Methods for analyzing natural discourse: Investigating spatial language in HRI vs. in a no-feedback web study

The focus of interest in my research lies in the investigation of spontaneously produced natural language used to refer to the spatial position of a goal object. In this short paper I compare two central elicitation scenarios which have been useful for the investigation of speakers\u27 strategies to achieve given discourse purposes by using spatial reference: a no-feedback web study and a human-robot interaction scenario. In both cases the task was to identify one out of several similar objects in a configuration by using spatial reference. The results of the two kinds of studies show a number of important systematic differences as well as striking parallels with respect to speakers\u27 conceptual and linguistic strategies

Why Should Children Adapt, and When?

This paper is a contribution to the debate on children‚s perspective taking skills, addressing the question which kinds of adaptation are related to different functions of children‚s utterances in their everyday life. A longitudinal home-based study of the contents of a child‚s speech focuses on the child‚s growing ability to present new information to his interaction partner. The functions of the child‚s talk are analysed using Halliday‚s (1975, 1994) framework. The results show that the earliest functions of the child‚s talk are predominantly representational, expressing reflections on (shared) experience that do not necessitate perspective taking. Later on, interpersonal functions emerge, involving emotional sharing with the interlocutor, but not necessarily any understanding of the listener‚s mind. Finally, starting with explanations and elaborations of situations observable by both interlocutors, the child becomes increasingly able to convey information which is new to the listener. Talk which serves the predominant function of conveying information is most effective when the child takes into account the listener‚s informational status. In contrast, the interlocutors‚ knowledge and beliefs are irrelevant for the other speech functions developed earlier. Thus, at an earlier age children do not need to take into account others‚ conceptual perspectives in talking, which may be one reason why they do not exhibit sophisticated perspective taking skills, a fact well-established in the literature. The option of dealing with, and affecting, their interaction partners‚ informational status simply does not exist before children have learned how to use language as a substitution for experience, i.e., to present experiential meaning to others who have no access to the experience itself

Compressive and tensile axial strain reduced critical currents in Bi-2212 conductors

Mono and multifilamentary wires of BSCCO-2212 in Ag matrix are investigated in an axial strain experiment. The superconducting samples are soldered to a substrate that is bend in order to achieve a compressive or tensile axial strain. The I/sub c/-strain dependence is measured in magnetic fields up to 16 T at 4.2 K and the strain is varied from -2% to +1.2%. In these Bi-2122 samples any strain-induced I/sub c/ reduction is irreversible. Moreover a significant rise in I/sub c/ was never observed after changing the strain. Special attention is paid to the tensile axial strain regime (0 to 0.4%). A small but significant reduction in I/sub c/ is found in this case. The strain behaviour of these wires indicates that the I/sub c/ reduction is due to fractures in the superconducting filament

The Tokyo stock exchange

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/96946/1/MBA_Tenbrink_1996.finalpdf.pd

What spatial environments mean

Language is one of the most prominent means of representing human thought. Spatial cognition research has made use of this fact for decades, exploring how humans perceive and understand their spatial environments through language analysis. So far, this research has mainly focused on generic cognitive aspects underlying everyday purposes such as knowing where objects are, how they relate to each other, and how to find one\u27s way to a familiar or unfamiliar location. However, human concepts about space can be threatened by change, as the environment changes. Across the globe, people become increasingly aware of climate-change related threats to their surroundings. For spatial language research, this calls for a fundamental shift in focus, towards the ways in which humans relate to space meaningfully--what spatial environments mean to us, how we respond to them and how we cope with changes and threats to our habitual space. This paper lays out how linguistic research can support building resilience on the basis of meaningful relationships to spatial environments

The Design, Construction and Investigation of a Water Gravity Wave Analog of Two-Dimensional Compression Waves in Gases

The purpose of this investigation was to design equipment for investigating and demonstrating supersonic air flow using water; to fabricate, assemble and calibrate this equipment; and to obtain and evaluate data on the validity of the supersonic flow analogy and the range of the equipment for classroom use