title: Active templates: Manipulating pointers with pictures

authors: Lyons, Paul J.

subjects: computer science

abstract: Active templates are a semi-automatic visual mechanism for generating algorithms for manipulating pointer-based data structures. The programmer creates a picture showing the affected part of a data structure before and after a general-case manipulation. Code for the operation is compiled directly from the picture, which also provides the development environment with enough information to generate, automatically, a series of templates for other similar pictures, each describing a different configuration which the data structure may possess. The programmer completes the algorithm by creating matching after-pictures for each of these cases.
At every stage, most of the picture-generation is automatic. Much of the tedious detail of conventional pointer-based data-structure manipulation, such as maintenance of current pointers, is unnecessary in a system based on active templates.

text: Active templates: Manipulating pointers with pictures Active templates are a semi-automatic visual mechanism for generating algorithms for manipulating pointer-based data structures. The programmer creates a picture showing the affected part of a data structure before and after a general-case manipulation. Code for the operation is compiled directly from the picture, which also provides the development environment with enough information to generate, automatically, a series of templates for other similar pictures, each describing a different configuration which the data structure may possess. The programmer completes the algorithm by creating matching after-pictures for each of these cases.
At every stage, most of the picture-generation is automatic. Much of the tedious detail of conventional pointer-based data-structure manipulation, such as maintenance of current pointers, is unnecessary in a system based on active templates.

year: 1994

title: Operant Methodology Out Of The Lab and Applied To Enrichment With Captive Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes)

authors: Vivian, Melanie

subjects: operant methodology

abstract: A group of socially-housed chimpanzees, maintained in a zoo facility, were given the opportunity to access each of several purpose-designed and built enrichment items. Each item was made freely available in the chimpanzees' regular setting, with their normal activities available. The time members of the group spent engaging with each item gave an assessment of their relative preference for the items. The group were shown to have the greatest preference for a foraging enrichment item (Screwfeeder) and the least preference for an audiovisual enrichment item (TV/Video). Individual preferences for the items were evident. The chimpanzees were then taught to operate a weighted lever to get access to an item. Once all chimpanzees had operated the lever for access to the items, the number of lever operations required for access to each item was systematically doubled over a series of 3 hr sessions until the chimpanzees did not gain any access to that item for two consecutive sessions. One item was presented for two series of increases. The group response rates for an item increased with increased response requirement and then decreased with further increases, reflecting data from individuals in other research. The highest response requirement that maintained the group behaviour differed over the items. The number of times an item was accessed (consumption) was plotted against the response requirement (price) on logarithmic coordinates. Lines fitted to the data (demand functions) were shallowest for a foraging enrichment (Screwfeeder) and steepest for the audio enrichment (Musicbox). There were not enough data points to fit a function for the audiovisual enrichment. Differences in individual's demand within the group were evident. In general, the rank order of preference for the items and the rank order based on the parameters of the demand functions (slope or elasticity and initial intensity) was broadly the same. Three individual chimpanzees were exposed to two series of increasing response requirement for access to the Screwfeeder whilst housed alone, in one hour sessions. Response rates were again bitonic and the linear demand functions for these individuals were steeper (more elastic) than the functions fitted to data for group responding and differed idiosyncratically from the data for these individual when responding as part of the group. Thus the change of social setting had a different impact on the behaviour of each of the individuals. These results show that an animals‟ demand for a commodity is altered by the environment in which it is tested.
ii
Overall the research provides the first example of operant methodology in a zoo setting with a group of chimpanzees. It is also the first research to show differential responding for access to different enrichment items by a group and how this relates to their preference (based on time allocation) for those items.

text: Operant Methodology Out Of The Lab and Applied To Enrichment With Captive Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes) A group of socially-housed chimpanzees, maintained in a zoo facility, were given the opportunity to access each of several purpose-designed and built enrichment items. Each item was made freely available in the chimpanzees' regular setting, with their normal activities available. The time members of the group spent engaging with each item gave an assessment of their relative preference for the items. The group were shown to have the greatest preference for a foraging enrichment item (Screwfeeder) and the least preference for an audiovisual enrichment item (TV/Video). Individual preferences for the items were evident. The chimpanzees were then taught to operate a weighted lever to get access to an item. Once all chimpanzees had operated the lever for access to the items, the number of lever operations required for access to each item was systematically doubled over a series of 3 hr sessions until the chimpanzees did not gain any access to that item for two consecutive sessions. One item was presented for two series of increases. The group response rates for an item increased with increased response requirement and then decreased with further increases, reflecting data from individuals in other research. The highest response requirement that maintained the group behaviour differed over the items. The number of times an item was accessed (consumption) was plotted against the response requirement (price) on logarithmic coordinates. Lines fitted to the data (demand functions) were shallowest for a foraging enrichment (Screwfeeder) and steepest for the audio enrichment (Musicbox). There were not enough data points to fit a function for the audiovisual enrichment. Differences in individual's demand within the group were evident. In general, the rank order of preference for the items and the rank order based on the parameters of the demand functions (slope or elasticity and initial intensity) was broadly the same. Three individual chimpanzees were exposed to two series of increasing response requirement for access to the Screwfeeder whilst housed alone, in one hour sessions. Response rates were again bitonic and the linear demand functions for these individuals were steeper (more elastic) than the functions fitted to data for group responding and differed idiosyncratically from the data for these individual when responding as part of the group. Thus the change of social setting had a different impact on the behaviour of each of the individuals. These results show that an animals‟ demand for a commodity is altered by the environment in which it is tested.
ii
Overall the research provides the first example of operant methodology in a zoo setting with a group of chimpanzees. It is also the first research to show differential responding for access to different enrichment items by a group and how this relates to their preference (based on time allocation) for those items.

year: 2008

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