Additivity Pretraining and cue competition effects: Developmental evidence for a reasoning account of causal learning

The effect of additivity pretraining on blocking has been taken as evidence for a reasoning account of human and animal causal learning. If inferential reasoning underpins this effect, then developmental differences in the magnitude of this effect in children would be expected. Experiment 1 examined cue competition effects in children's (4- to 5-year-olds and 6- to 7-year-olds) causal learning using a new paradigm analogous to the food allergy task used in studies of human adult causal learning. Blocking was stronger in the older than the younger children, and additivity pretraining only affected blocking in the older group. Unovershadowing was not affected by age or by pretraining. In experiment 2, levels of blocking were found to be correlated with the ability to answer questions that required children to reason about additivity. Our results support an inferential reasoning explanation of cue competition effects. (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

“That’s not Ironic, that’s just Stupid!": Towards an Eclectic Account of the Discourse of Irony

This article draws on a range of models from language studies, particularly from linguistic pragmatics, in order to elucidate patterns in the production and reception of irony in its social and cultural context. An expanded view of the concept of irony, it is suggested, allows for better modelling of the creative mechanisms which underpin it, and in doing so can open the way for a fuller understanding of humour production and reception. A consequence of this broader (five-fold) typology of irony is that it can help shed light on the cultural dynamic of irony. The article uses a range of examples from different media and the lay definitions and interpretations that ordinary (non-academic) users of the language use in the comprehension of irony. Insofar as it seeks to develop an overarching model of irony, this paper draws on a variety of textual examples from a variety of sources, ranging from corpus evidence, through a stand-up comedy routine, to political wall murals and their discursive re-conformation as humour in present-day Northern Ireland. Although the central discussion is supported by insights from other linguistic, cognitive and socio-cultural approaches, the theoretical framework which emerges, with its focus on language and communication in context, is situated squarely within contemporary linguistic pragmatics.

The problem with law in books and law in computers - the oral nature of law

It is becoming clear that, contrary to earlier expectations, the application of AI techniques to law is not as easy nor as effective as some claimed. Unfortunately, for most AI researchers, there seems to be little understanding of just why this is. In this paper I argue, from empirical study of lawyers in action, just why there is a mismatch between the AI view of law, and law in practice. While this is important and novel, it also - if my arguments are accepted - demonstrates just why AI will never have success in producing the computerised lawyer.

FROM LINE-DRAWINGS TO IMPRESSIONS OF 3D OBJECTS - DEVELOPING A MODEL TO ACCOUNT FOR THE SHAPES THAT PEOPLE SEE

The interpretations people attach to line drawings reflect shape-related processes in human vision. Their divergences from expectations embodied in related machine vision traditions are summarized, and used to suggest how human vision decomposes the task of interpretation. A model called IO implements this idea. It first identifies geometrically regular, local fragments. Initial decisions fix edge orientations, and this information constrains decisions about other properties. Relations between fragments are explored, beginning with weak consistency checks and moving to fuller ones. IO's output captures multiple distinctive characteristics of human performance, and it suggests steady progress towards understanding shape-related visual processes is possible.

Design optimization of cold-formed steel portal frames taking into account the effect of building topology

Cold-formed steel portal frames are a popular form of construction for low-rise commercial, light industrial and agricultural buildings with spans of up to 20 m. In this article, a real-coded genetic algorithm is described that is used to minimize the cost of the main frame of such buildings. The key decision variables considered in this proposed algorithm consist of both the spacing and pitch of the frame as continuous variables, as well as the discrete section sizes.A routine taking the structural analysis and frame design for cold-formed steel sections is embedded into a genetic algorithm. The results show that the real-coded genetic algorithm handles effectively the mixture of design variables, with high robustness and consistency in achieving the optimum solution. All wind load combinations according to Australian code are considered in this research. Results for frames with knee braces are also included, for which the optimization achieved even larger savings in cost.

Knowledge Formation and the Great Divergence between China and Europe: Manuscripts and Printed Books, ca. 581–1840

Literature dealing with the history of Chinese printed books and printing is voluminous. Yet studies of how knowledge in general and utilitarian forms of knowledge in particular were generated, accumulated and circulated by printed books and their relationship with the long-term socio-economic transformation of China are rare. This paper aims to open up the subject by examining the long-term trends in the production of manuscripts and books and focusing on the connections between the generation and dissemination of useful knowledge in China and the production and circulation of printed books over the centuries and dynasties from circa 581 to 1840 compared to Europe. It connects trends in this indicator for knowledge formation and diffusion to economic growth, urbanization, changes in higher forms of education, the rise of literacy, the development of printing technologies, and changes in perceptions of the natural world. It concludes that human capital formation in China probably proceeded at a slower rate,which is relevant for narratives of the “divergence” between China and Europe.