No description available.

No description available.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1937 M34

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis has examined the hypothesis that sex differences in perception influence anagram problem solving. Specifically, an experiment was designed to study the effects of different letter sizes on the anagram problem-solving performance of male and female eighth grade subjects. It was postulated that males would outperform females under normal letter size conditions, but that females would perform at least as well as males when the anagrams were printed in large letters.The results showed that the female subjects’ performance was superior to the males under both experimental conditions. The results were discussed in terms of lack of experimental control for cognitive style and of possible individual differences in intelligence between the male and female subjects. Ideas were suggested for further research in this area.

No description available.

No description available.

The process of social problem-solving appears to consist of several general stages including problem orientation, problem definition, generation of alternatives, and decision making. A significant number of studies have found that depressed individuals have a more negative orientation towards their problems and generate a smaller number of less effective solutions on pencil-and-paper measures. Rumination in response to a dysphoric mood has been found to exacerbate feelings of sadness and social problem-solving deficits, while efforts at distraction have been found to reduce or eliminate these effects. To date, nearly all of the research on social problem-solving has utilized pencil-and-paper measures of how individuals feel they would respond to hypothetical problems. The current investigation was designed to evaluate the social problem-solving ability of dysphoric and non-dysphoric participants while talking with a counselor in an analogue counseling interview.More specifically, this study examined the effects of dysphoria and the use of temporary distraction techniques on the social problem-solving ability of 84 female undergraduate students. A structured problem-solving interview and corresponding coding system was designed to measure D'Zurilla and Goldfried's (1971) stages of problem-solving. The coding system yielded high levels of internal consistency, content validity, and construct validity. Forty-one dysphoric females and 43 non-dysphoric females were randomly assigned to either a rumination or distraction task. Dysphoric participants in the rumination condition reported increased levels of sadness, whereas dysphoric participants in the distraction condition reported decreased levels of sadness. After engaging in the rumination or distraction task, each participant was asked to talk with a female counselor during a structured problem-solving interview. Results of a 2 (dysphoric/non-dysphoric) X 2 (rumination/distraction) MANOVA yielded a non-significant interaction effect and a significant difference for the main effect of dysphoria on participants' ratings of problem severity and confidence in solving the problem. Dysphoric participants, whether given a rumination or distraction task, reported a more negative orientation towards their problems, but did not display any deficits in their ability to describe the problem, generate effective solutions, or choose an effective solution. The current findings underscore the need for more naturalistic, behavioral measurements of problem-solving ability and call into question the assumption that depressed individuals exhibit social problem-solving deficits. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

This study is centred on an analysis of pupils' lived experience while engaged in the generalisation of linear sequences/progressions presented in a pictorial context. The study is oriented within the conceptual framework of qualitative research, and is anchored within an interpretive paradigm. A case study methodological strategy was adopted, the research participants being the members of a mixed gender, high ability Grade 9 class of 23 pupils at an independent school in South Africa. The analytical framework is structured around a combination of complementary multiple perspectives provided by three theoretical ideas, enactivism, figural apprehension, and knowledge objectification. An important aspect of this analytical framework is the sensitivity it shows to the visual, phenomenological and semiotic aspects of figural pattern generalisation. It is the central thesis of this study that the combined complementary multiple perspectives of enactivism, figural apprehension and knowledge objectification provide a powerful depth of analysis to the exploration of the inter-relationship between the embodied processes of pattern generalisation and the visualisation of pictorial cues. The richly textured tapestry of activity captured through a multi-systemic semiotic analysis of participants' generalisation activity stands testament to this central thesis. Insights gleaned from this study are presented as practical strategies which support and encourage a multiple representational approach to pattern generalisation in the pedagogical context of the classroom.