Quantum Computing for Dealing with Inaccurate Knowledge Related to the Certainty Factors Model

In this paper, we illustrate that inaccurate knowledge can be efficiently implemented in a quantum environment. For this purpose, we analyse the correlation between certainty factors and quantum probability. We first explore the certainty factors approach for inexact reasoning from a classical point of view. Next, we introduce some basic aspects of quantum computing, and we pay special attention to quantum rule-based systems. In this context, a specific use case was built: an inferential network for testing the behaviour of the certainty factors approach in a quantum environment. After the design and execution of the experiments, the corresponding analysis of the obtained results was performed in three different scenarios: (1) inaccuracy in declarative knowledge, or imprecision, (2) inaccuracy in procedural knowledge, or uncertainty, and (3) inaccuracy in both declarative and procedural knowledge. This paper, as stated in the conclusions, is intended to pave the way for future quantum implementations of well-established methods for handling inaccurate knowledge.

The effects of different learning conditions on the development of collocational knowledge in a second language

<p>Previous research has shown that incidental exposure to second-language collocations in reading texts can produce gains in declarative collocational knowledge. However, there is little evidence that incidental exposure leads to the acquisition of procedural collocational knowledge. One key study that investigated these two areas was Sonbul and Schmitt (2013). They found that advanced non-native speakers gained substantial declarative knowledge of low-frequency technical collocations after three exposures in two incidental reading conditions in one treatment session; typographic enhancement of the collocations produced more correct answers than no enhancement. However, the researchers found no evidence of procedural collocational knowledge in a primed lexical decision task. Experiment 1 in this thesis was a conceptual replication and extension of Sonbul and Schmitt (2013). In a counter-balanced learning and experimental condition, 62 advanced adult ESL speakers were exposed to nine occurrences of 15 low-frequency technical collocations in 500-word texts in three sessions on two consecutive days. (input flooding). Three incidental learning treatments were implemented: reading-only (typographically unenhanced), bolding-only and bolding-plus-glossing. Collocational knowledge was assessed in two tests of declarative knowledge: a cued-recall (gapfill) test and a form-recognition (multiple-choice) test. Procedural collocational knowledge was operationalised as a priming effect in a primed lexical decision task. The results of the immediate cued-recall and form-recognition post-tests corroborate Sonbul and Schmitt’s findings: multiple encounters with the collocations produced substantial declarative collocational knowledge, and more declarative knowledge was produced through exposure to typographically-enhanced collocations (with and without glosses) than to typographically-unenhanced collocations. Procedural knowledge was found, but, unexpectedly, only in the reading-only treatment. Experiment 2 focused on non-technical lexical (verb + noun) collocations and grammatical (preposition + noun) collocations. Two incidental learning conditions were used: bolding and no-bolding. Seventy-eight intermediate-to-upper-intermediate-level adult native speakers of Chinese were exposed to six occurrences of each of 48 non-technical English collocations as they read twelve 170-word treatment texts on two consecutive days. The immediate post-test session comprised a gapfill (cued-recall) test, for measuring declarative knowledge, and a self-paced reading task, for measuring procedural knowledge. The results show an increase in declarative knowledge in both learning conditions. Bolding produced more declarative knowledge of preposition + noun collocations than no bolding; however, bolding was no more effective than no bolding for verb + noun collocations. In the self-paced reading task, the absence of bolding of verb + noun collocations led to a tendency towards the development of procedural knowledge, but this was not the case for the typographically enhanced verb + noun collocations. For preposition + noun collocations (both unbolded and bolded) no evidence of procedural knowledge was found. The findings of both experiments indicate that input flooding of collocations in incidental learning conditions can produce declarative collocational knowledge, and that typographic enhancement may lead to more declarative knowledge than lack of typographic enhancement. Repeated exposure to typographically-unenhanced collocations in reading contexts may produce procedural knowledge of collocations more quickly than exposure to typographically-enhanced collocations. These findings indicate that declarative and procedural knowledge of MWUs are dissociated in the sense that they follow different developmental paths. In a teaching context, I predict that the knowledge of collocations may be acquired incidentally through the use of texts such as graded readers which contain multiple instances of collocations.</p>

The effects of different learning conditions on the development of collocational knowledge in a second language

<p>Previous research has shown that incidental exposure to second-language collocations in reading texts can produce gains in declarative collocational knowledge. However, there is little evidence that incidental exposure leads to the acquisition of procedural collocational knowledge. One key study that investigated these two areas was Sonbul and Schmitt (2013). They found that advanced non-native speakers gained substantial declarative knowledge of low-frequency technical collocations after three exposures in two incidental reading conditions in one treatment session; typographic enhancement of the collocations produced more correct answers than no enhancement. However, the researchers found no evidence of procedural collocational knowledge in a primed lexical decision task. Experiment 1 in this thesis was a conceptual replication and extension of Sonbul and Schmitt (2013). In a counter-balanced learning and experimental condition, 62 advanced adult ESL speakers were exposed to nine occurrences of 15 low-frequency technical collocations in 500-word texts in three sessions on two consecutive days. (input flooding). Three incidental learning treatments were implemented: reading-only (typographically unenhanced), bolding-only and bolding-plus-glossing. Collocational knowledge was assessed in two tests of declarative knowledge: a cued-recall (gapfill) test and a form-recognition (multiple-choice) test. Procedural collocational knowledge was operationalised as a priming effect in a primed lexical decision task. The results of the immediate cued-recall and form-recognition post-tests corroborate Sonbul and Schmitt’s findings: multiple encounters with the collocations produced substantial declarative collocational knowledge, and more declarative knowledge was produced through exposure to typographically-enhanced collocations (with and without glosses) than to typographically-unenhanced collocations. Procedural knowledge was found, but, unexpectedly, only in the reading-only treatment. Experiment 2 focused on non-technical lexical (verb + noun) collocations and grammatical (preposition + noun) collocations. Two incidental learning conditions were used: bolding and no-bolding. Seventy-eight intermediate-to-upper-intermediate-level adult native speakers of Chinese were exposed to six occurrences of each of 48 non-technical English collocations as they read twelve 170-word treatment texts on two consecutive days. The immediate post-test session comprised a gapfill (cued-recall) test, for measuring declarative knowledge, and a self-paced reading task, for measuring procedural knowledge. The results show an increase in declarative knowledge in both learning conditions. Bolding produced more declarative knowledge of preposition + noun collocations than no bolding; however, bolding was no more effective than no bolding for verb + noun collocations. In the self-paced reading task, the absence of bolding of verb + noun collocations led to a tendency towards the development of procedural knowledge, but this was not the case for the typographically enhanced verb + noun collocations. For preposition + noun collocations (both unbolded and bolded) no evidence of procedural knowledge was found. The findings of both experiments indicate that input flooding of collocations in incidental learning conditions can produce declarative collocational knowledge, and that typographic enhancement may lead to more declarative knowledge than lack of typographic enhancement. Repeated exposure to typographically-unenhanced collocations in reading contexts may produce procedural knowledge of collocations more quickly than exposure to typographically-enhanced collocations. These findings indicate that declarative and procedural knowledge of MWUs are dissociated in the sense that they follow different developmental paths. In a teaching context, I predict that the knowledge of collocations may be acquired incidentally through the use of texts such as graded readers which contain multiple instances of collocations.</p>

Story education: Assessing history education in light of narrative therapy

This paper discusses the obstructive dimension of specific declarative knowledge on historical thinking. Through considering the anthropological and social-psychological functions of stories, the author identifies potential difficulties individuals may face when trying to decipher, understand, and evaluate particular stories, as intended by historical thinking. By comparing the incapacity to cope with complex historic narratives with the effects of trauma, the paper discusses how approaches in narrative psychotherapy may add interesting insights to the domain of history education. The paper concludes that selection of declarative knowledge needs to be critically reviewed from a pathological perspective if historical thinking is set to be one of the main functions of history education.

Influential Factors on Collective Anxiety of Online Topic-Based Communities

Background: Under the uncertainty led by the decentralized information on social media, people seek homogeneity in either opinions or affection to establish group identity to better understand the information. This also means they are easily polarized, not only ideologically but also in their actions. Affective polarization is the emotional tendency for people to show animosity toward opposing partisans while seeking homogeneity from fellow partisans. Much research into online affective polarization has focused on quantifying anxiety at an individual level while neglecting that on a collective basis. Therefore, this paper examined the polarization of collective anxiety in topic-based communities on Weibo.Methods: We aim to interpret correlations between collective anxiety online and topic characteristics, user competence, as well as the proportion of influencers of Weibo topic-based communities. Our neural networks model and statistical analysis were based on 200 communities with 403,380 personal accounts and 1,012,830 messages.Results: Collective anxiety levels are correlated to (1) the extent to which a topic captures public interest, (2) how community members articulate topics on social network platforms, and (3) the ratio of influencers in the community. Specifically, people’s conflicting perceptions and articulations of topics might increase collective anxiety, while the extent to which a topic is of the public interest and the number of influencers engaged in a topic account for any decline in its ranking. Furthermore, familiarity with a topic does not help predict collective anxiety levels. There are no significant links between community size or interactivity dynamics and the level of collective anxiety in the topic-based community. Our computational model has 85.00% precision and 87.00% recall.Conclusion: This study found the collective anxiety augment due to topic proximities to public interest and members’ lack of declarative knowledge on topics, while to decline with an increasing portion of online influencers. These findings indicate that collective anxiety is induced due to a lack of credibility. Also, the amount of conflicting information shared by different people places them in a state of flux. Therefore, a community with more influencers may be more likely to experience anxiety polarization, bringing forth the issue of layered information and inequality.

Evaluation of the learning process of informational competencies in university students

This article aims to present the results of a study on the learning process of informational competence in the Universidad José Vasconcelos, Oaxaca, Mexico. From a qualitative research approach, semi-structured interviews, and requests for drawings were applied, and non-participant observation of six students’ information search practices was carried out. The findings made it possible to identify quantitative and qualitative changes in the declarative, procedural and attitudinal components of the competence, which differentiate three levels of performance: low, medium, and high. The critical element to understand the competence learning process is in its attitudinal component since this determines the amount and type of declarative knowledge, as well as the procedures that the student is willing to deploy in a coordinated way to search, evaluate and use the information to achieve your academic goals.

The Impact of Procedural Knowledge on the Formation of Declarative Knowledge: How Accomplishing Activities Designed for Developing Learning Skills Impacts Teachers’ Knowledge of Learning Skills

In addition to content knowledge, it is necessary to teach learning skills. Using relevant learning skills assures better learning outcomes and abilities for the whole life course. Due to a packed curriculum or teachers having insufficient skills, student learning skills are often neglected. The aim of this study is to find out whether it is possible to support the development of declarative knowledge in learning skills in teachers through procedural knowledge acquired via practical teaching activities. A quasi-experimental study using semi-structured pre- and post-intervention interviews and six-month intervention activities was conducted with 14 teachers. The procedural knowledge of the teachers was assessed based on their practical experience with the intervention activities. Their declarative knowledge was assessed based on pre- and post-intervention interview reflections. The findings revealed that procedural knowledge, being predominantly teacher centred, mostly appears through experience and reflections on the teaching practice that guides them. It also appeared that the intervention focusing on advancing procedural knowledge among teachers advanced their declarative knowledge in terms of metacognition, revealing new aspects of motivation and sense-giving for their learning. As follow-up research, we plan to continue studying conditional knowledge in teachers in order to identify situations where this is applied.

The Nomological Net of Knowledge, Self-Reported Knowledge, and Overclaiming in Children

Research on self-reported knowledge and overclaiming in children is sparse. With the current study, we aim to close this gap by developing an overclaiming questionnaire measuring self-reported knowledge and overclaiming that is tailored to children. Moreover, we examine the nomological net of self-reported knowledge and overclaiming in childhood discussing three perspectives: Overclaiming as a) a result of deliberate self-enhancement tendencies, b) a proxy for declarative knowledge, and c) an indicator of creative engagement. We juxtaposed overclaiming, as indicated by claiming familiarity with non-existent terms, and self-reported knowledge with fluid and crystallized intelligence, creativity, and personality traits in a sample of 897 children attending third grade. The results of several latent variable analyses were similar to findings known from adult samples: We found no strong evidence for any of the competing perspectives on overclaiming. Just like in adults, individual differences in self-reported knowledge were strongly inflated by overclaiming, and only weakly related to declarative knowledge.

The Influence of Feedback Types on the Use of Automation During Learning

This study investigated two feedback types to see if there was a relationship between level of elaborative feedback and participant’s ability to learn a task while also looking at their use of automation. The task was a rule-based problem solving task where participants needed to learn the rules of selecting one pair (Ranger and Hiker) on a gridded map. Ten trials were randomly presented to participants who were asked to make pair selections based on rules (two stated and one unknown to the participant when starting) of correct matches. Results indicated that feedback type significantly influenced accuracy, while trial difficulty influenced use of automation. Results from this study can be applied in education and training of declarative knowledge tasks when rules must be inferred.