SnS can be modally characterized

AbstractWe show that a modal mu-calculus with label set {1,…,n} can define the Rabin recognizable tree languages up to an equivalence similar to the observational equivalence of Milner

A Frobenius Algebraic Analysis for Parasitic Gaps

The interpretation of parasitic gaps is an ostensible case of non-linearity in natural language composition. Existing categorial analyses, both in the typelogical and in the combinatory traditions, rely on explicit forms of syntactic copying. We identify two types of parasitic gapping where the duplication of semantic content can be confined to the lexicon. Parasitic gaps in adjuncts are analysed as forms of generalized coordination with a polymorphic type schema for the head of the adjunct phrase. For parasitic gaps affecting arguments of the same predicate, the polymorphism is associated with the lexical item that introduces the primary gap. Our analysis is formulated in terms of Lambek calculus extended with structural control modalities. A compositional translation relates syntactic types and derivations to the interpreting compact closed category of finite dimensional vector spaces and linear maps with Frobenius algebras over it. When interpreted over the necessary semantic spaces, the Frobenius algebras provide the tools to model the proposed instances of lexical polymorphism.Comment: SemSpace 2019, to appear in Journal of Applied Logic

Examining Emotion-related Processes in Selective Mutism; Autonomic, Behavioral and Parental Factors

Selective mutism (SM) is associated with considerable individual and family burdens, significant long-term functional impairment, and risk for later psychopathology. However, literature examining the phenomenology of SM has been scant, and it remains unclear which mechanisms are related to the development or maintenance of SM. Multiple theoretical perspectives have been proposed, and it appears that several pathways may be involved and interact to lead to the development of SM. Emotionrelated processes, such as negative emotion reactivity, disruptions in emotion regulation, and parental behavior and emotionality have been proposed to be involved in the etiology and/or maintenance of SM. The present study examined each of these factors using a multi-method approach among a sample of children with SM, and typically developing children. Specifically, a mother-child dyad participated in a protocol of tasks in the laboratory. Behavioral coding and psychophysiological recording indexed emotion reactivity and regulation during tasks, as well as maternal report of these abilities. Expressed emotion, maternal behavior and self-report on emotionality was evaluated in mothers. Between-group comparisons were conducted using ANCOVAs and logistic binary regression, as well as linear regression to examine associations with a continuous measure of SM symptom severity. The study provided preliminary evidence in the presence of heightened negative emotion reactivity indexed behaviorally, via maternal report, and sympathetic-based activity and reactivity (i.e., EDA and PEP) among children with SM. Disruptions in emotion regulation were also present in children with SM as indexed behaviorally, via maternal report, and parasympathetic-based dysregulation (RSA). Mothers of children with SM also demonstrated increased control and accommodation behaviors. In addition, mothers of children with SM demonstrated high negative affect and disruptions in emotion regulation abilities as evidenced via ratings on self-report measures. No differences were observed with respect to maternal expressed emotion. Findings suggest emotion-related processes are important to consider in the phenomenology of SM. Future directions are discussed with respect to longitudinal designs to assess temporal causality, and to contribute to the etiological theory of SM

Local model checking for infinite state spaces

AbstractWe present a sound and complete tableau proof system for establishing whether a set of elements of an arbitrary transition system model has a property expressed in (a slight extension of) the modal mu-calculus. The proof system, we believe, offers a very general verification method applicable to a wide range of computational systems

Typological parameters of genericity

Different languages employ different morphosyntactic devices for expressing genericity. And, of course, they also make use of different morphosyntactic and semantic or pragmatic cues which may contribute to the interpretation of a sentence as generic rather than episodic. [...] We will advance the strong hypo thesis that it is a fundamental property of lexical elements in natural language that they are neutral with respect to different modes of reference or non-reference. That is, we reject the idea that a certain use of a lexical element, e.g. a use which allows reference to particular spatio-temporally bounded objects in the world, should be linguistically prior to all other possible uses, e.g. to generic and non-specific uses. From this it follows that we do not consider generic uses as derived from non-generic uses as it is occasionally assumed in the literature. Rather, we regard these two possibilities of use as equivalent alternative uses of lexical elements. The typological differences to be noted therefore concern the formal and semantic relationship of generic and non-generic uses to each other; they do not pertain to the question of whether lexical elements are predetermined for one of these two uses. Even supposing we found a language where generic uses are always zero-marked and identical to lexical sterns, we would still not assume that lexical elements in this language primarily have a generic use from which the non-generic uses are derived. (Incidentally, none of the languages examined, not even Vietnamese, meets this criterion.

Process and Product: High School English Learners Redefined

Despite 21st Century technology, our nation’s high schools deliver a print-centric curriculum driven by high-stakes tests. A majority of states have adopted Common Core State Standards that incorporate producing and consuming multiple media texts. Some teachers have begun to include multimodal activities but few are exploiting the affordances of multimodal composition specifically for the benefit of English learners. Public high school teachers hold deficit views of English learners and fail to offer them challenging, creative tasks. Framed by the complementary sociocultural theories of ecological linguistics (van Lier, 2004), multimodality (Kress, 2010), and identity (Gee, 2001; Norton, 2000), this qualitative case study examined the process and product of high school English learners composing multimodally with digital video. Four questions guided the study: 1) What can we learn from adolescent English learners engaged in composing with video? 2) What identities do adolescent ELs explore while engaging in multimodal communication? 3) What processes do ELs engage in as they compose multimodally? 4) How do their multimodal compositions contribute to our understanding of ELs? Participants were enrolled in an elective English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) class at a public high school during Spring semester of 2012. Data included student generated lesson artifacts, audio/video recordings, researcher journal, and participants\u27 video compositions. Data were analyzed through an ongoing, recursive cycle to determine themes, categories, and trends. Visual and video data were examined through visual discourse analysis (Albers, 2007b; Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006) and multimodal interaction analysis (Norris, 2004). Addressing the process and product of learning to read and compose visual and video texts, this dissertation examines 3 pairs of student participants and their video compositions. It reveals English learners working collaboratively and creatively, exploring imagined identities, showing investment in learning, engaging in critical analysis, and effectively communicating through multiple modes. Multimodal analysis of three student videos revealed four patterns of multimodal design; less is less, layered modes, less is more, and overlapping modes. The study redefines English learners as multilingual, multimodal communicators. It illustrates the complexity and reveals the benefit of incorporating multimodal activities and provides a model for fostering multilingual, multimodal communicators

Evaluation of reality orientation procedures with the mentally impaired elderly

The studies to be presented here are concerned with investigating the effectiveness of Reality Orientation procedures in the institutional management of those suffering from the dementias of old age. The initial chapter considers the dramatic increase in the numbers of people suffering from dementia and points to the urgent need for research on management procedures. The second chapter examines dementia itself and briefly describes the range of psychological and behavioural disabilities that accompany the dementing process. The third chapter reviews the main psychologically based intervention strategies and describes the procedures of Reality Orientation (RO). An attempt is then made in the fourth chapter to relate these available approaches to both the disabilities presented by the disease process and the typical characteristics of institutional care settings. It is argued that Realty Orientation, as a package of procedures designed specifically for use in the care of the mentally impaired elderly, has the most obvious potential.The ai: 3 of the study are presented in the fifth chapter. The primary concern is to evaluate the effectiveness of Twenty-four Hour RO and Glass RO, both separately and in combination, with a lai-ge sample of dementing subjects dram from the two main types of care setting; a psychogeriatric hospital and a local authority ran old people's home. The effectiveness of these procedures isexamined in both the short and longer term and in relationship to the factors of residential location and degree of dementia. As well as examining the effects of these procedures on the demented elderly sample itself, an attempt is also made to evaluate the effects on care staff whose task it is to apply the procedures. Additionally an attempt is made to separate out and evaluate the effectiveness of two principal components of 24 RO,The sixth chapter describes the general design and methodology adopted in the experimental trials and then the seventh to twelfth chapters describe in turn each of the six experiments conducted, present the results obtained and discuss the basic conclusions that can be reached in each.The conclusion reached in the thirteenth chapter is that the effectiveness of Class RG and 24 RO can be summarized as conforming to the following models over the short term application Class RO appears to produce restricted cognitive improvement in the demented subjects. No behavioural improvements are evident and the level of engagement of subjects with their environment seems reduced. Over the longer tenn, there is no indication of Class RO having any positive or negative effectai Twenty-four Hour RO, on the other hand, seems to produce both moro extensive cognitive improvement and behavioural improvement when examined in the short term. This seems to be facilitated by the addition of Class RO, In the long term most of these gains maintain and are directly attributable to 24 RO working alone. Of the two components of RO examined, s .ff to patient interaction seems to have the most beneficial effect in facilitating discrete behavioural improvements. However, no evidence was obtained to positively indicate that staff generally changed their style of interaction with patients as a result of 24 RO implementation. Some of the implications of these findings are discussed

6th International Conference on Multimodality - Conference guide with abstracts

The aim of the conference was to contribute to moving forward the field of multimodal research and to help connect the diverse community of scholars working within it. 6ICOM is a place where we can explore the full range of different ways in which multimodality has been taken up and where we can recognize their points of connection. The conference was organised with support from the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council, who fund MODE. MODE is a node of the National Centre for Research Methods based in the Institute of Education and aims to develop and promote multimodal methods for researching digital data and environments. 6ICOM’s programme includes an impressive set of paper presentations (125) and invited keynotes (5). The presenters engage with a wide range of disciplines, ideas and methods, reflecting the diverse character of multimodality and latest developments in the field. They speak to a range of contexts, theoretical and methodological approaches, technologies and types of data