LDA Ensembles for Interactive Exploration and Categorization of Behaviors

We define behavior as a set of actions performed by some agent during a period of time. We consider the problem of analyzing a large collection of behaviors by multiple agents, more specifically, identifying typical behaviors as well as spotting behavior anomalies. We propose an approach leveraging topic modeling techniques -- LDA (Latent Dirichlet Allocation) Ensembles -- for representing categories of typical behaviors by topics obtained through applying topic modeling to a behavior collection. When such methods are applied to text documents, the goodness of the extracted topics is usually judged based on the semantic relatedness of the terms pertinent to the topics. This criterion, however, may not be applicable to topics extracted from non-textual data, such as action sets, since relationships between actions may not be obvious. We have developed a suite of visual and interactive techniques supporting the construction of an appropriate combination of topics based on other criteria, such as distinctiveness and coverage of the behavior set. Our case studies in the operation behaviors in the security management system and visiting behaviors in an amusement park and the expert evaluation of the first case study demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach

Quantifying the psychological properties of words

This thesis explores the psychological properties of words – the idea that words carry links to additional information beyond their dictionary meaning. It does so by presenting three distinct publications and an applied project, the Macroscope. The published research respectively covers: the modelling of language networks to explain lexical growth; the use of high dimensional vector representations of words to discuss language learning; and the collection of a normative dataset of single word humour ratings. The first publication outlines the use of network science in psycholinguistics. The methodology is discussed, providing clear guidelines on the application of networks when answering psychologically motivated questions. A selection of psychological studies is presented as a demonstration of use cases for networks in cognitive psychology. The second publication uses referent feature norms to represent words in a high dimensional vector space. A correlative link between referent distinctiveness and age of acquisition is proposed. The shape bias literature (the idea that children only pay attention to the shape of objects early on) is evaluated in relation to the findings. The third publication collects and shares a normative dataset of single word humour ratings. Descriptive properties of the dataset are outlined and the potential future use in the field of humour is discussed. Finally, the thesis presents the Macroscope, a collaborative project put together with Li Ying. The Macroscope is an online platform, allowing for easy analysis of the psychological properties of target words. The platform is showcased, and its full functionality is presented, including visualisation examples. Overall, the thesis aims to give researchers all that’s necessary to start working with psychological properties of words – the understanding of network science in psycholinguistics, high dimensional vector spaces, normative datasets and the applied use of all the above through the Macroscope

Mixed Material: Investigating the Management of Archives in New Zealand Museums

Research problem: With a third of New Zealand archives collections held in museums, this study is concerned with the way in which archives are managed in a museum setting, particularly with regard to the convergence of archival principles and museum practices. The primary research question of the study is; how are archival values maintained in the management of archives in museum collections? In answering this, the study explores the processes or procedures that collection managers employ in order to preserve these values, and the challenges they face in doing so. Methodology: This study employs a qualitative approach to addressing the research problem. Semi-structured email interviews were conducted with a selection of archivists working in New Zealand museums. Approaches to museum archivists to participate in the research resulted in responses from seven archivists. Results: An unexpected limitation of the study was the small sample population of museum archivists. With regard to the management of archives collections, the study found that museum archivists face unique challenges and tensions in carrying out arrangement and description within museum-based cataloguing and information systems. Implications: With very little literature currently addressing these issues, this research makes a valuable contribution to the dialogue around the management of archives in New Zealand. In particular, it provides an understanding of some of the challenges of working with museum archives collections in New Zealand, and the means with which archives collection managers negotiate some of the differences between archival and museum practice. The research also acknowledges that despite these differences, the exchange of knowledge across disciplines can influence the development of new approaches to the means and methods by which New Zealand heritage is preserved and accessed

Local authority museums after the cuts :a study of other-than-public forms of management

PhD ThesisMuseum asset transfer is a process where responsibility for the operation and management of museum buildings owned by local authorities are transferred to external groups. Instances of museum asset transfer are increasing as local authorities attempt to reduce expenditure in response to austerity measures. While the politics of austerity have been thoroughly described and critiqued, its repercussions for local authority museum services are yet to be grasped. This thesis examines one of these repercussions, seeking to understand the processes, people and rationales involved in asset transfer. The methodology for the thesis takes the writings associated with actor-network-theory (ANT) as a point of departure. This provides a way into the detail of how asset transfer works, both inside the local authority and for the groups of local people involved. Chapter 4 illustrates the influence of limited numerical data and reductive valuation frameworks on decision-making, showing how certain types of museum are more vulnerable to cuts than others. Chapter 5 describes the mechanics of asset transfer, showing that transfer groups have limited leverage to shape transfer conditions. Chapter 6 investigates how organisational practices shape relationships, structure actions and circulate implicit logics as a means to understanding the experience of members of transfer bodies entering the museum profession for the first time. I show that perceptions of professional identity are important and are informed by encounters with organisational practices as much as with people. Chapter 7 provides empirical evidence of how the public nature of these buildings complicates as well as motivates transfer, with attempts to ensure this publicness was maintained having both limiting and enabling effects. While asset transfer involves separation from the public infrastructure of the local authority and the withdrawal, in part or in full of their financial support, this thesis seeks to show that transfer bodies and council officers remain concerned with the public nature of these buildings, exploring how this concern is translated into action in this context. The forms of management resulting from asset transfer are termed ‘community’ or ‘alternative’ management in professional debates. The term ‘other-than-public’ is proposed as a productive prefix as it highlights the central conceptual tension of transfer: interpreting and maintaining publicness in a setting where public support has been removed

Semantic enrichment of knowledge sources supported by domain ontologies

This thesis introduces a novel conceptual framework to support the creation of knowledge representations based on enriched Semantic Vectors, using the classical vector space model approach extended with ontological support. One of the primary research challenges addressed here relates to the process of formalization and representation of document contents, where most existing approaches are limited and only take into account the explicit, word-based information in the document. This research explores how traditional knowledge representations can be enriched through incorporation of implicit information derived from the complex relationships (semantic associations) modelled by domain ontologies with the addition of information presented in documents. The relevant achievements pursued by this thesis are the following: (i) conceptualization of a model that enables the semantic enrichment of knowledge sources supported by domain experts; (ii) development of a method for extending the traditional vector space, using domain ontologies; (iii) development of a method to support ontology learning, based on the discovery of new ontological relations expressed in non-structured information sources; (iv) development of a process to evaluate the semantic enrichment; (v) implementation of a proof-of-concept, named SENSE (Semantic Enrichment kNowledge SourcEs), which enables to validate the ideas established under the scope of this thesis; (vi) publication of several scientific articles and the support to 4 master dissertations carried out by the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering from FCT/UNL. It is worth mentioning that the work developed under the semantic referential covered by this thesis has reused relevant achievements within the scope of research European projects, in order to address approaches which are considered scientifically sound and coherent and avoid “reinventing the wheel”.European research projects - CoSpaces (IST-5-034245), CRESCENDO (FP7-234344) and MobiS (FP7-318452

Revisualising Intersectionality

Revisualising Intersectionality offers transdisciplinary interrogations of the supposed visual evidentiality of categories of human similarity and difference. This open-access book incorporates insights from social and cognitive science as well as psychology and philosophy to explain how we visually perceive physical differences and how cognition is fallible, processual, and dependent on who is looking in a specific context. Revisualising Intersectionality also puts into conversation visual culture studies and artistic research with approaches such as gender, queer, and trans studies as well as postcolonial and decolonial theory to complicate simplified notions of identity politics and cultural representation. The book proposes a revision of intersectionality research to challenge the predominance of categories of visible difference such as race and gender as analytical lenses

Mind in Action: Action Representation and the Perception of Biological Motion

The ability to understand and communicate about the actions of others is a fundamental aspect of our daily activity. How can we talk about what others are doing? What qualities do different actions have such that they cause us to see them as being different or similar? What is the connection between what we see and the development of concepts and words or expressions for the things that we see? To what extent can two different people see and talk about the same things? Is there a common basis for our perception, and is there then a common basis for the concepts we form and the way in which the concepts become lexicalized in language? The broad purpose of this thesis is to relate aspects of perception, categorization and language to action recognition and conceptualization. This is achieved by empirically demonstrating a prototype structure for action categories and by revealing the effect this structure has on language via the semantic organization of verbs for natural actions. The results also show that implicit access to categorical information can affect the perceptual processing of basic actions. These findings indicate that our understanding of human actions is guided by the activation of high level information in the form of dynamic action templates or prototypes. More specifically, the first two empirical studies investigate the relation between perception and the hierarchical structure of action categories, i.e., subordinate, basic, and superordinate level action categories. Subjects generated lists of verbs based on perceptual criteria. Analyses based on multidimensional scaling showed a significant correlation for the semantic organization of a subset of the verbs for English and Swedish speaking subjects. Two additional experiments were performed in order to further determine the extent to which action categories exhibit graded structure, which would indicate the existence of prototypes for action categories. The results from typicality ratings and category verification showed that typicality judgments reliably predict category verification times for instances of different actions. Finally, the results from a repetition (short-term) priming paradigm suggest that high level information about the categorical differences between actions can be implicitly activated and facilitates the later visual processing of displays of biological motion. This facilitation occurs for upright displays, but appears to be lacking for displays that are shown upside down. These results show that the implicit activation of information about action categories can play a critical role in the perception of human actions

Language, Discipline or Task? A Comparison Study of the Effectiveness of Different Methods for Delivering Content-based Instructions to EFL Students of Business Studies

This research aims to conduct a comparison study of the effectiveness of different CBI (content-based instruction) methods delivered to ESL students of business studies in order to investigate the interactions between different aspects of academic literacies, identify the strengths and weaknesses of different CBI methods, explore students’ perceptions and learning experience of the CBI programme under different types of instructions, and provide some pedagogical implications for CBI programmes. Some EAP (English for Academic Purposes) courses were criticised for their overemphasis on the general ‘academic core’ rather than the disciplinary generic feature, in spite of using subject content as a vehicle of language. By contrast, numerous immersion programmes which adopted the sheltered model were also accused of insufficient language development and difficulty in applying theory to problem-solving, though language learning was considered subconscious acquisition. The latest movement of learner-centred and task-based teaching was claimed to be the most effective instructional approach, because it may fill the gap between language instruction and discipline instruction, promote the advancement of critical and analytical thinking, and facilitate the development of diverse academic abilities in a holistic and collaborative manner. Consequently, language, disciplinary knowledge and problem-solving skills have become three major academic domains and their interrelationships are worthy of investigation. The basic strategy for this research includes delivering three different CBI methods to three groups, administering eight hybrid post-tests after each teaching session to examine students’ academic learning outcomes, and holding three blocks of semi-structured interviews to explore students’ learning experiences with different CBI interventions. The post-tests results were analysed using correlation test and MANOVA. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse the interview data