Discovery as invention: a constructivist alternative to the classic science documentary

This thesis is a practice-led exploration of how science is represented in the documentary film. The practice part is a science documentary that deliberately eschews a number of key stylistic elements common to what may be called the ‘classic’ science documentary. The aim is not to arbitrarily restrict the filmmaker but rather to explore what sort of a documentary of science might be possible in the absence of certain features that, on the face of it at least, appear to be predicated on an out-dated positivism. The film, Hopeful Monsters: An Experiment, is not in itself an argument for these post-positivist ideas but an experiment that implicitly critiques the philosophical underpinning of the classic science programme. This written dissertation is designed, therefore, to make that critique explicit. It demonstrates, first, how the classic science documentary is indeed informed by an outdated view of the nature of science —the so-called ‘received view’—and second, it develops an alternative, ‘constructivist’ view of science in light of which the film, Hopeful Monsters is evaluated. The dissertation concludes that in its combination of documentary modes and its inconclusive narrative structure, Hopeful Monsters, succeeds in representing science and the scientific-self as distinctly different from the representation of science in the classic science documentary. Furthermore, this alternative representation is indeed consonant with a post-positivist, ‘constructivist’ view of the nature of scientific practice and of the experience of the scientist in carrying out his or her work

Morphological, genetic and molecular desciption of Pristionchus pacificus

Description est donnée d'une nouvelle espèce hermaphrodite de nématode libre, #Pristionchus pacificus sp. n. (#Neodiplogastridae) qui pourra être utilisée pour des études de génétique, de développement et de biologie moléculaire. #P. pacificus sp. n. possède six chromosomes, un cycle de reproduction de trois jours et s'élève facilement. Quarante-huit mutations morphologiques sont décrites, ce qui indique l'accessibilité à l'étude génétique. Des études moléculaires ont débuté par l'établissement de banques d'ADN génomique et d'ADNc et par le clonage de l'homologue du gène let-60 ras de #Caenorhabditis elegans. (Résumé d'auteur

Overall Survival Endpoint in Oncology Clinical Trials: Addressing the Effect of Crossover - The Case of Pazopanib in Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma

Objective: To identify the issues of using overall survival (OS) as a primary endpoint in the presence of crossover and the statistical analyses available to adjust for confounded OS due to crossover in oncology clinical trials. Methods: An indirect comparison was conducted between pazopanib and sunitinib in advanced renal cell carcinoma. Statistical adjustment methods were used to estimate the true comparative effectiveness of these treatments. Recently, a head-to-head trial comparing pazopanib and sunitinib was completed. This provided the opportunity to compare the OS treatment effect estimated for pazopanib versus sunitinib using indirect comparison and statistical adjustment techniques with that observed in the head-to-head trial. Results: Using a rank-preserving structural failure time model to adjust for crossover in the pazopanib registration trial, the indirect comparison of pazopanib versus sunitinib resulted in an OS hazard ratio (HR) of 0.97, while an unadjusted analysis resulted in an OS HR of 1.96. The head-to-head trial reported a final OS HR of 0.92 for pazopanib versus sunitinib. Conclusion: This case study supports the need to adjust for confounded OS due to crossover, which enables trials to meet ethical standards and provides decision makers with a more accurate estimate of treatment benefit

Using a cognitive architecture to examine what develops

Different theories of development propose alternative mechanisms by which development occurs. Cognitive architectures can be used to examine the influence of each proposed mechanism of development while keeping all other mechanisms constant. An ACT-R computational model that matched adult behavior in solving a 21-block pyramid puzzle was created. The model was modified in three ways that corresponded to mechanisms of development proposed by developmental theories. The results showed that all the modifications (two of capacity and one of strategy choice) could approximate the behavior of 7-year-old children on the task. The strategy-choice modification provided the closest match on the two central measures of task behavior (time taken per layer, r = .99, and construction attempts per layer, r = .73). Modifying cognitive architectures is a fruitful way to compare and test potential developmental mechanisms, and can therefore help in specifying “what develops.

Creativity in savant artists with autism

Background: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often display impairments in creativity, yet savant artists with ASD can produce highly novel and original artistic outputs. To date, there have been no systematic attempts to explore creativity in savant artists with ASD. Methods: Nine savant artists with ASD were compared with nine talented artists, nine non-artistically talented individuals with ASD, and nine individuals with moderate learning difficulties (MLD), on tasks in and out of their domain of expertise. This was to ascertain whether the performance of the savant artists was related to their artistic ability, their diagnosis of ASD or their level of intellectual functioning. Results: On a drawing task (the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking; Torrance, 1974), the responses of the art students were more creative (scoring higher on measures of fluency, originality, elaboration and flexibility) than the savant, ASD and MLD groups. However, the savants did produce more elaborative responses than the ASD and MLD groups. On a non-drawing construction task (figural synthesis; Finke & Slayton, 1988), the savants produced more original outputs than the ASD and MLD groups (scoring similarly to the art students). No group differences were found regarding fluency on this task. Conclusions: On standardised creativity tasks, savant artists with ASD display high levels of elaboration (on drawing tasks) and originality (on non-drawing construction tasks), relative to groups with ASD or MLD. High elaboration and originality may result from a local processing bias, coupled with artistic talent, in this group

Off-task social breaks and group creativity

This study investigates the effect of off-task breaks, where individuals engage in a collective off-task activity, on group creativity. Using an experimental method comprising 36 groups of 5 individuals, the relationships between different types of off-task group break and performance in creative tasks post-break are explored. When compared to the no-break case, it is seen that off-task breaks, in which all individuals participate in the group activity, lead to more original ideas being generated post-break. On the other hand, individual incubation breaks and self-organising group breaks, lead to lower levels of post-break idea originality when compared with the no-break case. This research thus highlights the positive benefits of off-task breaks involving full member participation, on the creative process in groups

Multidimensional rasch models for partial credit scoring

Rasch models for partial-credit scoring are discussed and a multidimensional version of the model is formulated. A model may be specified in which consecutive item responses depend on an underlying latent trait. In the multidimensional partial-credit model, different responses may be explained by different latent traits. Data from van Kuyk’s (1988) size concept test and the Raven Progressive Matrices test were analyzed. Maximum likelihood estimation and goodness-of-fit testing are discussed and applied to these datasets. Goodness-of-fit statistics show that for both tests, multidimensional partial-credit models were more appropriate than the unidimensional partial-credit model. Index terms: X2 testing, exponential family model, multidimensional item response theory, multidimensional Rasch model, partial-credit models, Progressive Matrices test, Rasch model

How brains make decisions

This chapter, dedicated to the memory of Mino Freund, summarizes the Quantum Decision Theory (QDT) that we have developed in a series of publications since 2008. We formulate a general mathematical scheme of how decisions are taken, using the point of view of psychological and cognitive sciences, without touching physiological aspects. The basic principles of how intelligence acts are discussed. The human brain processes involved in decisions are argued to be principally different from straightforward computer operations. The difference lies in the conscious-subconscious duality of the decision making process and the role of emotions that compete with utility optimization. The most general approach for characterizing the process of decision making, taking into account the conscious-subconscious duality, uses the framework of functional analysis in Hilbert spaces, similarly to that used in the quantum theory of measurements. This does not imply that the brain is a quantum system, but just allows for the simplest and most general extension of classical decision theory. The resulting theory of quantum decision making, based on the rules of quantum measurements, solves all paradoxes of classical decision making, allowing for quantitative predictions that are in excellent agreement with experiments. Finally, we provide a novel application by comparing the predictions of QDT with experiments on the prisoner dilemma game. The developed theory can serve as a guide for creating artificial intelligence acting by quantum rules.Comment: Latex file, 20 pages, 3 figure