Thesis (MEdPsych)--University of Stellenbosch, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study was undertaken with the view to explore the experiences of tutors of children with the dual diagnosis of Autism and Down syndrome during the implementation of an Applied Behaviour Analysis support programme The parents of the children willingly participated in a research project of the Department of Educational Psychology and Specialized Education at the University of Stellenbosch. A private individual funded the project. The aim of the project was to evaluate the effectiveness of an Applied Behavior Analysis support programme over a period of 26 weeks on an individual that has Autism. The programme impacted the daily lives of the tutors. The question soon arose as to how the intensive contact between tutor and the child would be experienced by the tutor. A literature review was conducted to obtain a perspective of research done in this field. I fulfilled the dual role of researcher and trainee educational psychologist. The social contructivist framework was chosen as the preferred educational psychological framework from which to approach the study, while the participatory action research paradigm lent itself to describe the individual experiences of the tutors. The experiences were gathered from interviews, observations, video material, journals and reflections. The research report describes a variety of possible experiences the tutor underwent and the repercussions thereof. Suggestions were made as to how adaptations to the programme could serve to expand the training of educational psychologists and tutors. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie is onderneem om die belewenisse van tutors van kinders met die dubbel diagnose van Outisme en Down sindroom tydens 'n Toegepaste Gedragsmodifikasie Analise program te ondersoek. Die ouers van die kinders het vrywilliglik deelgeneem aan 'n navorsingsprojek van die Departement Opvoedkunde en Spesialiseringsonderwys van die Universiteit van Stellenbosch. Fondse vir die projek is van 'n privaat persoon ontvang. Die doel van die projek was om die effektiwiteit van die program oor 'n tydperk van 26 weke te evalueer. Die tutors se daaglikse lewe is deur die program beïnvloed en die vraag het ontstaan hoe die intensiewe kontak tussen kind en tutor deur die tutor beleef sou word. 'n Literatuurstudie is onderneem om inligting oor bestaande navorsing in te win. Ek het tydens die projek die rol van beide navorser en opvoedkundige sielkundige in opleiding vervul. Die sosiaal konstruktiwistiese raamwerk is bespreek as 'n sinvolle opvoedkundige sielkundige raamwerk, terwyl die deelnemende aktiewe navorsingsparadigma homself daartoe leen om die belewenisse van die tutors te beskryf. Die belewenisse is ingesamel deur middel van onderhoude, observasie en video materiaal, 'n joernaal en refleksies. Hierdie navorsingsprojek beskryf 'n verskeidenheid van die moontlike belewenisse van die tutors sowel as die moontlike nagevolge daarvan. Voorstelle oor moontlike aanpassings in die program word gemaak om sodoende die opleiding van tutors sowel as opvoedkundige sielkundiges in opleiding te verbeter.

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The present study examined the effects of physical disability in fathers on the development and adjustment of their children. There is little empirically based information about the influence of physical characteristics of parents on children, but speculative articles have described many deleterious effects of being raised by a physically handicapped parent. These hypothesized relations between parental disability and child adjustment were tested. Two groups of adult children selected through the Veterans Administration Spinal Cord Injury system were studied: (a) Disabled Parent (DP)--17 male and 28 female children, mean age 21.6, who were raised by a spinal cord injured father from a mean age of 1.31, and (b) Comparison (C)--15 male and 21 female children, mean age 23.8, with nondisabled fathers. The two groups were matched on father's age, education level, state of residence, and disposable family income. Children had lived with both parents until age 15, and their fathers were veterans. Subjects completed a battery of tests: the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF), Bem Sex Role Inventory, Body-Cathexis scale, Parent-Child Relations Questionnaire II (PCR), and Buck-Hohmann questionnaire (designed specifically for this study). The results did not support any of the hypothesized relations between parental disability status and child adjustment. DP and C children scored within the normal range on the MMPI and 16PF. The only significant difference which emerged was that DP children tended to be more cautious in emotional expression than did C subjects. The DP and C groups did not differ in body image or sex role orientation. On the Rokeach Value Survey, DP children ranked national security, a world at peace, clean, obedient, and responsible higher than did C children. C children valued being logical more than DP children. As perceived by the children, DP and C fathers did not differ significantly in the degree to which they were loving or rejecting, casual or demanding (PCR). On the Buck-Hohmann questionnaire, there was no evidence that disabled fathers excluded themselves from discipline and childrearing aspects of parenthood or that disabled fathers lose control over their children. DP children were found to hold significantly more positive attitudes toward their fathers than were C children. There were no effects on children's health patterns or interpersonal relations as a function of the father's disability status. DP children expressed more interest and participation in athletics than did C children. It was concluded that parental disability does not pose a severe threat to child adjustment. Children with spinal cord injured fathers appeared to be well-adjusted, emotionally stable persons who highly regarded their fathers. Limitations of the study and implications for rehabilitation programs, adoption and court custody decisions, and future research were discussed.

This study was an exploratory thematic and categorical analysis of the titles and abstracts of women and men psychology master's dissertations completed from 1964 to 1998. These dissertations represent research undertaken at all South African universities. They are located on the Nexus database, developed by the Centre for Science Development (CSD) at the Human Science Research Council (HSRC) and maintained by the National Research Foundation (NRF). This research is an investigation of trends, which might lead to conclusions regarding the areas of psychological specialisations chosen for research, the methodologies of research applied and the sample type employed in the research. Secondly, a longitudinal analysis was conducted to examine if any shifts of focus over time in any of the three areas already mentioned (i.e. specialisation, methodology and sample type) had occurred. The methodology used was a combination of both quantitative statistical analysis and qualitative analysis of selected women's and men's dissertations. Content analysis was the preliminary research method used to code the data which was then statistically analysed by means of correspondence analysis. The literature review examined psychology's historical exclusion of women both as professionals and as potential subjects of research. The literature also examines the founding premise of psychological research dominated by scientific empiricism underpinned by logical positivism. Feminist literature was then reviewed in order to offer a commentary on the patriarchal underpinnings embedded in the discipline and to offer and explore alternatives. The outcome of this study revealed a number of valuable findings. First, there had been a major increase in the selection of women masters' students in psychology. Second, the dominant methodology remains quantitative in nature. There is however a slight increase in qualitative and combined research by both women and men in the 1990s. Third, there has been a radical increase in the 1990s of women entering the male domain of industrial psychology. Fourth, no major differences were found between women and men masters' students and their choice of specialisation area, methodology and sample type selected. Finally, women more often than men recognised the gender and ethnicity of their sample subjects. It must however be noted that gender and ethnicity of the sample subjects were still relatively infrequently registered in the titles and abstracts of both women and men's masters' dissertations. In conclusion the plethora of data available on Nexus and the findings identified in the present study a window has opened up to the potential for many future projects in terms of South African psychology masters' research.

This study examined the influence of state-confidence on aesthetic athletes’ precompetitive imagery function use. Important individual differences effecting functional imagery use require empirical confirmation. Proposed is state-confidence as a factor influencing the functions of imagery used immediately prior to competition. Also, sport type may also be a moderator of the relationship and thus, is constrained in this study. Female aesthetic athletes from Southern Alberta (N = 180, Mage = 14.64, SD = 1.88) completed measures of state-confidence, imagery ability, and frequency of imagery function use. One-way ANCOVA tests revealed that athletes with high state-confidence used significantly more cognitive specific, cognitive general, motivation general-arousal, and motivational general-mastery functions of imagery than low state-confident athletes. Findings imply that applied sport psychology consultants should be more encouraging of preparation strategies with low state-confident athletes. / xi, 64 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm

The present study investigates the problems of conducting psychological research from the experiential perspective of the Native subject and the Native consumer of research. / The Cree of Northern Quebec, who have a long history of independence and a strong central government, have ejected several psychologists from their lands. From the analysis of the psychological research conducted among the Cree it was concluded that ejections generally followed incidents of perceived disrespect for local authority systems. This analysis seemed to show that flexibility and a personal approach were considered by the Native subjects as important assets for a researcher. Other positive attributes included relevance of the research, Native origin of the researcher, and the use of information sessions after the research was concluded. Negative attributes included ethnocentrism of the researcher, the free expression of anger, demands for self-disclosure, question-asking, overpublication of results, over-identification with the host group, and ignorance of Cree history and culture. The situation for counsellors was found to have many similarities to the situation for researchers. / To investigate the problem directly, a quasi-experiment was conducted with a group of James Bay Cree subjects, and their reaction to the research experience was polled after the experiment. It was found that the subjects often enjoyed the research. Personality tests were accepted in varying degrees, and certain Native values were affected in varying degrees. / Subjects in a positive-feedback treatment group rated the experiment poorer in social responsibility and honesty than did subjects in a mixed positive-and-negative feedback group. The vast majority of subjects felt the study would have been better if it had been conducted by a Cree, and three subjects stated that the study should not have been conducted at all. / From both the literature and the experimental study, the following sources of reactivity were recognized: inflexible protocol, ethnocentrism, expression of anger, requests for self-disclosure, excessive amounts of testing, question-asking, over-publishing of results, the use of deception, over-identification with the hosts, ignorance of Native history, differential treatment, and lack of redeeming social value. Aspects of psychological research considered positive by the Native subjects included: a personal approach, relevance, Native origin of the research, affiliation with a local person, advanced age of researcher, use of intrinsically valuable or at least entertaining instruments, ability of the researcher to read subtle messages, and use of information-sharing sessions. The key to conducting non-reactive research is to respect local authority. Respect can be shown by obtaining permission to enter the area, to access a subject pool, to conduct the research, and to publish the results. If permission is refused, that decision must be respected.

Repeated measures designs are widely used in educational and psychological research to compare the changes exhibited in response to a treatment. Traditionally, measures of change are found by calculating difference scores (subtracting the observed initial score from the final score) for each person. However, problems such as the reliability paradox and the meaning of change scores arise from using simple difference scores to study change. A new item response theory model will be presented that estimates latent change scores instead of difference scores, addresses some of the limitations of using difference scores, and provides a direct comparison of the mean latent changes exhibited by different groups (e.g. females versus males). A simulation-based test was conducted to ascertain the viability of the model and results indicate that parameters of the newly developed model can be estimated accurately. Two sets of analyses were performed on the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten cohort (ECLS-K) to examine differential growth in math ability between 1) male and female students and 2) Caucasian and African American students from kindergarten through fifth grade.

M.A. / This study looks into the types of stressors specific to the Emergency Medical Services. The study was undertaken over a period of two years with the following objectives: • A literature survey regarding stress, organisational stress in general and stress in the context of Emergency Medical Services in particular. • An investigation of the personnel of the Emergency Medical Services to ascertain the stressors perceived as stressful by them. • Recommendations on how to prevent or lower stress in the Emergency Medical Services. The first part of this study is devoted to a theoretical investigation which gives an overview of stress in its broadest sense as well as stress in organisations which includes cumulative stress/burnout. Critical Incident Stress and Post Traumatic Stress are also closely examined, as well as the personality characteristics of members of the Emergency Medical Services. The point of departure for the researcher is an ecosystemic perspective where objectivity itself is questionable. Therefore, qualitative research was called for and the transactional/interactional model of Richard Lazarus was used to categorise stressors. The research results suggest that what the Emergency Medical Service personnel perceive as stressful are mainly organisational stressors but they acknowledge that in the long term the continual dealing with death and trauma starts to take its toll. Criticisms that could be levelled against the study are that the results are only generalisable to the personnel of the Johannesburg Emergency Services, whose demographic characteristics and backgrounds differ, for instance, from those who work at Bryanston, or Pretoria. As the study relied solely on personal disclosure and observation the results can be seen as somewhat subjective in nature. What was communicated as stress-related events was what was perceived as stressful by the personnel as well as the researcher's subjective perception of whether certain events were perceived as stressful for the personnel. After working on the ambulance with these personnel for over three years, the researcher is an accepted part of their system, and became subject to the same blunting of affect and depersonalisation of victims as the Emergency workers. Over an extended period in time, it became harder to divorce the researcher from the "worker" while on duty, to maintain a scientific perspective and to write objectively. However, the findings of this study concur with those done by previous researchers on this subject such as Sparrius (1992) and Du Toit & Botes (1996).

Doctorat en sciences psychologiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

M.Cur. / The death of a child is like none other. The impact shakes the world of parents in its entire being. This research tells the story of parents' experience of the couple relationship after child bereavement. The objectives of the research are to: • explore and describe a parent's experience of the couple relationship after child bereavement; and • describe guidelines for the advanced psychiatric nurse practitioner to provide support to parents who have experienced child bereavement in order to promote their mental health through the mobilisation of resources. The paradigmatic perspective of this study is guided by the Theory for Health Promotion in Nursing (Rand Afrikaans University, Department of Nursing Science, 2002:2-8). The focus is on the whole person. A functional approach was followed based on Botes's model (Botes in Rand Afrikaans University: Department of Nursing, 2002:9-15) for nursing research. The researcher utilised a qualitative, descriptive, exploratory and contextual design (Mouton, 1996: 102). An authoethnographic strategy was implemented, & Bochner in Denzin & Lincoln, 2001:739, 747). In-depth, semi-structured, phenomenological interviews were held with parents meeting the sampling criteria. Consent for the research was obtained from the Rand Afrikaans University and informed consent was obtained from the parents volunteering to participate in the research.