The research reported in this paper departs from most previous work in dialectometry in several ways. Empirically, it draws on frequency vectors derived from naturalistic corpus data and not on discrete atlas classifications. Linguistically, it is concerned with morphosyntactic (as opposed to lexical or pronunciational) variability. Methodologically, it marries the careful analysis of dialect p...

Using a computational model of verb argument structure learning, we study a key assumption of the usage-based theory: that the acquisition of a construction relies heavily on the existence of a high-frequency exemplar verb that accounts for a large proportion of usages of that construction in the input. Importantly, unlike the psycholinguistic experiments that focus on the learning of an artifi...

Program evaluation in preparation for accreditation provides opportunities for the identification of program strengths, weaknesses, and improvement potential. In the present study, naturalistic inquiry, an evaluation methodology responsive to the concerns of persons with a stake in the program, was successfully used in preparation for the accreditation of an occupational therapy program. The ex...

The dual-role method (DRM) extracts subject preferences as two players in experimental economic games. Previous research indicates mixed effects of DRM on game performance. A two (role)-by-two (role order) design for the ultimatum game (UG) was implemented in a naturalistic setting across 2 years. Subjects played according to the role they were assigned (proposer or responder). Immediately afte...

The LAST MINUTE corpus comprises multimodal recordings (e.g. video, audio, transcripts) from WOZ interactions in a mundane planning task (Rösner et al., 2011). It is one of the largest corpora with naturalistic data currently available. In this paper we report about first results from attempts to automatically and manually analyze the different modes with respect to emotions and affects exhibit...

The report of a preliminary experiment on the effect of stocking ricefields at Khurda Road with sullage during the dry season, on anopheline breeding, was published in the Indian Medical Gazette (Rao, 1941). As the results were promising, it was considered necessary to repeat the experiment on a large scale, not only to confirm the previous findings, but also to ascertain the effects of this me...

We propose a theoretical framework for understanding how everyday choice objects are represented and how decisions involving these objects are made. Our framework combines insights regarding object and concept representation in semantic memory research with multiattribute choice rules proposed by scholars of decision making. We also outline computational techniques for using our framework to qu...

In a pilot user study young people were to choose an avatar for an educational application. The avatars came in two visual styles – more naturalistic versus more stylized or sketchy. We explored to what extent similarity in appearance to oneself would be a motive for choices and whether this would differ between users who chose more visually naturalistic versus more stylized avatars. A prelimin...

This paper will investigate the basic question of the nature of perception, as theoretically approached from a purely naturalistic standpoint. An adequate theory must not only have clear application to a world full of pre-existing biological examples of perception of all kinds, from unicellular perception to conscious human perception, but it must also satisfy a series of theoretical or philoso...

We present an information theoretic account of models as scientific representations, where scientific models are understood as information carrying artifacts. We propose that the semantics of models should be based on this information coupling of the model to the world. The information theoretic account presents a way of avoiding the need to refer to agents' intentions as constitutive of the se...