Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 147 p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 142-147).

Diss. Nr. 12935 techn. Wiss. ETH Zürich. / Literaturverz.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The problem of this study is to determine the feasibility of using an operant treatment procedure to ameliorate several manifestations of depression. The purpose is to apply contingent positive reinforcement to the detection of nondepressive thoughts and to examine the effects of this procedure upon the frequency of nondepressive thoughts, idiosyncratic depressive manifestations, and scores on the Depression Inventory.

Master of Science / Psychological Sciences / Lester C. Loschky / A fundamental issue in visual attention is the relationship between the useful field of view (UFOV), the region of visual space where information is encoded within a single fixation, and eccentricity. A common assumption is that impairing attentional resources reduces the size of the UFOV (i.e. “tunnel vision”). However, most research has not accounted for eccentricity-dependent changes in spatial resolution, potentially conflating fixed visual properties with flexible changes in visual attention. Williams (1988; 1989) argued that foveal loads are necessary to reduce the size of the UFOV, producing "tunnel vision". Without a foveal load, it is argued that the attentional decrement is constant across the visual field (i.e. "general interference"). However, other research asserts that auditory working memory (WM) loads produce tunnel vision. To date, foveal versus auditory WM loads have not been compared to determine if they differentially change the size of the UFOV. In two experiments, we tested the effects of a foveal (rotated L vs. T discrimination) task, and an auditory WM (N-back) task on an extrafoveal (Gabor) discrimination task. Gabor patches were scaled for size and processing time to produce equal performance across the visual field under single task conditions, thus removing the confound of eccentricity-dependent differences in visual sensitivity. The results showed that while both foveal and auditory loads reduced Gabor orientation sensitivity, only the foveal load interacted with retinal eccentricity to produce tunnel vision, clearly demonstrating task-specific changes to the form of the UFOV. This has theoretical implications for understanding the UFOV.

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An attempt was made in this study to eliminate the body rocking behavior of a twenty-three-year-old totally blind male, individual, presently classified as moderately retarded. Consequences were placed upon, rocking behavior in seven experimental phases, employing time-out from a positively reinforcing stimulus as a punisher. More specifically, apparatus were designed in such a manner that rocking would result in elimination of the auditory and visual portion of a television, and in a later phase, the auditory portion of a transistor radio.

Intense competitive pressures have led to compressed product life cycles and frequent introduction of new products. This creates demand volatility and a consequent pressure on manufacturing to meet this variable demand. In this paper we model the manpower planning issues for a computer manufacturer during the product introduction phase when a quick ramp-up of production to meet rapidly increasing demand is a key requirement. A mix of permanent and contingent workers with different skill sets is considered. Some important issues addressed in this research are (a) how to assign workers with different skills to maximize production (b) what is the induction rate of contingent workers to achieve the desired ramp-up and (c) what are the key decision factors that impact manufacturing performance An LP model is proposed to minimize overall costs subject to complex scheduling, skills, and learning rate requirements. Our analysis indicates that cost of induction of contingent workers, overtime cost premium, and the amount of overtime have significant impact on performance. The findings of the study will be useful to managers in planning and allocation of workers of different skills to various manufacturing processes and to determine the optimal number of contingent workers to induct. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

Southern flounder (Paralichthys lethostigma) populations have declined over the last 25-30 years throughout its range. With this rapid decline, the sustainability of the southern flounder fishery and population viability of this commercially and recreationally important fish has come into question. Previous research conducted in the Northern Gulf of Mexico and North Carolina, has shown that southern flounder often reside in freshwater for significant periods of time during the juvenile life history stage. Juvenile southern flounder have been collected at salinities below 10 in Aransas Bay (TX), suggesting that Texas southern flounder might also have critical periods of freshwater residency. However, the presence of a low salinity residency period in southern flounder in Texas has not previously been tested. Patterns of low salinity residence were determined using otolith microchemistry, using Ba/Ca ratios to determine movements across salinity boundaries. Water samples were collected from the major tributaries to the area in order to establish the Ba/Ca freshwater signature. Otolith Ba/Ca values revealed a high degree of variability in habitat use patterns among individuals. The mean percent time that an individual spent in low salinity habitat was skewed toward the lower end (15%) but a significant proportion of the individuals sampled (59%) used low salinity habitat at some point during their life. The remaining individuals (49%) never entered low salinity habitat. This work indicates that there are two distinctly different groups of habitat use patterns in the population. This work demonstrates that southern flounder in Texas exhibit different habitat use patterns from their congeners in North Carolina and the Northern Gulf of Mexico and can help contribute to the spatial management of the southern flounder population on the Gulf Coast of Texas. / text