133,677 research outputs found
Embodiment as a means for scaffolding young childrenʼs social skill acquisition
In this paper, we discuss the notion of embodiment in the context of the ECHOES project, which aims at developing a multi-modal interactive environment for scaffolding young typically developing (TD) children and children with Asperger Syndrome (AS) in acquiring social interaction skills. Whilst, our approach to embodiment is in line with the current HCI trends, the pedagogical nature of ECHOES and the specific target users pose unusual challenges to the design and implementation of embodied interaction
Computational and Robotic Models of Early Language Development: A Review
We review computational and robotics models of early language learning and
development. We first explain why and how these models are used to understand
better how children learn language. We argue that they provide concrete
theories of language learning as a complex dynamic system, complementing
traditional methods in psychology and linguistics. We review different modeling
formalisms, grounded in techniques from machine learning and artificial
intelligence such as Bayesian and neural network approaches. We then discuss
their role in understanding several key mechanisms of language development:
cross-situational statistical learning, embodiment, situated social
interaction, intrinsically motivated learning, and cultural evolution. We
conclude by discussing future challenges for research, including modeling of
large-scale empirical data about language acquisition in real-world
environments.
Keywords: Early language learning, Computational and robotic models, machine
learning, development, embodiment, social interaction, intrinsic motivation,
self-organization, dynamical systems, complexity.Comment: to appear in International Handbook on Language Development, ed. J.
Horst and J. von Koss Torkildsen, Routledg
Competing models of socially constructed economic man : differentiating Defoe's Crusoe from the Robinson of neoclassical economics
Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe has seldom been read as an explicitly political text. When it has, it appears that the central character was designed to warn the early eighteenth-century reader against political challenges to the existing economic order. Insofar as Defoe’s Crusoe stands for "economic man", he is a reflection of historically-produced assumptions about the need for social conformity, not the embodiment of any genuinely essential economic characteristics. This insight is used to compare Defoe’s conception of economic man with that of the neoclassical Robinson Crusoe economy. On the most important of the ostensibly generic principles espoused by neoclassical theorists, their "Robinson" has no parallels with Defoe’s Crusoe. Despite the shared name, two quite distinct social constructions serve two equally distinct pedagogical purposes. Defoe’s Crusoe extols the virtues of passive middle-class sobriety for effective social organisation; the neoclassical Robinson champions the establishment of markets for the sake of productive efficiency
Watsuji’s Phenomenology of Embodiment and Social Space
notes: urldate: 2013-06-14 file: Krueger - 2013 - Watsuji’s Phenomenology of Embodiment and Social S.pdf:C:\Users\Joel\AppData\Roaming\Zotero\Zotero\Profiles\v0qthm4u.default\zotero\storage\75QUVW97\Krueger - 2013 - Watsuji’s Phenomenology of Embodiment and Social S.pdf:application/pdfpublication-status: Publishedtypes: ArticleThe aim of this essay is to situate the thought of Tetsurō Watsuji within contemporary
approaches to social cognition. I argue for Watsuji’s current relevance, suggesting
that his analysis of embodiment and social space puts him in step with some of the
concerns driving ongoing treatments of social cognition in philosophy of mind and
cognitive science. Yet, as I will show, Watsuji can potentially offer a fruitful contribution
to this discussion by lending a phenomenologically informed critical perspective.
This is because Watsuji challenges the internalist and cognitivist presuppositions
informing the currently dominant “Theory of Mind” paradigm that is driving much
social cognition research. Additionally, I show that Watsuji’s alternative model is not
merely confined to the realm of phenomenological description but that it also receives
robust empirical support from a number of different sources. I thus hope to
open up aspects of Watsuji’s thinking that have yet to be fully appreciated
The challenges of intersectionality: Researching difference in physical education
Researching the intersection of class, race, gender, sexuality and disability raises many issues for educational research. Indeed, Maynard (2002, 33) has recently argued that ‘difference is one of the most significant, yet unresolved, issues for feminist and social thinking at the beginning of the twentieth century’. This paper reviews some of the key imperatives of working with ‘intersectional theory’ and explores the extent to these debates are informing research around difference in education and Physical Education (PE). The first part of the paper highlights some key issues in theorising and researching intersectionality before moving on to consider how difference has been addressed within PE. The paper then considers three ongoing challenges of intersectionality – bodies and embodiment, politics and practice and empirical research. The paper argues for a continued focus on the specific context of PE within education for its contribution to these questions
Stand Strong, Stand Proud: Alternative and Pariah Femininities in San Diego\u27s Punk Rock Community
Since its inception nearly 40 years ago, punk rock has often been understood as a Social space for rebellion and resistance to dominant cultural norms. As such, punk rock culture becomes fertile ground for explorations of subversive constructions of genders. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the San Diego punk rock community, this thesis unpacks the construction, embodiment and enactment of alternative and pariah forms of femininities and examines their impact on gender dynamics within the scene. Ultimately, this thesis argues that (1) the San Diego punk rock community is a space where alternative and pariah femininities can be embodied and enacted, (2) the embodiment and enactment of these femininities challenges the traditional hegemonic relationship between masculinity and femininity, and (3) these challenges, and the responses to them, constitute a shift in the culturally-dominant gendered order with the scene
Embodied Knowledge: Writing Researchers’ Bodies Into Qualitative Health Research
After more than a decade of postpositivist health care research and an increase in narrative writing practices, social scientific, qualitative health research remains largely disembodied. The erasure of researchers’ bodies from conventional accounts of research obscures the complexities of knowledge production and yields deceptively tidy accounts of research. Qualitative health research could benefit significantly from embodied writing that explores the discursive relationship between the body and the self and the semantic challenges of writing the body by incorporating bodily details and experiences into research accounts. Researchers can represent their bodies by incorporating autoethnographic narratives, drawing on all of their senses, interrogating the connections between their bodily signifiers and research processes, and experimenting with the semantics of self and body. The author illustrates opportunities for embodiment with excerpts from an ethnography of a geriatric oncology team and explores implications of embodied writing for the practice of qualitative health research
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Making myth: the image of 'Big Jim' Larkin in Plunkett's 'Strumpet city'
James Larkin is a revered figure in Irish history, remarkably so in view of his associations with revolutionary syndicalism and communism. Among the contributions to the creation of the myth of ‘Big Jim’, James Plunkett’s novel Strumpet City takes pride of place. The book’s treatment of Larkin is examined here as an outstanding example of Gramsci’s call for the emergence of a popular culture that challenges the hegemony of the ruling classes. By getting into the desperate lives of the Dublin poor in the bitter industrial struggles prior to the First World War, Plunkett affirms the Gramscian idea of developing a new way of conceiving the world by presenting Larkin as the mythical embodiment of social justice and solidarity. Although the events are now in the distant past, images developed with the great affective power of this novel may jolt modern readers to a greater awareness of present-day global struggles
The Mechanics of Embodiment: A Dialogue on Embodiment and Computational Modeling
Embodied theories are increasingly challenging traditional views of cognition by arguing that conceptual representations that constitute our knowledge are grounded in sensory and motor experiences, and processed at this sensorimotor level, rather than being represented and processed abstractly in an amodal conceptual system. Given the established empirical foundation, and the relatively underspecified theories to date, many researchers are extremely interested in embodied cognition but are clamouring for more mechanistic implementations. What is needed at this stage is a push toward explicit computational models that implement sensory-motor grounding as intrinsic to cognitive processes. In this article, six authors from varying backgrounds and approaches address issues concerning the construction of embodied computational models, and illustrate what they view as the critical current and next steps toward mechanistic theories of embodiment. The first part has the form of a dialogue between two fictional characters: Ernest, the �experimenter�, and Mary, the �computational modeller�. The dialogue consists of an interactive sequence of questions, requests for clarification, challenges, and (tentative) answers, and touches the most important aspects of grounded theories that should inform computational modeling and, conversely, the impact that computational modeling could have on embodied theories. The second part of the article discusses the most important open challenges for embodied computational modelling
Embodying Vulnerability: A Feminist Theory of the Person
Fokus i denna avhandling utgör läkares och civilingenjörers kunskaps- och identifikationsprocesser under utbildning och arbete – vilka studeras som utsnitt ur levnadsbanor. Syftet är att beskriva och tolka relationen mellan högre utbildning och arbete, dels utifrån föreställningar i forskning och policy, dels utifrån människors subjektivitet, vardagserfarenheter och liv. Studien baseras på textanalys och intervjuer med läkare och IT-ingenjörer under de första åren i arbetslivet och yrket. Kännetecknande är att processer följs över tid genom en longitudinell design. Den teoretiska ramen struktureras runt tre länkade teman: Kunskap och dynamiker i det samtida samhället; Högre utbildning och arbete; Människors formbarhet. Reflexiv tolkning utgör metodologisk ansats. Begreppen flexibilitet, stabilitet och ambivalens används dialektiskt vid analys av empiriska data. Avhandlingen visar att människors subjektivitet och vardagserfarenheter samspelar med generella föreställningar och sammanhangens reella förhållanden. Utbildnings- och yrkesval kan förstås som uttryck för såväl reflexiva livsprojekt som subjektiva dynamiker. Att formas till civilingenjör och läkare ter sig på vitt skilda sätt. Ingenjörerna formas till generalister och ”spelar med säkra kort” medan läkarna bygger en karaktär och ”spelar med sig själva som insats”. I arbetet använder civilingenjörerna titeln som en flexibel strategi – identifikation är främst bunden till plats, funktion och arbetstid. Läkarnas identifikation med yrket utgör ett konstant tillstånd – läkare är något de alltid är, också på fritiden – yrket är starkt bundet till person. Resultaten indikerar att både ingenjörs- och läkaryrket kännetecknas av livslånga kvalificeringsprocesser. De visar sig stark exkluderande över tid. Relationen mellan högre utbildning och arbetet diskuteras vidare i avhandlingen genom människors levnadsbanor och i termer av såväl formbara som hållbara liv.The focus of this thesis is the formation of knowledge and professional identification through physicians’ and engineers’ education and work – life-trajectories are the frame of interpretation. The aim is to describe and interpret the relationship between higher education and work, partly by studying ideas in research and educational policy, partly by people’s subjectivity, experiences and everyday life. This study is based on text analysis and interviews with physicians and engineers. The characteristic of this study is that processes are described and interpreted through a longitudinal design. The theoretical framework is built up by three interrelated themes: knowledge and dynamics in contemporary society; higher education and work; the reflexivity of the individuals. An overarching interpretive approach is applied, and the concepts of flexibility, stability and ambivalence are used dialectically in the analysis of empirical data. The study indicates interplay between subjectivity, everyday life experiences and conditions in different practices. The informants’ educational and career choice can be understood as expressions of reflexive life-projects or as subjective dynamics. Becoming an engineer or physician stand out as substantially different processes. The engineers in information technology are becoming generalists and are “playing the game with a safe hand”, while the physicians becoming characters and are “playing the game with oneself as stake”. At work the engineers are using their title as a flexible strategy – identification is confined to place of work, occupation and working hours. The physicians’ identification with their profession is a fixed state of mind – they are always physicians, even in their leisure time – the profession is associated with their personality. The results indicate that both engineers and physicians careers can be characterised by life-long qualification. It appears as a strongly excluding factor. The relationship between higher education and work is discussed as life-trajectories and in terms of formable and sustainable life
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