This thesis considers Confessional poetry and Black Arts poetry against the backdrop of the political and social culture of the 1950s that influenced the styles of these two major poetic movements. I examine Sylvia Plath's and Nikki Giovanni's distinct poetic personas and the language they employ in relation to each other as representatives of confessional and Black Arts poetry, two poetic styles often thought to be inherently opposed to each other, one personal and one political. I identify connections between these seemingly different poets and movements through close readings of key poems by Plath and Giovanni that situates them within second-wave feminism and the civil rights movements of the 1960s. I argue that both poets devise an alternate persona language that is especially exaggerated to create defiant personas of resistance as a direct response to the constricting political conditions in the United States at mid-century.

Finding salient features in an image, and matching them to their corresponding features in another image is an important step for many vision-based applications. Feature description plays an important role in the feature matching process. A robust feature descriptor must works with a number of image deformations and should be computationally efficient. For resource-limited systems, floating point and complex operations such as multiplication and square root are not desirable. This research first introduces a robust and efficient feature descriptor called PRObability (PRO) descriptor that meets these requirements without sacrificing matching accuracy. The PRO descriptor is further improved by incorporating only affine features for matching. While performing well, PRO descriptor still requires larger descriptor size, higher offline computation time, and more memory space than other binary feature descriptors. SYnthetic BAsis (SYBA) descriptor is developed to overcome these drawbacks. SYBA is built on the basis of a new compressed sensing theory that uses synthetic basis functions to uniquely encode or reconstruct a signal. The SYBA descriptor is designed to provide accurate feature matching for real-time vision applications. To demonstrate its performance, we develop algorithms that utilize SYBA descriptor to localize the soccer ball in a broadcast soccer game video, track ground objects for unmanned aerial vehicle, and perform motion analysis, and improve visual odometry accuracy for advanced driver assistance systems. SYBA provides high feature matching accuracy with computational simplicity and requires minimal computational resources. It is a hardware-friendly feature description and matching algorithm suitable for embedded vision applications.

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This explorative case study was undertaken to uncover how transformative self-discoveries were facilitated through Gestalt playtherapy, enabling agency of a single pre-school participant. Data were captured around the participant's baseline agentic status; emerging agency, facilitated trough the intervention and post-intervention agentic status. A content analysis aided thematic coding. Theme 1 identified inherent agency trends and the agency blocks "what is that". Theme 2 dealt with patterns of active resistance "I don't want to feel / I don't want to know". Theme 3 captured enhanced agentic behaviour "I can and I understand". Through the intervention the participant's entrapped agency was unleashed, leading to an awareness of her `being', enabling her `doing' and thereby allowing her to `become'. Enabled agency increased the participant's active involvement in her life and her engagement in developmental tasks was increased. Implications of the findings support further investigation and application of this intervention. / Educational Studies / M. Diac (Play Therapy)

Summaries in Afrikaans and English / Text in Afrikaans / Hierdie navorsing het die verband tussen vroee adolessenterugbyspelers se doelorientering en selfkonsep, empiries en in die literatuur, ondersoek. Die literatuurondersoek het getoon dat doelorientering oar twee komponente beskik, naamlik taakbetrokkenheid en egobetrokkenheid. Taakbetrokke sportdeelnemers fokus op vaardigheidsontwikkeling en gebruik hulle eie prestasies as maatstaf vir sukses. Hulle beleef sukses wanneer 'n taak bemeester is, leer plaasvind, of daar 'n verbetering in die uitvoering van die taak is. Sukses word toegeskryf aan die mate van inspanning gelewer. Egobetrokke sportdeelnemers fokus op die wenmotief, gebruik normatiewe vergelyking as maatstaf vir prestasie, en beleef sukses wanneer hulle eie prestasies gunstig met die van ander kan vergelyk. Sukses word aan aangebore talent toegeskryf. Die empiriese ondersoek het bevind dat taakbetrokkenheid positief verband hou met die globale, persoonlike, en sosiale self. Egobetrokkenheid hou negatief verband met die fisieke self, en positief verband met kompetisie-angs. / The research investigated, in the literature and empirically, the possible relation between the goal orientation of male adolescent rugby players and their self-concept. The literature study indicated that goal orientation has two components, namely task involvement and ego involvement. In task-involved sport participation, skills development is emphasized, evaluation of achievement is self-referenced, and success experienced when learning takes place, a task is mastered, or when there is improvement in the execution of tasks. Success is attributed to effort. In ego-involved sport participation objective outcomes are emphasized (i.e. winning), evaluation of achievement is norm-based, and success experienced when own achievements are favourably compared to those of other sport participants. Success is attributed to natural ability. The empirical study indicated a positive relation between task-involved sport participation and the global, personal, and social self. A negative relation between ego-involved sport participation and the physical self, and a positive relation between ego involvement and competition-anxiety was found. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Spesialisering in Voorligting)

Il s'agit d'une hypothèse largement répandue que l’égo-dystonie et l’égo-syntonie caractérisent les obsessions dans les troubles des conduites alimentaires (TCA) et que ces facteurs sont cliniquement pertinents pour la conceptualisation et le traitement des TCA. Cependant, les résultats empiriques sur ce sujet sont rares. Compte tenu du chevauchement reconnu entre les TCA, notamment l'anorexie et la boulimie (BN), et le trouble obsessionnel-compulsif (TOC) dans la phénoménologie et les caractéristiques psychologiques, un programme de thérapie cognitive basée sur les inférences (TBI) de 24 semaines, démontré efficace dans le traitement des TOC, a été adapté pour traiter les TCA. La recherche sur le TOC suggère que la transformation des pensées intrusives en obsessions est liée à la mesure dans laquelle les pensées intrusives menacent des perceptions fondamentales du soi et de l’identité. Cette thèse a pour objectif d'examiner le lien entre l’égo-dystonie et les TCA. Pour se faire, nous avons exploré le lien entre la nature égo-dystone des obsessions chez les patients souffrant d'un TCA et la peur de l'image de soi. Nous avons également étudié la relation entre la sévérité des symptômes TCA et l’égo-dystonie dans les obsessions. En outre, nous avons investigué les différences dans la présence de pensées égo-dystones et de peur face à son identité entre des sujets non-cliniques et des personnes atteintes d’un TCA. Enfin, nous avons comparé le degré d’égo-dystonie dans les pensées de personnes atteintes d’un TCA à celui dans les pensées d’individus souffrant d’un TOC. L’égo-dystonie dans les pensées a été mesurée par l'Ego Dystonicity Questionnaire (EDQ) et le degré de peur face à l’identité a été mesuré par le Fear of Self Questionnaire (FSQ) d’une part dans un échantillon de femmes souffrant d’un TCA (n = 57) et d’autre part dans un échantillon de participantes non-cliniques (n = 45). Les résultats révèlent que l’égo-dystonie et la peur face à l’identité étaient fortement corrélées à la fois dans l’échantillon clinique et non-clinique. Les scores de l’EDQ n’étaient pas significativement corrélés à la sévérité des symptômes TCA à l'exception de la sous-échelle d’irrationalité de l’EDQ qui était fortement associée à la sévérité des comportements compulsifs compensatoires. Les participantes souffrant d'un TCA avaient des scores significativement plus élevés à l’EDQ et au FSQ que les sujets non-cliniques. Ensuite, une étude de cas décrit l’application du programme de thérapie cognitive TBI pour une femme de 35 ans avec un diagnostic de BN. La pathologie TCA s’est significativement améliorée au cours de la TBI et six mois suivant la thérapie. Cette étude de cas met en évidence l'importance de cibler les idées surévaluées, les doutes et le raisonnement face au soi et à l’identité dans le traitement psychologique pour les TCA. Enfin, l’objectif final de cette thèse était d’examiner les changements au niveau (1) des symptômes TCA, (2) du degré d’égo-syntonie dans les obsessions, et (3) des mesures de peur face à l’identité, de motivation, d’humeur et d’anxiété au cours de la TBI et au suivi post six mois. L’égo-dystonie, la peur face à l’identité, les symptômes TCA et le stade motivationnel ont été mesurés chez 15 femmes souffrant de BN au cours du traitement et six mois après la TBI. Quatre vingt pourcent de l’échantillon, soit 12 des 15 participantes, ont démontré une diminution cliniquement significative des symptômes TCA et 53% ont cessé leurs comportements compensatoires au suivi post six mois. Les retombées cliniques relatives au traitement des TCA sont discutées. / There is a widely held assumption that both ego-dystonicity and ego-syntonicity characterize obsessions in eating disorders (EDs), and these factors are clinically relevant to the conceptualization and treatment of EDs; however, empirical findings on this subject are scarce. Given the recognized overlap between EDs, particularly anorexia and bulimia nervosa (BN), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in phenomenology and psychological characteristics, a 24-week cognitive inference-based therapy (IBT) program shown to be effective in treating OCD was adapted to treat EDs. OCD research has suggested that the transformation of intrusive thoughts into obsessions is linked to the degree to which intrusive thoughts threaten core perceptions of the self. The present thesis aims to examine the relationship between ego-dystonicity and EDs. To do so, we explored the link between the ego-dystonic nature of obsessions in patients suffering from an ED and fear of self concept. We also investigated the relationship between ED symptom severity and ego-dystonicity in obsessions. Moreover, we studied differences between non-clinical and eating-disordered individuals in the presence of ego-dystonic thoughts and extent of fear of self. Finally, we compared the degree of ego-dystonicity in individuals with EDs’ thoughts to those suffering from OCD. Ego-dystonicity in thoughts was measured by the Ego Dystonicity Questionnaire (EDQ) and degree of feared self was measured by the Fear of Self Questionnaire (FSQ) in both a clinical sample (n = 57 women with EDs) and a non-clinical female sample (n = 45). Ego-dystonicity and fear of self were highly correlated in both clinical and non-clinical samples. EDQ scores were not significantly correlated to overall ED symptom severity with the exception of the EDQ Irrationality subscale, which was related strongly to ED compulsion (ritual) severity. Participants suffering from an ED had significantly higher EDQ scores and FSQ scores compared to controls. Next, a case study describes the application of IBT treatment for a 35-year-old woman diagnosed with BN. ED pathology significantly decreased from pre-IBT to six-month follow-up. This case study highlights the importance of addressing overvalued ideas, fear of self and self-doubt in psychological treatment for EDs via a focus on self-cognitions and reasoning about self. Furthermore, the final objective of this thesis was to examine the change in (1) ED symptom severity, (2) the degree of ego-dystonicity in obsessions, and (3) fear of self, motivational, mood and anxiety measures from pre-IBT to six-month follow-up. Ego-dystonicity, fear of self, ED symptoms and motivational stage were assessed in 15 women with BN over the course of IBT and at follow-up. Eighty percent of the sample demonstrated a clinically significant reduction in ED symptoms and 53% ceased their compensatory behaviors at six-month follow-up. Clinical implications relevant to the treatment of EDs are discussed.

Achievement Goal Theory (AGT) utgår ifrån att alla individer vill visa sin kompetens vilket tar sig uttryck i två målinriktningar; ego och task. Individen påverkas av omgivningen som driver ett motivationsklimat som kan uttryckas i samma typer av målinriktning. Motivationsklimatet och målinriktningarna anses påverka hur individen agerar och hanterar t.ex. ängslan/oro och prestation. Denna studie behandlar samband mellan individuella målinriktningar, upplevt motivationsklimat drivet av tränare, träningskamrater och föräldrar, tävlingsrelaterad ängslan/oro och upplevd prestation. Undersökningsdeltagare var femtonåriga svenska ungdomar som tävlade i alpin utförsåkning (N=56). Multipel regressionsanalys användes för att analysera samband och signifikanta förklaringsvarianser. Störst bidrag från omgivningen på tävlingsrelaterad ängslan/oro verkade mammor ha (negativt bidrag). Kamrater var viktigare för individen än övrigt socialt stöd. Den alpina gruppen var mer ego-orienterad jämfört med resultat i studier med andra ungdomar i samma ålder och uppvisade en individuell målorientering som snarare motsvarade äldre elitidrottares, samtidigt som den relativt sett skattade ett lägre taskinriktat motivationsklimat