Intention is commitment with expectation

Modal logics with possible worlds semantics can be used to represent mental states such as belief, goal, and intention, allowing one to formally describe the rational behavior of agents. Agent??s beliefs and goals are typically represented in these logics by primitive modal operators. However, the representation of agent??s intentions varies greatly between theories. Some logics characterize intention as a primitive operator, while others define intention in terms of more primitive constructs. Taking the latter approach is a theory due to Philip Cohen and Hector Levesque, under which intentions are a special form of commitment or persistent goal. The theory has motivated theories of speech acts and joint intention and innovative applications in multiagent systems and industrial robotics. However, Munindar Singh shows the theory to have certain logical inconsistencies and permit certain absurd scenarios. This thesis presents a modification of the theory that preserves the desirable aspects of the original while addressing the criticism of Singh. This is achieved by the introduction of an additional operator describing the achievement of expectations, refined assumptions, and new defi- nitions of intention. The modified theory gives a cogent account of the rational balance between agents?? action and deliberation, and suggests the use of meansends reasoning in agent implementations. A rule-based reasoner in Jess facilitates evaluation of the predictiveness and intuitiveness of the theory, and provides a prototypical agent based on the theory

Yet Another Semantics of Goals and Goal Priorities

. This paper presents a semantics of goals that deals with the problem of closeness under believed implications. The paper develops the semantics of wishes, its relation to beliefs, and define goals in relation to wishes. Also, the semantics of a priority or importance relation among propositions (and goals) is developed. Finally the paper advances in extending this semantics to the multi-agent case. 1 Introduction Goals are an important aspect of an agent's mental state. The "standard" semantics for goals (for example [2, 13]) is based on an extension of the possible world semantic of knowledge: besides an accessibility relation among the possible worlds that defines the knowledge of an agent, one would also define a desirability relation that is the base of the definition of goals. Like the accessibility relation, the desirability relation has some constraints that define further properties of the goal operator. One of the main problems with that approach is that the goal operator..

Investigating the experiences of gay high school learners and the impact thereof on their academic performance.

Master of Education in Educational Psychology. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood 2015.In the wider awareness of homosexuality across the world, stereotypes and prejudices associated with gay and lesbian learners are visible in most South African high schools. It was deemed important for this research to investigate and understand the experiences of gay learners and the impact it has on their academic performance. This was done through semi-structured interviews i.e., eliciting qualitative data, at one of the schools located in the Durban metropolitan, with five participants whose ages ranged from 16 to 18 years. This study will use interpretive paradigm underscored by the ecosystemic perspective. The findings generated from the data indicated that gay and lesbian learners encountered negative experiences which impact on their academic performance. Gay and Lesbian learners indicated that there must be advocacy campaigns to ensure the inclusivity of all learners irrespective of their sexual orientation and identity at school. The common sentiment expressed was that the acceptance of homosexuality enables the achievement of social justice and the sound academic performance of this group of learners. Therefore, equity in schools will improve academic performance and social well-being of gay and lesbian learners. Lastly, teaching about homosexuality at school will ensure the improvement of social justice towards achieving the aims of inclusive education. This will promote peer support, and parental intervention to actualise maximum performance on the encountered negative experiences of gay and lesbian learners, and further create a welcoming safe school environment. The slogan of ‘education for all’ stated that all learners have a right to education in all South African schools, irrespective of the religion, culture, race and sexual orientation. Thus, the findings and recommendations of this study are of special relevance to the South African context