Perspective taking (PT) is the ability to imagine perspectives that differ from our own. Understanding what others believe (cognitive PT) and feel (affective PT) allows us to better navigate social situations, and understanding what others see (spatial PT) allows us to better navigate spatial environments. Deficits in spatial, cognitive, and affective PT are apparent in several DSM–5 categorized clinical populations including autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). Further, differences in the severity of PT impairments may be related to general mechanisms that support this ability rather than diagnostic categories. However, the general cognitive mechanisms that support PT and whether spatial, cognitive, and affective PT share behavioral co-variance and rely on common neural mechanisms is not yet understood. There are at least two theoretical accounts regarding the association of spatial, cognitive, and affective PT. Common mechanisms accounts propose that the three types of PT are associated because all rely on manipulation of frame-of-reference representations coordinated by dorsal and ventral attentional networks. Alternative proposals suggest that attentional mechanisms support spatial PT, but cognitive and affective PT are supported by a distinct module for mental state reasoning. In this dissertation, I begin by summarizing prior evidence from studies which examined the developmental emergence of PT abilities, behavioral co-variance of PT in neurotypical and clinically diagnosed adults, and neuroimaging studies of PT. Review of the literature indicates mixed findings with support for both common and distinct mechanisms accounts. Thus, the present work probes the association of spatial, cognitive, and affective PT across two experiments. In Experiment 1, a systematic activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis of spatial, cognitive, and affective PT and attention switching was conducted. Results indicated no single neural region that was commonly associated with all three types of PT, but several overlapping regions among cognitive and affective PT, and separately among spatial PT and attention switching. In Experiment 2, two behavioral tasks and one self-report measure each of spatial, cognitive, and affective PT, a behavioral measure of attention and general reasoning ability were administered to large sample of young adults. Performance on spatial PT tasks did not significantly covary with cognitive PT, attention, nor two of the three affective PT measures in neurotypical adults. In sum, neural and behavioral experiments provided substantial support for distinct mechanisms accounts and only limited support for common mechanisms accounts of PT in neurotypical adults. / Psychology

The aim of the research was to investigate how South Africa Further Education and Training learners acquire, recall, process and present information in a digitally enabled environment. To determine how a changing society and technology have influenced the way learners interact with information in an educational environment, recent changes in society and their influences on young people were examined as well as the traits of the generations with respect to character, family life, the future, peers and technology. This revealed that learners today need · material in visual format; · to find or create their own learning content; · fast access to learning material; and · learning material with long-term career value. It was also apparent that they are motivated by technology used in information transfer, are active learners and regard learning as a social activity. The methodology of case study action research was used. Note was taken of measures to ensure reliability and validity and applied to this research to ensure that the findings are valid and reliable as well as generalisable in South Africa beyond the confines of Pinelands High School (PHS). Two case studies observing the learners at PHS were undertaken:- creating web sites for the ThinkQuest web design competition and a building a web-based CV. The learners were heterogeneous and displayed a range of skills, ages, academic abilities and prior experiences. Many different management formats were employed, such as learning at a distance, in a contact environment, with examples and specific or open-ended instructions as well as different forms of motivation, time for the work in hand, etc. The major findings of the research were the influence of peers and importance of external motivation in the form of grades on the learners’ cognitive, affective and physical learning activities in the computer laboratory. Secondary findings indicated the importance of content, examples, instructions, time, mental state, classroom ecology, contact environment and software in the way learners acquired, recalled, processed and presented information. The research concluded with a set of actions that should be taken to ensure successful interaction with information in a digitally enabled environment. / Dissertation (PhD (Computer Assisted Education))--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted