Two decades of research on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has helped us develop a strong understanding of why obsessions are often followed by the performance of a compulsive act. What we have understood less well is why that act is repeated, even though it often results in an increase, rather than decrease, in discomfort. Emergent research on compulsive checking implicates a number of beliefs—including perceived responsibility, perceived harm, need for certainty, and beliefs about one’s memory— that may influence behavioural parameters (e.g., check duration) of checking episodes. Furthermore, it has also been suggested that the act of compulsive checking may recur in part because of a self-perpetuating mechanism in which checking has paradoxical effects on these beliefs. Finally, some researchers have proposed that attentional focus (e.g., focus on threat) during checking may be related these paradoxical outcomes. At present, these ideas are mostly speculative, in part because there have been so few detailed studies of the actual phenomenology of compulsive rituals. The purpose of the present research was to gather phenomenological data on compulsions as performed by a clinical sample under ecologically valid conditions. Study 1 extended emergent research suggesting that compulsions may persist because the act of checking has a number of ironic effects on beliefs. Individuals with a diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and anxious controls (AC) completed a naturalistic stove task in our laboratory kitchen. Participants were fitted with portable eyetracking equipment and left on their own to boil a kettle, turn the stove off, and check to ensure that the stove is safe before leaving the kitchen. Surrounding the stove were household items that are “threatening” (e.g., matches) or “non-threatening” (e.g., mugs). Ratings of mood, responsibility, harm (severity, probability) and memory confidence were taken pre- and post-task and a portable eyetracker was used to monitor attention throughout the stove task. We examined the relations between behavioural indices (check duration, attentional focus) and pre- and post-task ratings of responsibility, perceived harm, mood, and memory confidence. Although we found that OCD (as compared to AC) participants took significantly longer to leave the kitchen after using the stove, we found no evidence that stronger pre-task ratings of responsibility, perceived harm, or memory confidence were associated with longer check duration. However, we found some evidence of an ironic effect whereby greater check duration was associated with greater perceived harm and decreased certainty about having properly ensured the stove was off. Of note, these ironic effects were not unique to participants with OCD, but were also observed in the AC group. With respect to the eyetracking data, we found minimal evidence linking threat fixations and beliefs in participants with OCD. In contrast, a number of interesting relations emerged in the eyetracking data of our anxious control participants. For AC participants, a greater proportion of time spent looking at the stove was associated with greater post-task sense of responsibility for preventing harm, greater post-task harm estimates, decreased certainty (about having ensured the stove was off), and decreased confidence in memory for the task. In Study 2, individuals with a diagnosis of OCD completed a structured diary of their compulsions as they occurred naturally over a three˗day period. Participants recorded the circumstances leading to each compulsion and reported on the acts involved in the compulsive ritual, the duration and repetitiveness of the ritual, and the criteria used to determine completeness of the ritual. The findings of this study suggest that unsuccessful compulsions (i.e., compulsions in which certainty was not achieved) were associated with a longer duration (trend), more repetitions, a higher standard of evidence, and offered little in the way of distress reduction. These findings are discussed within the theoretical context of cognitive˗behavioural model of obsessive˗compulsive disorder and clinical implications are offered.

The study analysis Anaïs Nin's work, Henry & June from a queer theoretical perspective. The purpose is to show what the work makes with text and how it produces ambivalence with sex and gender and thereby demonstrate the queer leakage in heteronormative performativities. The first part analyzes how it is working with self-representation in diary form. In order to view the work historically and linguistically the work has been related to analyzes and essays by other researchers mentioned in the analysis. The analysis shows that the writer Anaïs Nin has a clear agenda with her work. Nin want to develop an alternative approach to sex, gender and marriage.

Pharmacotherapy for Parkinson’s disease (PD) is based on levodopa, the most effective dopaminergic drug. The development of motor complications constitutes the major challenge for new or refined therapies. To evaluate the impact of levodopa pharmacokinetics on motor function, an observational study in the patients’ home environment was carried out. A high variability in plasma levodopa levels was found in all patients, irrespective of treatment regimen. The impact of levodopa pharmacokinetics was further studied in a crossover trial comparing sustained-release tablets and continuous daytime intestinal infusion. Infusion produced significantly decreased variability in plasma levels of levodopa, resulting in significantly normalised motor function. A permanent system for long-term levodopa infusion has been developed and 28 patients have been followed for 87 patient-years. Motor response was generally preserved during the long-term observation period, implying that there is no development of tolerance to infusion therapy. Levodopa tablets are normally used in multiples of 50 or 100 mg, thus a rough estimate of individual dosage. A new concept for individualising levodopa/carbidopa doses with microtablets of 5/1.25 mg is under development. An electronic drug-dispensing device for administering the microtablets was tested on patients with PD. All were able to handle the dispenser and most were interested in future use of the concept. Self-assessment of symptoms is accurate in PD, but traditional paper diaries are associated with low compliance. A wireless electronic diary was compared with a corresponding paper diary. The time-stamped and thus completely reliable patient compliance was 88% with the electronic diary. To conclude, pharmacokinetics of levodopa is the major determinant for motor fluctuations in PD. Every effort to individualise dosage and to smooth out the fluctuations in levodopa concentrations should be made, e.g. by means of microtablets or enteral infusion. Electronic patient diaries for real-time data capture are suitable for PD studies.

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Spanish and Portuguese, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 43).

The present research explored whether self-control is associated with the perception of meaning in life. A week-long daily diary study (Study 1) showed trait self-control (but not daily experiences of self-control failure) to be positively associated with a general sense of meaning in life and daily experiences of meaning. This association was robust against controlling for life satisfaction, positive and negative affect. Study 2 tested two potential mechanisms underlying the association between trait self-control and meaning in life: Successful goal progress and experience of structure in life. While self-control was positively associated with both, only the experience of structure predictedmeaning: Self-control was positively related to the perception of one's life as having a clear sense of structure and order, which in turn predicted a stronger perception of meaning. Study 3 replicated the mediation path via the experience of structure and showed it to be stronger for individuals high (vs. low) in the personal need for structure. The present findings add to the emerging literature on trait (and state) self-control and dispositional determinants of meaning in life.

This thesis consists of two parts, the theoretical and practical one, while themes of both parts are corresponding. Common theme of both parts is an idea of "author´s book". Theoretical part deals with a book and its conception: Language of a book; communication linked to that language; evolution of writing, which is the most used form of fixation of human speech; and future of a book in today´s electronic era. The thesis also deals with mapping of author´s book in the Czech Republic. The practical part is about creation of one's own author´s book - a journal. Its textual part is compiled using digitalization of typescript, which was subsequently edited. Visual part ranges from black-and-white photography to frottage and rollage.

Capturing life as it is lived is an important goal in psychology, and diary methods are commonly used for this purpose. They capture events near the time of their occurrence and are less prone to retrospective biases associated with questionnaire, interview and survey methods. However, participants in diary studies must remember to carry the diary with them, and find it convenient to make entries in timely fashion. New approaches, replacing paper diaries with technology (e.g. personal digital assistants), can overcome forgetting to make entries and retrospective filling of data. However, until recently technology had its own problems (e.g. unreliability and cost of devices, the need for training, biases of technical competence, etc.). The research described in this dissertation arose from the anticipation that the rapid, worldwide growth of smartphone ownership would overcome many of these limitations since participant-owned smartphone diaries can eliminate associated costs and facilitate increased rates of compliance. Six diary studies were conducted on two transient cognitive phenomena. Initially, a smartphone app was developed and compared with a paper diary in the study of involuntary autobiographical memories. Although participants in the smartphone-diary condition demonstrated significantly better compliance than those in the paper-diary condition by reliably carrying their smartphones, and promptly completing diary entries in the app, they recorded significantly fewer events than paper diary users. To test that this unexpected finding was not specific to involuntary autobiographical memories, the method was tested with everyday memory failures, and the same unexpected finding was obtained. Further studies manipulated the length of diary-keeping period and demonstrated a diary entry rate reduction effect with longer diary keeping periods, an effect seen in both paper- and participant-owned smartphone-diaries. For involuntary autobiographical memories, the effect was demonstrated by comparing 1-day and 7-day diaries, and also by using a 30-40 minutelong digital audio recording method. With everyday memory failures, the effect was demonstrated by comparing 7-day and 28-day diaries. The audio recording method was used to capture involuntary autobiographical memories while driving. It was also used on a campus walk and compared with a 1-day paper diary within-subjects, finding a higher rate of recording in the shorter period, and consistency of memory counts across two modes of recording. This novel audio-recording method facilitated much more detailed analysis of involuntary memory cues and chaining and enabled the evaluation of potential instances of priming. Finally, a telephone and postal-based diary study of everyday memory failures demonstrated the feasibility of recruitment and measurement of participants remotely, which can be particularly useful with older adults. Taken together, the results of this research make a significant methodological contribution to research on transient everyday cognitive phenomena by showing that (1) care is needed when using participant-owned smartphone diaries, (2) paper diaries may be more reliable than currently given credit, and (3) diary-recording periods can be substantially reduced without compromising the quantity and the quality of data obtained. In addition, results increase our theoretical understanding of two specific phenomena studied in this dissertation: involuntary autobiographical memories and everyday memory failures. The findings indicate that involuntary memories are much more frequent than previously thought, may represent a stable characteristic of a person and, in addition to immediately present cues, can be elicited by internal memory chaining process and more distant priming of events and thoughts. Finally, the absence of age effects in the frequency and nature of recorded everyday memory failures, together with significant negative age effects in laboratory tests of memory and cognition, is a novel finding that has significant implications for research on cognitive ageing.

DEAR LITTLE ME: A RESPONSE TO MY FORMER SELF is a 180-page memoir in which the adult self at age twenty-three responds to the diary entries and writings of the younger version of herself. The original diary entries, which were written from 2001 to 2004, feature the typical troubles of a middle school girl: crushes, cliques, and puberty. However, the diary entries also explore darker events such as September 11, divorce, bullying, and self-image issues. When the adult “me” re-read these diaries, I felt a strong desire to respond to my former self, offering her advice and encouragement, both serious and humorous. DEAR LITTLE ME is unique in form, as it combines diary entries and essay. In the same way that Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AN ORDINARY LIFE adopts the well-known format of the encyclopedia to create familiarity for her readers, DEAR LITTLE ME stays true to the the diary format. Modeling the new prose on the original form and syntax of diary entries is intended to create pathos by appealing to readers’ sense of nostalgia for their own lost childhoods. I intend to help readers remember their challenging pre-teen years and to recognize how many of the challenges of those years are still with us as adults, albeit in different forms.

abstract: Despite the strong link between pain and depressive symptoms, the mechanisms by which they are connected in the everyday lives of individuals with chronic pain are not well understood. In addition, previous investigations have tended to ignore biopsychosocial individual difference factors, assuming that all individuals respond to pain-related experiences and affect in the same manner. The present study tried to address these gaps in the existing literature. Two hundred twenty individuals with Fibromyalgia completed daily diaries during the morning, afternoon, and evening for 21 days. Findings were generally consistent with the hypotheses. Multilevel structural equation modeling revealed that morning pain and positive and negative affect are uniquely associated with morning negative pain appraisal, which in turn, is positively related to pain’s activity interference in the afternoon. Pain’s activity interference was the strongest predictor of evening depressive symptoms. Latent profile analysis using biopsychosocial measures identified three theoretically and clinically important subgroups (i.e., Low Functioning, Normative, and High Functioning groups). Although the daily pain-depressive symptoms link was not significantly moderated by these subgroups, individuals in the High Functioning group reported the lowest levels of average morning pain, negative affect, negative pain appraisal, afternoon pain’s activity interference, and evening depressive symptoms, and the highest levels of average morning positive affect across 21 days relative to the other two groups. The Normative group fared better on all measures than did the Low Functioning group. The findings of the present study suggest the importance of promoting morning positive affect and decreasing negative affect in disconnecting the within-day pain-depressive symptoms link, as well as the potential value of tailoring chronic pain interventions to those individuals who are in the greatest need. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Psychology 2018

Submitted by Rafaela Souza Maldonado null (rafaela_maldonado@hotmail.com) on 2017-01-20T12:08:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Rafaela M.pdf: 1654669 bytes, checksum: d62fcd1665bdff8cab105fe84c54a8e9 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Juliano Benedito Ferreira (julianoferreira@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2017-01-24T16:42:41Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 maldonado_rs_me_assis.pdf: 1654669 bytes, checksum: d62fcd1665bdff8cab105fe84c54a8e9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-01-24T16:42:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 maldonado_rs_me_assis.pdf: 1654669 bytes, checksum: d62fcd1665bdff8cab105fe84c54a8e9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-11-28 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Nos últimos anos, publicações e reedições de obras em que o testemunho é a principal característica narrativa afirmam as identidades de determinados grupos. Assim, buscamos na literatura italiana, com temática da Resistência, obras que sustentam esta ideia e uma interpretação do modo de lidar com a memória de um período significativo no contexto da Segunda Guerra. Portanto, este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar e comparar duas obras de autoria feminina nas quais as autoras reconstroem a memória partigiana a partir de suas experiências, neste episódio que foi marcante para a tradição e cultura italiana. Para isso nos embasaremos nas teorias da literatura de teor testemunhal de períodos autoritários, observando os aspectos literários; da micro-história, ressaltando as obras como materiais úteis para o estudo da História; e memorialístico, discutindo o valor da memória para a história e literatura, preservando a cultura italiana e demonstrando a característica híbrida e fronteiriça das obras. Com a apresentação destas teorias analisaremos as obras autobiográfica e diarística de Carla Capponi e Ada Gobetti, respectivamente, Con cuore di donna e Diario Partigiano. / In the last years, publications and re-editions of literary works in which the testimony is the main narrative feature affirm the identities of particular groups. Thus, we search in the Italian literature, with the theme of the Resistance, works that support this idea and an interpretation of the way of how to deal with the memory of a significant period in the World War II context. Therefore, this study aims to analyze and compare two works of female authorship in which the authors reconstruct the partisan memory from their experiences, in this remarkable episode for the Italian tradition and culture. To do so, we will rely on theories of the literature’s testimonial wording of authoritarian periods, observing the literary aspects; of the micro - history, emphasizing the works as useful materials for the study of History; and memorialistic, discussing the value of memory for the History and Literature, preserving the Italian culture and demonstrating the hybrid and frontier characteristic of the works. With the presentation of these theories we will analyze the autobiographical and diaristic works of Carla Capponi and Ada Gobetti, respectively, Con cuore di donna and Diario Partigiano. / CNPq: 168643/2014-6