231,956 research outputs found

    Avoiding Discrimination through Causal Reasoning

    Full text link
    Recent work on fairness in machine learning has focused on various statistical discrimination criteria and how they trade off. Most of these criteria are observational: They depend only on the joint distribution of predictor, protected attribute, features, and outcome. While convenient to work with, observational criteria have severe inherent limitations that prevent them from resolving matters of fairness conclusively. Going beyond observational criteria, we frame the problem of discrimination based on protected attributes in the language of causal reasoning. This viewpoint shifts attention from "What is the right fairness criterion?" to "What do we want to assume about the causal data generating process?" Through the lens of causality, we make several contributions. First, we crisply articulate why and when observational criteria fail, thus formalizing what was before a matter of opinion. Second, our approach exposes previously ignored subtleties and why they are fundamental to the problem. Finally, we put forward natural causal non-discrimination criteria and develop algorithms that satisfy them.Comment: Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 30, 2017 http://papers.nips.cc/paper/6668-avoiding-discrimination-through-causal-reasonin

    Observing Action Sequences Elicits Sequence-Specific Neural Representations in Frontoparietal Brain Regions.

    Get PDF
    Learning new skills by watching others is important for social and motor development throughout the lifespan. Prior research has suggested that observational learning shares common substrates with physical practice at both cognitive and brain levels. In addition, neuroimaging studies have used multivariate analysis techniques to understand neural representations in a variety of domains, including vision, audition, memory, and action, but few studies have investigated neural plasticity in representational space. Therefore, although movement sequences can be learned by observing other people's actions, a largely unanswered question in neuroscience is how experience shapes the representational space of neural systems. Here, across a sample of male and female participants, we combined pretraining and posttraining fMRI sessions with 6 d of observational practice to determine whether the observation of action sequences elicits sequence-specific representations in human frontoparietal brain regions and the extent to which these representations become more distinct with observational practice. Our results showed that observed action sequences are modeled by distinct patterns of activity in frontoparietal cortex and that such representations largely generalize to very similar, but untrained, sequences. These findings advance our understanding of what is modeled during observational learning (sequence-specific information), as well as how it is modeled (reorganization of frontoparietal cortex is similar to that previously shown following physical practice). Therefore, on a more fine-grained neural level than demonstrated previously, our findings reveal how the representational structure of frontoparietal cortex maps visual information onto motor circuits in order to enhance motor performance.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Learning by watching others is a cornerstone in the development of expertise and skilled behavior. However, it remains unclear how visual signals are mapped onto motor circuits for such learning to occur. Here, we show that observed action sequences are modeled by distinct patterns of activity in frontoparietal cortex and that such representations largely generalize to very similar, but untrained, sequences. These findings advance our understanding of what is modeled during observational learning (sequence-specific information), as well as how it is modeled (reorganization of frontoparietal cortex is similar to that previously shown following physical practice). More generally, these findings demonstrate how motor circuit involvement in the perception of action sequences shows high fidelity to prior work, which focused on physical performance of action sequences

    Why do dogs (Canis familiaris) select the empty container in an observational learning task?

    Get PDF
    Many argue that dogs show unique susceptibility to human communicative signals that make them suitable for being engaged in complex co-operation with humans. It has also been revealed that socially provided information is particularly effective in influencing the behaviour of dogs even when the human’s action demonstration conveys inefficient or mistaken solution of task. It is unclear, however, how the communicative nature of the demonstration context and the presence of the human demonstrator affect the dogs’ object-choice behaviour in observational learning situations. In order to unfold the effects of these factors, 76 adult pet dogs could observe a communicative or a non-communicative demonstration in which the human retrieved a tennis ball from under an opaque container while manipulating another distant and obviously empty (transparent) one. Subjects were then allowed to choose either in the presence of the demonstrator or after she left the room. Results showed a significant main effect of the demonstration context (presence or absence of the human’s communicative signals), and we also found some evidence for the response-modifying effect of the presence of the human demonstrator during the dogs’ choice. That is, dogs predominantly chose the baited container, but if the demonstration context was communicative and the human was present during the dogs’ choice, subjects’ tendency to select the baited container has been reduced. In agreement with the studies showing sensitivity to human’s communicative signals in dogs, these findings point to a special form of social influence in observational learning situations when it comes to learning about causally opaque and less efficient (compared to what comes natural to the dog) action demonstrations

    The methods café: An innovative idea for methods teaching at conference meetings

    Get PDF
    Interpretive research methods of various sorts have long been used to study "the political," but the full range of such methods is not widely known, and many are curious about what they entail. Others, who begin to use one or another of them, have questions about how to proceed. For those just learning about these methods, questions may be as basic as: "What does ethnomethodology mean?" "What is semiotic analysis?" "Are these approaches recognized as legitimate in political science?" Scholars engaging, or perhaps teaching, these methods might ask, e.g., "How do ethnographers overcome problems of accessing their field site, talking to strangers, and turning a year's worth of observational and interview notes into concise text?"

    Learning what they think vs. learning what they do: The micro-foundations of vicarious learning

    Full text link
    Vicarious learning is a vital component of organizational learning. We theorize and model two fundamental processes underlying vicarious learning: observation of actions (learning what they do) vs. belief sharing (learning what they think). The analysis of our model points to three key insights. First, vicarious learning through either process is beneficial even when no agent in a system of vicarious learners begins with a knowledge advantage. Second, vicarious learning through belief sharing is not universally better than mutual observation of actions and outcomes. Specifically, enabling mutual observability of actions and outcomes is superior to sharing of beliefs when the task environment features few alternatives with large differences in their value and there are no time pressures. Third, symmetry in vicarious learning in fact adversely affects belief sharing but improves observational learning. All three results are shown to be the consequence of how vicarious learning affects self-confirming biased beliefs

    Remixing the music curriculum : the new technology, creativity and perceptions of musicality in music education

    Get PDF
    Abstract\ud This thesis interrogates the new music technology and its relationship to\ud creativity, musicality and learning in the Key Stage 31 curriculum. In doing so it\ud considers the effectiveness of the technology, what value pupils and teachers\ud might place on technologically mediated musical interactions and how this\ud relates to the principles enshrined in the National Curriculum. The research also\ud explores the views of teachers in relation to the nature of creativity and learning\ud in the music curriculum and their role in promoting it. The research was carried\ud out across five sites: a PGCE music course, a year 7, year 8, and year 9 Key Stage\ud 3 music classroom, and a panel of secondary music teachers. It was located in a\ud qualitative paradigm which made use of observational and interview techniques.\ud The research also probed the pupils' creative outcomes through detailed\ud analysis. The findings suggest that the new technology can afford creative\ud musical engagement through the manipulation of ready-made musical materials.\ud It also suggests that pupils engage in a range of musical learning through such\ud interactions and that they value the processes and outcomes. By way of contrast,\ud teachers are still unclear about how to value such musical actions and are in the\ud process of re conceptualising the learning that emerges in technologically\ud mediated settings. Moreover, confusions still exist in relation to creativity and\ud learning in the music classroom. This is compounded by the fact that the pupils'\ud musical actions in relation to the new technology do not meet certain core\ud practices and principles enshrined in the National Curriculum for music. This is\ud problematic for, as the research suggests, such core practices often exclude or\ud distance those pupils who are non-performing musicians. Hence the thesis\ud concludes by positing that music education must consider a broader view of\ud what it is to be musical. In doing so it needs to remix the music curriculum to\ud take account of a range of musical actions. This remix should accommodate the\ud new technology, reconfigure musical creativity and learning in the light of the\ud technology and find new ways to value pupils' actions. In such settings the role of\ud the teacher in shaping and supporting the pupils' musical actions will be an\ud important consideration

    Learning from experience: the case study of a primary school

    Get PDF
    This thesis is a case study about learning from experience in a primary school. The enquiry applies a psychoanalytic idea in an educational context. The focus arose from Bion’s idea: ‘Container-contained’ (Bion, 1962) which proposes that the capacity to think is emotionally rooted in our first relationship, which informs the qualities of our subsequent ‘learning relationships’ (Youell, 2006). Within a psychosocial, interpretivist framework, research questions ask: How does the learning that children bring to school affect their relationships and learning? How can school provide flexible-enough containment for thinking and learning from experience? What have I learnt about learning from experience? As a researcher/mentor, an interpretation of Bick’s (1964) clinical observational method was deployed to generate data, including written-up observations of four case study children who communicated their stories of everyday events in school during mentoring sessions. An auto/biographical approach complementarily composed part of the methodological bricolage. The inductive method supported evolution of a relational approach to mentoring, permitting reflexive interrogation of the observational texts. Interviews with teachers and parents added a biographical dimension. Mentoring took place during half-hour, weekly, individual mentoring sessions with children over two terms. Findings confirmed that children brought early experiences of learning to school which affected relationships and posed barriers to learning. The research method provided a subjective tool for making unconscious qualities of relationship in the transference and countertransference between researcher, children and adults at an institutional level, explicit. RefIexive interrogation illumined the interrelationship between researcher and children’s learning. Findings showed a need for flexible boundaries for supporting children’s self-efficacy and personal agency, and teacher’s learning about learning, when school is seen as a ‘container’. Findings confirmed the need for time and space for children and adults to reflect on experience in school, towards fostering emotional well-being and the capacity to think and learn

    Active learning: strategies that help first graders transition and build literacy skills

    Get PDF
    The purpose of this research inquiry was to investigate what happens when first grade students that have not had the benefits of Preschool or Kindergarten education engage in active learning activities. The study was aimed at looking into how such activities can help with the transition into formal education, as well as with building the grounding literacy skills necessary for success in elementary education. The study was conducted in a first grade classroom with 31 students. The qualitative research paradigm was followed and data collected included student surveys, a Sociogram, student work, teacher observations, student interviews, and observational field notes. The classroom environment (in regards to setup, arrangement, and displays) as well as the effects of setting a safe and comfortable learning community were also importantly observed during this study. Findings indicate that: 1. Active learning had positive effects on student self-perception, 2. active learning had a positive impact on students\u27 perception of literacy, 3. active learning strategies and activities helped improve literacy scores, and 4. active learning helped create an effective learning community

    Altruistic Learning

    Get PDF
    The origin of altruism remains one of the most enduring puzzles of human behaviour. Indeed, true altruism is often thought either not to exist, or to arise merely as a miscalculation of otherwise selfish behaviour. In this paper, we argue that altruism emerges directly from the way in which distinct human decision-making systems learn about rewards. Using insights provided by neurobiological accounts of human decision-making, we suggest that reinforcement learning in game-theoretic social interactions (habitisation over either individuals or games) and observational learning (either imitative of inference based) lead to altruistic behaviour. This arises not only as a result of computational efficiency in the face of processing complexity, but as a direct consequence of optimal inference in the face of uncertainty. Critically, we argue that the fact that evolutionary pressure acts not over the object of learning (‘what’ is learned), but over the learning systems themselves (‘how’ things are learned), enables the evolution of altruism despite the direct threat posed by free-riders
    corecore