MA (African Studies) / Department of African Studies / According to St Paul in his letter to the Romans (13:1-7), the governing authorities (vharangaphanda) in the society should be respected, submitted to and honoured. A key word in the text is pason psuche meaning that every living soul should be subjected to rulers on earth. This philosophy has been interpreted a number of times and there are a number of commentaries about it. Interestingly, the very same philosophy was subjected to fierce debates and discussions during the South African apartheid time when whites expected blacks to submit to them although they never cared about them. The debates centred on the moral basis of subjecting oneself to a morally questionable and corrupt authority. The aim of this study is to reflect on the text with Lwamondo Tshivenda speaking congregants or readers using the local Tshivenda language and idiomatic expressions when reading this text. The methodology for this research will be based on qualitative research design using the Contextual Bible Study and Ethnography instruments for data collection. The main objective is to find out whether the state should be guided by the church or the church by the state in matters of vhurangaphanda and protocol. / NRF

One of the goals of perception is to learn to respond to coherence across space, time and modality. Here we present an abstract framework for the local online unsupervised learning of this coherent information using multi-stream neural networks. The processing units distinguish between feedforward inputs projected from the environment and the lateral, contextual inputs projected from the processing units of other streams. The contextual inputs are used to guide learning towards coherent cross-stream structure. The goal of all the learning algorithms described is to maximize the predictability between each unit output and its context. Many local cost functions may be applied: e.g. mutual information, relative entropy, squared error and covariance. Theoretical and simulation results indicate that, of these, the covariance rule (1) is the only rule that specifically links and learns only those streams with coherent information, (2) can be robustly approximated by a Hebbian rule, (3) is stable with input noise, no pairwise input correlations, and in the discovery of locally less informative components that are coherent globally. In accordance with the parallel nature of the biological substrate, we also show that all the rules scale up with the number of streams.

In recent years, mentoring has emerged as a research domain, however, the preponderance of mentoring research has been situated first, in the business or organizational settings and second, in the K-12 educational setting, focusing on protégé experiences, using quantitative survey instruments to collect data. Thus, mentoring research literature includes a paucity of formal studies in the arena of graduate education. Situated in the higher education setting, this study investigated the perspectives of faculty-mentors who provided mentoring to doctoral students who completed the doctoral degree, employing the qualitative research methodology known as phenomenology, as an orthogonal but complimentary epistemology to previous quantitative studies. Located specifically in the College of Education of a large research university, the study asked 262 College of Education doctoral graduates to nominate College of Education faculty who provided mentoring to them during their degree pursuit. A total of 59 faculty were nominated as mentors. Six of the most frequently nominated mentors participated in two semi-structured interviews (Berg, 2004). The interviews addressed the mentor's experience of the mentoring endeavor, seeking to gather a description of their lived experience (Creswell, 1998) of mentoring and the meanings (Cohen & Omery, 1994) they garnered from it. The interviews yielded several shared perspectives on mentoring, including: a Gratifying Perspective, an Intentional Perspective, an Idiographic Perspective, a Teleological Perspective, and a Dynamic Perspective. Other noteworthy concepts that emerged from the mentors' data were: values, motivations, symbiotic relationship, and contextual negotiation. Implications for mentoring theory and practice as well as mentor development were described. The study contributed to development of a fuller phenomenological understanding of the perspectives of faculty-mentors in a mentoring relationship with doctoral students.

Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs) are used in public schools for students with disabilities, replacing target behaviors with socially appropriate behaviors using positive behavior support strategies. However, research suggests that BIPs are often poorly written or fail to be implemented as intended. One reason for the ineffectiveness of BIPs may be that the interventionist (e.g., classroom teacher or other staff member responsible for implementing the plan) and the context of his/her classroom is not considered when plans are written by specialists (e.g., school psychologist, special education teacher, etc.). The purpose of this study was to evaluate BIPs written and used for students in public schools in the intermountain west for their contextual fit, using a researcher-developed measure of contextual fit based on key concepts previously established in research and modeled after the Behavior Support Plan-Quality Evaluation, Second Edition (BSP-QE II). With the coding guide created by our research team, we coded previously collected BIPs for practicality, the skill level and competency required for the interventionist to implement, and the consideration of cultural values for both the interventionist and the student who would receive the intervention. In addition, a previous research study by a graduate student at the same university had previously coded BIPs from the four school districts in Utah for technical adequacy using the BSP-QE II and, using the results from that study, we ran a Pearson correlation to determine whether there was a statistically significant relationship between BIP quality and contextual fit. Ultimately, our study found that BIPs often failed to include all elements for contextual fit to reasonably be considered established, particularly in the cultural values of those who would implement or receive the plan. In addition, we found a moderate, positive relationship between BIP technical adequacy and contextual fit. Implications for practitioners and ideas for future research are also discussed, including: ensuring that BIPs are developed in teams that include the interventionist, creating BIP templates that are culturally and contextually appropriate, and the possibility of research that documents actual interventionist participation in BIP team meetings as a comparison to the results of our scoring guide of BIP contextual fit.

La modélisation de données séquentielles est utile à de nombreux domaines : reconnaissance de parole, de gestes, d'écriture, ou encore la synthèse d'animations pour des avatars virtuels. Notre modélisation part du constat qu'une part importante de la variabilité entre les séquences d'observations peut être la conséquence de quelques variables contextuellesfixes le long de la séquence ou qui varient en fonction du temps. Une phrase peut être exprimée différemment en fonction de l'humeur du locuteur, un geste peut être plus ample en fonction de la taille de l'acteur etc... Ce type de variabilité ne peut pas toujours être supprimée par des pré-traitements.Dans un premier temps, nous proposons les modèles Markoviens Contextuels (CHMM), afin de modéliser directement l'influence du contexte sur les séquences d'observation en paramétrisant les distributions de probabilités des HMMs par des variables contextuelles statiques ou dynamiques.Puis, nous décrivons une approche afin d'exploiter efficacement l'information contextuelle dans un modèle discriminant, les Champs de Markov Conditionnels et Contextuels (CHCRF).Nous testons plusieurs variantes des CHMMs et investiguons dans quelle mesure cette modélisation est pertinente pour la classification de caractères manuscrits, la reconnaissance de parole ou pour la synthèse de mouvements de sourcils à partir de la parole pour un avatar virtuel.Enfin, afin d'apprendre à partir de moins d'exemples, nous proposons une approche de type Transfert utilisant les HMMs Contextuels. Cette méthode réalise du partage d'information entre les classes la ou les approches génératives apprennent des modèles de classes indépendants. / Modeling time series has practical applications in many domains : speech, gesture and handwriting recognition, synthesis of realistic character animations etc...The starting point of our modeling is that an important part of the variability between observation sequences may be the consequence of a few contextual variables that remain fixed all along a sequence or that vary slowly with time. For instance a sentence may be uttered quite differently according to the speaker emotion, a gesture may have more amplitude depending on the height of the performer etc... Such a variability cannot always be removed through preprocessing.We first propose the generative framework of Contextual Hidden Markov Models (CHMM) to model directly the influence of contextual information on observation sequences by parameterizing the probability distributions of HMMs with static or dynamic contextual variables. We test various instances of this framework on classification of handwritten characters, speech recognition and synthesis of eyebrow motion from speech for a virtual avatar.For each of these tasks, we investigate in what extent such modeling can translate into performance gains. We then introduce a natural and efficient way to exploit contextual information into Contextual Hidden Conditional Random Fields (CHCRF), the discriminative counter part of CHMMs.CHCRF may be viewed as an efficient way to learn a HCRF that exploit contextual information.Finally, we propose a Transfer Learning approach to learn Contextual HMMs from fewer examples. This method relies on sharing information between classes where in generative models classes are normally considered independent.

Evolution geography takes a systems approach to the study of evolution. The interconnected systems include: the gravitational and thermodynamic solar system in which the Earth was formed and resides; the cosmic, solar, electrical, chemical, radioactive and thermal energy flows of Earth; the Earth’s ever-changing biogeochemistry; the dynamic geography of the Earth (deep space); the energy gradients of living matter, which have reciprocally shaped and been shaped by their physical environment for at least 3400 million years (“deep time”); and hominid cultures and civilizations and their ramifications for the Earth's surface over at least the last 60,000 years. We humans are largely unaware of our place or time of evolutionary appearance on Earth. We have had a growing impact on Earth over the last seven centuries. Our over-reliance on reductionism affects the search for knowledge, proliferates and distorts worldviews extrapolated from within narrow disciplines, stifles debate and suppresses novel hypotheses. Data must be mapped into history and context where it can be challenged by other fields, be seen in the context of the evolution of the dynamical Earth system (Gaia). Can humanity trust any worldview to be the basis of good judgment absent the context of Gaia? The evidence is obvious and overwhelming that the answer is “no”.

The actor-observer effect suggests that actors attribute to the situation while observers attribute to the actor's disposition. This effect has come under scrutiny because of an alternative perspective that accounts for anomalous finding. This alternative, called the contextual perspective, suggests that actors and observers foreground different aspects of the context because of a relationship with the context, and has roots in Gestalt psychology and phenomenology. I manipulated a researcher's prompt and the presence of a distressed confederate as the context for attributions, and hypothesized that actors and observers would differ on attributions to choice, situation, and disposition because of presence of a distressed confederate. Actors were presented with either a distressed or non-distressed confederate and either a prompt to leave, a prompt to stay, or no prompt. For example, some actors experienced a distressed confederate and were asked to leave while others experienced a non-distressed confederate and were asked to stay. Actors then made a decision to either stay and help the confederate or leave. Observers watched one of ten videos, each of one actor condition in which the actor either stayed or left (five actor conditions by 2 options of stay or leave). Actors' and observers' choice, situational, and dispositional attributions were analyzed using factorial MANOVAs. Actors and observers foregrounded the distressed confederate when making attributions to choice, situation, and disposition. Furthermore, observers' attributions to choice were also influenced by the actor's behavior. These findings support the contextual perspective since context does influence actors' and observers' attributions.

The purpose of this research was to examine whether a transition schedule of contextual interference facilitated learning in retention and transfer equal to or better than random and blocked schedules among children. The author selected participants from the central coast of California and from youth activity leagues. The author selected children between the ages of 10 to 13 with a mean age of 11.5. There were a total of 36 subjects, half male and half female. Unfortunately, due to computer error, only data from 15 subjects were saved and available for analysis. Researchers randomly assigned participants to one of three groups: the random group, the blocked group, or the transition group. Each group performed 60 trials during the acquisition phase and practiced a total of 3 different arm patterns. All three groups practiced each pattern a total of 20 times during acquisition. The random group practiced each pattern in random fashion such that no one pattern was repeated more than twice in a row. The blocked group performed 20 trials of the green pattern, followed by 20 trials of the blue pattern, and lastly 20 trials of the red pattern. The transition group performed the first 24 trials in a blocked fashion, that is 8 trials of the green pattern were practiced, followed by 8 trials of the blue pattern, and then 8 trials of the red pattern. The group then practiced smaller blocks and performed 5 trials of each color. Another 9 trials were performed in a blocked fashion with 3 trials of each pattern. The final 12 trials were presented randomly to this group. Following acquisition, participants took an immediate retention test that was counter balanced following a 10 minute rest. The retention test consisted of 9 random trials of the three various patterns. Researchers gave a transfer test following the retention test, which consisted of six trials of a novel (white) pattern. Researchers tested all three groups one week later with a delayed retention and transfer test similar to the tests described above. One-way ANOVA analysis of the data revealed a significant movement time difference (F=4.28; P=.039) during the delayed retention test. The follow up Tukey test demonstrated that the transition group had a significantly faster movement time than the blocked group but that random group was not significantly different from either the blocked or transition group. The other retention and transfer tests revealed no significance, however the trend in the data suggest that with a bigger sample size, the transition group would demonstrate learning equal to or better than both random and blocked groups. Further research is needed in the area of transition practice schedules.

This dissertation explores the semantics and syntax of switch-reference (SR). It makes novel generalizations about the phenomenon based on two empirical sources: A broad, cross-linguistic survey of descriptive reports, and semantic fieldwork that narrowly targets the Kiowa language of Oklahoma. It shows that previous attempts at formalizing switch-reference cannot work, and offers a new theory of switch-reference that derives the facts through effects that emerge from the interaction between the syntax and the semantics. The empirical investigation results in four major findings: First, SR is introduced by its own head, instead of being parasitic to T or C. Second, switch-reference can track Austinian topic situations. Third, it must track topic situations when it is found with coordination, and it cannot do so with intensional embedded clauses. Finally, generalizations or theories based solely on the syntax are not able to account for these facts. These findings are explained by analyzing switch-reference as a pronominal head in the extended verbal projection of the embedded clause. This head introduces a relation of identity or non-identity between two arguments. One of these is in the dominant clause, the other is the highest indexed constituent in the sister of the SR head. The arguments are selected indirectly, through binding structures that are interpreted as lambda-abstraction. The clausemate argument is bound by the SR head; the properties of feature valuation derive the height constraint. The pronoun introduced by the SR head is bound by the connective. Binding by the connective results in the interpretation of the SR-marked clause as a property. This property is then ascribed to an argument in the dominant clause. This theory accounts for the generalizations, and makes fruitful predictions about other aspects of switch-reference, notably when it tracks non-referential subjects. This dissertation improves our understanding of switch-reference, of situation semantics, and of reference-tracking in general. It ties reference-tracking to contextual restriction by use of topic situations, which are anaphoric pronouns used to restrict sentential interpretation. It provides the first solid evidence of morphology sensitive to situations. In addition, the theory of switch-reference proposed here relies on independently-motivated mechanisms in the grammar. This reliance links switch-reference to other mechanisms of co-reference from inside an embedded clause, and finds a solid place for switch-reference in linguistic theory.

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