scholarly journals Recurrent Neural Networks in Linguistic Theory: Revisiting Pinker and Prince (1988) and the Past Tense Debate

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 651-665 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christo Kirov ◽  
Ryan Cotterell

Can advances in NLP help advance cognitive modeling? We examine the role of artificial neural networks, the current state of the art in many common NLP tasks, by returning to a classic case study. In 1986, Rumelhart and McClelland famously introduced a neural architecture that learned to transduce English verb stems to their past tense forms. Shortly thereafter in 1988, Pinker and Prince presented a comprehensive rebuttal of many of Rumelhart and McClelland’s claims. Much of the force of their attack centered on the empirical inadequacy of the Rumelhart and McClelland model. Today, however, that model is severely outmoded. We show that the Encoder-Decoder network architectures used in modern NLP systems obviate most of Pinker and Prince’s criticisms without requiring any simplification of the past tense mapping problem. We suggest that the empirical performance of modern networks warrants a reexamination of their utility in linguistic and cognitive modeling.

2015 ◽  
pp. 347
Author(s):  
Teresa Torres Bustamante

The goal of this paper is an account of the role of tense and aspect in mirative constructions in Spanish. I propose that the past tense morphology and the imperfect/perfect morphology in Spanish miratives contribute their standard meanings to the semantics of mirativity. I define mirativity as the clash between the speaker’s previous beliefs and the current state of affairs asserted by the proposition. I propose a M operator that relates the speaker’s beliefs and the proposition by ranking the worlds in which the proposition doesn’t hold in the speaker’s previous beliefs as better ones. The past tense is interpreted outside the proposition, and constitutes the time argument of the modal base (doxastic domain). Aspect gets its usual interpretation in the proposition but also in the alternative propositions that order the worlds in the modal base. This way, differences regarding the imperfect mirative and the pluperfect one are accounted for. Finally, the paper also discusses stative miratives, which apparently challenge part of the analysis. I claim that these are not counter examples, but rather confirmation of the analysis, once we account for the interaction between miratives, statives and lifetime effects.


2012 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Torres Bustamante

The goal of this paper is an account of the role of tense and aspect in mirative constructions in Spanish. I propose that the past tense morphology and the imperfect/perfect morphology in Spanish miratives contribute their standard meanings to the semantics of mirativity. I define mirativity as the clash between the speaker’s previous beliefs and the current state of affairs asserted by the proposition. I propose a M operator that relates the speaker’s beliefs and the proposition by ranking the worlds in which the proposition doesn’t hold in the speaker’s previous beliefs as better ones. The past tense is interpreted outside the proposition, and constitutes the time argument of the modal base (doxastic domain). Aspect gets its usual interpretation in the proposition but also in the alternative propositions that order the worlds in the modal base. This way, differences regarding the imperfect mirative and the pluperfect one are accounted for. Finally, the paper also discusses stative miratives, which apparently challenge part of the analysis. I claim that these are not counter examples, but rather confirmation of the analysis, once we account for the interaction between miratives, statives and lifetime effects.


Author(s):  
I. V. Bukhtiyarov

The article presents the results of the analysis of health, working conditions and prevalence of adverse production factors, the structure of the detected occupational pathology in the working population of the Russian Federation. The article presents Statistical data on the dynamics of the share of workplaces of industrial enterprises that do not meet hygienic standards, occupational morbidity in 2015-2018 for the main groups of adverse factors of the production environment and the labor process. The indicators of occupational morbidity over the past 6 years in the context of the main types of economic activity, individual subjects of the Russian Federation, classes of working conditions, levels of specialized occupational health care. The role of the research Institute of occupational pathology and occupational pathology centers in solving organizational, methodological and practical tasks for the detection, treatment, rehabilitation and prevention of occupational diseases is shown. The basic directions of activity in the field of preservation and strengthening of health of workers, and also safety at a workplace are defined.


Author(s):  
Raffi Kamalian ◽  
Alice M. Agogino ◽  
Hideyuki Takagi

In this paper we review the current state of automated MEMS synthesis with a focus on generative methods. We use the design of a MEMS resonator as a case study and explore the role that geometric constraints and human interaction play in a computer-aided MEMS design system based on genetic algorithms.


2022 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Clifford Bohm ◽  
Douglas Kirkpatrick ◽  
Arend Hintze

Abstract Deep learning (primarily using backpropagation) and neuroevolution are the preeminent methods of optimizing artificial neural networks. However, they often create black boxes that are as hard to understand as the natural brains they seek to mimic. Previous work has identified an information-theoretic tool, referred to as R, which allows us to quantify and identify mental representations in artificial cognitive systems. The use of such measures has allowed us to make previous black boxes more transparent. Here we extend R to not only identify where complex computational systems store memory about their environment but also to differentiate between different time points in the past. We show how this extended measure can identify the location of memory related to past experiences in neural networks optimized by deep learning as well as a genetic algorithm.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-377
Author(s):  
Ewa Domańska ◽  
Paul Vickers

Abstract In this article I demonstrate that the ideas outlined in Jerzy Topolski’s Methodology of History (Polish 1968, English translation 1976) could not only offer a reference point for and indeed enrich ongoing debates in the philosophy of history, but also help to set directions for future developments in the field. To support my argument, I focus on two themes addressed in Topolski’s work: 1) the understanding of the methodology of history as a separate discipline and its role both in defending the autonomy of history and in creating an integrated knowledge of the past, which I read here through the lens of the current merging of the humanities and natural sciences; and 2) the role of a Marxist anthropocentrism based on the notion of humans as the creators of history, which I consider here in the context of the ongoing critique of anthropocentrism. I point to the value of continuing to use concepts drawn from Marxist vocabulary, such as alienation, emancipation, exploitation and overdetermination, for interpreting the current state of the world and humanity. I stress that Marxist anthropocentrism, with its support for individual and collective agency, remains crucial to the creation of emancipatory theories and visions of the future, even if it has faced criticism for its Eurocentrism and might seem rather familiar and predictable when viewed in the context of the contemporary humanities. Nevertheless, new manifestations of Marxist theory, in the form of posthumanist Marxism and an interspecies historical materialism that transcends anthropocentrism, might play an important role in redefining the humanities and humanity, including its functions and tasks within human and multispecies communities.


Author(s):  
Michael Cuthill

The concept of engaged scholarship, as a 'new' and participatory approach to knowledge production, has received much attention over the past decade. However, the term is clouded in ambiguity. This paper presents some introductory discussion around concepts of engaged scholarship, and then focuses in detail on a methodological case study of participatory action research as an example of engaged scholarship in practice. Discussion revolves around reflections on practice, drawing largely from recent reports on participatory democracy and the role of unversities in society.


2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-161
Author(s):  
Fernanda Neubauer ◽  
Michael J. Schaefer

We discuss the important role of the feminist critique in bringing awareness to gender, childhood, and identity research, and in giving voice to the perspectives of underrepresented groups. As a case study of ancient social lives and gender, we discuss a range of Marajoara identity markers interpreted through the study of ceramic tangas (female pubic coverings) from Marajó Island in the Brazilian Amazon (A.D. 400-1400). There, tangas were made and used by women as a material representation of social position, gender, and individual identity. We argue that identity constitutes a fundamentally important aspect of archaeological research, and that the strongest case studies in identity are those that encompass a variety of gendered inferences to understand social lives of the past.


Author(s):  
Cristina Lleras

The purpose of this chapter is to examine the surge of identity politics and the diversification of heritage and the tensions that arise with the traditional role of national museums that are expected to support the model of a unitary national identity through their narratives and collections. Engaging with distinct patrimonies and transformations in museums checkmates stagnant notions of heritage, but in turn, these actions might also instigate resistance to change. A case study at the National Museum of Colombia will provide an insight into competing notions of heritage, which can be understood as the relics of a material past, but may also be seen as the meanings created about the past. This analysis instigates thoughts about the role that history and historians might play in the elaboration of narratives of identity.


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