most participants considered all sustainability dimensions important. Environmental dimension was the most important, and especially the factors of protecting the ecosystems, fish stocks and waterbodies. Between age groups a statistically significant difference was found in the importance of the environmental dimension. The results indicate that Finnish people are willing to consume more domestic fish, and care about the sustainability of fish consumption. This study contributes to the discussion of sustainable fish consumption and provides a new approach on developing more sustainable food systems.

Karelia has numerous questions regarding to whom its soul belongs with accompanying loyalties, identities and senses of belonging. Underlying assumptions may affect personal, political or business perceptions. Through explorations in discourse through selections of memory, ontology and reality we examine the necessity to rethink perceptions about Russian and Finnish relations as seen in the Karelian borderlands. Further, addressing how Karelia is constructed in Soviet literature and more contemporary opinion. Discourse from two periods of time is digested to reflect on the nature of knowing, remembering, learning and realizing. I include Soviet novels from 1940s to the 1980s about Karelia and newspaper letters to the editor and editorials from 2000 to 2015 to serve as gauges of perceptions and time periods. The discourse is examined for patterns and evidence of perceptions. The examined discourses suggest there is a disconnection between knowing and experiencing. Evidence is seen through government steering committees in Soviet literature and in memory and political exposure in popular opinion. Communicative acts in Soviet literature and published opinion pieces show how Karelian discourse can be affected. By addressing these perceptions we create opportunities to develop more realistic knowledge to aid in personal, political or business relations.

The chemesthesis perception needs to be researched so that we can better understand how it works in different individuals and affects them. Chemesthesis, smell and taste chemical senses have an important role in individual food choices and health. The primary goal was to study the individual differences in perception of chemesthesis. The data for this study was collected at the University of Turku Functional Food Forum sensory laboratory (ISO 8589). The data includes sensory study results about chemesthetic properties such as astringency, burning and cooling, which are the properties analysed in this study. Study subjects (N=196) evaluated the intensity of these three properties. Every property had five sensory samples presented in different concentrations. Based on the results, the intensity rate was classified into three groups (non-sensitive, semi-sensitive, most sensitive) with Hierarchical clustering. The differences of the formed groups were analysed with the one-way multivariate analysis of variance which gave statistically significant results (F = 10.0; p ≤ 0.001). Mean values of the cluster groups from three different chemesthetic properties were combined into chemesthesis scores. Age didn’t affect the chemesthesis score (F = 0.5; p > 0.05). Female subjects’ chemesthesis scores differ from the male subjects’ scores (F = 5.1; p ≤ 0.01). The correlation between chemesthesis and taste was tested from Puputti et al. (2018) created taste score with data from the same subjects, and chemesthesis score. Chemesthesis score and taste score had a positive correlation (r = +0.561; p ≤ 0.01). The results show that individuals differ in the perception of chemesthesis. The chemesthesis score can classify individuals to different sensitivity groups and chemesthesis appears to correlate with taste. There are many chemesthetic sensations whose properties and mechanisms are unknown. The objectives of the research were achieved. The research is a part of Professor Mari Sandell’s the Academy of Finland funded Food Taste research program and was done during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives. The aim of the research was to expand the awareness of the leadership and quality of small children pedagogy. The research provides information on how the heads form the awareness of small children pedagogy, early childhood researches and development, as well as on how they lead structures and activities of early childhood education. The aim of the research was to stimulate discussion and reflection on the point of view of small children pedagogical leadership. This particular leadership area has received little attention in the society. Methods. The research was conducted using qualitative methods. The target group consisted of 14 heads of day care units at the same administrative region in the City of Helsinki. The heads received an electronic questionnaire in March 2016. They described positive points of view and views with needs to develop what they saw in the small children´s group environment. The heads described views to build awareness and to develop skills and thoughts about needs and ways to develop small children pedagogy. Material derived from the research were analysed using qualitative methods. Results and conclusions. The results of the research reveal how the heads form awareness of the leadership of small children pedagogy, how they sustain their skills and what are their thoughts on developing the small children pedagogy. In conclusion, the research reveals how important the adults are in terms of the sensitivity represent and the sensitivity to observe and modify the emotional, social and physical situations in operation when needed. High quality pedagogy requires functional structures to face in professional co-operating. Kindergarten teachers are in a significant position to develop and sustain pedagogy in operation. The results can be adapted to develop the leadership of early childhood education. National basics of early childhood education plan were adopted in October 2016. The new local early childhood education plans will be introduced the 1st of August 2017. The effects of the change in small children pedagogy were not yet to be estimated as the research was carried out.

Background: We studied two different visual effects: In brightness induction, the perceived brightness of the stimulus is altered by the luminance of its surround, and in orientation selective contrast suppression the contrast of the stimulus appears lower when surrounded by a collinear surround of higher contrast. In previous studies, orientation selective contrast suppression has been found to be altered in patients who have been diagnosed with depression. Objectives: We measured symptoms of anxiety and depression in our non-clinical sample in order to compare them to their performance in the visual experiments. The goal of our online experiment was also to replicate both of the visual effects without a tightly controlled environment. Methods: Our online experiment consisted of a repeated measures design, with separate blocks for randomised brightness trials, randomised contrast trials, and self-report mental health questionnaires. In the visual trials participants were asked to estimate the brightness or contrast level of a central stimulus, while its surround was varied in luminance or contrast. Our sample consisted of 76 healthy participants with a mean age of 25. Results and conclusions: We managed to replicate both the brightness induction and the orientation selective contrast suppression effects, and found that the use of different electronic devices in completion of the study had no significant effect on the results. Participants reported varying levels of symptoms of anxiety and depression, and 61.6 % of them crossed clinically relevant cut-off points. We did not find a statistically significant connection between the visual effects and symptoms of anxiety and depression. This is encouraging, as it indicates that having only a few symptoms of mental disorders does not alter contrast perception. However, finding out at what point is the contrast perception altered, warrants further study.

Bioeconomy is a concept that aims to provide sustainable solutions for economic growth by utilizing renewable natural resources. In Finland, the forest-based bioeconomy forms the base for bioeconomy. The Finnish Bioeconomy Strategy by the Ministry of Employment and the Economy has set ambitious targets regarding employment, output and innovative products and services. However, to date these solutions still remain by large in the theoretical level and the overall sustainability of bioeconomy is questioned by stakeholders. Urbanization is a world-wide phenomenon and also in Finland the biggest cities are expected to grow whilst the country-side becomes less inhabited. Thus, the importance of urban citizens becomes increasingly important in the implementation of forest-based bioeconomy, as they are the future consumers of biobased products and practices. Thereby understanding urban citizens’ perceptions, level of knowledge and opinions regarding the emerging bioeconomy practices is of fundamental importance. This thesis aims to provide insights into the topic with the research questions “what are the worldviews through which urban citizens understand the forest-based bioeconomy?” Furthermore, this thesis aims to provide insights into the question, “how do these worldviews affect the urban citizens’ perceptions of the forest-based bioeconomy?” These worldviews are screened through the Integrative Worldview Framework (IWF) to explain and understand the underlying latent elements of perceptions and acceptance. Additionally, this thesis contributes to a European-wide research network aiming to understand the regional disparities of forest-based bioeconomy perceptions and policies. To answer these questions, a quantitative survey was conducted in Helsinki city center in December 2018 and January 2019. The survey included 34 claims regarding wooden multistory buildings, forest carbon storage and forest-based bioeconomy. With a randomized approach, 206 responses were gathered in total. The statistical methods include descriptive statistics, crosstabulations and exploratory factor analysis and were done using the SPSS 25 Programme. The results proved to be positive and encouraging for the Finnish forest-based bioeconomy. Four worldview factors were detected: Utilitarian, Biocentric, Anti-bioeconomy, and Anthropocentric. Nearly 59% of the respondents perceived to be familiar with the meaning of forest-based bioeconomy and even more with both wooden multistory buildings (WMC) and forest carbon storage. Additionally, forest-based bioeconomy was associated with positive attributes such as generating new jobs and wellbeing.

It has been found by multiple research projects that subjective and objective measurements of greenery often do not match when measured for the same area. Some even say that this is due to these measurements considering different attributes of the greenery. However, one important factor to consider in this equation is the impact of personal characteristics of the people providing subjective greenery measurements. Factors such as age, gender, worldview and education level have been found to have an impact on how and how much people perceive greenery. As there seem to be very few studies regarding this topic which focus on people with a higher education, the participants of this study are all university students from four of the largest cities or areas in Finland: the Helsinki Capital Region, Tampere, Oulu and Turku. One of the objectives of this study are to see whether participants perceive the same amount of urban greenery as the objective amount, calculated using the “normalized difference vegetation index”. Another objective is to research whether subjective perception is dependent on whether the participant is a resident of the city, for which they are estimating the urban greenery percentage. This study also looks into whether there is a correlation between age and urban greenery perception or difference between genders regarding the perception of urban greenery. The results show that the participants tend to overestimate the amount of greenery, and that residents always perceive their home city to be greener than at least some non-residents. No significant connections were found in the tests concerning age and gender. This highlights the importance of considering personal characteristics and perceptions of people when developing new green spaces.

Aims: Speech production involves constrictions made in the vocal tract, and some of them can be seen by the perceiver. Consequently, lipreading is a natural part of human communication. Talker differences in visual intelligibility have been observed, but the features of a clear talker are still poorly known. Previous research on visual speech perception has mainly focused on the dynamic features of the lips, which are key articulators e.g. for labial consonants. For many other consonants, the main articulation happens inside the mouth. The current study investigated the relationship between visual articulatory features and visual speech perception. The study aimed to identify articulatory features that perceivers use to recognize spoken stop consonants visually. It was hypothesized that greater lip opening, longer duration, and hence greater visibility of articulators inside the mouth (teeth and tongue) would be related to recognition. Methods: 52 Finnish adults participated in a syllable recognition test. The stimuli analyzed in the current study were easily confusable visual stop consonants [k] and [t] articulated in CV (consonant-vowel [a]) context by 8 talkers (4 Finnish and 4 Japanese, 2 males and 2 females in both). The following visual features were analyzed from the video clips: (1) maximum mouth opening, (2) timing of the maximum mouth opening, (3) upper teeth visibility, and (4) lower teeth visibility throughout the visual stimulus, as well as (5) mouth opening, (6) tongue visibility and (7) motion blur in the consonant closure frame (when the tongue stopped the airflow in the soft palate for [k] and behind the upper front teeth in [t]). The relationship between visual features and perception responses was examined using hierarchical regression models. The model including the visual features contributing to consonant recognition was formed using forward stepwise regression. Pearson’s correlations between visual features and response proportions were also calculated. Analyses were conducted for correct responses to visual [k] and [t], as well as their confusions with each other. Results and conclusions: Tongue visibility, motion blur, and upper teeth visibility were the best predictors for the recognition of [k]. However, the blur effect finding was unreliable due to heteroscedasticity. Lower teeth visibility predicted the recognition of [t]. Measures of mouth opening correlated with recognition of both consonants but were not significant predictors. The talker’s ethnicity and gender were significant predictors of the recognition, though these differences were likely to be at least partly due to individual differences in a small sample of talkers. This study provides a greater understanding of static articulatory features’ contribution to the recognition of stop consonants in lipreading. The results of this study show that it is not only how open the mouth is during articulation but also what can be seen inside the mouth.