Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 81 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 45-51).

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1983.

The thesis examines the loosely framed hypothesls that a computer progr3m can be designed to aid the gaining of new insights into practical real problems in a way which is 3n3logous to well established creative problem solving techniques. Two programs were designed and tested by the writer for this purpose. Evidence is provided to show that the programs do in fact assist in the galning of such new insights. The research comprises 3n analysis of the relev3nt literature and field studies taking the form of controlled experiments. The field research design. The first stage comprised the development of 3n early prototype program BRAIN. From this e::ercise ideas for further development of the progr3m were e::tracted together with a methodology for establishing how to record user interaction with the progr3m. The second stage of the field research involved the systematic testing of an enhanced version of the initi3l progr3m. The writer sought to establish how users interacted with the program. There was observed to be strong evidence that users did in fact interact with the program. It was noted that some users found the progr3m somewhat too bizarre for their own liking and had difficulty in making good use of the structure provided by the program. Further developments of the initial program, BRAIN, and the theoretical justification for the design of a second program, ORACLE, were made. ORACLE adopts the role of a process facilitator operating in the mode of a Rogerian type therapist. The computer program is developed from ideas associated with the ELIZA program developed by Weizenbaum and experience with the BRAIN program. The third stage of the research concerned itself with ascertaining whether the programs appeared to help users working with real problems - ie; ones over which they exercised personal ownership. At the same time an attempt was made to evaluate the effectiveness of the improvements made to the BRAIN program. The results obtained indicated that there was evidence to support the view that both programs assisted in the gaining of new insights into real, owned problems.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Psychology / Master / Master of Philosophy

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The purpose of this interdisciplinary study was to answer the question, "What is the meaning of the transformative dream for people who do not experience resolution of their problem immediately upon awakening?". Existential-phenomenology from the perspective of a story was used to describe the meaning of the experience for ten individuals, nine women and one man, whose ages ranged from 23 to 48. From transcripts of the interviews, ten individual accounts of the experience were constructed. These accounts included a construction of the structure of each dream story and its relationship to the person’s description of the experience. Significant statements of the experience were also extracted from the transcripts and formulated into twenty common themes which were then woven into a common story. Each person checked and validated the transcript, individual account, common themes, and common story for any omissions or distortions. The study also included responses to a questionnaire given to psychology students, asking them if they had ever had a dream which revealed a solution to a problem. Out of 305 students, 103 (34%) had experienced one of these dreams. Forty-three (42%) knew the answer immediately, 58 (56%) found the answer later, and two were not sure. These results suggest that the prevalence of dreams which reveal solutions to problems could be much higher than expected. The findings support the general contention that these dreams are preceded by a desire for resolution and a search for answers. The dreams were vivid and emotional with the dreamer alert and actively participating in the drama. People experienced a felt sense of change without understanding the meaning of the dream. The dreams were complete stories with a beginning, middle, and end. The findings demonstrate that viewing these dreams within the context of people's lives is essential in order to understand the meaning of the experience. The description is a beginning and can become the basis for future research on dreams which resolve problems.