In this paper, we discuss guidelines for a reward design problem that defines when and what amount of reward should be given to the agent/s, within the context of reinforcement learning approach. We would like to take keepaway soccer as a standard task of the multiagent domain which requires skilled teamwork. The difficulties of designing reward for this task are due to its features as follows: i) since it belongs to the continuing task which has no explicit goal to achieve, (...) it is hard to tell when reward should be given to the agent/s. ii) since it is a multiagent cooperative task, it is hard to decide what is a fair share of reward for each agent's contribution to achieve the goal. Through some experiments, we show that the reward design have a major effect on the agent's behavior, and introduce the successful reward function that makes agents perform keepaway better and more interesting than the conventional one does. Finally, we explore the relationship between `reward design' and `acquired behaviors' from the viewpoint of teamwork. (shrink)

In this paper we formulate epsilon substitution method for a theory $\Pi _{2}^{0}$-FIX for non-monotonic $\Pi _{2}^{0}$ inductive definitions. Then we give a termination proof of the H-processes based on Ackermann [1].

The two competing camps of theorists in moral psychology share one common view on the disagreement between their theories: moral foundations theory presupposes basic emotion theory, while dyadic morality theory presupposes constructionist theory of emotion. The paper challenges this common view. First, it reviews the four theories. Second, it clarifies the issue about the relation between the moral contents and emotions on which the two camps of moral-psychological theorists dispute. Third, it identifies the explananda for the moral-psychological theories, and examines (...) the two distinctive types of explanations that each of the two theories offers to them. Finally, it concludes that the deepest disagreement between the two morality theories consists in the role that the theories give to emotions in explaining moral judgments. (shrink)

The pervasive use of distributional semantic models or word embeddings for both cognitive modeling and practical application is because of their remarkable ability to represent the meanings of words. However, relatively little effort has been made to explore what types of information are encoded in distributional word vectors. Knowing the internal knowledge embedded in word vectors is important for cognitive modeling using distributional semantic models. Therefore, in this paper, we attempt to identify the knowledge encoded in word vectors by conducting (...) a computational experiment using Binder et al.'s (2016) featural conceptual representations based on neurobiologically motivated attributes. In an experiment, these conceptual vectors are predicted from text‐based word vectors using a neural network and linear transformation, and prediction performance is compared among various types of information. The analysis demonstrates that abstract information is generally predicted more accurately by word vectors than perceptual and spatiotemporal information, and specifically, the prediction accuracy of cognitive and social information is higher. Emotional information is also found to be successfully predicted for abstract words. These results indicate that language can be a major source of knowledge about abstract attributes, and they support the recent view that emphasizes the importance of language for abstract concepts. Furthermore, we show that word vectors can capture some types of perceptual and spatiotemporal information about concrete concepts and some relevant word categories. This suggests that language statistics can encode more perceptual knowledge than often expected. (shrink)

Journal of Political Philosophy, Volume 30, Issue 3, Page 370-394, September 2022.

In this paper we formulate epsilon substitution method for a theory $\Pi _{2}^{0}$-FIX for non-monotonic $\Pi _{2}^{0}$ inductive definitions. Then we give a termination proof of the H-processes based on Ackermann [1].

ポストモダン思想は教育学に何をもたらしたのか。戦後から現在に至る教育学の変遷と、ポストモダン以後の教育思想・教育哲学の新動向を描き出し、教育と教育学の未来を展望する。.

The method of analytic tableaux is employed in many introductory texts and has also been used quite extensively as a basis for automated theorem proving. In this paper, we discuss the complexity of the system as a method for refuting contradictory sets of clauses, and resolve several open questions. We discuss the three forms of analytic tableaux: clausal tableaux, generalized clausal tableaux, and binary tableaux. We resolve the relative complexity of these three forms of tableaux proofs and also resolve the (...) relative complexity of analytic tableaux versus resolution. We show that there is a quasi-polynomial simulation of tree resolution by analytic tableaux; this simulation is close to optimal, since we give a matching lower bound that is tight to within a polynomial. (shrink)

Background Ethics committees and their system of research protocol peer-review are currently used worldwide. To ensure an international standard for research ethics and safety, however, data is needed on the quality and function of each nation's ethics committees. The purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics and developments of ethics committees established at medical schools and general hospitals in Japan. Methods This study consisted of four national surveys sent twice over a period of eight years to two separate (...) samples. The first target was the ethics committees of all 80 medical schools and the second target was all general hospitals with over 300 beds in Japan (n = 1457 in 1996 and n = 1491 in 2002). Instruments contained four sections: (1) committee structure, (2) frequency of annual meetings, (3) committee function, and (4) existence of a set of guidelines for the refusal of blood transfusion by Jehovah's Witnesses. Results Committee structure was overall interdisciplinary. Frequency of annual meetings increased significantly for both medical school and hospital ethics committees over the eight years. The primary activities for medical school and hospital ethics committees were research protocol reviews and policy making. Results also showed a significant increase in the use of ethical guidelines, particularly those related to the refusal of blood transfusion by Jehovah's Witnesses, among both medical school and hospital ethics committees. Conclusion Overall findings indicated a greater recognized degree of responsibilities and an increase in workload for Japanese ethics committees. (shrink)

This is the first book to bring West and East together in a broad investigation of contemporary bioethics. A distinguished international team of experts presents original research addressing issues that emerge from new medical technologies, address global challenges arising from social change, and set the agenda for the future.

Assessing learners’ individual differences helps identify students who need teacher support in classrooms. Previous studies have examined second language achievement based on reading anxiety because reading is an input-based activity essential for successful L2 learning. This study applied a latent rank model to identify L2 learners who are likely to be struggling or successful in classrooms according to their L2 reading anxiety symptoms. Moreover, a psychometric function was developed to determine the cutoff anxiety scores that discriminate against their substantial differences. (...) The model was applied to responses from the Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale provided by 335 Japanese learners of English. The results showed that the FLRAS classified students into three ranked groups with ordinal information regarding L2 reading anxiety. Rank 1 exhibited good conditions in L2 reading anxiety. Rank 2 reported high anxiety toward unfamiliar grammar during L2 reading. Rank 3 had even higher anxiety levels, especially for vocabulary and grammatical knowledge deficits and reading difficulty. The cutoff anxiety scores estimated by the model detected students who failed their L2 class with 79% accuracy. Theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical issues in language anxiety were discussed in terms of diagnosis and different approaches to teaching L2 reading. (shrink)

Le réseau Labornet a été créé en Californie en 1991 par des syndicalistes, pour donner un nouveau souffle au mouvement ouvrier. Il est aujourd'hui présent dans une dizaine de pays industrialisés, en Amérique du Nord, en Europe et en Asie. La branche japonaise, Labornet Japan, est née en 2001 avec l'aide des militants coréens. À travers une série d'événements annuels comme la Labor Fiesta ou la campagne Union, Yes !, la diffusion de vidéos sur Union-Tube, le réseau Labornet Japan a (...) su développer une nouvelle culture militante qui dépasse les vieux clivages politiques et syndicaux. En dépit de la multiplication des contrats précaires, il attire de nombreux jeunes vers l'action collective.LaborNet network was established in California in 1991 by trade unionists, to reinvigorate the labor movement. It is currently present in ten countries in North America, Europe and Asia. The Japanese branch, LaborNet Japan, was founded in 2001 with the help of Korean activists. Through a series of annual events like the Fiesta or the Labor Union campaign, Yes!, Dissemination of EU-Tube videos on the network LaborNet Japan has developed a new activist culture that goes beyond the old political divisions and labor. Despite the proliferation of precarious contracts, it attracts many young people to collective action. (shrink)

Recent metaphor research has revealed that metaphor comprehension involves both categorization and comparison processes. This finding has triggered the following central question: Which property determines the choice between these two processes for metaphor comprehension? Three competing views have been proposed to answer this question: the conventionality view (Bowdle & Gentner, 2005), aptness view (Glucksberg & Haught, 2006b), and interpretive diversity view (Utsumi, 2007); these views, respectively, argue that vehicle conventionality, metaphor aptness, and interpretive diversity determine the choice between the categorization (...) and comparison processes. This article attempts to answer the question regarding which views are plausible by using cognitive modeling and computer simulation based on a semantic space model. In the simulation experiment, categorization and comparison processes are modeled in a semantic space constructed by latent semantic analysis. These two models receive word vectors for the constituent words of a metaphor and compute a vector for the metaphorical meaning. The resulting vectors can be evaluated according to the degree to which they mimic the human interpretation of the same metaphor; the maximum likelihood estimation determines which of the two models better explains the human interpretation. The result of the model selection is then predicted by three metaphor properties (i.e., vehicle conventionality, aptness, and interpretive diversity) to test the three views. The simulation experiment for Japanese metaphors demonstrates that both interpretive diversity and vehicle conventionality affect the choice between the two processes. On the other hand, it is found that metaphor aptness does not affect this choice. This result can be treated as computational evidence supporting the interpretive diversity and conventionality views. (shrink)

Informed consent, decision-making styles and the role of patient-physician relationships are imperative aspects of clinical medicine worldwide. We present the case of a 74-year-old woman afflicted with advanced liver cancer whose attending physician, per request of the family, did not inform her of her true diagnosis. In our analysis, we explore the differences in informed-consent styles between patients who hold an "independent" and "interdependent" construal of the self and then highlight the possible implications maintained by this position in the context (...) of international clinical ethics. Finally, we discuss the need to reassess informed-consent styles suitable to the needs of each patient regardless of whether he or she resides in the United States or in Japan. (shrink)