La façon dont les musiciens parviennent à reconnaître les notes, par l’écoute seule ou en pratiquant leur art, a toujours fait l’objet d’une certaine fascination. Eux-mêmes, du reste, ne savent que rarement les raisons particulières qui leur permettent de disposer ainsi d’une excellente oreille musicale : « on est doué ou on ne l’est pas » reste alors souvent le raccourci qui permet de ne pas s’aventurer plus loin dans la quête d’une véritable explication. Il faut bien admettre que cette propension à pouvoir identifier des hauteurs perçues paraît ne pas trouver de véritable fondement, et ce d’autant plus que le son musical se trouve être invisible, impalpable et relativement fugace. Pour tenter de mieux comprendre les raisons liées à cette capacité mystérieuse, nous avons pris le parti d’interroger des musiciens, professionnels ou en apprentissage, afin de les questionner sur les procédures mentales qu’ils mettent en oeuvre à l’instant de l’identification notale. La description détaillée des plus petits éléments mentaux (ou la plus petite cohabitation de microéléments mentaux) que les musiciens utilisent pour effectuer cette tâche nous fait alors entrer dans un monde fascinant, qui révèle progressivement l’organisation de nombreuses actions de bas niveau, aussi ajustées à leurs fonctions que particulièrement discrètes. Ces fragments de pensées, que nous avons nommés appuis mentaux (les musiciens se repèrent en fonction de points d’ancrages mentaux adaptés pour accéder à l’identification) peuvent être décrits, sont variés dans leurs formes d’émergence à l’esprit et adoptent différents types de missions. Il a été possible de classer l’ensemble des configurations décrites en plusieurs catégories d’approches stratégiques. Certains de ces infimes gestes internes se sont tellement automatisés au fil du temps qu’ils se trouvent enfouis dans le registre inconscient. Ils deviennent alors très difficiles, voire parfois impossibles à détecter. En y regardant de plus près, nous pouvons imaginer que ces mécanismes hautement spécialisés, décrits dans un secteur restreint du monde musical, relèvent de principes fonctionnels généraux qui semblent s’activer, en réalité, à tout instant de notre vie quotidienne, pour chaque opération que nous sommes appelés à effectuer : calculer, orthographier, créer, faire du sport, cuisiner, bricoler ou bien penser tout simplement. C’est ce que la seconde partie de recherche tente de montrer dans un premier temps, pour exposer ensuite une bien étrange problématique, concernant les rapports interactifs qui s’opèrent entre contenus perceptifs et représentationnels (de nombreux témoignages font en effet état de situations où les appuis mentaux s’invitent directement sur la scène perceptive). La confrontation de ces deux univers, à travers le maniement de ce que nous avons appelé les reprojections mentales, nous met en situation de questionner les rouages qui sont en jeu dans l’édification de la cognition humaine, et interroge sur les conséquences qu’ils impliquent vis-à-vis de notre compréhension du réel. / The way musicians identify notes has always been a fascinating subject. In order to understand this competence of theirs, we have opted to interview professional and learner musicians so as to analyse the mental methods they use to fulfil this task. A detailed description of the faintest mental processes involved in so doing opens on a bewildering world which exposes an organisation of many low level actions as adapted to their functions as they are subtle. These fragments of thoughts - which we have called mental anchor points - can be described, are varied in their ways of surfacing and can engage in diverse mission types. When subjected to closer scrutiny, we can imagine that these highly specialised mechanisms fall within the sphere of general functional principles which seem to be active at every moment of our lives, for whichever operation we try to perform: calculating, taking part in sports activities, cooking or simply thinking. This is what the second part of this study first tries to show, before disclosing a strange system of issues concerning interactive relations between perceptions and representations. Many testimonies mention situations in which mental anchor points play a prominent part in our perceptive behaviour. The confrontation of these two universes, thanks to the use of what we have called mental reprojections, makes it possible for us to examine the machinery at stake in our cognitive constructions and to analyse the consequences they imply concerning our comprehension of the real world.

A wide literature of predominantly behavioural experiments that use Stimulus Response Compatibility (SRC) have suggested that visual action information such as object affordance yields rapid and concurrent activation of visual and motor brain areas, but has rarely provided direct evidence for this proposition. This thesis examines some of the key claims from the affordance literature by applying electrophysiological measures to well established SRC procedures to determine the verities of the behavioural claims of rapid and automatic visuomotor activation evoked by viewing affording objects. The temporal sensitivity offered by the Lateralised Readiness Potential and by visual evoked potentials P1 and N1 made ideal candidates to assess the behavioural claims of rapid visuomotor activation by seen objects by examining the timecourse of neural activation elicited by viewing affording objects under various conditions. The experimental work in this thesis broadly confirms the claims of the behavioural literature however it also found a series of novel results that are not predicted by the behavioural literature due to limitations in reaction time measures. For example, while different classes of affordance have been shown to exert the same behavioural facilitation, electrophysiological measures reveal very different patterns of cortical activation for grip-type and lateralised affordances. These novel findings question the applicability of the label ‘visuomotor’ to grip-type affordance processing and suggest considerable revision to models of affordance. This thesis also offers a series of novel and surprising insights into the ability to dissociate afforded motor activity from behavioural output, into the relationship between affordance and early visual evoked potentials, and into affordance in the absence of the intention to act. Overall, this thesis provides detailed suggestions for considerable changes to current models of the neural activity underpinning object affordance.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-08T16:35:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 luciana k.pdf: 7838653 bytes, checksum: fddd5815a8c4a0bddae6ce67b0710b43 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-02-27 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work analyzed the textual contents of intentional sexual education books destined for children, aiming at providing studies and proposals on emancipatory sexual education. For that, interfaces between sexual education and literature were revealed; a review of emancipatory sexual education by Brazilian authors was made; a theoretical study of the five pedagogical approaches to sexual education pointed by Nunes (1996) was made, raising indicators to subside the books content analysis; and, the textual contents of selected books destined for children were analyzed, leading to categories. The methodological paths were based on the dialectical method, having as instrument documental research via content analysis. The corpus consisted of six books, two Brazilian, two Spanish and two Ecuadorian. The theoretical framework was based initially on the pedagogical approaches to sexual education coined by Nunes (1996), four of which are considered repressive and one emancipatory. The Declaration of Sexual Rights as Universal Human Rights was taken into account as it is considered an expression of emancipatory sexual education. Thus, from the approaches and the declaration, indicators were raised that supported the content analysis of the corpus. From this analysis two categories were apprehended, which are subdivided into subcategories. It is worth remembering that these categories express the very dialectical and contradictory movement that is part of human living in the world and of the (re)construction of sexuality. The first category unveiled was: "in search of the right to information, based on scientific knowledge, the contradiction of standardization norms of relations between people." This category expresses that although progress has been made in the proposed work in books for children and scientific knowledge has been valued, in some cases this knowledge is presented as normalizing a biological standard of the being and also reinforcing a standard of human relations. Arising from this category, we have two subcategories: the standardization of biological reductionism with biases in scientific information and the standardization of the heteronormative relations model. The second category unveiled was: "in search of sexual rights as human rights, marks of a construction process of emancipatory sexual education." In this category were noted various indications of the pedagogical use of the Declaration of Sexual Rights, yielding the following subcategories: marks of the right to comprehensive sexual education and the right to information based on scientific knowledge focused on affectivity and sexual self knowledge; marks of the right to sexual pleasure; marks of the right to free and responsible reproductive choices; marks of the right to sexual health with focus on sexual body safety, and marks of the right to freedom and sexual equality with a focus on respect for sexual diversity. Contradictions and improvements were perceived in sexual education for children, unveiled from the analysis of the books, as well as the importance of having a critical pedagogical outlook on their contents. The present study provides reflections on the aforementioned books that can be of great value to teachers of children, helping in the teaching process. Furthermore, the study may also impact on new teachers formation, helping them in their reflective processes about children s sexual education / Este trabalho analisou os conteúdos textuais de livros de educação sexual intencional para a infância, visando subsidiar estudos e propostas em educação sexual emancipatória. Para tanto, foram desveladas interfaces entre educação sexual e literatura infantil; realizada revisão da categoria educação sexual emancipatória em autores/as brasileiros/as; feito estudo teórico das cinco vertentes pedagógicas de educação sexual apontadas por Nunes (1996), levantando indicadores como subsídio à análise de conteúdo dos livros selecionados; e, análise dos conteúdos textuais escritos dos livros para a infância selecionados, desvelando categorias. Os caminhos metodológicos partiram do método dialético, tendo como instrumento a pesquisa documental via análise de conteúdo. O corpus da pesquisa contou com seis livros, sendo dois deles brasileiros, dois espanhóis e dois equatorianos. A fundamentação teórica partiu inicialmente das vertentes pedagógicas de educação sexual cunhadas por Nunes (1996), sendo quatro delas consideradas como repressoras e uma emancipatória. A Declaração dos Direitos Sexuais como Direitos Humanos Universais foi considerada também na análise por ser entendida como uma expressão da vertente emancipatória de educação sexual. Portanto, das vertentes e da declaração foram levantados os indicadores prévios que subsidiaram a análise de conteúdo dos livros. Dessa análise foram apreendidas duas categorias que se subdividem em subcategorias próprias, lembrando que elas expressam um movimento dialético e contraditório que é parte do viver humano no mundo e de (re)construção da sexualidade. A primeira categoria desvelada foi: "na busca do direito à informação baseada no conhecimento científico, a contradição da padronização da norma das relações entre as pessoas". Ela expressa que, embora se tenha avançado no trabalho proposto nas obras às crianças e se valorize nele o conhecimento científico, em alguns casos esse conhecimento se apresenta normatizando um padrão biológico de ser e também reforçando um modelo padrão de relações humanas. Dessa categoria brotaram duas subcategorias: a normatização do reducionismo biológico com vieses na informação científica e a normatização do modelo de relações heteronormativas. A segunda categoria desvelada foi: "na busca dos direitos sexuais como direitos humanos, marcas de um processo de construção da educação sexual emancipatória". Nela foram observados vários indícios da manifestação do uso pedagógico da Declaração dos Direitos Sexuais, originando as subcategorias: marcas do direito à educação sexual compreensiva e do direito à informação baseada no conhecimento científico com foco na afetividade e no autoconhecimento sexual, marcas do direito ao prazer sexual, marcas do direito às escolhas reprodutivas livres e responsáveis, marcas do direito à saúde sexual com foco na segurança do corpo sexual e marcas do direito à liberdade e à igualdade sexual com foco no respeito à diversidade sexual. Perceberam-se contradições e avanços na educação sexual das crianças, desveladas/os a partir da análise dos livros, bem como a importância de se ter um olhar crítico-pedagógico sobre eles. Esse estudo pode servir a professores/as da infância ao fornecer reflexões sobre esses livros, contribuindo no processo de ensino junto às crianças que lhe cabem educar. Pode também esse estudo repercutir junto à formação de professores e professoras, auxiliando-os em seus processos reflexivos sobre educação sexual da infância

Many researchers (e.g., Nation, 2001, 2015; Schmitt, 2000) have recognized the importance of vocabulary learning in second language (L2) or additional language (AL) acquisition. The strong effects of lexical and background knowledge on L2reading comprehension have similarly been found in various studies (e.g., Hu & Nation, 2000; Rokni & Hajilari, 2013). In the case of Japanese language, the opportunities for acquiring the lexical and background knowledge associated with Japanese history and culture, especially traditional culture, are scant, because only a small number of Japanese pedagogical materials deal minimally with these topics. Meanwhile, many learners are motivated to study Japanese because of their interest in Japanese history and culture, according to a survey conducted by the Japan Foundation in 2012. This project aimed to increase the opportunities for learning Japanese history and traditional culture through the development of new pedagogical materials based on kabuki, and then the empirical evaluation of the developed pedagogical materials. Nine Chinese-as-a-first-language Japanese learners at the upper-intermediate level participated in the nine-week online course, including the pre- and post-course tests in the first and last weeks. Employing a multi-method research approach, the study examined the changes in learners’ lexical and background knowledge related to Japanese history and culture, their reading comprehension, and their interest in kabuki. Four kinds of multiple-choice tests were administered to collect the quantitative data. In addition, the qualitative data were gathered through the pre- and post-course questionnaires and post-course individual interviews. Overall, the findings indicated that almost all participants increased their background knowledge of kabuki, as well as their vocabulary related to kabuki and general theatrical performances. The results in other areas, such as historical vocabulary, vocabulary depth, reading comprehension, and historical background knowledge were mixed. Further, concerning the depth of vocabulary knowledge, it was found that the learning of vocabulary depth was more difficult than learning of vocabulary breadth. Likewise, the knowledge of use, such as collocations and register constraints, was found to be more difficult to learn than other aspects of vocabulary depth. The participants’ reports in the post-course questionnaire and individual interviews showed that most participants seemed to have increased their interest in kabuki. Overall, the first-of-their-kind developed pedagogical materials contributed to the development of lexical and background knowledge, specifically knowledge associated with Japanese traditional culture and history. This study may provide a model for an evidence-based approach to the development of pedagogical materials that practitioners can adopt or adapt. / Graduate

The guiding question for this essay is: who is the learner? The aim is to examine and criticize one answer to this question, sometimes referred to as the theory of the learning brain, which suggests that the explanation of human learning can be reduced to the transmitting and storing of information in the brain’s formal and representational architecture, i.e., that the brain is the learner. This essay will argue that this answer is misleading, because it cannot account for the way people strive to learn in an attempt to lead a good life as it misrepresents the intentional life of the mind, which results in its counting ourselves out of the picture when it attempts to provide a scientific theory of the learning process. To criticize the theory of the learning brain, this essay will investigate its philosophical foundation, a theory of mind called cognitivism, which is the basis for the cognitive sciences. Cognitivism is itself built on three main tenets: mentalism, the mind-brain identity theory and the computer analogy. Each of these tenets will be criticized in turn, before the essay turns to criticize the theory of the learning brain itself. The focus of this essay is, in other words, mainly negative. The hope is that this criticism will lay the groundwork for an alternative view of mind, one that is better equipped to give meaningful answers to the important questions we have about what it means to learn, i.e., what we learn, how we do it and why. This alternative will emphasize the holistic and intentional character of the human mind, and consider the learning process as an intentional activity performed, not by isolated brains, but by people with minds that are extended, embodied, enacted and embedded in a sociocultural and physical context.

Samhällsutvecklingen går i en riktning där människor arbetar i allt närmare samarbete med artificiella agenter. För att detta samarbete ska vara på användarens villkor är det viktigt att förstå hur människor uppfattar och förhåller sig till dessa system. Hur dessa agenter bedöms moraliskt är en komponent i denna förståelse. Malle m.fl. (2015) utförde en av de första studierna kring hur normer och skuld appliceras på människa respektive robot. I samma artikel efterfrågades mer forskning kring vilka faktorer hos agenter som påverkar de moraliska bedömningarna. Föreliggande studie tog avstamp i denna frågeställning och avsåg att undersöka hur moralisk godtagbarhet och skuldbeläggning skiljde sig beroende på om agenten var en person, en humanoid robot eller ett autonomt intelligent system utan kropp (AIS). Ett mellangrupps-experiment (N = 119) användes för att undersöka hur agenterna bedömdes för sina beslut i tre olika moraliska dilemman. Deltagares rättfärdigaden bakom bedömningar samt medveten hållning utforskades som förklaringsmodell av skillnader. Medveten hållning avser Dennetts (1971) teori kring huruvida en agent förstås utifrån mentala egenskaper. Resultaten visade att person och robot erhöll liknande godtagbarhet för sina beslut medan AIS fick signifikant lägre snitt. Graden skuld som tillskrevs skiljde sig inte signifikant mellan agenterna. Analysen av deltagares rättfärdiganden gav indikationer på att skuldbedömningarna av de artificiella agenterna inte grundade sig i sådan information som antagits ligga till grund för denna typ av bedömningar. Flera rättfärdiganden påpekade också att det var någon annan än de artificiella agenterna som bar skulden för besluten. Vidare analyser indikerade på att deltagare höll medveten hållning mot person i störst utsträckning följt av robot och sedan AIS. Studien väcker frågor kring huruvida skuld som fenomen går att applicera på artificiella agenter och i vilken utsträckning distribuerad skuld är en faktor när artificiella agenter bedöms.

Fire resistance is becoming increasingly important along with the development of new concrete types with high strength and dense structure with reduced porosity. Such concrete types are susceptible to fire spalling and extensive crack formation. At the moment, there are a limited number of methods for enhancement of fire resistance of existing structures, which could be applied in underground structures with restricted space and limited air exchange, such as tunnels, underground garages or nuclear powerplants. This work is focused on the development of two methods, and both are dealing with porous structure modification. The first method is intentional heat treatment (IHT) method, suitable for the enhancement of fire resistance of existing structures. The second method emphasized the design of air-entrained concrete (AeA-FiResCrete) with the use of “new generation” air-entraining agents suitable for enhancement of fire resistance of newly designed concrete. Testing of compressive strength, porous structure modification was completed by the analysis of “moisture clog,” which contributes to explosive spalling and extensive cracking. The efficiency of developing methods was verified during large-scale testing according to modified ISO834 (m-ISO) curve. No extensive crack formation or explosive spalling was observed during the exposure period during the large-scale testing of slabs with the applied IHT method. The total thickness of the IHT method with configuration IHT200/2, composed of IHT zone and IHT transition zone, penetrated to the depth of 25,5 to 43,0 mm depending upon various concrete types. Moisture clog in AeA-FiResCrete was more significant than in the case of slabs with applied IHT method, and it could be concluded that the IHT method enhances fire resistance of concrete exposed to elevated temperatures without influencing its compressive strength and durability. Results from AeA-FiResCrete testing showed only a slight improvement of its fire resistance.

This project investigated the sustainability of homes within three intentional communities. Semi-structured interview and photographic walkthroughs examined the variability of architectural and technological approaches toward sustainability. These include: passive solar design, green roofs, radiant flooring, composting toilets, ground assist heat pumps, solar water heaters, multiamily units and modular construction. It was hypothesized that variation in sustainable construction is related to socioeconomic status and that economics would be a constraint. This project investigated whether communities were transmitting their practices to wider society, if individuals were copying vernacular architecture and if architectural practices followed individual beliefs regarding sustainability. It was found that the Internet is the main method of conveying these practices; that variability was tied less to individual beliefs than to the communities’ institutional documents; and that copying vernacular architecture was for aesthetics not sustainability. Intentional communities are good models for sustainable development, but knowledge transmission is limited.

В условиях того, что в современном мире научные достижения влияют и все в большей степени определяют человеческое существование, представляется, что созданный искусственный интеллект не будет исключением. Существуют основания полагать, что искусственный разум окажет наиболее сильное, до сих пор невиданное влияние на развитие социума. В связи с этим ученые и философы посвящают свои труды рассмотрению экзистенциальных рисков, связанных с созданием искусственного интеллекта и вырабатывают стратегии, предотвращающие возникновения таковых рисков. Однако не менее важно заниматься анализом того, какое место автономный искусственный агент способен занять в нашем мире, какую ценность, помимо инструментальной, он может нести в себе. Возможно ли признать за искусственным агентом личность, и способен ли искусственный интеллект на построение моральных отношений. Объектом исследования является теория искусственного интеллекта. Предметом исследования является морально-этический аспект теории искусственного интеллекта. Цель работы – установить, может ли ИИ в теоретическом плане обладать морально-личностной ценностью и проанализировать, в каких случаях достаточно оставить за ИИ инструментальную ценность. Методы, применяемые в исследовании: анализ, сравнение, герменевтический метод. Новизна данной диссертационной работы заключается в том, что в ней освящен вопрос о возможностях установления отношений морально-личностного уровня с ИИ. В результате исследования установлено, что искусственный интеллект в теоретическом плане может обладать морально-личностной ценностью. Искусственный интеллект, наделенный не только теоретическим, но и практическом разумом, обладающий автономией в решениях действовать, имеющий рациональные основания для поступков и способный нести за них ответственность был назван искусственным интеллектом морально-личностного уровня (ИИМЛУ). Кроме того, было установлено, что как в случае слабого ИИ, так и в случае сверхразума не имеет смысла говорить о морально-личностной ценности ИИ. Данные виды ИИ способны обладать лишь инструментальную ценность в человеческом обществе. / In the context of the fact that in the modern world scientific achievements influence and increasingly determine human existence, it seems that the created artificial intelligence will not be an exception. There are reasons to believe that the artificial intelligence will have the strongest, so far unseen influence on the development of the society. In this regard, scientists and philosophers devote their works to the consideration of existential risks associated with the creation of artificial intelligence and develop strategies that prevent the occurrence of such risks. However, it is equally important to analyze the place that an autonomous artificial agent can occupy in our world, what value, in addition to the instrumental, it can carry in itself. Is it possible to recognize a person in an artificial agent, and is artificial intelligence capable of building moral relations. The object of research work is the theory of artificial intelligence. The subject of the research work is the moral and ethical aspect of the theory of artificial intelligence. The purpose of the research work is to establish whether AI can theoretically possess moral and personal value and analyze in which cases it is enough to leave instrumental value for AI. The methods used in the research work: analysis, comparison, hermeneutic method. The novelty of this research work is that it discusses the question of the possibilities of establishing relations of moral and personal level with AI. As a result of the research it was established that artificial intelligence in the theoretical plan can have moral and personal value. Artificial intelligence, endowed with not only theoretical but also practical intelligence, possessing autonomy in decisions to act, having rational bases for actions and capable of being responsible for them, was called the artificial intellect of the moral-personal level (AIMPL). In addition, it was found that, as in the case of weak AI, and in the case of a superintelligence, it makes no sense to talk about the moral-personal value of AI. These types of AI can only have instrumental value in human society.

Η “καθιερωμένη θεώρηση για την πράξη”, όντας δεσμευμένη σε ένα ευρύτερο νατουραλιστικό μοντέλο, κατανοεί την πράξη ως “επιμέρους συμβάν”, το οποίο προκαλείται αιτιακά από συγκεκριμένες νοητικές καταστάσεις. Σ’ αυτό το πλαίσιο, η αιτιακή επίδραση της πρόθεσης υπάγεται στο σύνηθες χιουμιανό μοντέλο της αιτιότητας μεταξύ συμβάντων. Ωστόσο, η εν λόγω θεώρηση αποτυγχάνει ουσιωδώς να ερμηνεύσει τις πράξεις στην εξέλιξή τους, πριν δηλαδή να διαμορφωθεί το απαιτούμενο (από το χιουμιανό μοντέλο) εξατομικευμένο συμβάν. Το γεγονός αυτό έχει ευρύτερες επιπτώσεις για τον τρόπο με τον οποίο αντιλαμβάνεται η εν λόγω προσέγγιση τόσο την έννοια της πρόθεσης, όσο και κατ’ επέκταση το ρόλο του δρώντος. Στην παρούσα εργασία και με αφορμή κυρίως πρόσφατες εργασίες από τους Hornsby και Crowther, επιχειρηματολογώ σχετικά με το ότι μπορούμε να υιοθετήσουμε μια εναλλακτική προσέγγιση, τόσο για την οντολογία της πράξης, όσο και για την πρόθεση, η οποία δίνει ικανοποιητικότερες απαντήσεις στις ανωτέρω προκλήσεις. Κεντρική θέση στα πλαίσια αυτής της προσέγγισης είναι η αναγνώριση της “δραστηριότητας” ως συγκροτησιακού στοιχείου της πράξης, κατά τη διάρκεια της οποίας η αιτιακή συμβολή του δρώντος παραμένει συνεχής, σε συμφωνία με μια αριστοτελικού τύπου προσέγγιση της αιτιότητας. Όι παραδοχές αυτές οδηγούν σε μια θεώρηση της πρόθεσης ως καθοδηγητικής της πράξης καθόλη τη διάρκεια εξέλιξής της. / The “standard story of action” being committed to a broader naturalistic model, understands action as a “particular event”, which is caused by certain mental states. In this context, the causal efficacy of intention is covered by the standard humean model of causality between events. Nevertheless, the story in question substantially fails to give an account for actions as they develop, that is, before the required (by the humean model) individuated event has been formed. That fact has broader effects on the way that the approach in question understands the concept of intention, and ultimately the role of the agent. In this thesis, following mainly on recent papers by Hornsby and Crowther, I argue that we can endorse an alternate approach regarding the ontology of action, as well as intention, that gives more adequate answers to the challenges mentioned above. The main thesis in this context is to recognize “activity” as a constitutional element of action, during which the causal efficacy of the agent remains ongoing, in accordance with an aristotelian type of approach to causality. These commitments result in recognizing intention as guiding action throughout the whole of its development.