Many people who sustain traumatic brain injuries (TBI) have poor psychosocial outcomes. Previous research has indicated that poor outcomes are related to the use of avoidant coping following TBI, although the mechanisms of this relationship are not clear. The major pathological consequence of TBI is damage to the frontal lobes and/or their connections, resulting for most people in executive and/or affective dysfunction. The purpose of this dissertation study was to delineate the neuropsychological, psychiatric, personality and physiological mechanisms of avoidant coping following TBI. Controls and people with TBI completed the Baycrest Psychosocial Stress Test (BPST), where coping behaviour was observed directly, and physiological measures were recorded. Participants also completed a neuropsychological test battery, and a series of questionnaires assessing coping, psychiatric status, personality and outcomes. There were no significant differences between groups in self reported coping. However, the control and mild TBI group engaged in more planful than avoidant behaviour on the BPST. As a group, individuals with moderate-to-severe injury, in contrast, engaged in more avoidant than planful behaviour. However, analysis of individual differences in coping behaviour within the moderate-to-severe group revealed a bimodal distribution, allowing classification of people in this group as ‘planners’, or ‘avoiders’ (this distribution was not evident in the mild TBI group). Within the moderate-to-severe group, planners had better executive function, were more reactive to stress (psychologically and physiologically), performed better on the speech task during the BPST, and had greater return to productivity. However, planners also had worse psychosocial outcomes as compared to the avoiders. This was the first study, to the author’s knowledge, to examine coping behaviour during a simulated real-world stress test. Results indicate that behavioural measures of coping, such as the BPST, are more sensitive to changes in coping post TBI than are self and significant other reported questionnaires. Results also demonstrate that executive function and psychological and physiological reactivity are important factors that contribute to coping following moderate-to-severe TBI. These data raise important questions about the challenges of targeting coping through rehabilitation.

Many people who sustain traumatic brain injuries (TBI) have poor psychosocial outcomes. Previous research has indicated that poor outcomes are related to the use of avoidant coping following TBI, although the mechanisms of this relationship are not clear. The major pathological consequence of TBI is damage to the frontal lobes and/or their connections, resulting for most people in executive and/or affective dysfunction. The purpose of this dissertation study was to delineate the neuropsychological, psychiatric, personality and physiological mechanisms of avoidant coping following TBI. Controls and people with TBI completed the Baycrest Psychosocial Stress Test (BPST), where coping behaviour was observed directly, and physiological measures were recorded. Participants also completed a neuropsychological test battery, and a series of questionnaires assessing coping, psychiatric status, personality and outcomes. There were no significant differences between groups in self reported coping. However, the control and mild TBI group engaged in more planful than avoidant behaviour on the BPST. As a group, individuals with moderate-to-severe injury, in contrast, engaged in more avoidant than planful behaviour. However, analysis of individual differences in coping behaviour within the moderate-to-severe group revealed a bimodal distribution, allowing classification of people in this group as ‘planners’, or ‘avoiders’ (this distribution was not evident in the mild TBI group). Within the moderate-to-severe group, planners had better executive function, were more reactive to stress (psychologically and physiologically), performed better on the speech task during the BPST, and had greater return to productivity. However, planners also had worse psychosocial outcomes as compared to the avoiders. This was the first study, to the author’s knowledge, to examine coping behaviour during a simulated real-world stress test. Results indicate that behavioural measures of coping, such as the BPST, are more sensitive to changes in coping post TBI than are self and significant other reported questionnaires. Results also demonstrate that executive function and psychological and physiological reactivity are important factors that contribute to coping following moderate-to-severe TBI. These data raise important questions about the challenges of targeting coping through rehabilitation.

<p>In contrast to effortful cognitive functions, emotional functioning may remain stable or even be enhanced in older adults. It is unclear how affective functions in aging correspond to subjective experiences and physiological changes. In <b>Study I</b>, ratings of emotional intensity and neural activity to facial expressions using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were analyzed in younger and older adults. Negative expressions resulted in increased neural activity in the right amygdala and hippocampus in younger adults, and increased activation in the right insular cortex in older adults. There were no age differences in subjective ratings. In <b>Study II</b>, subjective ratings of, and skin conductance response (SCR) to, neutral and negative pictures were studied. The ratings of negative pictures were higher for older adults compared to younger adults. SCRs increased in both age groups for the negative pictures, but magnitude of SCRs was significantly larger in younger adults. Finally, in <b>Study III</b>, emotional memory after a one-year retention interval was tested. The memory performance of both age groups was higher in response to negative pictures compared to neutral ones, although the performance was generally higher for younger adults. SCR at encoding was the better arousal predictor for memory, but only in younger adults. The results indicate age-related changes in affective processing. Age differences may involve a gradual shift from bottom-up processes, to more top-down processes. The results are discussed in a wider lifespan perspective taking into consideration the accumulated life experience of older adults.</p>

In contrast to effortful cognitive functions, emotional functioning may remain stable or even be enhanced in older adults. It is unclear how affective functions in aging correspond to subjective experiences and physiological changes. In Study I, ratings of emotional intensity and neural activity to facial expressions using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were analyzed in younger and older adults. Negative expressions resulted in increased neural activity in the right amygdala and hippocampus in younger adults, and increased activation in the right insular cortex in older adults. There were no age differences in subjective ratings. In Study II, subjective ratings of, and skin conductance response (SCR) to, neutral and negative pictures were studied. The ratings of negative pictures were higher for older adults compared to younger adults. SCRs increased in both age groups for the negative pictures, but magnitude of SCRs was significantly larger in younger adults. Finally, in Study III, emotional memory after a one-year retention interval was tested. The memory performance of both age groups was higher in response to negative pictures compared to neutral ones, although the performance was generally higher for younger adults. SCR at encoding was the better arousal predictor for memory, but only in younger adults. The results indicate age-related changes in affective processing. Age differences may involve a gradual shift from bottom-up processes, to more top-down processes. The results are discussed in a wider lifespan perspective taking into consideration the accumulated life experience of older adults.

Cette thèse s’inscrit dans le cadre général de la linguistique descriptive et s’intéresse à l’espagnol familier d’usage au Chili, à travers les affects exprimés par les locuteurs chiliens. Notre hypothèse consiste dans le fait que l’espagnol du Chili est défini sur la base des affects, et que l’expression de ceux-ci, au niveau linguistique, est observable dans les phénomènes les plus divers, pouvant aller d’un simple morphème à une structure syntagmatique complexe. Afin de concevoir l’expression linguistique des affects d’un point de vue plus large, cette recherche vise l’étude de quatre phénomènes clairement différenciés : le suffixe –it dans le cadre de la communauté linguistique chilienne, la « paronomase orientée », le défigement phraséologique dans le domaine des locutions verbales et adverbiales et la particule illocutoire poh. Notre méthodologie consiste en l’extraction d’un nombre d’exemples conséquents pour illustrer les phénomènes choisis à partir de 103 numéros du journal chilien La Cuarta de 2010 et 2011. Parallèlement nous considérons un nombre significatif d’exemples issus de l’enregistrement de conversations menées auprès de 58 locuteurs chiliens pendant 9 heures 11 minutes et 33 secondes.Les quatre phénomènes de langue visés ont été étudiés sous le concept d’affectivité proposé par Bally (1965 [1913]), qui distingue les principes d’intensité et de valeur (1951 [1909]).L’étude de l’affectivité du suffixe –it dans le contexte chilien a révélé que l’affectivité est une propriété qui opère sur deux dimensions. Elle est, d’un côté, intrinsèque à un signe linguistique – base lexicale, suffixe –it et tout autre élément linguistique convergeant dans le discours – et, d’un autre côté, extrinsèque, car relatée à des éléments culturels ou idéologiques, et plus généralement à tout ce qui est extralinguistique. Dans les deux dimensions, l’affectivité du locuteur fonctionne comme élément de fusion et donne son vrai sens au signe linguistique. Concernant la « paronomase orientée » (terme que nous avons proposé), nous avons constaté que l’affectivité constitue la caractéristique principale de ce type de paronomase, et que son usage repose notamment sur la figure de la plaisanterie, cela étant dû à des caractéristiques communes qui se sont révélées être : la fonction ludique, l’intentionnalité comique et l’effet de surprise.La paronomase orientée, qui s’investit sur les plans phonétique, morphologique, lexical et sémantique, constitue pour nous une opération linguistique dérivative, où deux lexies simples ou complexes, qui se substituent l’une à l’autre au sein d’un énoncé, partagent des propriétés phonétiques, alors que leur contenu sémantique diverge.En liaison avec le défigement des locutions verbales et adverbiales, il s’avère que le défigement phraséologique est une activité linguistique naturelle faisant appel à la relation figurative constante entre les mots, qui permet de créer d’autres manières d’exprimer et d’actualiser les usages de termes déjà existants.L’évolution des phrases figées passe par un processus de transformation souhaité par les locuteurs au détriment des normes phraséologiques ou syntaxiques données. Cependant, l’intérêt de la création néologique intervient quand le locuteur a la possibilité de créer et de recréer des structures linguistiques nouvelles.Quant à la particule illocutoire poh, particule notamment orale qui provient du connecteur pues (Oroz : 1966), nous avons réussi à montrer que poh aide à la progression de la communication, favorisant la cohérence et la cohésion entre l'énoncé et le texte. De plus, par le truchement de poh, un accord consensuel entre le locuteur et l’interlocuteur s’établit et, à partir de cet accord, des fonctions pragmatico-affectives nouvelles surgissent. / This thesis fits into the general framework of descriptive linguistics. The thesis focuses on the colloquial Spanish used in Chile, through the affects expressed by the Chilean speakers.Our hypothesis is that Chilean Spanish is defined on the basis of affects, and linguistically, the expression of these affects is observed in various phenomena, from a simple morpheme to a complex phrase structure.In order to consider the linguistic expression of affects from a broader perspective, this research aims to study four clearly differentiated phenomena: the –it suffix as it is used within the Chilean linguistic community, the oriented paronomasia, phraseological deautomatization of verbal and adverbial phrases, and the illocutionary particle poh.Our methodology involves the removal of a number of consistent examples to illustrate the phenomena chosen from 103 copies of the Chilean newspaper La Cuarta (examples collected between 2010 and 2011). Similarly, we have extracted a selection of examples of recordings of conversations conducted with 58 Chilean speakers.The four linguistic phenomena focused upon have been studied from the concept of affectivity proposed by Bally (1965 [1913]), who distinguishes the principles of intensity and value (1951 [1909]).The study of the affectivity of the –it suffix in the Chilean context, has revealed that the affectivity is a property that operates in two dimensions. It is, firstly, intrinsic to a linguistic sign - lexical base, –it suffix and other convergent linguistic elements in the speech - and on the other hand, extrinsic, as it refers to cultural or ideological elements. In other words, everything that is extralinguistic. With respect to the "oriented paronomasia" (a term we put forward), we found that affectivity is the main feature of this type of paronomasia and that their use is essentially based on the form of the joke, this is due to the common characteristics that we found: the recreational function, the comic intent and surprise.The oriented paronomasia, which participates in the phonetic, morphological, lexical and semantic levels, constitutes for us a linguistic derivative transaction in which two simple or complex lexemes that are replaced by one another inside a sentence, share phonetic properties, even though the semantic content of these diverges.Concerning the deautomatization of verbal and adverbial phrases, it is revealed that the manipulation phraseology is a natural linguistic activity that appeals to the constant figurative relationship between the words, allowing one to create other ways in which to express and update the use of terms already in existence.The evolution of fixed phrases undergoes a process of transformation desired by speakers to the detriment of given phraseological or syntactic rules. However, the interest of neological creation intervenes when the speaker is able to create and recreate new linguistic structures.Regarding the illocutory particle poh, it is a linguistic particle, primarily oral, that derives from the connector 'pues' (Oroz, 1966), whose original form has been absorbed by phonetic attrition. We have managed to demonstrate that poh helps the progression of communication, favouring the coherence and cohesion between the statement and the text. Also, through the use of poh, a consensual agreement is established between the speakers and, from this agreement, arise pragmatic-affective functions.