Effects of Failure on Subsequent Performance in the Bottlenose Dolphin (\u3ci\u3eTursiops truncatus\u3c/i\u3e)

The current study examined the immediate effects of two types of failure during operant-conditioning based training sessions in 11 bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) at the U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program in San Diego, CA. While learning a multi-faceted behavior not commonly found in nature, such as beaching, animals are likely to perform approximations of the behavior that are not successful and do not result in reinforcement. The effects of failure on beaching trials were systematically investigated over a three-month period by determining the mean failure rate and the probability of success after initial success, initial attempts, and initial no-attempts. This study, the first to analyze failure response types in bottlenose dolphins, showed that four subjects’ mean performance decreased after either initial attempts or initial no-attempts when compared to initial success and two subjects’ mean performance was enhanced by either initial attempts or initial no-attempts when compared to initial success. Five subjects’ mean performance was not affected by initial attempts and initial no-attempts. Both types of failure decreased performance. However, only initial no-attempts increased performance. In addition, several individuals had a mean failure rate that differed based on the trainer, time of day, criteria, mat type, number of sessions, and hand station requests. This study demonstrated that initial failure was not solely responsible for subsequent performance. Doctoral dissertation: http://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/1399

The Art of Science: An Integrative Curriculum

This project shows the development of an integrated, interdisciplinary curriculum which combines the visual arts with the physical, life and health sciences at the sixth grade level. The integrated curriculum sample identifies and aligns with the Essential Academic Learning Requirements of Washington state. In addition, the sample lessons maintain the integrity of both art and science, the two subjects being integrated, demonstrating how integration can take place while allowing both subjects to maintain their value as individual disciplines. The review of literature gives background on issues revolving around integration in general, as well as integration involving the arts

Factor Analysis of the MMPI-A Content Scales: Item-Level and Scale-Level Analyses

This investigation identified and interpreted the overall factor structure of the MMPI-A content scales through the use of scale-level analyses, and examined the factor structure of each individual content scale through item-level analyses. The MMPI-A normative sample (805 males, 815 females) and a clinical sample (266 males, 92 females) were used in the analyses. Scale-level analyses yielded a two factor solution for the normative male and clinical groups and a one factor solution for the normative sample and normative female group. The factors were labeled General Maladjustment and Externalizing Tendencies. Item-level analyses provided one factor solutions for the majority of the MMPI-A content scales. These findings differed from the factor structures obtained in the creation of the MMPI-A Content Component scales recently developed by Sherwood, Ben-Porath, and Williams (1997). Implications of these findings are discussed

Efficacy of Cognitive Enrichment for Bottlenose Dolphins (\u3ci\u3eTursiops truncatus\u3c/i\u3e): Evaluation of Planning Abilities Through the Use of a Novel Problem Solving Task

Environmental enrichment is a key component to improving the psychological and physiological well being of animals in human care. Enrichment can be achieved through a variety of modalities, including the addition of objects and scents, or by providing the animals with additional challenges. The effectiveness of specific enrichment should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to determine if the desired result is achieved. Environmental enrichment devices (EED’s) can be utilized to present novel problems to animals in human care. When confronted with a novel problem, dolphins can plan their behavior to create a more efficient strategy then previously modeled. The purpose of the present study was to investigate dolphins’ ability to plan their behaviors using an interactive apparatus and accompanying weights, and examine the enrichment value of the interactive apparatus. Two problems were presented to evaluate dolphins’ ability to plan by collecting several weights at once, thus solving the apparatus more efficiently. In contrast to previous findings, dolphins in the present study failed to plan their behavior. Rather, individual differences in strategy and level of interaction with the apparatus arose throughout the experiment and are discussed here. The results indicate that the apparatus was engaging for some animals, evidenced by their continued interaction throughout the study, with or without reward. One dolphin continually solved the apparatus despite rarely consuming the food reward, suggesting that she was motivated to participate for the challenge itself. In contrast, another animal preferred to interact with the weights. The presentation of the interactive apparatus may have resulted in small but measurable changes in behavior. There was a marginal effect of phase for behavioral diversity, with the highest behavioral diversity indices found in the treatment phase. Social swim states and usage of the bottom of the habitat were highest when the interactive apparatus was being presented. Combined, this suggests that the interactive apparatus may have resulted small changes in behavior. MA thesis: http://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/142

Studies in Analytical Chemistry and Chemical Education. Part 1: Characterization of Complex Organics By Raman Spectroscopy and Gas Chromatography. Part 2: Differential Item Functioning on Multiple-choice General Chemistry Assessments

PART 1: CHARACTERIZATION OF COMPLEX ORGANICS BY RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY AND GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY. The analytical chemistry component of this thesis focused on instrumentation and methods to address challenges in art conservation, particularly the identification, quantitation, and reactivity of a set of representative varnishes and their degradation products. Methods for characterizing varnishes are of great interest to art conservators to restore art work more accurately. A database was created as a means to identify and quantify the composition of aged varnishes. Fourier Transform (FT)-Raman Spectroscopy was used to study common organic acids found in varnishes. The database included nine short-chain carboxylic acids, four di-carboxylic acids, and six medium-to-long-chain fatty acids. Four varnish samples (Linseed Oil, Tung Oil, Dammar, and Mastic) were studied as well. Through visual comparison and fingerprinting analysis comparison, identification of components in the Raman Spectral Database were recognized as components of the varnish samples. Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) was conducted to determine how well the database represented the unknown varnish samples. SVD was applied to the 19 standards collected in building the database. To reduce the amount of data, seven singular values were chosen. The seven singular values were then used to model several unknowns - Linseed Oil, Tung Oil, Dammar, and Mastic. The root-mean square (RMS) error for the unknowns were 0.08, 0.13, 0.21, and 0.21 Raman Intensity units, for Linseed Oil, Tung Oil, Dammar, and Mastic, respectively. If those values are compared to the largest peak in the unknown spectra, the % relative RMS errors are 1.7%, 1.7%, 4.9%, and 6.4%, respectively. A method based upon Gas Chromatography (GC) was developed to characterize carboxylic acids formed as a result of varnish degradation. In this method, a headspace solid-phase microextraction (SPME) approach was optimized in which a 75 µm carboxen-polydimethylsiloxane (CAR/PDMS) SPME fiber was used to analyze mono carboxylic acids. For quantitative determinations, the injection port was in the splitless mode and held at 250°C for 1.0 min for the desorption of the analytes from the SPME fiber. After the initial minute, the injector was switched to a 1:100 split ratio. The temperature program consisted of the oven being initially set to a temperature of 30°C and held for 1 min, and then ramped at 25°C/min to 200°C, where the temperature was held for 1 min, thereby resulting in a total run time of 8.80 min. The PFPD was held at 200 °C for the entire run with a 0.5 ms gate delay, and the gate width was set to 20.0 ms. The mono carboxylic acids that were studied were Formic, Acetic, Propanoic, Butyric, Valeric, and Caproic Acid. A linear relationship was observed between the number of carbons in the carboxylic acid and the retention time (y = 0.75x + 1.55, R2=0.95). Quantitation of Acetic Acid was done by calibration using a first-order regression fit. The model yielded: y = 0.29x + 0.92 (R2=0.95). Using a second-order model, a better fit was found: y = 0.0025x2 - 0.0016x + 5.9 (R2=0.99). An ageing chamber was designed, fabricated, and tested as a means for better understanding the decomposition of varnishes over time as a function of temperature, humidity, and ultraviolet light. The goal in the development of the ageing chamber was to demonstrate that it may be possible to create Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) artificially that resemble authentically aged varnishes. This is possible by the use of the ageing chamber that was built because it is directly incorporated into a GC oven where temperature, where UV radiation, humidity levels, and pollutants can be precisely controlled and carefully monitored. The GC method for carboxylic acids described above was developed to aid in the measurement of carboxylic acid fragments that could arise from the ageing process. There are promising results of the Raman Intensity increasing as the sample aged. PART 2: DIFFERENTIAL ITEM FUNCTIONING ON MULTIPLE-CHOICE GENERAL CHEMISTRY ASSESSMENTS. Over the past 30 years, there have been a plethora of studies on gender differences. Some of the earlier studies found that male students typically outperform female students in visual-spatial and quantitative abilities, whereas female students outperform male students in verbal abilities. In later studies it was reinforced that female students still tended to outperform male students in verbal abilities while the gap in science and mathematics (the latter as an extension of visual-spatial and quantitative abilities) closed greatly. During this same time, more female students entered the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. In 1966, only 25% of all STEM bachelor\u27s degrees were obtained by female students, whereas in 2010 that percentage had grown to 50%. Specifically in chemistry, 49.9% of the bachelor\u27s degrees were earned by women compared to the 18.5% in 1966.1 With assessments as a large source of the student\u27s overall course grade, it is imperative that those assessments be valid and unbiased. One way to determine this is to use Differential Item Functioning (DIF). DIF occurs when subgroups of equal abilities perform statistically different on an item on an assessment where typically students that are matched with equivalent ability would have an equivalent possibility of answering the question on the assessment correctly. Because of the difficulty in determining students\u27 ability often times the subgroups are matched on their proficiency or the score they received on an assessment. This dissertation focused on four main questions. The first question focused on identifying items that exhibited DIF. The second question was to determine if DIF was real, i.e. did it persist no matter the set of students or the matching criteria used? The third question focused on determining the causes of DIF by cloning the items by content and construct (format). Lastly, it was hypothesized that one of the reasons behind why DIF is happening was due to the students\u27 problem-solving process and examining these through the use of incorrect heuristics. Data for the first part of the study was collected from two American Chemical Society‐Examinations Institute (ACS‐EI) trial tests (Form A and Form B) that were given to students who had completed one term of general chemistry. This data was analyzed using the Mantel‐Haenszel statistic to determine which items exhibited possible DIF. Along with the Mantel‐Haenzel statistic a two stage DIF analysis2 was conducted. Out of the 140 items, 33 exhibited DIF. On Form A there were 14 items which exhibited DIF, seven that favored male students and seven that favored female students. On Form B there were 19 items which exhibited DIF, 11 that favored female students and eight that favored male students. Those items that exhibited the highest probability of DIF were cloned and included on hourly examinations. These items were examined for DIF persistence against both stages of the two-stage analysis and other relevant measures of proficiency. As more results were collected, patterns emerged for persistent DIF items. On the 24 hourly examinations that were included in this analysis, there were a total of 687 items: 33 (5%) had a significant value using the Mantel-Haenszel statistic, thereby exhibiting persistent DIF. Of those 33 items, 15 were flagged with persistent DIF that favored female students and 18 were flagged with persistent DIF that favored male students. On the three standardized examinations, there were a total of 140 items; 19 (14%) had a significant value using the Mantel-Haenszel statistic, thereby exhibiting persistent DIF. Of those 19 items, two of the items that were flagged with persistent DIF favored female students and 17 of the items that were flagged with persistent DIF favored male students. Along with these items, certain content areas and formats of the items were found to favor one gender. Over six semesters of testing, the content areas that consistently showed DIF that favored male students were measurement (density), greatest/least number of atoms, limiting reagents, ideal gas equation, and crystal structures; the content areas that favored female students were nomenclature and molecular orbital theory. The formats that tended to favor male students were visual-spatial, reasoning, and computation; the format that favored female students was specific chemical knowledge. By cloning these items, it was found that some of the possible causes of persistent DIF for certain items were the content and/or the format. Lastly semi-structured interviews were conducted and it was found that for seven items the possible reason why DIF was happening was due to one subgroup using an incorrect heuristic. These items were in the specific content areas of measurement (density), greatest/least number of atoms, stoichiometry-general, and crystal structures. Additionally, the format inclusions of visual-spatial, reasoning, and computation for these items could also be contributing factors to the observed results. References 1. S&E Degrees: 1966-2010: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf11316/content.cfm?pub_id=4062&id=2 (accessed May 26). 2. Zenisky, A. L.; Hambleton, R. K., Detection of Differential Item Functioning in Large-Scale State Assessments: A Study Evaluating a Two-Stage Approach. Educational and Psychological Measurement 2003a, 63 (1), 51-64