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Recent evidence suggests audiovisual perception changes as one engages in action. Specifically, if an audiovisual illusion comprised of 2 flashes and 1 beep is presented during the high velocity portion of upper- limb movements, the influence of the auditory stimuli is subdued. The goal of this thesis was to examine if visuomotor regulation processes that rely on information obtained when the limb is traveling at a high velocity could explain this perceptual modulation. In the present study, to control for engagement in visuomotor regulation processes, vision of the environment was manipulated. In conditions without vision of the environment, participants did not show the noted modulation of the audiovisual illusion. Also, analysis of the movement trajectories and endpoint precision revealed that movements without vision were less controlled than movements performed with vision. These results suggest that engagement in visuomotor regulation processes can influence perception of certain audiovisual events during goal-directed action.

Recent evidence suggests audiovisual perception changes as one engages in action. Specifically, if an audiovisual illusion comprised of 2 flashes and 1 beep is presented during the high velocity portion of upper- limb movements, the influence of the auditory stimuli is subdued. The goal of this thesis was to examine if visuomotor regulation processes that rely on information obtained when the limb is traveling at a high velocity could explain this perceptual modulation. In the present study, to control for engagement in visuomotor regulation processes, vision of the environment was manipulated. In conditions without vision of the environment, participants did not show the noted modulation of the audiovisual illusion. Also, analysis of the movement trajectories and endpoint precision revealed that movements without vision were less controlled than movements performed with vision. These results suggest that engagement in visuomotor regulation processes can influence perception of certain audiovisual events during goal-directed action.

The thesis introduces a novel search paradigm, and explores a previously unreported behavioural error detectable in this paradigm. In particular, the ‘Unpacking Task’ is introduced – a search task in which participants use a computer mouse to sort through random heaps of items in order to locate a unique target. The task differs from traditional search paradigms by including an active motor component in addition to purely perceptual inspection. While completing this task, participants are often found to select and move the unique target item without recognizing it, at times continuing to make many additional moves before correcting the error. This ‘unpacking error’ is explored with perceptual, memory load, and instructional manipulations, evaluating eye-movements and motor characteristics in additional to traditional response time and error rate metrics. It is concluded that the unpacking error arises because perceptual and motor systems fail to adequately coordinate during completion of the task. In particular, the motor system is found to ‘process’ items (i.e., to select and discard them) more quickly than the perceptual system is able to reliably identify those same items. On those occasions where the motor system selects and rejects the target item before the perceptual system has had time to resolve its identity, the unpacking error results. These findings have important implications for naturalistic search, where motor interaction is common, and provide further insights into the conditions under which perceptual and motor systems will interact in a coordinated or an uncoordinated fashion.

The purpose of this action research study was to examine strategies that lead to effective and efficient band rehearsals at the junior high level. Participants in the study were 28 grade 8 band students, 11 males and 17 females, as well as one music teacher researcher. Of 35 grade 8 band students, 28 or 80% chose to participate in the study. The school is located in a relatively high social-economic suburban junior high school. The research questions addressed were: 1. What proportion of instructional time do I spend on: teaching musical concepts and skills; conducting active music making; classroom management; waiting or wasting time? 2. How can I change my rehearsal practice to spend more time engaging students in active musical learning, and less time on non-musical tasks, thus improving the effectiveness and efficiency of my middle years band rehearsals? 3. How do students perceive and respond to their band rehearsals? During a 10-week block, from January to March, 2006, specific teaching innovations, drawn from the research and pedagogical literatures, were implemented with an aim to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the band class. Music classes were video taped and later analyzed using rehearsal frames. Students responded to the instructional innovations by completing exit slips daily and attitudinal surveys at the beginning and completion of the research project. The teacher tracked her perceptions through daily journal entries and reflecting on the classes videotaped. Qualitative data were unitized and then sorted by thematic codes while quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Pre- and Post-survey mean scores were calculated and compared using T-tests. The following conclusions were drawn: 1) The majority of class time was spent in active music making followed by “waiting” and “instruction” time; 2) The innovations introduced were effective and improved the efficiency of the band classes; 3) Students strongly agreed that they were involved during band rehearsals conducted throughout the project; and 4) The overwhelming majority of students responded positively to all survey items related to band rehearsals.

Given a symplectic manifold, it is of interest how Lie group actions, their orbit spaces look like and what are some topological requirements on the existence of such actions. In this thesis we present the work of Ono, giving some sufficient conditions for non-existence of circle actions on symplectic manifolds and work of Li, describing the fundamental groups of symplectic reductions of circle actions.

We compared a kinetic method (KM) and a colorimetric method (CM) for measuring erythrocyte aspartate aminotransferase (EAST) activity. Twenty-three healthy college students including 7 men and 16 women, aged from 22 to 40 years, participated in this study. Vitamin B-6 status was assessed by EAST activity coefficient (EAST-AC), the ratio of EAST stimulated activity by adding PLP in vitro (EAST-SA) to basal activity (EAST-BA). These subjects' EAST indices (EAST-BA, EAST-SA and EAST-AC) were compared to their plasma PLP concentration and their dietary intake of vitamin B-6 as determined by the food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and 3-day dietary record. There was a significant correlation (r=0.59, p<0.01) in EAST-BA obtained by the two methods, while the correlation of EAST-SA values between the two methods was not significant (r=0.40, p=0.06). EAST-AC obtained with KM was linearly associated (r=0.57, p<0.01) to EAST-AC obtained with CM, but was 1.26 times higher (p<0.01) than that with CM. Thus, the method used for the determination of the normal EAST-AC value needs to be noted. None of EAST indices measured were significantly correlated with plasma PLP concentration. There was a high correlation for vitamin B-6 intake (r=0.65, p<0.01) and the ratio of vitamin B-6 to dietary protein (r=0.58, p<0.01) estimated between the FFQ and the 3-day dietary record. The results suggested the high validity of the FFQ for determining vitamin B-6 intake. Neither of these dietary methods was, however, correlated with any EAST activity indices or the plasma PLP concentration. / Graduation date: 1995

This action research project seeks to explore the question, “how can the community dances of Alberta’s past become a context for learning in the Alberta grade four music program?” This question gives the researcher an opportunity to explore several things, one of which is David Elliott’s idea of music education as praxis, which is explored through teaching a unit of instruction “praxially,” and having it culminate in a cultural/ musical event, a historical community “schoolhouse dance” simulation. Because the research method for this project is action research, the researcher is able to interrogate his practice as a music teacher. Finally, at a time of planned change to Alberta’s fine arts curriculum, this study contributes to the discussion about what the nature of arts education in Alberta can - and should - be by exploring the areas of: community involvement; student engagement; and the integration of other subject areas within music learning. / Ethnomusicology

国立情報学研究所で電子化したコンテンツを使用している。

国立情報学研究所で電子化したコンテンツを使用している。