The posterior parietal cortex (PPC) is a cortical region receiving inputs from different sensory modalities which has been shown to subserve a visuospatial function. The potential contribution of PPC in audiospatial behaviours and recognition of amodal spatial correspondences were postulated and assessed in the present study. Adult male Long- Evans rats received PPC lesions by aspiration, and they were compared to sham operated control rats on three behavioural tasks. In the Morris water maze, the rats had to learn to use the distal visual cues to locate an escape platform hidden in the pool. In an open field task, the rats were assessed on their reactions to a spatial relocation of a visual or an auditory object. In a spatial cross-modal transfer (CMT) task (Tees & Buhrmann, 1989), rats were trained to respond to light signals using spatial rules, and were then subjected to transfer tests using comparable sound signals. Results from the Morris water maze, the open field, and the initial training phase of the spatial CMT task confirmed a visuospatial deficit in PPC lesioned rats. However, if given sufficient training, PPC lesioned rats could learn the location of a hidden platform in the Morris water maze, and they could also acquire spatial rules in the CMT task. Such results indicated that the visuospatial deficits in PPC lesioned rats were less severe than previously thought. On the other hand, a persistent navigational difficulty characterized by a looping pattern of movement was observed in the PPC lesioned rats in the Morris water maze. Results from the open field indicated that PPC was less involved in audiospatial behaviours. Moreover, results also indicated that PPC was not necessary for spatial CMT. Hence, data from the present study did not support the idea that PPC played an essential role in supramodal spatial abilities in the rats. Instead, data from the spatial CMT task seemed to imply a role of PPC in managing conflicting spatial information coming from different sensory modalities. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Space in all its aspects is a central concern of planning research. The common sense view of space - determined by height, length and breadth - is giving way to a richer concept . Physical space seems to be merely one aspect of the multi-dimensional framework within which men and women carry out their daily activities. It is becoming possible to visualize social and economic spaces, where distances are measured in unfamiliar terms that have little to do with feet and inches. One begins to sense, very dimly, how one kind of space is warped and transformed as it moves through time - or interacts with another kind of space. My first contact with these ideas occurred during a regional study in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at U.C.T. The problems of analyzing these spaces and describing the structural relationships and interactions between them, prompted me to continue the work of that project in the form of a thesis.

This study was conducted to investigate the requirements for the spatial modelling of current and future water demand in the Berg River Water Management Area in the Western Cape of South Africa in order to produce a prototype model from which annual water requirements could be computed and spatially visualised. To accomplish this the spatial distribution of water demand within the study area was first investigated. The data required to perform spatial water demand modelling of diverse land uses and socio-economic activities were evaluated. Finally, the question of improving spatial water demand modelling at the catchment scale was considered from both a systems design and a technical perspective. The resulting model consists of two main modules; one performing a rudimentary monthly soil water balance to obtain monthly and annual irrigation requirements, and another applying preconfigured determinant layers derived from land use to town zone layers in order to determine annual urban water use intensities per areal unit. The resulting model prototype follows a sequential workflow based on a series of components that combine to produce a spatial overview of water use intensity within the study area. Water demand was found to be predominantly irrigated agriculture in the upper reaches of the Berg (mainly wine grape) and was found to be dominated by intensive industrial users in the central and lower reaches. The model was designed so that new data could be introduced in order to expand the system where required, as well as allowing for updated datasets to be incorporated as they become available. Due to the uncertainties inherent in the modelling and approximation of real world phenomena, the importance of establishing a set of structured, stable, predefined user requirements and system specifications were noted as a fundamental requirement for improving model development and design efficiency and ensuring model validity. It was further found that incorporating additional datasets, covering parameters related to the system, may serve to improve model accuracy, but could easily lead to compounded errors if not correctly parameterised or adequately validated.

A model of local elevator basis levels was developed to quantify the response of corn, soybean and hard red spring wheat basis to a set of predefined predictors. Basis data from 2013 – 2016 for 12 grain elevators in Eastern North Dakota were collected. A maximum likelihood mixed effect model was used to test the significance of alternative predictor variables and further divided the residuals into temporal and spatial components. The results indicate that the base model was able to explain 57 to 87 percent of the local basis variability for the selected crops at the individual elevators. In addition, the findings suggest that the temporal portion of the remaining variability is greater than the spatial variability for corn and soybean, but similar for hard red spring wheat. / North Dakota State University. Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics

Pseudoneglect (PN) reveals a contralateral bias in the deployment of visuospatial attention by the dominant (right) hemisphere. The magnitude of PN is phasically modulated by transient exogenous visual cues which automatically recruit attention to cued locations. Optimal cue-line onset asynchrony (SOA), cue-contrast of this cueing effect and the relative effectiveness of cue locations relative to line endpoints are unknown. Similarly, the direction of line scanning modulates the tonic bias, although the origin of this modulation is unknown. The present experiments aim at informing theories about visuospatial attention as well as some neurological conditions such as hemispatial neglect. Four experiments were conducted where observers performed a tachistoscopic visual line bisection task. In experiments 1-3, pretransected lines were preceded by peripheral cues delivered to the left and right line ends at a variety of (1) stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs), (2) contrasts and (3) horizontal positions relative to the line endpoints. Experiment 4 used a tachistoscopic line bisection protocol to manipulate the type (saccadic, smooth pursuit) and direction (leftward, rightward) of attentional scanning, executed with or without eye movements (overt, covert) while performing eye-tracking. Experiment 1 demonstrated early attentional capture with optimal cue-line SOA of 60 ms. Experiment 2 demonstrated that cue contrasts below 12% were ineffective in modulating perceived midpoint and the maximal effect occurred for cues of 100% contrast. Experiment 3 demonstrated modulation of the spatial error resulting from cues at all locations except the one lying completely beyond the line endpoints. Experiment 4 showed that leftward scanning resulted in leftward error and rightward scanning resulted in rightward error. Smooth pursuit scanning was more potent than saccadic scanning. Overt scanning was more potent than covert scanning and overall the strongest effects were found in leftward overt smooth pursuit scanning. Results from the cueing experiments suggest that the mechanisms subserving exogenous attentional capture in line bisection are fast, predominantly parvocellular-mediated and exert their effects at least partially in an object-referenced coordinate system. Experiment 4 suggests attentional magnification of the left line halve where visuospatial attention is deployed asymmetrically ahead of a scanned target.

In this study, two hydrologic models were applied to the mountainous Back Creek catchment, located in the headwaters of the Roanoke River in Southwest Virginia. The two models employed were HEC-1, an event based lumped model, and TOPMODEL, a continuous semi-distributed model. These models were used to investigate (a) the issue of spatial scale in hydrologic modeling, and (b) two approaches to modeling, continuous versus event based. Two HEC-1 models were developed with a different number of subareas in each. The hydrographs generated by each HEC-1 model for a number of large rainfall events were analyzed visually and statistically. No observable improvement resulted from increasing the number of subareas in the HEC-1 models from 20 to 81. TOPMODEL was applied to the same watershed using a series of different size grid cells. The first step in applying TOPMODEL to a watershed involves GIS analysis which results in a raster grid of elevations used for the calculation of the topographic index, ln(a/tan b). The hydrographs generated by TOPMODEL with each grid cell size were compared in order to assess the sensitivity of TOPMODEL hydrographs to grid cell size. An increase in grid cell size from 15 to 120 meters resulted in increased values of the watershed mean of the topographic index. However, hydrographs generated by TOPMODEL were completely unaffected by this increase in the topographic index. Analyses were also performed to determine the sensitivity of TOPMODEL hydrographs to several model parameters. It was determined that the parameters that had the greatest effect on hydrographs generated by TOPMODEL were the m and ln(To) parameters. The modeling performances of the event based HEC-1 and the continuous TOPMODEL were analyzed and compared visually and statistically for a number of large storms. The limited number of storms used to compare HEC-1 and TOPMODEL makes it difficult to determine definitively which model simulates large storms better. It does appear that perhaps HEC-1 is slightly superior in that regard. TOPMODEL was also executed as an event based model for two single events and the resulting hydrographs were compared to the HEC-1 and continuous TOPMODEL results. Both HEC-1 and TOPMODEL (when used as a continuous model) simulate large storms better than TOPMODEL (when used as an event based model). / Master of Science

Debussy’s works for the piano occupy a significant position in the concert repertoire and have piqued the interest of performers and audience members of the last one-hundred years. The composer, inspired by art, literature, and nature, displays a notable interest in the concept of space. From his programmatic titles to his unique pianistic language, space as a conceptual, perceptual, and metaphorical construct plays a vital role in his output for the instrument. This dissertation examines how the composer utilizes this construct as a means of creating the uniquely imaginative music that has cemented him as the father of Impressionism. This study examines the piano works of Claude Debussy within the context of musical spatialization by implementing an interdisciplinary approach which integrates traditional musical analysis with research in music cognition and perception. The purpose of this study is to examine the piano works of Claude Debussy through the lens of musical spatialization in order to gain a better understanding of its impact on the conceptual and perceptual facets of these compositions. The result of such an inquiry broadens the current analytical understanding of his compositions and equips the performer with the appropriate tools to represent the spatial aspects of Debussy’s piano works.

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a correlation between spatial skills and creativity in interior design students. Participants were subjects who took a visualization assessment and created the 33 projects used in the study, and 11 judges, professional design experts who rated the projects. The sample of subjects was comprised of interior design students at a FIDER-accredited institution in southwest Virginia. The judges included interior design educators and interior design graduate students having previous practice experience. Subjects completed a pencil-and-paper Visualization Assessment consisting of 36 questions using two-dimensional and three-dimensional drawings (Isham, 1997). A percentage score for spatial skills was calculated for each subject based on the number of correct answers. Design projects created by the students were assessed by subjective ratings on three Dimensions of Judgment taken from the Consensual Technique for Creativity Assessment (Barnard, 1992; Amabile, 1982). The three dimensions used in this study included Appropriateness, Creativity, and Novelty. Ratings were collected in two judging sessions at a local site. Interjudge reliabilities exceeded the established criterion level (.70 or greater) on all three dimensions, with coefficients ranging from .729 to .866. Interjudge reliability for the Creativity dimension was .866, indicating a high level of agreement among judges on creativity. Intercorrelations among the dimensions indicated a high degree of association between the variables with Appropriateness and Novelty both significantly correlated with the Creativity dimension. Pearson product-moment correlation was used to determine if there was a significant correlation between visualization and creativity in interior design students. No significant correlation was found. / Master of Science

<p>Intra urban consumer spatial behavior is investigated at three scales of analysis. A stepwise compilation of the regression model is used to explain variation in both distance and frequency measures at these scales. Changes in the importance of the variables between scales are noted together with changes from one area to another at the same scale of analysis. Residuals from the regression models are investigated to find the strength of locational differentials among the population in explaining consumer spatial behavior at the three scales of analysis.</p> / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

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