scholarly journals Attribution of autonomy and its role in robotic language acquisition

AI & Society ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Förster ◽  
Kaspar Althoefer
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Developmental Psychology ◽  
Baseline Scenario ◽  
Behavioral Repertoire ◽  
High Frequencies ◽  
Emotional Displays ◽  
And Robotics ◽  
Respective Characteristic

AbstractThe false attribution of autonomy and related concepts to artificial agents that lack the attributed levels of the respective characteristic is problematic in many ways. In this article, we contrast this view with a positive viewpoint that emphasizes the potential role of such false attributions in the context of robotic language acquisition. By adding emotional displays and congruent body behaviors to a child-like humanoid robot’s behavioral repertoire, we were able to bring naïve human tutors to engage in so called intent interpretations. In developmental psychology, intent interpretations can be hypothesized to play a central role in the acquisition of emotion, volition, and similar autonomy-related words. The aforementioned experiments originally targeted the acquisition of linguistic negation. However, participants produced other affect- and motivation-related words with high frequencies too and, as a consequence, these entered the robot’s active vocabulary. We will analyze participants’ non-negative emotional and volitional speech and contrast it with participants’ speech in a non-affective baseline scenario. Implications of these findings for robotic language acquisition in particular and artificial intelligence and robotics more generally will also be discussed.

scholarly journals Paleopathology of Human Tuberculosis and the Potential Role of Climate

2009 ◽  
Vol 2009 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas G. Nerlich ◽  
Sandra Lösch
Keyword(s):  
Potential Role ◽  
Environmental Influence ◽  
Late Period ◽  
Middle Kingdom ◽  
High Frequencies ◽  
Origin And Evolution ◽  
Evolutionary Scenario ◽  
Fertile Crescent ◽  
Insight Into

Both origin and evolution of tuberculosis and its pathogens (Mycobacterium tuberculosiscomplex) are not fully understood. The paleopathological investigation of human remains offers a unique insight into the molecular evolution and spread including correlative data of the environment. The molecular analysis of material from Egypt (3000–500 BC), Sudan (200–600 AD), Hungary (600–1700 AD), Latvia (1200–1600 AD), and South Germany (1400–1800 AD) urprisingly revealed constantly high frequencies of tuberculosis in all different time periods excluding significant environmental influence on tuberculosis spread. The typing of various mycobacteria strains provides evidence for ancestralM. tuberculosisstrains in Pre- to early Egyptian dynastic material (3500–2650 BC), while typicalM. africanumsignatures were detected in a Middle Kingdom tomb (2050–1650 BC). Samples from the New Kingdom to Late Period (1500–500 BC) indicated modernM. tuberculosisstrains. No evidence was seen forM. bovisin Egyptian material whileM. bovissignatures were first identified in Siberian biomaterial dating 2000 years before present. These results contraindicates the theory thatM. tuberculosisevolved fromM. bovisduring early domestication in the region of the “Fertile Crescent,” but supports the scenario thatM. tuberculosisprobably derived from an ancestral progenitor strain. The environmental influence of this evolutionary scenario deserves continuing intense evaluation.

Second Language Acquisition and Universal Grammar

1990 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydia White
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
First Language ◽  
Generative Grammar ◽  
L2 Acquisition

In this article, the motivation for Universal Grammar (UG), as assumed in the principles and parameters framework of generative grammar (Chomsky, 1981a, 1981b), is discussed, particular attention being paid to thelogical problemof first language acquisition. The potential role of UG in second language (L2) acquisition is then considered. Three different positions are reviewed: (a) the claim that UG is not available to L2 learners; (b) the claim that UG is fully available; and (c) the claim that the L2 learner's access to UG is mediated by the mother tongue. This raises the issue of what kind of evidence can be used to decide between these three positions. Recent experimental research which argues for one or another of these positions by investigating the L2 status of the Subjacency Principle is reviewed, and the implications of this research are discussed.

scholarly journals Language acquisition also needs non-connectionist models

1999 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 217-260
Author(s):  
ULRIKE HAHN
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Developmental Psychology ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
Rapid Progress ◽  
Connectionist Models ◽  
Neural Architecture ◽  
Cognitive Scientist ◽  
The One ◽  
High Level

Rethinking innateness is a timely volume which forcefully demonstrates the importance of modelling in understanding development, ‘innateness’, and the nature of change. It provides an inspiring vision of what developmental psychology could one day be like, linking behaviour and biology via connectionist models. However, Rispoli's worry about the book's potential for detrimental polarization does not seem unfounded. One aspect of the book that deserves comment in this respect is the focus on connectionism to the exclusion of other types of model. It is unclear from Rethinking innateness itself whether this exclusion of other approaches merely stems from the legitimate desire to write a focused book, or whether it possibly reflects an actively held view that connectionism is the one true approach to modelling development. Regardless of the authors' intentions, the role of connectionism in relation to other computational approaches is an issue which is particularly pertinent to the study of language acquisition.To clarify straightaway, I not only concur with Elman et al. on the central role of modelling, but also strongly believe that the task of the cognitive scientist is not complete until one has an account of how a particular process is realised in a neural architecture. These two commitments give connectionist models a central role. But they do not make connectionism the exclusive modelling tool for the study of language acquisition, nor necessarily the best path to currently pursue. The reasons for this are twofold.The first is a matter of research strategy. It is possible that more rapid progress and greater success might be made if one starts with high-level models which give less immediate regard to matters of implementation.

POPDC proteins and cardiac function

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 1393-1404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Brand
Keyword(s):  
Potential Role ◽  
Striated Muscle ◽  
Short Review ◽  
Effector Proteins ◽  
Muscle Disease ◽  
Disease Genes ◽  
Protein Protein Interaction ◽  
Interaction Partners ◽  
And Function

Abstract The Popeye domain-containing gene family encodes a novel class of cAMP effector proteins in striated muscle tissue. In this short review, we first introduce the protein family and discuss their structure and function with an emphasis on their role in cyclic AMP signalling. Another focus of this review is the recently discovered role of POPDC genes as striated muscle disease genes, which have been associated with cardiac arrhythmia and muscular dystrophy. The pathological phenotypes observed in patients will be compared with phenotypes present in null and knockin mutations in zebrafish and mouse. A number of protein–protein interaction partners have been discovered and the potential role of POPDC proteins to control the subcellular localization and function of these interacting proteins will be discussed. Finally, we outline several areas, where research is urgently needed.

The Effect of Path Length and Display Size on Memory for Spatial Information

2012 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 147-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Guérard ◽  
Sébastien Tremblay
Keyword(s):  
Path Length ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Recall Performance ◽  
Minor Role ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Serial Memory ◽  
Fixed Reference ◽  
A Minor

In serial memory for spatial information, some studies showed that recall performance suffers when the distance between successive locations increases relatively to the size of the display in which they are presented (the path length effect; e.g., Parmentier et al., 2005) but not when distance is increased by enlarging the size of the display (e.g., Smyth & Scholey, 1994). In the present study, we examined the effect of varying the absolute and relative distance between to-be-remembered items on memory for spatial information. We manipulated path length using small (15″) and large (64″) screens within the same design. In two experiments, we showed that distance was disruptive mainly when it is varied relatively to a fixed reference frame, though increasing the size of the display also had a small deleterious effect on recall. The insertion of a retention interval did not influence these effects, suggesting that rehearsal plays a minor role in mediating the effects of distance on serial spatial memory. We discuss the potential role of perceptual organization in light of the pattern of results.

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