Université du Québec à Montréal

About: Université du Québec à Montréal is a education organization based out in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 9820 authors who have published 23733 publications receiving 629983 citations. The organization is also known as: UQAM & Universite du Quebec a Montreal.

Edge Influence on Forest Structure and Composition in Fragmented Landscapes

Abstract: Although forest edges have been studied extensively as an important consequence of fragmenta- tion, a unifying theory of edge influence has yet to be developed. Our objective was to take steps toward the development of such a theory by (1) synthesizing the current knowledge of patterns of forest structure and composition at anthropogenically created forest edges, (2) developing hypotheses about the magnitude and distance of edge influence that consider the ecological processes influencing these patterns, and (3) identifying needs for future research. We compiled data from 44 published studies on edge influence on forest structure and composition in boreal, temperate, and tropical forests. Abiotic and biotic gradients near created forest edges generate a set of primary responses to edge creation. Indirect effects from these primary responses and the original edge gradient perpetuate edge influence, leading to secondary responses. Further changes in veg- etation affect the edge environment, resulting in ongoing edge dynamics. We suggest that the magnitude and distance of edge influence are a direct function of the contrast in structure and composition between adjacent communities on either side of the edge. Local factors such as climate, edge characteristics, stand attributes, and biotic factors affect patch contrast. Regional factors define the context within which to assess the ecological significance of edge influence (the degree to which the edge habitat differs from interior forest habitat). Our hypotheses will help predict edge influence on structure and composition in forested ecosystems, an important consideration for conservation. For future research on forest edges in fragmented landscapes, we encourage the testing of our hypotheses, the use of standardized methodology, complete descriptions of study sites, studies on other types of edges, synthesis of edge influence on different components of the ecosystem, and investigations of edges in a landscape context.

Personality and the emergence of the pace-of-life syndrome concept at the population level

Abstract: The pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) hypothesis specifies that closely related species or populations experiencing different ecological conditions should differ in a suite of metabolic, hormonal and immunity traits that have coevolved with the life-history particularities related to these conditions. Surprisingly, two important dimensions of the POLS concept have been neglected: (i) despite increasing evidence for numerous connections between behavioural, physiological and life-history traits, behaviours have rarely been considered in the POLS yet; (ii) the POLS could easily be applied to the study of covariation among traits between individuals within a population. In this paper, we propose that consistent behavioural differences among individuals, or personality, covary with life history and physiological differences at the within-population, interpopulation and interspecific levels. We discuss how the POLS provides a heuristic framework in which personality studies can be integrated to address how variation in personality traits is maintained within populations.

Intrinsic, extrinsic, and amotivational styles as predictors of behavior: A prospective study.

Abstract: This research ascertained the role of intrinsic, extrinsic, and amotivational styles as predictors of behavioral persistence in a real-life setting. At the beginning of the academic year, 1,042 first-term junior-college students enrolled in a compulsory college course completed a scale assessing intrinsic motivation, four styles of extrinsic motivation (namely, external regulation, introjection, identification, and integration), and amotivation toward academic activities. At the end of the semester, individuals who had dropped out of the course and those who had persisted were identified. Results showed that individuals who persisted in the course had reported at the beginning of the semester being more intrinsically motivated, more identified and integrated, and less amotivated toward academic activities than students who dropped out of the course. Gender differences also emerged. These revealed that females

Why Are You Learning a Second Language? Motivational Orientations and Self‐Determination Theory

Abstract: The data for this study were collected in my first year of graduate school for a term paper for a course I was taking from Luc Pelletier. When I began graduate school, Luc also started at the University of Ottawa as a new faculty member, and he taught a course in motivation. I had worked with Richard Clement for a couple of years already as an honors student and as a research assistant and had conducted research on orientations and motivation under his supervision as part of my honors thesis project. Luc was very interested in self-determination theory (SDT) and had worked with Bob Vallerand on an instrument to assess academic motivation from this perspective. Luc and I decided to carry out a study on language learning orientations using SDT and enlisted Richard's and Bob's involvement in the project. As a bilingual institution where all students were required to demonstrate competence in their second language (L2), whether French or English, the University of Ottawa was an ideal setting for this type of research. The project was a first examination of SDT in the language learning context, and to the best of my knowledge it was the only, or at least one of the very few, empirical investigations of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in the area. It involved the development of a valid and reliable instrument to assess the different subtypes of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. It also explored the link between these motivational subtypes and various orientations to language learning that had been identified by Clement and Kruidenier (1983), including the travel, friendship, knowledge, and instrumental orientations. The results showed that the instrumental orientation and the SDT external regulation orientation were strongly correlated, and that the travel, friendship, and knowledge orientations were quite highly intercorrelated with identified regulation and intrinsic motivation. Moreover, the instrumental and external regulation orientation scales correlated in similar ways with the hypothesized antecedents of perceived autonomy and competence and the hypothesized consequences of intention to pursue L2 study and anxiety. In addition, the travel, friendship, and knowledge orientations were correlated with the hypothesized antecedents and consequences in a manner similar to intrinsic motivation and identified regulation. These results suggested that Clement and Kruidenier's 4 orientations may be tapping a similar construct as the SDT orientations. My only regret with this study is that I did not include a scale to measure the integrative orientation (Gardner, 1985) to determine its relation with the SDT subtypes. This issue would have to wait until a later study to be addressed. The results of this initial investigation encouraged me to pursue research integrating SDT with other theoretical frameworks of language learning motivation. I believe that the SDT framework has several advantages over some other formulations of learner orientations. SDT offers a parsimonious, internally consistent framework for systematically describing many different orientations in a comprehensive manner. It also offers considerable explanatory power for understanding why certain orientations are better predictors of relevant language learning variables (e.g., effort, persistence, attitudes) than others. Also, by invoking the psychological mechanisms of perceived autonomy, competence, and relatedness, it can account for why certain orientations are evident in some learners and not in others. Moreover, the framework is empirically testable and indeed has stood up well under empirical scrutiny in our studies. Its clear predictions may also be particularly valuable in applying the theory in language teaching and program development. [The present article first appeared in Language Learning, 50 (1), 2000, 57–85]

Free Lie Algebras

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter explores that the Lie algebra of Lie polynomials is the free Lie algebra. Lie polynomials appeared at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century in the work of Campbell, Baker and Hausdorff on exponential mapping in a Lie group, which lead to the Campbell–Baker–Hausdorff formula. Around 1930, Witt showed that the Lie algebra of Lie polynomials is the free Lie algebra, and that its enveloping algebra is the associative algebra of noncommutative polynomials. The Poincare–Birkhoff–Witt theorem is proved, and shows that the free Lie algebra is related to the lower central series of a free group. The full linear group acts on Lie polynomials, and the symmetric group acts on those which are multilinear. The Lie representation of the symmetric group is induced from any faithful representation of a subgroup generated by a full cycle. Automorphism of a free Lie algebra are always tame, and are characterized by a Jacobian condition. The full linear group acts on Lie polynomials, and the symmetric group acts on those which are multilinear. The descent algebra is dual to the ring of quasi-symmetric functions which is, therefore, a free commutative algebra.