title: The climatic character of the Auckland rural area

authors: Sparrow, Christopher J.

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: The characteristics of the climate of the rural area surrounding the Auckland urban area are discussed. Data used, is predominantly from published reports of the New Zealand Meteorological Service giving annual summaries of observations made at the various climatological, synoptic and rainfall recording stations. The mean characteristics of the area's climatic elements are considered together with their extremes. It is concluded that warm temperatures throughout the year, high humidity, variations in amount and. intensity of rainfall, prevailing westerly and infrequent easterly winds and high sunshine hours characterise the climate of this part of northern New Zealand.

text: The climatic character of the Auckland rural area The characteristics of the climate of the rural area surrounding the Auckland urban area are discussed. Data used, is predominantly from published reports of the New Zealand Meteorological Service giving annual summaries of observations made at the various climatological, synoptic and rainfall recording stations. The mean characteristics of the area's climatic elements are considered together with their extremes. It is concluded that warm temperatures throughout the year, high humidity, variations in amount and. intensity of rainfall, prevailing westerly and infrequent easterly winds and high sunshine hours characterise the climate of this part of northern New Zealand.

year: 1968

title: Differential Reinforcement of Low-Rate Behaviour In The Brush Tail Possum  Explicit Alternative Responses During Differential  Reinforcement of Low-Rate Responding

authors: King, Thea Turora

subjects: DRL

abstract: Differential reinforcement of low rate responding (DRL) can be defined as withholding reinforcement until probability of a target behaviour has decreased to a particular criterion. Typically, the DRL lowers the overall rate of a specific target response by incrementally increasing the time interval between responses and delivering reinforcement contingent upon a response occurring at or above the specified time interval. The present study parametrically examined six brush tail possum’s performance on DRL to investigate in the first instance whether or not the possums could perform on DRL and if so, how well they could do at the task. The study also sought to investigate if DRL performance could be improved, by providing a second response lever as an explicit option to perform an alternative behaviour. Two Experiments were carried out. In Experiment 1, possums were expected to perform on a DRL schedule with one response lever (DRL lever) that produced access to food. In Experiment 2, a second response lever was available independent to the DRL lever and accessible for the duration of the experiment. The second lever provided no access to food. The possums were expected to respond on the second lever during the time delays (inter response time (IRT)) to assist mediating the time interval. Initial inspections of the data in Experiment 1 and Experiment 2 showed the possums performed efficiently on the DRL schedule up to around 15-s. Closer inspection of mean IRT data showed more unsuccessful responses than successful responses at around DRL 10-s and higher. Most of the possums maintained consistent responding below the DRL but sustained enough responding above the DRL to go on to higher DRL criterions. In spite of the larger number of unsuccessful responses some of the possums still failed to reach higher DRL criterions. Further inspection of the procedure revealed that at longer DRL as long as the possums had enough time (in days) to obtain the required number of reinforcers to meet the DRL, the procedure would automatically increment to the next DRL criterion giving the impression that they were able to perform the DRL. Furthermore, excessively long IRT were reinforced in the procedure. The provision of a second response lever in Experiment 2 was of no consequence contrary to expectations. This thesis purports that possums did not respond to the DRL contingencies and that performance that appears as if they did respond was an accidental by-product of the procedural arrangement.

text: Differential Reinforcement of Low-Rate Behaviour In The Brush Tail Possum  Explicit Alternative Responses During Differential  Reinforcement of Low-Rate Responding Differential reinforcement of low rate responding (DRL) can be defined as withholding reinforcement until probability of a target behaviour has decreased to a particular criterion. Typically, the DRL lowers the overall rate of a specific target response by incrementally increasing the time interval between responses and delivering reinforcement contingent upon a response occurring at or above the specified time interval. The present study parametrically examined six brush tail possum’s performance on DRL to investigate in the first instance whether or not the possums could perform on DRL and if so, how well they could do at the task. The study also sought to investigate if DRL performance could be improved, by providing a second response lever as an explicit option to perform an alternative behaviour. Two Experiments were carried out. In Experiment 1, possums were expected to perform on a DRL schedule with one response lever (DRL lever) that produced access to food. In Experiment 2, a second response lever was available independent to the DRL lever and accessible for the duration of the experiment. The second lever provided no access to food. The possums were expected to respond on the second lever during the time delays (inter response time (IRT)) to assist mediating the time interval. Initial inspections of the data in Experiment 1 and Experiment 2 showed the possums performed efficiently on the DRL schedule up to around 15-s. Closer inspection of mean IRT data showed more unsuccessful responses than successful responses at around DRL 10-s and higher. Most of the possums maintained consistent responding below the DRL but sustained enough responding above the DRL to go on to higher DRL criterions. In spite of the larger number of unsuccessful responses some of the possums still failed to reach higher DRL criterions. Further inspection of the procedure revealed that at longer DRL as long as the possums had enough time (in days) to obtain the required number of reinforcers to meet the DRL, the procedure would automatically increment to the next DRL criterion giving the impression that they were able to perform the DRL. Furthermore, excessively long IRT were reinforced in the procedure. The provision of a second response lever in Experiment 2 was of no consequence contrary to expectations. This thesis purports that possums did not respond to the DRL contingencies and that performance that appears as if they did respond was an accidental by-product of the procedural arrangement.

year: 2017

title: Where to from here: Charting a way forward for language and education policy in Aotearoa/New Zealand

authors: May, Stephen

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: The principle of cultural and linguistic homogeneity, upon which the organization of modern nation-states is predicated, is becoming increasingly hard to defend and maintain.  At the demographic level, nation-states comprise (indeed, have always comprised) a variety of different cultural and linguistic groups.  These include, alongside majority populations, indigenous peoples and other national minorities, as well as migrant communities.  This long-standing demographic diversity has also increased markedly in modern times, particularly with patterns of increased migration and the forced relocation of refugees.  These demographic changes have, in turn, placed increasing pressure on the public policies of nation-states which have historically been inimical or formal recognition of cultural and linguistic diversity.  As a result, nation-states are having to address more seriously the 'politics of multiculturalism' - that is, the degree to which the languages and cultures of so called 'minority' groups can be (or should be) accorded recognition in the public domain.  This also necessarily involves addressing directly issues of bilingualism and multilingualism and their implications for language and education policy and practice.

This paper explores these broader debates in specific relation to Aotearoa/New Zealand which itself has seen a marked increase in migration, and attendant cultural and linguistic diversity, over the last ten years.  Debates on multiculturalism, and their implications for public policy, are contentious enough in themselves, but are further complicated in Aotearoa/New Zealand by prior bicultural commitments to Maori.  Can multicultural/multilingual commitments be extended without compromising, or undermining biculturalism?  What are the specific implications of this potential dialectic between biculturalism and multiculturalism for the further development of language and education policy in Aotearoa/New Zealand?  The paper will attempt to develop a set of general principles as a basis for moving these debates forward, drawing on discussions of language rights, and language planning and policy, as well as recent developments in international law.  Specific implications for language education will also be discussed.

text: Where to from here: Charting a way forward for language and education policy in Aotearoa/New Zealand The principle of cultural and linguistic homogeneity, upon which the organization of modern nation-states is predicated, is becoming increasingly hard to defend and maintain.  At the demographic level, nation-states comprise (indeed, have always comprised) a variety of different cultural and linguistic groups.  These include, alongside majority populations, indigenous peoples and other national minorities, as well as migrant communities.  This long-standing demographic diversity has also increased markedly in modern times, particularly with patterns of increased migration and the forced relocation of refugees.  These demographic changes have, in turn, placed increasing pressure on the public policies of nation-states which have historically been inimical or formal recognition of cultural and linguistic diversity.  As a result, nation-states are having to address more seriously the 'politics of multiculturalism' - that is, the degree to which the languages and cultures of so called 'minority' groups can be (or should be) accorded recognition in the public domain.  This also necessarily involves addressing directly issues of bilingualism and multilingualism and their implications for language and education policy and practice.

This paper explores these broader debates in specific relation to Aotearoa/New Zealand which itself has seen a marked increase in migration, and attendant cultural and linguistic diversity, over the last ten years.  Debates on multiculturalism, and their implications for public policy, are contentious enough in themselves, but are further complicated in Aotearoa/New Zealand by prior bicultural commitments to Maori.  Can multicultural/multilingual commitments be extended without compromising, or undermining biculturalism?  What are the specific implications of this potential dialectic between biculturalism and multiculturalism for the further development of language and education policy in Aotearoa/New Zealand?  The paper will attempt to develop a set of general principles as a basis for moving these debates forward, drawing on discussions of language rights, and language planning and policy, as well as recent developments in international law.  Specific implications for language education will also be discussed.

year: 2002-01-01