Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (testi di perfezionamento)--Scuola normale superiore, Pisa, 1969. / At head of title: Scuola normale superiore, Pisa. Classe de scienze. Includes bibliographical references (p. 151-153).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin, 1966. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliography.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1984. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 51).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, 1910. / Vita. "Reprinted from American journal of Mathematics, vol. XXXIV, no. 3." Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

In the first chapters, the prevalent conception of the nature of similarity is shown to be too narrow, and the argument is developed that models of similarity must encompass both analytic and synthetic components. Some general problems of measurement and the testing of psychological models are also discussed. A review of the philosophical treatment of the concept of similarity is made in order to understand the origins of the models found in the present psychological literature. These are then analysed in terms of their implicit object representations and cognitive processes. The distinction between the'class inclusion' and 'distance relation' models of similarity is shown tobe qualitative in nature, and to correspond to the analytic-synthetic distinction in terms of cognitive process. A functional model of the psychological processes and object representations involved in similarity judgements is then proposed. The fundamental idea involved in this model is that the global properties of referents are synthetically evaluated in terms of their contextual relations, whilst an analytic 'pattern matching' of local properties is made. Various theoretical aspects of the model are examined experimentally, and its general applicability is indicated in a series of applied studies. The scope of the argument is finally broadened to encompass a development of Torgerson's (196.5) conception of the nature of the dimensions resulting from MDS analysis. Dimensions may be considered as 'virtual' artifacts of the experimental task and the individual's conception of it. This possibility allows the methodology to escape the dominating influence of its psychophysical tradition, and become a conceptually deeper tool for cognitive psychology.

Individuals with developmental disabilities often have limited verbal repertoires and may engage in maladaptive behaviors in lieu of appropriate behaviors to access preferred stimuli. Functional Communication Training (FCT), although an efficacious treatment to reduce occurrences of maladaptive behavior, may result in unmanageable rates of the communicative response. Research has shown that gradually introducing a multiple schedule of reinforcement can ameliorate these high rates. To date, no studies have attempted the gradual introduction of a multiple schedule with behavior sensitive to negative reinforcement. Moreover, although evidence exists in the basic literature for the use of auditory stimuli as discriminative stimuli for the components of a multiple schedule, there is a paucity of applied research on multiple schedules with auditory signals. In the current study, two participants with developmental disabilities and intact vision and hearing received FCT to teach a functionally communicative response (e.g., touching a "break" card). Once the participants acquired the response, they were exposed to a multiple schedule condition, in which either auditory or visual signals were arranged to signal the components, and a mixed schedule (control) condition in which neither component was signaled

This dissertation explores talk in an undergraduate seminar context. Research design was informed by an interpretive, ethnomethodological approach to understanding talk as a situated activity. A series of <i>student-led seminars</i> were audio recorded; students and staff were interviewed and post-seminar group debriefing sessions were held. The data was subsequently transcribed and analysed using a functional systemic linguistics and discourse analysis approach. Analysis identified structural and linguistic elements of seminar talk and links between language, identity, power and status was explored through an analysis of the discursive processes at work in the seminar events. An heuristic model of the seminar as a socio-pedagogic space, a site of hegemonic struggle, was used to aid concept development. A number of issues emerged within an interpretative framework of the cognitive, interpersonal and textual elements of seminar talk. In the analysis of the textual meta-function of seminars, how complexity is achieved and how conversational moves are patterned, seminars appear to constitute a hybrid talk variety, a highly unusual textual form in which participants need to learn how to participate. Tensions were found between the social and the cognitive elements of seminars. Student participants tend to use the seminar to achieve social effects, identifying and maintaining interpersonal relationships. The collaborative discourse strategies they employ constrain other opportunities for achieving educational outcomes. The learning which does take place is more likely to be related to personal and skills development than to learning about the academic subject. Students deployed a range of heteroglossic discursive strategies to practice their skills in forming ideas, marshalling evidence and constructing argument. The discursive practices of seminar events foreground tensions between socially situated identities. The research identifies a number of areas for improving practice including: enhanced specification of seminar processes and outcomes; embedding opportunities for preparation and critical reflection; teaching the subject of communication and foregrounding understandings of the discursive practices at work in seminars so as to empower individual learners.

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No description available.