The purpose of this thesis is to explore some of the characteristics of 0-simple semigroups and completely 0-simple semigroups.

A persistent challenge for behaviorally-based accounts of learning has been providing an account of learning that occurs in the absence of systematically programmed contingencies of reinforcement. Symmetry, one type of emergent behavior, has been repeatedly demonstrated with humans, but has been considerably more difficult to demonstrate with non-humans. In this study, pigeons were exposed to a go/no-go procedure in which hue stimuli were presented full screen on a touchscreen monitor. Pigeons learned 12 baseline relations in less than 30 days. Traditional measures used to evaluate symmetry indicated that, during tests, three of the four birds responded more to the reverse of relations that were reinforced in training than to the reverse of relations that were not reinforced in training. However, additional analyses of these data suggests that these differences were driven by one of two trial types and that symmetry was only observed for one of the two predicted relations. These data systematically replicate and extend work by Urcuioli and colleagues and point to areas where further research is needed.

Four college student subjects were trained to match graphic figures (A stimuli) to other figures (B stimuli), and then to match the B figures to numerals (C stimuli). Then in a test of application subjects answered simple math problems, presented as novel sample stimuli, by selecting one of the A figures, presented as comparisons. The application test was an analog for the academic task of answering math problems with newly learned Spanish number names. Three subjects performed accurately in the application test, which required the emergence of CA equivalence. All subjects demonstrated equivalence in test sessions after the application test. The study examined whether accuracy, fluency (rate of correct responding), practice, or stability of original relations performance corresponded to test accuracy. Accuracy, fluency, practice and stability corresponded to test accuracy for two subjects. Fluency corresponded to test accuracy for one subject, and stability corresponded to test accuracy for another subject.

This research asked whether a contextual stimulus in a visual conditional discrimination task controlled membership in classes of stimuli related hierarchically. Six experiments with nonreading preschool children posed the following question: Does a stimulus juxtaposed with a conditional discrimination task control relations among the stimuli involved in the task? In Experiments I and II, printed instance or concept words were juxtaposed with conditional discrimination tasks involving symbols. Results for eight of nine children demonstrated neither conditional nor equivalence relations between words and symbols. Would conditional discrimination training establish classes of visual stimuli composed of selectively nonequivalent subsets? In Experiment III, subjects from the first two experiments were taught conditional relations, then tested for stimulus class development. Printed words that could have been related transitively were not, apparently due to interference by identical letters in certain words, so no stimulus classes developed. Would the equivalence relations sought in Experiment III develop without a history where printed words were unnecessary to conditional discrimination tasks? For Experiment IV-A, one experimentally naive child was taught the same conditional relations as Experiment III subjects. Two stimulus classes emerged, each containing two subsets that were selectively nonequivalent depending upon trial context. Are direct or transitive stimulus relations more likely to control responding? In experiment IV-B, the subject from Experiment IV-A expressed more direct than transitive relations on modified matching trials. Would interference by identical elements in words be precluded by training conditional relations among words directly? One child in Experiment V was taught conditional relations between concept words and instance words, and instance words and symbols. Results suggested that stimulus class development, which would have answered the question affirmatively, had begun but was incomplete. Would providing auditory labels for some printed words preclude interference by identical elements, allowing nonidentical words to be related transitively? In Experiment VI, one child was taught auditory labels for selected printed words, followed by the same visual conditional discrimination training provided in Experiment III. Two stimulus classes developed, requiring transitive and symmetric relations among printed words.

A notion of entropy is defined for the non-singular action of finite co-ordinate changes on X - the infinite product of two- point spaces. This quantity - average co-ordinate or AC entropy - is calculated for product measures and G-measures on X, and an equivalence relation is established for which AC entropy is an invariant. The Inverse Vitali Lemma is discussed in a measure preserving context, and it is shown that for a certain class of measures on X known as odometer bounded, the result will still hold for odometer actions. The foundations for a non-singular version of Rudolph's restricted orbit equivalence are established, and a size for non-singular orbit equivalence is introduced. It is shown that provided the Inverse Vitali Lemma still holds, the non-singular orbit equivalence classes can be described using this new size.

No description available.

We consider systems of Euler-Lagrange equations with two degrees of freedom and with Lagrangian being quadratic in velocities. For this class of equations the generic case of the equivalence problem is solved with respect to point transformations. Using Lie's infinitesimal method we construct a basis of differential invariants and invariant differentiation operators for such systems. We describe certain types of Lagrangian systems in terms of their invariants. The results are illustrated by several examples.

This study investigates how best to solve difficulties that may arise when translating bird literature from English into Swedish. The focus of the study lies on the translation of attributive adjectives and bird terminology. The text chosen for the translation, which serves as the basis for the analysis, is the section on general habits of the Turdidae-family in the comprehensive work Handbook of the Birds of the World. Translation theory that proved helpful in the translation process and in the subsequent analysis was primarily that of Vinay and Darbelnet (1995, 2004), Nida (1964a) and Newmark (1981). In most cases a literal translation could be perfonned, both in regard to attributive adjectives and bird tenninology, however, in some cases other translation procedures, such as transposition and equivalence, proved useful. Attributive adjectives that could not be translated literally, or that were preferred not to be translated literally, were translated through the use of transposition, into for instance: compound nouns, prepositional phrases, relative clauses and that-clauses. Bird terminology for which no suitable corresponding terminology could be found in the target language, was translated non-literally through the use of equivalence, into structures maintaining the equivalent semantic meaning in a natural way.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-101). Also available on the Internet.