title: Concurrent schedule performance of possums: a comparison of two models

authors: Bron, Angela

abstract: These experiments examined the behaviour of brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) under concurrent variable-interval schedules of reinforcement. In the first experiment the lever pressing of six possums resulted in intermittent access to a barley/carob mixture under four pairs of variable-interval schedules. In most respects, the behaviour of the possums was similar to that observed with other species. However, the degree of undermatching of the response ratios to the obtained reinforcement-rate ratios was greater than is normally observed with these schedules. Both the Generalised Matching Law and the Contingency-Discriminability model described the data well, although, where overmatching was obtained, the parameter values given by the Contingency-Discriminability model did not make sense in terms of the original assumptions of the model. The second experiment examined the possibility that the undermatching related to the length of the changeover delay used. Six possums were exposed to five different pairs of concurrent schedules at each of four different changeover-delay lengths (ranging from 0 to 6 s). Time allocation and post-changeover delay responses more closely approximated matching with a 2-s changeover delay than with a 0-s delay, but no further changes in sensitivity were observed with further increases in changeover-delay length. Overmatching was consistently observed in the post changeover delay data, resulting in un-interpretable parameter values from Contingency-Discriminability analyses. The addition of the punishment parameter (w) to the Contingency-Discriminability model, suggested to deal with such data, did not generally result in more sensible parameter estimates. The third experiment attempted to bias possums responding using qualitatively different reinforcers. Equal variable-interval schedules were used with the barley/carob mixture available on one schedule and Cocopopsᵀᴹ or coconut on the other. Possums’ behaviour was biased by these foods, with a small bias away from the barley/carob mixture resulting from the Cocopops and a large bias towards the barley/carob mixture resulting from the coconut. In the fourth experiment, graded point estimates of bias were obtained by presenting four different concentrations of salted barley/carob mixture (ranging from 0% to 6%) on one schedule and plain barley/carob mixture on the other schedule. Small biases were found with 0% and 2% salt, and large biases were found towards the barley/carob mixture with 4% and 6% salt. To assess whether bias remains constant with changes in the reinforcer-rate ratio, further conditions were conducted with 4% and 6% salt, with four pairs of unequal concurrent variable-interval schedules. Analyses of these data with both the Generalised Matching Law and the Contingency-Discriminability Model revealed an interaction between bias and the reinforcement-rate ratio. This interaction may be due to an improvement in discriminability due to the different reinforcers. The behaviour of the possums was generally well described by both the Generalised Matching Law and the Contingency-Discriminability model. Overall, neither model was better at describing behaviour under the above conditions, although several problems were found with the application of the Contingency-Discriminability model.

text: Concurrent schedule performance of possums: a comparison of two models These experiments examined the behaviour of brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) under concurrent variable-interval schedules of reinforcement. In the first experiment the lever pressing of six possums resulted in intermittent access to a barley/carob mixture under four pairs of variable-interval schedules. In most respects, the behaviour of the possums was similar to that observed with other species. However, the degree of undermatching of the response ratios to the obtained reinforcement-rate ratios was greater than is normally observed with these schedules. Both the Generalised Matching Law and the Contingency-Discriminability model described the data well, although, where overmatching was obtained, the parameter values given by the Contingency-Discriminability model did not make sense in terms of the original assumptions of the model. The second experiment examined the possibility that the undermatching related to the length of the changeover delay used. Six possums were exposed to five different pairs of concurrent schedules at each of four different changeover-delay lengths (ranging from 0 to 6 s). Time allocation and post-changeover delay responses more closely approximated matching with a 2-s changeover delay than with a 0-s delay, but no further changes in sensitivity were observed with further increases in changeover-delay length. Overmatching was consistently observed in the post changeover delay data, resulting in un-interpretable parameter values from Contingency-Discriminability analyses. The addition of the punishment parameter (w) to the Contingency-Discriminability model, suggested to deal with such data, did not generally result in more sensible parameter estimates. The third experiment attempted to bias possums responding using qualitatively different reinforcers. Equal variable-interval schedules were used with the barley/carob mixture available on one schedule and Cocopopsᵀᴹ or coconut on the other. Possums’ behaviour was biased by these foods, with a small bias away from the barley/carob mixture resulting from the Cocopops and a large bias towards the barley/carob mixture resulting from the coconut. In the fourth experiment, graded point estimates of bias were obtained by presenting four different concentrations of salted barley/carob mixture (ranging from 0% to 6%) on one schedule and plain barley/carob mixture on the other schedule. Small biases were found with 0% and 2% salt, and large biases were found towards the barley/carob mixture with 4% and 6% salt. To assess whether bias remains constant with changes in the reinforcer-rate ratio, further conditions were conducted with 4% and 6% salt, with four pairs of unequal concurrent variable-interval schedules. Analyses of these data with both the Generalised Matching Law and the Contingency-Discriminability Model revealed an interaction between bias and the reinforcement-rate ratio. This interaction may be due to an improvement in discriminability due to the different reinforcers. The behaviour of the possums was generally well described by both the Generalised Matching Law and the Contingency-Discriminability model. Overall, neither model was better at describing behaviour under the above conditions, although several problems were found with the application of the Contingency-Discriminability model.

year: 2001

title: Making the jump: Examining the glocalisation of parkour in Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Puddle, Damien

subjects: parkour

abstract: Once a niche physical pastime of a small group of men in the urban suburbs of France, parkour is now a global phenomenon. Parkour provides an ideal context to investigate contemporary youth, and adoptees of this primarily youthful culture, and their increasingly connected experiences. Using a social constructionist approach, this research explores the global and local influences that affect the experiences of parkour practitioners in New Zealand and contribute to the establishment of parkour in New Zealand. I draw on multiple qualitative methods of inquiry, including 30 in-depth interviews with a diverse group of New Zealand practitioners, participant observations, a digital ethnography on social media, as well as my personal reflections as a parkour practitioner and community insider. I implement three different theoretical perspectives to understanding the glocalisation (Robertson, 1995, 2012) of parkour in New Zealand, with each one helping to unpack specific elements of the parkour experience. In my first empirical chapter I draw on Appadurai’s (1990, 1996) model of global cultural flows which provides a framework to introduce and understand the various macro movements of people, media, technology, ideas, as well as the physical landscape that underpins the broad experiences of New Zealand practitioners. In the second I adopt a mobilities approach (Sheller & Urry, 2006; Urry, 2007) to ask questions about how parkour participation is experienced differently by core and marginalised members of its community, informing experiences of gender and ethnicity. In the third and final empirical chapter I draw upon Ritzer’s (2003a, 2007) concept of ‘globalisation of nothing’ to facilitate an exploration of the development of Parkour NZ and how the New Zealand community involves itself in the politics of parkour’s global institutionalisation. These accounts demonstrate that there are concurrent examples of universality and particularity as New Zealand practitioners negotiate between their global and local parkour experiences. This research suggests that an appreciation of glocalised experiences is essential for understanding the ways in which adherents of contemporary youth cultures like parkour make sense of their lives in an increasingly connected and globalised world.

text: Making the jump: Examining the glocalisation of parkour in Aotearoa New Zealand Once a niche physical pastime of a small group of men in the urban suburbs of France, parkour is now a global phenomenon. Parkour provides an ideal context to investigate contemporary youth, and adoptees of this primarily youthful culture, and their increasingly connected experiences. Using a social constructionist approach, this research explores the global and local influences that affect the experiences of parkour practitioners in New Zealand and contribute to the establishment of parkour in New Zealand. I draw on multiple qualitative methods of inquiry, including 30 in-depth interviews with a diverse group of New Zealand practitioners, participant observations, a digital ethnography on social media, as well as my personal reflections as a parkour practitioner and community insider. I implement three different theoretical perspectives to understanding the glocalisation (Robertson, 1995, 2012) of parkour in New Zealand, with each one helping to unpack specific elements of the parkour experience. In my first empirical chapter I draw on Appadurai’s (1990, 1996) model of global cultural flows which provides a framework to introduce and understand the various macro movements of people, media, technology, ideas, as well as the physical landscape that underpins the broad experiences of New Zealand practitioners. In the second I adopt a mobilities approach (Sheller & Urry, 2006; Urry, 2007) to ask questions about how parkour participation is experienced differently by core and marginalised members of its community, informing experiences of gender and ethnicity. In the third and final empirical chapter I draw upon Ritzer’s (2003a, 2007) concept of ‘globalisation of nothing’ to facilitate an exploration of the development of Parkour NZ and how the New Zealand community involves itself in the politics of parkour’s global institutionalisation. These accounts demonstrate that there are concurrent examples of universality and particularity as New Zealand practitioners negotiate between their global and local parkour experiences. This research suggests that an appreciation of glocalised experiences is essential for understanding the ways in which adherents of contemporary youth cultures like parkour make sense of their lives in an increasingly connected and globalised world.

year: 2019

title: Kotahi anō te tupuna o te tangata Māori, ko Ranginui e tū nei, ko Papatūānuku e takato nei. Colonisation through Christianity

authors: Wallace, Ritane

subjects: Christianity

abstract: This thesis will look at the role that Christianity and the missionaries played in the colonisation of Māori during the 1800s. With discussion about the colonisation of Aotearoa, it is generally felt within the Christian community that the work of the missionaries and the Crown are separate and therefore the universal belief is that the missionaries are pardoned from the critique of their work here in Aotearoa. However, Christianity throughout history has always been a doorway for the British Empire to enter land that was not their own.
  
It is widely accepted from the viewpoint of Christianity that it holds a religious superiority over all Indigenous people and their religions dating back to Pope Alexander VI and the issuing of the Papal Bull “Inter Caetera” in 1493 to justify Christian European explorers’ claims on land and waterways they allegedly discovered. Christian hegemony shaped missionary views of the ‘other’ and justified the assimilation of Indigenous people into European Christianity. The negative effects of Christianity on Māori far outweigh the positives as mission stations up and down Aotearoa contributed heavily to the loss of language, religion, and land, the three foundational pillars of Māori and other Indigenous peoples around the world.
   
The thesis seeks to hold the missionaries and Christianity to account for its contribution to the colonisation and religious assimilation of Māori into a foreign and unrelated belief system.

text: Kotahi anō te tupuna o te tangata Māori, ko Ranginui e tū nei, ko Papatūānuku e takato nei. Colonisation through Christianity This thesis will look at the role that Christianity and the missionaries played in the colonisation of Māori during the 1800s. With discussion about the colonisation of Aotearoa, it is generally felt within the Christian community that the work of the missionaries and the Crown are separate and therefore the universal belief is that the missionaries are pardoned from the critique of their work here in Aotearoa. However, Christianity throughout history has always been a doorway for the British Empire to enter land that was not their own.
  
It is widely accepted from the viewpoint of Christianity that it holds a religious superiority over all Indigenous people and their religions dating back to Pope Alexander VI and the issuing of the Papal Bull “Inter Caetera” in 1493 to justify Christian European explorers’ claims on land and waterways they allegedly discovered. Christian hegemony shaped missionary views of the ‘other’ and justified the assimilation of Indigenous people into European Christianity. The negative effects of Christianity on Māori far outweigh the positives as mission stations up and down Aotearoa contributed heavily to the loss of language, religion, and land, the three foundational pillars of Māori and other Indigenous peoples around the world.
   
The thesis seeks to hold the missionaries and Christianity to account for its contribution to the colonisation and religious assimilation of Māori into a foreign and unrelated belief system.

year: 2021