In this thesis, the evolution of adaptive behaviour in artificial agents is studied. More specifically, two types of adaptive behaviours are studied: articulated and cognitive ones. Chapter 1 presents a general introduction together with a brief presentation of the research area of this thesis, its main goals and a brief overview of the experimental studies done, the results and conclusions obtained. On chapter 2, I briefly present some promising methods that automatically generate robot controllers and/or body plans and potentially could help in the development of adaptive robots. Among these methods I present in details evolutionary robotics, a method inspired on natural evolution, and the biological background regarding adaptive behaviours in biological organisms, which provided inspiration for the studies presented in this thesis. On chapter 3, I present a detailed study regarding the evolution of articulated behaviours, i.e., behaviours that are organized in functional sub-parts, and that are combined and used in a sequential and context-dependent way, regardless if there is a structural division in the robot controller or not. The experiments performed with a single goal task, a cleaning task, showed that it is possible to evolve articulated behaviours even in this condition and without structural division of the robot controller. Also the analysis of the results showed that this type of integrated modular behaviours brought performance advantages compared to structural divided controllers. Analysis of robots' behaviours helped to clarify that the evolution of this type of behaviour depended on the characteristics of the neural network controllers and the robot's sensorimotor capacities, that in turn defined the capacity of the robot to generate opportunity for actions, which in psychological literature is often called affordances. In chapter 4, a study seeking to understand the role of reactive strategies in the evolution of cognitive solutions, i.e. those capable of integrating information over time encoding it on internal states that will regulate the robot's behaviour in the future, is presented. More specifically I tried to understand whether the existence of sub-optimal reactive strategies prevent the development of cognitive solutions, or they can promote the evolution of solutions capable of combining reactive strategies and the use of internal information for solving a response delayed task, the double t-maze. The results obtained showed that reactive strategies capable of offloading cognitive work to the agent/environmental relation can promote, rather than prevent the evolution of solutions relying on internal information. The analysis of these results clarified how these two mechanisms interact producing a hybrid superior and robust solution for the delayed response task.

Agricultural adaptation to climate change is often simulated by changes in land use over time. Land use is commonly optimised in economic models, which rests on the neoclassical economic assumption of rational choice among farmers. A wealth of experimental and empirical evidence demonstrates that rational choice can be a poor approximation of human decision making. Models simulating adaptation by optimising producers’ behaviour are in effect simulating adaptive potential. Much evidence demonstrates that adaptive potential does not necessarily translate into adaptation. This investigation focuses on the ways by which farmers’ real-world adaptive behaviours depart from those assumed by the dominant economic models of agricultural responses to climate change. These departures are characterised as adaptation constraints, and they are assessed through an empirical case study of adaptive behaviours in the Hikurangi catchment, New Zealand. Data are collected using a mixed methodology comprising an extensive survey of rural decision making, to which this study contributes, and a suite of semi-structured interviews. The interviews give an understanding of the origins and processes of adaptation constraints, while the surveys provide information about the extent to which they impact adaptive propensity. These adaptation constraints are then formalised as mathematical rules and written into an existing agent-based model of land use change, which is substantially modified for the purposes of this study. Different combinations of constraints are then tested in order to produce estimates of their economic impacts. The constraints on adaptation are found to significantly reduce profits relative to a specification that assumes rational choice among farmers. This is understood to be the first empirically derived estimate of the extent of the adaptation deficit. The size of the deficit identified in this study implies that current economic models are likely to significantly underestimate the costs of adaptation to climate change, the benefits of climate change mitigation, and the residual loss and damage climate change will cause.

This study addresses young children's involvement with comfort objects, including why children have them, how they are used, when attachments to such objects are cause for concern and how teachers and parents can respond to promote the young child's development. The child's becoming and development is examined in this study. The researcher also reviews major transitional object theories in terms of origin, development and psychological meaning. This study aims to explore this phenomenon from a psychological - educational perspective and to formulate a set of guidelines for parents and professionals whose children use comfort behaviour. Information was collated from case studies, a questionnaire and a detailed study of literature. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

The needs of the severely disabled, especially in communities where there is a paucity of professional manpower inspired this research aiming at the refinement and validation of a play package consisting of a daily multiple measurement instrument and a package of play activities for the facilitation of communication-related behaviours. This intervention programme is based on theoretical underpinnings derived from various scientific disciplines' explanations of sensorimotor, cognitive, communication and social-emotional development, as well as the role of play as a facilitator of childhood development. Within this theoretical context a model for the development of communication-related behaviours as adaptive responses is put forward. Through a process of operationalisation of the relevant constructs, observable behavioural indicators are identified and applied to the developmental needs of the intellectually impaired. Play is described as a tool for the facilitation and measurement of communication-related behaviours and within this framework an authentic daily multiple measurement instrument (DMMI) was developed and a package of play activities (previously developed) refined for validation through experimentation. The main aim of the empirical research was to validate the play package for the facilitation of communication-related skills by the refinement of the play package consisting of specifically selected activities and presentation methods during a pre-experimental phase, as well as experimentation to establish a cause-effect relationship between the activities and changes in single, gradually acquired behaviours of children with intellectual impairments. In the pre-experimental phase face and content validity were investigated by a group of experts who evaluated the daily multiple measurement instrument and the package of play activities, as well as the audio-visual recordings of the measurement and treatment of intellectually impaired children in two pilot studies. During the experimental phase construct and convergent validity were investigated. Data were collected from five intellectually impaired participants over an eight week period in which week 1 was used for pre-intervention measurements, weeks 2, 3 and 4 for intervention, week 5 for post-intervention measurements, weeks 6 and 7 for a period of withdrawal and week 8 for post-withdrawal measurements. External raters were involved to assure reliability and three additional authentic measurement instruments were included for the establishment of convergent validity. Based on the findings of the research face, content, construct and convergent validity of the play package was established, thus proving that the daily multiple measurement instrument measures the behaviour that it claims to measure and the package of play activities facilitates the development of communication-related behaviours that it claims to facilitate. A valid and reliable play package, catering for the individual needs of the heterogeneous population of disabled children, was thus established. The play package is structured in such a way that it can be applied by any member of a transdisciplinary team, and even (with some prior training) by non-professional caregivers and parents, thus alleviating the burden on a handful of professional therapists who cannot cope with the needs of the large population of severely disabled children. / Dissertation (PhD (Augmentative and Alternative Communication)--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC) / unrestricted

The aim of this study was to evaluate a 24-week support group intervention programme which was designed to enhance adaptive behaviour of latent-phase children affected by maternal HIV/Aids. The meta-theoretical paradigms underlying the study were pragmatism and realism. The study was embedded in a concurrent nested (QUALquan) mixed-method design. The quantitative approach in the main study followed a quasi-experimental research design whereas the qualitative approach in this study, contributing to the largest part of the analysis in the study, followed a nested multiple case study design. The theory-driven outcome programme evaluation model applied in this study was the integrative process/outcome evaluation approach. The participants (n=139) were purposefully selected from among previously identified HIV-positive women (n=220) with children between the ages of 6 and 10 years at clinics in the Tshwane region, South Africa. Data were collected over a period of five years in multiple waves of intervention implementation. Prolonged, in-depth engagement by the researcher with participants was prioritized. The data collection strategies comprised of mother-and-child psychological questionnaires, group process notes, careworker focus groups, quality assurance questionnaires and field notes. The data were quantitatively analysed by means of a paired-sample t-test for within-group comparisons and descriptive statistics were furthermore applied. The qualitative text and narration obtained through the interviews, documents and focus groups were coded and analysed for themes. The themes of the emergent concepts were re-coded to establish improved defined categories. The different data sampling strategies assisted the researcher in triangulating the data for increased evaluation reliability. The PhD-study was conducted within a broader longitudinal study on resilience in South African mothers and children affected by HIV/Aids – the Promoting Resilience in Young Children Study. The findings of the Child Support Group Evaluation Study (e.g. PhD) showed that the content, methods and processes employed in the group-based sessions were effective and culturally sensitive. The intervention sessions enhanced the children’s coping skills, internalised and externalised behaviour and daily living, communication and socialisation skills. The group provided a buffer for the children and supported them in coping with their mothers’ illness. The children displayed normative values through their religious coping styles, their quest for and display of respect and their unambiguous assertion of right and wrong. A specific finding of this study was that the children created a sphere or space in which to order their thoughts, behaviours and emotions within the intervention. This provided them with parameters in their adverse circumstances to display adaptive behaviour or resilience which they could use to function adequately. The study suggests that the use of support groups should be incorporated into intervention programmes dealing with latent-phase children affected by HIV/Aids. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

Mit einer Bevölkerung von 6,8 Millionen Menschen gehört der Großraum Hyderabad zu den am schnellsten wachsenden städtischen Agglomerationen Südindiens. Das zentrale Thema dieser Dissertation ist die Erforschung der Zusammenhänge zwischen der fortschreitenden Urbanisierung und dem strukturellen Wandel in der peri-urbanen Landwirtschaft im Großraum dieser Megacity Darüber hinaus ist die Erforschung der Sichtweisen und Einstellung der Landwirte zum Thema Nachhaltigkeit für die Arbeit von herausragendem Interesse: z.B., welche Bedeutung hat die Auswahl des Anbausystems auf die Wahl der Anpassungsstrategien? In einer umfassenden Literaturübersicht zum Thema Urbanisierung und peri-urbane Landwirtschaft werden verschiedene Theorien dahingehend analysiert, welche Aussagen sich zu den Auswirkungen der Urbanisierung auf die peri-urbane Landwirtschaft treffen lassen. Wichtige Einflussfaktoren des sich vollziehenden strukturellen Wandels werden herausgearbeitet und die gängigsten Anpassungsmaßnahmen der peri-urbanen Farmer (z.B. zusätzlicher Einsatz von Familienarbeitskräften oder Wechsel in die Nebenerwerbslandwirtschaft), sowie der damit verbundenen Umweltauswirkungen vorgestellt und erklärt. Zudem wird Fragen nachgegangen, wie sich mehr oder weniger nachhaltige Entscheidungen erklären lassen, welche Rolle bei der Umstellung auf nachhaltige Praktiken der Landwirtschaft die Nutzung sozialer Netzwerke wie Familie und Nachbarschaft oder die Mitgliedschaft in bäuerlichen Organisationen spielen. Die Arbeit kommt zu dem Ergebnis, dass infolge der ökologischen Umstellung sich intensivere Kooperationen (collective action) ergaben, die wiederum in Konsequenz sowohl ökologische als auch soziale Nachhaltigkeit förderten. Dies bestätigt die theoretische Annahme, dass wirksame gesellschaftliche Beteiligungen Schlüsselfunktionen für soziale Innovationen darstellen, die zukünftige Politikgestaltung in den Randgebieten von Hyderabad beeinflussen könnten. / This thesis explores the ramifications of rapid urbanization on food production in the urban periphery of Greater Hyderabad Area, Southern city of India. In addition this dissertations unpack the wider questions related understanding of sustainability and sustainable farming by the agricultural actors in the urban periphery. The literature review draws attention to the various theories, concepts and pathways of change across the globe. The results particularly focusing on the Indian context indicate that in peri-urban farming along with the increasing cost of production there is associated environmental impacts.To lower these costs, farmers also expanded family labour and resorted to part time farming. In general current developments in the land use of agriculturists indicate an unsustainable use of natural resources where small farms are disappearing and medium size farms are increasing. Also, there is much emphasis on understanding the farmers’ prioritization about the three dimensions of sustainability. Findings reveal that majority of them prioritized the economic criteria rather than environmental and social, where the social sustainability perhaps faded out in the urban peripheries. These results explains the completely different understanding (connotation as well as association) of the term sustainability in this dynamic setting. In the end this dissertation has found that ecological challenge procured community (collective action) and thus prompted environmental sustainability as well as social sustainability confirming the theoretical claim that collective action and effective community participation are core elements of social innovation which might help to shape future politics in Hyderabad’s urban fringes.