This thesis was written as a supporting paper for a graphic design exhibit for a Master of Fine Arts Degree. The focus of my design is the creation of successful pieces of expressive graphic design that defy many traditional or formal rules of design. This thesis begins with a brief explanation of my methods and what I feel makes for good expressive design. These include a heavy reliance upon intuition, the necessity of traditional design education, historical and contemporary influences. I then characterize my motivations and methods of creating graphic design. Followed by the relation of my work to historical and contemporary influences. I conclude with a summary of the design work achieved in pursuit of this degree.

A growing body of literature supports the relationship between pathological worry and deleterious health consequences, including having a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD; Waters & Craske, 2005). Individuals who suffer from pathological worry tend to live life in the future rather than in the present moment. Mindfulness, a practice grounded in the acceptance of present-moment experience, can therefore be conceptualized as the antithesis of worry. Thus, the current study aimed to better understand the interplay between mindfulness and pathological worry and the potential role of mindfulness practice in reducing pathological worry. This study examined the effect of a brief mindful breathing practice and an expressive writing exercise on psychological health outcomes in a sample of college students with pathological worry. The study aimed to replicate findings that expressive writing is helpful for individuals with pathological worry, and it aimed to test the hypothesis (Brody & Park, 2004) that expressive writing itself is a process conceptually similar to mindfulness. Participants practiced either a mindful breathing exercise or a relaxation exercise prior to engaging in three consecutive sessions of either expressive writing or a control writing exercise. It was expected that individuals who practiced mindfulness and engaged in expressive writing would have lower levels of depression, worry, and GAD symptoms as well as increased levels of self-reported mindfulness when assessed one month after completing the study, but these hypotheses were not supported. It was found, however, that individuals who engaged in expressive writing demonstrated a decrease in negative affect over time compared to those who engaged in control writing. Furthermore, those who engaged in mindfulness practice compared to those who engaged in relaxation practice reported higher levels of mindful awareness directly following the writing sessions. The study has the practical implication of understanding the utility of brief mindfulness practice to alleviate symptoms of worry and GAD in a sample of non-treatment-seeking high worriers. / Psychology

Depression is a condition characterized by sadness and other symptoms, which are implicated in a persistent style of thinking referred to as depressive rumination. The analytical rumination hypothesis argues that depression is an adaptive response to complicated, personal problems, and that rumination involves an analysis of these problems. This analytical rumination has two stages: first, depressive symptoms promote causal analysis (i.e., considering why the problems happened). Causal analysis then leads to problem-solving analysis (i.e., finding ways to deal with problems), which in turn reduces depression. The empirical studies in this dissertation collectively test whether the nature of depressive thinking is consistent with the analytical rumination hypothesis. In Chapter 2, I investigated the temporal order of sadness and the stages of analytical rumination by asking participants to write about their personal problems. This writing paradigm promoted sadness and causal analysis, but not problem-solving analysis, suggesting that depressive symptoms coincide with causal thinking. In Chapter 3, I explored whether emotions during writing were related to analytical thinking by modifying the paradigm to isolate the impact of other factors (i.e., personal experience with the problem and its valence). These factors could not fully account for emotional changes during writing, suggesting that analytical thinking played a role. Analytical rumination is one of several theories of depressive thinking, so in Chapter 4, I conducted a joint factor analysis of four rumination questionnaires and compared the prevalence of the emerging factors. Factors reflecting causal thoughts and problem-solving were most frequently endorsed, even when they were measured in the presence of sadness induced by the writing paradigm in Chapter 5. Furthermore, associations between these factors and depressive symptoms were consistent with the stages of analytical rumination. Overall, my findings suggest that depressive thinking focuses on understanding and solving problems, and it may have functional implications for depression. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Depression is a mental health condition in part characterized by sadness and changes in thinking. One evolutionary perspective argues that depression is a response to complicated, personal problems, and that symptoms of depression, like sadness, help individuals think through their problems. According to this perspective, depressive thinking is analytical, and it involves causal thinking to identify why the problems happened and problem-solving to find potential solutions. In my dissertation, I examine whether individuals engage in causal thinking and problem-solving when they are sad or depressed. My experiments assess whether writing about personal problems promotes sadness and causal thinking, and they examine the impact of analytical thinking on changes in sadness during writing. Because the evolutionary perspective is one of several theories on depressive thinking, I also use a psychometric method to integrate these theories and to examine how causal thinking and problem-solving are linked with sadness and other depressive symptoms.

Depression is a crippling burden on a great many people, and it is often well hidden. Mental health professionals are able to treat depression, but the general public is not well versed in recognizing depression symptoms or assessing their own mental health. Active Listening Journal Interaction (ALJI) is a computer program that seeks to identify and refer people suffering with depression to mental health support services. It does this through analyzing personal journal entries using machine learning, and then privately responding to the author with proper guidance. In this thesis, we focus on determining the feasibility and usefulness of the machine learning models that drive ALJI. With heavy data limitations, we cautiously report that with a single journal entry, our model detects when a person's symptoms warrant professional intervention with a 61% accuracy. A great amount of discussion on the proposed solution, methods, results, and future directions of ALJI is included. / Master of Science / An incredibly large number of people suffer from depression, and they can rightfully feel trapped or imprisoned by this illness. A very simple way to understand depression is to first imagine looking at the most beautiful sunset you've ever seen, and then imagine feeling absolutely nothing while looking that same sunset, and you can't explain why. When a person is depressed, they are likely to feel like a burden to those around them. This causes them to avoid social gathering and friends, making them isolated away from people that could support them. This worsens their depression and a terrible cycle begins. One of the best ways out of this cycle is to reveal the depression to a doctor or psychologist, and to ask them for guidance. However, many people don't see or realize this excellent option is open to them, and will continue to suffer with depression for far longer than needed. This thesis describes an idea called the Active Listening Journal Interaction, or ALJI. ALJI acts just like someone's personal journal or diary, but it also has some protections from illnesses like depression. First, ALJI searches a journal entry for indicators about the author's health, then ALJI asks the author a few questions to better understand the author, and finally ALJI gives that author information and guidance on improving their health. We are starting to create a computer program of ALJI by first building and testing the detector for the author's health. Instead of making the detector directly, we show the computer some examples of the health indicators from journals we know very well, and then let the computer focus on finding the pattern that would reveal those health indicators from any journal. This is called machine learning, and in our case, ALJI's machine learning is going to be difficult because we have very few example journals where we know all of the health indicators. However, we believe that fixing this issue would solve the first step of ALJI. The end of this thesis also discusses the next steps going forward with ALJI.

Breakups within emerging adulthood (EA) are associated with heightened distress because of individuals' tendency to be preoccupied by and prioritize romantic relationships. Global narrative scoring systems, such as Boals et al.'s meaning making (MM) and Feffer et al.'s interpersonal decentering, can be a useful for analyzing the activated cognitive processing in narratives about stressful events and have been linked to positive adjustment from those events. Attachment may moderate the benefits of processing a breakup. While avoidantly-attached people report lower breakup distress because of their tendency to suppress attachment-related thoughts and emotions, anxiously-attached individuals report prolonged distress due to their tendency to ruminate about the past relationship and to experience continued attachment to their ex-partner. The current study assessed the cross-sectional effects of MM and decentering on depression and breakup non-acceptance, as well as how attachment moderates the relationship between decentering and breakup adjustment. Results found higher MM was associated with higher depression and non-acceptance. More mature decentering was related to lower non-acceptance, but was unrelated to depression. Initial MM efforts may evoke more distress as individuals focus on distressing thoughts or emotions previously avoided. Initial decentering maturity may help with breakup adjustment as one effectively reflects on their own and their ex-partner's thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Attachment style did not moderate the relationship between decentering, depression, and non-acceptance. The present study contributes to the literature on processing relational stressors during EA.

Expressive Writing (EW) involves asking participants to write emotionally about stressful life events and has been associated with improvements in psychological and physical health. The purpose of the current study was to extend previous work by examining the moderating and mediating role of emotion regulation within the EW intervention. Sixty participants who had experienced a traumatic event were recruited from the community and were assigned to an EW or control writing condition. Measures assessing emotion regulation and indices of psychological and physical health were administered at baseline and one month follow-up to determine changes in symptomatology. In comparison to control writing, EW led to significant improvements in depression, emotional clarity, and to a lesser degree emotional awareness. Although no other group differences were found, all participants demonstrated significant improvements in their symptoms of posttraumatic stress, reported physical health, overall emotion regulation abilities, their ability to accept their emotions, engage in goal directed behaviour when distressed, and access emotion regulation strategies they perceive as effective. No support was found for our moderation hypothesis. However, a significant moderation was discovered revealing that difficulties engaging in goal directed behaviour when distressed moderated improvements in posttraumatic stress symptoms. Specifically, control participants with this emotion regulation deficit demonstrated significantly poorer outcomes than control participants without this deficit; in comparison to the EW group participants who improved similarly on posttraumatic stress symptoms regardless of their level of difficulties at baseline engaging in goal directed behavour when distressed. Additionally, baseline emotion regulation abilities predicted improvements on psychological health (but not physical health) outcome measures for both groups. No support was found for our mediation hypothesis. Exploratory analyses revealed that the EW group demonstrated greater emotional arousal in response to their writing in sessions 1 and 2, but that by session 3 their arousal had significantly decreased and was equivalent to that of the control group, which showed no changes in arousal across sessions. No support was found for the moderating or mediating influence of arousal on outcome. Results will be discussed within a model of emotional expression and emotion regulation and compared to the existing EW literature.

Expressive Writing (EW) involves asking participants to write emotionally about stressful life events and has been associated with improvements in psychological and physical health. The purpose of the current study was to extend previous work by examining the moderating and mediating role of emotion regulation within the EW intervention. Sixty participants who had experienced a traumatic event were recruited from the community and were assigned to an EW or control writing condition. Measures assessing emotion regulation and indices of psychological and physical health were administered at baseline and one month follow-up to determine changes in symptomatology. In comparison to control writing, EW led to significant improvements in depression, emotional clarity, and to a lesser degree emotional awareness. Although no other group differences were found, all participants demonstrated significant improvements in their symptoms of posttraumatic stress, reported physical health, overall emotion regulation abilities, their ability to accept their emotions, engage in goal directed behaviour when distressed, and access emotion regulation strategies they perceive as effective. No support was found for our moderation hypothesis. However, a significant moderation was discovered revealing that difficulties engaging in goal directed behaviour when distressed moderated improvements in posttraumatic stress symptoms. Specifically, control participants with this emotion regulation deficit demonstrated significantly poorer outcomes than control participants without this deficit; in comparison to the EW group participants who improved similarly on posttraumatic stress symptoms regardless of their level of difficulties at baseline engaging in goal directed behavour when distressed. Additionally, baseline emotion regulation abilities predicted improvements on psychological health (but not physical health) outcome measures for both groups. No support was found for our mediation hypothesis. Exploratory analyses revealed that the EW group demonstrated greater emotional arousal in response to their writing in sessions 1 and 2, but that by session 3 their arousal had significantly decreased and was equivalent to that of the control group, which showed no changes in arousal across sessions. No support was found for the moderating or mediating influence of arousal on outcome. Results will be discussed within a model of emotional expression and emotion regulation and compared to the existing EW literature.

Thesis (MDram (Drama))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study is aimed at establishing what personal catharsis is, specifically defining what it is and under what conditions it may occur. During the creation and execution of an autobiographical solo, I had gone through a process of attaining what has since been labelled personal catharsis and recognition of the other, which gave arise to me finding confidence and discovering my creative voice of identity. However, it was not known when or how these processes took place. In addition I was not certain exactly what personal catharsis was in the context of me and my identity. An investigate was also needed into the possibility of generalising personal catharsis as a process that could guide people towards gaining confidence and finding their creative voice of identity. In this thesis, the process of the creation of the autobiographical solo is deconstructed. In doing so the journey of the discovery of the other is highlighted and the role of recognition between the inner expressive form and the external expressive form. Through the means of a source study the concepts of behaviour and the other in reference to identity construction and performance of everyday self are discussed. Then personal catharsis is explored in comparison to the traditional use of the term. Using performance-based research methodologies in conjunction with a questionnaire, a 12-week series of workshops was held to explore the generalisation of personal catharsis and the issues that arose during the study. The workshops were aimed at investigating the possibility of creating a process to attain personal catharsis. It was found that personal catharsis is a subjective process that takes place through the recognition of the external expressive form. It is through this recognition that the dislocation of self can be reconnected and the other can become more transparent to the internal expressive form. This process is readily attained through the exploration of the character of self. However, although new behaviour can result from personal catharsis, the individual needs to choose the internal expressive form as the dominant part in expressive behaviour. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie studie is om te bepaal en te beskryf wat presies persoonlike katarsis is en hoe dit as proses verloop. Tydens die skepping en uitvoering van ʼn outobiografiese solo het ek die bereiking van persoonlike katarsis – soos ek dit sedertdien gedoop het – en herkenning van die ander beleef. Dit het daartoe gelei dat ek selfvertroue en die skeppende stem van my identiteit gevind het. Tog het ek nie besef wanneer of hoe hierdie prosesse plaasgevind het nie. Daarby was ek nie seker wat presies persoonlike katarsis in die konteks van my wese en identiteit was nie. Ek wou ook die moontlikheid ondersoek om persoonlike katarsis as proses te veralgemeen sodat dit mense daartoe kon lei om selfvertroue en die skeppende stem van hul identiteit te vind. In hierdie tesis dekonstrueer ek die skepping van die outobiografiese solo as proses. Daardeur werp ek lig op die ontdekkingsreis na die ander en die rol wat herkenning tussen die interne ekspressiewe vorm en die eksterne ekspressiewe vorm speel. Die begrippe gedrag en die ander in verhouding tot die konstruksie van identiteit en die uitvoering van die alledaagse self word deur middel van ʼn literatuurstudie bespreek. Daarná word persoonlike katarsis in vergelyking met die tradisionele gebruik van die term ondersoek. Tydens ʼn 12 weke lange werkswinkel is performance-gebaseerde navorsingsmetodologieë tesame met ʼn vraelys gebruik om die veralgemening van persoonlike katarsis en die kwessies wat tydens die studie na vore gekom het, te verken. Die werkswinkels was daarop gemik om die moontlikheid van die skepping van ʼn proses om persoonlike katarsis te bereik, te ondersoek. Daar is gevind dat persoonlike katarsis ʼn subjektiewe proses is wat deur middel van die herkenning van die eksterne ekspressiewe vorm plaasvind. Deur middel van hierdie herkenning kan die ontwrigting van die self herstel word en kan die ander deursigtiger vir die interne ekspressiewe vorm word. Hierdie proses word maklik deur verkenning van die karakter van die self behaal. Alhoewel persoonlike katarsis nuwe gedrag tot gevolg kan hê, moet die individu egter die interne ekspressiewe vorm as die dominante deel in ekspressiewe gedrag kies.

We investigate the properties of a new Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) for computer-aided composition called IPCS (pronounced “ipp-siss”) the Intermediate Performance Composition System which generates expressive performance as part of its compositional process, and produces emergent melodic structures by a novel multi-agent process. IPCS consists of a small-medium size (2 to 16) collection of agents in which each agent can perform monophonic tunes and learn monophonic tunes from other agents. Each agent has an affective state (an “artificial emotional state”) which affects how it performs the music to other agents; e.g. a “happy” agent will perform “happier” music. The agent performance not only involves compositional changes to the music, but also adds smaller changes based on expressive music performance algorithms for humanization. Every agent is initialized with a tune containing the same single note, and over the interaction period longer tunes are built through agent interaction. Agents will only learn tunes performed to them by other agents if the affective content of the tune is similar to their current affective state; learned tunes are concatenated to the end of their current tune. Each agent in the society learns its own growing tune during the interaction process. Agents develop “opinions” of other agents that perform to them, depending on how much the performing agent can help their tunes grow. These opinions affect who they interact with in the future. IPCS is not a mapping from multi-agent interaction onto musical features, but actually utilizes music for the agents to communicate emotions. In spite of the lack of explicit melodic intelligence in IPCS, the system is shown to generate non-trivial melody pitch sequences as a result of emotional communication between agents. The melodies also have a hierarchical structure based on the emergent social structure of the multi-agent system and the hierarchical structure is a result of the emerging agent social interaction structure. The interactive humanizations produce micro-timing and loudness deviations in the melody which are shown to express its hierarchical generative structure without the need for structural analysis software frequently used in computer music humanization.

This thesis will explore the function of the conductor’s left hand, with emphasis on its expressive possibilities and the gestures. In the first chapter, the role of the conductor is discussed, and some problems around the field of expressive gestures are brought up. In the second chapter, I present the history of conducting, or rather the history of musical leadership, as the practice of conducting we are familiar with today began in the late 19th Century. In this chapter, I also include some paragraphs about gesture and its role and function outside of musical leadership, such as public speaking. In chapter three, I examine a selection of instruction books and how they treat the use of the left hand. During the work on this material I found several quotations and thoughts from conductors, in letters and interviews, presented in chapter four. This is interesting for this study, because it offers the personal opinions and experiences of well-established conductors and conducting teachers. It also shows how the opinions on the use of the left hand have changed over the past century. Chapter five is a lengthy chapter of research on this topic. Not all is directly connected to the left hand, but all is in connection to gesture in some way. These chapters form the basis of a discussion, where findings in previous chapters are pointed out and debated, and the authors personal opinion is presented. At the end follows suggestions on how this topic can be further researched and how one can create a repertoire of expressive gestures.