[Prev][Next][Index]

Newsletter June 20, No. 34



                      C S L I   N E W S L E T T E R
_____________________________________________________________________________
June 20, 1985                   Stanford                       Vol. 2, No. 34
_____________________________________________________________________________
                                
     A weekly publication of The Center for the Study of Language and
     Information, Ventura Hall, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
                              ____________

            CSLI ACTIVITIES FOR *THIS* THURSDAY, June 20, 1985

   12 noon		TINLunch
     Ventura Hall       ``How Many Possible Human Languages are There?''
     Conference Room    by Geoff Pullum, UCSC and CSLI
			Discussion led by Gerald Gazdar, CASBS

   2:15 p.m.		CSLI Seminar
     Redwood Hall       No seminar
     Room G-19          

   3:30 p.m.		Tea
     Ventura Hall		

   4:15 p.m.		CSLI Colloquium
     Redwood Hall       No colloquium
     Room G-19		
                               ___________

            CSLI ACTIVITIES FOR *NEXT* THURSDAY, June 27, 1985

   12 noon		TINLunch
     Ventura Hall       ``The Algebra of Events''
     Conference Room    by Emmon Bach
			Discussion led by Edit Doron
			(Abstract on page 2)
		
   2:15 p.m.		CSLI Seminar
     Redwood Hall       ``An Organism and Its Internal Model of the World''
     Room G-19          Pentti Kanerva, CSLI
			Discussion led by Alex Pentland
			(Abstract on page 2)

   3:30 p.m.		Tea
     Ventura Hall		

   4:15 p.m.		CSLI Colloquium
     Redwood Hall       ``Qualitative Process Theory''
     Room G-19		Ken Forbus, University of Illinois, Computer Science
			(Abstract on page 3)
                              _____________
                              ANNOUNCEMENT

      No seminars or colloquia are scheduled for June 20 because of the
   University, end-of-quarter break.  TINLunch will be held on that day.
   Regular activities will resume on June 27.


Page 2  		     CSLI Newsletter                    June 20, 1985
_____________________________________________________________________________
                    ABSTRACT OF NEXT WEEK'S TINLUNCH
                        ``The Algebra of Events''

      ``The Algebra of Events'' by Emmon Bach takes as its point of
   departure the apparently close parallels between the mass-count
   distinction in nominals and the distinction between processes and
   events (also known as the activity-accomplishment distinction) in
   aspectual classes of verbs.  These parallels have been commented on by
   a number of scholars over the last decade but never analyzed formally.
   What Bach demonstrates here is that the richly-structured
   model-theoretic semantics for mass, count, and plural nominals
   developed by Godehard Link provides the model for a semantics of verb
   aspect (including an ontology of events) that is explicitly parallel
   to nominal semantics.  After sketching this Link-type semnatics for
   events, he shows that the resulting formal analogy between the two
   domains leads to the discovery of further properties of both events
   and nominals, such as a nominal analogue of the so-called
   ``imperfective paradox.''				--David Dowty
                              _____________
                     ABSTRACT OF NEXT WEEK'S SEMINAR
           ``An Organism and Its Internal Model of the World''

      There is a glaring disparity in how children and computers learn
   things.  By and large, children are not instructed explicitly but
   learn by observation, imitation, and trial and error.  What kind of
   computer architecture would allow a machine to learn the way children
   do?
      In the model I have been studying, an organism is coupled to the
   world by its sensors and effectors.  The organism's mind-ware consists
   of a relatively small focus and a large memory.  The sensors feed
   information into the focus, the effectors are driven from the focus,
   the memory is addressed by the contents of the focus, the contents of
   the focus are stored in memory, and the memory feeds information into
   the focus.  The contents of the focus at a moment account for the
   subjective experience of the organism at that moment.
      The function of the memory is to store a model of the world for
   later reference.  The memory is sensitive to similarity in that
   approximate retrieval cues can be used to retrieve exact information.
   It is dynamic in that the present situation (its encoding) brings to
   focus the consequences of similar past situations.  The model sheds
   light on the frame problem of robotics, and it appears that a robot
   built according to this principle would learn by trial and error and
   would be able to plan actions and to perform planned sequences of
   actions.
     Reading: ``Parallel Structures in Human and Computer Memory,''
   available from Susi Parker at the Ventura Hall receptionist desk and
   on line as <PKANERVA>COGNITIVA.PAPER at SU-CSLI.ARPA.
                                                     --Pentti Kanerva

Page 3                       CSLI Newsletter                     June 20, 1985
_____________________________________________________________________________
                   ABSTRACT OF NEXT WEEK'S COLLOQUIUM
                     ``Qualitative Process Theory''

   Things move, collide, flow, bend, stretch, break, cool down, heat up,
   and boil.  Intuitively we think of the things that cause changes in
   physical situations as processes.  Qualitative Process Theory defines
   simple notions of quantity, function, and process that allow
   interesting common-sense inferences to be drawn about dynamical
   systems.  This talk will describe the basics of the Qualitative
   Process Theory, illustrate how it can be used to capture certain
   aspects of different models of physical phenomena, and discuss the
   claims it makes about causal reasoning.		--Ken Forbus
                              _____________
                             KROCH LECTURE SERIES
            Sponsored by CSLI and Stanford Linguistics Dept.

      Tony Kroch (University of Pennsylvania) will give a series of five
   lectures on ``Grammar, Processing, and Linguistic Change'' on June 26
   - July 2. The lectures will be held at 3:15 p.m. in the CSLI Seminar Room
   (not in Cubberley as previously announced).
      1. Grammar and Usage -- (Wednesday, June 26) What can we learn
   about linguistic structure from looking at usage data?  Importance of
   this question for historical linguistics, where the data available is
   all usage data.  The problem that such data show the influence of all
   the factors that influence linguistic patterns.  The fallacy of
   treating usage data as direct indications of grammatical organization
   and the contrary fallacy of ignoring the information revealed by
   studies of usage.
      2.  Some Promising Results -- (Thursday, June 27) When and how
   usage patterns reflect grammar.  The experimental and observational
   evidence for syntactic priming; its use as a probe for linguistic
   structure.  The problem of what determines overall frequencies of use.
   The nature of style shifting.  Human beings as trackers of
   frequencies.
      3.  A Mathematical Model of Syntactic Change -- (Friday, June 28)
   The characteristic S-shaped profile of linguistic drift.  Evidence for
   its generality.  How it can be modeled mathematically and explained
   psycholinguistically.  The notion of competition among alternative
   forms.  The problem of competition in the face of differences in
   meaning.
      4.  A Case Study -- (Monday, July 1) The loss of subject-verb
   inversion in English.  The nature of the change and its relationship
   to the loss of Germanic word order.  The rise of periphrastic 'do' and
   the substitution of subject-aux inversion for subject-verb inversion
   in questions.  Parallel developments in French and Portuguese.
      5.  Processing Effects on Usage Patterns and Their Role in Change
   -- (Tuesday, July 2) Where can we look for the active force behind the
   change described in the previous lecture?  Why it cannot be internal
   to the grammar.  A solution in constraints on sentence processing. The
   limits of processing effects on usage.

      Copies of selected papers by Kroch, will be available in the
   Greenberg Room and at CSLI.  To arrange appointments with Kroch,
   please call Sonia Oliva at 7-4284.

Page 4                     CSLI Newsletter                      June 20, 1985
_____________________________________________________________________________
                             AREA P1 MEETING
                        ``Pixels and Predicates''

      Beginning Wednesday, June 26 we will start a discussion series on
   visual (graphic) communication: how can we relate predicates to
   pixels, and vice versa?
   Topics will include:
     * What image regularities do we perceive as the primitive elements
       of form, the ``visual morphemes'' that convey information?
     * How do people organize images into these parts, gain information
       about the situation from them, and use them in communication?
     * How can we use our knowledge of such matters to design graphic
       interfaces to facilitate visual communication?
   Those interested in these topics are encouraged to attend, debate
   vigorously, and perhaps suggest further topics for discussion.  The
   first speaker (tentative) is:

                 ``Visual Morphemes in the 3-D World.''
                           Alex Pentland, CSLI
                Wednesday June 26th, 3:00pm, Ventura Hall

   People have a strong perceptual notion of the ``parts'' of a 3-D
   form; a good understanding of what constitues ``a part'' is critical
   to communication about visual data. A theory of parts will be
   presented and a 3-D graphics modeling tool based on this theory will
   be discussed.				--Alex Pentland
                              _____________
                LOGIC, LANGUAGE, AND COMPUTATION MEETINGS
                  July 8-19, 1985, Stanford University

      The final mailing for those coming to the meetings will be sent out
   by June 25.
                              _____________
                     NEW CSLI POSTDOCTORAL STUDENTS

      CSLI is sponsoring three, new postdoctoral students for the
   academic year 1985-1986.  Carol Cleland who arrives July 1 has a Ph.D.
   in Philosophy from Brown University and has most recently worked on
   developing an expert system.  Mark Gawron who will arrive on August 5
   has a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of California at
   Berkeley and has worked at the Department of Artificial Intelligence,
   University of Edinburgh and at the Courant Institute of Mathematical
   Science in New York.  Helene Kirchner who will come in September has a
   These d'Etat in Computer Science from the University of Nancy I in
   France and has been a researcher at the Centre National de la
   Recherche Scientifique.






-------