Throughout adulthood, the brain continuously generates new neurons in two neurogenic regions: the subgranular zone of the hippocampus and the subventricular zone on the lateral wall of the lateral ventricles. These neurons have been shown to integrate into hippocampal and olfactory bulb circuitry, respectively. Nevertheless, their specific contribution to hippocampal or olfactory function remains unclear. Previous studies have tried to assess adult born neuron contribution to memory function by suppressing neurogenesis and examining the impact on memory acquisition. Although ablation of neurogenesis has been shown to impair performance in hippocampus dependent and olfactory tasks, many studies fail to see an effect. Compensation from residual cells in either system after ablation may underlie these contradictory findings. Thus, a more direct approach to answer this question would be to ablate adult born neurons after their incorporation into the memory trace. To do this, we established a double transgenic strategy to tag and selectively ablate adult born neurons with temporal control. Ablation of a population of predominantly mature, adult generated dentate granule cells did not prevent acquisition of contextual fear conditioning or Morris Water Maze memories. Removal of that same population of cells after training, however, led to memory degradation in three hippocampus dependent tasks. Similarly, post-training ablation of a population of adult generated olfactory interneurons iii impaired performance in an associative odour memory task, whereas pre-training ablation had no impact. Together, these data show that adult generated neurons form a crucial component of both hippocampal and olfactory memory traces.

Ghana's democracy is a widely-known African good news story. What is not known about this story is how this democracy's dynamism is fundamentally grounded on ongoing social movement activism that is constantly pressurizing the largely elite democratic institutions to better respond to the everyday needs of average Ghanaians. Critical to this pressurization is not only activism around domestic policies, but also a wide-spread ongoing questioning of the forces of transnational neoliberal governmentality that discipline, contain, and subvert the potential of African states to place the needs of their populace in-front of the needs of transnational capital. This is the alternative story of Ghana's democracy told by this study, where Ghanaian activist-educators embedded in the country's various contemporary social movements have come together in a participatory research endeavour to critically analyze Ghana's current democratic terrain. Key to this analysis is the connection between Ghana's social movement activism, and learning within these movements, to this reconstituted story of Ghana's democracy. According to our participatory research group, it is the intersection of the ways movements learn and communicate with the ways these movements stay rooted in the needs of their wider membership that concomitantly determines their impact on the range of democratic possibility. Instrumental to this intersection, according to this study, are the informal processes through which movement members learn in, through, and to struggle. It is from our mutually-constituted understanding of these processes that our participatory research is now leading to action. / La démocratie du Ghana constitue une bonne nouvelle africaine. Ce qu'on ne sait pas au sujet de cette nouvelle, c'est la façon dont le dynamisme de la démocratie est fondamentalement basé sur l'activisme continu des mouvements sociaux qui exercent une pression constante sur les grandes institutions démocratiques d'élite afin qu'elles répondent mieux aux besoins quotidiens des Ghanéens. En plus de l'activisme relatif aux politiques intérieures, le questionnement constant et répandu des forces de la gouvernementalité néolibérale transnationale qui contrôlent, limitent et minent le potentiel des États africains à placer les besoins de leur population avant les besoins de la capitale transnationale, s'avère essentiel à cette pression. / Voici l'autre version de la démocratie du Ghana racontée par la présente étude, au cours de laquelle des éducateurs activistes ghanéens participant à divers mouvements sociaux contemporains du pays se sont réunis dans le cadre d'une initiative de recherche participative visant à faire une analyse critique du terrain démocratique actuel du Ghana. Le lien entre l'activisme des mouvements sociaux du Ghana, l'apprentissage au sein de ces mouvements, et cette histoire reconstituée de la démocratie du Ghana s'avèrent essentiel à l'analyse. Selon notre groupe de recherche participative, le croisement des façons dont les mouvements apprennent et communiquent et des façons dont ces mouvements restent ancrés dans les besoins de leurs membres, détermine en même temps leur incidence sur l'éventail de possibilités au plan démocratique. Selon la présente étude, les processus informels par l'entremise desquels les membres des mouvements apprennent et luttent sont essentiels à ce croisement. Grâce à notre compréhension mutuelle de ces processus, notre recherche participative nous permet maintenant d'agir.

Participatory video is generally referred to as a process in which participants work together to create a video about their common experiences as a way of inquiring into challenges in their lives. While media activists, policy makers, and academics have used various techniques of participatory video to bring about change in participants' lives, participatory video, as a research tool, has yet to be studied. I explore its methodological complexity based on a participatory video project I conducted with eight adults for 11 weeks on a topic they chose. Building on John Fiske's cultural studies framework, I analyze the process of the project, the participants' experiences, and my own experience in the project. In doing so, I test and suggest a method of analyzing participatory video. The notion of reflexivity is central to my analysis. A typical understanding of reflexivity, however, is problematic to participatory research because it focuses on researchers, disregarding the important role participants' reflexivity also plays in the process of inquiry. Hence, I argue that it is crucial to understand participants' reflexivity. My thesis is based on this argument. The purpose of the thesis is to gain a deeper understanding of participatory video vis-à-vis the notion of reflexivity and vice versa. In my findings I emphasize three aspects of participatory video: (1) Participatory video can bring to light grassroots experiences. However it may overlook unequal power distribution among participants. Hence, I argue that researchers may need to intervene actively in the process of making the video, and yet act cautiously in order to prompt the participants to reflect on their assumptions more deeply and to safeguard against silencing marginalized voices; (2) Participatory video can allow participants to experience incidental, social, and critical learning. Based on this observation, I call for attention to the potential of participatory video as a tool for adult learning; and (3) The researcher's positionality matters in conducting participatory video. It can interfere with the process of knowledge construction and influence the participants' experiences with projects. The thesis sheds light on the concept of positionality in the study of participatory video. / La vidéo participative (participatory video) est une méthodologie dans laquelle des participants produisent une vidéo sur eux-mêmes pour analyser les problèmes de leurs vies et en chercher des solutions. Divers groupes, des journalistes aux décideurs, et même dans le milieu académique, utilisent des techniques variables de vidéo participative. Toutefois, la vidéo participative, comme méthode de recherche, doit être plus explorée pour en construire une connaissance plus fine qui puisse favoriser ses applications. J'explore la complexité méthodologique de la vidéo participative en analysant un projet que j'ai conduit avec huit adultes pendant 11 semaines sur un sujet choisi par les participants. En me basant sur le cadre analytique que John Fiske a proposé pour le domaine des études culturelles, j'analyse le processus du projet, les expériences des participants, et mon expérience. Ce faisant, je teste et suggère une méthode pour analyser la vidéo participative. La notion de réflexion est importante dans mon analyse. Elle, cependant, est typiquement discutée de la part des chercheurs, jetant le rôle de la réflexion des participants que joue dans le processus d'enquête participative. J'insiste sur l'importance d'entendre leur réflexion. Ma thèse est basée sur cet argument. L'objet de la thèse est d'acquérir une compréhension plus profonde par rapport à la notion de réflexion, ou vice versa. Sur cette base, je souligne trois aspects de la vidéo participative. Premièrement, la vidéo participative peut donner à voir les expériences des gens tout en faisant fi de la répartition inégale de pouvoir entre participants. Par conséquent, je soutiens que les chercheurs doivent intervenir activement dans le processus de production de la vidéo, tout en agissant avec prudence afin d'inciter les participants à réfléchir profondément sur leurs hypothèses et de permettre aux voix marginalisées de s'exprimer. Deuxièmement, la vidéo participative peut permettre aux participants de faire des apprentissages induits (au niveau de la connaissance de soi, par exemple), sociaux (dans l'interaction avec les autres), et critique (prendre conscience de sa capacité à résoudre ses problèmes). Dérivée de cette observation, j'insiste sur le potentiel de la vidéo participative comme outil d'apprentissage des adultes. Finalement, je considère que l'espace positionnel du chercheur est important dans la conduite de la vidéo participative. Il peut interférer avec celui des participants et influer le processus de la construction des connaissances. Mes résultats mettent en lumière le concept de l'espace positionnel dans l'étude de la vidéo participative.

This is a qualitative study which aims to uncover the effects of literacy acquisition on adult women in Egypt from their perspective. The author conducted focus groups with current learners, graduates and educators associated with the Freiran-based, Caritas Egypt Adult Basic Literacy Program. All participants were adult female and mostly from the lower socio-economic class residing in Assiut and Alexandria, Egypt. Writings by learners and graduates were also examined. Findings include the following: the second year learners and graduates mastered reading and writing and continued using it on a daily basis. Most reported improved self-perception and assertiveness. The women were better able to take care of the health of their families and find their way. Mothers were able to support their children's education. A few graduates were able to pursue formal education. Family relations improved with more equitable gender relations. Some women became more active in their communities. A few were able to improve their income. The women were more willing to try new activities and accept new ideas. They agreed that the benefits extended beyond just learning to read and write. / Ceci est une étude qualitative visant à découvrir les effets de l'acquisition de l'alphabétisation sur les femmes adultes en Égypte d'après leur propre point de vue. L'auteure a mené des entrevues de groupes d'apprenantes actuelles, de diplômées et d'éducateurs associés à Caritas Égypte, un Programme d'alphabétisation d'adultes a référence de la pédagogie de Freire. Toutes les participantes étaient des femmes adultes principalement de la basse classe socio-économique résidantes à Assiout et à Alexandrie, en Égypte. Les écrits des apprenantes et des diplômées ont également été examinés. Les apprenantes et diplômées de deuxième année maîtrisent la lecture et l'écriture et continuent de les utiliser sur une base quotidienne. La plupart ont amélioré la perception et confiance de soi. Les femmes étaient d'avantage en mesure de prendre soin de la santé de leurs familles et de récupérer leur autonomie; les mères de soutenir l'éducation de leurs enfants. Peu de diplômées étaient aptes de poursuivre l'éducation formelle. Les relations familiales se sont améliorées par des relations plus équitables entre les sexes. Certaines femmes sont devenues plus actives, d'autres ont pu augmenter leurs revenus. Les femmes adoptaient de nouvelles idées et activités. Elles ont conclues que les avantages dépassaient le fait de lire et d'écrire.

This research aims to disrupt and expand "given" understandings of educational leadership by exploring particular leadership instances of the everyday practice of adult education. Seven adult educators, including the author, offer narrative accounts of planning, designing, teaching, managing, and creating programs for adult learners with a particular interest in the little examined dimension of practice - educational leadership. The author works with the conceptual resources of Hans-Georg Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics, primarily through the theoretical, evocative, and scholarly work of David Jardine. Phenomenology and the corner of this philosophical field referred to as interpretive inquiry, seeks not to explain why or even how we may practice leadership within our educational practices, but rather to understand the phenomenon and its living manifestations through the particular. Narrative texts are interpreted hermeneutically through a constructed conversation that highlights both the common and uncommon understandings of what it means to be an educational leader. Through writing and reading each of these stories, a living and breathing notion of educational leadership is created. In dialogue with others, the author becomes more literate about the meaning of her own experience. Such a dialogue invites the possibility of recognizing the significance of teaching as leading, and educational leadership as leading conversations about what matters in adult education, and in doing so one gains a greater sense of one's own leadership capacity. Implications for the development of educational leaders are considered.

The adult education literature offers little analysis and understanding of the practical knowledge of the program planning process planners hold and use. Rather, a comprehensive review of theoretical sources revealed the widespread use of the academic model, informed by Tyler’s rationale, which has yielded a linear model of planning and a technical view of planners. By contrast, the theoretical sources on practical knowledge and on curriculum and teachers’ thinking pointed to the use of an experiential model, informed by Schwab’s theoretical concepts, which has presented planning as deliberative, and planners as creators and possessors of knowledge. The purposes of the study were to: gain an understanding of the kinds of practical knowledge planners in a university continuing education unit find useful and relevant to their decision making in program planning; acquire a greater understanding of the planning process from their perspective; and develop categories for interpreting these understandings. The research was guided by an interpretive perspective and qualitative methods. The study was conducted in two phases. A pilot and a follow up study. In total, a purposive sample of six planners, two males and four females, none of whom had pursued graduate study in adult education, working in the same institution, were interviewed. It was concluded that practical knowledge, which informs planning practice, consists of three kinds of knowledge: declarative, procedural, and conditional which stand in dialectical relationship to one another; and that planning practice requires that planners have and use all three kinds of knowledge. Further, planning is indeterminate and contingent on the context and planners’ knowledge. These planners’ practical knowledge incorporates a framework of concepts, rules and routines or strategies, beliefs, values, principles, and metaphors of practice. This framework has implications for planners’ criteria of valid and reliable knowledge, informal and formal planning strategies, the ideological character of knowledge, and ethics of practice. As well, these planners use a combination of planning approaches which are directly related to the nature of the planning context and their own capabilities. The contextual and problematic nature of planning is made explicit. The study challenges the prevailing assumptions associated with a traditional view of planning.

Young adulthood is generally a time when an individual completes a post-secondary education, decides on a career, and enters the workforce. When individuals are diagnosed with cancer during this stage in life, they often take time away from school or work to undergo treatment. The aim of this study was to collect data to get a richer understanding of the experiences of young adult cancer survivors who resumed an occupation of school or work following cancer treatment. Ten young adult cancer survivors were interviewed. An interpretative phenomenological approach allowed for the study of individuals’ lived experiences. An account of participants’ experiences is presented, organized by 4 master themes, “making the decision”, “actively adapting to changed lives”, “receiving support”, and “renewed sense of health and wellness”. These findings may be informative for cancer patients and survivors, as well as stakeholders, as they often have access to limited resources.

Although once thought to be incapable of regeneration, the adult mammalian brain generates new neurons in two regions: the SVZ of the lateral ventricle and the DG of the hippocampus. While the cell types involved in adult neurogenesis have been broadly characterized, the transcriptional regulation of this process remains poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that transcription factor Cux2 is important for normal postnatal hippocampal neurogenesis. Cux2neo/neo mutant mice generated fewer Dcx-positive neuroblasts, Tbr2-positive transit amplifers, and Calretinin-positive immature neurons, without affecting gliogenesis. Moreover, we show that Cux2 is principally expressed in Type1/Type2a cells. Using cultured embryonic NPCs we show that Cux2 mutants generate fewer neurons. Indeed, Cux2 plays a pro-neuronal role in both the postnatal hippocampus and in cultured embryonic NPCs. Cux2 may thus serve as an important regulator of the neuronal fate and may be a novel marker for neuronally committed Type 1/2a NPCs in the postnatal DG.

Prior research has shown that attachment anxiety is related to two contradictory conflict styles: submission and dominance. In a series of three studies, I clarified this research by introducing the role of attachment-related threat in moderating submissive versus dominant tendencies of highly anxious individuals in conflict with romantic partners. I propose that rejection-related threats activate the attachment system which motivates anxious individuals to engage in submission to restore psychological proximity to their partners. Alternatively, when threat levels are low, I propose that anxious individuals exhibit dominance towards their partners in attempt to seek validation. In Study One, I replicated and extended previous research by demonstrating the relationship between attachment anxiety and the submissive conflict style. The relationship between attachment anxiety and the dominant conflict style was moderated by gender such that this relationship was stronger for women than men. In Study Two, women read a vignette outlining a hypothetical scenario where their preferences and goals conflicted with those of their partner. This vignette contained a rejection component whereby their partner responded in either a rejecting or reassuring manner. Women high in anxiety reported being somewhat more likely to defer to the wishes of a rejecting versus non-rejecting romantic partner, relative to those low in attachment anxiety. Study Three was a daily diary study, examining the relationship between attachment anxiety and the nature of real life conflicts with romantic partners over 10 days. Individuals high in attachment anxiety reported lower quality interactions and more conflicts with their partners relative to low anxiety individuals. When engaged in conflict, anxious individuals expressed greater levels of hostility towards their partners, and left their conflicts less resolved relative to low anxiety individuals. Further, partner anger moderated the relationship between attachment anxiety and submissive versus dominant tendencies. Individuals high in attachment anxiety and low in avoidance were somewhat more likely to submit to their partners when their partners expressed high levels of partner anger. On the other hand, when their partners displayed low levels of anger, individuals high in attachment anxiety reported doing somewhat more of the arguing relative to low anxiety individuals. Future directions and clinical implications are discussed. / Thesis (Master, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-06 10:39:27.373

<p>This Research sets out to understand the participation experiences of a selected group of adult learners at one of the partner institutionsof the online Intercontinental Masters in Adult Learning and Global Change. The study offers an understanding of adult learners' experiences of success and persistence in relation to online study within a higher education context, and also offers insights into what may costitute successful learning communities. In relation to literature, , the student perceptions obtained via the study largely affirm what 'successiful' can mean to a group of postgraduate adult learners in an online learning environment. This stidy also contributes to the ongoing conversation in terms of the unique experiences of students in one particular cohort of the programme.</p>