Bibliography: leaves 151-164. / Insight has enjoyed the reputation of an elusive phenomenon in psychology and insight problems are very difficult to solve. Only very specific hints concerning their solution have been found to significantly increase the number of problem solvers who are able to solve insight problems. The result of this has been to suggest that insight does not exist, that it is a mysterious phenomenon, or that it is an aspect of problem solving which we have so far failed to understand. Insight in problem solving is investigated from the perspective that the phenomenon needs explanation and it is argued that, while insight has been operationally defined and a clear set of key empirical findings have been established, the conceptual explanation of insight has been largely ignored. It is suggested that a conceptual account of insight is needed so that this aspect of cognitive processing can be incorporated into the main body of cognitive research on problem solving. The current tension in cognitive science and cognitive psychology is examined and it is argued that writing a conceptual account of insight in neural network theoretical terms will not only advance our understanding of insight, but will also reflect on the debate in cognitive theory. This is a result of its status as an aspect of problem solving and as a phenomenon which symbolic theory has so far failed to offer a clear explanation for. A conceptual account of insight in neural network terms is advanced which offers a comprehensive account of the key empirical findings on insight. It is suggested that insight can be understood as the recognition of a pattern to insight problems. Predictions derived from the theory suggest that overcoming the effects of past learning, employing conceptual transfer, and fostering expertise at insight problem solving will significantly facilitate insightful problem solution.

Includes bibliographical references. / Deficits in empathy are considered a defining characteristic of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). A fundamental difficulty these individuals experience is that of relating to others. Impairments in both top-down and bottom-up processes involved in relating are implicated, as these individuals experience difficulties in relating to others on both a cognitive and a visceral level. Research focussing on their more basic difficulties with social reciprocity (i.e., bottom-up processes of relating) is, however, lacking. A well-established social phenomenon, namely cradling bias (i.e., the preference to cradle an infant to the left of the body midline) is argued to be facilitated by a capacity for empathy. Previous studies provide reason to suspect that this phenomenon taps into the innate ability to relate to another; in other words, it taps into basic bottom-up empathic processes. With the goal of drawing attention to the very basic difficulties in relating and social reciprocity pervading ASDs, I investigated whether the universal leftward cradling bias was absent in ASD children. This research consisted of a pilot and a main study. Both studies were cross-sectional comparisons of two groups: an ASD group and a Control group. For both studies, the method employed was quasi-experimental, as participants were divided into groups based on the pre-existing criterion of diagnosis (i.e., ASD and Control). The ASD groups (for both studies) included children diagnosed with low-functioning autism, high-functioning autism, Asperger's syndrome, and pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified. For the pilot, the Control group consisted of only typically developing children, whereas for the main study, the Control group consisted of typically developing as well as mentally handicapped children. Direct systematic observation was employed to compare the occurrence of cradling bias across groups. In the pilot study, 20 ASD children, aged 6-14, and 20 Control children, aged 5-15, were asked to cradle a doll as if it were an infant she/he were trying to put to sleep or soothe on three separate occasions. These participants were perfectly matched on age and gender. In the main study, 53 ASD children, aged 6-16, and 40 Control children, aged 6-15, were asked to cradle a doll on four separate occasions. These participants were matched as closely as possible on age and gender. Regression analyses on both the pilot and the main study data revealed that the universal leftward bias was absent in ASD children. In contrast, a clear leftward bias was present in Control children, both typically developing and mentally handicapped. These group differences were not accounted for by differences in gender, handedness, intellectual and/or executive functioning. Moreover, differences in the quality of the child-doll (i.e., caregiver-infant) interaction in the cradling bias scenario illustrated the very basic social- emotional difficulties experienced by ASD individuals. The cradling bias scenario is one instance where impairments in primitive bottom-up processes of relating in ASDs can be illustrated. Further investigation of these bottom-up difficulties will allow for a more nuanced understanding of the empathy deficits (i.e., social- emotional deficits) by which ASDs are characterised, which in turn has implications for the management and treatment of these individuals.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / Morale has been defined as the sum of the satisfactions which the individual experiences because of his membership and involvement in an organization. Recently there has been a movement away from the study of the global morale concept to the different types of satisfactions that individuals derive from the industrial situation. Intrinsic job satisfaction is defined by the degree of satisfaction obtained by the individual employee from performing those tasks which constitute the content of his job. This study was concerned primarily with an investigation of the role of expectations as related to the extent of fulfillment of these expectations in determining intrinsic job satisfaction. Job importance, contribution made by doing the job, the work's relationship to the kind of work that public relations practitioners do, and statements as to how interesting or how uninteresting the work was,- were the major criteria used to structure expectations. Intrinsic job satisfaction was treated as the dependent variable. An attempt was also made to relate intrinsic job satisfaction levels to productivity levels. [TRUNCATED]

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Psychology at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 1997. / This investigation explores and describes the experiences of psychology students who have recently completed their honours research projects. This is apparently the first study to explicate this research event by approaching it from an existential-pbenomenological viewpoint and by making use of the phenomenological method of research. The guiding idea behind the investigation is that we need to train our students to become able and enthusiastic researchers. In order to accomplish this task we instruct them about research and/or allow them to conduct a relatively independent research project at honours level. In order to enhance their training, explicit accounts of students' research experiences can be useful sources of information, to provide insight into and to alert students to the challenges facing them when they become involved in this research event. Honours students were asked to write the story of their research experiences in as much detail as possible, and to focus on their own subjective experiences of the complete event. Seven students participated in the investigation. The individual protocols were divided into natural meaning units and the natural meaning units were collapsed into themes. A brief summary of each theme was compiled. These themes were then used to formulate a general structure which reflects the collective experience of the students. The general structure as a whole, and the themes in the structure in particular, were validated by making use of subjective methods and statistical analysis. Four general themes were identified as representative of the shared experiences of the individual respondents. The four themes were: time constraints, problem-solving, personal growth, and capacity for understanding. The following important observations were made regarding these themes: The themes represent the general essence of students* experience of the research event during their honours year of study. The themes that emerged from the data reflect some of the problems identified by authors and instructors in the field of research methodology. This investigation can be seen as a starting point for further research on the research experiences of students. Insights generated by the study provide some useful guidelines for academics involved in the training and teaching of research methodology students.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.