How one behaves after interacting with a friend may not be the same as before the interaction began What factors a ect the formation of social interactions between people and, once formed, how do social interactions leave lasting changes on individual behavior? In this dissertation, a thorough review and conceptual synthesis is provided Major features of coordination dynamics are demonstrated with examples from both the intrapersonal and interpersonal coordination literature that are interpreted via a conceptual scheme, the causal loops of coordination dynamics An empirical, behavioral study of interpersonal coordination was conducted to determine which spontaneous patterns of coordination formed and whether a remnant of the interaction ensued ("social memory") To assess social memory in dyads, the behavior preceding and following episodes of interaction was compared In the experiment, pairs of people sat facing one another and made continuous flexion-extension finger movements while a window acted as a shutter to control whether partners saw each other's movements Thus, vision ("social contact") allowed spontaneous information exchange between partners through observation Each trial consisted of three successive intervals lasting twenty seconds: without social contact ("me and you"), with social contact ("us"), and again without ("me and you") During social contact, a variety of patterns was observed ranging from phase coupling to transient or absent collective behavior Individuals also entered and exited social coordination differently In support of social memory, compared to before social contact, after contact ended participants tended to remain near each other's movement frequency Furthermore, the greater the stability of coupling, the more similar the partners' post-interactional frequencies were Proposing that the persistence of behavior in the absence of information exchange was the result of prior frequency adaptation, a mathematical model of human movement was implemented with Haken-Kelso-Bunz oscillators that reproduced the experimental findings, even individual dyadic patterns Parametric manipulations revealed multiple routes to persistence of behavior via the interplay of adaptation and other HKB model parameters The experimental results, the model, and their interpretation form the basis of a proposal for future research and possible therapeutic applications / Includes bibliography / Dissertation (PhD)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016 / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Children exhibit neotenous, or physically immature, features, such as a large rounded head relative to body size, adult-sized eyes, round cheeks, a small chin, and a short narrow nose. Bowlby (1969) and others (Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1989; Hrdy, 2005) propose that, in species whose young depend on care from an adult, these features could enhance offspring survival. Lorenz (1943) argued that adult humans are particularly attracted to these features, and that these characteristics, which he termed Kindchenschema or “baby schema,” trigger a cognitive system that processes and reacts specifically to infantile features for the purpose of enhancing motivation to engage in caretaking behaviors. The goal of the studies proposed here is to examine the behavioral, attentional, and emotional effects of baby schema. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015 / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

In this thesis I discuss three normative claims that I take to be central elements of Charles Taylor’s political thought. The first of these is Taylor’s contention that, in contemporary pluralistic societies, justifying socially prevailing norms by appealing to universally binding moral values is unlikely to promote social solidarity. Because this approach tends to downplay the goods that people realise through membership in particular associations, Taylor believes we must adopt a model of justification that does not prioritise universal over particular goods if we are to further social co-operation. A second claim Taylor defends is that commitment to the liberal value of collective self-rule implies treating patriotically motivated public service as a non-instrumental good. We should not, Taylor argues, regard collective association as nothing more than a means to satisfying private goals. Taylor advances a third claim, that is, he maintains that liberal toleration for diverse ways of life may require a perfectionist state that supports particularistic ways of life when they are threatened by decline. I offer a qualified defence of the first two claims, but suggest that the third is less compelling. I attempt to do this by evaluating Taylor’s claims against the standards of lucid argumentation that he himself lays down. In discussing social and political norms, which he describes as “advocacy” issues, Taylor argues that our normative commitments necessarily rely on an underlying social ontology. More specifically, Taylor argues that the political values we defend are those that enable us to secure the interests we have as the bearers of an identity possessing both individual and collective dimensions. In setting out the conditions that favour integrated and free identity formation we may thereby reach a clearer understanding of the political norms that we wish to endorse. I argue that, while Taylor’s ontological reflections might well incline us to accept his model of justification and his account of patriotic social commitment, they do not of themselves dispose us to accept state perfectionism.

Thesis (PhD--English)--University of Auckland, 2009. / "Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Doctor of Philosophy in English, the University of Auckland, 2009." Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MA(Kreatiewe skryfkuns))-University of Pretoria, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Informed consent procedures are an essential part of the ethical conduct of research, including clinical trials. The principle of autonomy justifies this process. However, it is clear that conventional assumptions about autonomy offer limited guidance in many countries where clinical research on non-Western populations is conducted by Western researchers. Beginning with a brief review of conventional approaches to autonomy, the present research explored feminist alternatives to this principle, drawn from self-in-relation and care theories. / Thesis (M.A.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

The goal of this thesis is to explore the ways in which identity is represented in French Caribbean literature (Guadeloupe and Martinique). Literature is often the place where Caribbean writers explore new ways of defining themselves. This quest for an authentic cultural identity can be mostly explained by the colonial legacy of the French Caribbean. / This study will first explore the important role of re-writing history. It will then examine the Creolite movement and the way in which the Creole language and culture are celebrated in literary texts. Finally, it will look at how the French Caribbean define their relationship to the Other. The authors studied for this thesis are Edouard Glissant, Patrick Chamoiseau, Simone Schwarz-Bart and Maryse Conde.

The questions posed and examined in Violent Femmes take their genesis from psychoanalytic arguments which contend that identity is not a stable monadic thing but rather a continuing process of engagement and negotiation between the self and others. Sigmund Freud, Melanie Klein, D. W. Winnicott, and Christopher Bollas, amongst others, have noted the temporary, coalitional, and provisional nature of the ways in which identity is apprehended and experienced. This thesis expands upon such a theoretical framework of identity formation to specifically question the ways in which the formation and maturation of an artistic identity may, in part, be predicated upon the psychological capacity to enact violence within the realm of the imaginary. Violent Femmes examines the complex relationship between psychological violence and artistic identity as that relationship is recorded in the autobiographical writings of Virginia Woolf, Radclyffe Hall, and Emily Carr. / This project traces the written vestiges of Woolfs, Hall's, and Carr's individual internalised struggles to formulate an artistic identity in specific relationship with an already established 'model' of artistic creativity and identity. Woolfs, Hall's, and Carr's struggles to claim a personal artistic identity, in some ways from their individual model of the artist, are waged within the minds of the authors themselves. However, the violence enacted within their imaginations---the violence perpetrated against the models of the artist---is thrust into the external world, not only within the writings of these three women, but also by the ways in which each author resolves or fails to resolve her own violent conflict with her imaginary model of the artist.

Thesis(M.A.)--Auburn University, 2005. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Melbourne, Dept. of History, 2007. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 62-68).