title: Empirical support for the adaptive and maladaptive functions of autobiographical memory

authors: Burnell, Ryan

subjects: Memory

abstract: Autobiographical memories are hypothesised to serve at least three functions: they direct people’s behaviour, inform their identity, and facilitate social bonding. But most of the research on these three functions has focused on how memories serve them in ways that are adaptive—in fact, we know little about how memories might serve functions in ways that are maladaptive. We also know little about the factors that drive memories to serve functions in adaptive or maladaptive ways. Across four sets of experiments, we1 investigated both the extent to which memories serve maladaptive functions and the factors that drive memories to serve functions in adaptive or maladaptive ways. We found that people’s positive memories are primarily adaptive, whereas their negative memories serve a mix of adaptive and maladaptive functions. In addition, we found that the more a memory is associated with a sense of reliving, the more adaptive it tends to be. Finally, we found evidence that it is not necessary for people to have personally experienced an event, nor for them to believe an event really happened, in order for the memory of that event to serve functions. Considered together, these data highlight the need for researchers to take more nuanced view of the functions of autobiographical memory and demonstrate the importance of measures that separate adaptive and maladaptive functions.

text: Empirical support for the adaptive and maladaptive functions of autobiographical memory Autobiographical memories are hypothesised to serve at least three functions: they direct people’s behaviour, inform their identity, and facilitate social bonding. But most of the research on these three functions has focused on how memories serve them in ways that are adaptive—in fact, we know little about how memories might serve functions in ways that are maladaptive. We also know little about the factors that drive memories to serve functions in adaptive or maladaptive ways. Across four sets of experiments, we1 investigated both the extent to which memories serve maladaptive functions and the factors that drive memories to serve functions in adaptive or maladaptive ways. We found that people’s positive memories are primarily adaptive, whereas their negative memories serve a mix of adaptive and maladaptive functions. In addition, we found that the more a memory is associated with a sense of reliving, the more adaptive it tends to be. Finally, we found evidence that it is not necessary for people to have personally experienced an event, nor for them to believe an event really happened, in order for the memory of that event to serve functions. Considered together, these data highlight the need for researchers to take more nuanced view of the functions of autobiographical memory and demonstrate the importance of measures that separate adaptive and maladaptive functions.

year: 2021

title: The use of physical and chemical techniques in the identification of Tephera (volcanic ash) in the North Island, New Zealand

authors: Hodder, A.P.W.

abstract: Field evidence is no longer adequate to resolve the problems of tephrostratigraphy, particularly in areas far from the likely volcanic source. In such areas the deposits are thin, and consequently more strongly weathered, as they are more or less continually involved in soil development processes. Under such conditions lithologic resemblance of a given ash to the same material closer to source may be lacking. The identification and correlation of tephra in the Waikato Basin of the North Island of New Zealand is one such example. These tephra form the parent materials of the agricultural soils of the region, and are at considerable distances from the likely sources, these being the Egmont volcanic centre in Taranaki, the Okataina volcanic centre in the Bay of Plenty, and the Tongariro and Taupo volcanic centres in the Central North Island. In particular, this thesis sought to resolve the problem of the identity of the Tirau and Mairoa Ash beds; whether they merely represent the products of pedogenesis of the same parent materials under differing weathering conditions.

In the resolution of this problem, many laboratory techniques were exhaustively and systematically investigated, the methods being reviewed and extended in their applicability and their sensitivity being improved where possible. Physical properties of the rhyolitic glass associated with the samples that were found to provide useful data were refractive index, density, and magnetic properties.

(a)	Refractive index: This classical method of determination of a parameter indicative of bulk composition was improved an order of magnitude over that typical for petrologic investigation by the development of a thermal variation method. The increased sensitivity so obtained enabled the use of this parameter in the correlation of glass shards. The use of refractive index for this purpose had previously been abandoned because of its lack of sensitivity.
(b)	Specific gravity: The determination of density was investigated by gradient techniques using solutions of acetone in bromoform. The natural variation in density exceeded the precision of the technique, but in spite of this the method was shown to have some application in the solution of tephrostratigraphic problems.
(c)	Magnetic properties: Simple methods based on the Guoy magneto-balance were found to provide useful information on the magnetic susceptibility of glass, and were found to be particularly useful in the attempted correlation of the Aokautere and Teviotdale Ashes. More generally, the magnetic susceptibility was found to be a ready method of assessing the ferrous contents of glasses.

In addition to these physical methods the glasses were analysed chemically. As well as these techniques, use was made of mineral assemblages, particularly of felsic minerals; and of the relative proportions of rhyolitic and andesitic glass. The former of these two glasses is easily extracted physically, but the existence and quantitative estimation of andesitic glass, being difficult to determine directly, was determined indirectly by infra-red spectroscopic techniques. The relative proportions of these two glasses was itself found to be a parameter of some importance in correlation and has been used in conjunction with a first-order kinetics model for the weathering of glass to allophane to provide approximate dates for the samples.

While the object of this thesis was to review and develop physical, chemical, and mineralogical techniques of use in tephrostratigraphy, the techniques were used to solve some specific tephrostratigraphic problems, in particular, problems involving thin beds in the Waikato region, and some problems in long-range tephra correlation. These specific problems investigated were:

(a)	The Tirau-Mairoa Problem: There has been a long-standing debate over whether the ash beds that make up the Tirau Ash and Mairoa Ash sequences are the same or whether the parent materials differ. From the information derived by the use of the techniques described above, the two ash sequences were found to differ: the Mairoa Ash sequence being both older and more andesitic in character than the Tirau Ash sequence. The Mairoa Ash sequence was considered, as a result of this work to underlie and possibly interdigitate with the Tirau Ash. Samples from sites between the type localities of the two sequences shoved a composite character. Chemical analysis of the rhyolitic glass and refractive index data suggested, that at least in some localities, the Mairoa Ash was contaminated with material from the underlying Oruanui Formation. 
(b)	Oruanui-Aokautere Correlation: The Oruanui Formation is a widely distributed bed or sequence of beds in the central North Island and had been previously tentatively correlated with the Aokautere Ash in the southern part of the North Island. Application of the techniques developed in this thesis confirm this correlation specifically between the Oruanui Ash and the Aokautere Ash.
(c)	Oruanui-Teviotdale Correlation: The Teviotdale Ash of North Canterbury is believed by some to be correlative with the Oruanui and Aokautere Ashes. The magnetic and chemical properties, however, suggested that the Teviotdale Ash represents a separate eruption.

The soils developed on Kaharoa and Taupo Ashes show elemental deficiencies when exploited for agriculture. Soils developed on similar rhyolitic tephra of greater age show no such deficiency. Accordingly, the relative merits of such deficiencies being caused either by pedogenetic factors or by initially low amounts of the microelements in the parent materials was investigated. In the case of selenium, most of this element potentially available is to be found in the glass. Analysis of the glasses from the various ashes showed little variation in selenium content, and the results obtained bore no relationship to the agricultural selenium status of the derived soils. From this it was inferred that the selenium deficiencies are pedogenetic in origin, being caused principally by the short length of time available for the leaching of selenium from the glass. In that cobalt tends to be enriched in the more mafic minerals rather than in the glass, deficiencies of this element in the soils derived from the Kaharoa and Taupo Ashes may be rather more inherent, since the parent tephra concerned contain but small amounts of these minerals.

text: The use of physical and chemical techniques in the identification of Tephera (volcanic ash) in the North Island, New Zealand Field evidence is no longer adequate to resolve the problems of tephrostratigraphy, particularly in areas far from the likely volcanic source. In such areas the deposits are thin, and consequently more strongly weathered, as they are more or less continually involved in soil development processes. Under such conditions lithologic resemblance of a given ash to the same material closer to source may be lacking. The identification and correlation of tephra in the Waikato Basin of the North Island of New Zealand is one such example. These tephra form the parent materials of the agricultural soils of the region, and are at considerable distances from the likely sources, these being the Egmont volcanic centre in Taranaki, the Okataina volcanic centre in the Bay of Plenty, and the Tongariro and Taupo volcanic centres in the Central North Island. In particular, this thesis sought to resolve the problem of the identity of the Tirau and Mairoa Ash beds; whether they merely represent the products of pedogenesis of the same parent materials under differing weathering conditions.

In the resolution of this problem, many laboratory techniques were exhaustively and systematically investigated, the methods being reviewed and extended in their applicability and their sensitivity being improved where possible. Physical properties of the rhyolitic glass associated with the samples that were found to provide useful data were refractive index, density, and magnetic properties.

(a)	Refractive index: This classical method of determination of a parameter indicative of bulk composition was improved an order of magnitude over that typical for petrologic investigation by the development of a thermal variation method. The increased sensitivity so obtained enabled the use of this parameter in the correlation of glass shards. The use of refractive index for this purpose had previously been abandoned because of its lack of sensitivity.
(b)	Specific gravity: The determination of density was investigated by gradient techniques using solutions of acetone in bromoform. The natural variation in density exceeded the precision of the technique, but in spite of this the method was shown to have some application in the solution of tephrostratigraphic problems.
(c)	Magnetic properties: Simple methods based on the Guoy magneto-balance were found to provide useful information on the magnetic susceptibility of glass, and were found to be particularly useful in the attempted correlation of the Aokautere and Teviotdale Ashes. More generally, the magnetic susceptibility was found to be a ready method of assessing the ferrous contents of glasses.

In addition to these physical methods the glasses were analysed chemically. As well as these techniques, use was made of mineral assemblages, particularly of felsic minerals; and of the relative proportions of rhyolitic and andesitic glass. The former of these two glasses is easily extracted physically, but the existence and quantitative estimation of andesitic glass, being difficult to determine directly, was determined indirectly by infra-red spectroscopic techniques. The relative proportions of these two glasses was itself found to be a parameter of some importance in correlation and has been used in conjunction with a first-order kinetics model for the weathering of glass to allophane to provide approximate dates for the samples.

While the object of this thesis was to review and develop physical, chemical, and mineralogical techniques of use in tephrostratigraphy, the techniques were used to solve some specific tephrostratigraphic problems, in particular, problems involving thin beds in the Waikato region, and some problems in long-range tephra correlation. These specific problems investigated were:

(a)	The Tirau-Mairoa Problem: There has been a long-standing debate over whether the ash beds that make up the Tirau Ash and Mairoa Ash sequences are the same or whether the parent materials differ. From the information derived by the use of the techniques described above, the two ash sequences were found to differ: the Mairoa Ash sequence being both older and more andesitic in character than the Tirau Ash sequence. The Mairoa Ash sequence was considered, as a result of this work to underlie and possibly interdigitate with the Tirau Ash. Samples from sites between the type localities of the two sequences shoved a composite character. Chemical analysis of the rhyolitic glass and refractive index data suggested, that at least in some localities, the Mairoa Ash was contaminated with material from the underlying Oruanui Formation. 
(b)	Oruanui-Aokautere Correlation: The Oruanui Formation is a widely distributed bed or sequence of beds in the central North Island and had been previously tentatively correlated with the Aokautere Ash in the southern part of the North Island. Application of the techniques developed in this thesis confirm this correlation specifically between the Oruanui Ash and the Aokautere Ash.
(c)	Oruanui-Teviotdale Correlation: The Teviotdale Ash of North Canterbury is believed by some to be correlative with the Oruanui and Aokautere Ashes. The magnetic and chemical properties, however, suggested that the Teviotdale Ash represents a separate eruption.

The soils developed on Kaharoa and Taupo Ashes show elemental deficiencies when exploited for agriculture. Soils developed on similar rhyolitic tephra of greater age show no such deficiency. Accordingly, the relative merits of such deficiencies being caused either by pedogenetic factors or by initially low amounts of the microelements in the parent materials was investigated. In the case of selenium, most of this element potentially available is to be found in the glass. Analysis of the glasses from the various ashes showed little variation in selenium content, and the results obtained bore no relationship to the agricultural selenium status of the derived soils. From this it was inferred that the selenium deficiencies are pedogenetic in origin, being caused principally by the short length of time available for the leaching of selenium from the glass. In that cobalt tends to be enriched in the more mafic minerals rather than in the glass, deficiencies of this element in the soils derived from the Kaharoa and Taupo Ashes may be rather more inherent, since the parent tephra concerned contain but small amounts of these minerals.

year: 1974

title: Health reform and the impact on Mäori 1983-1997

authors: Ferguson, Lisa Arleen.

abstract: This study investigates the New Zealand health sector reforms from 1983 to 1997and examines whether the reform process has been consistent with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. It evaluates the impact of the reforms on Mäori from that perspective. 

The study introduces the health sector reforms generally and then their specific effects on Mäori. It draws on two research exercises undertaken by the author, being research for the Wai 692 Napier Hospital and Health Services claim to the Waitangi Tribunal and on improving Mäori Health outcomes for the National Health Committee. The methodologies used are those from the discipline of history.

The study outlines the argument for Crown responsibilities under the Treaty and draws out the distinctions between Article 2 and Article 3 of the Treaty. It provides a historical background to the place of the Treaty in the health sector, and forms the basis for a Treaty based analysis of the health reforms and their impact. 

The New Zealand health sector has undergone massive government initiated structural change throughout the period under study. During this time the neo-liberal reforms have had a key role in reshaping health service structures. The process of change, the international influences on the changes, and the resulting entities are described. An example from Tainui Iwi of the effect of structural health reform illustrates the changes in Mäori health service provision by Mäori.
Since 1983 successive governments have produced copious Mäori health policy. The key policy documents, and their recommendations, are identified, as is the degree to which they were implemented. The cyclical nature of such policy making suggests that it is not always followed by policy implementation. While Mäori are identified as a health gain priority, the evidence reviewed shows that the responsibility to implement and monitor the policy is diffuse and ineffective.

The Wai 692 claim provides a detailed look at the impact of the 1990s health reform for Mäori. The claim was precipitated by the threatened closure of Napier Hospital, but was broadened to include a wide-ranging look at the impact of health reform on Mäori. As a case study it provides a specific example of one Iwi’s experience of the reality of policy implementation at that time versus policy making.

Crown evaluation of the effectiveness of its own policies, and the extent to which its own agencies breach those policies is explored. The lack of control and accountability measures, plus the inability of the Crown to monitor (let alone sanction) success or failure, is highlighted. A contrast is drawn between the health and local government sectors, using the operation of the Resource Management Act (1991). 

The latest health sector reforms consequent on the 1999 Labour/Alliance coalition government are briefly considered, together with an overview of the Crown’s effectiveness in delivering improved Mäori health outcomes. The study suggests that the use of the Treaty as a cornerstone for Maori health policy formation and delivery may lead to more effective engagement between the Crown and Mäori in addressing Mäori health issues. The study concludes by asking the question, has the health sector reform process of the 1980s and 1990s itself been a Treaty breach?

A brief postscript considers the further reform of the health sector beyond the period of study.

text: Health reform and the impact on Mäori 1983-1997 This study investigates the New Zealand health sector reforms from 1983 to 1997and examines whether the reform process has been consistent with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. It evaluates the impact of the reforms on Mäori from that perspective. 

The study introduces the health sector reforms generally and then their specific effects on Mäori. It draws on two research exercises undertaken by the author, being research for the Wai 692 Napier Hospital and Health Services claim to the Waitangi Tribunal and on improving Mäori Health outcomes for the National Health Committee. The methodologies used are those from the discipline of history.

The study outlines the argument for Crown responsibilities under the Treaty and draws out the distinctions between Article 2 and Article 3 of the Treaty. It provides a historical background to the place of the Treaty in the health sector, and forms the basis for a Treaty based analysis of the health reforms and their impact. 

The New Zealand health sector has undergone massive government initiated structural change throughout the period under study. During this time the neo-liberal reforms have had a key role in reshaping health service structures. The process of change, the international influences on the changes, and the resulting entities are described. An example from Tainui Iwi of the effect of structural health reform illustrates the changes in Mäori health service provision by Mäori.
Since 1983 successive governments have produced copious Mäori health policy. The key policy documents, and their recommendations, are identified, as is the degree to which they were implemented. The cyclical nature of such policy making suggests that it is not always followed by policy implementation. While Mäori are identified as a health gain priority, the evidence reviewed shows that the responsibility to implement and monitor the policy is diffuse and ineffective.

The Wai 692 claim provides a detailed look at the impact of the 1990s health reform for Mäori. The claim was precipitated by the threatened closure of Napier Hospital, but was broadened to include a wide-ranging look at the impact of health reform on Mäori. As a case study it provides a specific example of one Iwi’s experience of the reality of policy implementation at that time versus policy making.

Crown evaluation of the effectiveness of its own policies, and the extent to which its own agencies breach those policies is explored. The lack of control and accountability measures, plus the inability of the Crown to monitor (let alone sanction) success or failure, is highlighted. A contrast is drawn between the health and local government sectors, using the operation of the Resource Management Act (1991). 

The latest health sector reforms consequent on the 1999 Labour/Alliance coalition government are briefly considered, together with an overview of the Crown’s effectiveness in delivering improved Mäori health outcomes. The study suggests that the use of the Treaty as a cornerstone for Maori health policy formation and delivery may lead to more effective engagement between the Crown and Mäori in addressing Mäori health issues. The study concludes by asking the question, has the health sector reform process of the 1980s and 1990s itself been a Treaty breach?

A brief postscript considers the further reform of the health sector beyond the period of study.

year: 2002