Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1970. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis addresses decision mechanisms in foraging situations, using laboratory experiments with European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). Building on previous work from the Behavioural Ecology Research Group, I chose the Sequential Choice Model (SCM; reviewed in Kacelnik et al., 2011 − Appendix 1) as a starting point, and tested its premises and predictions generalising it to different experimental protocols. Classical decision models do not relate choice preferences to behaviour towards isolated options, and assume that choices involve time-consuming evaluations of all alternatives. However, previous work found that starlings’ responses to isolated options predict preference in choices, and that response times to single-option encounters are not reliably longer than response times in choices. Since, in the wild, options are normally encountered sequentially, dealing with isolated options can be considered of greater biological, and possibly psychological, significance than simultaneous decisions. Following this rationale, the SCM postulates that when multiple simultaneous stimuli are met they are processed in parallel, each competing against the memory of background opportunities, rather than comparing present options to each other. At the time of launching this research, these ideas had only been applied to protocols involving just two deterministic alternatives and offering no chance to explore the influence of learning history (i.e., how animals learn to choose; see Chapter 4). To increase their relevance and offer more rigorous tests, I generalised them to situations with multiple (see Chapters 2, 4 and 5), and in some cases probabilistic alternatives (see Chapter 3), controlling the learning regime. I combined these extensions with tests of economic rationality (see Chapter 6), a concept that is presently facing sustained debates. Integrating the result of all experimental chapters (see Chapter 7), my results support the notion that behaviour in single-option encounters is fundamental to understand choice behaviour. The important issue of whether choices involve a decision time cost or the opposite, a shortening of response times, remains unsolved, as neither could be evidenced reliably.

The Master’s thesis deals with the topic of the use of artificial inteligence for managerial decision making in the firm. This thesis contains an aplication of fuzzy logic system for firm’s supplier evaluation that provides informations for more efficient collaboration with suppliers.

This thesis is dedicated to creating a new system with capabilities to create new generic, autonomous strategy computer game controlling elements based on multi-agent systems with social, intelligent decision-making and learning skills. Basic types of strategy games and problems of their playing will be introduced, along with currently used methods of intelligent game AI development. This thesis also presents design and implementation of the new system, working model for a specific game and results obtained while testing it.

Studiens syfte var att undersöka pedagogers uppfattningar av och kunskaper kring att arbeta med genus och drama samt att belysa vilka eventuella utmaningar de möter i arbetet. Studien präglas av kvalitativ metod och utgår ur ett socialkonstruktionistisk perspektiv. Vår ambition var att samla in pedagogernas erfarenheter och uppfattningar i relation till hur normkritisk pedagogik och genusfrågor synliggörs i barns dramalek därför har vi använt intervjuer som datainsamlingsmetod. Resultatet visade att samtliga intervjuade pedagoger uppfattar och använder drama som en pedagogisk kontext för att undersöka jämställdhet tillsammans med barn på ett lekfullt sätt. Detta, i sin tur, belyser dramas kraft som ett normbrytande pedagogiskt verktyg. Resultatet visade även hur pedagogernas förhållningssätt i relation till normer och stereotyper påverkar och utformar sättet barn upplever normer och stereotyper samt hur dramapedagogik bidrar till barns normkritiskt tänkande. Till sist, tydliggjordes hur viktigt pedagogernas medvetandegörande och närvaro är för att styra lärandet utifrån barns behov, medan olika utmaningar som uppstår bör lösas genom en god kollegial och föräldrasamverkan. / The purpose of the study was to investigate educators' perceptions of and knowledge about working with gender and drama and to shed light on the possible challenges they face in their work. The study is characterized by a qualitative method and is based on a social constructionist perspective. Our ambition was to collect the educators' experiences and perceptions in relation to how norm-critical pedagogy and gender issues are made visible in children's drama play, which is why we have used interviews as a data collection method. The results showed that all interviewed educators perceive and use drama as a pedagogical context to investigate gender equality with children in a playful way. This, in turn, highlights the power of drama as a norm-breaking pedagogical tool. The results also showed how the educators' attitudes in relation to norms and stereotypes affect and shape the way children experience norms and stereotypes and how drama pedagogy contributes to children's norm-critical thinking. Finally, it was clarified how important the educators' awareness and presence is to guide learning based on children's needs, while various challenges that arise should be solved through good collegial and parent collaboration.