title: The Further Analysis of Catania's Concept of the Operant

authors: Zhang, Yi

subjects: Catania

abstract: Catania’s theory of the operant incorporated the continuous characteristic of behaviour, where the response distribution follows a normal distribution. That is, most responses fall within the reinforced range, a few responses persisted outside of the reinforced range. Three roosters and three hens were used as the subjects. A continuous reinforcement (CRF) schedule was implemented throughout both experiments of the study. In Experiment 1, the screen was divided into four quadrants. Only one quadrant was active in each condition and the active area shifted to a different quadrant across conditions. Each peck within the active quadrant was considered as a correct response, which results in reinforcement. Each peck outside the active quadrant was considered as an incorrect response, which results in extinction. In Experiment 2, the screen was divided into vertical strips. During Conditions 1 to 8, the consequences for the correct and incorrect responses are the same as Experiment 1. In Condition 9, the consequence for the incorrect responses changed from extinction to punishment (delay to reinforcement). That is, a 3 second red screen was followed with each occurrence of an incorrect response. It was found that the incorrect responses persisted during each condition of the two experiments for most birds. It was also found that most of the hens’ responses were correct responses by the end of each condition in Experiment 2. However, for all birds in Experiment 1 and the roosters in Experiment 2, most responses were not correct by the end of each condition. The findings of Experiment 2 also indicated that the changes in condition length, active area’s size, and consequence of the incorrect responses might have had some influence on the number of incorrect responses. Overall, the findings demonstrated behavioral continuity through exploring the distribution of response proportion when reinforcement was placed on the correct responses, and when extinction or punishment was placed on the incorrect responses. Thus, the study provided some empirical support towards Catania’s concept of the operant.

text: The Further Analysis of Catania's Concept of the Operant Catania’s theory of the operant incorporated the continuous characteristic of behaviour, where the response distribution follows a normal distribution. That is, most responses fall within the reinforced range, a few responses persisted outside of the reinforced range. Three roosters and three hens were used as the subjects. A continuous reinforcement (CRF) schedule was implemented throughout both experiments of the study. In Experiment 1, the screen was divided into four quadrants. Only one quadrant was active in each condition and the active area shifted to a different quadrant across conditions. Each peck within the active quadrant was considered as a correct response, which results in reinforcement. Each peck outside the active quadrant was considered as an incorrect response, which results in extinction. In Experiment 2, the screen was divided into vertical strips. During Conditions 1 to 8, the consequences for the correct and incorrect responses are the same as Experiment 1. In Condition 9, the consequence for the incorrect responses changed from extinction to punishment (delay to reinforcement). That is, a 3 second red screen was followed with each occurrence of an incorrect response. It was found that the incorrect responses persisted during each condition of the two experiments for most birds. It was also found that most of the hens’ responses were correct responses by the end of each condition in Experiment 2. However, for all birds in Experiment 1 and the roosters in Experiment 2, most responses were not correct by the end of each condition. The findings of Experiment 2 also indicated that the changes in condition length, active area’s size, and consequence of the incorrect responses might have had some influence on the number of incorrect responses. Overall, the findings demonstrated behavioral continuity through exploring the distribution of response proportion when reinforcement was placed on the correct responses, and when extinction or punishment was placed on the incorrect responses. Thus, the study provided some empirical support towards Catania’s concept of the operant.

year: 2014

title: Environmentally smart contracts for artists using NFTs

authors: Weijers, Dan M.

abstract: This presentation discusses the environmentally smart contracts for artists using NFTs

text: Environmentally smart contracts for artists using NFTs This presentation discusses the environmentally smart contracts for artists using NFTs

year: 2021

title: Matariki, commodity culture, and multiple identities

authors: Hardy, Ann

subjects: Matariki

abstract: The event known as Matariki, the rising of the Pleiades in winter, which Māori take as the mark of the beginning of a new year, was not a strong feature of the wider public sphere for most of the 20th century. Since 2001, however, when Te Taura Whiri, the Māori Language Commission, published an explanatory booklet with the aim of reviving interest in Matariki as an aide to the maintenance of te reo, it has been promoted by several quasi-governmental institutions, especially the national museum, Te Papa, as a winter festival for all New Zealanders. Its main public presence to date has been through media products: posters, banners, websites, television programmes, newspaper features, calendars, some theatrical performances and physical commemoration ceremonies.

The larger project, of which this paper represents an initial descriptive and positioning phase, is a continuation of the researcher's long-standing interest in the intersections of religiosity, culture, and media as they are active in the environment of Aotearoa New Zealand. It assumes, building on theorists such as Bellah and Lundby that the creation of such festivals is an act of 'civil religiosity' that attempts to create and strengthen national community around a set of numinous symbols.
However, the development of an enterprise such as Matariki is pursued in a complex political field, where broad agreement across various factions is needed before the festival can take on an enduring material and symbolic existence. In investigating the factors that will determine the future of Matariki it is relevant to consider the interaction of three factors in particular: the ethno-political history of New Zealand; the characteristics of contemporary reflexive spirituality, which are intertwined with commodificatory tendencies and thirdly, the impacts of increasing globalisation on the parameters of identity-formation for citizens in late-modern societies.

text: Matariki, commodity culture, and multiple identities The event known as Matariki, the rising of the Pleiades in winter, which Māori take as the mark of the beginning of a new year, was not a strong feature of the wider public sphere for most of the 20th century. Since 2001, however, when Te Taura Whiri, the Māori Language Commission, published an explanatory booklet with the aim of reviving interest in Matariki as an aide to the maintenance of te reo, it has been promoted by several quasi-governmental institutions, especially the national museum, Te Papa, as a winter festival for all New Zealanders. Its main public presence to date has been through media products: posters, banners, websites, television programmes, newspaper features, calendars, some theatrical performances and physical commemoration ceremonies.

The larger project, of which this paper represents an initial descriptive and positioning phase, is a continuation of the researcher's long-standing interest in the intersections of religiosity, culture, and media as they are active in the environment of Aotearoa New Zealand. It assumes, building on theorists such as Bellah and Lundby that the creation of such festivals is an act of 'civil religiosity' that attempts to create and strengthen national community around a set of numinous symbols.
However, the development of an enterprise such as Matariki is pursued in a complex political field, where broad agreement across various factions is needed before the festival can take on an enduring material and symbolic existence. In investigating the factors that will determine the future of Matariki it is relevant to consider the interaction of three factors in particular: the ethno-political history of New Zealand; the characteristics of contemporary reflexive spirituality, which are intertwined with commodificatory tendencies and thirdly, the impacts of increasing globalisation on the parameters of identity-formation for citizens in late-modern societies.

year: 2011