title: The effects of delay-to-reinforcement, response requirement and schedule duration on performance under fixed-ratio schedules

authors: Harris, Aimee Rebecca

subjects: fixed-ratio schedules

abstract: Experiment 1 examined the effects of delay-to-reinforcement on between-ratio pausing in multiple fixed-ratio 5 fixed-ratio 5 schedules. In one component the reinforcer was delivered immediately on completion of the ratio, and in the other there was a delay before reinforcement. The longest between-ratio pauses always preceded the ratio in which the delay was signalled, and these pauses increased as the delay increased. Experiment 2 examined the effects of varying delay-to-reinforcement on behaviour under fixed-ratio schedules that were increased each session, keeping the time available for responding constant. At each ratio requirement, with increased delay, total consumption and response rates decreased and between-ratio pause durations increased, although this effect was small. Functions were fitted to the relation between the natural logarithms of the consumption and fixed-ratio size using Hursh, Raslear, Shurtleff, Bauman and Simmonds’s (1988) nonlinear and Hursh and Silberberg’s (2008) exponential equations. Both fitted the data well, but in neither case did any of the parameters vary systematically with delay. The only consistent finding was that initial consumption was largest when there was no delay and smallest in the condition with the largest delay. This suggests a decreasing effect of delay-to-reinforcement with increases in the response requirement. Experiment 3 used conjunctive fixed-ratio fixed-interval schedules to separate the effects of schedule duration and ratio requirement in increasing fixed-ratio schedules. The schedule-initiation immediacies (the inverse of the pause following reinforcement) decreased in conditions in which the ratio was fixed and duration increased, and remained relatively constant in conditions in which the ratio was increased and duration fixed. It is suggested that the schedule-initiation immediacy is a useful measure as it eliminates some of the confounds of measures such as total consumption or consumption rate. These experiments show that with some procedures delay-to-reinforcement affects behaviour under fixed-ratio schedules in a way similar to reduced reinforcer magnitude and an increased force requirement. However, with other procedures, delay-to-reinforcement has different effects from reinforcer magnitude and quality. Also, overall, these three experiments show that increased time to reinforcement (whether as part of schedule requirements or at the end of the response requirement) has a larger effect on behaviour than the number of responses it takes to complete the ratio.

text: The effects of delay-to-reinforcement, response requirement and schedule duration on performance under fixed-ratio schedules Experiment 1 examined the effects of delay-to-reinforcement on between-ratio pausing in multiple fixed-ratio 5 fixed-ratio 5 schedules. In one component the reinforcer was delivered immediately on completion of the ratio, and in the other there was a delay before reinforcement. The longest between-ratio pauses always preceded the ratio in which the delay was signalled, and these pauses increased as the delay increased. Experiment 2 examined the effects of varying delay-to-reinforcement on behaviour under fixed-ratio schedules that were increased each session, keeping the time available for responding constant. At each ratio requirement, with increased delay, total consumption and response rates decreased and between-ratio pause durations increased, although this effect was small. Functions were fitted to the relation between the natural logarithms of the consumption and fixed-ratio size using Hursh, Raslear, Shurtleff, Bauman and Simmonds’s (1988) nonlinear and Hursh and Silberberg’s (2008) exponential equations. Both fitted the data well, but in neither case did any of the parameters vary systematically with delay. The only consistent finding was that initial consumption was largest when there was no delay and smallest in the condition with the largest delay. This suggests a decreasing effect of delay-to-reinforcement with increases in the response requirement. Experiment 3 used conjunctive fixed-ratio fixed-interval schedules to separate the effects of schedule duration and ratio requirement in increasing fixed-ratio schedules. The schedule-initiation immediacies (the inverse of the pause following reinforcement) decreased in conditions in which the ratio was fixed and duration increased, and remained relatively constant in conditions in which the ratio was increased and duration fixed. It is suggested that the schedule-initiation immediacy is a useful measure as it eliminates some of the confounds of measures such as total consumption or consumption rate. These experiments show that with some procedures delay-to-reinforcement affects behaviour under fixed-ratio schedules in a way similar to reduced reinforcer magnitude and an increased force requirement. However, with other procedures, delay-to-reinforcement has different effects from reinforcer magnitude and quality. Also, overall, these three experiments show that increased time to reinforcement (whether as part of schedule requirements or at the end of the response requirement) has a larger effect on behaviour than the number of responses it takes to complete the ratio.

year: 2011

title: A critical analysis of interpretive research studies in cooperative education and internships

authors: Coll, Richard K.

subjects: interpretive

abstract: Much research in co-op has utilized a quantitative or experimental approach within a positivist paradigm. Here we present a critical analysis of interpretive/qualitative studies in terms of output, diversity, quality, along with an overview of the topics investigated. Our analysis suggests that interpretive work is a substantial part of co-op research output, and that is spans a wide range of programs, disciplines and geographical locations. Similar themes to those investigated by a quantitative approach are investigated by interpretive researchers, but there is emphasis in interpretive work on understanding more details of co-op issues in relation to the educational context.

text: A critical analysis of interpretive research studies in cooperative education and internships Much research in co-op has utilized a quantitative or experimental approach within a positivist paradigm. Here we present a critical analysis of interpretive/qualitative studies in terms of output, diversity, quality, along with an overview of the topics investigated. Our analysis suggests that interpretive work is a substantial part of co-op research output, and that is spans a wide range of programs, disciplines and geographical locations. Similar themes to those investigated by a quantitative approach are investigated by interpretive researchers, but there is emphasis in interpretive work on understanding more details of co-op issues in relation to the educational context.

year: 2009

title: 'Entitled to a History': The World of Alice Tawhai's Short Stories and the Maori Literary Tradition

authors: Modlik, Kimberley

subjects: Alice Tawhai

abstract: New Zealand short story writer Alice Tawhai is one of the latest additions to the Maori literary tradition. Her three collections of short stories, Festival of Miracles, Luminous and Dark Jelly, deal with issues not entirely unique to New Zealand – from gang life, to domestic violence, to drug and alcohol abuse – and take as their primary subject an alienated, marginalized and disenfranchised underclass. This means she is likely to be read as speaking solely for the Maori experience.  This thesis will revise this misconception, which in effect ghettoizes or marginalizes Tawhai’s work.

Influential women writers of the Maori literary tradition, such as J. C. Sturm, Patricia Grace and Keri Hulme, have taken a particular interest in the long legacy of colonialism in New Zealand, especially of the impact of that legacy on Maori women. This thesis demonstrates that while Tawhai’s work engages with these familiar notions, her gaze is not limited to these issues. This thesis therefore places Tawhai’s work within that tradition and matrilineal genealogy before going on to show how she moves the paradigm beyond the usual grievances of biculturalism and colonialism, orienting her work instead around the increasingly multicultural experience of contemporary life in New Zealand.

The first section of this thesis will establish a platform for reading Tawhai in regards to her literary legacy and in the context of contemporary thinking, drawing on cultural theorist Stuart Hall and his theory on identity formation and identity politics as well as indigenous writings experts Patrick Evans and Chadwick Allen. This thesis will then move into its second section, which is an analysis of some of the overarching themes that can be found in the short stories of Tawhai’s literary foremothers, Sturm, Grace and Hulme. These include, for example, racism and discrimination, loss of ancestral lands, problems to do with urbanization and family violence.

The third and final section of this thesis will then consider Tawhai’s representation of contemporary experience, taking a particular interest in her portrayals of contemporary multicultural ethnic identities as well as the flexible and provisional nature of gendered and sexual identities today. The final subsection will then analyze her representations of the new family and social structures that may have replaced the traditional family model.

Through a close reading of her short stories and an appreciation of the legacy that she bears, this thesis will show how Tawhai’s work is a larger lens of contemporary New Zealand society as well as a significant addition to the Maori literary tradition.

text: 'Entitled to a History': The World of Alice Tawhai's Short Stories and the Maori Literary Tradition New Zealand short story writer Alice Tawhai is one of the latest additions to the Maori literary tradition. Her three collections of short stories, Festival of Miracles, Luminous and Dark Jelly, deal with issues not entirely unique to New Zealand – from gang life, to domestic violence, to drug and alcohol abuse – and take as their primary subject an alienated, marginalized and disenfranchised underclass. This means she is likely to be read as speaking solely for the Maori experience.  This thesis will revise this misconception, which in effect ghettoizes or marginalizes Tawhai’s work.

Influential women writers of the Maori literary tradition, such as J. C. Sturm, Patricia Grace and Keri Hulme, have taken a particular interest in the long legacy of colonialism in New Zealand, especially of the impact of that legacy on Maori women. This thesis demonstrates that while Tawhai’s work engages with these familiar notions, her gaze is not limited to these issues. This thesis therefore places Tawhai’s work within that tradition and matrilineal genealogy before going on to show how she moves the paradigm beyond the usual grievances of biculturalism and colonialism, orienting her work instead around the increasingly multicultural experience of contemporary life in New Zealand.

The first section of this thesis will establish a platform for reading Tawhai in regards to her literary legacy and in the context of contemporary thinking, drawing on cultural theorist Stuart Hall and his theory on identity formation and identity politics as well as indigenous writings experts Patrick Evans and Chadwick Allen. This thesis will then move into its second section, which is an analysis of some of the overarching themes that can be found in the short stories of Tawhai’s literary foremothers, Sturm, Grace and Hulme. These include, for example, racism and discrimination, loss of ancestral lands, problems to do with urbanization and family violence.

The third and final section of this thesis will then consider Tawhai’s representation of contemporary experience, taking a particular interest in her portrayals of contemporary multicultural ethnic identities as well as the flexible and provisional nature of gendered and sexual identities today. The final subsection will then analyze her representations of the new family and social structures that may have replaced the traditional family model.

Through a close reading of her short stories and an appreciation of the legacy that she bears, this thesis will show how Tawhai’s work is a larger lens of contemporary New Zealand society as well as a significant addition to the Maori literary tradition.

year: 2014