1,720,985 research outputs found
Investigating the complexities of observing responses
No full textUnlike food-directed responses, observing responses only result in exposure to a set of discriminative stimuli. The conditional-reinforcer approach posits that S+ and S- produced by observing responses function as conditional reinforcers and punishers respectively and asymmetrical exposure to each stimulus results in the maintenance of observing responses. On the other hand, the uncertainty-reduction approach posits that both S+ and S- may function as conditional reinforcers and maintain observing responses so long as they reduce uncertainty of a specific dimension (which is yet to be identified). Experiment 1 found observing responses after S- to be quicker than after S+ which challenges the conditionalreinforcer approach. Experiment 2 successfully replicated findings from Experiment 1 and showed that the reported observing patterns were contingent on the perceived structure of the environment (the discriminated contingencies of the mixed-schedule). Experiment 3 showed stimuli that reduce spatial uncertainty to increase observing responses but also showed higher levels of observing responses to be maintained in conditions that produced the S+ rather than the S-. Experiment 4 showed stimuli that signalled greater immediacy to reinforcers to be better at maintaining observing responses than stimuli that provided temporal certainty regarding the expected time to food. Additionally, as time since trial onset approached the expected time to food, observing responses were emitted less and less. Neither the conditional-reinforcer nor the uncertainty-reduction approach was sufficient in explaining data from all four experiments. Instead, we could reconcile our data 1) by recognising that observing responses compete with food-directed responses, and 2) by adopting the prospective framework of consequence control. In all experiments, observing responses were emitted in such a way that the consequences (S+ or S-) would direct pigeons towards a more favourable future. Therefore, we suggest that the complexities of observing responses may only be fully understood when observing responses are analysed in relation to food-directed responses – as choices being made towards a favourable future informed by the immediate and distant past
Dient dem Klimaschutz: Kälber können „Toilettengang“ lernen
No full textDas Team wurde zwar für „verrückt“ erklärt, doch ihre Forschung könnte zur Verringerung von Treibhausgasemissionen beitragen.
Forschende haben es geschafft, Kälbern beizubringen, auf Toilette zu gehen.
So konnten sie den im Urin vorhandenen Stickstoff auffangen und beseitigen
MooLoo - researchers find toilet training cows is possible
No full textResearchers have found cows can be taught to use a toilet, which they say could help farmers reduce water contamination and greenhouse gas emissions
How does on-task behaviour change in an open and closed economy?
No full textCollaborative work between the experimental (EAB) and applied (ABA) arms of behaviour
analysis is important for ensuring that the principles of behaviour can be used in everyday
behaviour and understood by people. Previous research looking to increase on-task
behaviour has failed to take into consideration the knowledge from EAB when creating
effective interventions. The current study worked with 3 adults with intellectual disability to
understand how to better support their on-task behaviour during work activities. The
research compared on-task responding during open and closed economies when a task had a
history of reinforcement or was novel. Similar to previous research, it was found that
participants paid higher prices in closed economies than open economies. However,
irrespective of type of economy, the previous reinforcement history with a task showed that
where a task was known there was more persistent responding. This study demonstrated how
an understanding of translational research can add value to interventions and discuss the
need for further translational work on topics of interest in both basic and applied research
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Stimulus equivalence : uncovering the causes of equivalence
No full textFull text is available to authenticated members of The University of Auckland only.The present thesis aimed to test Sidman’s (2000) account of the origins of stimulus
equivalence relations, which states that equivalence is a direct outcome of reinforcement
contingencies. Experiments 1 and 2 tested Sidman’s predictions that a reinforcer common
to two distinct equivalence classes should not become a member of those two classes,
while a reinforcer specific to one class should become a member of that class. Class-
specific reinforcers for two three-member classes (i.e., A1B1C1-R/, and A2B2C2-B2) and
a common reinforcer for another two three-member classes (i.e., A3B3C3-F3, and
A4B4C4-F3) were arranged. Experiments 1 and 2 confirmed the prediction that class-
specific reinforcers can become members of equivalence classes. However, this was not
shown by all subjects. Also contrary to Sidman’s predictions, Experiments 1 and 2 found
that a reinforcer common to two distinct equivalence classes can become a member of
those two classes. Furthermore, subjects in Experiment 2 showed inter-class matching
relations between Class 3 and Class 4 based on equivalences involving R3 where, for
example, they matched Class 4 comparisons to Class 3 samples in the absence of Class 3
comparisons. Yet Class 3 and 4 baseline relations continued to be maintained. Therefore,
Class 3 and 4 stimuli were both equivalent (on inter-class matching trials) and not
equivalent (on baseline trials) which, according to Sidman’s account, is impossible.
Experiments 3 and 4 investigated whether equivalence relations that directly
conflicted with the reinforcement contingencies could emerge. Class-specific incorrect
comparison stimuli were arranged, and relations between contingency-related stimuli and
their class-specific incorrect comparisons were tested. For example, Comparison Bi was
always presented with class-specific incorrect comparisons G1 and Hl. The selection of
BI was reinforced following Samples Al and Cl, but selections of G1 and Hl were never
reinforced. Despite contingencies of extinction for matching relations involving Al, Cl,
Gl, and Hl, subjects consistently matched Al and Cl to G1 and Hl (and the reverse
relations). These outcomes can never be predicted from an account that views equivalence
as having its origins in reinforcement contingencies, and show that Sidman’s account is
implausible: stimulus equivalence does not result from reinforcement contingencies
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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