title: Addressing Canine Separation Anxiety Using Systematic Desensitization and Counter-conditioning

authors: Babington, Ocean Marie

subjects: Behaviour

abstract: A canine’s distress response to the owner’s absence such as vocalisation, destruction and inappropriate elimination is a welfare issue, as ongoing occurrences of the behaviour can lead to a canine being relinquished, re-homed or euthanized. I aimed to identify if systematic desensitization or counter- conditioning were effective interventions at reducing separation-related behaviours when implemented individually without the support of additional behavioural techniques. Five canines that displayed separation-related behaviours were recruited for treatment. Video cameras were used to monitor the latency and frequency of separation-related behaviours for every absence during each condition. Each canine was randomly placed into either treatment Group A, applying systematic desensitization first then counter-conditioning, or Group B (applying counter-conditioning first then systematic desensitization). Treatment was changed if separation-related behaviours did not display evidence of reducing during the first treatment. Implementing systematic desensitization or counter- conditioning independently did not reduce or eliminate separation-related behaviours of canines as a long-term solution. Using a video camera to observe separation-related behaviours was beneficial for identifying if the owner-reported behaviours were occurring, as well as observing additional behaviours elicited by the owner’s absence that did not produce evidence. In this research, owner compliance reduced during systematic desensitization which resulted in an increase in, or no change in separation-related behaviours. However, due to the fixed location of the video camera, separation-related behaviours may have been over- or under-reported during data collection. Further investigation into different combinations of behavioural techniques that are effective and practical to apply for owners is suggested.

text: Addressing Canine Separation Anxiety Using Systematic Desensitization and Counter-conditioning A canine’s distress response to the owner’s absence such as vocalisation, destruction and inappropriate elimination is a welfare issue, as ongoing occurrences of the behaviour can lead to a canine being relinquished, re-homed or euthanized. I aimed to identify if systematic desensitization or counter- conditioning were effective interventions at reducing separation-related behaviours when implemented individually without the support of additional behavioural techniques. Five canines that displayed separation-related behaviours were recruited for treatment. Video cameras were used to monitor the latency and frequency of separation-related behaviours for every absence during each condition. Each canine was randomly placed into either treatment Group A, applying systematic desensitization first then counter-conditioning, or Group B (applying counter-conditioning first then systematic desensitization). Treatment was changed if separation-related behaviours did not display evidence of reducing during the first treatment. Implementing systematic desensitization or counter- conditioning independently did not reduce or eliminate separation-related behaviours of canines as a long-term solution. Using a video camera to observe separation-related behaviours was beneficial for identifying if the owner-reported behaviours were occurring, as well as observing additional behaviours elicited by the owner’s absence that did not produce evidence. In this research, owner compliance reduced during systematic desensitization which resulted in an increase in, or no change in separation-related behaviours. However, due to the fixed location of the video camera, separation-related behaviours may have been over- or under-reported during data collection. Further investigation into different combinations of behavioural techniques that are effective and practical to apply for owners is suggested.

year: 2019

title: The sex or the head? Feminine voices and academic women through the work of Hélène Cixous

authors: Locke, Kirsten

subjects: academic writing

abstract: Hélène Cixous is perhaps best known for her paper, ‘The Laugh of the Medusa’ (1976) and her literary contributions outside academia. In this paper, we pick up a lesser known Cixous text, ‘Le Sexe ou la tête?’ that offers an interesting and provocative perspective on the traps associated with being feminine in a masculine environment. As we converse with Cixous, weaving our own words and experiences with hers, we link her work more closely with the feminine in modern-day academia. We suggest that Cixous’s remarks on decapitation and voice offer a way forward for academic women to be; to speak; to recognise the double jeopardy of decapitation in the university; and to use laughter as a strategic, powerful, political act of resistance and subversion against oppressive masculine power structures. We draw on and seek to enact Cixous’s notion of écriture feminine—a disruptive style of writing that provides a mode of being, speaking, and writing that subverts the power of masculine norms in order to be heard and to bring possibilities for change.

text: The sex or the head? Feminine voices and academic women through the work of Hélène Cixous Hélène Cixous is perhaps best known for her paper, ‘The Laugh of the Medusa’ (1976) and her literary contributions outside academia. In this paper, we pick up a lesser known Cixous text, ‘Le Sexe ou la tête?’ that offers an interesting and provocative perspective on the traps associated with being feminine in a masculine environment. As we converse with Cixous, weaving our own words and experiences with hers, we link her work more closely with the feminine in modern-day academia. We suggest that Cixous’s remarks on decapitation and voice offer a way forward for academic women to be; to speak; to recognise the double jeopardy of decapitation in the university; and to use laughter as a strategic, powerful, political act of resistance and subversion against oppressive masculine power structures. We draw on and seek to enact Cixous’s notion of écriture feminine—a disruptive style of writing that provides a mode of being, speaking, and writing that subverts the power of masculine norms in order to be heard and to bring possibilities for change.

year: 2023-06-09

title: The relevance of discourse analysis to the teaching and learning of te reo Māori: A text-centred example

authors: Greensill, Hine-iti-moana

subjects: Māori language

abstract: In this paper, I analyse a single text written in te reo Māori in terms of two different approaches derived from discourse analysis (discourse macro-patterning and discourse relations and their signalling) in order to demonstrate the importance of deriving a discourse-centred methodology for teaching learners of Māori what is involved in interpreting and creating coherent discourses.

text: The relevance of discourse analysis to the teaching and learning of te reo Māori: A text-centred example In this paper, I analyse a single text written in te reo Māori in terms of two different approaches derived from discourse analysis (discourse macro-patterning and discourse relations and their signalling) in order to demonstrate the importance of deriving a discourse-centred methodology for teaching learners of Māori what is involved in interpreting and creating coherent discourses.

year: 2007