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The Bicocca neighborhood is characterized by an extreme variety of places and people: universities, businesses, services, cultural organizations, and residential buildings, and as a result, families who have recently moved in or have resided here for generations, students, and young workers populate this neighborhood.

Despite the diverse and rich context, no particular websites or apps exist to explore the area. However, digital media can lend a hand.

For example, a person could take advantage of the BikeMi application the City of Milan offers to roam the streets by bicycle. At the same time, the Professional Order of Architects of Milan provides many routes to follow to visit the area. However, these are only a few tools.

Given the lack of digital tools for exploring the Bicocca neighborhood, some ideas and proposals for mobile applications emerged within the Visual Communication and Interface Design course, part of the master's degree in Theory and Technology of Communication.

Read the full abstract:
Bollini, L. (2019). The real world and the digital. Discovering the Milano-Bicocca district: cues and views. In G. Nuvolati, & G. Bigatti (a cura di), Story of a district. Milano-Bicocca: people, places, recollections (pp. 140-147). Milano: Scalpendi Editore.

degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca

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Are Emoticons able to convey emotions?

In a recent review runned by Cherbonnier and Michinov, the authors explore the current state of research on the ability of people to recognize emotions conveyed through emoticons and emojis.

The study reviewed 68 articles published between 2002 and 2018 and analyzed the findings related to recognising emotions conveyed by emoticons and emojis.

The authors found that emoticons and emojis are effective in conveying emotions and that people are generally able to recognize the emotions conveyed by them accurately.

However, the study also found that recognition accuracy can vary depending on factors such as context, culture, and the type of emoticon or emoji used. For example, some emojis may be interpreted differently in different cultures or age groups, and using multiple emojis in a message may lead to confusion or misinterpretation.

Overall, the study suggests that emoticons and emojis can be effective tool for emotional communication. Still, caution should be taken in their use and interpretation, particularly in cross-cultural and cross-generational communication.

Read the full paper:

Cherbonnier, A., & Michinov, N. (2022). The Recognition of Emotions Conveyed by Emoticons and Emojis: A Systematic Literature Review. Technology, Mind, and Behavior, 3(2: Summer 2022). https://doi.org/10.1037/tmb0000067

degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca

BiCApP Publications

The adoption of digital technologies as support for teaching and learning activities is now a widespread practice in the school environment, but numerous challenges remain.

While new generations have a pervasive relationship with interactive devices and platforms, teachers still belong to the digital migrant generation. As a result, they are still tied to traditional, in-presence learning modes with printed books, face-to-face lectures, and periodic tests.

The "Res Logica" tablet application, presented at the ICERI 2015 (International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation) conference, aims to teach Italian grammar to students in the 11-14 age group.

"Res Logica" is based on a gamification approach and peer relational dynamics typical of social networks.

In the first phase of the research project, "Res Logica" was prototyped and tested with students to evaluate the initial hypothesis. In the second phase, however, a spin-off aimed at teachers was developed to understand how they react to digital innovation and mobile technologies as support for teaching.

Read the full abstract:
Bollini, L. (2018). RES LOGICA MAGISTER. TESTING WITH TEACHERS A GAMIFICA-TION-BASED TABLET APP FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING. INTED2018 Proceedings, 598-607.

degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca

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Shopping, defined as the process of searching for and/or purchasing items in exchange for money, is considered both a utilitarian activity and a social and leisure activity with hedonistic characteristics. In fact, according to some authors, today it is the shopping experience itself, which has become highly pleasant and sensorial, and not the purchased item, which provides rewards to the individual.

In recent years, the shopping process has also been radically transformed by the advent of the Internet. If, on the one hand, the online shopping brings with it numerous advantages for the buyer, on the other hand, several elements can favor problematic purchasing behavior.

Starting from a theoretical review of the online shopping addiction (OSA) literature, Rose and Dhandayudham (2013) developed a conceptual model of OSA that includes the definition of online shopping addiction, six diagnostic criteria, and seven predictor variables.

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Rose, S., & Dhandayudham, A. (2014). Towards an understanding of Internet-based problem shopping behaviour: The concept of online shopping addiction and its proposed predictors. Journal of behavioral addictions, 3(2), 83-89.

degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca

BiCApP Publications

Regular physical activity is a fundamental protective factor against numerous diseases that are the main causes of death in the West. However, most people lead sedentary lives and do not meet the medical community's guidelines regarding physical activity.

Help can come from technology: the increasingly widespread adoption of mobile and wearable technology devices has paved the way for developing digital interventions aimed at modifying behavior and promoting physical activity. However, the research is still in its infancy.

In a 2019 article, Beretta et al. presented an innovative computational model conceptually framed in self-efficacy theory emphasizing self-efficacy beliefs and goal setting. The computational model is embedded in a digital behavior change intervention provided by "Muoviti!", a mobile application that monitors heart rate to promote physical activity among adults who do not meet the guidelines.

Read the full paper:
Baretta, D., Sartori, F., Greco, A., D’Addario, M., Melen, R., & Steca, P. (2019). Improving physical activity mhealth interventions: development of a computational model of self-efficacy theory to define adaptive goals for exercise promotion. Advances in Human-Computer Interaction, 2019.

degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca

BiCApP Publications

New generations from Millennials are , growing in an environment of pervasive interactions with . On the contrary, teachers are often who face new technology-mediated relationships with the world.

“Res Logica” is an app for tablets aimed at teaching Italian grammar to students aged 11-14 years, relying on and social networks-like interactions among peers.

Bollini (2018) tested a prototype with three different personas of school professionals: the traditionals, the innovators and the digital animators. Users were asked to perform tasks using a thinking aloud protocol, followed by in-depth interviews.

Valuable insights were collected to fix issues and keep designing a digital tool for effective pedagogical support.

Read the full paper:
Bollini, L. (2018). Res logica magister. Testing with teachers a gamification-based tablet app for language learning. INTED2018 Proceedings, 598-607.

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Increasingly, people are signing legal documents with digital signatures instead of by hand. Although this is a common practice, it is not without its critical issues, including psychological ones.

One of the concerns related to digital signatures is that people may question their social value. This issue has been explored by using the concept of social presence, i.e., inferred psychological involvement, to understand and improve the dynamics of technology-mediated interaction in a variety of contexts.

For example, some research has found that electronically signed documents convey less social presence than those signed by hand, which in turn negatively affects social judgments.

These findings were replicated by two studies and a meta-analysis: people who signed through an avatar were rated as less socially present and were perceived as more likely to violate the signed contract than those who signed the document by hand.

Read the full paper:
Tzelios, K., & Williams, L. A. (2020). The Psychological Impact of Digital Signatures: A Multistudy Replication. Technology, Mind, and Behavior, 1(2). https://doi.org/10.1037/tmb0000019

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degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca

BiCApP Publications

It is widely agreed that a healthy lifestyle includes the performance of physical activity. For this reason, it is crucial to identify the best tools to promote it. In this regard, technology offers us help: so many mobile applications (apps) have sprung up to encourage physical activity. However, little is known about the effectiveness of these apps.

Studies so far have focused on behavior change theory and, in particular, the presence of behavior change techniques (BCTs) within the apps. The results showed that the most popular and effective techniques are self-regulatory BCTs, such as goal setting, self-monitoring, and feedback on behavior. Among these, goal setting plays a significant role in behavioral change related to physical activity.

These techniques are known to be present, but the quality of their implementation is unknown. Baretta et al. (2019) sought to find out by assessing whether and how different components of goal setting were implemented in popular physical activity apps.

Authors found that the quality of the goal-setting strategy could be improved, e.g. by tailoring the goal difficulty to the users’ ability level and re-evaluating the goals based on achievements.


Read the full paper:
Baretta, D., Bondaronek, P., Direito, A., & Steca, P. (2019). Implementation of the goal-setting components in popular physical activity apps: Review and content analysis. Digital health, 5, 2055207619862706. https://doi.org/10.1177/2055207619862706

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degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca

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Engaging regularly in is a protective factor against non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and some forms of cancer.

Given that a significant number of people worldwide do not meet the recommended guidelines for physical activity, researchers are committed to develop effective strategies to promote behavior change, including interventions.

Relying on think-aloud and in-depth interview methodologies, Baretta et al. (2019) examined users’ needs and expectations concerning physical activity mobile apps to guide the selection of the most promising behavior change techniques .

Potential users proved to be interested in fair and simple , supporting their self-regulation skills and need for relatedness, and boosting their motivation. Moreover, tailored features providing adaptive exercise plans and just-in-time support were considered useful to sustain engagement over time.

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During the last 90 years in Italy, official national statistics contributed to the study of cultural transformations, including not only cultural meanings and behaviors but also the conceptual models and categories for their representation and interpretation.

Arosio and Caramis (2019) trace the historical series of transformations of Italian cultural consumptions. They open a discussion to understand how new technologies are impacting cultural trends. Today’s developments enabling the dematerialization, decentralization and ubiquity of digital products make consumption more oriented to virtual worlds rather than physical products.

New generations show a reduction of traditional forms of cultural consumption, but it is not established whether this phenomenon represents a cultural impoverishment or a shift to new cultural participation models.

Therefore, the authors speculate on how to assess continuative and simultaneous digital consumption, and whether there is the need to redefine means and contents of statistical representations, for instance introducing new investigation techniques and informational sources (big data, open, and social).

Read the full paper:
Arosio, F. M., & Caramis, A. (2019). Il ruolo della statistica per la conoscenza delle trasformazioni culturali del Paese. DigitCult-Scientific Journal on Digital Cultures, 4(3), 47-62.

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In recent years, the relationship between users and smartphones has often been discussed in terms of extremely harmful addiction. Many people report problematic behaviors such as reduced productivity at work or impoverished interpersonal interactions due to compulsive smartphone use.

What are the psychological mechanisms underlying this addiction?

Research has mainly focused on two interacting aspects: personality types and addiction to specific functional device applications, e.g., extroversion/introversion traits versus addiction to texting, social media, and games.

The general idea is that there is nothing about smartphones per se that makes them addictive. In fact, addiction would come from the specific features that phones provide, such as access to social media.

Therefore, any device that offers similar functionality, whether a computer, tablet, or smartphone, can satisfy these "addictive" needs.

However, some authors argue that there is a deeper psychological explanation: for many users, the smartphone is a palliative, a source of psychological comfort during stress.

This feeling does not depend only on the functionality that the smartphone offers but, rather, on a combination of features: its reassuring presence in daily life, resulting from its portability, its personal nature, the sense of privacy, and the tactile pleasure one derives from manipulating it.

Read the full paper:
Melumad, S., & Pham, M. T. (2020). The smartphone as a pacifying technology. Journal of Consumer Research, 47(2), 237-255.

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Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca

BiCApP Publications

Today, online dating is a common social practice that is changing how people approach romantic relations.

These services offer several advantages: for instance, they allow users to control their self-presentation and management of interaction better, while they increase the opportunities to have more and more filtered romantic encounters.

On the other hand, the downside of these opportunities is the increased experiences of romantic rejection, especially for male users.

How do people react to this contemporary form of rejection?

To empirically investigate this issue, Andrighetto et al. (2019) created an ad hoc online dating platform in which fictitious online dating partners romantically rejected heterosexual male and female participants.

Results revealed that male—but not female—participants who were rejected by desired dating partners displayed increased hostility.

Read the full paper:
Andrighetto, L., Riva, P., Gabbiadini, A. (2019). Lonely hearts and angry minds: Online dating rejection increases male (but not female) hostility. Aggressive Behavior, 1– 11.

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Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca