Language is part of nature, and as such, certain general principles that generate the form of natural systems, will also create the patterns found within linguistic form. Since network theory is one of the best theoretical frameworks for extracting general principles from diverse systems, this thesis examines how a network perspective can shed light on the characteristics and the learning of syntax. It is demonstrated that two word co-occurrence networks constructed from adult and child speech (BNC World Edition 2001; Sachs 1983; MacWhinney 2000a) exhibit three non-atomic syntactic primitives namely, the truncated power law distributions of frequency, degree and the link length between two nodes (the link representing a precedence relation). Since a power law distribution of link lengths characterises a hubterranean structure (Kasturirangan 1999) i.e. a structure that has a few highly connected nodes and many poorly connected nodes, both the adult and the child word co-occurrence networks exhibit hubterranean structure. This structure is formed by an optimisation process that minimises the link length whilst maximising connectivity (Mathias & Gopal 2001 a&b). The link length in a word co-occurrence network is the storage cost of representing two adjacently co-occurring words and is inversely proportion to the transitional probability (TP) of the word pair. Adjacent words that co-occur often together i.e. have a high TP, exhibit a high cohesion and tend to form chunks. These chunks are a cost effective method of storing representations. Thus, on this view, the (multi-) power law of link lengths represents the distribution of storage costs or cohesions within adjacent words. Such cohesions form groupings of linguistic form known as syntactic constituents. Thus, syntactic constituency is not specific to language and is a property derived from the optimisation of the network. In keeping with other systems generated by a cost constraint on the link length, it is demonstrated that both the child and adult word co-occurrence networks are not hierarchically organised in terms of degree distribution (Ravasz and Barabási 2003:1). Furthermore, both networks are disassortative, and in line with other disassortative networks, there is a correlation between degree and betweenness centrality (BC) values (Goh, Kahng and Kim 2003). In agreement with scale free networks (Goh, Oh, Jeong, Kahng and Kim 2002), the BC values in both networks follow a power law distribution. In this thesis, a motif analysis of the two word co-occurrence networks is a richly detailed (non-functional) distributional analysis and reveals that the adult and child significance profiles for triad subgraphs correlate closely. Furthermore, the most significant 4-node motifs in the adult network are also the most significant in the child network. Utilising this non-functional distributional analysis in a word co-occurrence network, it is argued that the notion of a general syntactic category is not evidenced and as such is inadmissible. Thus, non-general or construction-specific categories are preferred (in line with Croft 2001). Function words tend to be the hub words of the network (see Ferrer i Cancho and Solé 2001a), being defined and therefore identified by their high type and token frequency. These properties are useful for identifying syntactic categories since function words are traditionally associated with particular syntactic categories (see Cann 2000). Consequently, a function word and thus a syntactic category may be identified by the interception of the frequency and degree power laws with their truncated tails. As a given syntactic category captures the type of words that may co-occur with the function word, the category then encourages consistency within the functional patterns in the network and re-enforces the network’s (near-) optimised state. Syntax then, on this view, is both a navigator, manoeuvring through the ever varying sea of linguistic form and a guide, forging an uncharted course through novel expression. There is also evidence suggesting that the hubterranean structure is not only found in the word co-occurrence network, but within other theoretical syntactic levels. Factors affecting the choice of a verb that is generalised early relate to the formation and the characteristics of hubs. In that, the property of a high (token) frequency in combination with either a high degree (type frequency) or a low storage cost, point to certain verbs within the network and these highly ‘visible’ verbs tend to be generalised early (in line with Boyd and Goldberg forthcoming). Furthermore, the optimisation process that creates hubterranean structure is implicated in the verb-construction subpart network of the adult’s linguistic knowledge, the mapping of the constructions’ form-to-meaning pairings, the construction inventory size as well as certain strategies aiding first language learning and adult artificial language learning.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 272-287).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Victoria University (Melbourne, Vic.), 2008.

O presente trabalho apresenta a rotina de tratamento de crianças e jovens com doença renal crônica, tendo como finalidade investigar as práticas performadas neste cenário e acompanhar as construções que se moldam durante a realização da hemodiálise. Nesse sentido, tomamos a orientação teórico-metodológica proposta na Teoria ator-rede (TAR), seguindo os atores - humanos e não-humanos - e apresentando as conexões parciais presentes neste campo. Nesse movimento, surgem novos olhares à Psicologia, apontando para uma prática que rompe com os moldes tradicionais, tendo como setting a sala da hemodiálise e partilha a relação terapêutica com os inúmeros actantes deste espaço: agulhas, cateter, responsáveis, técnicos, profissionais de saúde, etc. Colabora ainda para deslocar a noção de saúde e doença como polaridades e , principalmente, para desmontar este último como um estado marginal. Mol (2008) nos ensina que o adoecimento deve ser entendido como parte integrante do sujeito, e que, portanto, estar doente ou saudável representam momentos do fluxo de estar vivo. E isto envolve práticas de cuidado, ou melhor, abrange a negociação entre o desejável e o possível, o que requer investigação caso a caso. Do mesmo modo, o tratamento da hemodiálise é encarado de diferentes formas, na medida que se constitui como um arranjo do sujeito em relação ao espaço, às práticas, às pessoas, etc, sendo, portanto, uma das possibilidades existentes de cuidar do curso da doença renal, que é crônico. Além disso, o corpo é apresentado como um campo de afetações e de associações, por isso deve ser entendido a partir destas. Logo, quando Haraway (1995) afirma que somos todos ciborgues, está apontando uma nova versão sobre o organismo e a realidade material, sendo a experiência dialítica um dos exemplos concreto deste modo de articulação. / This researsh presents the routine treatment of children and adolescents with chronic kidney disease, and aims to investigate the practices performadas this scenario and accompanying buildings that are shaped during the course of hemodialysis. In this sense, we took the theoretical-methodological approach proposed in Actor-network theory (ART), following the actors - human and nonhuman - and presenting partial connections present in this area. In this movement, brings new looks to Psychology, pointing to a practice that breaks the traditional mold, with the setting of hemodialysis room and sharing the therapeutic relationship with the numerous surfactants this space: needles, catheters, managers, practitioners, health professionals etc.. Collaborates yet to displace the notion of health and disease as polarities and especially to dismantle the latter as a marginal state. Mol (2008) teaches us that the illness must be understood as part of the subject, and therefore be ill or healthy flow represent moments of being alive. And this involves care practices, or rather covers the negotiation between the desirable and the possible, which requires case by case. Similarly, treatment of hemodialysis is viewed in different ways, to the extent that such an arrangement is the subject in relation to space, the practices, people, etc., thus being one of the possibilities of caring for stroke kidney disease, which is chronic. In addition, the body is presented as a field of affectations and associations, so it should be understood from these. So when Haraway (1995) argues that we are all cyborgs, is pointing a new version on the body and material reality, being one of the dialysis experience concrete examples of this mode of articulation.

Neste texto gostaria de apresentar uma investigação sobre as associações de criminalidade investidas na figura do camelô através da Teoria Ator-rede. Diante da realização de dois grandes eventos, a Copa do Mundo em 2014 e os jogos Olímpicos em 2016, foi estabelecido um plano municipal de ordem pública com diagnósticos e proposições a fim de gerir a cidade do Rio de Janeiro. Uma dessas proposições envolve a política do Choque de Ordem que parte do princípio que a desordem urbana é um deflagrador de atividades criminosas. Assim, iniciou-se um processo de higienização das ruas da cidade, que refletiu sobre o trabalho do camelô. Logo, as políticas públicas promovidas para esta cidade aparecem como foco de discussão neste trabalho. Principalmente, como o tema da criminalidade se vincula ou é vinculado à figura do camelô. / In this text we would like to present an investigation into the crime associations invested in figure of camelô by Actor-Network Theory. Before the completion of two major events, the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016, a plan was established municipal public with diagnoses and proposals to manage the city of Rio de Janeiro. One of these propositions involves the policy "Choque de Ordem" it assumes that urban disorder is a trigger for criminal activities. Thus began a process of "cleaning" the streets of the city, which reflected on the work of the street vendor. Soon, the public policies adopted for this city appear as a focus of discussion in this work.

The ‘localist turn’ in technology studies, exemplified by Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and Social Construction of Technology (SCOT), emphasises the agency of actors in innovation processes while, arguably, neglecting structural influences. They provide rather little guidance regarding methodological choices apart from encouraging rich description and offer only limited capacity to explain the dynamics of technological change. This thesis addresses the need to articulate a more nuanced and comprehensive understanding of the contextually-shaped, often highly contingent processes of technological innovation. For this purpose a single, in-depth longitudinal case study was conducted of the development, implementation and use of a strategic information system - a strategic network planning tool - in a German car company. It was analysed applying a biographical perspective which argues for extended analytical foci across multiple sites, moments and time frames in technology studies to account for the complexities and uncertainties inherent in technological change processes. A mixed repository of historical and ethnographic data has been collected, drawing on public and internal corporate documents as well as 44 interviews and extended periods of participant observation at multiple sites. The data was coded and analysed aided by simultaneously building an extensive data-rich timeline of the innovation journey. As a result, our empirically detailed focus on a twelve-year period is contextualised by a historical narrative considering corporate historical developments over three decades. An ecology metaphor is articulated to appreciate multiple episodes and moments of innovation dispersed in space and time - a view neglected by common metaphors of systems and networks. The metaphor underpins a loose framework, tentatively entitled the Ecological Shaping of Technology, that draws on concepts from science and technology studies and cognate discussions in the sociology of professions to engage with the intricacies of space and scales of time in studying the ‘Biographies of Artefacts and Practices’ (Pollock and Williams, 2009; Hyysalo, 2010). The framework pursues a dynamic, longitudinal understanding of the evolution of a protracted technology development project which went through significant changes in conception and in the players involved and their configuration. This is conceptualised in terms of the development of a ‘kernel’ (Ribes & Polk, 2015) of resources and services managed by, and made available to, an alliance of players. While alliances can shift, the kernel persists and evolves over time as players try to attract more resources by entering into negotiations in promising ‘arenas of expectation’ (Bakker et al., 2011) or navigating around those that are less amenable. Technology is portrayed as an element of a package of instrumentalities (de Solla Price, 1983) comprising theories, methods and instruments that are spread across a wider ecology of distributed boundary objects (Star & Griesemer, 1989). Technologies crystallise from efforts of adopting, testing and developing packages to solve specific problems (Fujimura, 1995). A specific technology is co-developed, according to the set of local constrains and specifications delineated by a kernel's alliance of ecologies. These are understood in terms of Abbott’s (2005) conception of linked ecologies. The historically shaped and contingent ecological topography of an innovation project is highlighted as a major influence in the social shaping of technological artefacts.

This is an auto/ethnographic account of one organization and one person as we concurrently moved thru a process of IT driven planned organizational change. The purpose of the study is to explain how the change agent is affected by the experience of leading change. Using actor-network theory and a polyphonic approach, I present a multi-voiced, multi-actor account of the social network in situ and trace how the various actors engaged with one another during the organizational change process. I reflect upon my own multi-role performativity when acting in the role of the internal change agent next to my daily job roles and explore the effects on both me and the network; which identifies that a new actor network has been created. Finally, a multi-voiced exploration of myself is presented which traces my evolution from researcher to auto/ethnographer, further demonstrating the effects of multi-role performativity on the human actor. The study demonstrates that the effects of organizational change on both the social network and the actors within the network cannot be foreseen. Furthermore, in combining the use of Actor Network Theory and auto-ethnography, the study provides new insights into the effects of performance on the human actor within a socio-technical network, which is an unexplored dimension within the field of organizational change.

Na tentativa de compreender como os saberes são desenvolvidos nas práticas de um grupo em um hackerspace, este estudo parte da perspectiva da aprendizagem baseada em práticas pelo viés da abordagem teórico-metodológica da teoria atorrede para acompanhar a realização das atividades cotidianas de um coletivo em um hackerspace. Sem definições prévias estabelecidas acerca do conceito de hackerspace, o estudo tem como objetivo compreender como os saberes são desenvolvidos nas práticas de um grupo, em um hackerspace, e como são enactados pelas relações entre os diversos elementos heterogêneos da rede. Para isso, foi necessário, além da análise das práticas predominantes no cotidiano do coletivo, identificar e descrever – considerando humanos e não humanos de forma simétrica – como os processos de aprendizagem são engendrados nessas práticas, passando a constituir saberes. A fim de viabilizar a pesquisa, desenvolveu-se um estudo, orientado pela teoria ator-rede como método e lente de análise, entre os meses de dezembro de 2013 e setembro de 2014, em um hackerspace localizado em Porto Alegre, RS. Com o propósito de alcançar os objetivos formulados nesse trabalho, são descritas e analisadas as principais práticas predominantes na organização pesquisada e seus processos de aprendizagem, revelando que práticas, saberes e aprendizagem coexistem e se encontram imbricadas no constante organizar do coletivo. A incompletude de ser e as hibridizações enactadas nas práticas são discutidas posteriormente e denotam a agência dos não humanos, oriunda de arranjos momentaneamente estabelecidos entre os actantes da rede. A pesquisa revelou a complexidade dos saberes, que se encontram vinculados a um conjunto de práticas conectadas, uma vez que são constituídos por elas, ao mesmo tempo em que as constituem, sendo engendrados nas relações heterogêneas da rede. / In order to understand how the knowledge is developed in the practices of a hackerspace group, this research proceeds from the learning perspective of practices based on the theoretical and methodological approach of the actor-network theory bias to monitor daily activities of a collective in a hackerspace. Without previous definition of the concept of hackerspace, this study objective is to comprehend how the knowledge is developed in a group, in a hackerspace, and how it is accomplished by the relationship between the various heterogeneous network elements. For this, it was necessary, in addition to analyze the current practices in the daily life of the group, identify and describe – considering symmetrically humans and nonhumans – how the learning processes are fomented in these practices and built into knowledge. In order to accredit the research, a study was developed, based on the actor-network theory as the method of the analysis, from December 2013 to September 2014, in a hackerspace located in Porto Alegre, RS. With the purpose to achieve the goals of this research, the key practices and learning processes of the studied organization are described and analyzed, revealing that practice, knowledge and learning are intertwined and coexist in the group. The incompleteness of being and the hybridizations accomplished in the practices are discussed posteriorly and denote the agency of nonhumans, emerged from momentaneous arrangements established among the actants of the network. The study reveals the complexity of knowledge, which is linked to a group of practices, as it is constituted by them and in the same time it constitutes them, being engendered in the heterogeneous relations of the network.

Social factors and social contexts have long been implicated in shaping/influencing behaviours, actions, and outcomes, including social and health inequities. The social determinants of health concept has shown that health and health inequities are shaped by a variety of socio-cultural factors including education, socio-economic status, gender, ethnicity, and the social and physical environments in which people live. Critical drug scholars have specifically sought to understand how contexts and environments shape drug use and related harms. The “risk environment” framework, for example, suggests that drug use, risky drug use practices (e.g., needle sharing), and drug use-related harms are shaped by social, physical, economic and policy environments. Yet while contexts are frequently implicated in framing and shaping behaviours, the specific mechanisms at play are rarely unpacked. I address this gap by further “opening up” contexts of drug consumption and social marginalization in order to extend our knowledge of drug use among marginalized people who use drugs (PWUD) My dissertation includes 3 analyses of my data in the form of published (2) and submitted (1) manuscripts. Two-stage interviews (a short quantitative survey and longer qualitative interview) were conducted with fifty PWUD in the Downtown Eastside (DTES) neighbourhood in Vancouver, Canada. Data were analyzed with conceptual and theoretical tools borrowed from Situational Analysis, as well as actor-network and assemblage theories. In my first paper, I explore reasons for using drugs, and suggest that, despite known negative consequences of drug use, substance use among marginalized PWUD can be meaningful and beneficial. Participant narratives revealed four main themes regarding positive aspects of drugs and drug use in their lives: (1) pain relief and management; (2) alleviating mental health issues; (3) fostering social experiences; (4) pleasurable embodied experiences. These findings draw attention to the fallacies of drug prohibition and much current drug policy which has fabricated boundaries between the acceptable and unacceptable, resulting in the criminalization and stigmatization of certain substances and the people that use them. In my second paper, I draw upon actor-network theory and event analysis to explore how contexts shape drug consumption practices. My findings illustrate how specific methods of drug consumption (e.g., smoking or injecting) are shaped by an assemblage of objects, actors, affects, spaces and processes. Rather than emphasising the role of broad socio-structural factors (e.g., poverty, drug policy) participant narratives reveal how a variety of actors, both human and non-human, assembled in unique ways produce drug consumption events that have the capacity to influence or transform drug consumption practices. In my third paper, I explore how spaces/places frequently used by PWUD in the DTES that are commonly associated with risk and harm (e.g., alleyways, parks) can be re-imagined and re-constructed as spaces/places of safety and wellbeing. Conceptualizing spaces/places as assemblages, I trace the associations among/between a host of seemingly disparate actants – such as material objects, actors, processes, affect, temporal elements, policies and practices – to better understand how experiences of harm, or conversely wellbeing, unfold, and shed light on how risky spaces/places can be re-constructed as places that enable safety and wellbeing. Taken together these 3 papers/analyses provide unique insight into not only drug use among marginalized PWUD, but our understanding of the ways in which contexts and environments shape behaviour and social phenomena. These findings have direct implication for harm reduction theory and drug policy. With greater insight into the contexts of drug use, drug policy and harm reduction strategies may be better tailored to prevent drug use-related harms. / Graduate / 2019-12-07

[pt] O presente trabalho tem por finalidade observar as relações existentes entre psicologia e neurociência. A partir da Teoria Ator-Rede (TAR), especificamente, o trabalho de Bruno Latour, observa-se as redes sociotécnicas que formam o campo da neurociência. Munido de alguns conceitos fundamentais tais como fe(i)tiche, caixa-preta e rede sociotécnica, aponta-se os agenciamentos feitos a partir da rede formada, tendo os trabalhos científicos sobre o cérebro como ponto de entrada. Atribui-se um valor específico ao cérebro, que produz um agenciamento em uma série de actantes. Essa rede de actantes constituiria o campo neurocientífico, no qual a psicologia passa a se articular de determinada maneira. Essas articulações produzem interesses a determinadas práticas psi, que se apresentam dispostas a lidar com uma naturalização do pensamento. Ao mesmo tempo, observa-se que, desde suas elaborações, tais práticas psi possuem uma pretensão cientificista, o que encontra grande consonância nos trabalhos neurocientíficos. / [en] The present study seeks to evaluate the relationship between psychology and neuroscience. Therefore, taking the Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and Bruno Latour s work, specifically, it can be noticed the socio-technical networks that trace the field of neuroscience. Armed with some basic concepts such as factishes, black box and sociotechnical network, pointing up the assemblages made from the network formed, and scientific work on the brain as the entry point. It has assigned a specific value to the brain that produces an assemblage of a series of actants. This network of actants constitute the field of neuroscience, in which psychology articulates in a certain way. When psychology articulates with neurosciences, there are some interests to certain psi practices, disposed with a naturalization of thought. At the same time, we observe that, since its elaborations, such practices have a scientific claim, which is great harmony in the work neuroscience.