Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 203-209). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1981. / Vol. 2: Appendix G. 38 cm. Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-104). Also available in print.

Thesis (M. Ed. (Education))--Rhodes University, 2006.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--The University of Western Ontario, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 167-181)

Syfte: Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka sjuksköterskors upplevelser av bemötande, kommunikationen och omvårdnad kring patienter vars språk inte hanteras av sjuksköterskan. Metod: En deskriptiv intervjustudie genomfördes med sju sjuksköterskor på kirurgiska vårdavdelningar på ett universitetssjukhus för att kunna beskriva sjuksköterskors upplevelser som svarade på studiens syfte. Materialet analyserades deduktivt i enlighet med Graneheim& Lundmans kvalitativa innehållsanalys (2004). Resultat: Respondenterna upplevde att kommunikationssvårigheter beroende på språkliga skillnader ofta leder till problem efter första mötet med patienten, som information kring vården som bedrivs, utförande av omvårdnadsåtgärder och patientens möjlighet att delta i sin egen vård. Slutsats: Sjuksköterskor upplevde att omvårdnaden kring patienter som de ej delar språk med påverkas negativt, patientdelaktigheten och autonomin kränks och att en mer generös rutin kring tolkanvändning behövs. Det förekommer dock att en kreativ inställning påverkar förmågan att kommunicera positivt. / Purpose: To investigate nurses' experiences of how communication influence the nursepatient relationship, care and nursing with a patient whose languageisn’t handled by the nurse. Method: A descriptive interview study was performed on seven nurses in the surgical care units on a university hospital to describe nursesexperiences to answer the purpose of the study in detail. The material was analyzed deductively according to Graneheim&Lundmans qualitative content analysis (2004). Results: Respondents urged that communication difficulties due to language differences often lead to problems after the first meeting with the patient, as information on health care conducted, the performance of nursing interventions and patient the opportunity to participate in their own care. Conclusion: Nurses experienced that care about the patientsthey do not share the language with to be negatively affected, patient participation and autonomy was violated and that a more generous routine with interpreters is needed. There is however, that a creative approach affects the ability to communicate positively.

Theories of embodiment propose that our bodily states can influence affective processing. This thesis investigated the possibility that facial feedback (i.e., afferent signals from facial muscles) can influence the interpretation of affective stimuli. One study tested the effect of overt smiling and frowning on the interpretation of short descriptions of everyday events. Smiling, as compared to frowning, led to more positive evaluations, but only for participants who were aware of the emotional relevance of their expressions. A second study tested whether subtle changes in facial activation (elicited by unconsciously presented happy/angry facial expressions) led to changes in evaluations of ambiguous target symbols. While angry prime faces, as compared to happy prime faces, induced more frowning (as measured via electromyography), this change in facial activation did not translate into a behavioural effect on subsequent evaluations. A third study investigated the relation between naturally occurring facial reactions and interpretations of both clearly valenced and ambiguous facial expressions. Results indicate that facial reactivity predicts participants' self-reports of their own emotional reactions towards others' expressions (Experiment 1). A relation between facial reactions and interpretations of the expression senders' emotional states was only found in cases in which participants with high sensitivity towards their own bodily states (as measured with a test of interoceptive accuracy) tried to interpret ambiguous expressions (Experiment 2). In a last experiment, prolonged presentation of emotional prime faces led to expression-congruent facial reactions, but resulted in expression-incongruent behavioural reactions in both classification speed and interpretative tendency of emotional target faces. Overall, this thesis suggests that facial feedback is not generally involved in the interpretation of affective stimuli, but that it might contribute to evaluative processes only under special circumstances.

Though human nonverbal vocalisations are widespread, scientific consideration of their mechanisms and communicative functions has been largely overlooked. This is despite their close alignment with the vocal communicative systems of primates and other mammals, whose primary function is to signal indexical information relevant to sexual and natural selection processes. In this thesis, I examine human nonverbal vocalisations from an evolutionary perspective, with the central hypothesis that they are functionally and structurally homologous to nonhuman mammal calls, communicating evolutionarily relevant indexical information that is perceived and utilised by listeners. In Chapter 1, I introduce the methodological framework (source-filter theory) necessary to understand the production of vocal signals in mammals, before summarising the information contained within the acoustic structure of nonhuman mammals and human speech, and the effects these cues have on both vocaliser and listener. I then examine the current evidence for functional and structural homology between human and nonhuman nonverbal vocalisations. In Chapters 2 to 5, I quantitatively analyse the acoustic structure of a number of nonverbal vocalisations, and perform playback experiments to examine their functional effects on listeners. In Chapters 2 and 3, I investigate whether aggressive roars and distress screams communicate acoustic cues to absolute and relative strength and height. In Chapter 4, I analyse the acoustic structure of pain cries of varying intensity, and conduct playback experiments to explore the acoustic and perceptual correlates of pain. In Chapter 5, I examine whether the fundamental frequency of tennis grunts produced during professional tennis matches is dependent on the sex and body posture of the vocaliser, as well as the progress and outcome of the contest, and whether listeners can infer these cues. In Chapter 6, I tie these findings together, arguing that the acoustic structure of human nonverbal vocalisations, in continuity with nonhuman mammal vocalisations, has been selected to support the functional communication of indexical and motivational information.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

The purposes of this qualitative inquiry were as follows: (a) to understand how mothers of children with fragile X syndrome (FXS) used augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems in the home, (b) to capture their views regarding AAC use, and (c) to examine the support they received in the process. Data was collected using participant observations, semi-structured interviews and review of archival educational records and were analyzed using grounded theory methods. Results revealed that for children with FXS, the interplay of children’s complex developmental challenges, mothers’ internal struggles, and the absence of external supports leads to limited and variable use of AAC in the home.