title: Domestic hen chicks’ conditioned place preferences for sound

authors: Jones, Amy Rebecca

subjects: conditioned place preference

abstract: Food and sounds (white noise, a food call and the sound of other chicks) were used in an attempt to establish conditioned place preferences with domestic hen chicks. Thirty-two chicks were randomly allocated to one of the 4 groups, and exposed to a 3-compartment apparatus to establish a baseline of their movements across 4 15-min sessions. They were then confined to one compartment and provided with free access to food or exposed to one sound for 15 min and then they were confined to the alternate compartment with no food or sound for 15 min. This process was repeated 3 times. Post-conditioning test sessions showed a conditioned place preference towards the area associated with food and away from the area associated with white noise. After conditioning, chicks showed no preference for spending time in the side associated with the food call or the sounds of other chicks; however, they entered a compartment first more often when it was associated with the food call and less often when it was associated with chick-sounds. Overall, these results showed that it was possible to use the conditioned place preference procedure to assess the effects of sounds and that the procedure has potential use for assessing other environmental stimuli.

text: Domestic hen chicks’ conditioned place preferences for sound Food and sounds (white noise, a food call and the sound of other chicks) were used in an attempt to establish conditioned place preferences with domestic hen chicks. Thirty-two chicks were randomly allocated to one of the 4 groups, and exposed to a 3-compartment apparatus to establish a baseline of their movements across 4 15-min sessions. They were then confined to one compartment and provided with free access to food or exposed to one sound for 15 min and then they were confined to the alternate compartment with no food or sound for 15 min. This process was repeated 3 times. Post-conditioning test sessions showed a conditioned place preference towards the area associated with food and away from the area associated with white noise. After conditioning, chicks showed no preference for spending time in the side associated with the food call or the sounds of other chicks; however, they entered a compartment first more often when it was associated with the food call and less often when it was associated with chick-sounds. Overall, these results showed that it was possible to use the conditioned place preference procedure to assess the effects of sounds and that the procedure has potential use for assessing other environmental stimuli.

year: 2011

title: Methodology to survey and monitor New Zealand mudfish species

authors: Ling, Nicholas

subjects: Galaxiidae

abstract: Standard methods to survey and monitor NZ mudfish species involve Gee minnow traps for adults and hand nets for earlier life stages, although a range of methods have been used. A basic assessment of fish abundance can be gained from one night of trapping, however, estimates of fish density and sub-population size require repeated identical sampling events. In developing a study the objective neds to be well considered in order that the information collected addresses the particular research question. Study design and sampling effort are usually individualised to the type of habitat being sampled and resources available. Catching fish and measuring their length and weight is straightforward and uses relatively simple equipment. More detailed examination and marking of fish may be required in some studies. From information collected in the field a range of further calculations and analyses are usually done to assess the state of health of the sub-population. Capture data should be submitted to the NZ freshwater Fish Database and habitat assessed using the Handbook for Monitoring Wetland Condition. The Department of Conservation Mudfish Recovery Group plans to regularly collate survey and monitoring information.

text: Methodology to survey and monitor New Zealand mudfish species Standard methods to survey and monitor NZ mudfish species involve Gee minnow traps for adults and hand nets for earlier life stages, although a range of methods have been used. A basic assessment of fish abundance can be gained from one night of trapping, however, estimates of fish density and sub-population size require repeated identical sampling events. In developing a study the objective neds to be well considered in order that the information collected addresses the particular research question. Study design and sampling effort are usually individualised to the type of habitat being sampled and resources available. Catching fish and measuring their length and weight is straightforward and uses relatively simple equipment. More detailed examination and marking of fish may be required in some studies. From information collected in the field a range of further calculations and analyses are usually done to assess the state of health of the sub-population. Capture data should be submitted to the NZ freshwater Fish Database and habitat assessed using the Handbook for Monitoring Wetland Condition. The Department of Conservation Mudfish Recovery Group plans to regularly collate survey and monitoring information.

year: 2009

title: Te Tuhirau i Rehu i Ringa: Translating Sacred and Sensitive Texts: An Indigenous Perspective

authors: Tipene, Jillian

subjects: translation

abstract: This thesis centers on translator cognition. Through a series of interviews and think-aloud protocols (Chapters 3 – 5), it explores the ways in which a sample of translators (both Māori and non-Māori) negotiate the complex issues involved in translating between a local, Indigenous language (Māori) and an international one (English) and, in particular, how they approach the definition and translation of texts that could be regarded as being ‘sacred’ and/or ‘sensitive’. In their definitions of ‘sacred’ texts and ‘sensitive’ texts, all of the participants exhibited a peculiarly postmodern positioning, focussing primarily on perspective rather than on any absolute concept of truth or reality. With the exception of the Māori participants’ traditional definition of, and approach to texts deemed to be ‘tapu’ (see Chapter 3), all of the participants expressed beliefs about the translation process which were largely structurally-orientated. They emphasized the importance of respecting the cultural context out of which texts emerged and of attempting, in translation, to reflect the meanings deemed to reside in the source texts by virtue of the intentions of their authors. As witnessed in their think-aloud protocols, however, when involved in the actual process of translation the translators did not always adhere to the views expressed in their interviews, with translation procedures ranging from one that was primarily modernist and structural in orientation (but also reflecting the careful attention to co-text and cohesion that is characteristic of much recent research on discourse analysis) to one that was primarily postmodern and post-structural in orientation, being highly personal, autonomous and individualistic.  

In the absence of any clear agreement about translation theory in the literature on translation (see Chapter 2), and at a time when pre-modern, modern and postmodern positioning and structural and post-structural perspectives vie for acceptance, each of the participants in this research project appears to have found his or her own way of traversing the complex terrain of translation practice without necessarily being fully aware of the way in which the decisions they made positioned them theoretically. What this suggests is the need for a type of training that introduces novice translators in an explicit way to a variety of theories about human language and communication and the ways in which they can impinge upon translation practice, thus creating a context in which translators are able to make critically informed decisions about how they will proceed in any particular instance, why they will proceed in these ways, and what is required in order to ensure that their beliefs about translation are in accord with their actual practices. Critical awareness of these issues is likely to be particularly important in the case of those involved in translating between international languages such as English and more localized, Indigenous languages such as Māori, where discontinuity in the transmission of the language has occurred and where, therefore, texts that are deemed to be of particular significance would otherwise be unavailable to those for whom the texts form part of their cultural heritage.

text: Te Tuhirau i Rehu i Ringa: Translating Sacred and Sensitive Texts: An Indigenous Perspective This thesis centers on translator cognition. Through a series of interviews and think-aloud protocols (Chapters 3 – 5), it explores the ways in which a sample of translators (both Māori and non-Māori) negotiate the complex issues involved in translating between a local, Indigenous language (Māori) and an international one (English) and, in particular, how they approach the definition and translation of texts that could be regarded as being ‘sacred’ and/or ‘sensitive’. In their definitions of ‘sacred’ texts and ‘sensitive’ texts, all of the participants exhibited a peculiarly postmodern positioning, focussing primarily on perspective rather than on any absolute concept of truth or reality. With the exception of the Māori participants’ traditional definition of, and approach to texts deemed to be ‘tapu’ (see Chapter 3), all of the participants expressed beliefs about the translation process which were largely structurally-orientated. They emphasized the importance of respecting the cultural context out of which texts emerged and of attempting, in translation, to reflect the meanings deemed to reside in the source texts by virtue of the intentions of their authors. As witnessed in their think-aloud protocols, however, when involved in the actual process of translation the translators did not always adhere to the views expressed in their interviews, with translation procedures ranging from one that was primarily modernist and structural in orientation (but also reflecting the careful attention to co-text and cohesion that is characteristic of much recent research on discourse analysis) to one that was primarily postmodern and post-structural in orientation, being highly personal, autonomous and individualistic.  

In the absence of any clear agreement about translation theory in the literature on translation (see Chapter 2), and at a time when pre-modern, modern and postmodern positioning and structural and post-structural perspectives vie for acceptance, each of the participants in this research project appears to have found his or her own way of traversing the complex terrain of translation practice without necessarily being fully aware of the way in which the decisions they made positioned them theoretically. What this suggests is the need for a type of training that introduces novice translators in an explicit way to a variety of theories about human language and communication and the ways in which they can impinge upon translation practice, thus creating a context in which translators are able to make critically informed decisions about how they will proceed in any particular instance, why they will proceed in these ways, and what is required in order to ensure that their beliefs about translation are in accord with their actual practices. Critical awareness of these issues is likely to be particularly important in the case of those involved in translating between international languages such as English and more localized, Indigenous languages such as Māori, where discontinuity in the transmission of the language has occurred and where, therefore, texts that are deemed to be of particular significance would otherwise be unavailable to those for whom the texts form part of their cultural heritage.

year: 2014