A descriptive -exploratory study on the influences of age and sex on the food preferences of preschool children was undertaken to add to the knowledge of the effects of self-selection on the foods chosen and the order in which they were eaten. Twenty-eight preschool children (fourteen two-year-olds and fourteen four and one-half-year-olds) were given two trials in which they named, selected, and ate foods from a predetermined array of seven food items. The results indicate that there is a difference in the order in which the children of this study ate the food items. Both age groups selected candy first, however, the older children revealed the more middle-class value of deferred gratification by saving the candy to eat until last, while the younger children revealed the more immature tendency toward immediate gratification by eating the candy first. Another finding was that sex appeared to be a factor in the order in which foods were selected and eaten. Boys ate candy first twice as many times as girls ate candy first. While the older boys saved candy until last significantly more than the younger boys, the older girls saved candy until last significantly more than the older boys. The girls showed more maturity than the boys in this study. The other finding was that for naming the food items, the girls were able to name more items correctly than were the boys, suggesting faster language development among girls. Also age was a factor in naming the food items. The older children named more of the foods and answered rapidly, while the younger children were slower in giving names to the foods and seemed to depend frequently on touch to help confirm their identification.

The primary function of a nursery school is to educate children, or to provide opportunities for them to learn about their environment, their relationships, and their own selves. The most crucial part of the learning situation in the nursery school is the teacher, whose task it is to promote learning through provision of a variety of experiences by means of which children can discover themselves and begin to relate to the world and to other people.

The purpose of this study was to assess the concurrent validity of the JAPQ in predicting the work output and tenure levels of persons employed in the occupation of Data Entry Operator-Financial Keyer. Three separate hypotheses were tested: (1) JAPQ-D2 differences based on employee tenure and output loads; (2) JAPQ dimension preference differences, which may not be reflected in JAPQ-D2 scores; and, (3) the relationship between employee tenure and employee output. Separate research questions focused on the applicability of the JAPQ in predicting employee tenure and employee output, based on multiple regression results. Sixty financial keyers were administered the JAPQ for comparison against a concurrent PAQ job analysis. For hypothesis testing, the subjects were separated into four groups according to tenure or output. No differences were found in the overall JAPQ-D2 score, comparing "high" (D2 = 6.53) vs. "low" (D2 = 6.60) output keyers and "long" (JAPQ-D2 = 6.26) vs. "short" (D2 = 7.16) tenured keyers. The keyer dimension profiles were highly similar, as indicated by positive correlations in the ranking of JAPQ dimension preferences for "high" vs. "low" output keyers (rho = .962; p ≥ .001) and for "long" vs. "short" tenured keyers (rho = .979; p ≥ .001). No relationship was found between keyer tenure and keyer output (r = .088; df = 58). When viewing the data incorporated in this area, two employees with extensive tenure and below average output appeared to have skewed the data. The data for these two employees was deleted and a second correlation was completed, resulting in a positive relationship between keyer tenure and keyer output (r = .426; df = 56; p < .01). Multiple regressions of JAPQ dimensions indicated promising predictability for "high output" keyers (adjusted R = .335; p ≥ .01) and for "long tenured" keyers (adjusted R = .433; ≥ .001). All results were discussed in respect to use of the JAPQ as an instrument for use in the personnel office. Recommendations for similar research is also mentioned.

Assessing preference for stimuli has been shown to be of value when determining potential reinforcers for individuals with disabilities. Researchers have found that preference for forms of social interaction can be identified for persons with disabilities. Furthermore, these same social interactions can be used as reinforcers for these same persons. This study conceptualized different languages as different types of social interactions. Assessing preference for languages may be of use to identify forms of social reinforcement that can be used with English Language Learners (ELLs) with disabilities. Identifying reinforcers may be of value for this population to inform how to structure language supports in their environment. Five ELLs with disabilities between the ages of 10 and 17 years old participated in the study. We conducted a paired-stimulus preference assessment for specific language praise statements in English and Spanish to determine the language in which the participants preferred praise. Following the preference assessment, we conducted a concurrent-chains reinforcer assessment to determine reinforcing efficacy of praise in each language. We found two of five participants preferred Spanish praise to English praise. Three of five participants’ preference was undifferentiated between Spanish and English praise. For four of the five participants praise in different languages functioned as a reinforcer. All participants’ preference assessments predicted, to a degree, the results of their reinforcer assessments. From these results we concluded our paired stimulus preference assessment was effective for evaluating preference for different types of praise. Preference was also indicative of reinforcing efficacy of praise.

The effect of time on taste threshold was examined in 30 diabetics and 30 control subjects (ages 22-30) who had participated in a sensory study 14 years previously. Detection and recognition taste thresholds for sweet (sucrose), salty (sodium chloride), sour (citric acid), and bitter (quinine sulfate) were assessed using triangle testing. Food preferences related to concentration of the stimuli in model food systems were tested using a nine-point hedonic scale. Mashed potatoes were used as the carrier for different levels of salt. A beverage composed of water, sucrose, and citric acid was varied to measure preferences for sweet and sour tastes. Demographic, health status, and selected dietary and food consumption information were also obtained. In the initial study, the diabetic group had higher detection and recognition thresholds for sweet, salty, and bitter stimuli than the control group. Although the control group still had lower thresholds for most of the stimuli (except for recognition of sour and salty), the majority of the diabetics either remained at their same taste sensitivity or improved their ability to perceive the stimuli over the 14-year period. With the exception of recognition of bitter by diabetics, both groups improved in their ability to identify taste sensations with age. Overall, the diabetic group became better at detecting sweet, sour, and salty taste stimuli between 1977 and 1991. They also became more sensitive to recognizing sweet and salty taste stimuli. For each set of food samples, a significant relationship existed between rating and sample. Samples with moderate levels of sodium chloride, citric acid, or sucrose were the most preferred . There was not a significant difference between the diabetic and control groups in their rating of the samples. Diabetic and control groups did not rate the samples significantly different. Additionally, threshold was not related significantly with rating of mashed potato samples or beverage-sour solutions. However, sucrose recognition thresholds and preference for sucrose concentration in beverage-sweet solutions were significantly related. Subjects with higher threshold values tended to rate the samples with higher concentrations of sucrose higher. There were no noteworthy correlations between the reported levels of salt consumption and salt thresholds, between sugar consumption and sucrose thresholds, nor between liking sour foods and citric acid thresholds.

For many educators, finding enough time to complete all that is require of them is a daily challenge. Those in special education have the added burden of making sure that their staff members are highly trained in the skills required to work effectively with students. There are many different ways to train staff members, one of which is using a video model. This study looked at the effects of video modeling alone on the training of staff members to use the multiple stimulus without replacement preference assessment. The participants in this study were paraprofessionals who work with preschool students who had a variety of disabilities. Data were collected on how well staff members were able to perform necessary skills to conduct the preference assessment before and after watching a video model. The results of this study showed that staff members could learn a new skill with the use of video modeling as a training tool. Using video modeling as a training tool is an effective way to save educators time while still ensuring that students are benefited.

With aging, there is a putative loss of taste and smell that may lead to decreased food enjoyment. We determined the relationships among age, detection, and recognition thresholds for taste and smell, and preference for flavored milk. Ninety young (20-40 years) and 90 elderly (over 64 years) subjects evaluated chocolate mint-, lemon-, or strawberry-flavored milk. Detection and recognition thresholds were determined for sucrose and for the assigned flavor in milk systems. Sucrose was dissolved in milk, and flavors were dispersed in milk with flavor identification. Preference was determined using a 9-point hedonic scale to evaluate all combinations of five sucrose and five flavor levels in milk. Subjects also answered a questionnaire regarding individual chemosensory function, sweet beverage enjoyment, general perception of food flavors, and circumstances that might influence their taste and smell function. Compared to young, elderly had higher detection and recognition thresholds for the tastant sucrose for the olfactants lemon and strawberry, and for the olfactory/trigeminal stimulant of chocolate mint in milk systems. This suggest elderly have lower chemosensory function regarding taste, smell, and trigeminal sense. Differences between detection and recognition thresholds were larger for elderly than for young subjects, especially for flavors, implying cognitive as well as sensory losses with aging. Despite lower chemosensory function, elderly did not report greater taste or smell dysfunction. The loss of chemosensory function may be too gradual to be noticed. Elderly also did not complain about foods and beverages more than young. Most said foods in general were "just right The loss of chemosensory function with aging may not be great enough to alter food perception. Elderly preferred equal or lower levels of sucrose and flavors. In addition, high detection and recognition thresholds were not related to preference for higher levels of any stimulant. Elderly also did not make more comments regarding flavor weakness. The active, healthy elderly probably do not require increased flavor levels for optimal food enjoyment.

Cette thèse introduit un cadre d’analyse multirésolution pour les données de classements. Initiée au 18e siècle dans le contexte d’élections, l’analyse des données de classements a attiré un intérêt majeur dans de nombreux domaines de la littérature scientifique : psychométrie, statistiques, économie, recherche opérationnelle, apprentissage automatique ou choix social computationel entre autres. Elle a de plus été revitalisée par des applications modernes comme les systèmes de recommandation, où le but est d’inférer les préférences des utilisateurs pour leur proposer les meilleures suggestions personnalisées. Dans ces contextes, les utilisateurs expriment leurs préférences seulement sur des petits sous-ensembles d’objets variant au sein d’un large catalogue. L’analyse de tels classements incomplets pose cependant un défi important, tant du point de vue statistique que computationnel, poussant les acteurs industriels à utiliser des méthodes qui n’exploitent qu’une partie de l’information disponible. Cette thèse introduit une nouvelle représentation pour les données, qui surmonte par construction ce double défi. Bien qu’elle repose sur des résultats de combinatoire et de topologie algébrique, ses nombreuses analogies avec l’analyse multirésolution en font un cadre naturel et efficace pour l’analyse des classements incomplets. Ne faisant aucune hypothèse sur les données, elle mène déjà à des estimateurs au-delà de l’état-de-l’art pour des petits catalogues d’objets et peut être combinée avec de nombreuses procédures de régularisation pour des larges catalogues. Pour toutes ces raisons, nous croyons que cette représentation multirésolution ouvre la voie à de nombreux développements et applications futurs. / This thesis introduces a multiresolution analysis framework for ranking data. Initiated in the 18th century in the context of elections, the analysis of ranking data has attracted a major interest in many fields of the scientific literature : psychometry, statistics, economics, operations research, machine learning or computational social choice among others. It has been even more revitalized by modern applications such as recommender systems, where the goal is to infer users preferences in order to make them the best personalized suggestions. In these settings, users express their preferences only on small and varying subsets of a large catalog of items. The analysis of such incomplete rankings poses however both a great statistical and computational challenge, leading industrial actors to use methods that only exploit a fraction of available information. This thesis introduces a new representation for the data, which by construction overcomes the two aforementioned challenges. Though it relies on results from combinatorics and algebraic topology, it shares several analogies with multiresolution analysis, offering a natural and efficient framework for the analysis of incomplete rankings. As it does not involve any assumption on the data, it already leads to overperforming estimators in small-scale settings and can be combined with many regularization procedures for large-scale settings. For all those reasons, we believe that this multiresolution representation paves the way for a wide range of future developments and applications

The Nilgiri tahr (Hemitragus hylocrius) is an endangered mountain ungulate endemic to the Western Ghats in South India. I studied the status and ecology of the Nilgiri tahr in the Mukurthi National Park, from January 1993 to December 1995. To determine the status of this tahr population, I conducted foot surveys, total counts, and a three-day census and estimated that this population contained about 150 tahr. Tahr were more numerous in the north sector than the south sector of the park. Age-specific mortality rates in this population were higher than in other tahr populations. I conducted deterministic computer simulations to determine the persistence of this population. I estimated that under current conditions, this population will persist for 22 years. When the adult mortality was reduced from 0.40 to 0.17, the modeled population persisted for more than 200 years. Tahr used grasslands that were close to cliffs (p <0.0001), far from roads (p <0.0001), far from shola forests (p <0.01), and far from commercial forestry plantations (p <0.001). Based on these criteria I mapped the suitability of tahr habitat using a GIS and estimated that only 20% of the park area had >50% chance of being used by tahr. I used the GIS to simulate several management options to improve the quality of tahr habitat. Suitable habitat for tahr increased two-fold when roads within the park were closed to vehicular access. Similarly, removal of commercial forestry plantations also resulted in a two-fold increase of suitable habitat, and finally when both road access was restricted and commercial forests were removed, suitable tahr habitat increased three-fold. I used micro-histological analysis on tahr fecal pellets to determine food habits. Grasses constituted 64.2% of their diet. Five plant species (Eulalia phaeothrix, Chrysopogon zeylanicus, Ischaemum rugosum, Andropogon sp., and Carex sp.) accounted for 84.6% of the tahr' diet. These species were found in higher densities in the grasslands of the north sector than the south sector of the park (p <0.001). Predators such as leopard (Panthera pardus) and tiger (Panthera tigris), killed and consumed tahr. Tahr constituted 56% of the leopards' diet and 6% of the tigers' diet. I estimated that leopards and tigers in the park killed and consumed 30 to 60 tahr per year, and this accounted for 19% to 38% of the tahr population. The tahr population in the park has undergone a decline, possible causes for this decline includes high mortality from predation and poaching and loss of habitat. / Ph. D.

Deficits in conversation skills can be one barrier to developing and maintaining relationships for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Individuals with ASD may deter conversation partners if they do not stay on topic or if they dwell on topics. Several interventions have been identified in targeting the reduction of problematic (off-topic or perseverative) speech, and withheld attention for its occurrence. In addition to leveraging attention as a reinforcer, one study provided signaled access to preferred topics contingent on talking about non-perseverative or therapist-selected topics. Despite showing clear improvements in on-topic speech and stimulus control of preferred topics, little is known about the additive effects of including contingent access to preferred topics. A free operant assessment was used to evaluate participant preference for including access to preferred topics. The results indicated that participants preferred the proposed intervention with access to a leisure item.