Browsing by Subject "Rational"
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Item Sexual selection in complex choruses : the interplay of male signal variation, social structure, and female mate choice(2016-05-23) Lea, Amanda Marie, Ph. D.; Ryan, Michael J. (Michael Joseph), 1953-; Hofmann, Hans (Hans A.); Phelps, Steven; Meyers, Lauren; Farris, HamiltonFemales in many species assess variation among males’ sexual signals when choosing mates. Despite substantial empirical data demonstrating this, the role of mate choice in the evolutionary elaboration of signals among natural systems is not well understood. A major challenge is that mate choice often occurs within complex, dynamic social networks such as leks and choruses, scenarios that combine multiple interacting males, multiattribute signals, and the emergence of spatial relationships, all with the potential to influence females’ decisions. I examined the interplay of males’ social associations and females’ mate choices in túngara frogs (Physalaemus pustulosus), a model system for female mate choice but for whom interactions between male competition and mate choice were unexplored. My aim was to understand ways in which this complexity might influence the relative mating success of advertising males and ultimately, sexual signaling evolution. I conducted field studies and behavioral experiments to deconstruct spatial and neighbor association preferences among males. I found that males are highly tuned to features of their competitors’ calls, exhibiting association biases that roughly paralleled females’ mate preferences, thus supporting a dual function of advertisement calls. I tested classic chorus formation models invoking conspecific association preferences and found that phonotaxis preferences support a central role for highly attractive “hotshot” males in social structuring. I then examined consequences of these interactions for females’ mate preferences. I first tested the importance of signalers’ spatial positions, showing centrality outweighs bout-leading benefits and substantially increases inferior males’ success. I then tested females’ susceptibility to “decoy effects” and demonstrated that mate preferences were similarly reversible by presenting females with an irrelevant third option. Finally, I explored preference patterns among multiattribute signals between males and females; I found that transitivity in females’ preferences broke down among superior signals, suggesting that cyclical competition may play a fundamental role in maintaining signal diversity. Females’ preferences, in contrast with theoretical assumptions, exhibit substantial context-specificity, often paralleled by males’ strategies. These studies highlight the inextricable linkage between male competition and female mate choice and the importance of integration when assessing the opportunity for, and potency of, sexual selection via mate choice.Item Toward "presence" in design(1994) Castagna, Mary Conrad; Swearer, H. RandolphIn an essay entitled, "Theatrical Design and the Experience of Objects," the author, Clive Dilnot, succinctly discusses two qualities which appear simultaneously in varying proportions in most objects; "Presentness" and "Presence." The term "Presentness" refers to the condition of the object as pure, autonomous, and almost self-acting or self-referential. "Presence" on the other hand, is a quality which causes the beholder to be aware of himself or herself as subject, rather than focusing on the product as object. "Presentness" deals with the experience of the object on its terms, while "Presence" is significant for how it enables users to experience themselves using the object. It is in search of "Presence" that I create my current design work. I grow increasingly cognizant of the remarkable emphasis that our society places on the rational and quantifiable while down-playing the intuitive and immeasurable. The abstract minimalist aesthetics of Modernism has contributed to this condition through its approach to technology. Most objects of our current environments are cold symbols of an old ideal, and they hold us ever in abeyance. I find the resultant imbalance of rational and intuitive disquieting, and strive in my work to play one against the other in an effort to even the odds. The focus of my graduate work has been an investigation in possible enhancement of the human experience of an object through careful consideration and design of the moment of interface. I consciously utilize mechanical and electronic devices and technology, symbolic of the rational and technological realms of science and industry, as my vehicle to foster the creation of experiences and interfaces which are primarily intuitive in nature. I do this intentionally, hoping through juxtaposition to call attention to and to elevate the level of value placed on the intuitive. Throughout my process, I continually allow my decisions to be navigated by recognition of two distinct audiences this work is hoped to encounter: the interacting participant, and the non-interacting audience who perceives the object and its implied participant. My true intention in designing this work is not to create a marketable product, but to create a polemic within design circles and to a larger audience, raising questions about what the nature and focus of the design of objects in general can be.