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CSLI Calendar, 11 January 1990, vol. 5:12


       C S L I   C A L E N D A R   O F   P U B L I C   E V E N T S
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11 January 1990                     Stanford                   Vol. 5, No. 12
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    A weekly publication of the Center for the Study of Language and
Information (CSLI), Ventura Hall, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-4115
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          CSLI ACTIVITIES FOR THIS THURSDAY, 11 JANUARY 1990

12:00 noon		TINLunch
      Cordura 100	Reading: The Role of Infons in a Mathematical
			Theory of Information, First Draft: January 1990
			by Keith Devlin
			Discussion led by Pat Hayes
			(hayes.pa@xerox.com)
			Abstract in last week's Calendar
			     ____________

	  CSLI ACTIVITIES FOR NEXT THURSDAY, 18 JANUARY 1990

12:00 noon		TINLunch
      Cordura 100	Twenty-five Basic Theorems in Situation Theory
			Ed Zalta
			(zalta@csli.stanford.edu)
			Abstract below
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			 NEXT WEEK'S TINLUNCH
	    Twenty-five Basic Theorems in Situation Theory
			       Ed Zalta

This is a revised version of a talk given to STASS in December 1989.
Over the past month, I've refined these views, written them up, and
made them more appropriate for general consumption (as usual, the
paper is available for inspection before the TINLunch).  Basically, I
shall try to show that principles that have been _stipulated_ in
previous versions of situation theory fall out as theorems in the
present theory.  It makes predictions at most of the branch points in
situation theory, and even predictions concerning the preliminary
structure of situations presupposed by the branch points.  The theory
shows that situations and worlds are not incompatible, and indeed, the
former may be parts of the latter.  I emphasize that this is not a
mathematical model of states of affairs and situations, but rather a
philosophical theory couched in a predicate modal logic that asserts
that there are properties, relations, states of affairs, situations,
and worlds, among other things, and that they are structured in a
certain way.
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			 SEMINAR ANNOUNCEMENT
			    Philosophy 396
		       Issues in Logical Theory
  		 John Etchemendy and Solomon Feferman
	  (etch@csli.stanford.edu and sf@csli.stanford.edu)
			 Thursdays, 3:45-5:30
	    (Note new day and time since last announced!)
			     Cordura 100

In this seminar, we will be covering topics in philosophical logic,
broadly construed.  We plan to have sessions on a variety of chapters
from the _Handbook of Philosophical Logic_ -- specific chapters to be
determined by the interests of the participants -- as well as sessions
on similar topics not covered in the _Handbook_.  In the first meeting,
Jon Barwise will present recent work by Barwise and Etchemendy on the
algebra of information.  
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	      HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE LECTURE
	    Aristotelean Logic and Euclidean Mathematics:
17th Century Developments of the "Quaestio de Certitudine Mathematicarum"
			    Paolo Mancosu
		       Department of Philosophy
		       Wolfson College, Oxford
		     (mancosu@csli.stanford.edu)
		      Thursday, 11 January, 4:10
			Building 200, Room 305

No abstract available.
			     ____________

		   PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT COLLOQUIUM
     On the Status of Proofs by Contradiction in the 17th Century
			    Paolo Mancosu
		       Department of Philosophy
		       Wolfson College, Oxford
		     (mancosu@csli.stanford.edu)
		       Friday, 12 January, 3:15
			Building 90, Room 92Q

No abstract available.
			     ____________

		SEMINAR ON COMPUTERS, DESIGN, AND WORK
		    The Computer as Social Actor:
     Implications of Social Categorization for the User Interface
			      Cliff Nass
		     Department of Communication
			 Stanford University
		     (nass@suwatson.stanford.edu)
		     Wednesday, 17 January, 12:15
			      Ventura 17

What can one learn if one thinks of the human-computer relationship as
a social relationship?  This paper develops a set of hypotheses
concerning the ways in which users' social categorizations of
computers affect their expectations, attitudes, and behaviors.  In a
context in which a computer misleads users, we discuss the
relationship between (1) the type of information the computer provides
and users' expectations of its utility; (2) users' expectations of how
computers respond when there is misunderstanding or confusion; and (3)
the types and sources of recourse users expect.  We propose three
experiments to test the hypotheses.  In all three experiments,
subjects are asked to answer a set of trivia questions.  A computer
asks the questions and provides facts relevant to the answer.  If the
user perceives that the facts are misleading, the user can appeal.
Each experiment manipulates some combination of several factors: (1)
type of question (about humans, computers, or other information
technologies), (2) success of the user's initial guesses (high or
low), (3) mode of appeal (appeal to initial computer, another
computer, a human, or no appeal), (4) result of appeal (recognition,
rectification, or neither), and (5) success of appeal (successful or
unsuccessful).
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			  NEW CSLI VISITORS

			     Michio Isoda
	  Industrial Affiliates Program Visiting Researcher
			 WACOM Co. Ltd., Japan
	      Dates of visit: January 1990-December 1990

Michio is interested in machine(-aided) translation (MAT) and lexical
knowledge base (LKB).  While at CSLI, he would like to import the
results of contemporary linguistics theories into MAT and LKB in order
to build simpler, more flexible systems.  His research interests also
include related topics, such as language-knowledge acquisition and the
application of techniques that have been developed in the context of
research on MAT.  Michio's email address is isoda@csli.stanford.edu.


			     Carol Neidle
			  Boston University
		Dates of visit: December 1989-May 1990

Carol Neidle is visiting Xerox PARC and CSLI for six months.  She is
on sabbatical leave from Boston University, where she is Associate
Professor and Director of the Program in Applied Linguistics.  Her
interests include Russian syntax (she is author of _The Role of Case
in Russian Syntax_, D. Reidel, 1988) and computational tools for
linguistic analysis.  At Xerox, she will be working on problems
related to machine translation between English and French.  She can be
reached at neidle.pa@xerox.com.