An Approach to Circumstantial Knowledge Management for Human-Like Interaction

Proceedings of: 16th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems (ICEIS). Lisbon, Portugal, 27-30 April, 2014. http://www.iceis.org/?y=2014This paper proposes the design of a general-purpose domain-independent knowledge model formalizing and managing the circumstantial knowledge involved in the human interaction process, i.e., a Situation Model. Its design is aimed to be embodied into a human-like interaction system, thus enriching the quality of the interaction by providing context-aware features to the interaction system. The proposal differs from similar work in that it is supported by the spatio-temporal databases technology. Additionally, since the proposed model requires to be fed with real knowledge obtained from each specific interaction domain, this paper also proposes an edition tool for acquiring and managing that circumstantial knowledge. The tool also supports the simulation over the model to check the correctness and completeness of the acquired knowledge. Finally, some scenario examples are provided in order to illustrate how the Situation Model works, and to gain perspective on its future possibilities of application in different systems where context-aware services can make a difference.This work has been be applied in aresearch project funded by the Spanish Ministry of Industry (CADOOH,TSI-020302-2011-21).Publicad

Pacing and Decision Making in Sport and Exercise: The Roles of Perception and Action in the Regulation of Exercise Intensity

In pursuit of optimal performance, athletes and physical exercisers alike have to make decisions about how and when to invest their energy. The process of pacing has been associated with the goal-directed regulation of exercise intensity across an exercise bout. The current review explores divergent views on understanding underlying mechanisms of decision making in pacing. Current pacing literature provides a wide range of aspects that might be involved in the determination of an athlete's pacing strategy, but lacks in explaining how perception and action are coupled in establishing behaviour. In contrast, decision-making literature rooted in the understanding that perception and action are coupled provides refreshing perspectives on explaining the mechanisms that underlie natural interactive behaviour. Contrary to the assumption of behaviour that is managed by a higher-order governor that passively constructs internal representations of the world, an ecological approach is considered. According to this approach, knowledge is rooted in the direct experience of meaningful environmental objects and events in individual environmental processes. To assist a neuropsychological explanation of decision making in exercise regulation, the relevance of the affordance competition hypothesis is explored. By considering pacing as a behavioural expression of continuous decision making, new insights on underlying mechanisms in pacing and optimal performance can be developed. © 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

Visualizing practical knowledge: The Haughton-Mars Project

To improve how we envision knowledge, we must improve our ability to see knowledge in everyday life. That is, visualization is concerned not only with displaying facts and theories, but also with finding ways to express and relate tacit understanding. Such knowledge, although often referred to as "common," is not necessarily shared and may be distributed socially in choreographies for working together—in the manner that a chef and a maitre d’hôtel, who obviously possess very different skills, coordinate their work. Furthermore, non-verbal concepts cannot in principle be inventoried. Reifying practical knowledge is not a process of converting the implicit into the explicit, but pointing to what we know, showing its manifestations in our everyday life. To this end, I illustrate the study and reification of practical knowledge by examining the activities of a scientific expedition in the Canadian Arctic—a group of scientists preparing for a mission to Mar

Spectacular pehnomena and limits to rationality in genetic and cultural evolution

In studies of both animal and human behaviour, game theory is used as a tool for understanding strategies that appear in interactions between individuals. Game theory focuses on adaptive behaviour, which can be attained only at evolutionary equilibrium. Here we suggest that behaviour appearing during interactions is often outside the scope of such analysis. In many types of interaction, conflicts of interest exist between players, fueling the evolution of manipulative strategies. Such strategies evolve out of equilibrium, commonly appearing as spectacular morphology or behaviour with obscure meaning, to which other players may react in non-adaptive, irrational way approach, and outline the conditions in which evolutionary equilibria cannot be maintained. Evidence from studies of biological interactions seems to support the view that behaviour is often not at equilibrium. This also appears to be the case for many human cultural traits, which have spread rapidly despite the fact that they have a negative influence on reproduction

The evolution of individual and cultural variation in social learning

AcceptedReviewIt is often assumed in experiments and models that social learning abilities – how often individuals copy others, plus who and how they copy – are species-typical. Yet there is accruing evidence for systematic individual variation in social learning within species. Here we review evidence for this individual variation, placing it within a continuum of increasing phenotypic plasticity, from genetically polymorphic personality traits, to developmental plasticity via cues such as maternal stress, to the individual learning of social learning, and finally the social learning of social learning. The latter, possibly restricted to humans, can generate stable between-group cultural variation in social learning. More research is needed to understand the extent, causes, and consequences of this individual and cultural variation.Economic and Social Research Council (UK)Research Grants Council (Hong Kong)Leverhulme Trust International NetworkBBSRC David Phillips Fellowshi

Avian piscivores: basis for policy.

In Britain, many birds eat fish in fresh waters but only three species, cormorant, red-breasted merganser and goosander, are commonly perceived to present serious problems for freshwater fisheries. Complaints are mainly that cormorants eat large fish and that all three bird species eat so many juvenile fish, that there are subsequently fewer fish to be harvested or angled, but also that persistent predation by birds changes fish behaviour so that they are less 'catchable'. To this end, this report reviews existing information on the current status, foraging ecology, and population biology of the three bird species as background to their potential impact on fisheries. Discusses fish population dynamics within the context of predation effects. Reviews existing experimental evidence for impacts on fish populations and fisheries; and describes current legislation, discusses potential criteria for serious damage to a fishery, and suggests ways forward for NRA policy and research

Thinking About Fairness & Achieving Balance in Mediation

This Article identifies five sources of bias present in mediation practice: (1) categorization, (2) attribution, (3) metaphorical expression, (4) norming, and (5) framing. For each of these cognitive efficiencies, which contribute to bias in mediation, the author provides practice recommendations. Finally, the author suggests that the Article be read as a proposal for further thought and inquiry to improve the fairness of mediators

The representation of memory in the works of William Wordsworth and George Eliot

PhD ThesisStudies of memory in the works of William Wordsworth and George Eliot have hitherto focussed mainly on individual recollective memory. By contrast, this study explores habit-memory in the work of both writers, on both an individual and a collective level. It proposes that for Wordsworth as well as for Eliot, habit-memory can enhance moral awareness and maintain the cohesion of a community. The thesis is divided into four chapters. The first discusses ‘The Old Cumberland Beggar’, Middlemarch and Daniel Deronda. Drawing on the idea of an ethics of memory in the work of the philosopher Avishai Margalit, I argue that the two writers regard habit cultivation as an important means of developing a sense of universal humanity in their characters as well as in their readers. The second chapter looks at the relationship between habit and duty through a discussion of ‘Ode to Duty’, Silas Marner and Romola. Wordsworth’s notion of duty, a universal law governing both the natural and the human world, is different from that of Eliot, which is identified with the habitual feelings of the body. Despite this difference, both believe that habit can help mould an individual into a duty-bound being. Chapter Three deals with the relationship between habit and guilt in Book X of The Prelude, Adam Bede and ‘Janet’s Repentance’. Rather than looking at guilt over a real transgression, it examines what Frances Ferguson terms ‘circumstantial memory’, the remorse that occurs when the unforeseen outcome of an action is interpreted as though it had been intentional. Wordsworth and Eliot differ in their view of the origin of wrongdoings and the pattern of recovery from guilt, but they both believe that this recovery can never be complete. The final chapter shifts from individual to collective habit-memory. Adopting a phenomenological approach to habit in discussing ‘Michael’ and The Mill on the Floss, I suggest that Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s theory can help us to understand Michael’s and Mr. Tulliver’s embodied relationships with their patrimonial land. I also draw on the theories of Pierre Bourdieu and Maurice Halbwachs to show that the habitual lives these characters lead and their attachments to their habitual states of being are collectively rooted. The chapter concludes by examining the two writers’ criticism of the intrusion into agrarian society of capitalism, which disrupts the transmission of collective memory from one generation to another.Newcastle University Overseas Research Students Awards Schem

Cognitive modeling of social behaviors

To understand both individual cognition and collective activity, perhaps the greatest opportunity today is to integrate the cognitive modeling approach (which stresses how beliefs are formed and drive behavior) with social studies (which stress how relationships and informal practices drive behavior). The crucial insight is that norms are conceptualized in the individual mind as ways of carrying out activities. This requires for the psychologist a shift from only modeling goals and tasks —why people do what they do—to modeling behavioral patterns—what people do—as they are engaged in purposeful activities. Instead of a model that exclusively deduces actions from goals, behaviors are also, if not primarily, driven by broader patterns of chronological and located activities (akin to scripts). To illustrate these ideas, this article presents an extract from a Brahms simulation of the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS), in which a crew of six people are living and working for a week, physically simulating a Mars surface mission. The example focuses on the simulation of a planning meeting, showing how physiological constraints (e.g., hunger, fatigue), facilities (e.g., the habitat’s layout) and group decision making interact. Methods are described for constructing such a model of practice, from video and first-hand observation, and how this modeling approach changes how one relates goals, knowledge, and cognitive architecture. The resulting simulation model is a powerful complement to task analysis and knowledge-based simulations of reasoning, with many practical applications for work system design, operations management, and training