title: Catania's Concept of the Operant Revisited: Empirical Analysis of Response Variation and Controlling Contingencies

authors: Oliver, Gary Kelson

subjects: Operant

abstract: Six Shaver‐Starcross hens with no prior experimental experience served as participants in two experiments which were designed to empirically test Catania's concept of the operant. The stimulus consisted of a cream coloured rectangle against a black background shown on a standard LCD computer monitor. An infrared touch screen mounted to the front of the LCD monitor recorded the location of all responses made by the participants. Experiment one consisted of autoshaping the rectangle pecking response. This was done using an automated computer program designed to eliminate latencies between responses and reinforcement, as well as positional biases which may have been introduced via manual autoshaping. The program successfully eliminated latencies and positional biases introduced by the experimenter, but took longer than anticipated to autoshape the desired response in the participants. It is suggested that procedural differences account for the unusual length of time taken to autoshape the participants in this experiment. Preliminary inquiry investigating procedural differences shows that it may be possible to model speed of acquisition more accurately than done so at present, without retrospective analysis of the acquisition data itself. In experiment two the active, reinforced zone of the rectangle was reduced. The participants had no visible cue demarcating active and inactive zones of the rectangle, yet in accordance with Catania's operant, responding across all participants came to fall within the active, reinforced zone of the rectangle. The results; shifts in response distributions in relation to the changes in contingencies, offer empirical support for Catania's operant in terms of positive reinforcement across a single parameter of responding. The implications of these findings imply that when variability in responding is important; for example in learning, exploring, creating, and problem solving, Catania's operant may be favourable over Skinner's operant as a vehicle for identifying and controlling variables associated with behavioural outcomes due to its greater topographical inclusivity. Contemporary behavioural analysis favours a behavioural systems approach where the respondent and operant class distinction merges; the environment affects the organism as much as the organism affects the environment. Catania's operant is complementary to behavioural analysis in this vein.

text: Catania's Concept of the Operant Revisited: Empirical Analysis of Response Variation and Controlling Contingencies Six Shaver‐Starcross hens with no prior experimental experience served as participants in two experiments which were designed to empirically test Catania's concept of the operant. The stimulus consisted of a cream coloured rectangle against a black background shown on a standard LCD computer monitor. An infrared touch screen mounted to the front of the LCD monitor recorded the location of all responses made by the participants. Experiment one consisted of autoshaping the rectangle pecking response. This was done using an automated computer program designed to eliminate latencies between responses and reinforcement, as well as positional biases which may have been introduced via manual autoshaping. The program successfully eliminated latencies and positional biases introduced by the experimenter, but took longer than anticipated to autoshape the desired response in the participants. It is suggested that procedural differences account for the unusual length of time taken to autoshape the participants in this experiment. Preliminary inquiry investigating procedural differences shows that it may be possible to model speed of acquisition more accurately than done so at present, without retrospective analysis of the acquisition data itself. In experiment two the active, reinforced zone of the rectangle was reduced. The participants had no visible cue demarcating active and inactive zones of the rectangle, yet in accordance with Catania's operant, responding across all participants came to fall within the active, reinforced zone of the rectangle. The results; shifts in response distributions in relation to the changes in contingencies, offer empirical support for Catania's operant in terms of positive reinforcement across a single parameter of responding. The implications of these findings imply that when variability in responding is important; for example in learning, exploring, creating, and problem solving, Catania's operant may be favourable over Skinner's operant as a vehicle for identifying and controlling variables associated with behavioural outcomes due to its greater topographical inclusivity. Contemporary behavioural analysis favours a behavioural systems approach where the respondent and operant class distinction merges; the environment affects the organism as much as the organism affects the environment. Catania's operant is complementary to behavioural analysis in this vein.

year: 2009

title: The year after: sustaining the effects of literacy professional development in New Zealand secondary schools

authors: Whitehead, David

subjects: literacy practices

abstract: This paper describes some key characteristics of two secondary schools that were able to sustain benefits accrued from funded, externally facilitated literacy professional development intervention, during the year after facilitation had ceased. Characteristics that, together, signal a school with the potential to sustain gains in understanding about learning and literacy included the role of key people in building a critical mass community of practice, the theoretical and learner-focused nature of professional learning sessions built around an inquiry cycle, the use of intellectual resources focused more broadly on learning rather than literacy and the use of literacy data to facilitate evidence-based teaching.

text: The year after: sustaining the effects of literacy professional development in New Zealand secondary schools This paper describes some key characteristics of two secondary schools that were able to sustain benefits accrued from funded, externally facilitated literacy professional development intervention, during the year after facilitation had ceased. Characteristics that, together, signal a school with the potential to sustain gains in understanding about learning and literacy included the role of key people in building a critical mass community of practice, the theoretical and learner-focused nature of professional learning sessions built around an inquiry cycle, the use of intellectual resources focused more broadly on learning rather than literacy and the use of literacy data to facilitate evidence-based teaching.

year: 2010

title: He maimoa i ngā whakatupuranga anamata: Ko te mātauranga taketake o ngā tūpuna me te whakarea tamariki

authors: Greensill, Hineitimoana

subjects: Poipoi tamariki

abstract: Kua āraua ki roto i te reo me ngā pūnaha mātauranga o ngā iwi taketake, ko ngā uara, ko ngā whakapono me ngā rapunga whakaaro e toko ake nei i tērā iwi. Kia whakahoropakitia tēnei ki roto o Aotearoa me Hawai‘i, i te whakaekenga o ō tātou kāinga tupu e ngā taua a te Pākehā me ngā tāmi o ngā tikanga whakawhenumi a te Kāwanantanga o muri, i tauwhatia ai te tuku o te reo Māori me te ‘ōlelo (reo) o Hawai‘i i waenga i ngā whakatupuranga, waihoki ko ngā māramatanga pūmau o roto i ngā reo i tauwhatia ai (Walker, 2004; Blaisdell & Mokuau, 1991). Ahakoa ēnei tauwhatinga, ka pupuri tonu tātou ki ngā karere i mau rā i te reo i roto i ngā ngā pātaka mātauranga a te Māori me nā kānaka (ngā tāngata) o Hawai‘i. Ko te mātauranga taketake, ngā kōrero o nehe me ngā ariā e āraua nei ki ngā tuhituhinga-ā-waha huhua, tae atu ki ngā whakataukī, ngā ‘ōlelo no‘eau, me ngā kīanga rongonui i tāngia hoki ki te pepa (Pukui, 1983). Ko te ia o ēnei momo kōrero tuku-iho taketake nei kei te kōrerotia i roto i ngā whakataukī me ngā ‘ōlelo no‘eau, he mea whakaara anō tēnei mātauranga ki ngā kaupapa whakaora reo ki Aotearoa me Hawai‘i. He momo mātauranga ēnei hei whakaara i a tātou kia mārama rawa ki ngā kano tirohanga o ō tātou tūpuna ki tō rātou ao, waihoki ko ngā hononga maha e paihere nei i a tātou ki ō tātou whanaunga.

Hei whāinga matua e āta arohaehae ana tēnei pepa i ngā momo tuhituhinga-ā-waha nei, arā ko te ‘ōlelo no‘eau me te whakataukī, kia tīroua ake ngā karere e hāngai ana ki ngā tamariki a te Māori rātou ko ngā kānaka o Hawai‘i me ngā pānga ki ngā mahi whakatupu tamariki o mua. Ka toro tēnei tuhinga ki te whakataukī me te ‘ōlelo no‘eau ki te whakapuaki i te mātauranga i mahue mai i ngā tūpuna hei rei arataki mā tātou ngā iwi taketake me ō tātou wheako tonu o nāianei.

text: He maimoa i ngā whakatupuranga anamata: Ko te mātauranga taketake o ngā tūpuna me te whakarea tamariki Kua āraua ki roto i te reo me ngā pūnaha mātauranga o ngā iwi taketake, ko ngā uara, ko ngā whakapono me ngā rapunga whakaaro e toko ake nei i tērā iwi. Kia whakahoropakitia tēnei ki roto o Aotearoa me Hawai‘i, i te whakaekenga o ō tātou kāinga tupu e ngā taua a te Pākehā me ngā tāmi o ngā tikanga whakawhenumi a te Kāwanantanga o muri, i tauwhatia ai te tuku o te reo Māori me te ‘ōlelo (reo) o Hawai‘i i waenga i ngā whakatupuranga, waihoki ko ngā māramatanga pūmau o roto i ngā reo i tauwhatia ai (Walker, 2004; Blaisdell & Mokuau, 1991). Ahakoa ēnei tauwhatinga, ka pupuri tonu tātou ki ngā karere i mau rā i te reo i roto i ngā ngā pātaka mātauranga a te Māori me nā kānaka (ngā tāngata) o Hawai‘i. Ko te mātauranga taketake, ngā kōrero o nehe me ngā ariā e āraua nei ki ngā tuhituhinga-ā-waha huhua, tae atu ki ngā whakataukī, ngā ‘ōlelo no‘eau, me ngā kīanga rongonui i tāngia hoki ki te pepa (Pukui, 1983). Ko te ia o ēnei momo kōrero tuku-iho taketake nei kei te kōrerotia i roto i ngā whakataukī me ngā ‘ōlelo no‘eau, he mea whakaara anō tēnei mātauranga ki ngā kaupapa whakaora reo ki Aotearoa me Hawai‘i. He momo mātauranga ēnei hei whakaara i a tātou kia mārama rawa ki ngā kano tirohanga o ō tātou tūpuna ki tō rātou ao, waihoki ko ngā hononga maha e paihere nei i a tātou ki ō tātou whanaunga.

Hei whāinga matua e āta arohaehae ana tēnei pepa i ngā momo tuhituhinga-ā-waha nei, arā ko te ‘ōlelo no‘eau me te whakataukī, kia tīroua ake ngā karere e hāngai ana ki ngā tamariki a te Māori rātou ko ngā kānaka o Hawai‘i me ngā pānga ki ngā mahi whakatupu tamariki o mua. Ka toro tēnei tuhinga ki te whakataukī me te ‘ōlelo no‘eau ki te whakapuaki i te mātauranga i mahue mai i ngā tūpuna hei rei arataki mā tātou ngā iwi taketake me ō tātou wheako tonu o nāianei.

year: 2017