<OT> New Posting: ROA-1057

[roa at ruccs.rutgers.edu]

ROA 1057-1109

RCD - The Movie

Alan Prince <prince at ruccs.rutgers.edu>

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=1057


Abstract:
Recursive Constraint Demotion (RCD) is introduced, and with
it, the basic concepts of OT ranking theory. RCD is an efficient
method for obtaining a ranking from data, with the added
bonus that it identifies those cases where no successful
ranking exists (Tesar & Smolensky 1993, Tesar 1995).


RCD is treated here as a method of organizing a tableau,
which makes its workings transparent and easy to follow.
We start from an unordered display of ranking information
and step-by-step rearrange it into an ordered, stratified
ranking.


The exposition can be accessed at various levels, ranging
from the basic visual grok to detailed consideration of
the underlying principles. An effort has been made to define
terms and to comment on points of interest. Some discussion
of the foundational work by Tesar, Smolensky, and Prince
is provided, with links to the the original sources.


No knowledge of OT is presupposed, but a certain amount
of prior exposure will probably smooth the way. The file
is an Excel workbook, which comes in three versions: two
formatted for PC: Excel 2003, Excel 2007; and one formatted
for Mac Excel 2004. There are no macros in these files.

Comments: 
Keywords: ranking, RCD, ERC, fusion, pedagogy, classroom
Areas: Formal Analysis
Type: Manuscript

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=1057