The present study investigates the language phenomenon of stimulus equivalence in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Stimulus equivalence is comprised of 3 main concepts: reflexivity, symmetry, and transitivity. Specifically, the researcher evaluated the ability to teach, test, and transfer sequential reflexivity across two participants. Two 4-year-old children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder participated in the study. Methods were derived from the program: Reflexivity: Pictures – 2A, along with a yes/no response modification to suite both of the participant’s current level of developmental skills. The results suggest that the PEAK-E curriculum was effective in training and testing both children to establish reflexivity across stimulus set one. In addition, both participants demonstrated a transfer of stimulus function to an untrained stimulus set two once the trained stimulus set one was mastered.

Submitted by Fernando Souza (fernandoafsou@gmail.com) on 2017-08-03T12:23:28Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 2062214 bytes, checksum: 6431e34faacef3adea0e676969755258 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-03T12:23:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 2062214 bytes, checksum: 6431e34faacef3adea0e676969755258 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-04-07 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The research conducted in this study investigates the verbal reflexivity and its role in the anaphoric process. In order to determine which verbs are considered more acceptable in reading sentences containing the anaphora a si mesmo(a) and se(self), it was held three offline acceptability judgment tests with Brazilian Portuguese native speakers. It was used the concept of reflexivity proposed by Reinhart & Reuland (1993) which predicts that the reflectivity is a property of predicates as well as the functionalist nature of the work of Christiano (1993) and Mello (2008), as they established a higher rating categorical for verbs with more reflective characteristics, dividing them into three levels; primary – penteou (combed), secondary – sentou (sat) - and tertiary – acusou (accused) - according to their degree of reflexivity. The results found in the first test with anaphora a si mesmo(a), and se, and the three verbs with the three levels of reflexivity showed that the anaphora se was considered more acceptable, regardless of the verb type. With these results, we conducted two tests in order to verify the possible verbal influence. In the second test using the same verbs of the first experimental test and the anaphora se, in order to find evidences of the verbal influence. The findings toward to the influence only of the secondary verb combined with anaphora se. Thus, we conducted a third trial acceptability test using only the secondary verb and the absence and presence of anaphora se and we observe a significant effect of the secondary verb type when it was in the presence of anaphora is. In general, the results showed that the property of reflexivity may be present both in the anaphora as the predicate, and says Reinhart & Reuland (1993). / A pesquisa elaborada neste estudo investiga a reflexividade verbal e seu papel no processamento anafórico. No intuito de verificar quais verbos são considerados mais aceitáveis na leitura de sentenças contendo as anáforas a si mesmo(a) e se, realizamos três testes de julgamento de aceitabilidade, offline, com falantes nativos do português brasileiro. Utilizou-se da noção de reflexividade proposta por Reinhart & Reuland (1993), que predizem que a reflexividade é uma propriedade dos predicados, bem como dos trabalhos de cunho funcionalista de Christiano (1993) e Mello (2008), pois estes estabeleceram uma classificação mais categórica para os verbos com características mais reflexivas, dividindo-os em três níveis: primário - penteou, secundário – sentou - e terciário – acusou - de acordo com o seu grau de reflexividade. Os resultados encontrados no primeiro teste com as anáforas a si mesmo(a), se e os verbos dos três níveis de reflexividade evidenciaram que a anáfora se foi considerada mais aceitável, independentemente do tipo de verbo. Diante desses resultados realizamos mais dois testes com vistas a comprovar a possível influência verbal. No segundo teste utilizamos os mesmo verbos do primeiro teste experimental e a anáfora se, no intuito de encontrar evidências da influência verbal. Os resultados tangenciaram para a influência, apenas, do tipo de verbo secundário aliado a anáfora se. Assim, realizamos um terceiro teste de julgamento de aceitabilidade utilizando somente o verbo secundário e a ausência e presença da anáfora se e observamos um efeito significativo do tipo de verbo secundário quando este estava na presença da anáfora se. De modo geral, os resultados encontrados evidenciaram que a propriedade da reflexividade pode estar presente tanto na anáfora como no predicado, assim como afirma Reinhart & Reuland (1993).

Esta tese tem por tema as relações entre protestantismo e modernidade no Brasil. O objetivo primordial é a compreensão das transformações nas relações entre o protestantismo e a modernidade no Brasil. Para alcançar o objetivo, utilizamos, no exame do tema, a sociologia compreensiva de matriz weberiana. A investigação sociológica, que reservou lugar de destaque para o protestantismo na emergência da modernidade ocidental, passou, de um lado, a interessar-se pela compreensão e explicação do declínio da religião protestante na sociedade moderna e, de outro, se as religiões pentecostais na América Latina mantinham ainda afinidades com o protestantismo e com a modernidade. O protestantismo valeu-se, para sua inserção no Brasil, a partir de meados do século XIX, de sua afinidade com a modernidade representada pelos Estados Unidos. Todavia, o significado da modernidade para o protestantismo foi sendo alterado ao longo do século XX. A primeira transformação nas relações entre protestantismo e modernidade no Brasil ocorreu quando a identificação com a herança moderna norte-americana passou do questionamento, nas primeiras décadas do século XX, à rejeição completa, na década de sessenta, por setores enraizados no liberalismo teológico. A segunda transformação nas relações do protestantismo com a modernidade no Brasil é encontrada na introdução da reflexividade no campo do conhecimento teológico. No esforço de apresentar-se como religião moderna, o protestantismo de inspiração liberal utilizou a reflexividade para reinterpretar a Bíblia à luz da cultura e da razão e para redefinir suas relações com o catolicismo romano. De tempos em tempos, ao longo do século XX, assistiram-se polarizações no interior do campo protestante brasileiro em torno de esforços de acomodação e de rejeição dos pressupostos cognitivos da modernidade, representados pela reflexividade. A sociologia do protestantismo brasileiro privilegiou a análise dos grupos protestantes, reunidos em torno da rejeição da reflexividade, usualmente denominados como fundamentalistas. Demonstramos que a atitude de acomodação aos pressupostos cognitivos da modernidade tem tido presença constante no protestantismo brasileiro, e a sua condição minoritária no campo religioso protestante não se explica apenas por meio da repressão sofrida por parte dos setores conservadores, mas levando-se em conta também a própria natureza das crenças liberais. A repressão conservadora oferece aos setores liberais a oportunidade para realização de rituais de ruptura, que, no caso do protestantismo, consistem basicamente nalguma transgressão no campo das idéias e das palavras. A particularidade do protestantismo reside na construção de sua identidade em relação íntima com a modernidade, seja de rejeição, seja de acomodação. / The theme of this thesis is the relations between Protestantism and modernity in Brazil. The primary goal is the understanding of the transformations in the relations between Protestantism and modernity in Brazil. In order to achieve the objective we used in the examination of the theme, the sociology of the comprehensive Weberian matrix. The sociological research that reserved a place of prominence for Protestantism in the emergence of a western modernity, has become, on one hand, interested in the understanding and explanation of the decline of Protestant religion in modern society and, on the other hand, if the Pentecostal religions in Latin America still maintained affinities with Protestantism and with modernity. Due to its affinity with the modernity represented by the United States, the Protestantism was inserted in Brazil in the mid-nineteenth century. However, the meaning of modernity for Protestantism changed over the twentieth century. The first transformation in the relations between Protestantism and modernity in Brazil occurred when the identification with the modern legacy of the North American, changed from questioning, in the first decades of the twentieth century, to the complete rejection in the sixties by the theological liberalism. The second transformation in the relations of Protestantism with modernity in Brazil was found in the introduction of reflexivity in the field of theological knowledge. In the effort to present as a modern religion, the Protestantism of a liberal inspiration used the reflexivity to reinterpret the Bible in the light of culture and reason and to redefine its relations with Roman Catholicism. From time to time, throughout the twentieth century, we saw a polarization within the Protestant Brazilian field around efforts of accommodation and rejection of cognitive assumptions of modernity, represented by the reflexivity. The sociology of the Brazilian Protestantism focused on the analysis of the Protestant groups gathered around the rejection of reflection, usually called fundamentalists. We demonstrate that the attitude of accommodation to the cognitive assumptions of modernity has constant presence in the Brazilian Protestantism and its minority condition in the Protestant religious field can not be explained only by means of repression suffered by the conservative sectors, but taking into account also the very nature of liberal beliefs. The conservative repression offers to the liberal sectors the opportunity to conduct rituals of disruption, which in the case of Protestantism, basically consists in some transgression in the field of ideas and words. The particularity of Protestantism lies in the construction of their identity in intimate relation with modernity, whether rejection or accommodation.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Poor performance by South African students especially in literacy and numeracy are at a level of national crisis. Theory, as well as international and national systemic tests, show that the reasons for this is both multiple and extremely complex. In this study I investigated the problems relating to learner achievement levels in South African education. The main question arising from this problem, which I addressed, is: What are the possible factors that contribute to learner achievement levels in South Africa? My conceptual focus is on pedagogic practices and the socialization of identity, and how these relate to learner achievement levels, working from the premise that children from different social classes experience schooling differently. My focus is on the classroom, phase and school contexts, whilst locating these in the wider national, continental and global contexts. The disciplinary approach used in this study is in the domain of sociology of education, drawing specifically on the work of leading sociologists Pierre Bourdieu and Basil Bernstein. Bourdieu’s notions of ‘habitus’, ‘field’ and ‘cultural capital’ helped in understanding structure and agency, and the interiority and exteriority of social relations, whereas Bernstein’s ‘code theory’ and his work on curriculum, pedagogic practices and pedagogic discourse was used to describe how formal knowledge is realized and transmitted, and its effects on different social groupings. Methodologically, this study is located within a qualitative interpretivist research paradigm. Research was conducted in three purposively selected public primary schools in the Western Cape using a qualitative multiple case study research design. The bounded cases were Grades 1, 4 and 7 learners in relation to their teachers and principals. The rationale for selecting these particular cases stems from the fact that research in these particular areas of schooling is lacking. The significance of the study lies in the fact that previous research on learner achievement used teacher behaviour as a predictor for achievement, whereas this study focused primarily on learner behaviour and the learners’ views on their own achievement. The study employed in-depth data collection procedures including questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, classroom observations and various document related sources. The contextual analysis reveals that there is clearly a need to understand the nature of the learner, what they bringing into school and how they make sense of schooling. Furthermore, it shows that the ways in which learners exercise their agency is reinforcing underachievement. It further reveals that teachers are under pressure to get learners to adhere to the middle-class ethos of schooling and as a result are pushed into the regulative discourse compromising the instructional discourse within pedagogy. Pedagogically, the analysis reveals that teachers are under pressure in terms of curriculum coverage having to work within restricted time-frames, and having to meet the requirements of the ANAs that they do not see the possibility to relax framing in terms of pacing. As a result they are leaving their learners behind. Furthermore, the unnecessary strong framing at the level of pacing, not making the evaluation criteria explicit, and the heavy reliance on systemic testing, as in the case of the ANAs, is creating homogenised and standardised learner identities, which translate into differential learner experiences and ultimately differential learner achievement levels. / National Research Foundation (NRF)

Thesis advisor: Stephen J. Pfohl / Using qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with vegans of diverse backgrounds and body types, this study aims to investigate how vegans understand their own bodies and the bodies of others in relation to their consumptive practices and habits. The context of fatphobia in vegan activist spaces and communities surrounds this research as a tension within veganism that helps to elucidate the ways vegans use and engage with their bodies, further helping to understand not only vegan embodiment but also how fat vegans navigate these tensions with their own bodies. Vegans often engage with veganism as a tool for better understanding their own bodies and the social identities their bodies are associated with. This reflexivity causes them to not only concern themselves with how they relate to their own bodies but also with how others view and perceive their bodies. Thus, vegans respond to anxieties and fears about these perceptions by constructing their bodies in opposition to the stereotypes others apply to them (unhealthiness, preachiness, militancy, etc.). This may result in the exclusion of some bodies which are socially understood as fitting these roles (such as fat bodies as unhealthy) and, further, the ethical nature of vegan practices also causes these bodies to be seen as immoral or especially indulgent. This research helps to understand more precisely how vegans act as bodies in promoting their veganism and how they sometimes exclude other bodies in their attempts to defend vegan bodies. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology.

Documentaries are often understood as authentic representations of reality. Ignorance when it comes to the constructive and sometimes manipulative nature of documentaries can lead to a continued reproduction of historically dominating ideologies, affecting the representation of certain people and issues. The aim of this study is therefore to contribute to a deeper understanding of how narratives are and can be constructed in documentary films (RQ1) as well as what this type of analysis can teach us about documentary authorship (RQ2). By looking at the documentary Meeting the man: James Baldwin in Paris as a specific case, the study attempts to draw conclusions about authorship and narrative constructions in documentaries in general. The theoretical framework is based on a social constructivist understanding of the field and consists more specifically of narrative, discursive and semiotic theory. The methods for analysis are narrative analysis and multimodal critical discourse analysis, as well as semiotic analysis.  The study found that there is a distinct conflict between the narrative constructed by the film's director Terrence Dixon and the film's subject, James Baldwin. The different narratives are realized through a combination of visual and verbal discourses. Following things could be concluded; Dixons narrative strives to exclude Baldwin as an author, from his sociocultural and historical context. Baldwin, on the other hand, constructs a narrative which argues for its impossibility. In addition to this, documentary authorship is dependent on how much context the different discourses are given as well as what the context reveals. The ability to serve as an author is then determined by the power given to conduct reflexive narratives.

Appealing participants' engagement drives collaborative systems to enhance it through system's use or through system's design. However, engaging participants in collaborative systems to create digital resources is not trivial to achieve as the majority of contributions are provided by a very small percentage of engaged participants. In the literature, different approaches, such as human-in-the-loop and co-design, investigate engagement in these lines. This thesis aims to study how reflexivity can help designers to investigate participants' engagement in co-design of collaborative systems. Based on a qualitative approach, the thesis is positioned in the field of Human Computer Interaction and grounded on two studies. The retrospective analysis of the two studies was guided through a framework composed of three phases. In the first phase, supported by the literature review, several qualitative methods were investigated to identify the communities to be involved in the research; in the second phase, different co-design sessions were conducted with participants; and in the third phase, participants evaluated the solutions co-designed. The two studies followed different but intertwined approaches. Study 1 followed a user-centric approach and supported the identification and consolidation of a set of factors that hindered or facilitated engagement. The factors were articulated as barriers, drivers, and workarounds, and were validated in Study 2, which followed a participative approach. These factors constitute the first contribution of this thesis. Moreover, the literature review and the empirical data supported the identification of three dimensions to facilitate the adoption of a reflexive approach in co-design. These dimensions correspond to the second contribution of this thesis. Finally, the set of barriers, drivers, and workarounds was merged with the dimensions to propose a framework to investigate engagement in co-design of collaborative systems, constituting the third contribution of this thesis.

Theories of reflexivity have primarily been concerned with the way agents monitor their own actions using knowledge (Giddens) or deliberate on the social context to make choices through the internal conversation (Archer), yet none have placed emotion at the centre of reflexivity. While emotion is considered in theories of reflexivity it is generally held at bay, being seen as a possible barrier to clear reflexive thought. Here, I challenge this position and, drawing on the work of C.H. Cooley, argue that feeling and emotion are central to reflexive processes, colouring the perception of self, others and social world, thus influencing our responses in social interaction as well as the way we reflexively monitor action and deliberate on the choices we face. Emotional reflexivity is therefore not simply about the way emotions are reflexively monitored or ordered, but about how emotion informs reflexivity itself.

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Yes / Pilot studies can play an important role in qualitative studies. Methodological and practical issues can be shaped and refined by undertaking pilots. Personal development and researchers’ competence are enhanced and lessons learned can inform the development and quality of the main study. However, pilot studies are rarely published, despite their potential to improve knowledge and understanding of the research. Aim To present the main lessons learned from undertaking a pilot in a qualitative PhD study. Discussion This paper draws together lessons learned when undertaking a pilot as part of a qualitative research project. Important methodological and practical issues identified during the pilot study are discussed including access, recruitment, data collection and the personal development of the researcher. The resulting changes to the final study are also highlighted. Conclusion Sharing experiences of and lessons learned in a pilot study enhances personal development, improves researchers’ confidence and competence, and contributes to the understanding of research.