1,840 research outputs found

    Personality Dysfunction Manifest in Words : Understanding Personality Pathology Using Computational Language Analysis

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    Personality disorders (PDs) are some of the most prevalent and high-risk mental health conditions, and yet remain poorly understood. Today, the development of new technologies means that there are advanced tools that can be used to improve our understanding and treatment of PD. One promising tool – indeed, the focus of this thesis – is computational language analysis. By looking at patterns in how people with personality pathology use words, it is possible to gain access into their constellation of thinking, feelings, and behaviours. To date, however, there has been little research at the intersection of verbal behaviour and personality pathology. Accordingly, the central goal of this thesis is to demonstrate how PD can be better understood through the analysis of natural language. This thesis presents three research articles, comprising four empirical studies, that each leverage computational language analysis to better understand personality pathology. Each paper focuses on a distinct core feature of PD, while incorporating language analysis methods: Paper 1 (Study 1) focuses on interpersonal dysfunction; Paper 2 (Studies 2 and 3) focuses on emotion dysregulation; and Paper 3 (Study 4) focuses on behavioural dysregulation (i.e., engagement in suicidality and deliberate self-harm). Findings from this research have generated better understanding of fundamental features of PD, including insight into characterising dimensions of social dysfunction (Paper 1), maladaptive emotion processes that may contribute to emotion dysregulation (Paper 2), and psychosocial dynamics relating to suicidality and deliberate self-harm (Paper 3) in PD. Such theoretical knowledge subsequently has important implications for clinical practice, particularly regarding the potential to inform psychological therapy. More broadly, this research highlights how language can provide implicit and unobtrusive insight into the personality and psychological processes that underlie personality pathology at a large-scale, using an individualised, naturalistic approach

    Multidisciplinary perspectives on Artificial Intelligence and the law

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    This open access book presents an interdisciplinary, multi-authored, edited collection of chapters on Artificial Intelligence (‘AI’) and the Law. AI technology has come to play a central role in the modern data economy. Through a combination of increased computing power, the growing availability of data and the advancement of algorithms, AI has now become an umbrella term for some of the most transformational technological breakthroughs of this age. The importance of AI stems from both the opportunities that it offers and the challenges that it entails. While AI applications hold the promise of economic growth and efficiency gains, they also create significant risks and uncertainty. The potential and perils of AI have thus come to dominate modern discussions of technology and ethics – and although AI was initially allowed to largely develop without guidelines or rules, few would deny that the law is set to play a fundamental role in shaping the future of AI. As the debate over AI is far from over, the need for rigorous analysis has never been greater. This book thus brings together contributors from different fields and backgrounds to explore how the law might provide answers to some of the most pressing questions raised by AI. An outcome of the Católica Research Centre for the Future of Law and its interdisciplinary working group on Law and Artificial Intelligence, it includes contributions by leading scholars in the fields of technology, ethics and the law.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volume

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    LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volum

    A Critical Review Of Post-Secondary Education Writing During A 21st Century Education Revolution

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    Educational materials are effective instruments which provide information and report new discoveries uncovered by researchers in specific areas of academia. Higher education, like other education institutions, rely on instructional materials to inform its practice of educating adult learners. In post-secondary education, developmental English programs are tasked with meeting the needs of dynamic populations, thus there is a continuous need for research in this area to support its changing landscape. However, the majority of scholarly thought in this area centers on K-12 reading and writing. This paucity presents a phenomenon to the post-secondary community. This research study uses a qualitative content analysis to examine peer-reviewed journals from 2003-2017, developmental online websites, and a government issued document directed toward reforming post-secondary developmental education programs. These highly relevant sources aid educators in discovering informational support to apply best practices for student success. Developmental education serves the purpose of addressing literacy gaps for students transitioning to college-level work. The findings here illuminate the dearth of material offered to developmental educators. This study suggests the field of literacy research is fragmented and highlights an apparent blind spot in scholarly literature with regard to English writing instruction. This poses a quandary for post-secondary literacy researchers in the 21st century and establishes the necessity for the literacy research community to commit future scholarship toward equipping college educators teaching writing instruction to underprepared adult learners

    Full Issue: Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 7, Issue 1, Spring 2023

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    The full-length Spring 2023 issue (Volume 7, Issue 1) of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence Access the online Pressbooks version (with downloadable EPUB format) here. The Spring 2023 issue presents research and guidance on topics related to student self-reflection, participatory learning, and returning to the in-person learning following the COVID-19 pandemic. The first article takes a critical approach to understanding pedagogy with adult learners by involving students in the creation of course syllabi as a way to challenge ideologies related the roles of instructor and students. The second article blends research and narrative to explore how the experiences of the COVID-19 shift to online learning can be translated to in-person learning environments to redefine what participation looks like and to advance faculty collaboration. The third article continues to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic can lead to opportunities for improved course development and delivery as faculty and students return to the classroom, particularly in the areas of communication, equity, and inclusion. The fourth article presents a selection of prompts used to promote student learning through written reflection tasks and describes how such tasks can be applied to various teaching contexts. The fifth article describes the use of a digital poverty simulation with business students and examines how the activity affected the students\u27 attitudes toward poverty

    Breastfeeding, motherhood and employment: the experience of breastfeeding mothers returning to work in Qatar

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    Participation of women in employment in Qatar has increased significantly over the past 10 years, from 12.4% in 2011 to 37% in 2020, with 64.1% of working women also being married (Planning and Statistics Authority, Qatar). Their professional commitments notwithstanding, most of these women are also mothers, with many breastfeeding. The Quran demands that mothers breastfeed their children for the first two years of their lives. This thesis explores this tension between a rapid increase in mothers entering the labour market, and the specific historic, cultural and religious expectations upon mothers in Qatar, which create challenges for mothers, employers and policy makers that are different from those of working mothers in the Global North and need further consideration. This thesis employed a qualitative research methodology in which a total of 50 breastfeeding, professional, working mothers in the public and private sectors of Qatar were interviewed. The thesis adopts a multifaceted theoretical framing. First, matricentric feminism (O’Reilly, 2016) and Hay’s concept of intensive mothering are considered in terms of their applicability, and expanded upon in seeking to make sense of the tensions and challenges the women experienced as they returned to work following birth and a relatively short maternity leave of only 50 and 60 days, in the private and public sectors respectively, within this particular context in the Global South. Second, the theory of the gendered institution, as proposed by Acker in 1990, posits that breastfeeding mothers cannot embody the ‘ideal worker’ construct due to considerations such as the roles they can handle, interpersonal interactions, self-efficacy, and culture. Third, under maternal bodies at work theory by Gatrell, Cooper and Kossek's (2017), breastfeeding mothers are perceived as social pollutants. According to this theory, women's experiences are influenced by the perspective that maternal bodies belong in the private sphere and that their presence in the workplace is repugnant to other workers. Finally, the experiences of breastfeeding women are analysed from the perspective of their embeddedness in multiple layers of contexts, in line with the theorisation of Lewis and Den Dulk (2008). There are four layers of contexts taken into account the global, national/regional and institutional layers. Under this theoretical position, the thesis appreciates the reality that different factors interact to produce magnified or suppressed effects. Through the lens of this multifaceted theoretical framework, the findings from the interviews are analysed through thematic analysis.This thesis therefore significantly contributes to the literature on working mothers through its location in an Islamic country, and through its orientation and exploration of the significance of the religious context at the intersection of gender and employment in particular, which remains underexplored. The findings show how the mothers’ return to work is complicated by the ways in which employment policies on pregnancy, maternity and breastfeeding are not aligned with Islamic doctrine on what is expected of women seeking to conform to ideas of being a ‘good Muslim mother’ In line with matricentric feminism, the findings show that Qatari women have displayed increased propensity to seek opportunities under professional employment as a way of advancing their interests as women and mothers, while also taking care of their families. The participation of women in the workplace has magnified the effects of intensive mothering, whereby women are expected to pursue professional acheivements in the workplace, while also being a good mother in accordance with the guidelines by Islam. These guidelines impose two years breastfeeding period after the birth of a baby, in addition to other domestic responsibilities. However, the novel work-related responsibilities have made fulfilling this mandate challenging for these women. The limitations arise from circumstances that can be explained through elements of the gendered organisation since most workplaces are not set up to facilitate breastfeeding. Similarly, women are found not to fit the ‘ideal worker’ image, thus limiting the extent to which they can exercise agency. It is also apparent from the resrach findings that the maternal body of the Qatari breastfeeding women in the study is perceived as a pollutant and repugnant in most workplaces and public spaces. While providing breastfeeding facilities in the workplace and accommodating breastfeeding activities could solve some of these challenges, most of the workplaces where the women interviewed work have not taken such measures. Finally, there is evidence that most breastfeeding mothers' experiences can be linked to multiple factors based on layers of contexts, starting with the global, national/regional and finally at the institutional level. The effects of the failure by Qatar to ratify the Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183) has played a role in subsequent actions such as the provision of insufficient leave days. Furthermore, institutions have not been mandated to accommodate the interests of breastfeeding mothers by providing the necessary facilities, such as private rooms for breastfeeding or for the expression of milk. These circumstances function to cause and magnify the challenges that breastfeeding mothers experience in practice upon their return to work. It also highlights the different ways they sought to overcome these challenges. It highlights how women in Qatar find themselves in a situation in which they are compelled to adhere to religious guidelines and organisational policies that are in conflict with each other. The implications of these findings for theory, policy and practice are explored from a feminist perspective in the final discussion and conclusion. The proposal for policy changes focus on adjustments to the limited maternal leave days to provide breastfeeding mothers with more time to take care of the infant. Changes to Human Rresources policies in the workplace such as job-sharing can also provide stop-gap measures to accommodate the interests of breastfeeding mothers. For practice, it is necessary for a multi-stakeholders and multi-sector approach to developing solutions to the challenges that contribute to the negative experiences of Qatari mothers who breastfeed at work

    Fact-Saboteurs: A Taxonomy of Evidence Manipulation Attacks against Fact-Verification Systems

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    Mis- and disinformation are a substantial global threat to our security and safety. To cope with the scale of online misinformation, researchers have been working on automating fact-checking by retrieving and verifying against relevant evidence. However, despite many advances, a comprehensive evaluation of the possible attack vectors against such systems is still lacking. Particularly, the automated fact-verification process might be vulnerable to the exact disinformation campaigns it is trying to combat. In this work, we assume an adversary that automatically tampers with the online evidence in order to disrupt the fact-checking model via camouflaging the relevant evidence or planting a misleading one. We first propose an exploratory taxonomy that spans these two targets and the different threat model dimensions. Guided by this, we design and propose several potential attack methods. We show that it is possible to subtly modify claim-salient snippets in the evidence and generate diverse and claim-aligned evidence. Thus, we highly degrade the fact-checking performance under many different permutations of the taxonomy's dimensions. The attacks are also robust against post-hoc modifications of the claim. Our analysis further hints at potential limitations in models' inference when faced with contradicting evidence. We emphasize that these attacks can have harmful implications on the inspectable and human-in-the-loop usage scenarios of such models, and conclude by discussing challenges and directions for future defenses

    University of Windsor Graduate Calendar 2023 Spring

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    https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/universitywindsorgraduatecalendars/1027/thumbnail.jp
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