Information Value: Measuring Utterance Predictability as Distance from Plausible Alternatives

We present information value, a measure which quantifies the predictability of an utterance relative to a set of plausible alternatives. We introduce a method to obtain interpretable estimates of information value using neural text generators, and exploit their psychometric predictive power to investigate the dimensions of predictability that drive human comprehension behaviour. Information value is a stronger predictor of utterance acceptability in written and spoken dialogue than aggregates of token-level surprisal and it is complementary to surprisal for predicting eye-tracked reading times

Identifying and explaining framing strategies of low carbon lifestyle movement organisations

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.Over the last decade we have seen the growth and development of low carbon lifestyle movement organisations, which seek to encourage members of the public to reduce their personal energy use and carbon emissions. As a first step to assess the transformational potential of such organisations, this paper examines the ways in which they frame their activities. This reveals an important challenge they face: in addressing the broader public, do they promote 'transformative' behaviours or do they limit themselves to encouraging 'easy changes' to maintain their appeal? We find evidence that many organisations within this movement avoid 'transformative' frames. The main reasons for this are organisers' perceptions that transformational frames lack resonance with broader audiences, as well as wider cultural contexts that caution against behavioural intervention. The analysis draws on interviews with key actors in the low carbon lifestyle movement and combines insights from the literatures on collective action framing and lifestyle movements.This research was supported by grant RES-628-25-0059 for the project “Community-based initiatives for energy saving” which is part of the RCUK Energy and Communities Programme and ESRC grant RES-595-28-0001 which funded the project “The Third Sector and the Environment” within the Third Sector Research Centre at the University of Southampton. We would like to thank Rebecca Edwards for collecting interview data on the “third sector” project, as well as our colleagues on the Energy and Communities project for their role in the wider project design, including Patrick James, Tom Rushby and Nicholas Woodman. We are also very grateful to our research participants without whom this research would not have been possible. All remaining weaknesses remain our responsibility

Domestic thermal upgrades, community action and energy saving: a three-year experimental study of prosperous households

A three-year field experiment was conducted with 185 prosperous households to assess whether behavioural interventions by a community environmental group during and after thermal upgrades (cavity wall and/or loft insulation) can achieve reductions in households’ energy use, including reductions in direct and indirect rebound. The engineering interventions on the thermal efficiency of dwellings appear effective in reducing energy use in both treatment and control groups: a direct rebound effect is estimated to be at most 40 per cent from the engineering interventions. However, across a range of measures of energy use, we observe no significant effect of the community behavioural intervention across the total lifetime of the project. Qualitative data collected on similar community groups suggests substantial constraints on their capacity to realise reductions in energy use amongst households

Incipient sediment transport for non-cohesive landforms by the discrete element method (DEM)

[EN] We introduce a numerical method for incipient sediment transport past bedforms. The approach is based on the discrete element method (DEM) [1], simulating the micro-mechanics of the landform as an aggregate of rigid spheres interacting by contact and friction. A continuous finite element approximation [2] predicts the boundary shear stress field due to the fluid flow, resulting in drag and lift forces acting over the particles. Numerical experiments verify the method by reproducing results by Shields [3] and other authors for the initiation of motion of a single grain. A series of experiments for sediments with varying compacity and constituting piles yields enhanced relationships between threshold shear stress and friction Reynolds number, to define incipient sediment transport criterion for flows over small-scale bed morphologies.This work was partially supported by the MICIIN Grants #BIA-2008-00522 and #BIA-2012-32918.Bravo, R.; Ortiz Rossini, P.; Pérez Aparicio, JL. (2014). Incipient sediment transport for non-cohesive landforms by the discrete element method (DEM). Applied Mathematical Modelling. 38(4):1326-1337. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apm.2013.08.010S1326133738

A systematic review of familiarisation methods used in human-robot interactions for autistic participants

There is a growing need for standardised familiarisation techniques within the Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) community. This is particularly the case when considering autistic participants, who may have difficulties with the novelty and sensory stimulation associated with meeting a robot. Familiarisation techniques should be considered critical to research, both from an ethical perspective and to achieve research best practice, and are also important in applied settings. In the absence of standardised familiarisation protocols, we conducted a systematic review in accordance with PRISMA guidelines to better understand the range of familiarisation methods used in studies of HRIs with autistic participants. We searched for papers from four different databases: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Science Direct. We identified 387 articles that involved HRIs with autistic participants. The majority did not mention a familiarisation phase (n = 285). A further 52 mentioned including familiarisation but without any description. 50 studies described their familiarisation. Based on a synthesis of these papers, we identified six familiarisation techniques that are commonly used. Using co-production techniques with the autistic community and other participant groups, future studies should validate and critically evaluate the approaches identified in this review. In order to help facilitate improved reporting and critical evaluation of familiarisation approaches across studies we have setup a familiarisation repository

Initial effects of a community-based initiative for energy saving: an experimental analysis

Can community-based behavioural intervention reduce energy use in the home? We report on initial data from an ongoing matched case and control field experiment on energy saving. Household energy use in 175 households is measured using monitoring equipment, recording electrical power consumption and temperature. Participants in treatment and control groups received improvements to the thermal insulation of their homes. A behavioural intervention in the treatment group began with a 2 hour workshop on energy saving led by a community-based environmental group. We find some evidence of reductions in electrical power over the period of analysis, compared to the estimated counterfactual, but no evidence of reduced spatial heating or baseload power. The data are consistent with a substantial effect lasting over 3 months, although this cannot be inferred with confidence because of high variance. We explore the policy implications of the finding that a relatively modest level of community intervention has potentially substantial impact on energy use