Hardware,Software, Humans: Truth,Fiction and Abstraction

We start with a example of assembler programming, and show how even at this low level the structure of the programming language does not directly mirror the structure of the hardware, but that it is also decisively influenced by the human practices surrounding computer use, and that assembly language gives a view of the hardware which is accommodated to human interests and capabilities. We give several historical examples and illustrate the changing pattern of mutual accommodation between human practices and computer technology, and argue for a more explicitly dialectical and critical approach to the history and philosophy of programming.     

PROGRAMMING “LOOSE TRAINING” AS A STRATEGY TO FACILITATE LANGUAGE GENERALIZATION

This study investigated the generalization of spontaneous complex language behavior across a nontraining setting and the durability of generalization as a result of programming and “loose training” strategy. A within-subject, across-behaviors multiple-baseline design was used to examine the performance of two moderately retarded students in the use of is/are across three syntactic structures (i.e., “wh” questions, “yes/no” reversal questions, and statements). The language training procedure used in this study represented a functional example of programming “loose training.” The procedure involved conducting concurrent language training within the context of an academic training task, and establishing a functional reduction in stimulus control by permitting the student to initiate a language response based on a wide array of naturally occurring stimulus events. Concurrent probes were conducted in the free play setting to assess the immediate generalization and the durability of the language behaviors. The results demonstrated that “loose training” was effective in establishing a specific set of language responses with the participants of this investigation. Further, both students demonstrated spontaneous use of the language behavior in the free play generalization setting and a trend was clearly evident for generalization to continue across time. Thus, the methods used appear to be successful for training the use of is/are in three syntactic structures.     

Using java in introductory statistics

In this paper, we discuss the use of Java, a programming language for the Internet, in introductory statistics courses. Monte Carlo estimation and simple linear regression are used as tutorial examples of the versatility of Java. Advantages over traditional instructional methods and other programming languages are examined.     

PROSS: A process control programming language

PROSS, a programming language for small- and medium-scale process control computers, is presented. The PROSS language, whose structure and syntax were expressly designed for ease of use by psychologists, is summarized and exemplified in a sample procedure. The structure of an existing PROSS compiler is briefly summarized.     

Enhancing dynamic graphical analysis with the Lisp-Stat language and the ViSta statistical program

Presented is a sample of computerized methods aimed at multidimensional scaling and psychometric item analysis that offer a dynamic graphical interface to execute analyses and help visualize the results. These methods show how the Lisp-Stat programming language and the ViSta statistical program can be jointly applied to develop powerful computer applications that enhance dynamic graphical analysis methods. The feasibility of this combined strategy relies on two main features: (1) The programming architecture of ViSta enables users to add new statistical methods as plug-ins, which are integrated into the program environment and can make use of all the functions already available in ViSta (e.g., data manipulation, editing, printing); and (2) the set of powerful statistical and graphical functions integrated into the Lisp-Stat programming language provides the means for developing statistical methods with dynamic graphical visualizations, which can be implemented as ViSta plug-ins.     

Media exposure and language experience: Examining associations from home observations in Mexican immigrant families in the US

The current exploratory study describes exposure to digital media in young children from Mexican immigrant homes and its association with language input and output. Using multiple recordings of children’s home environments, we report on the rate (i.e., percentage of total recording time), language (Spanish or English), and type (adult- or child-directed programming) of auditory media exposure in toddlers under three years of age (N = 30; M_age = 20;3 months). We also examine total adult words and adult-child conversational turns, as indicators of child language input, and the number of child language vocalizations as a measure of early language development. Findings showed that digital media comprised approximately 14 % of the child language environment that families selected to record, with wide variability observed. Children were more likely to be exposed to media in Spanish than English and adult-directed than child-directed programming. Children’s general media exposure was negatively associated with the amount of children’s vocalizations and conversational turns but not the quantity of adult words in the environment, suggesting that the relation between media exposure and child language development is likely not mediated by a general decrease in adult input in Mexican immigrant homes. Instead, media exposure may decrease opportunities for children to engage in conversation and practice language expression, both critical mechanisms for successful language acquisition. Selection of child-directed programming may encourage child vocalizations but is less likely to be in Spanish in these homes, which may reduce opportunities for engagement with Spanish-dominant adults. Together these findings provide a window into the nature of media exposure in children from Mexican immigrant homes and into the associations between media and language input and output. Directions for future research are discussed.     

A verification framework for agent programming with declarative goals

A long and lasting problem in agent research has been to close the gap between agent logics and agent programming frameworks. The main reason for this problem of establishing a link between agent logics and agent programming frameworks is identified and explained by the fact that agent programming frameworks have hardly incorporated the concept of a declarative goal. Instead, such frameworks have focused mainly on plans or goals-to-do instead of the end goals to be realised which are also called goals-to-be. In this paper, the programming language GOAL is introduced which incorporates such declarative goals. The notion of a commitment strategy—one of the main theoretical insights due to agent logics, which explains the relation between beliefs and goals—is used to construct a computational semantics for GOAL. Finally, a proof theory for proving properties of GOAL agents is introduced. Thus, the main contribution of this paper, rather than the language GOAL itself, is that we offer a complete theory of agent programming in the sense that our theory provides both for a programming framework and a programming logic for such agents. An example program is proven correct by using this programming logic.     

Use of HyperCard to create pages on the World-Wide Web

A variety of commercial and shareware programs are now available to assist in creating HTML pages for a World-Wide Web (WWW) site. However, users with some knowledge of HTML coding and a simple programming language, such as the HyperTalk language in HyperCard, can create custom tools that will simplify the task of creating and maintaining multiple-page WWW sites. This paper presents examples of two such tools and describes the basic steps they use to create HTML documents.     

An introduction to state notation and SKED

SKED is a minicomputer operating system based on the functional use of state notation as a programming language. An overall view of the operating system, state notation, and the hardware necessary to simultaneously control as many as 12 experimental stations is provided.     

THE FACILITATIVE EFFECTS OF INCIDENTAL TEACHING ON PREPOSITION USE BY AUTISTIC CHILDREN

In a comparison of incidental teaching and traditional training procedures, three language-delayed autistic children were taught expressive use of prepositions to describe the location of preferred edibles and toys. Traditional highly structured training and incidental teaching procedures were used in a classroom setting, and generalization was assessed during free-play sessions. Results clearly indicate that incidental teaching promoted greater generalization and more spontaneous use of prepositions. These findings have important implications for language programming and teacher training, suggesting that incidental teaching should be included as a standard component of language development curricula for autistic and other developmentally delayed children.     

Programming in natural language: A descriptive analysis

This study investigated the utility of natural language in specifying procedures. Performance of programmers was compared with that of nonprogrammers on two types of problems: a “real-world” ordering task and a computer like database search task. Programmers performed better than nonprogrammers in general, although overall differences between the groups were greater for the real-world problem domain. Analyses of protocols suggest that an unconstrained natural language programming environment is presently infeasible. Although constraints imposed in the problem specification do appear to improve performance, they alone are not sufficient to produce efficient natural language programming. It is argued that programming requires general problem solving strategies and that at least some aspects of such strategies may be dependent upon the specific language in which they are implemented.     

Termination of logic programs with imperfect information: applications and query procedure

A general logic programming framework allowing for the combination of several adjoint lattices of truth-values is presented. The language is sorted, enabling the combination of several reasoning forms in the same knowledge base. The contribution of the paper is two-fold: on the one hand, sufficient conditions guaranteeing termination of all queries for the fix-point semantics for a wide class of sorted multi-adjoint logic programs are presented and related to some well-known probability-based formalisms; in addition, we specify a general non-deterministic tabulation goal-oriented query procedure for sorted multi-adjoint logic programs over complete lattices. We prove its soundness and completeness as well as independence of the selection ordering. We apply the termination results to probabilistic and fuzzy logic programming languages, enabling the use of the tabulation proof procedure for query answering.     

Using serial interfaces and the C language for real-time experiments

The use of the serial interface of the IBM PC for timing and stimulus-response signaling is discussed. C language example programs, including two small software utility modules that expedite the programming of real-time experiments using a serial interface, are presented that are compilable with Borland’s Turbo C.     

The Role of Notation and Knowledge Representation in the Determination of Programming Strategy: A Framework for Integrating Models of Programming Behavior

A number of accounts of expert programming behavior have been advanced. These models of the programming activity have served to highlight the range of factors that are thought to underpin programming strategy. However, such accounts have tended to emphasize either the effects of the organization of the programmer's knowledge representation or the role played by features of the notation of the task language on the emergence, development, and support of particular forms of strategy. Such work has neglected to (a) provide an account of the way in which these factors might interact to determine programming strategy, and (b) shed light upon the nature of the development of particular strategies as programming skill increases. This article presents the results of an empirical analysis of the strategies employed by programmers of varying skill levels using different programming languages. The development of particular forms of strategy is hypothesized to be related both to the development of systematic asymmetries in programmers' generic plan-based representations of programming knowledge and to the way in which features of the notation of particular programming languages might differentially support particular strategies. However, the results of the study reported here suggest that these effects must be interpreted within a broad developmental context. Hence, as programming skill develops, it appears that the notation of the task language tends to take precedence as a determinant of strategy, but has less relevance at beginning stages of skill development and within the context of expert performance. This finding would not be predicted by current models of the programming activity because such models suggest that any notational effects will tend to be consistent regardless of the skill level attained by the programmer. This article endeavors to extend current models of programming by emphasizing the need to consider in detail not only the development of programming strategy, but also the way in which knowledge representation and features of the task langauge interact to give rise to particular forms of programming behavior.     

FORTH,a software solution to real-time computing problems

Some common real-time computing problems are discussed, namely, the programming and testing of devices, problems relating to program execution speed, the timing of experimental events, and the programming of multiple parallel events. The programming language FORTH is shown to be capable of providing solutions to all of these problems. In addition, FORTH has the advantages of being an interpretive and extensible language with both high-level and low-level capabilities, while at the same time being efficient and fast in execution.     

A general experiment programming system for the IBM 1800

A system is described that meets some user requirements of programming ease, general applicability, and simultaneous multiple S and laboratory operation. The system is based on an extremely flexible time-sharing real-time monitor and a user-level task-oriented programming language which together free the user from all multiple S bookkeeping programming. The conceptually simple language consists of simple commands for operations at the level of experimental procedure, such as displaying stimuli, collecting and timing responses, providing time delays, and recording data. Other commands support string manipulation, arithmetic, and disk I/O. The system is programmed only for the IBM 1800; however, it represents a successful approach to laboratory computerization.     

The MRC psycholinguistic database

This paper describes a computerised database of psycholinguistic information. Semantic, syntactic, phonological and orthographic information about some or all of the 98,538 words in the database is accessible, by using a specially-written and very simple programming language. Word-association data are also included in the database. Some examples are given of the use of the database for selection of stimuli to be used in psycholinguistic experimentation or linguistic research.