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Why are some memories easy to retrieve, while others are more difficult to access? Here, we tested whether we could bias memory replay, a process whereby newly learned information is reinforced by reinstating the neuronal patterns of activation that were present during learning, towards particular memory traces. The goal of this biasing is to strengthen some memory traces, making them more easily retrieved. To test this, participants were scanned during interleaved periods of encoding and rest. Throughout the encoding runs, participants learned triplets of images that were paired with semantically related sound cues. During two of the three rest periods, novel, irrelevant sounds were played. During one critical rest period, however, the sound cues learned in the preceding encoding period were played in an effort to preferentially increase reactivation of the associated visual images, a manipulation known as targeted memory reactivation. Representational similarity analyses were used to compare multi-voxel patterns of hippocampal activation across encoding and rest periods. Our index of reactivation was selectively enhanced for memory traces that were targeted for preferential reactivation during offline rest, both compared to information that was not targeted for preferential reactivation and compared to a baseline rest period. Importantly, this neural effect of targeted reactivation was related to the difference in delayed order memory for information that was cued versus uncued, suggesting that preferential replay may be a mechanism by which specific memory traces can be selectively strengthened for enhanced subsequent memory retrieval. We also found partial evidence of discrimination of unique temporal sequences within the hippocampus. Over time, multi-voxel patterns associated with a given triplet sequence became more dissimilar to the patterns associated with the other sequences. Furthermore, this neural marker of sequence preservation was correlated with the difference in delayed order memory for cued versus uncued triplets, signifying that the ability to reactivate particular temporal sequences within the hippocampus may be related to enhanced temporal order memory for the cued information. Taken together, these findings support the claim that awake replay can be biased towards preferential reactivation of particular memory traces and also suggest that this preferential reactivation, as well as representations of reactivated temporal sequences, can be detected within patterns of hippocampal activation. / Psychology

In Loretta Lees's study of a new public library in Vancouver in the late 1990's, she began to explore the ideals of non-representational theories, or those everyday practices that provide evidence not just of what symbolic meaning one may assign to a space, but rather what that space does—how it is enacted through everyday practice. This exploration provided Lees with another way to think about the built environment, one that she believed could open up a new direction for architectural geographers. Lees, building on the work of Jon Goss and other contemporary scholars in the field, described this new direction as a move towards a critical geography of architecture. This dissertation explores the use of a non-representational framework to study everyday practices through a single case study in the Avenue of Fashion in Detroit, Michigan. This research considers the historical evolution of Detroit through bankruptcy to present day using two common narratives of the city, one of rise/rebirth and one of Two Detroits, to offer a critical lens through which to consider performances of everyday life in this recently redeveloped area of the city. Within a non-representational framework, this study pulls in direct observational methods such as counting, mapping/tracing, photo documentation, trace observation, and field notes derived primarily from public life studies to observe and consider how the built environment is shaped through these embodied practices. This study contributes both an example of alternative methods that may be used in non-representational research, as well as new way to think about spaces that complements findings from more representational research. The findings from this study inspire a curiosity about the unfolding of everyday life and contribute to the work of Lees and others in advancing a critical geography of architecture. / Doctor of Philosophy / Using methods from the field of public life studies, such as counting, mapping/tracing, photo documentation, trace observation, and field notes, this dissertation study everyday practices, the bodily performances of everyday life, through a single case study in the Avenue of Fashion in Detroit, Michigan. This research considers the historical evolution of Detroit through bankruptcy to present day using two common narratives of the city, one of rise/rebirth and one of Two Detroits, to offer a critical lens through which to consider performances of everyday life in this recently redeveloped area of the city.

Episodic memories are neurally coded records of personally experienced events across a lifetime. These records are encoded via medial temporal lobe structures in the brain, including the hippocampus, and are commonly called "representations" or "memory traces". Existing studies indicate that information about the neural signal corresponding to a memory representation can be found in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data when the pattern across its smallest units (voxels, often 3mm3 sections of the brain) is measured. Many prior studies have measured these voxel patterns in response to stimuli as if they are a spontaneous brain function, regardless of cognitive factors. These studies sometimes find that similarity in the voxel patterns across repetition of a to-be-remembered event predicts later memory retrieval, but the results are inconsistent. The current fMRI study investigated the possibility that cognitive goals during encoding affect the type of neural representation (voxel pattern) that will later support memory retrieval. This seems likely because prior behavioral studies indicate that cognitive variability across repetitions of an event benefits later memory retrieval, which is difficult to reconcile with the common finding that voxel pattern variability across repetitions of an event harms later memory. We tested this hypothesis by comparing voxel patterns that support later memory retrieval to those associated with forgotten items in the medial temporal lobe, including the hippocampus, and lateral occipital cortex. Overall, as previously demonstrated, the behavioral results showed that exposure to variable cognitive goals across repetition of events during encoding benefited subsequent memory retrieval. Voxel patterns in the hippocampus indicated a significant interaction between cognitive goals (variable vs. consistent) and memory (remembered vs. forgotten) such that less voxel pattern similarity for the repeated events with variable cognitive goals, but not consistent cognitive goals, supported later memory success. In other words, variable hippocampal neural activations for the same events under different cognitive goals predicted better later memory performance. However, there was no significant interaction in neural pattern similarity between cognitive goals and memory success in medial temporal cortices or lateral occipital lobe. Instead, higher similarity in voxel patterns in right medial temporal cortices was associated with later memory retrieval, regardless of cognitive goals. In the lateral occipital lobe, the main effects of cognitive goals, hemisphere, and memory success were found but no interactions. In conclusion, we found that the relationship between pattern similarity and memory success in the hippocampus (but not the medial temporal lobe cortex) changes when the cognitive goal during encoding does or does not vary across repetitions of the event. / Master of Science / Episodic memory is a long-term memory of personal experiences which are encoded via the medial temporal lobe in the brain, primarily in the hippocampus. The records of personal experiences in these areas are commonly called "patterns", "representations", or "memory traces". Prior investigations indicate that the way of measuring the neural signals corresponding to personal events is functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The brain images taken by an fMRI scanner represent the patterns of the smallest unit (voxels, often 3mm3 sections of the brain). Many prior investigations of episodic memory used the voxel patterns but showed mixed results in whether similarity in the voxel patterns across repetition of a repeated event leads to subsequent memory retrieval. One of the possible explanations for mixed results is that the cognitive factors during encoding were neglected. Therefore, the current fMRI study examined how cognitive goals during encoding influence the voxel patterns that later support memory retrieval. During encoding, participants were shown an image repeated with the same or different questions and answered the question on the screen in an fMRI scanner. After 10 days, they were invited to the item memory test on the images that they were given during the encoding phase. The voxel patterns in the medial temporal lobe, including the hippocampus, and the lateral occipital lobe were compared across the repetitions of each image. The behavioral results showed that variable cognitive goals across repeated events during encoding benefited later memory retrieval. Furthermore, less similar voxel patterns in the hippocampus for the images repeated with different questions, but not the same questions, during encoding predicted better later memory success. In the right medial temporal cortices, higher similarity in voxel patterns was significantly associated with later memory retrieval, regardless of cognitive goals. In the lateral occipital lobe, higher voxel pattern similarity was found in the right hemisphere, for images repeated with the same question, and for images successfully retrieved later. In conclusion, we found that the relationship between voxel pattern similarity and memory success in the hippocampus (but not the medial temporal lobe cortex) changes when the cognitive goal during encoding does or does not vary across repetitions of the event.

Approximately 5 to 14% of school age children are affected by mathematics learning disabilities. With the implementation of inclusion, many of these children are now being educated in the regular education class- room setting and may require additional support to be successful in algebra. Therefore, teachers need to know what interventions are available to them to facilitate the algebraic learning of students with mathemat- ics learning disabilities. This systematic literature review aims to identify, and critically analyze, interventions that could be used when teaching algebra to these students. The five included articles focused on interven- tions that can be used in algebra, specifically when solving equations. In the analysis of the five studies two types of interventions emerged: the concrete-representational-abstract model and graphic organizers. The concrete-representational-abstract model seems to show it can be used successfully in a variety of scenarios involving solving equations. The use of graphic organizers also seems to be helpful when teaching higher- level algebra content that may be difficult to represent concretely. This review discovered many practical implications for teachers. Namely, that the concrete-representational-abstract model of intervention is easy to implement, effective over short periods of time and appears to positively influence the achievement of all students in an inclusive classroom setting. The graphic organizer showed similar results in that it is easy to implement and appears to improve all students’ learning. This review provided a good starting point for teachers to identify interventions that could be useful in algebra; however, more research still needs to be done. Future research is suggested in inclusive classroom settings where the general education teacher is the instructor and also on higher-level algebra concepts.

The complex interactions between individuals, institutions and information and communications technologies (ICTs) have generated a growing body of research that seeks greater knowledge of the processes at work and their consequences. Situated firmly within this area, this thesis challenges the dominance of the generalised and largely technologically deterministic narratives within the field by seeking to constitute such knowledge in a different way. Geography provides a useful standpoint from which to challenge these narratives owing to its enduring engagement with time and space, concepts implicit in any discussion of ICTs effects. Emerging work on code space, transurbanism and timespace are specifically used to negate the persistent dualistic treatment of time and space which is argued to be hampering geographic research in this field. Methodologically drawing from a non representational style this thesis uses these emerging understandings to access the in between, a mental space of performance; which involves the process of drawing from tacit knowledge, cognitive perceptions of the spatial and temporal environment and emotions, in order to explore the conditions of possibility that individuals are becoming aware of through their interactions with ICTs. Four empirical interventions are used to ground these emerging understandings into the reality of everyday encounters with ICTs in Auckland, New Zealand. The first focuses on the role of local government in the development of Auckland’s ICT infrastructure, a complex and contingent process. The second concentrates on the provision of a Real Time Passenger Information System at Auckland bus stops, exposing individuals to new timespaces while waiting for the bus. The third considers students opinions of the e-learning mechanisms used in two first year geography courses. The final intervention examines the role ICTs play in South Africans and South Koreans imagining, negotiation and mediation of the migration process to Auckland. In conclusion, this thesis contributes to how geography constitutes knowledge about ICTs at three different levels. Empirically, the four interventions contribute grounded findings to the debates in the geographic literature over interactions with ICTs. Methodologically, the conditions of possibility institutional and individual actors are beginning to perceive through their encounters with ICTs are revealed as are the timespaces that may eventuate from these. Theoretically, to understand how the interactions between individuals and ICTs are performed this thesis demonstrates the need to interrogate the in between as a process, not just a gap or blank.

Maps have been important elements of visual representation in the development of different societies, and for this reason they have mainly been considered from a practical and utilitarian point of view. This means that cartographers or mapmakers have largely focused on the technical aspects of the cartographic products, and cartography has given little attention to both its theoretical component and to its philosophical and epistemological aspects. The current study is dedicated to consider these views. In this study the main trends, thoughts and different directions in cartography during positivism/empiricism, neo-positivism and post-structuralism are reviewed; and cartography is analysed under the modernism and post-modernism periods. Some of the arguments proposed by philosophers such as Ludwig Wittgenstein and Karl Popper are examined as important contributions in our understanding of the development of cartography and mapping. This study also incorporates the idea or concept of paradigm, which has been taken from the field of the epistemology of sciences. The aforementioned opens a space to analyse cartography in terms of a paradigm shift. In the analysis of each trend within contemporary cartography – from the second half of the twentieth century until today – it is necessary to keep in mind the theoretical scheme of a scientific discipline (object of study, research aims, methods and approaches, and results). This helps to determine the body of knowledge in cartography. It is also important to consider the epistemological context in which the tendencies are developed: positivism/empiricism, realism/structuralism and idealism/hermeneutic. In this way, by considering three epistemological levels - essentialist/ontical (scientific), deconstructive (sociological), and ontological (emergent) - some paradigmatic tendencies are postulated. The first level results in tendencies such as cartographic communication, cartographic semiotics, analytical cartography and cartographic visualisation - all of these belong to the scientific-empirical perspective. In the second level, we have critical cartography, belonging to the critical perspective and that confronts the scientific stances. Finally, in the third level the so-called post-representational cartography arises in open opposition to the traditional representational cartography. / Im Entwicklungsprozess verschiedener Gesellschaften sind Karten immer wichtige Elemente visueller Darstellung gewesen. Karten wurden meist aus einer praktischen und utilitaristischen Sicht betrachtet. Das heißt, dass sich Kartographen oder Kartenmacher gezielt auf die technischen Aspekte kartographischer Produkte fokussiert haben, und Kartographie sich nur wenig mit den theoretischen Komponenten und philosophischen oder epistemologischen Aspekten auseinandergesetzt hat. Diese Arbeit verfolgt das Ziel, diese Sichten zu analysieren. Diese Studie untersucht die verschiedenen kartographischen Denkrichtungen, die während des Positivismus/Empirismus, des Neo-Positivismus und der Post-Strukturalismusperioden entstanden sind und analysiert Kartographie der Moderne und post-moderner Perioden. Argumente von Philosophen wie Ludwig Wittgenstein und Karl Popper werden untersucht als wichtige Beiträge zu unserem Verständnis der Entwicklung der Kartographie. Diese Arbeit berücksichtigt auch das Konzept des Paradigmas, welches aus dem Gebiet der wissenschaftlichen Epistemologie adaptiert wurde. Dies eröffnet die Möglichkeit, Kartographie hinsichtlich eines Paradigmenwechsels analysieren zu können. Wenn man die Tendenzen der zeitgenössischen Kartographie – von der zweiten Hälfte des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts bis heute – studiert, muss der theoretische Rahmen einer wissenschaftlichen Disziplin (Forschungsobjekt, Forschungsziel, Arbeitsmethodik und Ergebnisse) berücksichtigt werden. Dies erlaubt es, das gesammelte Wissen der Kartographie zu ermitteln. Ebenfalls wichtig ist die Berücksichtigung des epistemologischen Kontexts, in dem diese Tendenzen entstanden: Positivismus/Empirismus, Realismus/Strukturalismus und Idealismus/Hermeneutik. Unter Berücksichtigung dreier epistemologischer Ebenen – Essenzialisten/ontisch (wissenschaftlich), dekonstructiv (soziologisch) und ontologisch (emergent) – werden ausgewählte paradigmatische Tendenzen postuliert. Die erste Ebene ergibt Tendenzen wie die kartographische Kommunikation, die kartographische Semiotik, die analytische Kartographie und die kartographische Visualisierung, die alle zu der wissenschaftlich-empirischen Perspektive gehören. Zur zweiten Ebene gehört die kritische Kartographie, welche der kritischen Perspektive zugeordnet ist und die wissenschaftliche Standpunkte konfrontiert. Die so genannte post-repräsentative Kartographie entsteht aus der dritten Ebene im offenen Widerstand zur traditionellen repräsentativen Kartographie.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis presents a computational method for the inductive inference of explicit and implicit semantic design knowledge from the symbolic-mathematical syntax of design formulations using an unsupervised pattern recognition and extraction approach. Existing research shows that AI / machine learning based design computation approaches either require high levels of knowledge engineering or large training databases to acquire problem reformulation knowledge. The method presented in this thesis addresses these methodological limitations. The thesis develops, tests, and evaluates ways in which the method may be employed for design problem reformulation. The method is based on the linear algebra based factorization method Singular Value Decomposition (SVD), dimensionality reduction and similarity measurement through unsupervised clustering. The method calculates linear approximations of the associative patterns of symbol cooccurrences in a design problem representation to infer induced coupling strengths between variables, constraints and system components. Unsupervised clustering of these approximations is used to identify useful reformulations. These two components of the method automate a range of reformulation tasks that have traditionally required different solution algorithms. Example reformulation tasks that it performs include selection of linked design variables, parameters and constraints, design decomposition, modularity and integrative systems analysis, heuristically aiding design “case” identification, topology modeling and layout planning. The relationship between the syntax of design representation and the encoded semantic meaning is an open design theory research question. Based on the results of the method, the thesis presents a set of theoretical postulates on computable relationships between design syntax and semantics. The postulates relate the performance of the method with empirical findings and theoretical insights provided by cognitive neuroscience and cognitive science on how the human mind engages in symbol processing and the resulting capacities inherent in symbolic representational systems to encode “meaning”. The performance of the method suggests that semantic “meaning” is a higher order, global phenomenon that lies distributed in the design representation in explicit and implicit ways. A one-to-one local mapping between a design symbol and its meaning, a largely prevalent approach adopted by many AI and learning algorithms, may not be sufficient to capture and represent this meaning. By changing the theoretical standpoint on how a “symbol” is defined in design representations, it was possible to use a simple set of mathematical ideas to perform unsupervised inductive inference of knowledge in a knowledge-lean and training-lean manner, for a knowledge domain that traditionally relies on “giving” the system complex design domain and task knowledge for performing the same set of tasks.

The complex interactions between individuals, institutions and information and communications technologies (ICTs) have generated a growing body of research that seeks greater knowledge of the processes at work and their consequences. Situated firmly within this area, this thesis challenges the dominance of the generalised and largely technologically deterministic narratives within the field by seeking to constitute such knowledge in a different way. Geography provides a useful standpoint from which to challenge these narratives owing to its enduring engagement with time and space, concepts implicit in any discussion of ICTs effects. Emerging work on code space, transurbanism and timespace are specifically used to negate the persistent dualistic treatment of time and space which is argued to be hampering geographic research in this field. Methodologically drawing from a non representational style this thesis uses these emerging understandings to access the in between, a mental space of performance; which involves the process of drawing from tacit knowledge, cognitive perceptions of the spatial and temporal environment and emotions, in order to explore the conditions of possibility that individuals are becoming aware of through their interactions with ICTs. Four empirical interventions are used to ground these emerging understandings into the reality of everyday encounters with ICTs in Auckland, New Zealand. The first focuses on the role of local government in the development of Auckland’s ICT infrastructure, a complex and contingent process. The second concentrates on the provision of a Real Time Passenger Information System at Auckland bus stops, exposing individuals to new timespaces while waiting for the bus. The third considers students opinions of the e-learning mechanisms used in two first year geography courses. The final intervention examines the role ICTs play in South Africans and South Koreans imagining, negotiation and mediation of the migration process to Auckland. In conclusion, this thesis contributes to how geography constitutes knowledge about ICTs at three different levels. Empirically, the four interventions contribute grounded findings to the debates in the geographic literature over interactions with ICTs. Methodologically, the conditions of possibility institutional and individual actors are beginning to perceive through their encounters with ICTs are revealed as are the timespaces that may eventuate from these. Theoretically, to understand how the interactions between individuals and ICTs are performed this thesis demonstrates the need to interrogate the in between as a process, not just a gap or blank.