Chapter 1: Opening Skinner’s Box
Summary:
The author discusses the ideas of B. F. Skinner. She states that many dislike the work done by Skinner because it suggests that everything we do is simply in response to some type of reinforcement. This conflicts with the comforting thought of free will. She describes some of his experiments and ends with a conversation she had with Skinner's daughter in the house Skinner lived in before he passed away.
Discussion:
I found Skinner's experiments truly fascinating. I cannot decide whether I agree with the fact that everything we do is due to conditioning. While I can see the point of the professor who jumped under his desk and claimed he was never conditioned to do that, could it not be true he was conditioned to win arguments and that jumping under the desk could lead to that goal?
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Book Reading #6 - Coming of Age in Samoa
Chapter 2: A Day in Samoa
Summary:
The author lists the activities of a day in Samoa.
Discussion:
A very boring chapter. I struggled to get through it.
Appendix II: Methodology of this Survey
Summary:
The author begins with discussing the limitation of having such a small sample size of adolescent girls. She then addresses particular methods used such as interviews and tests.
Discussion:
It's interesting that she admits there are some limitations to her work since she had such few people to work with.
Appendix V: Materials Upon Which the Analysis is Based
Summary:
This appendix describes the approximate ages of the girls studied and is accompanied by several tables of information about them.
Discussion:
The tables contained some interesting information that I would not have thought to ask if I were conducting the study.
Summary:
The author lists the activities of a day in Samoa.
Discussion:
A very boring chapter. I struggled to get through it.
Appendix II: Methodology of this Survey
Summary:
The author begins with discussing the limitation of having such a small sample size of adolescent girls. She then addresses particular methods used such as interviews and tests.
Discussion:
It's interesting that she admits there are some limitations to her work since she had such few people to work with.
Appendix V: Materials Upon Which the Analysis is Based
Summary:
This appendix describes the approximate ages of the girls studied and is accompanied by several tables of information about them.
Discussion:
The tables contained some interesting information that I would not have thought to ask if I were conducting the study.
Book Reading #5 - Design of Everyday Things
Chapter 2: The Psychology of Everyday Actions
Summary:
The author starts by giving several examples of how people blame themselves or the environment for problems that are actually the result of faulty design. He finishes the chapter by describing the seven stages of action.
Discussion:
The author makes a lot of interesting points. I really like the way the author gives clever and funny examples on all of his topics.
Summary:
The author starts by giving several examples of how people blame themselves or the environment for problems that are actually the result of faulty design. He finishes the chapter by describing the seven stages of action.
Discussion:
The author makes a lot of interesting points. I really like the way the author gives clever and funny examples on all of his topics.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Paper Reading #3: Lowering the Barrier to Applying Machine Learning
Comments:
Reference Information:
Title: Lowering the Barrier to Applying Machine Learning
Author: Kayur Patel
Venue: CHI 2010
Summary:
The author begins by describing some of the problems with learning based development software. One such problem is the difficulty that researchers have understanding the relationship between the accuracy and different parts of the machine learning system. The author argues that problems such as this result from the lack of flexibility that current machine learning software provides. As a result the author has begun the creation of Gestalt, a general environment supporting the application of learning techniques. Gestalt will offer greater flexibility and visualization in order to make machine learning projects easier.
Discussion:
While I do find machine learning interesting, I think that this paper should have been written after she had achieved more results from her Gestalt environment. A great deal of this paper is about what she hopes Gestalt may one day achieve instead of what it actually has achieved. I did enjoy her explanation on how in some situations accuracy should be lowered to heighten performance time. In future work I hope to see a more established system with more concrete results.
Reference Information:
Title: Lowering the Barrier to Applying Machine Learning
Author: Kayur Patel
Venue: CHI 2010
Summary:
The author begins by describing some of the problems with learning based development software. One such problem is the difficulty that researchers have understanding the relationship between the accuracy and different parts of the machine learning system. The author argues that problems such as this result from the lack of flexibility that current machine learning software provides. As a result the author has begun the creation of Gestalt, a general environment supporting the application of learning techniques. Gestalt will offer greater flexibility and visualization in order to make machine learning projects easier.
Discussion:
While I do find machine learning interesting, I think that this paper should have been written after she had achieved more results from her Gestalt environment. A great deal of this paper is about what she hopes Gestalt may one day achieve instead of what it actually has achieved. I did enjoy her explanation on how in some situations accuracy should be lowered to heighten performance time. In future work I hope to see a more established system with more concrete results.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Book Reading #3 - HCI Remixed
Assignment 1:
Chapter 1:
Summary:
The author describes his trip to a digital music machine and the impact it had on him. He points out that the most important detail of the machine was how user friendly it was.
Discussion:
Quite an enjoyable little story. A nice way to begin a book without overloading the reader with technological jargon.
Chapter 4:
Summary:
The author discusses his experiences with SketchPad. In particular he discusses how programmers have to push towards creating more programs for expert users rather than just generic novices.
Discussion:
I like how this chapter complements the other in that the book addresses how programmers need to be able to program for novices as well as experts.
Chapter 5:
Summary:
The author recalls the motivation she received from watching a demonstration of Engelbart's online system (NLS)
Discussion:
I enjoyed reading about how the author continuously felt renewed in her motivation after she watched the video.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Assignment 2:
Chapter 24:
Summary:
The author recalls when they used a Wizard-of-Oz approach in order to conduct an experiment. In order to receive feedback on a machine they had not yet perfected, they used a human who acted as a computer in order to simulate speech recognition.
Discussion:
Although this method seems dishonest, it is a brilliant solution to get feedback on a product that is not yet fully functional.
Chapter 25:
Summary:
The author discusses the ideas artists had about The Media Space, a research project on electronically shared work spaces.
Discussion:
I agree that it is important as computer scientists to work with people from other disciplines in order to make better projects.
Chapter 26:
Summary:
The author discusses how things are more than just what they appear to be. He gives the specific example of the elevator close and open buttons. Not only are there two buttons but there is also the choice of which to press.
Discussion:
I enjoyed his solutions to the elevator problem and agree fully with the concept of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.
Chapter 27:
Summary:
The author discusses work done with typography and how it can be used to associate an emotion with how the word is displayed.
Discussion:
I never realized how changing the way a word is displayed can make us associate a feeling or emotion with what is being typed.
Chapter 28:
Summary:
The author reviews Kidd's theory that while computers are good at storing information, they are bad at making sense of that information.
Discussion:
I do not really agree with the idea that computers are not great at making sense of information. Perhaps this is biased because I personally have never had a problem finding information that I need.
Chapter 34:
Summary:
The author compares HCI workers to ethnohistorians. He discusses how HCI workers much balance the needs of the low powered users and the high powered software engineers and executives.
Discussion:
I thought the authors analogy was very creative. I can see how balancing the needs of both sides could be very challenging.
Chapter 1:
Summary:
The author describes his trip to a digital music machine and the impact it had on him. He points out that the most important detail of the machine was how user friendly it was.
Discussion:
Quite an enjoyable little story. A nice way to begin a book without overloading the reader with technological jargon.
Chapter 4:
Summary:
The author discusses his experiences with SketchPad. In particular he discusses how programmers have to push towards creating more programs for expert users rather than just generic novices.
Discussion:
I like how this chapter complements the other in that the book addresses how programmers need to be able to program for novices as well as experts.
Chapter 5:
Summary:
The author recalls the motivation she received from watching a demonstration of Engelbart's online system (NLS)
Discussion:
I enjoyed reading about how the author continuously felt renewed in her motivation after she watched the video.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Assignment 2:
Chapter 24:
Summary:
The author recalls when they used a Wizard-of-Oz approach in order to conduct an experiment. In order to receive feedback on a machine they had not yet perfected, they used a human who acted as a computer in order to simulate speech recognition.
Discussion:
Although this method seems dishonest, it is a brilliant solution to get feedback on a product that is not yet fully functional.
Chapter 25:
Summary:
The author discusses the ideas artists had about The Media Space, a research project on electronically shared work spaces.
Discussion:
I agree that it is important as computer scientists to work with people from other disciplines in order to make better projects.
Chapter 26:
Summary:
The author discusses how things are more than just what they appear to be. He gives the specific example of the elevator close and open buttons. Not only are there two buttons but there is also the choice of which to press.
Discussion:
I enjoyed his solutions to the elevator problem and agree fully with the concept of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.
Chapter 27:
Summary:
The author discusses work done with typography and how it can be used to associate an emotion with how the word is displayed.
Discussion:
I never realized how changing the way a word is displayed can make us associate a feeling or emotion with what is being typed.
Chapter 28:
Summary:
The author reviews Kidd's theory that while computers are good at storing information, they are bad at making sense of that information.
Discussion:
I do not really agree with the idea that computers are not great at making sense of information. Perhaps this is biased because I personally have never had a problem finding information that I need.
Chapter 34:
Summary:
The author compares HCI workers to ethnohistorians. He discusses how HCI workers much balance the needs of the low powered users and the high powered software engineers and executives.
Discussion:
I thought the authors analogy was very creative. I can see how balancing the needs of both sides could be very challenging.
Paper Reading #2: Supporting Medical Communication with a Multimodal Surface Computer
Comments:
Reference Information:
Title: Supporting Medical Communication with a Multimodal Surface Computer
Author: Anne Marie Piper
Venue: CHI 2010
Summary:
Piper notes that the number of people over age 60 is rapidly growing. As a result, she used large multitouch surfaces with a shared speech interface (SSI) in order to help these older adults transition into a more technological hospital experience. Using the SSI adults with hearing problems or deaf patients are able to communicate without the use of a human sign language interpreter. The doctor would simply have to speak into a microphone and his dialog would be converted into text. The deaf patient would use a keyboard to converse with the doctor. Using this system, the patients would experience a faster means of communication as well as independence. Piper wishes to conduct further study on the effects of using this SSI system. She hopes to find the answer to questions such as if the SSI system causes the patient to converse differently than they usually would.
Reference Information:
Title: Supporting Medical Communication with a Multimodal Surface Computer
Author: Anne Marie Piper
Venue: CHI 2010
Summary:
Piper notes that the number of people over age 60 is rapidly growing. As a result, she used large multitouch surfaces with a shared speech interface (SSI) in order to help these older adults transition into a more technological hospital experience. Using the SSI adults with hearing problems or deaf patients are able to communicate without the use of a human sign language interpreter. The doctor would simply have to speak into a microphone and his dialog would be converted into text. The deaf patient would use a keyboard to converse with the doctor. Using this system, the patients would experience a faster means of communication as well as independence. Piper wishes to conduct further study on the effects of using this SSI system. She hopes to find the answer to questions such as if the SSI system causes the patient to converse differently than they usually would.
Discussion:
This seems like an excellent method for helping patients with hearing disabilities communicate with doctors. I believe that if I were put in their shoes, I would appreciate the independence of talking to the doctor by myself. I wonder if there are any plans to adapt this so that the hearing impaired can use sign language with motion capture gloves that would be translated into text. Another possible use would be providing real time communicate between people who speak different languages.
Three Ethnography Ideas
1) Observing traffic violations at a four way stop
This could have a lot of statistical analysis such as the number of cars, vans, or trucks that do not stop at the stop sign. What type of vehicle has the highest ratio of traffic violations? What percentage of bicyclists do not stop at the stop sign? What percentage of pedestrians yield the right of way to vehicles? This could even go so far as to see if a particular color of vehicle is linked with more violations.
2) Observing students in an open access lab
How many students are clearly just messing around on the internet instead of doing actual work?
3) Observe people at the library
How many people are actually studying as opposed to the number of people socializing?
4) Observe people in the 20 items or less aisle
How many people have more than 20 items?
This could have a lot of statistical analysis such as the number of cars, vans, or trucks that do not stop at the stop sign. What type of vehicle has the highest ratio of traffic violations? What percentage of bicyclists do not stop at the stop sign? What percentage of pedestrians yield the right of way to vehicles? This could even go so far as to see if a particular color of vehicle is linked with more violations.
2) Observing students in an open access lab
How many students are clearly just messing around on the internet instead of doing actual work?
3) Observe people at the library
How many people are actually studying as opposed to the number of people socializing?
4) Observe people in the 20 items or less aisle
How many people have more than 20 items?
Friday, January 21, 2011
On Computers
Comments:
Ryan Kerbow:
http://ryankerbow.blogspot.com/2011/01/reading-3-on-computers.html
Reference Information:
Title: On Plants
Author: Aristotle
Venue: Edited by Jonathan Barnes
Summary:
Aristotle begins with a question of whether or not plants have souls. To come to a conclusion he compares plants to humans and animals which are believed to have souls. He covers a wide range of topics such as sleep, food, sex, and much more. He concludes that plants most likely have partial souls rather than souls like the ones animals and humans have.
Discussion:
I found this to be a very interesting read. It is easy to see similarities between how Aristotle reasoned whether plants have souls and people today might reason whether machines are intelligent. While I do understand that knowledge for knowledge's sake is important, I don't quite see the point in either of these arguments. Neither plants nor computers will change based on if we label them as having souls or being intelligent. Therefore, we are not arguing about what they can do as much as we are the definition of a word.
Ryan Kerbow:
http://ryankerbow.blogspot.com/2011/01/reading-3-on-computers.html
Vince Kocks:
Reference Information:
Title: On Plants
Author: Aristotle
Venue: Edited by Jonathan Barnes
Summary:
Aristotle begins with a question of whether or not plants have souls. To come to a conclusion he compares plants to humans and animals which are believed to have souls. He covers a wide range of topics such as sleep, food, sex, and much more. He concludes that plants most likely have partial souls rather than souls like the ones animals and humans have.
Discussion:
I found this to be a very interesting read. It is easy to see similarities between how Aristotle reasoned whether plants have souls and people today might reason whether machines are intelligent. While I do understand that knowledge for knowledge's sake is important, I don't quite see the point in either of these arguments. Neither plants nor computers will change based on if we label them as having souls or being intelligent. Therefore, we are not arguing about what they can do as much as we are the definition of a word.
Book Reading #1 - Design of Everyday Things
Chapter 1: The Psychopathology of Everyday Things
Summary:
The author discussed with examples the good and bad design of everyday things. Several attributes such as affordances, constraints, mappings, and feedback were described. The author also touched on how there is a natural design to items that does not require excessive explanation for their use.
Discussion:
I was very amused by the witty examples that the author gives to demonstrate the bad design choices made with everyday things. I also enjoyed his explanation of why the floppy is a well designed object. It truly is difficult to misinterpret how a floppy is meant to be used.
Summary:
The author discussed with examples the good and bad design of everyday things. Several attributes such as affordances, constraints, mappings, and feedback were described. The author also touched on how there is a natural design to items that does not require excessive explanation for their use.
Discussion:
I was very amused by the witty examples that the author gives to demonstrate the bad design choices made with everyday things. I also enjoyed his explanation of why the floppy is a well designed object. It truly is difficult to misinterpret how a floppy is meant to be used.
Chinese Room
Comments:
Alyssa Nabors:
http://csce436-nabors.blogspot.com/2011/01/chinese-room.html
Chris Kam:
http://chriskam436.blogspot.com/2011/01/chinese-room.html
Reference Information:
Title: MINDS, BRAINS, AND PROGRAMS
Author: John R. Searle
Summary:
The Chinese room is a room in which Chinese characters are slid under the door and a response in Chinese is slid back. The person inside the room would have no knowledge of Chinese and only a set of instructions in English of what to do upon receiving certain characters. Searle's argument is that just as the person inside the Chinese room does not actually know Chinese, a computer is not actually intelligent when it is simply executing instructions. Searle's beliefs are those of Weak AI, believing that computers only simulate intelligence, as apposed to Strong AI, which is the belief that computers are actually intelligent.
Discussion:
I find Searle's analogy to be very clever and interesting. I think that a large problem with the Strong vs Weak AI debate is the attachment of humanity to intelligence. I think that those who hold consciousness closely to intelligence will favor Weak AI. On the other hand, those who don't will favor Strong AI. Although I personally think that self awareness is a requirement for intelligence, I can definitely see the reason behind Strong AI. After all, we believe that humans are intelligent and at adolescence we often learned by seeing an object such as a tree and having our parents say the word tree over and over. Through this process we made the connection between the two and whenever someone brought up a tree we would such our knowledge base for the visual associated with that word and then know exactly what they are talking about. Is this really so different than a machine receiving the word tree for input, searching its database, and then outputting a picture of a tree?
Alyssa Nabors:
http://csce436-nabors.blogspot.com/2011/01/chinese-room.html
Chris Kam:
http://chriskam436.blogspot.com/2011/01/chinese-room.html
Reference Information:
Title: MINDS, BRAINS, AND PROGRAMS
Author: John R. Searle
Summary:
The Chinese room is a room in which Chinese characters are slid under the door and a response in Chinese is slid back. The person inside the room would have no knowledge of Chinese and only a set of instructions in English of what to do upon receiving certain characters. Searle's argument is that just as the person inside the Chinese room does not actually know Chinese, a computer is not actually intelligent when it is simply executing instructions. Searle's beliefs are those of Weak AI, believing that computers only simulate intelligence, as apposed to Strong AI, which is the belief that computers are actually intelligent.
Discussion:
I find Searle's analogy to be very clever and interesting. I think that a large problem with the Strong vs Weak AI debate is the attachment of humanity to intelligence. I think that those who hold consciousness closely to intelligence will favor Weak AI. On the other hand, those who don't will favor Strong AI. Although I personally think that self awareness is a requirement for intelligence, I can definitely see the reason behind Strong AI. After all, we believe that humans are intelligent and at adolescence we often learned by seeing an object such as a tree and having our parents say the word tree over and over. Through this process we made the connection between the two and whenever someone brought up a tree we would such our knowledge base for the visual associated with that word and then know exactly what they are talking about. Is this really so different than a machine receiving the word tree for input, searching its database, and then outputting a picture of a tree?
Book Reading #2 - Coming of Age in Samoa
Chapter 1: Introduction
Summary: In this chapter the author questions whether problems faced during adolescence are the result of adolescence itself or of civilization. Since there are too many variables to hold a typical scientific experiment, the author decides to take an anthropological approach and study adolescent girls in Samoa.
Discussion: I enjoyed her explanation of why the scientific method was an inappropriate way of discovering the cause of adolescent problems. It felt as though she undervalued the complexity of primitive cultures such as Samoa, but perhaps she only meant complexity in terms of technological progress.
Summary: In this chapter the author questions whether problems faced during adolescence are the result of adolescence itself or of civilization. Since there are too many variables to hold a typical scientific experiment, the author decides to take an anthropological approach and study adolescent girls in Samoa.
Discussion: I enjoyed her explanation of why the scientific method was an inappropriate way of discovering the cause of adolescent problems. It felt as though she undervalued the complexity of primitive cultures such as Samoa, but perhaps she only meant complexity in terms of technological progress.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Paper Reading #1: HCI Methods for Including Adults with Disabilities in the Design of CHAMPION
Comments:
Stephen Morrow:
http://chiblog.sjmorrow.com/2011/01/reading-1-hci-methods-for-including.html
Derek Landini:
http://dlandinichi.blogspot.com/2011/01/reading-1-hci-methods-for-including.html
Reference Information:
Title: HCI Methods for Including Adults with Disabilities in the Design of CHAMPION
Author: Suzanne Prior
Venue: CHI 2010
Summary:
Recently, the number of adults with Complex Communication Needs (CCN) has been rising. The CHAMPION project is researching ways to incorporate adults with CCN in the design of software to make it more user friendly for them. Traditional HCI methods were adapted in order to be used with adults with CCN. One example is the matter of informed consent. Due to the inability of some adults with CCN to give informed consent, a modified method involving an informed consent form with yes or no questions was adapted.
A focus group of adults with CCN utilized clicker5 (powerpoint with voice output of objects on the screen) and paper prototypes of a GUI interface to discuss where they saw room for improvement in the software. These adaptations of HCI methodologies resulted in obtaining useful suggestions from adults with CCN and may lead to a better incorporation of adults with CCN into future software design.
Discussion:
I find this paper interesting because it deals with an important issue that I would most likely never think about if someone else did not bring it to my attention. With the rising number of adults with CCN, utilizing them in the design process is not only the morally right thing to do, but could also be fiscally beneficial. One fault i found with this paper was the large use of acronyms. While the acronyms became obvious the farther down the paper I read, at the start I found myself constantly looking back to remember what each acronym stood for. While I understand that acronyms are efficient, looking up was tedious and broke the flow of the paper. In the future I think it would be beneficial to show how much a software company could increase their sales of a product if it were more user friendly towards adults with CCN.
Stephen Morrow:
http://chiblog.sjmorrow.com/2011/01/reading-1-hci-methods-for-including.html
Derek Landini:
http://dlandinichi.blogspot.com/2011/01/reading-1-hci-methods-for-including.html
Reference Information:
Title: HCI Methods for Including Adults with Disabilities in the Design of CHAMPION
Author: Suzanne Prior
Venue: CHI 2010
Summary:
Recently, the number of adults with Complex Communication Needs (CCN) has been rising. The CHAMPION project is researching ways to incorporate adults with CCN in the design of software to make it more user friendly for them. Traditional HCI methods were adapted in order to be used with adults with CCN. One example is the matter of informed consent. Due to the inability of some adults with CCN to give informed consent, a modified method involving an informed consent form with yes or no questions was adapted.
Discussion:
I find this paper interesting because it deals with an important issue that I would most likely never think about if someone else did not bring it to my attention. With the rising number of adults with CCN, utilizing them in the design process is not only the morally right thing to do, but could also be fiscally beneficial. One fault i found with this paper was the large use of acronyms. While the acronyms became obvious the farther down the paper I read, at the start I found myself constantly looking back to remember what each acronym stood for. While I understand that acronyms are efficient, looking up was tedious and broke the flow of the paper. In the future I think it would be beneficial to show how much a software company could increase their sales of a product if it were more user friendly towards adults with CCN.
Blog Entry #0
E-mail address:
shaggy5309@neo.tamu.edu
Class standing:
5th year Senior
Why are you taking this class?
Most of the classes that I have taken dealt only with coding. When I took Artificial Intelligence I had to examine some philosophic aspects of computer science. This course seemed like it would fit nicely into that category so here I am.
What experience do you bring to this class?
The experience I have gained in my previous courses as an undergraduate as well as an A+ certification.
What do you expect to be doing in 10 years?
I hope I will be working at a reliable job and starting a family.
What do you think will be the next biggest technological advancement in computer science?
I honestly have no idea. In addition, I love that I have no idea. Computer science is such a broad field that the next advancement could come from anywhere.
If you could travel back in time, who would you like to meet and why?
I don't think I would like to meet anyone to be honest. If I try to meet someone I admire and they don't meet my expectations I will have lost someone I look up to. If I go back to meet someone I dislike and find out they weren't all that bad of a person I may question all lessons I have learned about history. I suppose I could meet a random individual and tell them about the future, but that may be a cruel thing to do since no one will believe them if they go around talking about it.
What is your favorite style of mustache and why?
I lack the ability to grow impressive facial hair so I am envious of all mustaches.
If you could be fluent in any foreign language that you're not already fluent in, which one would it be and why?
Spanish. My hometown is McAllen where most people know Spanish.
Give some interesting fact about yourself.
A few years ago I placed 4th and higher in several video game tournaments and made over $100 in prize money.
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