Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
AIList Digest Volume 8 Issue 043
AIList Digest Tuesday, 9 Aug 1988 Volume 8 : Issue 43
Seminars:
Describing Program Transformers with Higher-order Unification
Call for Commentators: Control of Voluntary Movements
Call for Commentators: Primate Tool Use
Object-Oriented Database Workshop - OOPSLA 88
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 21 Jul 88 14:27:56 EDT
From: finin@PRC.Unisys.COM
Subject: Unisys AI Seminar: Describing Program Transformers with
Higher-order Unification
AI SEMINAR
UNISYS PAOLI RESEARCH CENTER
Describing Program Transformers with Higher-order Unification
John J. Hannan
Computer and Information Science
University of Pennsylvania
Source-to-source program transformers belong to the class of
meta-programs that manipulate programs as objects. It has previously
been argued that a higher-order extension of Prolog, such as
Lambda-Prolog, makes a suitable implementation language for such
meta-programs. In this paper, we consider this claim in more detail.
In Lambda-Prolog, object-level programs and program schemata can be
represented using simply typed lambda-terms and higher-order
(functional) variables. Unification of these lambda-terms, called
higher-order unification, can elegantly describe several important
meta-level operations on programs. We detail some properties of
higher-order unification that make it suitable for analyzing program
structures. We then present (in Lambda-Prolog) the specification of
several simple program transformers and demonstrate how these can be
combined to yield more general transformers. With the depth-first
control strategy of Lambda-Prolog for both clause selection and
unifier selection all the above mentioned specifications can be and
have been executed and tested.
2:00 pm Wednesday, August 3
Unisys Paloi Research Center
BIC Conference Room
Route 252 and Central Ave.
Paoli PA 19311
-- non-Unisys visitors who are interested in attending should --
-- send email to finin@prc.unisys.com or call 215-648-7446 --
------------------------------
Date: 4 Aug 88 05:42:16 GMT
From: mind!harnad@princeton.edu (Stevan Harnad)
Subject: Behav. Brain Sci: Call for Commentators
Below is the abstract of a forthcoming target article to appear in
Behavioral and Brain Sciences (BBS), an international journal of "open
peer commentary" in the biobehavioral and cognitive sciences, published
by Cambridge University Press. For information on how to serve as a
commentator or to nominate qualified professionals in these fields as
commentators, please send email to: harnad@mind.princeton.edu
or write to: BBS, 20 Nassau Street, #240, Princeton NJ 08542
[tel: 609-921-7771]
Strategies for the Control of Voluntary Movements with One Degree of Freedom
Gerald L. Gottlieb (Physiology, Rush Medical Center),
Daniel M. Corcos (Physical Education, U. Illinois, Chicago),
Gyan C. Agarwal (Electr. Engineering & Computer Science, U. Illinois, Chicago)
A theory is presented to explain how people's accurate single-joint
movements are controlled. The theory applies to movements across
different distances, with different inertial loads, toward targets of
different widths over a wide range of experimentally manipulated
velocities. The theory is based on three propositions:
(1) Movements are planned according to "strategies," of which there are at
least two: a speed-insensitive (SI) and a speed-sensitive (SS) strategy.
(2) These strategies can be equated with sets of rules for performing
diverse movement tasks. The choice between (SI) and (SS) depends on
whether movement speed and/or movement time (and hence appropriate
muscle forces) must be constrained to meet task requirements.
(3) The electromyogram can be interpreted as a low-pass filtered
version of the controlling signal to motoneuron pools. This
controlling signal can be modelled as a rectangular excitation pulse
in which modulation occurs in either pulse amplitude or pulse width.
Movements with different distances and loads are controlled by the SI
strategy, which modulates pulse width. Movements in which speed must
be explicitly regulated are controlled by the SS strategy, which
modulates pulse amplitude. The distinction between the two movement
strategies reconciles many apparent conflicts in the motor control literature.
--
Stevan Harnad ARPANET: harnad@mind.princeton.edu harnad@princeton.edu
harnad@confidence.princeton.edu srh@flash.bellcore.com harnad@mind.uucp
BITNET: harnad%mind.princeton.edu@pucc.bitnet UUCP: princeton!mind!harnad
CSNET: harnad%mind.princeton.edu@relay.cs.net
------------------------------
Date: 4 Aug 88 05:55:48 GMT
From: mind!harnad@princeton.edu (Stevan Harnad)
Subject: Behav. Brain Sci. Call for Commentators: Primate Tool Use
Below is the abstract of a forthcoming target article to appear in
Behavioral and Brain Sciences (BBS), an international journal of "open
peer commentary" in the biobehavioral and cognitive sciences, published
by Cambridge University Press. For information on how to serve as a
commentator or to nominate qualified professionals in these fields as
commentators, please send email to: harnad@mind.princeton.edu
or write to: BBS, 20 Nassau Street, #240, Princeton NJ 08542
[tel: 609-921-7771]
Spontaneous tool use and sensorimotor intelligence in Cebus and other
monkeys and apes
Suzanne Chevalier Skolnikoff
Human Interaction Laboratory
Department of Psychiatry
University of California, San Fransisco
Spontaneous tool use and sensorimotor intelligence in Cebus
were observed to determine whether tool use is discovered
fortuitously and learned by trial and error or, rather, advanced
sensorimotor abilities (experimentation and insight) are critical in
its development and evolution. During 62 hours of observing captive
groups of cebus monkeys (a total of 12 animals), 38 series and 66 acts
of spontaneous tool use were recorded. Nine monkeys (75%) used tools;
14 kinds of tool use were observed. Of seven captive spider monkeys
observed for 21 hours, none used tools. Comparative observations of
sensorimotor intelligence were made using Piaget's model. The
sensorimotor basis of tool use was also analyzed. Cebus showed all six
of Piaget's levels of sensorimotor intelligence, whereas spider
monkeys showed only the first four stages. Besides these correlations
between tool use and advanced sensorimotor ability, 37 of the 38
tool-use series and 65 of the 66 individual acts involved Stage 5 and
6 sensorimotor mechanisms in Cebus; only one series involved Stage 3
fortuitous discovery and Stage 4 coordinations. This study and a
literature survey suggest that high tool-using propensity among
primates is based on advanced sensorimotor ability rather than
fortuitous discovery.
--
Stevan Harnad ARPANET: harnad@mind.princeton.edu harnad@princeton.edu
harnad@confidence.princeton.edu srh@flash.bellcore.com harnad@mind.uucp
BITNET: harnad%mind.princeton.edu@pucc.bitnet UUCP: princeton!mind!harnad
CSNET: harnad%mind.princeton.edu@relay.cs.net
------------------------------
Date: 2 Aug 88 15:14:35 GMT
From: killer!pollux!ti-csl!keith%tilde.csc.ti.com@ames.arpa (Keith
Sparacin)
Subject: Object-Oriented Database Workshop
OBJECT-ORIENTED DATABASE WORKSHOP
To be held in conjunction with the
OOPSLA '88
Conference on Object-Oriented Programming:
Systems, Languages, and Applications
26 September 1988
San Diego, California, U.S.A.
Object-oriented database systems combine the strengths of
object-oriented programming languages and data models, and database
systems. This one-day workshop will expand on the theme and scope of a
similar OODB workshop held at OOPSLA '87. The 1988 Workshop will
consist of the following four panels:
Architectural issues: 8:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Therice Anota (Graphael), Gordon Landis (Ontologic),
Dan Fishman (HP), Patrick O'Brien (DEC),
Jacob Stein (Servio Logic), David Wells (TI)
Transaction management for cooperative work: 10:30 AM - 12:00 noon
Bob Handsaker (Ontologic), Eliot Moss (Univ. of Massachusetts),
Tore Risch (HP), Craig Schaffert (DEC),
Jacob Stein (Servio Logic), David Wells (TI)
Schema evolution and version management: 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Gordon Landis (Ontologic), Mike Killian (DEC),
Brom Mehbod (HP), Jacob Stein (Servio Logic),
Craig Thompson (TI), Stan Zdonik (Brown University)
Query processing: 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
David Beech (HP), Paul Gloess (Graphael),
Bob Strong (Ontologic), Jacob Stein (Servio Logic),
Craig Thompson (TI)
Each panel member will present his position on the panel topic in 10
minutes. This will be followed by questions from the workshop
participants and discussions. To encourage vigorous interactions and
exchange of ideas between the participants, the workshop will be limited
to 60 qualified participants. If you are interested in attending the
workshop, please submit three copies of a single page abstract to the
workshop chairman describing your work related to object-oriented
database systems. The workshop participants will be selected based on
the relevance and significance of their work described in the abstract.
Abstracts should be submitted to the workshop chairman by 15 August 1988.
Participants selected will be notified by 5 September 1988.
Workshop Chairman:
Dr. Satish M. Thatte
Director, Information Technologies Laboratory
Texas Instruments Incorporated
P.O. Box 655474, M/S 238
Dallas, TX 75265
Phone: (214)-995-0340
Arpanet: Thatte@csc.ti.com CSNet: Thatte%ti-csl@relay.cs.net
------------------------------
End of AIList Digest
********************
