CentralNet: a Multilayer Approach for Multimodal Fusion

This paper proposes a novel multimodal fusion approach, aiming to produce best possible decisions by integrating information coming from multiple media. While most of the past multimodal approaches either work by projecting the features of different modalities into the same space, or by coordinating the representations of each modality through the use of constraints, our approach borrows from both visions. More specifically, assuming each modality can be processed by a separated deep convolutional network, allowing to take decisions independently from each modality, we introduce a central network linking the modality specific networks. This central network not only provides a common feature embedding but also regularizes the modality specific networks through the use of multi-task learning. The proposed approach is validated on 4 different computer vision tasks on which it consistently improves the accuracy of existing multimodal fusion approaches

Friendships worth fighting for:bonds between women and men karate practitioners as sites for deconstructing gender inequality

Ways of doing our relationships are embedded with ways of ‘doing gender’ (Jamieson 1997 ; West and Zimmerman 1987 ). Doing gender is a social, interactive, act, done relationally to the specifi c setting and people present, and embedded with ways of performing diff erences that re/create the distinct categories of man and woman (West and Zimmerman 1987 ). Th e perceived diff erences between what it is to ‘be a man’ and what it is to ‘be a woman’ not only entail distinct expectations of what women and men should do and howthey should present themselves in social situations, but are also used to legitimize a gender hierarchy that subordinates women, and what women do (Connell 2009 ). As a woman doing gender thus entails doing/being subjected to subordination. Th e extent to which our relationships refl ect traditional, hierarchically distinct, ways of doing gender vary – some relationships may strongly recreate notions of diff erence that subordinate women, whilst others might render certain notions of diff erence unviable, and in the process, begin to ‘undo’ gender (Deutsch 2007 ). As such, how we ‘do’ our relationships can impact the extent to which we recreate a gender hierarchy that subordinates women

Artistic value and spectators’ emotions in dance performances

Our experiences of art are framed by the context and the rules that apply to it. Not only the theatre where performing arts are enjoyed, but also art museums displaying paintings, sculptures, installations and other artistic objects, dictate the distance to the pieces and the type of sensory perception permitted to the visitors. How art is presented to us reflects traditional established settings that determine the conditions of our appreciation and that have become part of each art’s ontology. Moreover, what we are allowed to do in those public contexts, when confronted with art works, reflects the artistic value attached to them. But, in some cases, there seems to be a tension between the borders erected by categories of artistic value and the affective reactions by the perceivers. In this paper I will discuss contexts (original, transplanted and mediated) and perceptual conventions for dance art, and how these define spectators’ roles and impact on their emotional responses to dance performances. In particular, I will focus on negative reactions to dance art to argue that the use of moving human bodies presents specific affective challenges to audiences

Four applications of embodied cognition

This article presents the views of four sets of authors, each taking concepts of embodied cognition into problem spaces where the new paradigm can be applied. The first considers consequences of embodied cognition on the legal system. The second explores how embodied cognition can change how we interpret and interact with art and literature. The third examines how we move through archi- tectural spaces from an embodied cognition perspective. And the fourth addresses how music cogni- tion is influenced by the approach. Each contribution is brief. They are meant to suggest the potential reach of embodied cognition, increase the visibility of applications, and inspire potential avenues for research

Post-error brain activity correlates with incidental memory for negative words

The present study had three main objectives. First, we aimed to evaluate whether short-duration affective states induced by negative and positive words can lead to increased error-monitoring activity relative to a neutral task condition. Second, we intended to determine whether such an enhancement is limited to words of specific valence or is a general response to arousing material. Third, we wanted to assess whether post-error brain activity is associated with incidental memory for negative and/or positive words. Participants performed an emotional stop-signal task that required response inhibition to negative, positive or neutral nouns while EEG was recorded. Immediately after the completion of the task, they were instructed to recall as many of the presented words as they could in an unexpected free recall test. We observed significantly greater brain activity in the error-positivity (Pe) time window in both negative and positive trials. The error-related negativity amplitudes were comparable in both the neutral and emotional arousing trials, regardless of their valence. Regarding behavior, increased processing of emotional words was reflected in better incidental recall. Importantly, the memory performance for negative words was positively correlated with the Pe amplitude, particularly in the negative condition. The source localization analysis revealed that the subsequent memory recall for negative words was associated with widespread bilateral brain activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and in the medial frontal gyrus, which was registered in the Pe time window during negative trials. The present study has several important conclusions. First, it indicates that the emotional enhancement of error monitoring, as reflected by the Pe amplitude, may be induced by stimuli with symbolic, ontogenetically learned emotional significance. Second, it indicates that the emotion-related enhancement of the Pe occurs across both negative and positive conditions, thus it is preferentially driven by the arousal content of an affective stimuli. Third, our findings suggest that enhanced error monitoring and facilitated recall of negative words may both reflect responsivity to negative events. More speculatively, they can also indicate that post-error activity of the medial prefrontal cortex may selectively support encoding for negative stimuli and contribute to their privileged access to memory

Where do we draw lines: professional relationship boundaries and the child and youth care practitioner

The question of professional relationship boundaries is a poignant one, in light of the many boundary grey-zones that are created by the variety of young people’s needs, practice settings and professional relationship contexts within the field of child and youth care. In order to support practitioners’ development of critical thought and awareness of professional boundaries, this paper applies a professional relationship boundaries conceptual framework to child and youth care work, and the literature is consulted to explore the impacts of boundary violations, influences on individual’s boundaries, cues to indicate blurring boundaries, and key strategies to maintain balanced boundaries

Epistemic Exploitation

Epistemic exploitation occurs when privileged persons compel marginalized persons to educate them about the nature of their oppression. I argue that epistemic exploitation is marked by unrecognized, uncompensated, emotionally taxing, coerced epistemic labor. The coercive and exploitative aspects of the phenomenon are exemplified by the unpaid nature of the educational labor and its associated opportunity costs, the double bind that marginalized persons must navigate when faced with the demand to educate, and the need for additional labor created by the default skepticism of the privileged. I explore the connections between epistemic exploitation and the two varieties of epistemic injustice that Fricker (2007) identifies, testimonial and hermeneutical injustice. I situate epistemic exploitation within Dotson’s (2012; 2014) framework of epistemic oppression, and I address the role that epistemic exploitation plays in maintaining active ignorance and upholding dominant epistemic frameworks