Information-Based Evaluation Criterion for Classifier's Performance

In the past few years many systems for learning decision rules from examples were developed. As different systems allow different types of answers when classifying new instances, it is difficult to appropriately evaluate the systems' classification power in comparison with other classification systems or in comparison with human experts. Classification accuracy is usually used as a measure of classification performance. This measure is, however, known to have several defects. A fair evaluation criterion should exclude the influence of the class probabilities which may enable a completely uninformed classifier to trivially achieve high classification accuracy. In this paper a method for evaluating the information score of a classifier's answers is proposed. It excludes the influence of prior probabilities, deals with various types of imperfect or probabilistic answers and can be used also for comparing the performance in different domains.     

Consolidation of Long-Term Memory: Evidence and Alternatives.

Memory loss in retrograde amnesia has long been held to be larger for recent periods than for remote periods, a pattern usually referred to as the Ribot gradient. One explanation for this gradient is consolidation of long-term memories. Several computational models of such a process have shown how consolidation can explain characteristics of amnesia, but they have not elucidated how consolidation must be envisaged. Here findings are reviewed that shed light on how consolidation may be implemented in the brain. Moreover, consolidation is contrasted with alternative theories of the Ribot gradient. Consolidation theory, multiple trace theory, and semantization can all handle some findings well but not others. Conclusive evidence for or against consolidation thus remains to be found. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dynamique motivationnelle de l'epuisement et du bien-etre chez des enseignants africains.

This study examines the links between antecedents and consequences of Gabonese teachers' (N= 152) work motivation. The theoretical underpinnings are based on the Motivational Model of Job Burnout (MMJB) which is grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and states that the more supervisors satisfy an employee's need for self-determination, competence, and relatedness, the more self-determined is the latter's work motivation. The level of self-determined motivation has an impact on job satisfaction, which in turn determines life satisfaction. Higher levels of self-determined motivation also buffer emotional exhaustion and psychological distress. The model was confirmed via structural equation modeling and provides support for the validity and generalizability of the MMJB and SDT. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Web-based systems design: a study of contemporary practices and an explanatory framework based on “method-in-action”

This paper reports the findings of a detailed study of Web-based systems design (WBSD) practices in Ireland based on data collected over a 3-year period (2002–2005), the objectives of which were to (1) contribute towards a richer understanding of the current “real-world” context of WBSD by characterising the profile of a typical project (team size, timeframe, nature of requirements, etc.) and identifying the key challenges, constraints, and imperatives (i.e. “mediating factors”) faced by Web-based system designers, and (2) understand how those contextual parameters and mediating factors influence the activity of WBSD as regards the selection and enactment of whatever design practices are therefore engaged (i.e. the use of methods, procedures, etc.). Data was gathered through a survey which yielded 165 usable responses, and later through a series of semi-structured qualitative interviews. Using grounded theory, an explanatory conceptual framework is derived, based on an extension of the “method-in-action” model, the application of which to WBSD has not been previously investigated in depth. It is proposed that this framework of WBSD issues is valuable in a number of ways to educators, researchers, practitioners, and method engineers.     

Multiagent learning using a variable learning rate

Learning to act in a multiagent environment is a difficult problem since the normal definition of an optimal policy no longer applies. The optimal policy at any moment depends on the policies of the other agents. This creates a situation of learning a moving target. Previous learning algorithms have one of two shortcomings depending on their approach. They either converge to a policy that may not be optimal against the specific opponents' policies, or they may not converge at all. In this article we examine this learning problem in the framework of stochastic games. We look at a number of previous learning algorithms showing how they fail at one of the above criteria. We then contribute a new reinforcement learning technique using a variable learning rate to overcome these shortcomings. Specifically, we introduce the WoLF principle, “Win or Learn Fast”, for varying the learning rate. We examine this technique theoretically, proving convergence in self-play on a restricted class of iterated matrix games. We also present empirical results on a variety of more general stochastic games, in situations of self-play and otherwise, demonstrating the wide applicability of this method.     

Have it your way and mine: The theory of styles

Olsen is right to note what can be done with a good theory and the right machine. His particular theory, however, is not transferable to literary studies. If we need a new model, I would suggest that cognitive science can provide a few interesting ones. I have begun to do some work based on David Marr's VISION, in which he hypothesizes two levels of processing within the visual module. My speculation has been on the parallel existence of distinguishable levels of conceptual or language organization which would correspond to the viewer and object centered perspectives Marr describes for vision. I propose to explore the possibility that we may find here the model for the existence of stylistic individualism within overarching historical stylistic generalizations, and even more, that this may be what feminists are searching for when they try to resist being coopted by the masculine language of objectivity. Ellen Spolsky teaches English literature and literary theory and is the Director of the Lechter Institute for Literary Research at Bar-Ilan University, Israel. Her latest book is Gaps in Nature: Literary Interpretation and the Modular Mind(SUNY Press, 1993).     

The factor-analytic approach to intelligence is alive and well: A review of Carroll, J. B. (1993). Human cognitive abilities: A survey of factor-analytic studies.

Reviews the book, Human cognitive abilities: A survey of factor-analytic studies by J. B. Carroll (see record 1993-97611-000). Carroll divides his book into three parts. The first is a historical and conceptual review of psychometric theory. Carroll begins by clearly defining and differentiating key concepts such as ability, aptitude, achievement, latent trait, and intervening variable, although recognizing that in practice it is often difficult to make absolute distinctions. The second part, and the bulk of the book, is a detailed analysis and synthesis of a myriad of findings in the area of cognitive abilities. In the third part of his book, Carroll summarizes his undertaking and addresses traditional concerns and controversies. He compares and contrasts his model of cognitive abilities with that of others. Although Carroll's book does not and indeed cannot resolve the issues and controversies concerning the nature of human cognitive abilities, it does represent a notable contribution to our ongoing endeavours. It undoubtedly is a book that anyone interested in cognitive abilities would wish to explore because of its encyclopedic, in-depth coverage of the topic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

采样定理的内在不自洽性和工程应用的局限性——采样定理和奈奎斯特准则研究·上篇

推导证明了作为通信理论基石之一的采样定理及其公式存在着两个矛盾：内在不自洽性，即采样定理与其公式的推导前提条件相矛盾；采样定理在工程实际应用时的严重局限性     

双螺杆反应挤出模型的研究

详细研究了双螺杆中反应挤出聚合物的动力学模型、流动模型和传热模型。通过实验得到了双螺杆反应器中聚合物的停留时间分布及平均停留时间。