Unsupervised categorization is the task of classifying novel stimuli without external feedback or guidance, and is important for every day decisions such as deciding whether emails fall into 'interesting

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, and San Diego State University, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Speech Pathology and Audiology, 2003. / Title from first page of PDF document. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 66 p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 53-59).

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The current study investigated the developmental course of how young children label various facial expressions of emotion. 160 children (2 to 5 years) freely produced labels for six prototypical facial expressions of emotion and six animals. Even 2-year-olds were able to correctly label 5 of 6 animals, but the proportion of correct specific emotion category responses for this age group was < .30 for each of the six facial expressions. The 5-year-olds' proportion of correct specific emotion category labels was at ceiling for the happy and angry faces, but significantly lower for each of the other four facial expressions, and at floor level for the disgust face. The type of errors in labeling facial expressions changed with age: when incorrect, the youngest children produced any emotion label; older children produced labels of the correct valence; and the majority of the 5-year-olds' responses were of the correct specific emotion category. These results indicate that the free-labeling task per se is not too difficult even for 2-year-olds, but that children's use of emotion terms is not initially linked to facial expressions. Thus, the children's production of emotion terms far exceeded their proportion of correct specific emotion category labels. With age, children's implicit definition of emotion terms develops to include the associated facial expression, though this process is not complete for all expressions before the age of 6 years.

This study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of integrated art-science curricula upon remediation of the misconception held by elementary students that humans are not animals. Quantitative instruments were designed to measure and assess: (1) the existence of the misconception within the test population; (2) the degree to which the misconception existed within grade levels and treatment groups within grade levels; (3) the degree to which any positive level of remediation is achieved; and (4) evaluation of the experimental curricula by participating faculty. Qualitative instruments were applied to measure and assess the reasoning process applied by students for the formation of and any degree of change in the targeted misconception.Two hundred and forty-two students, in grades one, three and five, from a rural elementary school in east central Indiana participated. Enrolllment of students in individual classrooms was accomplished by administration policy of random assignment. Classrooms, by grade level, were randomly assigned to treatment groups by the researcher.Students in control groups at each grade level were instructed according to established curricula of the school. Students in experimental animal science groups were instructed through specifically designed hands-on science activities with the art component being the school's established curriculum. Students in experimental animal art groups were instructed according to specifically designed art activities incorporating observations made during science lessons, with the science component being the school's established curriculum. Students in the both treatment groups received instruction combining the experimental animal science and experimental animal art curricula.Results indicated that students instructed from the experimental curricula demonstrated remediation of the misconception, with students in the both treatment groups of each grade level demonstrating the highest degree of remediation. Students in control groups failed to demonstrate any level of significant remediation while actually demonstrating an increase in the degree to which the misconception was held.Implications presented by the data indicate interdisciplinary approaches to learning to be far more effective in establishing higher levels of comprehension and understanding. Through the combination of the innate behaviorial characteristics of elementary students and the connecting relationships of academic disciplines, presentation of instructional materials will generate higher levels of interest and enthusiasm within both students and teachers. The resultant effect being a more positive learning environment and an increase in achievement. / Department of Biology

Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-139). Also available via World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2008. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Thesis (M.A.)--Kent State University, 2006. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed June 12, 2007). Advisor: William E. Merriman. Keywords: language development, language, word learning, form, function, shape bias, function neglect. Includes survey instruments. Includes bibliographical references (p. 35-39).

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University, 1995. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Joan Dye Gussow. Dissertation Committee: Isobel Contento. Includes bibliographical references (187-202).