Showing papers by "University of New Hampshire published in 1974"

Response strength in multiple schedules1

Abstract: In several different experiments, pigeons were trained with one schedule or condition of food reinforcement for pecking in the presence of one key color, and a different schedule or condition in the presence of a second key color. After responding in both of these multiple schedule components stabilized, response-independent food was presented during dark-key periods between components, and the rates of pecking in both schedule components decreased. The decrease in responding relative to baseline depended on the frequency, magnitude, delay, or response-rate contingencies of reinforcement prevailing in that component. When reinforcement was terminated, decreases in responding relative to baseline rates were ordered in the same way as with response-independent food. The relations between component response rates were power functions. Internal consistencies in the data, in conjunction with parallel findings in the literature, suggest that the concept of response strength summarizes the effects of diverse procedures, where response strength is identified with relative resistance to change. The exponent of the power function relating response rates may provide the basis for scaling response strength.

The Coefficient of Determination—Some Limitations

Abstract: (1974). The Coefficient of Determination—Some Limitations. The American Statistician: Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 19-20.

Prisoner’s Dilemma — Recollections and Observations

Abstract: Two prisoners accused of the same crime are kept in separate cells. Only a confession by one or both can lead to conviction. If neither confesses, they can be convicted of a lesser offense, incurring a penalty of one month in prison. If both plead guilty of the major crime, both receive a reduced sentence, five years. If one confesses and the other does not, the first goes free (for having turned State’s evidence), while the other receives the full sentence, ten years in prison. Under the circumstances is it rational to admit guilt or to deny it?

The comparative spectra of cosmic-ray protons and helium nuclei

Abstract: We have re-examined and extended the measurements of the primary cosmic ray proton and helium nuclei intensities in the range from a few MeV nuc−1 to ∼100 GeV nuc−1 using a considerable body of recently published data. The differential spectra obtained from this data are determined as a function of both energy and rigidity. The exponents of the energy spectra of both protons and helium nuclei are found to be different at the same energy/nucleon and to increase with increasing energy between 1 and 100 GeV nuc−1 reaching a value=−2.70 at higher energies and in addition, theP/He ratio changes from a value ≲5 at 1 GeV nuc−1 and below to a value ∼30 at 100 GeV nuc−1. On a rigidity representation the spectral exponent for each species is nearly identical and remains virtually constant above several GV at a value of −2.70, and in addition, theP/He ratio is also a constant ∼7 above ∼3 GeV. The changingP/He ratio and spectral exponent on an energy representation occur at energies well above those at which interplanetary modulation effects or interstellar ionization energy loss effects can significantly affect the spectra. In effect by comparing energy spectra and rigidity spectra in the intermediate energy range above the point where solar modulation effects and interstellar energy loss effects are important, but in the range where there are significant differences between energy and rigidity spectra, we deduce that the cosmic ray source spectra are effectively rigidity spectra. This fact has important implications regarding the mechanism of acceleration of this radiation and also with regard to the form of the assumed galactic spectrum at low energies. The relationship between the proton and helium spectra derived here and the heavier nuclei spectral differences recently reported in the literature is also examined. If rigidity spectra are adopted for protons and helium nuclei, then the source abundance ratio of these two components is determined to be ∼7:1. Some cosmological implications of this ratio are discussed.

Structural resolutions of collective action problems

Abstract: This paper concerns itself with the general problem of achieving cooperation in human groups and higher levels of social systems. Several social situations are considered where cooperation is problematic because self-interest contradicts group or collective interest: the prisoners' dilemma game; the commons' problem (Hardin, 1972); the collective action problem, i.e., the failure of memberships of many large interest groups, e.g., consumers and the general public, to cooperate to achieve common goals (Olson, 1968); and the problem of competitive panics, e.g., a crowd in a burning theater. We introduce a structural framework and methodology, using social system level concepts, to characterize and analyze such problems. It is shown that the various cases have a common underlying structure. In the analysis, we focus on the social context of the problematic situations and, in particular, on social processes that structure human interaction and collective behavior. A basic idea guiding the analysis is that actors purposively structure and transform interaction situations or games into situations of greater or less cooperation or conflict, depending upon the social context. We examine specific social control processes that may be found operating in social systems to resolve problems of achieving cooperative action, that is, to deal with contradictions between individual interests and autonomy on the one hand and group interest and need for cooperative action on the other. In particular, we focus on the social structuring and restructuring in groups of perceptions and evaluations, action possibilities, and decision procedures and, therefore, likely interaction patterns of those involved.

Physiological ecology of four Polysiphonia species (Rhodophyta, Ceramiales)

Abstract: Photosynthesis and respiration of 4 species of the marine red algal genus Polysiphonia were evaluated under a variety of light, temperature and salinity conditions. The manometric results were compared with the local distribution and abundance of each species. The species can be separated into two distinct categories based on their overall distribution and temperature optima: (1) cold water plants [P. lanosa (L.) Tandy and P. elongata (Hudson) Sprengel], with peak photosynthesis at 21° to 24°C, but with active photosynthesis as low as 5°C; (2) plants with warm-water affinities [P. nigrescens (Hudson) Greville and P. subtilissima Montagne], having photosynthetic optima at 27° to 30°C, and exhibiting little or no photosynthesis below 10°C. The plants from the first group exhibit thermal injury at temperatures of 25°C and show a narrow tolerance to low salinities during periods of high temperatures. The plants from the second group show thermal injury at 30°C and have a wider tolerance to low salinities. The horizontal distribution of the 4 Polysiphonia species within the Great Bay Estuary System of New Hampshire, USA, is primarily governed by their tolerances to high temperatures and low salinities. The temperature optimum for each of the species corresponds to its particular estuarine distribution. Thus, P. subtilissima, having the highest temperature optimum, penetrated furthest into the Estuary, while P. lanosa, having the lowest temperature optimum, was restricted to the more coastal stations. There was a good correspondence between the natural distribution patterns and the manometric results.

On the form of the relation between response rates in a multiple schedule.

Abstract: Three pigeons received training on multiple variable-interval schedules with brief alternating components, concurrently with a fixed-interval schedule of food reinforcement on a second key. Fixed-interval performance exhibited typical increases in rate within the interval, and was independent of multiple-schedule responding. Responding on the multiple-schedule key decreased as a function of proximity to reinforcement on the fixed-interval key. The overall relative rate of responding in one component of the multiple schedule roughly matched the overall relative rate of reinforcement. Within the fixed interval, response rate during one multiple-schedule component was a monotonic, negatively accelerated function of response rate during the other component. To a first approximation, the data were described by a power function, where the exponent depended on the relative rate of reinforcement obtained in the two components. The relative rate of responding in one component of the multiple schedule increased as a function of proximity to fixed-interval reinforcement, and often exceeded the overall obtained relative rate of reinforcement. The form of the function relating response rates is discussed in relation to findings on rate-dependent effects of drugs, chaining, and the relation between response rate and reinforcement rate in single-schedule conditions.

Arms For Empire: A Military History Of The British Colonies In North America, 1607-1763

Abstract: As much as we might wish it otherwise, battles have played a major role in determining the course of history. Professor Leach of Vanderbilt University has given us a lucid summary of military campaigns in the British North American colonies from the landing at Jamestown to Pontiac's uprising. The most valuable portions of the book are the descriptions of battles and the analyses of British strategy. Fortunately, Leach has avoided the stylistic imbalance of many of today's military historians who insist that warfare must be closely tied to international diplomacy. This volume is both a handy reference source for military events and a study that gives perspective to a myriad of combat engagements. Although, for example, everyone has heard of Braddock's defeat-and historians recognize that it led the British to reevaluate their methods-the bloody encounter on Lake George sixty-three days later is worth recollecting because it placed limits on the success of French arms in 1755. The author has drawn wisely from contemporary accounts and from some of the best twentieth-century scholarship. Placing a heavy emphasis on strategy, Leach summarizes most of the British campaign plans and some of those of the French and Spanish for the years in which heaviest fighting occurred. For seventy years the British fostered plans to conquer New France. Despite repeated failures, succeeding commanders always returned to roughly the same master plan, a twoor three-pronged campaign aimed at the heart of Canada. One might conclude from Leach that the years 1753 and 1754 were not the turning point beyond which an Anglo-French detente became impossible; the lifeand-death struggle began in 1689. Apparently that is what he means, but it is not a view shared by all historians. Most of the strategic decisions recounted in Arms For Empire are those made by the commanders on duty in North America. But were the strategists in London able to assert any control over the situation after the year's campaign had begun? It would be interesting to have this point answered, especially in the case of Pitt whose name is traditionally synonymous with the conquest of New France. In general, when evaluating strategy in America, Leach has emphasized the interdependence of events that occurred at widely separated locations. In more than a few cases one could rebut his assumptions by arguing that military strength could not be shifted quickly from one American theater to another, or that the capture of specific fortifications did not necessarily mean that surrounding areas came under the victor's control. In other words, localization may have been more important than the reader is led to believe.

Recovery of Poliovirus from Turbid Estuarine Water on Microporous Filters by the Use of Celite

Abstract: The application of a new step for recovering poliovirus from moderately to highly turbid estuarine water by the filter virus-adsorption technique was investigated. The experiments were conducted under both (i) laboratory-based conditions (200-ml volumes) where the turbidity was controlled and (ii) simulated field conditions (15- to 100-gal volumes) where the turbidity varied depending upon the hydrology of the raw estuarine water. The new step consisted of adding Celite to the turbid water prior to sampling for virus. In the experiments, the pH of the water was first adjusted to 3.5 and then AlCl(3) was added to 0.0005 M. Celite was added to a concentration of 0.01% and mixed thoroughly. Either an HE Cox M-780 microfilter (Cox Instrument, Div. of Lynch Corp., Detroit, Mich.) or an MF-membrane filter (Millipore Corp., Bedford, Mass.) was used as the virus adsorbent. Virus was eluted from the Celite-filter complex in situ at pH 9 with 5x nutrient broth. In the laboratory-based experiments, when turbidity ranged from 5.0 to 30.0 Jackson turbidity units (JTU), virus recovery ranged from 66 to 89%. In the simulated field experiments, when the turbidity ranged from 8.5 to 80.0 JTU, virus recovery ranged from <1 to 74%, depending upon the multiplicity of virus input and the level of turbidity. The new step greatly improved the filtration-flux of turbid water and significantly reduced the premature clogging problem usually observed with microporous filters.

Occurrence of choline esters in the marine dinoflagellate amphidinium carteri12

Abstract: SUMMARY Acrylylcholine, choline O-sulfate, and a yet unidentified choline ester have been isolated from cells of Amphidinium carteri. Natural and synthetic acrylyl choline had approximately 1/4,000 the activity of acetylcholine and choline O-sulfate about 1/20,000 the activity on isolated Mercenaria mercenaria heart.

The Prisoners' Dilemma Game as a System of Social Domination:

Abstract: ed out in order to lay bare the pure structure of the game and make possible a mathematical solution. This procedure, however, came to grief over the prisoners’ dilemma game when it was realized that the mathematical solution was not, in fact, a reasonable optimal solution (Rapoport 1960, Howard 1971); the breakdown occurs precisely because the social components were abstracted out. In our discussion here, by reinstating some of these components, we explore the prisoners’ dilemma game as a model exposing the more general problem of human cooperation and conflict within the ever present constraints of a social structural context.2 The prisoners’ dilemma game can be described in the following terms: Two suspects (A and B) are taken into custody and questioned separately; that is, they are not permitted to communicate and to engage in collective decision-making. The district attorney (DA) is confident that they are guilty of a specific crime but he does not have sufficient evidence to convict them at a trial. Each prisoner understands that there are two options: to confess to the crime the police are sure they have committed or not to confess. If they both keep silent, he will book them on some minor charge such as illegal possession of a weapon or petty larceny, and they each will get one year in the penitentiary. If both confess, they will be prosecuted but will receive eight years in the penitentiary, which is less than the most severe sentence. However, if one turns state’s evidence and the other does not, then the one confessing will receive lenient treatment, say three months in jail, while the other gets the maximum penalty, such as ten years in the penitentiary. The essentials of the prisoners’ dilemma are diagrammed below as a payoff matrix, representing what will happen to each prisoner as a consequence of the four possible interaction patterns of confessing or not confessing. For each actor, singly, alternative 2 dominates alternative 1 since it makes possible a better outcome regardless of what the other does. But if both choose 2, the resulting outcome would be 8 years for each. Had each chosen 1, the outcome would have been 1 year apiece, which each presumably prefers to the

Structural Properties and Resolutions of the Prisoners’ Dilemma Game

Abstract: In this paper we make use of a theory of social behavior (Burns and Meeker, 1973; 1972) to analyze structurally the prisoners’ dilemma game (Rapoport, 1960; Rapoport and Chammah, 1965) and to indicate resolutions of the dilemma under specified conditions. The theory is characterized by (i) descriptive models rather than normative or prescriptive models of social behavior; (ii) emphasis on multi-dimensional processes and on structural relationships rather than uni-dimensional quantities (such as ‘utility’); and (iii) a view of interaction processes and context as a system (Buckley, 1967) and, in particular, the thesis that evaluation, decision, and interaction processes cannot be understood apart from the social context in which they occur (Burns, 1973).

Thymidylic acid synthesis in Eimeria tenella (Coccidia) cultured in vitro.

Abstract: SYNOPSIS The source of thymidylic acid for DNA synthesis in 1st generation stages of Eimeria tenella cultured in vitro was investigated using 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine, a thymidine analog, and 5-fluoro-2′-deoxyuridine, an inhibitor of de novo thymidylic acid synthesis. Results show that the parasite is unable to utilize either exogenous thymidine or 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine but is dependent upon the methylation of deoxyuridylic acid via the thymidylate synthetase reaction to supply thymidine for DNA synthesis.

Gravity Study of the Exeter Pluton, Southeastern New Hampshire

Abstract: The Exeter diorite pluton of southeastern New Hampshire is a small mesozonal batholith emplaced into asymmetrically folded Silurian metasedimentary rocks. The body produces a positive Bouguer gravity anomaly in excess of 16 mgals. The gravity maximum is located northwest of the northeast-trending axis of the pluton and the Exeter anticline, indicating that the mass concentration is offset in the same direction. Using a density contrast of 0.15 gm/cm 3 , two- and three-dimensional gravity models show a range in body thickness from 1 to 3 km and a roughly tabular subsurface shape. The shape and mass distribution are consistent with the enclosing structure. The three-dimensional geometry of the Exeter pluton suggests emplacement during or after the Middle Devonian Acadian deformation of central New England.

Response of seedlings of a dwarf and a normal strain of watermelon to gibberellins.

Abstract: Hypocotyl and root elongation in a dwarf and a normal strain of watermelon ( Citrullus lanatus [Thunb.] Matsu.) in the absence or presence of different gibberellins was investigated in seedlings grown under gold fluorescent light or in darkness. The normal strain, “Sugar Baby,” responded only slightly to the gibberellic acids employed. At appropriate concentrations all of the gibberellic acids were capable of normalizing growth in the monorecessive dwarf strain, WB-2, in darkness or in light. Gibberellins A 4+7 and A 7 were effective in stimulating hypocotyl elongation at concentrations 10 to 15 times lower than that needed for a response to GA 1 or GA 3 . Dark-grown dwarfs responded to about a 3-fold lower concentration of GA 4+7 than those grown in light. In contrast to hypocotyl elongation, root elongation was greater in the dwarf than in the normal strain. Concentrations of gibberellic acids which enhanced hypocotyl elongation of WB-2 plants, inhibited root growth proportionately. Anatomically, the response of the dwarf strain to GA 4+7 was primarily in terms of increased cell division. Dark-enhanced elongation of both SB and WB-2 was due almost solely to increased cell elongation. The results suggest that, at least in some species, a major component of dark-enhanced growth (or light-inhibited growth) is physiologically distinct from gibberellic acid-stimulated elongation.

The influence of level of empathy and ambient noise on body buffer zone

Abstract: or &dquo;sensory overload&dquo; will lead to a state of deindividuation in which persons &dquo;treat others as if they were not human beings, as if they had no personal identity&dquo; (p. 206). The present study explored the possibility that persons identified as highly em= pathic would be less influenced by such dehumanizing or depersonalizing factors. Being generally more attentive to the interpersonal aspects of an interaction, more adept at interpreting these aspects and more aware of others’ personal states than low empathic persons, one might expect them to be less susceptible to forces which tend to diminish such a &dquo;personalized&dquo; orientation. The dependent variable employed was a measure of body buffer zone -the immediate

PARASITES OF THE TIDE POOL FISH Liparis atlanticus (OSTEICHTHYES:LIPARIDAE)*

Abstract: Of 128 seasnails (Liparis atlanticus) collected from tide pools along the New Hampshire coast, over 90% were infected with the cestode Spathebothrium simplex and with one or both of the trematodes Podocotyle reflexa and Podocotyle atomon. Additional helminths found included Echinorhynchus gadi, Prosorhynchus crucibulum, and larval Thynnascaris sp. in 21, 12, and 9 percent of the hosts, respectively. All fish were infected with a species of Eimeria, and almost 30% had Trichodina sp. on their gills. The microscopic lesions associated with these infections are described, and the possible effects of these parasites on populations of L. atlanticus are discussed.

Signal detection methods for measurement of utility in animals.

Abstract: Analytic methods of signal detection theory were employed to assess the utility of reinforcers. Four pigeons were trained to detect the presence or absence of a stimulus by pecking one of two side keys in a trial-by-trial choice paradigm. The relative rate of positive reinforcement for correct choices was varied to offset the biasing effects of electric shock for incorrect right side-key choices. The effects of relative rate of reinforcement on bias were similar at all shock intensities even though the subjects' sensitivity changed during the course of the experiment. The relative rate of reinforcement required to produce equal bias was calculated and plotted against shock intensity to generate utility functions. The relative rate of reinforcement necessary to offset the bias induced by shock was an increasing function of shock intensity.

Facilitation of licking by response-contingent electric shock

Abstract: Licking behavior of rats maintained by lick-contingent water reinforcement, produced electric shocks under three conditions. Shock occurred 1 sec before, simultaneous with, or 1 sec after water reinforcement. Rates of licking rose above prepunished levels at .2-, .4-, and .6-mA intensities but were suppressed at .8 mA for all three groups. Facilitation and suppression effects were the same for the three pairing conditions. Discriminative and elicited functions of shock did not appear to account for this facilitative effect.