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The BOD POD (BP) is a device used for determining body composition that is based on the air displacement plethysmography method. There has been little research conducted on the BP, and the main focus of the research has been on the reliability and validity of the BP. Another important area of research with the BP is the effect that different types of clothing have on the percent fat readings from the BP. To produce the most accurate results, the manufacturers recommend that subjects wear a Lycra swimsuit, however this recommendation may not be feasible for some individuals or testing sites to follow. The purpose of this study was to determine if a standard type of clothing would affect the percent fat readings from the BP in a consistent manner. Fifty subjects (25 men, 25 women) of varying ages (19 to 84 years of age) and body composition (3.4 to 53.2% fat) completed six trials (3 cotton and 3 nylon) in the BP during one testing session. With the exception of the clothing, all other recommendations by the manufacturer were followed. The comparison between the two clothing conditions was analyzed with a 2-way ANOVA (gender x clothing), frequency distribution, and the Bland-Altman method. The reliability of the measurements was analyzed by comparing the absolute differences between the three trials with cotton clothing and the three trials with nylon clothing, with intra-class correlation coefficients, and the Bland-Altman method. The results from the 2-way ANOVA revealed that the interaction effect of gender and amount of clothing was significant with the difference between nylon versus cotton being 1.1% for men and 4.8% for women. There was also a significant difference between body fat measurements with the cotton clothing (24.2 + 11.2%) and the nylon clothing (27.1 + 11.6%) when analyzed with all the subjects combined (men and women). Reliability analysis resulted in intra-class correlation coefficients of 0.9 and 0.95 within the cotton and nylon clothing trials, respectively. The comparison of the absolute differences between the cotton trials and the nylon trials showed a between-trial standard deviation of approximately 0.6 for cotton and 0.7 for nylon. In the comparison of nylon to cotton clothing results, there was a greater difference between the results for the women than for the men. The men had a lower, similar difference when comparing the two clothing conditions, whereas the women had a higher, difference that was not similar between subjects. In conclusion, this study showed that using either cotton or nylon shorts for men is acceptable, whereas for women more testing is needed to find another type of clothing to replace the Lycra swimsuit that results in consistent percent fat measurements. Also, the reliability of the percent fat readings obtained with both clothing conditions was very good. / School of Physical Education

The intent of this thesis is to present James W. Cornman and Keith Lehrer's critical review of the classical body-mind problem and to present a persona defense of the theory known as dualistic interactionism. In establishing dualistic interactionism between a person's body and mind, evidence can be given to demonstrate an overarching relationship between the mental and physical. Furthermore, in establishing such a theory it is possible to show that a person can learn to exert voluntary control over biological states. And in establishing voluntary control over bodily events and states, volition, a cognitive process, clearly can be seen to be a control dimension in human behavior and of the human psyche.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of hydration on %BFADP while using %BFDEXA as the criterion measure. Twenty healthy males and females ages 20-28 participated in the study. The subjects underwent dehydration in the environmental chamber at 32°C and 50% relative humidity until a total of 3% of their body weight had been lost. Subjects were measured with ADP and DEXA at euhydration, 1%, 2%, and 3% dehydration. The results revealed significant differences between %BFADP and %BFDEXA at each level of hydration. %BFDEXA did not change due to dehydration; however, %BFADP decreased as a result of dehydration. Therefore, standardization criteria must be employed in order to assure proper hydration and accurate %BF measurements via ADP. / School of Physical Education

The display of the male body has recently become a common phenomenon in Western culture. The objectification of men is a new theoretical concept that originates from the more familiar concept of the perceived objectification, observation and evaluation of the female body (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). McKinley (as cited in Soban, 2006) terms this concept Objectified Body Consciousness (OBC). Past studies confirm that the concept of OBC may also be successfully applied to males (Grieve & Helmick, 2008; Tiggemann & Kuring, 2004), especially in relation to current cultural expectations for the male body (Grieve & Helmick, 2008; Soban, 2006). At an extreme level internalisation of the mesomorphic body shape as body ideal may lead to a Drive for Muscularity (DM; Grieve, 2007). Grieve and Helmick (2008) indicate that males who score high on objectification measures show higher incidences of DM. According to the socio–environmental theories of Grieve (2007) and McCabe and Ricciardelli (2004) males experience significant social pressures to achieve the muscular ideal. There is a scarcity of literature concerning body–image concerns and the muscular ideal within the South African male undergraduate population. This research was therefore exploratory in nature and aimed to determine whether undergraduate men with high levels of OBC differ significantly in DM from undergraduate men with low levels of OBC. In addition, the study investigated the existence of a correlation between OBC and DM and whether undergraduate men differ in DM in accordance with exposure to certain socio–environmental factors. The quantitative study employed a survey design (Mouton, 2001) and used the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (OBCS; McKinley & Hyde, 1996) and the Drive for Muscularity Scale (DMS; McCreary & Sasse, 2000). A convenience sample of 278 undergraduate males (mean age = 19 years) was selected based on availability and readiness to partake in the study (Field, 2005). Participants were all males aged between 18 and 20 and residing on the North–West University Potchefstroom Campus. Results indicate that undergraduate men with either elevated or low levels of OBC do not differ in terms of their DM. No correlation exists between OBC and DM. A group of undergraduate men who read fitness and health–related magazines, participate in sport, exercise regularly and have used steroids and supplements in the past year was identified. This group presented with high incidences of Muscle Development Behaviour suggesting that they may be at risk of internalising an attitude of increasing muscularity that may result in DM. / Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

This thesis examines the relationship between human sexuality and “the mystical” in the work of Jeffrey J. Kripal. I claim that Kripal presents a nondualistic understanding of the relationship between human sexuality and “the mystical” that contests the conventional distinction between body and “soul.” In particular, Kripal’s two central concepts – “the erotic” and “the enlightenment of the body” – suggest that embodiment shapes our understanding of “the mystical.” By demonstrating the psychoanalytic, hermeneutical, and comparative significance of the relationship between human sexuality and “the mystical,” Kripal’s model calls attention to the crucial role that body, gender, and sexual orientation play in both the historical and contemporary study of mysticism. The point of my research is to show that Kripal’s approach signals a new way of studying “the mystical” in terms of “mystical humanism,” which draws on both Eastern and Western philosophies to construct a critical, non-reductive appreciation for the transformative and ultimately emancipatory potential of certain mystical states of consciousness.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of neighborhood and family influences on body image and dietary attitudes in a cohort of 10-and 11-year old children across the BMI spectrum. In this cross-sectional study, age-appropriate figure drawings, Dietary Restraint and Body Esteem Scales were administered to 554 boys and girls. Information on parent and neighborhood influences were gathered from participants’ parents and tested for association with child variables through multiple linear regression. This study indicates that parent modeling variables have an association with child body esteem and dietary restraint when BMI is controlled. Socioeconomic status was found to play a role, with high socioeconomic neighborhoods resulting in higher body esteem and dietary restraint. Geographic location had no influence over child variables. Overall, important influences were found between parent and socioeconomic status variables and body esteem and restraint.

The display of the male body has recently become a common phenomenon in Western culture. The objectification of men is a new theoretical concept that originates from the more familiar concept of the perceived objectification, observation and evaluation of the female body (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). McKinley (as cited in Soban, 2006) terms this concept Objectified Body Consciousness (OBC). Past studies confirm that the concept of OBC may also be successfully applied to males (Grieve & Helmick, 2008; Tiggemann & Kuring, 2004), especially in relation to current cultural expectations for the male body (Grieve & Helmick, 2008; Soban, 2006). At an extreme level internalisation of the mesomorphic body shape as body ideal may lead to a Drive for Muscularity (DM; Grieve, 2007). Grieve and Helmick (2008) indicate that males who score high on objectification measures show higher incidences of DM. According to the socio–environmental theories of Grieve (2007) and McCabe and Ricciardelli (2004) males experience significant social pressures to achieve the muscular ideal. There is a scarcity of literature concerning body–image concerns and the muscular ideal within the South African male undergraduate population. This research was therefore exploratory in nature and aimed to determine whether undergraduate men with high levels of OBC differ significantly in DM from undergraduate men with low levels of OBC. In addition, the study investigated the existence of a correlation between OBC and DM and whether undergraduate men differ in DM in accordance with exposure to certain socio–environmental factors. The quantitative study employed a survey design (Mouton, 2001) and used the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (OBCS; McKinley & Hyde, 1996) and the Drive for Muscularity Scale (DMS; McCreary & Sasse, 2000). A convenience sample of 278 undergraduate males (mean age = 19 years) was selected based on availability and readiness to partake in the study (Field, 2005). Participants were all males aged between 18 and 20 and residing on the North–West University Potchefstroom Campus. Results indicate that undergraduate men with either elevated or low levels of OBC do not differ in terms of their DM. No correlation exists between OBC and DM. A group of undergraduate men who read fitness and health–related magazines, participate in sport, exercise regularly and have used steroids and supplements in the past year was identified. This group presented with high incidences of Muscle Development Behaviour suggesting that they may be at risk of internalising an attitude of increasing muscularity that may result in DM. / Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The main objective of this thesis is to indicate an approach through which ontological dualism of mind and body may be collapsed - to show that (and how) the intuitive resistance to ontological monism is confused. A minor objective, much less extensively argued for, is to indicate that once we can accept that there is no logical obstacle to the view that we are purely physical, then human mentality poses no logical obstacle to the scientific accommodation of human beings - to physicalism. It is argued that we already have, in Wittgenstein's Private Language Argument, a very powerful argument suggesting that ontological dualism is logically unsound. The assessment of Wittgenstein's impact on ontological dualism occupies the first major section of the thesis (Part 2). But it is found that the logical force of Wittgenstein's argument, though successfully applicable against ontological dualism, does not prescribe the sort of monistic account we should adopt. For there are two alternatives which satisfy Wittgenstein's argument, which is essentially an argument banishing necessarily "private" mental events. One alternative involves abandoning the view that we can be introspectively aware of mental events (essentially a behaviourist approach). The other alternative is to retain the possibility of introspective awareness of mental events, while maintaining that the latter are only contingently "private" (an approach with which the mind-brain identity theory may be aligned). The first alternative is summarily rejected as being too counter-intuitive; and the remainder of the thesis explores the viability of the second alternative. But the latter alternative is also counter-intuitive: the dualist and the unconvinced materialist resist the suggestion that the mental events of which we may be introspectively aware could be neural events occurring in the brain or central nervous system. In Part 5 the mind-brain identity theory is discussed. The strategy underlying this approach, as generally conceived, is found not only to be unstable and ambivalent - straddling two rather different views - but also to be marked by a reluctance to engage sympathetically with the dualist's resistance. In Part 4 an attempt is made to examine and undermine this resistance. It is found that this resistance is set in a context involving a confused form of realism; and the confusion is traced to a familiarly mistaken notion of perception, in which mental perceptual events are taken to mediate between a "mental subject" and the "external world". The attempt to expose the confusions involved here, and to present a more satisfactory realism in a monistic setting, is supported by a formallinguistic treatment of the relevant aspects of perception. In this formal account, which requires some elementary set-theoretical notions (in particular the notion of isomorphism), a designatory role is defined for perceptual events taken as syntactic entities in a certain sort of formal language. Through this formal treatment it is shown that for a rich enough (purely) physical structure there would be a "subjective dualism": essentially a symptom of the fact that for a physical structure to "perceive" a physical event, there would have to occur in it an unperceived (physical) event. And it is suggested that the dualist's resistance is based on a confusion in which what he takes to be a justification for ontological dualism can only be taken as a justification for "subjective dualism". As a result of these considerations a modified form of the mind-brain identity theory is advocated, in which mental events for whose occurrence we can have introspective evidence are construed as unperceived (but not imperceptible) physical events which (it is hypothesised in the case of human beings) have neurophysiological descriptions. In Part 5 this view is considered in a more general context. Also in this section there is an argument for a view hinted at earlier in the thesis, maintaining that the peculiarities of "mental discourse" pose no serious problem for physicalism. Finally, two problems connected with the notions of the "unity" and "simplicity" of mind are briefly mentioned, and an indication is given as to how they may be handled by the present account.

For each of us there is one body which is special, different from all other bodies: the body one conceives of and experiences as one's own. The principal aim of this thesis is to understand what this conception and experience amounts to, and why it matters. I address three main topics: (1) body awareness, body ownership, and the immunity to errors of misidentification of judgements which refer to a body as 'my body' or 'mine'; (2) spatial perception and the knowledge of location we take it to afford; (3) the conceptual problem of other minds and the nature of the basic emotions. Through consideration of these topics, I propose that the conception and experience one has of a body as one's own is as of a recognisably human body. This is so in two ways. I argue that what makes a body one's own is that one is aware of it 'from the inside'. Given this, one can also experience a body as one's own through the outer senses. So the first way that the conception and experience one has of a body as one's own is as of a recognisably human body is that it is human in physical appearance, like the bodies of others. I also argue that the basic emotions are bodily states that one can be aware of from the inside, and in this sense feel or experience. This solves the conceptual problem of other minds. For it makes it possible to understand how the very same type of psychological state one can feel or experience oneself, one can also observe in others. It also provides the second way that the conception and experience one has of a body as one's own is as of a recognisably human body: one experiences one's own body, as much as the bodies of others, as subject to the basic emotions, and so as human in psychology. I conclude by suggesting that this account of one's conception and experience of a body as one's own and as recognisably human points to a perceptual-demonstrative model of self-consciousness and self-reference: in basic cases, T means 'this human'.