Three experiments were conducted to investigate possible effects of rearing litters of gerbil pups to weaning in the presence of an adult male. The first experiment found animals reared without the male to be heavier than those reared with the male. There were no differences on one-day open-field behaviour, but in paired social encounters in a neutral arena those reared without the male spent less time in mutual contact. A second and more complex experiment was completed after many vicissitudes, and the weight difference was confirmed. With five days of open-field testing significant group differences on activity measures, but not on defaecation, suggested the importance of the presence of the male in the first week after birth. These differences were maintained in subsequent weekly tests which incorporated an examination of ventral scent marking, although this was not affected. The direction of the differences, especially of effects of litter size in Experiment 1, suggested that the mechanism involved was that of the maintenance of nest temperature. The interpretation of the open-field results occasioned a general discussion of the test and of the emotionality concept. The third experiment was similar to the first in design, but it did not confirm the previous effects on body weight. The direction of group differences on rearing in weekly arena tests and in social behaviour tests reversed those found previously. These problems may have reflected small procedural and situational differences but without further experimental work they must cast considerable doubt on the original findings. In view of these problems a final experiment pursued previous investigation of social behaviour, using home-cage residents faced with various intruders rather than neutral arenas. Mutual sniffing showed some differences over the subgroups of the experiment and differed from patterns of investigation in neutral arenas. As in previous experiments on social behaviour the low level of aggression between adults contrasted with the literature on other rodents; however here juvenile intruders were attacked more often, this was discussed in terms of possible dispersal mechanisms in natural populations.

The research described in this thesis investigates the mental processes underlying the reading and recall of piano music. The first study examined memory for good and poor piano music as a function of sight-reading ability and different presentation and recall conditions. The findings indicated that whilst sight-reading accuracy had little effect on recall, sight-reading tempo was highly correlated with recall success. Good music was easier to recall than poor music, and written recall procedures generated greater recall success than played recall procedures. Played recall procedures were found to produce advantages for the immediate recall of music that had been sight-read during stimulus exposure. Written recall procedures produced significant long-term memory advantages, demonstrated by the greater preservation of structurally significant aspects of musical information over periods of extended memory storage. The second study explored the processes underlying memory for musical information by examining the strategies employed by musicians and non-musicians during the learning and written reproduction of scored piano music. The findings indicated that memory performances produced by musicians were superior to those produced by non-musicians and also improved at a faster rate of learning. Musicians were found to employ several knowledge-based music reading strategies that were unavailable to non-musicians, and to vary their reading strategies depending on the type of music that was being read. Although non-musicians were unaffected by the type of music presented to them, both subject groups were found to re-evaluate their use of reading strategies in light of previous recall performance success, and vary strategy employment in order to optimise recall success. The combined findings of these studies suggest that memory for musical information can be enhanced by the conditions surrounding information processing, and that the processes underlying the memory system are governed by highly flexible operations which reflect the degree of pre-existing knowledge possessed by an individual.

The current study examined the dynamics of anxiety in men before and after cardiac surgery using a standard anxiety inventory (the STAI-S) and Shapiro's personal questionnaire (PQ) technique. Fifty-five men were assessed, of whom 29 were tested immediately before surgery, and 51 post-operatively. The first hypothesis, that the PQ would be more sensitive than the STAI-S to the changing context of the subject as they pass through a medical procedure was not supported; when made comparable, both measures were essentially the same in their sensitivity to anxious states. The second hypothesis addressed the internal and external reliabilities and validity of the PQ in relation to the STAI-S, and established that PQ techniques are equivalent in reliability, validity, and consistency to a standard psychometric instruments. The third hypothesis examined the influence of trait neuroticism (N) on the state measures of anxiety; due to doubts about the quality of the N measure, N was replaced by the trait score of the STAI. This found that individuals higher in trait anxiety sustained their higher state anxiety over time, but that trait anxiety was not in interaction with other variables. Trait anxiety was not therefore, a source of complex confounding. The fourth and final hypothesis, that lower verbal ability may confound the more complex PQ measure of anxiety was not supported: there was no significant correlation between PQ and NART scores. However, the reliability of the PQ was negatively related to lower verbal ability and higher trait anxiety, suggesting that low-verbal, high trait anxiety individuals were less consistent in their PQ responses. The study thus concludes that PQ techniques are as psychometrically rigorous as more standard measures, but do not provide a differential advantage in sensitivity to changes in mood.

No description available.

Despite considerable work on the behaviour of ducks, many questions remain over the behavioural basis of pair formation. Social behaviour was studied here in individually marked captive mallards of wild stock. Particular attention was paid to the roles of 'social display' and of male aggressive behaviour in pair formation. In the autumn social display was more frequent in a group of unpaired birds than in a group comprising paired individuals. At the beginning of the nesting season in spring paired males did not display to their mates, but they did display to unpaired females when their mates had been removed. In many oases a female paired with a drake who had displayed to her. Social displays were also given by a male to a female in the absence of other drakes. These data suggest that social display is more likely to be based on courtship than on, say, hostility between males, except possibly In the case of the 'down- up' display. Dominance hierarchies were formed during the autumnal courtship period, and in the spring the 'territorial' pattern of aggression between paired males changed to a dominance hierarchy when the resident females were replaced by strange females and display behaviour was resumed. The mating preference of a female for one of two males was closely associated with the dominance relationship between the males. Social behaviour was studied in juvenile males injected with testosterone. The treatment facilitated the occurrence of many adult behaviour patterns, although the expression of the behaviour was dependent on the experimental conditions. Social display occurred only if the males were familiar with the females who were present. The displays of the young males were effective in attracting the sexual interest of adult females during the post-breeding period, thus supporting the conclusion that social display is functional in courtship.

Harre (1979, p.3) states that "the pursuit of reputation in the eyes of others is the overriding preoccupation of human life". Concern about evaluations by others has also been linked to psychopathology, for example Beck and Emery (1985, p.151) state that "the central fear in the so-called social anxieties is that of negative evaluation by another person". This tendency for people to show great concern for what other people think of them, to the extent that it has a major impact on their lives, forms the focus of this research thesis. In the literature review Section A looks at the historical background of the concept that people are highly concerned about what others think of them, different explanatory approaches to the concept, and at the ways in which the concern can become pathological according to the different explanatory approaches. Section B of the literature review looks at the development of the concern within an individual, at concepts related to the concern about others evaluations, and at methods of assessing the cognitions of interest. Section C looks at clinical research into the relationship between anxiety problems and the concern with others' evaluations of oneself, and at evidence that therapy can change cognitions related to self-evaluation. A questionnaire measure of the cognitions of interest was devised and refined through Studies 1 to 3, and the relationships between the successive versions of the questionnaire and related measures of cognitions and psychopathology were investigated. Four single case studies were conducted to examine how the cognitions of interest changed during cognitive therapy targeted on these cognitions. The final summary and discussion attempt to link the observed results with developmental models that might account for individual differences in the concern people have about how others evaluate them, and use cognitive models of memory and judgemental processes to account for observed relationships between the cognitions of interest in the present series of studies. Finally, a number of suggestions are made about possible future studies.

This study empirically examines creative practices in the field of person-centred therapy with children and young people aged 5 to 18. It builds on and integrates the works of key scholars in child-centred play therapy, person-centred art therapy and person-centred expressive arts therapy. The aims of the study were to examine person-centred practitioners' perspectives on: 1. Helpful processes in these practices; 2. Unhelpful processes in these practices; 3. Helpful effects of these practices; and 4. Unhelpful effects of these practices. In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 40 person-centred therapists: 30 in the United Kingdom and ten in the United States of America. Systematic qualitative analysis was carried out with the aid of Nvivo software. With regards to the nature of helpful processes specific to person-centred creative practice, two major conceptual frameworks were established: developing and maintaining the therapeutic alliance, and achieving and accomplishing a productive therapeutic working process. The way creative practices can foster the helpful processes were identified by practitioners, including those aspects involving the therapist, those aspects involving the clients, and those that occur during the therapeutic processes. With regards to the emergence of unhelpful processes, three factors were identified: the negative aspect from the therapist, the negative aspect from the clients, and the factors from the environment. Practitioners also reported that the nature of unhelpful processes manifested from two distinct categories, namely, process difficulties, and personal limitations. The study also found that there were two categories of the ways to handle these unhelpful processes: improving therapist's way of handling, and improving the way of processing the therapeutic session. In addition, practitioners identified numerous immediate (within therapy) and ongoing (after therapy) helpful effects of person-centred creative practice. Similarly, a number of unhelpful effects of creative practice were also identified. These included increasing unwanted emotions or unpleasant thoughts, and generating unnecessary reactions. Finally, this study identified several gaps in the existing literature. Hence a few suggestions and implications for person-centred practitioners and others were put across regarding the directions of the future research and development, and a framework for refining their methods of creative practice for the benefits of clients was also provided.

People diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) are proposed to have characteristic social and communication difficulties and are considered to have a ‘mindblindness’ that positions them as unable to infer the thoughts and feelings of others as well as themselves. There is potential for this to impact upon processes associated with self-understanding. In light of this, eight adolescents (11-16 years of age) diagnosed with an ASC were interviewed to investigate their self-understanding. They were asked about what makes them who they are, their relationships with others, how this helps them make sense of themselves, and their experiences of emotions. The participants were recruited from a mainstream school in the South East of England that had a dedicated ASC unit. Data were analysed using thematic analysis and two superordinate themes and five subthemes were identified; Comparison to others is crucial for self-understanding and The ASC unit was a place where the participants could be who they wanted to be. Findings suggest that individuals recognised that they were different to others and actively positioned their difference as positive. The ASC unit also appeared to provide an environment for self-exploration, and the understanding and management of emotions. Implications for policy and clinical practice are discussed, including the recognition of the individual differences this population shows in the expression of emotion and how this relates to the elicitation of support. These individual differences are suggestive of a need for careful planning of individual support packages. It is also argued that the positioning of an ASC as positive by these participants is aided by the environment and peer relationships.

There is evidence to suggest that interventions targeting alertness could be effective in the rehabilitation of hemispatial neglect. Alertness correlates in the EEG with decreased theta and increased beta activity and training up beta/theta ratios using EEG neurofeedback has resulted in particularly beneficial results in children with ADHD with recognised deficits of alertness. Experiment I showed that neglect patients had significantly reduced beta activity compared to age-matched controls, consistent with an alertness deficit underpinning neglect and suggesting that the symptoms of neglect could be ameliorated by the same neurofeedback training protocol applied in ADHD. The effectiveness of EEG neurofeedback training of beta power with a theta inhibit has not been investigated in older adults or stroke patients. Therefore, Experiment II used EEG neurofeedback training to enhance beta in older adults. Compared to controls, the neurofeedback group showed significantly increased beta activity in the post-assessment quantitative EEG, demonstrating that older adults can modulate their EEG through neurofeedback training and laying the foundations for extending training to neglect patients. Experiment III employed the same training protocol in seven neglect patients. EEG activity was monitored in regular training sessions conducted over a six-week period and it was found that normalization of baseline EEG activity was associated with a remediation of impairments across several outcome assessments. Detailed analysis of across- and within-session EEG data found that a sub-group of patients showed evidence of spontaneous increases in beta activity that were related to additional improvements in outcome measures. However, there was no evidence that EEG modulation was due to the neurofeedback training. In sum, this thesis reports two novel findings. Firstly, neglect is associated with an EEG profile that is consistent with an alertness deficit. Secondly, recovery in severely impaired neglect patients is associated with enhanced beta activity.

Previous qualitative research has identified that disclosing a diagnosis to loved ones, is one of the hardest aspects of having cancer (Hilton et al, 2009). Although there is an extensive literature on disclosure of general information about the self, less is known about the extent to which people go on to talk about their diagnosis and the helpfulness of such disclosure within the specific context of cancer. Therefore the current study aimed to quantify disclosure patterns by measuring the degree of disclosure as well as the perceived helpfulness of disclosure. It also sought to determine the factors associated with disclosure and helpfulness of disclosure. The study was a cross-sectional postal questionnaire survey of 120 patients who had recently received a diagnosis of either lung, colorectal or skin cancer. Results indicated that the majority of patients disclosed to a variety of social targets, and most found it helpful to disclose. ‗Dispositional openness‘ and ‗perceived social support‘ were found to predict the extent of disclosure, as well as the helpfulness of disclosure. The results suggest that individual differences and situational factors may impact on disclosure and that medical professionals may play an important role in the disclosure process. With reference to the limitations, directions for future research are discussed, as well as the implications for clinical practice.