<p> Daily living, community, and vocational skills are important groups of skills to teach individuals with disabilities, which enable them to engage independently in more social and community opportunities. Yet individuals with severe intellectual and developmental disabilities often remain dependent upon others for assistance and supervision in participating in many daily activities. This study investigated the effectiveness of combined visual supports, a visual schedule paired with an index of visual tasks analyses, for increasing independence and decreasing prompt dependence. One high school student with a severe intellectual and developmental disability, transitioning to adult developmental services, was trained, using the combined pictorial prompt package, to complete 14 vocational and daily living skills tasks. Results indicated that the student was able to acquire all of the skills to complete all 14 tasks with minimal supports, including reaching 100% independent levels for nine of the 14 tasks. The results show dramatic increases in independence, and decreases in prompts delivered and levels of prompting required. The present study successfully extended previous studies providing pictorial prompts to promote independent task performance in individuals with severe intellectual and developmental disabilities through a generalization phase where three to seven behaviors were completed sequentially and consistently independently, indicating further effectiveness of the intervention for promoting independence to levels more closely resembling that of the general population.</p>

<p>Eastern Kingbirds (<i>Tyrannus tyrannus</i>) breed from coast to coast in North America and build open-cup nests in trees. They have been extensively studied across most of their range and have only on occasion been documented to reuse a nest from a previous season. However, at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR), located in southeastern Oregon, ~10 % of female Eastern Kingbirds reuse old nests of mainly American Robins (<i>Turdus migratorius </i>). In an attempt to address why nest reuse is so common at MNWR, I used artificial nests to evaluate two hypotheses as to why nest reuse is common in this breeding population. The first hypothesis states that Eastern Kingbirds reuse nests to save time and/or energy (TES) and the second one states nest reuse occurs because there is a shortage of suitable nest sites (NSS). I was able to reject the TES hypothesis because artificial nests provided no apparent reproductive benefits to Eastern Kingbirds, except that if a nest had failed it took less time to lay a replacement clutch after an initial failure if an artificial nest was used instead of building a new nest. A more reasonable explanation is that Eastern Kingbirds face a limited availability of suitable nest sites. With this in mind, I took vegetation measurements to address the hypothesis that Eastern Kingbirds make adaptive choices when selecting a nest site, in which case they would choose sites that increase their probability of breeding successfully. Successful nests, both natural and artificial, were placed higher in a tree and on a steeper angled nest branch than their failed counterparts. Those findings suggest that Eastern Kingbirds make adaptive choices when selecting a nest site. </p>

<p> Molecular gut-content analysis is an established and increasingly important approach for tracking arthropod predation in the field. Previously, it is difficult to know what hemipteran generalist predators consume because there are no pieces of prey in their gut that could be identified following dissection. However, DNA of the prey item is present in a predator's gut for a certain amount of time. In order to relate the proportion of predator individuals found to contain pest DNA to the number of pests eaten over a given time period, it is necessary to determine how long pest DNA can be detected after predation has occurred. Studies were done to explore consumption of <i>Geocoris </i> and <i>Nabis</i> with green peach aphids and Colorado potato beetles.</p>

<p> The fine control of learned movement sequences is a crowning achievement of higher vertebrates. Learned sequences critically depend on sensory feedback, and experimental manipulations of sensory feedback can elucidate its role in sequence acquisition and maintenance. Delayed auditory feedback (DAF) affects production of learned vocalizations in humans and songbirds but has been rarely been studied in songbirds. We used a skull-implanted accelerometer to maintain high amplitude (15-21 dB louder than singing) continuous DAF for 4-68 days in 12 young adult zebra finches. Nine birds sang songs showing new transitions (N = 19; one to five new syllable transitions per bird, e.g. A-B-A or A-B-E ...), including stutters (e.g. A-B-C-D-D) intermixed with songs with normal transitions (e.g. A-B-C-D-E). The mean latency of new transitions was short (7.3 days after DAF onset), presumably due to the high-gain and continuous delivery of DAF. </p><p> New transitions to the start of the motif (syllable A) disrupted 10 sites (e.g. the site of syllable B is disrupted by A-B-A), and a disproportionate number of the remaining new transitions occurred at the same site (e.g. A-B-E) instead of the undisrupted sites. Thus, there was statistical evidence that new transitions were concentrated at disrupted sites (&chi;2 = 7.8, p = 0.005). We observed lengthening of some intersyllable gap durations under DAF, and the minority of sites whose sequence was disrupted accounted for a disproportionate share (79%) of this effect. The average gap lengthening at disrupted sites (e.g the gap following B) was due both to an increase in the duration of the preexisting intersyllable gap (e.g. from B to C), and to the long gap duration of the new transition (e.g. B to E). In fact all 19 new transitions had longer gaps than did the preexisting transitions at the same site. </p><p> At a disrupted transition, the timecourse of gap lengthening typically coincided with that of sequence disruption, as gap duration and transition probability covaried over days (r = -0.39, p = 0.0009). </p><p> We also observed clear and frequent alterations of the morphology of 18 syllables following DAF. Morphological distortions were quantified, and we found that syllables at disrupted transitions had a trend towards greater average morphological change under DAF than other syllables. This effect became highly significant when we sampled syllable morphologies on the day of maximal sequence change (t(55) = 3.1, p = 0.003). Therefore sequence and morphological changes affected the same sites around the same time. This relation is highly intriguing because the neural pathways governing sequence generation are widely viewed as separate from those controlling the morphology of individual elements. </p><p> Thus, the distribution of new transitions, the lengthening of intersyllable gaps and distortions of syllable morphology all implicated a relatively small number of sites (or loci) in the song (14/57) to account for the overwhelming majority of effects. This distribution is reminiscient of human stuttering, where certain phonemes (e.g: k-words , or s-words) may be particularly troublesome. </p><p> Crystallization is a developmental stage of birdsong learning characterized by an increase in song tempo and reduced sequence variability. We review a body of evidence suggesting that sensorimotor internal models are learned during this stage to assist vocal sequencing. Our results suggest that DAF causes localized song decrystallization by disrupting these internal models. We propose that human stuttering may result from pathological vocomotor internal models, and that the ability of DAF and related methods to alleviate stuttering in human subjects by as much as 70-90% results from disrupting these internal models. The many parallels between birdsong learning and speech development are discussed and lend plausibility to this hypothesis.</p>

<p> Rats appear to use a cognitive chunking strategy during the presentation of an interleaved pattern where two distinct subpatterns are interleaved within one another (Fountain, Rowan, &amp; Benson, 1999) . However, it is unclear how these distinct subpatterns are cognitively represented. Experiment 1 was designed to determine the extent to which rats may be chunking the subpatterns in an interleaved pattern. Groups were presented with a target subpattern (123456) akin to the second experiment of Fountain et al. (1999), and an interleaved subpattern (787878) which was manipulated between groups. Following acquisition, groups were transferred to a new interleaved subpattern (878787). Results from both initial acquisition and transfer conditions indicate that although the presence of pattern structure and cueing did improve initial pattern acquisition, rats did not solely employ a chunking strategy. Experiment 2 was designed to replicate Experiment 1 and to further explore possible interleaved pattern learning strategies. Rats were presented a target subpattern (123456) and a manipulated interleaved subpattern. Subpattern manipulations included changes in structure, cueing, and complexity of the interleaved subpattern. A transfer presented rats with the same interleaved pattern in a novel context. Results replicated Experiment 1 as structure and cueing manipulations affected interleaved pattern acquisition. Complexity of the subpattern did not show a consistent effect. Pattern performance was also affected during transfer to a novel context. The results from these experiments indicate that rats may be using a complex cognitive strategy to acquire and produce interleaved patterns. Rats may be combining several strategies including ordinal position, conditional discrimination learning, rule abstraction and chunking in order to complete this difficult task.</p>

<p> This dissertation developed and tested a role-based framework drawing from role theory to understand how external factors contribute to the spread of bias in organizations. Using experimental social psychological methods, the twelve studies in this dissertation investigated why <i>other people's </i> prejudices can sometimes influence individuals' decisions and behaviors due to the demands of the decision maker role. Role theory posits that there are certain expectations associated with specific roles, and the roles that people occupy can determine their attitudes and behaviors. Across studies, participants placed in a decision-making role in charge of hiring selections accommodated the prejudices of relevant third parties in their decisions (i.e., the "third-party prejudice effect''). Specifically, consistent with the proposed model, in the studies described in Chapter 2, individuals in charge of selection decisions were significantly less likely to select a woman when a relevant third party was prejudiced against women. Chapter 3 extended this inquiry to novel, fictional groups, generalizing the third-party prejudice effect beyond the context of gender bias.</p><p> According to a role-based framework, concerns relevant to the decision maker role become highly salient in contexts of third-party prejudice, motivating those in charge of hiring selections to accommodate this prejudice in order to accomplish role-relevant goals. In particular, in the context of hiring selections, decision makers accommodate third-party prejudice without coercion because they engage in two types of considerations, focused (a) on maximizing performance (i.e.. task-focused concerns). and (b) on avoiding conflict or facilitating relations among the parties involved (i.e., interpersonal concerns). These task-focused and interpersonal concerns are relevant to the decision maker role and reflect well-established distinctions between instrumental and socioemotional dimensions of group processes. This proposed mechanism was experimentally supported. revealing that task-focused and interpersonal concerns significantly mediated the effect both in the context of gender prejudice (Chapter 2) as well as in a novel groups context (Chapter 3). Furthermore, in Chapter 2, experimentally reducing role-relevant concerns by manipulating task-focused considerations significantly reduced the accommodation of third-party prejudice against women.</p><p> In line with the notion that roles impact behavior above and beyond individual-level attitudes and beliefs, participants in two studies accommodated prejudice against women in their selections regardless of their personal endorsement of modern sexism and traditional gender stereotypes (Chapter 2). Participants similarly accommodated third-party prejudice against groups about which they knew very little, in contexts in which pre-existing biases or the endorsement of cultural stereotypes had little bearing on their selections (Chapter 3). Moreover, consistent with the proposition that roles shape behavior more strongly than social identity, participants across studies accommodated third-party prejudice in their decisions even when such prejudice was directed toward a social category in-group. A role-based framework can illuminate the institutional factors that produce social disparities, and can contribute to a growing understanding of the reasons why members of underrepresented groups sometimes appear to treat each other poorly in organizational contexts.</p><p>

Abstract not available.

The primary goal of this research study was to explore the effects of a trauma-informed intervention on relaxation and body awareness in sheltered homeless women, where trauma history can be a pathway to homelessness, and the experience of homelessness itself can be traumatic. The study took place at three interim housing locations along the peninsula of the greater San Francisco Bay Area and utilized a quantitative quasi-experimental one-group pretest/posttest design with qualitative inquiry. Quantitative data was gathered via the Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS) and a 10-item revised Scale of Body Connection (SBC). A brief closing questionnaire provided insights into this population and their experience of this intervention. Overall quantitative results suggest that participants experienced a significant reduction in distress toward ‘peaceful, calm, relaxed’ as a result of engaging in this research intervention. Results did not reflect a significant change to participants’ body awareness. Overall qualitative results showed a strong preference toward the mindful body-centered art making component of the intervention, participant insights relating to the value of self-expression and retaining a sense of control, and self-report increases to participants’ sense of calm, relaxation, and ease throughout this creative process. Over time, it is thought that regular engagement with mindfulness and art therapy would foster a return to more optimal arousal regulation and grounded body awareness in the context of trauma and chronic stress, while also promoting a sense of person-led empowerment.

<p> The music composed to portray the desert is initially in the quartal harmonies favored by Aaron Copland. The open and vast expanses of the desert led to this first desert theme. An arial view of the desert inspires a second, romantic desert theme, in F major. The most fundament organization of music, the overtone series, accompanies the presentation of the tortoise eggs, and follows them through their emergence from these shells. A tortoise theme, the third theme, using the consonant middle range of the overtone series, intervals of a third and a whole step, is created to accompany the first views of the baby tortoise movements. With the destruction of both the desert and the creatures within it by wildfires, the musical pattern becomes ever more dissonant, with finally only the intervals from the upper reaches of the overtone series, the tritone and half step, being used. Percussion is introduced when there is mention of civilization encroaching upon the desert. The bassoon is chosen to portray the tortoise. When we see the tortoise moving across the desert floor the tempo becomes adagio. In the third section, where there are suggestions for what might be done to avoid extinction of this creature, (replanting of seeds, relocation of the tortoise population to more suitable habitats), major harmonies are chosen. The goal of the musical score is, ultimately, to evoke admiration for a creature that has survived for so long. In the final two minutes of the film the tortoise theme is expanded. Judicious use is made throughout of the range of orchestral colors and instruments: in some places just a few instruments will sound, in others, especially toward the end of this nineteen minute film, the full palette of the orchestra is used. Ellen Taylor Seldin Sixty Million Years Abstract: The desert tortoise has survived sixty million years, outliving the dinosaurs and several ice ages. This documentary film, Sixty Million Years, portrays its current existence in the Mojave Desert, Nevada, USA, and the desert scientists working for its survival. The film is divided into three sections: the emergence of the tortoise from its egg shell, the adult tortoise, with the on-going threats to its existence, and in the third section, areas where there can be realistic hope for its survival. The music composed to portray the desert is initially in the quartal harmonies favored by Aaron Copland. The open and vast expanses of the desert led to this first desert theme. An arial view of the desert inspires a second, romantic desert theme, in F major. The most fundament organization of music, the overtone series, accompanies the presentation of the tortoise eggs, and follows them through their emergence from these shells. A tortoise theme, the third theme, using the consonant middle range of the overtone series, intervals of a third and a whole step, is created to accompany the first views of the baby tortoise movements. With the destruction of both the desert and the creatures within it by wildfires, the musical pattern becomes ever more dissonant, with finally only the intervals from the upper reaches of the overtone series, the tritone and half step, being used. Percussion is introduced when there is mention of civilization encroaching upon the desert. The bassoon is chosen to portray the tortoise. When we see the tortoise moving across the desert floor the tempo becomes adagio. In the third section, where there are suggestions for what might be done to avoid extinction of this creature, (replanting of seeds, relocation of the tortoise population to more suitable habitats), major harmonies are chosen. The goal of the musical score is, ultimately, to evoke admiration for a creature that has survived for so long. In the final two minutes of the film the tortoise theme is expanded. Judicious use is made throughout of the range of orchestral colors and instruments: in some places just a few instruments will sound, in others, especially toward the end of this nineteen minute film, the full palette of the orchestra is used.</p>

<p> Communication facilitates almost every social interaction between organisms and this communication is especially important for mate acquisition. Anuran amphibians are an excellent model system to study mate choice behaviors and sexual selection. In this work I recorded male calls of the spring peeper, <i> Pseudacris crucifer</i>, between two populations (Maryland and Louisiana) and analyzed call parameters such as frequency, duration, and rise and fall time. I found differences in the frequency and the frequency sweep of the calls. I conducted choice experiments to test female mating preferences in the Louisiana population and found a preference for longer calls over short calls. Females did not express a preference for frequency, frequency sweep, or local (LA) versus foreign (MD) calls. I also conducted multimodal signaling experiments on the t&uacute;ngara frog, <i>Physalaemus pustulosus</i>. I used natural calls and a robotic t&uacute;ngara frog to determine how females assess different signal modalities (auditory versus visual). I tested previously established attractive calls against unattractive calls, paired with the robo-frog and inflating vocal sac, to see if the visual stimulus would modulate the attractiveness of the call. The presence of the vocal sac did not make the unattractive call more attractive. The vocal sac may have important implications for localization in a more complex environment but here, it did not act as a mate attracting signal. This study provides the ground work necessary for multimodal signaling in spring peepers and for complex sensory environment choice tests in the t&uacute;ngara frog.</p>