Demonstrations for Children of All Age- The Cork Canon

Demonstrations are one of the most useful techniques for teaching science to anyone, regardless of age. Demonstrations attract attention and normally make the observer want to learn more about what is happening. This paper reports on The Cork Cannon, one of the favorite demonstrations done in the demonstration road show, Phun Physics, that travels to schools within about 60 miles of Charlottesville. The Department of Physics and the Center for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Education sponsor this demonstration show, which was seen by about 8000 persons during the last school year. Although quite simple, the Cork Cannon demonstration is rich in pedagogy and can be used to illuminate several ideas, including temperature, pressure, phase change, heat conduction, water vapor, humidity, projectile motion, air resistance, atmosphere, and kinetic theory

A natural cure for the pet fish problem: feature emergence as classificatory composition

Where do emergent features come from? This has long been an intriging puzzle. The concept of pet fish illustrates the difficulty. Most people expect pet fish to live in bowls, even though this is not something either pets or fish normally do. The inference that pet fish have the feature of living in bowls cannot be explained purely in terms of the constituents themselves. The feature seems to emerge. The present paper aims to explain this effect using notions of classificatory composition. Adjoined concept references are taken to construct classifications rather than combinations; a pet fish is taken to be a fish classified as a pet rather than a combination of a pet a fish. It is also shown that, where concepts have a compositional representation, feature emergence can be accounted for in terms of compositional accommodation

Exhibition Season: Annual Archaeological Exhibitions in London, 1880s-1930s

Annual archaeological exhibitions were a visible symbol of archaeological research. Held mainly in London, the displays encapsulated a network of archaeologists, artists, architects and curators, and showcased the work of the first generations of trained archaeologists. The exhibition catalogues and published reviews of the displays provide a unique method for exploring the reception and sponsorship of archaeological work overseas and its promotion to a fascinated, well connected and well moneyed public. The exhibitions were a space in which conversation and networking were as important as educational enrichment. This paper analyses the social history of the “annual exhibition” in archaeology, highlighting the development and maintenance of the networks behind archaeological research, the geography of London as a way to examine influence in archaeology, and the utility of exhibitions for archaeological publicity during this period of exploration

Livia K. Stone. Atenco Lives! Filmmaking and Popular Struggle in Mexico. Vanderbilt UP, 2019. 202 pp.

Livia K. Stone. Atenco Lives! Filmmaking and Popular Struggle in Mexico. Vanderbilt U P , 2019. 202 pp

Quantitative abstraction theory

A quantitative theory of abstraction is presented. The central feature of this is a growth formula defining the number of abstractions which may be formed by an individual agent in a given context. Implications of the theory for artificial intelligence and cognitive psychology are explored. Its possible applications to the issue of implicit v. explicit learning are also discussed

Capacity, Mental Mechanisms, and Unwise Decisions

The notion of capacity implicit in the Mental Capacity Act is subject to a tension between two claims. On the one hand, capacity is assessed relative to a particular decision. It is the capacity to make one kind of judgement, specifically, rather than another. So one can have capacity in one area whilst not having it in another. On the other hand, capacity is supposed to be independent of the ‘wisdom’ or otherwise of the decision made. (‘A person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision merely because he makes an unwise decision.’ [Department of Constitutional Affairs 2005: section 1].) One may have capacity even if the decision one arrives at is seen as unwise by one’s doctor. In this short note I will explore this tension. By saying that there is a tension between these two claims, I do not mean that they are inconsistent. They can both be true. But there is a natural way of thinking about the first claim, suggested by the second, which is false and accommodating both in its absence puts limits on just how atomic or decision specific capacity can be

A new way of linking information theory with cognitive science

The relationship between the notion of *information* in information theory, and the notion of *information processing* in cognitive science, has long been controversial. But as the present paper shows, part of the disagreement arises from conflating different formulations of measurement. Clarifying distinctions reveals it is the context-free nature of Shannon's information average that is particular problematic from the cognitive point of view. Context-sensitive evaluation is then shown to be a way of addressing the problems that arise

Recent developments for naturalizing the mind.

The connection between having a mind and fitting a rational pattern remains an important insight