We discuss several improvements to the Question Generation Shared Task Evaluation Challenge (QGSTEC) system developed at the University of Pennsylvania in 2010. In addition to enhancing the question generation rules, we have implemented two new components to improve the ranking process. We use topic scoring, a technique developed for summarization, to identify important information for questioning, and language model probabilities to measure grammaticality. Preliminary experiments show that our approach is feasible.

Next, through the Question Type Selection ArikIturri (Aldabe et al. 2006) is a system developed for the process, the question type is selected. Finally, by means automatic generation of different types of exercise. One of of the Question Construction step, the surface form of the the aims of ArikIturri is to generate items that could form question is created based on the previous steps. As regards part of real scenarios; this is why their creation is based our QG system, the sentence retriever module is responsible on topics that are part of the curriculum. Thus, the system for the Target Selection task and the item generator module is able to automatically generate tests from texts, to be included performs the Question Type Selection and Question Construction in testing tasks. The system is able to produce fill-inthe-blank processes.

An important form of learning involves acquiring skills that let an agent achieve its goals. While there has been considerable work on learning in planning, most approaches have been sensitive to the representation of domain context, which hurts their generality. A learning mechanism that constructs skills effectively across different representations would suggest more robust behavior. In this paper, we present a novel approach to learning hierarchical task networks that acquires conceptual predicates as learning proceeds, making it less dependent on carefully crafted background knowledge. The representation acquisition procedure expands the system's knowledge about the world, and leads to more rapid learning. We show the effectiveness of the approach by comparing it with one that doesnot change domain representation.

In this paper, we consider the issue of guiding ethical behavior in human-robot teams from a systemic viewpoint. Considering a team as a sociotechnical complex, we look at how responsibility for actions can arise through the interaction between the different actors in the team while playing specific roles. We define the notions of role, discuss how they establish a social network, and then use logical notions of multi-agent trust to formalize responsibility as accountability against capabilities that are invoked during collaboration.

Evidence-based reasoning is at the core of many problem solving and decision making tasks in a wide variety of domains. This paper introduces a computational theory of evidence-based reasoning, the architecture of a learning agent shell which incorporates general knowledge for evidence-based reasoning, a methodology that uses the shell to rapidly develop cognitive assistants in a specific domain, and a sample cognitive assistant for intelligence analysis.

Understanding population wide attitude change is an important step to understanding the behavior of societies. In this talk, we will study population wide attitude change through the use of computational models. Using a model based on parallel constraint satisfaction, we will show how varying parameters, such as cognitive effort, and community structure, can impact attitude change in populations.

Organizations play a pivotal role in the dynamics of social, economic, and ecological systems. Current organizational life-cycle models do not adequately consider the impact of propensities (deeply ingrained preferences and patterns of behavior) on organizational culture and evolution. On a global basis, the predominant thinking modes in organizations are driven by senior executives, marketers, financial experts, legal resources, and the engineers and scientists that create our technology-rich world. Each of these groups has, in aggregate, embedded propensities or tendencies that profoundly shape decision-making patterns and overall social dynamics. Dominant propensities can make organizations vulnerable to risks by inhibiting the level of systems thinking and networking necessary to ensure integration within a global socio-ecological context. The spectrum of propensities within an organization shapes the relative resilience of its human and management systems, and ultimately determines organizational effectiveness. This paper proposes a model for organizational evolution that links the role of propensities to adaptability and resilience. Conscious effort to expand the intelligence of organizations through diversification of propensities better equips organizations to achieve adaptability and sustainability.

Multi-agent planning in stochastic environments can be framed formally as a decentralized Markov decision problem. Many real-life distributed problems that arise in manufacturing, multi-robot coordination and information gathering scenarios can be formalized using this framework. However, finding the optimal solution in the general case is hard, limiting the applicability of recently developed algorithms. This paper provides a practical approach for solving decentralized control problems when communication among the decision makers is possible, but costly. We develop the notion of communication-based mechanism that allows us to decompose a decentralized MDP into multiple single-agent problems. In this framework, referred to as decentralized semi-Markov decision process with direct communication (Dec-SMDP-Com), agents operate separately between communications. We show that finding an optimal mechanism is equivalent to solving optimally a Dec-SMDP-Com. We also provide a heuristic search algorithm that converges on the optimal decomposition. Restricting the decomposition to some specific types of local behaviors reduces significantly the complexity of planning. In particular, we present a polynomial-time algorithm for the case in which individual agents perform goal-oriented behaviors between communications. The paper concludes with an additional tractable algorithm that enables the introduction of human knowledge, thereby reducing the overall problem to finding the best time to communicate. Empirical results show that these approaches provide good approximate solutions.

Ontologies and automated reasoning are the building blocks of the Semantic Web initiative. Derivation rules can be included in an ontology to define derived concepts, based on base concepts. For example, rules allow to define the extension of a class or property, based on a complex relation between the extensions of the same or other classes and properties. On the other hand, the inclusion of negative information both in the form of negation-as-failure and explicit negative information is also needed to enable various forms of reasoning. In this paper, we extend RDF graphs with weak and strong negation, as well as derivation rules. The ERDF stable model semantics of the extended framework (Extended RDF) is defined, extending RDF(S) semantics. A distinctive feature of our theory, which is based on Partial Logic, is that both truth and falsity extensions of properties and classes are considered, allowing for truth value gaps. Our framework supports both closed-world and open-world reasoning through the explicit representation of the particular closed-world assumptions and the ERDF ontological categories of total properties and total classes.

Classification of targets by radar has proved to be notoriously difficult with the best systems still yet to attain sufficiently high levels of performance and reliability. In the current contribution we explore a new design of radar based target recognition, where angular diversity is used in a cognitive manner to attain better performance. Performance is bench- marked against conventional classification schemes. The proposed scheme can easily be extended to cognitive target recognition based on multiple diversity strategies.