Apres une definition du concept de creativite est effectuee une revue de la litterature consacree au developpement de l'innovation dans la reussite professionnelle, mettant l'accent sur l'integration et la reorganisation des structures cognitives

http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/bul/103/1/27.pdf

Creativity syndrome: Integration, application, and innovation.

Citizens’ acquisition of mass media information has long been a concern of social scientists and policy makers. The conventional wisdom that increasing the flow of information will ensure its wides...

The Knowledge Gap Hypothesis: Twenty-Five Years Later

The extraordinary advances in electronic technologies and global human interconnectedness present novel adaptational challenges and expanded opportunities for people to shape their social future and national life. The present article analyzes these pervasive transformational changes from an agentic theoretical perspective rooted in the exercise of perceived personal and collective efficacy. By acting on their efficacy beliefs, people ply the enabling functions of electronic systems to promote their education, health, affective well-being, worklife, organizational innovativeness and productivity and to change social conditions that affect their lives. Technology influences, and is influenced by, the sociostructural nature of societies. The codetermining sociostructural factors affect whether electronic technologies and globalization serve as positive forces that benefit all or divisive ones in human lives.

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Growing primacy of human agency in adaptation and change in the electronic era

Traditional extension has been a top down process: scientists developed products and methods which, following promulgation by extension agencies, farmers were expected to adopt. Extension agents considered farmers who failed to adopt new techniques to be recalcitrant and irrational. Farmers' attitudes and their lack of knowledge were considered to be the main barriers to adoption. Little consideration was given to farmers' points of view. The idea that resistance or reluctance to change might have some logical basis was never considered. Recent analysis reveals that most ‘barriers’ have a rational basis and can be categorised as: conflicting information; risk; implementation costs and capital outlay; intellectual outlay; loss of flexibility; complexity; and incompatibility with other aspects of farm management and farm and personal objectives. Social and perceptional issues also affect adoption. This paper examines the conceptual concerns about the efficacy of traditional extension practices and ...

Farmer rationality and the adoption of environmentally sound practices; A critique of the assumptions of traditional agricultural extension

The purpose of this article is to examine research evidence on knowledge gaps and to ask how strong this evidence is, particularly when amount of mass media publicity is taken into account. Many varying characteristics of 58 studies with relevant data are analyzed. Theoretical and methodological differences among the studies are pointed out, and some conclusions drawn about media effects on knowledge disparities and conditions under which knowledge gaps may or may not occur. Some reasons for conflicting results in the literature are explained, and suggestions are made for future research on knowledge differentials.

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THE KNOWLEDGE GAP: An Analytical Review of Media Effects

Diffusion strategies, as currently practiced by most change agencies, often lead to increased inequity and therefore migh t be used as guides for devising revised strategies which avoid what currently practiced strategies predict. This view implies that those who seek more equitable development programs should not carry out further surveys of current diffusion practice, but rather experiment to develop and test new alternatives to such usual diffusion programs. One such field experiment in rural Kenya shows that diffusion programs can reach successfully the noninnovative "laggards." Not only did this project obtain 100% adoption among those reached directly, but it also had an immediate three-to-one diffusion effect for each farmer directly reached.

The diffusion of Innovations and the Issue of Equity in Rural Development

The Diffusion of Innovations and the Issue of Equity in Rural Development

The present paper is subdivided in three sections. In the first section, an overview of the development of the Special Rural.Development Programme, fyom its inception at the 19&5 Kericho Conference, to the present time, is presented. In the second section, we focus our attention specifically upon the Tetu Division SEDP. We describe our rationale, methods of research design and major findings of the Tetu Extension Pilot Project baseline survey oonduoted in 1970. The final section is devoted to a proposal outlining an experimental strategy for increasing rural incomes via the acceleration of the flow of income-generating ideas and practices to small scale farmers, NOTE TO THOSE REQUESTING THE PRESENT REPORT AS A RESULT OF READING THE EEC CMMBHDATI QMS OF THE "RE POKE OF .TBE X^AHALWA) TRAINING REVIEW CL01f IIThose interested in reading only the proposed programme for training farmers, please turn to page 21, "THE TETU EXTENSION STRATEGY". A "SUMMARY CP THE PROPOSED TRAINING PROGRAMME" can be found on the page following the ABSTRACT. — Those interested m also reading the results of the "baseline diagnostic research whi»h led t® th§ programme for training farmers, please turn to page 14, "TBE TETU BASELINE RESEARCH". / SUMlAKY-OF̂ l'lIE H£OFCSED~TR£INli-IG itiw.

Niels Roling

Papers

The diffusion of Innovations and the Issue of Equity in Rural Development

The Diffusion of Innovations and the Issue of Equity in Rural Development

Accelerating the flow of new ideas to rural people, a proposal for a pilot extension training project in Nyeri

Introductory chapter to Innovation and equality in rural development research and field experiments in Kenya

Innovation and Equity in Rural Development Research and Field Experiments in Kenya