PRESENCE: A human-inspired architecture for speech-based human-machine interaction

Recent years have seen steady improvements in the quality and performance of speech-based human-machine interaction driven by a significant convergence in the methods and techniques employed. However, the quantity of training data required to improve state-of-the-art systems seems to be growing exponentially and performance appears to be asymptotic to a level that may be inadequate for many real-world applications. This suggests that there may be a fundamental flaw in the underlying architecture of contemporary systems, as well as a failure to capitalize on the combinatorial properties of human spoken language. This paper addresses these issues and presents a novel architecture for speech-based human-machine interaction inspired by recent findings in the neurobiology of living systems. Called PRESENCE-"PREdictive SENsorimotor Control and Emulation" - this new architecture blurs the distinction between the core components of a traditional spoken language dialogue system and instead focuses on a recursive hierarchical feedback control structure. Cooperative and communicative behavior emerges as a by-product of an architecture that is founded on a model of interaction in which the system has in mind the needs and intentions of a user and a user has in mind the needs and intentions of the system

Mokytojo minkštųjų įgūdžių tobulinimas naujoje švietimo paradigmoje: kompetencijos, vertybės, rodikliai, rezultatai

This paper deals with theoretical models of soft skills development in teacher education. The immediate purpose of this consideration is to develop a model for the development of a teacher’s soft skills as a competent, innovative, motivated, and competitive specialist in the labor market in the present time. The role of soft skills in the process of professional development of employees in all organizations has been increasing in recent times. However, the importance and necessity of teachers’ soft skills and, therefore, their formation among students studying in pedagogical areas are not yet adequately realized by many participants in the educational process. This paper examines the concept of soft skills and identifies the importance of these skills for the development of a specialist in the pedagogical field. In addition, a comparative analysis of hard skills and soft skills was conducted, and their components, namely competences, values, and behavioral indicators were evaluated. An analysis was conducted to assess the labor market needs for new qualifications. This made it possible to design a model of the modern teacher with skills reflective of their real environment. The results of this study can be further used in the improvement of lifelong learning and adult education.Straipsnyje nagrinėjami teoriniai minkštųjų įgūdžių tobulinimo modeliai mokytojų rengimo srityje. Tyrime pirmiausia buvo siekiama sukurti šiandienos mokytojo, kaip kompetentingo, novatoriško, motyvuoto, konkurencingo darbo rinkos specialisto, minkštųjų įgūdžių modelį. Pastaruoju metu organizacijose pastebimai didėja minkštųjų įgūdžių vaidmuo profesinio tobulėjimo srityje, tačiau daugelis švietimo proceso dalyvių dar nesupranta mokytojų minkštųjų įgūdžių svarbos ir to, kad juos būtina formuoti pedagoginių studijų studentams. Straipsnyje pateikiama minkštųjų įgūdžių samprata ir atskleidžiama šių įgūdžių svarba ugdant būsimus pedagogus. Atlikta lyginamoji kietųjų ir minkštųjų įgūdžių analizė bei įvertinti jų komponentai, kuriuos sudaro kompetencijos, vertybės ir elgesio rodikliai; atlikta ir naujų darbo rinkos poreikius tenkinančių kvalifikacijų analizė. Visa tai leido suprojektuoti modernaus ir realybę atitinkančių įgūdžių turinčio mokytojo modelį. Tyrimo rezultatai gali būti naudojami tobulinant visą gyvenimą trunkantį mokymąsi ir suaugusiųjų švietimą

The extended organism: A framework for examining strategic media skill in a digital ecology

This dissertation presents an extended organism framework that is directly applicable to the study of strategic media skill. The framework posits that it can be helpful in understanding the human cognizer’s adaptiveness and success of memory in a digital ecology to consider the characteristics of digital memory—the body of rote knowledge and various features of digital technology—as part of the human-technology extended organism, rather than an external environment on which the cognizer acts. It proposes three major subprocesses of strategic media skill: strategic encoding, metacognition, and identifying technological biases. This paper applies the framework to the case of offloading cognition to external devices to demonstrate its applicability. The extended organism framework, as it stands now, provides a conceptual-theoretical lens for predicting and explaining findings about strategic media skill, especially from an effects tradition, and for asking questions about the cognitive processing underlying strategic media skill. Using this perspective and these approaches to empirical investigations, researchers should be able to better understand the successes and failures of memory and cognition in a digital ecology, currently characterized by near-constant access to external information via dynamic and changing digital media devices. The ability to do this will allow media users to know the cognitive consequences associated with different actions and strategies and to make better decisions about when and how to use digital media to accomplish their goals

Educational Technologies for Forming Intellectual Competence in Scientific Research and Engineering Business

The paper considers the problem of successful intellectual self-realization of engineering students. The results of experimental studies and data on the characteristics and level of students’ cognitive development, courage in the formation of intellectual competence in scientific research and engineering business are discussed. In the paper the hypothesis of three levels (styles) of life activity and social interaction of the participants of educational process (maladaptive, adaptive and disadaptive) is introduced on the basis of the research conducted. The possibility of diagnosing, measuring and interpreting an optimal (maladaptive) education activity style as a condition of talent realization and creative mechanisms are discussed. This style tends to teach the students and professors how to use the most effective and flexible maladaptive communication based upon improvisation. A practical solution of this problem is possible if the classical educational models are supplemented by the educational technologies orientated at improvisation, assumptions and creative activity

Killer Apps: Developing Novel Applications That Enhance Team Coordination, Communication, and Effectiveness

As part of the Lorentz workshop, “Interdisciplinary Insights into Group and Team Dynamics,” held in Leiden, Netherlands, this article describes how Geeks and Groupies (computer and social scientists) may benefit from interdisciplinary collaboration toward the development of killer apps in team contexts that are meaningful and challenging for both. First, we discuss interaction processes during team meetings as a research topic for both Groupies and Geeks. Second, we highlight teamwork in health care settings as an interdisciplinary research challenge. Third, we discuss how an automated solution for optimal team design could benefit team effectiveness and feed into team-based interventions. Fourth, we discuss team collaboration in massive open online courses as a challenge for both Geeks and Groupies. We argue for the necessary integration of social and computational research insights and approaches. In the hope of inspiring future interdisciplinary collaborations, we develop criteria for evaluating killer apps—including the four proposed here—and discuss future research challenges and opportunities that potentially derive from these developments

Decoding social media speak: developing a speech act theory research agenda

Purpose – Drawing on the theoretical domain of speech act theory (SAT) and a discussion of its suitability for setting the agenda for social media research, this study aims to explore a range of research directions that are both relevant and conceptually robust, to stimulate the advancement of knowledge and understanding of online verbatim data. Design/methodology/approach – Examining previously published cross-disciplinary research, the study identifies how recent conceptual and empirical advances in SAT may further guide the development of text analytics in a social media context. Findings – Decoding content and function word use in customers’ social media communication can enhance the efficiency of determining potential impacts of customer reviews, sentiment strength, the quality of contributions in social media, customers’ socialization perceptions in online communities and deceptive messages. Originality/value – Considering the variety of managerial demand, increasing and diverging social media formats, expanding archives, rapid development of software tools and fast-paced market changes, this study provides an urgently needed, theory-driven, coherent research agenda to guide the conceptual development of text analytics in a social media context

Heard It through the Grapevine: Traceability, Intelligence Cohort, and Collaborative Hazard Intelligence

abstract: Designing a hazard intelligence platform enables public agencies to organize diversity and manage complexity in collaborative partnerships. To maintain the integrity of the platform while preserving the prosocial ethos, understanding the dynamics of “non-regulatory supplements” to central governance is crucial. In conceptualization, social responsiveness is shaped by communicative actions, in which coordination is attained through negotiated agreements by way of the evaluation of validity claims. The dynamic processes involve information processing and knowledge sharing. The access and the use of collaborative intelligence can be examined by notions of traceability and intelligence cohort. Empirical evidence indicates that social traceability is statistical significant and positively associated with the improvement of collaborative performance. Moreover, social traceability positively contributes to the efficacy of technical traceability, but not vice versa. Furthermore, technical traceability significantly contributes to both moderate and high performance improvement; while social traceability is only significant for moderate performance improvement. Therefore, the social effect is limited and contingent. The results further suggest strategic considerations. Social significance: social traceability is the fundamental consideration to high cohort performance. Cocktail therapy: high cohort performance involves an integrative strategy with high social traceability and high technical traceability. Servant leadership: public agencies should exercise limited authority and perform a supporting role in the provision of appropriate technical traceability, while actively promoting social traceability in the system.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Business Administration 201

Deaf children need language, not (just) speech

Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) children need to master at least one language (spoken or signed) to reach their full potential. Providing access to a natural sign language supports this goal. Despite evidence that natural sign languages are beneficial to DHH children, many researchers and practitioners advise families to focus exclusively on spoken language. We critique the Pediatrics article ‘Early Sign Language Exposure and Cochlear Implants’ (Geers et al., 2017) as an example of research that makes unsupported claims against the inclusion of natural sign languages. We refute claims that (1) there are harmful effects of sign language and (2) that listening and spoken language are necessary for optimal development of deaf children. While practical challenges remain (and are discussed) for providing a sign language-rich environment, research evidence suggests that such challenges are worth tackling in light of natural sign languages providing a host of benefits for DHH children – especially in the prevention and reduction of language deprivation.Accepted manuscrip

(Im)politeness and emotion

This chapter explores the interconnectedness of emotions with (im)politeness from a theoretical and methodological perspective. We argue that all interaction contain emotional, relational and socio-normative elements. We witness the negotiation of rights and obligations of interactants and how (not) complying with expectations about rights, or fulfilling rights will trigger negative and positive emotions that influence the continuation of the exchange. Knowledge of sociality and the connected socio-cultural norms shape interactions and relationships. We provide a schematic overview of systemic components involved in the study of emotion and outline the position of interpersonal pragmatics relative to it. On the basis of this general overview, we then review contributions within the (im)politeness literature that have worked on emotions. Since this discussion does not present a unified picture, we will use this literature review as a springboard to elaborate on three concerns that the research raises: Cognition and emotions, sociality and emotions and the communicative observables of emotions. How these fundamental links between emotion and interpersonal pragmatics pan out is illustrated by drawing on examples of interaction

Fitting Pragmatics into the Human Mind: A philosophical investigation of the Pragmatics Module Hypothesis

This thesis focuses on the hypothesis that pragmatic understanding is underpinned by a mental module closely related to the ability to interpret others’ behaviors by inferring underlying mental states, also called ‘mindreading’. First, it aims at evaluating the plausibility of this hypothesis in light of the available data in the empirical literature by drawing on the argumentative toolbox of the philosophy of mind and language. Second, it aims at developing this hypothesis by addressing its main theoretical and empirical challenges. In Chapter One, I outline a historical overview of the different declinations of the modularity hypothesis in cognitive science, with a focus on early works in cognitive pragmatics and Theory of Mind research. In Chapter Two, I provide a comprehensive theoretical analysis of the Pragmatics Module Hypothesis by focusing on the central tenets of Relevance Theory. In Chapter Three, I explore the idea of pragmatics as a ‘sub-module’ of Theory of Mind from an empirical perspective by surveying the current state of the art in experimental and clinical pragmatics, thus ‘clearing up’ the recent controversy on the modularity of pragmatics from some misconceptions and empirical predictions which do not follow from the Pragmatics Module Hypothesis. In Chapter Four, I provide a novel cognitive framework for the modular view of pragmatics by evaluating the significance of research on ostensive communication in infancy with respect to the hypothesis of an early-developing modular heuristic for interpreting communicative behaviors. Chapters Five and Six both focus on the several ‘developmental dilemmas’ that must be confronted by intentional-inferential accounts of infant communication like the one endorsed in the present thesis, which will be disentangled, analyzed, and addressed by evaluating several possible solutions. In these two chapters, I show how the cognitive framework offered in Chapter Four can be employed and further extended to deal with such developmental dilemmas from a renewed modular perspective