computer science

James Pustejovsky

James Pustejovsky is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand James Pustejovsky rather than just read about it. In short: James Pustejovsky (born 1956) is an American computer scientist. He is the TJX Feldberg professor of computer science at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States.

Key takeaways

James Pustejovsky belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect James Pustejovsky to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of James Pustejovsky from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

James Pustejovsky (born 1956) is an American computer scientist. He is the TJX Feldberg professor of computer science at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. His expertise includes theoretical and computational modeling of language, specifically: Computational linguistics, Lexical semantics, Knowledge representation, temporal and spatial reasoning and Extraction. His main topics of research are Natural language processing generally, and in particular, the computational analysis of linguistic meaning. He holds a B.S. from MIT as well as a PhD from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Pustejovsky first proposed generative lexicon theory in lexical semantics in an article published in 1991, which was further developed in his 1995 book of the same name. His other interests include temporal reasoning, event semantics, spatial language, language annotation, computational linguistics, and machine learning.

Current research Pustejovsky's research group's current projects include the TimeML and ISO-Space projects. The TimeML project is a standard markup language for temporal events in a document, and has recently been adopted as ISO-TImeML by the ISO. ISO-Space is an ISO-directed effort to create an expressive specification for the representation of spatial information in language. His previous work included the Medstract project, an effort to extract information from medical documents using current natural language processing technology.

References

External links Professor Pustejovsky's website Brandeis University Faculty Guide Pustejovsky's book on the Generative Lexicon The TimeML project Archived 2019-07-26 at the Wayback Machine The Medstract project

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with James Pustejovsky

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what James Pustejovsky claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to James Pustejovsky before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about James Pustejovsky ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of James Pustejovsky

In research: James Pustejovsky appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses James Pustejovsky in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: James Pustejovsky is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1956 births, American computer scientists, Brandeis University faculty, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for James Pustejovsky outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study James Pustejovsky in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what James Pustejovsky means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain James Pustejovsky out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is James Pustejovsky in simple terms?

James Pustejovsky (born 1956) is an American computer scientist. He is the TJX Feldberg professor of computer science at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States.

Why does James Pustejovsky matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study James Pustejovsky?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on James Pustejovsky.