Case-based reasoning in offshore well design

Petroleum well drilling is an expensive and risky operation. In this context, well design presents itself as a fundamental key to decrease costs and risks involved. Experience acquired by engineers is notably an important factor in good drilling design elaborations. Therefore, the loss of this knowledge may entail additional problems and costs. In this way, this work represents an initiative to model a petroleum well design case-based architecture. Tests with a prototype showed that the system built with this architecture may help in a well design and enable corporate knowledge preservation. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Conditional reasoning: A key to assessing computer-based knowledge-building communication processes

This article describes a methodological approach to conditional reasoning in online asynchronous learning environments such as Virtual-U VGroups, developed by SFU, BC, Canada, consistent with the notion of meaning implication: If part of a meaning C is embedded in B and a part of a meaning B is embedded in A, then A implies C in terms of meaning [Piaget 91]. A new transcript analysis technique was developed to assess the flows of conditional meaning implications and to identify the occurrence of hypotheses and connections among them in two human science graduate mixed-mode online courses offered in the summer/spring session of 1997 by SFU. Flows of conditional meaning implications were confronted with Virtual-U VGroups threads and results of the two courses were compared. Findings suggest that Virtual-U VGroups is a knowledge-building environment although the tree-like Virtual-U VGroups threads should be transformed into neuronal-like threads. Findings also suggest that formulating hypotheses together triggers a collaboratively problem-solving process that scaffolds knowledge-building in asynchronous learning environments: A pedagogical technique and an built-in tool for formulating hypotheses together are proposed. © Springer Pub. Co.

Abductive reasoning, information, and mechanical systems

We investigate, from a philosophical perspective, the relation between abductive reasoning and information in the context of biological systems. Emphasis is given to the organizational role played by abductive reasoning in practical activities of embodied embedded agency that involve meaningful information. From this perspective, meaningful information is provisionally characterized as a selforganizing process of pattern generation that constrains coherent action. We argue that this process can be considered as a part of evolutionarily developed learning abilities of organisms in order to help with their survival. We investigate the case of inorganic mechanical systems (like robots), which deal only with stable forms of habits, rather than with evolving learning abilities. Some difficulties are considered concerning the hypothesis that mechanical systems may operate with meaningful information, present in abductive reasoning. Finally, an example of hypotheses creation in the domain of medical sciences is presented in order to illustrate the complexity of abduction in practical reasoning concerning human activities. © 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Relações entre os estilos parentais e juízo moral de adolescentes

Pós-graduação em Psicologia - FCLAS

O lúdico no desenvolvimento infantil: um estudo teórico

It is a fact that childhood is a period of play and it is through them that the child meets their interests, express their way to organize, disorganize, build, think, making new discoveries. Therefore, the playful stands as one of the most important and effective in children's learning process forms, as it enables the development of imagination, feelings and fantasies, helping the child progress in their motor, psychomotor, cognitive, and physical skills emotional. This gives her the exercise of attention and memory to play activities adults engage, thus expanding their knowledge about the world. The teacher's role in this process is essential, where it can bring to everyday life of the child in various situations themes, turning the simple play on continuous learning and not just using the play as a complementary activity to the child because they provide pleasure and relaxation which do interact with the new learning and the group operates. The psychology emphasizes that play is essential to the balanced development of the psychosocial human being, because when in childhood, the relationship with the toy and gaming in general develops affectivity, creativity, and reasoning ability. Playing, the child increases their independence by building their knowledge. The aim of this work is to make a theoretical study based on a literature search, aiming to understand the play within the child development process, where it is recognized as very important in a child's learning starting from the theoretical conceptions of thinkers such as Piaget, Vygotsky, Wallon among others. With this, it can also be possible to recover the importance of the play that is being extracted from the infant universe due to new reasons to experience the modern world brings, as the excess number of activities assigned to the child, electronic games, etc. Finally, a playful approach to provide a reflection for parents and educators, bringing children's learning...

The Challenges of Psychology at Work in Mental Health: the drugs issue.

This article aims to show that the challenges of psychology in working with mental health in the field of drugs is traversed by both the conceptions molded by biopolitical forces (FOUCAULT) as the decadence of modern democracy (AGAMBEN), and visible features in the current treatment given in Brazil to issue of smoking (SILVA), as well as urbanistic projects such as the case of Luz district in São Paulo (LEITE & CASTRO). In this sense, it leads us to question about what is prohibited, about who actually suffers the punishment, in short, about what do we really take care when we take into account the Unheimlich (FREUD) and other social interdicts (BATAILLE).