Executive functions (EFs), specifically a child's ability to shift between two stimuli and a child's ability to inhibit a prepotent response, are a child's self-regulatory cognitive processes used towards achieving a goal (Garon, Bryson, & Smith, 2008) and have been found to predict later school readiness (e.g. Blair & Diamond, 2008; McClelland et al., 2007; Pennington & Ozonoff, 1996). The current study examined possible mechanisms, such as problem behaviors and theory of mind (ToM), through which executive functions predict later cognitive and social school readiness. Problem behaviors occur when children are not effectively functioning in social situations, while ToM is a social-cognitive skill that allows a child to understand another person's mental processes (Wellman, 2002). These variables have been found to relate to one another in predicting preschool children's competence in numerous domains (see Carlson, Mandell, & Williams, 2004; Hughes, 1998b). Little research has been done on how these variables may mediate the relation between EFs and cognitive and social school readiness. This short-term longitudinal study assessed the unique contributions of ToM and problem behaviors to cognitive and social school readiness. Problem behaviors mediated the relation between EF, specifically inhibition, and social school readiness. Both teacher reports and direct assessment of EF revealed that EF, and specifically shifting, were direct predictors of later cognitive school readiness. However, ToM did not mediate any of the relations between EF and either social or cognitive school readiness. These results have several implications for education, including intervening with a child's ability to inhibit in order to improve problem behaviors and later social school readiness, as well as improving children's ability to mentally and behaviorally shift between sets of information in order to improve cognitive school readiness.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 66-66)

Lorsquil recourt à la technique de lhomologation en matière contractuelle, le législateur permet ou impose aux parties quaucun litige noppose (plus), de soumettre leur convention au contrôle dun juge. Bien que la décision que le juge rend à lissue de ce contrôle soit susceptible de modifier le rapport contractuel de base, le législateur na pas défini le régime et les effets de lhomologation. Lauteur tente de mettre au jour le corps des règles communes aux différentes homologations de contrats et de préciser, eu égard à ces règles, lincidence de lintervention judiciaire sur les relations des parties entre elles et vis-à-vis des tiers. Dans la première partie de létude, est développé le contexte dans lequel sinscrit lhomologation judiciaire des conventions. Cette partie est axée sur les deux aspects que comporte ce contexte; le premier titre est consacré au rôle du juge face au litige et le second au rôle du juge face au contrat. La seconde partie de létude contient les développements propres à la théorie de lhomologation judiciaire des conventions. Pour construire cette théorie, lauteur est amené à conjuguer la nature contractuelle de la convention soumise à homologation et la nature judiciaire de cette dernière. En définitive, il sagit de répondre à la question qui sous-tend le concept : lhomologation transmue-t-elle la convention qui lui est soumise ? Par lélaboration de la théorie générale, lauteur a cherché à faciliter la tâche des magistrats appelés, dans nombre dhypothèses, à homologuer des conventions, comme à éclairer les praticiens, sur les effets de lhomologation judiciaire des conventions.

This thesis describes the research I did during my Master's study. I investigated the stau-neutralino coannihilation region of the Mirage Mediation Model at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). By constructing five kinematic observables at the LHC, the masses of supersymmetric particles (sparticles) were determined. The Mirage Mediation Model parameters were determined from the sparticles' masses. This is the first time to establish the Mirage Mediation Model at the LHC. All these techniques can be applied to other coannihilation regions of the Mirage Mediation Model and other supersymmetry (SUSY) models.

In this study the focus is set on parental rules for digital gaming and Internet use. First a review of the field is presented followed by analyses of adolescents’ media use and parental strategies for regulation. Data was derived from a Swedish survey of parents—Predominantly mothers—of adolescents aged 9-16 complemented with data from a separate survey of adolescents aged 9-16. Analyses are presented using gamma coefficients for bivariate correlations and linear regression models for multivariate analyses. We conclude that parents in this study are involved in their adolescents’ gaming and Internet by restricting access to these media. Boys and young adolescents are controlled more than girls and older adolescents. Mothers made use of restrictive mediation more than fathers. Parents harbour quite negative views on gaming which might interfere with a more active role of parents in mediating their children’s gaming

This thesis examines case studies and historical accounts taken from different periods of the history of recording technology, and addresses questions concerning the impact of mediatization, manipulation, and mediation on listeners' and performers' approaches to music. The project considers the development of the idea of "copies without originals," and of the ideological frameworks that have been used to describe and classify recorded sound. The first case study covers the early days of the phonograph and its development in Victorian society, then contrasts the values and motivations of those early years with modern-day rock performance and its own value systems. Moving into the mid-twentieth century, a chapter of this thesis is devoted to the work of Glenn Gould, and the possibilities for tape manipulation that the Canadian pianist explored during the period of his career that was focused on the recording studio. Lastly, this project examines the innovative, user-driven methods of music-making that are gaining momentum today, including Bjork's "Biophilia" app album, and the emergence of a new genre of popular music in Asia that uses vocal synthesizers in place of live performers. By exploring these case studies alongside the works of scholars in musicology, media studies, sound theory, film and television, and popular music studies, this thesis demonstrates how cultural need, individual innovation, and social involvement interact to direct the development and application of emerging media technologies.

Longer breastfeeding durations may enhance cognition and accelerate motor development; motor development, and in particular, crawling, may lead to dramatic changes in cognition. Based on these empirical relations, the hypothesis that crawling mediates breastfeeding duration and cognitive outcome was tested. Specifically, it was hypothesized that longer breastfeeding durations would significantly predict both earlier crawling and higher cognitive scores at 2 years of age, that earlier crawling would also predict higher cognitive scores, and that earlier crawling would account for part of the relationship between longer breastfeeding durations and higher cognitive scores. A sample of 44 full term infants from Winnipeg, Manitoba was followed longitudinally between birth and 2 years of age. Data on breastfeeding duration and crawling were collected through daily parent checklists, with supplemental breastfeeding information obtained via questionnaires. Near the toddlers’ 2nd birthdays, cognitive abilities were assessed with the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory: Words and Sentences (Fenson et al., 1993) and the Parent Report of Children’s Abilities (Saudino et al., 1998). All 3 key variables were measured on continuous scales, and a mediational analysis based on Baron and Kenny’s (1986) classic approach of 3 regressions was used. Several covariates were considered for inclusion in the regressions, but none reached significance in preliminary tests and thus, were not included. In the first 2 regression analyses, exclusive and partial breastfeeding durations significantly predicted neither cognitive scores (p = .59) nor age of crawling attainment (p = .41). The 3rd regression analysis showed a significant, small-to-medium effect size for earlier crawling attainment predicting higher cognitive scores (p < .05, adjusted R2 = .09). However, crawling onset had no effect on the breastfeeding-cognition link. The overall test of the mediation was inconclusive, due to low power. The significant finding between age of crawling onset and cognitive outcomes at 2 years of age may be due to earlier crawling altering the course of development, to reverse causation whereby more cognitively advanced infants are motivated to crawl sooner, or to a 3rd variable affecting both crawling and cognition. Future research should continue to explore motor and cognitive connections in infant development. / May 2005

A growing body of literature suggests that Virtual Reality is a successful tool for exposure therapy for anxiety disorders. Virtual Reality (VR) researchers posit the construct of presence, interpreting an artificial stimulus as if it were real, as the mechanism that enables anxiety to be felt during virtual reality exposure therapy (VRE). However, empirical studies on the relation between presence and anxiety in VRE have yielded mixed findings. The current study tested the following hypotheses 1) Presence is related to in session anxiety and treatment outcome; 2) Presence mediates the extent that pre-existing (pre-treatment) anxiety is experienced during exposure with VR; 3) Presence is positively related to the amount of phobic elements included within the virtual environment. Results supported presence as the mechanism by which anxiety is experienced in the virtual environment as well as a relation between presence and the phobic elements, but did not support a relation between presence and treatment outcome

Recent literature has emphasized the possible benefits to mindfulness practice. Evidence for a negative relation between mindfulness and pathology has come from validity studies of several newly developed, self-report mindfulness questionnaires. Results illustrate a consistent negative relation between levels of self-report mindfulness and symptoms of depression, negative affect, and anxiety among college-student samples, however this relation has been previously untested within a clinical sample. The first aim of the present study was to explore the relation between mindfulness levels and social anxiety symptoms in a clinical sample diagnosed with social phobia. Because past research has found mindfulness interventions to be successful in reducing ruminative tendencies, and because recent literature suggests that post-event rumination is an important process in the maintenance of social anxiety, post-event rumination was explored as a mediator of the relation between mindfulness and social anxiety. Participants (N = 98) completed the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), the Rumination Questionnaire (RQ), the Fear of Negative Evaluations Brief Form (FNE-B), the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), and the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA) as part of their participation in a larger, randomly controlled treatment outcome study comparing Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy, a form of Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy for Social Phobia, and a wait-list control group. Results illustrated a strong negative relation between mindfulness scores (MAAS) and social anxiety symptoms as measured by the FNE-B and the LSAS (ps < .001). However, post-event rumination levels (RQ) were not related to either mindfulness or social anxiety indicating that in the present sample post-event rumination did not act as a mediator for the relation between mindfulness and levels of social anxiety.

Syftet med denna enkätstudie var att jämföra två olika förklaringsmodeller för tinnitusbesvär; fear avoidance och acceptans. Förutom att undersöka sambanden till tinnitusbesvär, testades även modellerna mot utfallsmåtten tinnitusvigilans och livskvalitet. Då nivå av depression och ångest är kända prediktorer för tinnitusbesvär, användes de som kontrollvariabler. Även processerna mindfulness och värderad riktning testades. Deltagare i studien var 362 patienter med tinnitus som någon gång mellan åren 2004-2011 varit i kontakt med Öronkliniken Hörselvården vid universitetssjukhuset i Linköping. Hierarkiska regressionsanalyser visade att både acceptans och fear avoidance förklarade unika bidrag till utfallsmåtten tinnitusbesvär och tinnitusvigilans. Värderad riktning förklarade unik varians i utfallsmåttet livskvalitet. Utifrån multipla mediationsanalyser visade det sig att både acceptans och fear avoidance medierade sambandet mellan ljudnivån av tinnitus och tinnitusbesvär samt sambandet mellan ljudnivån av tinnitus och tinnitusvigilans. Ingen av mediatorerna bidrog med signifikant mer förklaringsvärde än den andra. Slutsatsen är att acceptans och fear avoidance är två viktiga och kompletterande modeller för att förklara graden av tinnitusbesvär och tinnitusvigilans. Resultatet från denna studie kan ha implikationer för utvecklingen av mer effektiva behandlingar för tinnitus.