Thesis--University of Florida. / Description based on print version record. Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-105).

The development of mathematical concepts in children has been studied by many researchers. Much of this research has focused on the concept of conservation which was introduced by Piaget. It has generally been assumed that children under the age of five years are not capable of such conservation. Some recent evidence suggests that children Wlder this age do conserve on particular tasks. In this study one hundred children from age two years four months to three years seven months were tested for conservation of discontinuous and continuous quantity. Although some evidence of conservation in this age range was obtained, no consistent pattern emerged. An edible dough was used, so that both verbal (noneating) and nonverbal (eating) responses were recorded for children of these ages. A three-factor analysis of variance showed that there were no significant effects from age, eating/noneating, or continuous/discontinuous variables. However, there was a significant but puzzling interaction between the ccnt.inuous/discontinuous and eating/noneating factors.

<p> Marine resources are characteristically patchy and concealed beneath the surface of a "featureless" ocean, which makes facilitative species interactions especially advantageous to seabirds. My research addresses how behavioral mechanisms accommodate prey availability, or more specifically, how common (<i>Sterna hirundo</i>) and roseate terns (<i>S. dougallii </i>) locate and access food when it is not easily detectable. I study their foraging behavior and ecology from pre- to post-breeding, offshore in the pelagic realm (chapter 1), around the colony (chapter 2), and in nearshore waters (chapter 3). My first chapter tests the hypothesis that, as broadly-ranging seabirds, common and roseate terns forage over habitat where marine mammals and predatory fish help to find and access prey. I quantify the spatial association among foraging terns, tunas, dolphins, and their habitat, using Bayesian hierarchical models, and tests of behavioral community interactions. Facilitation explains how terns benefit from subsurface predators through local enhancement and commensal relationships: foraging tunas improve the detection and availability of prey by signaling their presence, and driving them to the surface. Chapter 2 evaluates the link between resource utilization and foraging strategy, measured by nest provisioning and patterns among foraging routes or feeding flocks. I propose that the opportunistic generalists, common terns, depend more on social cues than the specialists, roseate terns, which rely more heavily on spatial memory to find predictable prey. The results support this and suggest that increased breeding and foraging success in roseate terns relates to higher quality and abundance in their preferred prey, sandlance (<i>Ammodytes </i> spp.); in contrast, common terns seem to endure prey limitation through their use of local enhancement. In my third chapter, I hypothesize that habitat variability and prey availability predict interspecific differences in tern foraging. Behavioral tests and density-surface models, with distance sampling, show that foraging common and roseate terns respond positively to the distribution and abundance of each other and their preferred prey. Clearly, common and roseate terns use conspecifics, heterospecifics and subsurface predators to encounter prey via facilitation: such interactions create dynamic hotspots that need to be considered in an ecosystem approach to marine spatial planning.</p>

<p> Factors associated with rank position are poorly understood whereas even fewer studies assessed if benefits were associated with increased rank position when resources were unlimited. I assessed whether age, body mass, size, and testosterone levels were important in rank establishment among 132 captive female white-tailed deer (<i>Odocoileus virginianus</i>. I also assessed if the benefit metrics of improved body condition, decreased stress level, and earlier parturition date were related to rank position. Deer in each of 9 study pens had a linear hierarchy with a mean h' of 0.39 (SD = 0.09). Rank position was moderately related to age (P &lt; 0.1) and was strongly related to body mass and size (P &lt; 0.01). There was no relationship between benefit metrics and rank position (P &lt; 0.1). Although increased body mass, size, and age improved rank position there were no benefits associated with increased rank when resources were unlimited.</p>

<p> Abstract As invasive predators spread across landscapes, their sudden presence may have significant effects on the behavior patterns of their new found prey. Here, I examined how predator-naive foxes responded to colonization by non-native golden eagles on Santa Cruz Island, California. First, using radio-telemetry, I investigated the effects of this diurnal, aerial predator on fox activity patterns. In 1992, just prior to the arrival of golden eagles, foxes showed substantial diurnal activity, but diurnal activity was 37.0% lower in 2003-7, after golden eagle colonization; concurrently, overall activity declined and nocturnal activity increased. Moreover, on nearby Santa Catalina Island, where golden eagles were absent but where the fox population recently crashed due to a disease epidemic, remaining foxes were significantly more diurnally active than were those on Santa Cruz Island. The weight of evidence suggested that the change in activity pattern was a response to predation, not to low population density, and that this was probably a heritable, rather than a learned, behavioral trait. Second, I used radio-telemetry, camera traps, sightings to investigate spatial patterns and habitat use in the wake of eagle colonization. When comparing pre- and post-colonization conditions, foxes demonstrated an inverse home range-density relationship, as fox core areas and home ranges expanded significantly in the low-density conditions following eagle colonization. I found that diurnal ranges were 11% smaller than nocturnal home ranges in post-colonization conditions, perhaps reflecting restricted diurnal movement as a form of predator avoidance of the diurnally hunting eagles. In terms of habitat preference, foxes preferred shrubland &ndash; a habitat which provides cover from aerial predators &ndash; over other habitat types. This suggested a way in which foxes may have mitigated golden eagle predation risk. Finally, I examined changes in fox diet before and after colonization using scat analysis. Because this invasion reduced the endemic fox population by 95% in a decade, these dietary changes could have been be attributed to behavioral change (e.g., reduced diurnal activity and movement), demographic change (e.g., reduced intra-specific density), and/or community level change (e.g., increased intra-specific competition with island spotted skunks), all of which were shifts associated with eagle predation. Concurrently, there were marked changes in the island's vegetation community, with the removal of introduced grazers and the subsequent increase in recruitment of shrubland. I hypothesized that these effects would cause fox diets to differ from historic diets, as indicated by scat analysis. I also evaluated seasonal differences and dietary breadth in the post-eagle colonization period. Although I did not observe an overall large scale modification of fox dietary patterns, statistically significant dietary changes were observed before and after eagle colonization. Results suggested that all four factors may have had an effect on fox diet, although evidence suggested that grazer removal may have had a more pronounced effect. Seasonal patterns and dietary breadth reflected the seasonal availability of fruiting shrubs in the dry season, and an emphasis on other food items, primarily mice and insects, in the wet season, as expected. While this fox population has subsequently rebounded successfully, understanding how animals respond to the sudden arrival of an invasive predator is crucial to improving approaches to conserving endangered species in the future.</p>

<p> Noise associated with human activity is widespread and expanding rapidly in terrestrial environments, but there is still much to learn about its effects on animals. To determine the effect of introduced noise on lek attendance and strutting behavior, I played back recorded continuous and intermittent anthropogenic sounds associated with natural gas drilling and roads at leks of Greater Sage-Grouse (<i>Centrocercus urophasianus</i>). For 3 breeding seasons, I monitored sage-grouse abundance at leks with and without noise. Peak male attendance (i.e., abundance) at leks experimentally treated with noise from natural gas drilling and roads decreased 29% and 73% respectively relative to paired controls. Decreases in abundance at leks treated with noise occurred in the first year of the study and were sustained throughout the experiment. There was limited evidence for an effect of noise playback on peak female attendance during the experiment or on male attendance the year after the experiment ended. These results suggest that sage-grouse avoid leks with anthropogenic noise and that intermittent noise has a greater effect on attendance than continuous noise. To quantify the potential for noise from natural gas infrastructure to mask sage-grouse vocalizations over both long and short distances, I analyzed both the individual notes of mating vocalizations produced by male sage-grouse and recordings of such noise. Noise produced by natural gas infrastructure is predicted to mask sage-grouse vocalizations substantially, reducing the active space of detection and discrimination of all vocalization components, particularly impacting notes that are low frequency and low amplitude. Such masking could increase the difficulty of mate assessment for lekking sage-grouse. Significant impacts to sage-grouse populations have been measured at noise levels that predict little to no masking. I investigated whether male sage-grouse adjust the repetition and timing of their strut displays in response to playback of noise associated with natural gas development. I compared the signaling behavior of male sage-grouse on leks with long-term drilling and road noise playback to that of males on similar leks with no noise playback. Males exposed to long-term drilling noise playback strutted at higher rates and in longer bouts than males on control leks, while males on road noise leks strutted at lower rates and in shorter bouts than males on control leks; these differences were only observed during close courtship, when strut rate is most important in influencing female mate choice. I did a short-term playback of intermittent traffic noise and compared the strut timing of individuals during noisy and quiet periods. Males performed fewer struts overall during noisy periods, but male strutting behavior was related to female proximity. Males that were not closely approached by females strutted less during noisy periods than quiet periods and males that engaged in close courtship with females strutted at similar rates during noisy and quiet periods, even when females were far away. Introduced noise associated with natural gas development causes large declines in sage-grouse lek attendance and is likely to cause substantial masking of sage-grouse vocalizations. However, masking is not likely to be the only mechanism of noise impact on this species. Sage-grouse may at least partially reduce masking impacts through behavioral plasticity, adjusting the timing of their signals in a manner that may reduce the impacts of masking on communication.</p>

An investigation into the distinction between identity conservation and equivalence conservation, as presented by Elkind (1967) was examined in the content area of solid continuous quantity. One group of subjects received the tasks as outlined by Elkind (Group I) while another group of subjects received modified versions of the tasks (Group II). Each conservation task was presented at two levels of transformation; moderate and extreme. In addition transitivity of solid continuous quantity was examined in relationship to conservation. The sample consisted of 144 subjects; 48 Kindergarten, Grade one and Grade two students. Half of the subjects within each grade level were assigned to Group I, the other half was assigned to Group II. Within each group half of the children were male and half were female. An analysis of variance performed on the conservation tasks indicated that identity and equivalence conservation were of equal difficulty. The main effects of Group and Age were significant and the interaction of Sex x Grade was significant. The criterion factor of judgment only vs. judgment plus explanation was found to have a significant effect, with more trials passed with a judgment only criterion. Data were scored according to two different procedures; oneyprocedure required that subjects be consistent in their answers in each phase of the task in order to receive non-zero scores. This procedure employed a three-point scale with values of 0, 1, and 2. The other procedure used a scale with values ranging from 0 to 6 inclusive. Subjects were given a point for each of the six questions answered correctly in the conservation tasks, regardless of the consistency of the answers. The method with the 0, 1, and 2 scale showed that' identity and equivalence conservation were equally difficult, while the method which employed the 0-6 scale showed that identity was easier than equivalence. It was shown that the latter method yielded these results because of an artifact in the questions asked. Furthermore it was shown that scale scores which resulted from an application of the 0-6 scale were an ambiguous reflection of the level of concept attainment. An analysis of variance was performed on the transitivity tasks. The main effects for Group and Age were significant. The transitivity tasks were significantly easier than all conservation tasks at all grade levels. The implications of this and the co-occurrence of identity and equivalence conservation were discussed in relation to Elkind's (1967) analysis. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

NOTE: Presented in Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Leadership in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Education, Georgia State University Purpose: The content and language structure of stories created by young children have been for many years an interest to researchers who have attempted to investigate children's thinking as reflected in their stories. These stories, believed to consist of children's actual thoughts during the story creation process, may reflect thinking and can be examined and analyzed according to identified criteria. The five characteristics of plot structures investigated for this study were story length, T-units, words per T-unit, characters, and incidents. Piaget's decreasingly egocentric speech features were causality, logical justification, and sequence. The purposes of this study were first, to examine nonconserving and conserving first grade children's oral expression as reflected in their stories, and second, to determine if a relationship existed between characteristics of plot structures and egocentric speech features. Procedures: The subjects for this study were 181 first grade children enrolled in four elementary schools located in largely suburban residential areas of DeKalb County of metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. The study consisted of two phases. Phase one involved a study of conservation tasks to identify the children as nonconservers or conservers. A standardized test of conservation was administered individually. There were 134 nonconservers and 47 conservers. Phase two consisted of the collection and analysis of two language experience stories for each subject for a total of 362 stories and of establishing the reliability of the judges. The language samples were studied to determine any significant differences in the frequency of the plot structures and the presence or absence of the decreasingly egocentric speech features. To establish interrater reliability four judges rated a random sampling of ten subject's stories and a two-way analysis of variance was employed. Results: The results of the interrater reliability revealed that the judges were highly consistent in their ratings with the exception of the variable incidents. The median reliabilities for story one and story two were each .99, respectively (p Conclusions and Implications: Nonconserving and conserving children can retell a story previously heard much better than they can create their personal stories. Conserving children's language is more linguistically complex than nonconserving children's language. Nonconserving and conserving children's cognitive functioning and understanding of story structure can be inferred to some degree from their stories. Examining children's oral language production merits further research to investigate additional features of story structure and cognitive development. Story retelling is a better measure of children's linguistic complexity than creation of stories. Classroom teachers and reading specialists can use children's stories as sources of diagnostic information to study children's levels of cognitive functioning and understanding of story structure.

No description available.

No description available.