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Human Ability (human + ability)
Selected AbstractsBeyond the Test: L2 Dynamic Assessment and the Transcendence of Mediated LearningMODERN LANGUAGE JOURNAL, Issue 3 2007MATTHEW E. POEHNER A major preoccupation in assessment is connecting examinees' performance in assessment and nonassessment contexts. This preoccupation has traditionally been framed in terms of generalizability. This article reconceptualizes this problem from a qualitatively different perspective on human abilities and their development, namely, the Sociocultural Theory of Mind outlined in the work of Vygotsky (1986, 1998). From this perspective, assessment occurs not in isolation from instruction but as an inseparable feature of it. Assessment and instruction are dialectically integrated as a single activity that seeks to understand development by actively promoting it. This pedagogical approach, known as Dynamic Assessment (DA), challenges the widespread acceptance of independent performance as the privileged indicator of individuals' abilities and calls for assessors to abandon their role as observers of learner behavior in favor of a commitment to joint problem solving aimed at supporting learner development. In DA, the traditional goal of producing generalizations from a snapshot of performance is replaced by ongoing intervention in development. Following Vygtosky's argument that true development goes beyond improvement on a given assessment task, DA practitioners have devised a method known as transcendence (TR), in which they collaborate with learners on increasingly complex tasks. In this article, transcendence in the second language (L2) domain is illustrated with examples of advanced learners of French composing oral narratives with support from a mediator. The article concludes with recommendations for future research on TR in L2 development. [source] BUILDING A DATA-MINING GRID FOR MULTIPLE HUMAN BRAIN DATA ANALYSISCOMPUTATIONAL INTELLIGENCE, Issue 2 2005Ning Zhong E-science is about global collaboration in key areas of science such as cognitive science and brain science, and the next generation of infrastructure such as the Wisdom Web and Knowledge Grids. As a case study, we investigate human multiperception mechanism by cooperatively using various psychological experiments, physiological measurements, and data mining techniques for developing artificial systems which match human ability in specific aspects. In particular, we observe fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) and EEG (electroencephalogram) brain activations from the viewpoint of peculiarity oriented mining and propose a way of peculiarity oriented mining for knowledge discovery in multiple human brain data. Based on such experience and needs, we concentrate on the architectural aspect of a brain-informatics portal from the perspective of the Wisdom Web and Knowledge Grids. We describe how to build a data-mining grid on the Wisdom Web for multiaspect human brain data analysis. The proposed methodology attempts to change the perspective of cognitive scientists from a single type of experimental data analysis toward a holistic view at a long-term, global field of vision. [source] Audio Computer-Based Tests (CBTs): An Initial Framework for the Use of Sound in Computerized TestsEDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT: ISSUES AND PRACTICE, Issue 2 2001Cynthia G. Parshall Are there important aspects of human ability that we have not been measuring? What are the purposes and types of audio that are possible in computerized tests? Will the use of audio in computer-based tests lead to more valid and reliable measurement? [source] Nuclear power plant communications in normative and actual practice: A field study of control room operators' communicationsHUMAN FACTORS AND ERGONOMICS IN MANUFACTURING & SERVICE INDUSTRIES, Issue 1 2007Paulo V.R. Carvalho The safety and availability of sociotechnical critical systems still relies on human operators, both through human reliability and human ability to handle adequately unexpected events. In this article, the authors focus on ergonomic field studies of nuclear power plant control room operator activities, and more specifically on the analysis of communications within control room crews. They show how operators use vague and porous verbal exchanges to produce continuous, redundant, and diverse interactions to successfully construct and maintain individual and mutual awareness, which is paramount to achieve system stability and safety. Such continuous interactions enable the operators to prevent, detect, and reverse system errors or flaws by anticipation or regulation. This study helps in providing cues for the design of more workable systems for human cooperation in nuclear power plant operation. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Hum Factors Man 17: 43,78, 2007. [source] Selection power and selection labor for information retrievalJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 7 2007Julian Warner This study examines the relation between selection power and selection labor for information retrieval (IR). It is the first part of the development of a labor theoretic approach to IR. Existing models for evaluation of IR systems are reviewed and the distinction of operational from experimental systems partly dissolved. The often covert, but powerful, influence from technology on practice and theory is rendered explicit. Selection power is understood as the human ability to make informed choices between objects or representations of objects and is adopted as the primary value for IR. Selection power is conceived as a property of human consciousness, which can be assisted or frustrated by system design. The concept of selection power is further elucidated, and its value supported, by an example of the discrimination enabled by index descriptions, the discovery of analogous concepts in partly independent scholarly and wider public discourses, and its embodiment in the design and use of systems. Selection power is regarded as produced by selection labor, with the nature of that labor changing with different historical conditions and concurrent information technologies. Selection labor can itself be decomposed into description and search labor. Selection labor and its decomposition into description and search labor will be treated in a subsequent article, in a further development of a labor theoretic approach to information retrieval. [source] The Cross-linguistic Study of Sentence ProductionLINGUISTICS & LANGUAGE COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 4 2009T. Florian Jaeger The mechanisms underlying language production are often assumed to be universal, and hence not contingent on a speaker's language. This assumption is problematic for at least two reasons. Given the typological diversity of the world's languages, only a small subset of languages has actually been studied psycholinguistically. And, in some cases, these investigations have returned results that at least superficially raise doubt about the assumption of universal production mechanisms. The goal of this paper is to illustrate the need for more psycholinguistic work on a typologically more diverse set of languages. We summarize cross-linguistic work on sentence production (specifically: grammatical encoding), focusing on examples where such work has improved our theoretical understanding beyond what studies on English alone could have achieved. But cross-linguistic research has much to offer beyond the testing of existing hypotheses: it can guide the development of theories by revealing the full extent of the human ability to produce language structures. We discuss the potential for interdisciplinary collaborations, and close with a remark on the impact of language endangerment on psycholinguistic research on understudied languages. [source] OUTLINING ETHICAL ISSUES IN NANOTECHNOLOGIESBIOETHICS, Issue 7 2009ANTONIO G. SPAGNOLO ABSTRACT Nanotechnologies are an expression of the human ability to control and manipulate matter on a very small scale. Their use will enable an even and constant monitoring of human organisms, in a new and perhaps less invasive way. Debates at all levels , national, European and international , have pointed out the common difficulty of giving a complete, clear definition of nanotechnologies. This is primarily due to the variety of their components, to the fact that there is not just one technology but several. The most significant medical applications of nanotechnologies are in the diagnostic and the therapeutic fields, eg biosensors and molecular imaging, providing diagnosis and drug delivery with no invasive methods involved. Like any other emerging field, such technologies imply new possibilities for improving health but, on the other hand, they are still at an experimental stage and therefore should be implemented under rigorous safety testing before going on general release. For this purpose, the ethical, legal and social implications (ELSI) of nanotechnologies have been elaborated by study groups, in order to develop solutions before the results of the tests are diffused into medical practice. The aim of this paper is to define some of the ethical issues concerning biomedical applications and to evaluate whether there is a need for new or additional guidelines and regulations. [source] Snap: A time critical decision-making framework for MOUT simulationsCOMPUTER ANIMATION AND VIRTUAL WORLDS (PREV: JNL OF VISUALISATION & COMPUTER ANIMATION), Issue 3-4 2008Shang-Ping Ting Abstract Deliberative reasoning based on the rational analysis of various alternatives often requires too much information and may be too slow in time critical situations. In these situations, humans rely mainly on their intuitions rather than some structured decision-making processes. An important and challenging problem in Military Operations on Urban Terrain (MOUT) simulations is how to generate realistic tactical behaviors for the non-player characters (also known as bots), as these bots often need to make quick decisions in time-critical and uncertain situations. In this paper, we describe our work on Snap, a time critical decision-making framework for the bots in MOUT simulations. The novel features of Snap include case-based reasoning (CBR) and thin slicing. CBR is used to make quick decisions by comparing the current situation with past experience cases. Thin slicing is used to model human's ability to quickly form up situation awareness under uncertain and complex situations using key cues from partial information. To assess the effectiveness of Snap, we have integrated it into Twilight City, a virtual environment for MOUT simulations. Experimental results show that Snap is very effective in generating quick decisions during time critical situations for MOUT simulations. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | |||||||||||||